Clean Transcript

No Contradictions

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• I want you to open your Bibles today, if you would please, to Luke chapter 10, Luke chapter 10. And we're going to read beginning with verse 25. The title of the message is "No Contradictions." I think you'll understand before I finish today—the text that we're going to be using, I'm not going to be expounding it per se until I get to the last part of the message. And I think you will understand the connection at that time. So in Luke chapter 10, beginning there with verse 25.

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• The Bible says, "And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And he said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And he, our Lord, said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?" And we're going to stop right there.

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• I recently received an email—in fact, it was this past week—from a friend that had come to believe that there were contradictions in the Bible, and therefore he stated that he could no longer accept it or believe it. I then answered his email and briefly explained his seeming contradictions that he proposed. And I made the comment to him in my response that I'd read through the Bible a multitude of times—in fact, well over 60 times—and I'd never, ever found a contradiction that could not be explained either contextually or simply by comparing Scripture with Scripture. I have no idea how many times I've read through the Bible, because when I started studying years and years ago, I read through the Old Testament every month, New Testament every week, and I've constantly read through it over and over the 57 years I've been preaching. I'm just simply saying I've never run across anything that could not be explained by the context or by comparing Scripture with Scripture. The problem that my friend faces is the same problem that everyone faces.

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• We pit our puny finite minds against the infinite mind of God and try to bring God and His Word to our bar of human reasoning. If we cannot understand or if we cannot reconcile the differences in our minds, we simply say that the Bible is wrong. I mean, we hardly ever conclude that we're wrong. We hardly ever conclude that we need to study, we need to search things out, we need to seek counsel, we need to ask wisdom, we need to meditate. No, no, no. We just simply say, "Well, the Bible's got to be wrong because I don't understand it or because I don't see it."

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• And the truth of the matter is this: no one ever truly and fully and completely understands the Bible in this life. The Bible is not only the Word of God, it is also the mind of God that is revealed to us. So in order to understand God perfectly, you'd have to be God yourself, because only God can comprehend God. And such perfection will never ever be attained in this life.

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• And if you would stop and think with me just momentarily about eternity. You see, right now, each of us have faulty reasoning powers. We have faulty memories. Everyone in this room forgets things. I have to remind Alice of things and she has to remind me of things. And even Gary, when we got in, he says, "Now, do you have any irrigators in?" "Yes." And the only reason I do have them is because I took them off last night and left them in the truck today. So we all forget.

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• I mean, that's for sure. But stop and think about this. When we reach eternity by the grace of God, our understandings will be perfected. We will understand everything completely, fully, and we will never ever forget anything. And then we will spend eternity forever learning and understanding truths concerning our sovereign God, and yet never ever fully comprehending Him, because only God can comprehend God. And so that is basically why we can understand everything even now as well. Moreover, when you study the Bible, you have to understand that there are figures of speech that are used in the Bible. In fact, the Bible is written in three languages, really: Hebrew, Aramaic (some of the Old Testament), and Greek. And so since you have three different languages, now you have three different languages that give opportunity for lots of figures of speech. Now, I'm going to give you some figures of speech today very quickly, but I'm not going to take a lot of time to do this because it would literally take hours if you really studied the figures of speech that are used in the Bible.

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• In fact, there's a man—he's now dead—his last name was Bullinger. He has a book about this thick on the figures of speech in the Bible. So it would take a long while to explain those. But let me give you two obvious truths before we get started on this. First of all, it is not honest biblical interpretation to call something figurative just because you don't understand it or just because you do not believe it. And secondly, it is certainly not honest. It is indeed dishonest to declare that there is a contradiction in the Bible just because you do not comprehend it and you do not understand it.

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• In other words, it is a very simple thing that people oftentimes do. Now, the truth of the matter is God's Word is absolutely perfect. And there is a reason for everything that God says: why He says it, when He says it, to whom He says it, and how He says it. The Bible says in Psalm 12 and verse 6, "The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times." So since seven is the number of perfection, He's saying that God's Word is absolutely perfect. Now, let me very quickly give you some figures of speech that are used in the Bible. The very first one is known as hyperbole. A hyperbole is nothing but an exaggeration, and it's an exaggeration that is usually used for emphasis.

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• For instance, when you get to 2 Samuel 1 in verse 23, David is giving a lamentation for Saul and Jonathan. And he says this: "Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they were not divided: they were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions." Well, obviously, Jonathan could not run as swift as an eagle can fly, and neither was Saul as strong as a lion. A lion could literally tear him apart. But all he's saying is he's using this as a hyperbole, demonstrating their great strength and their great speed in their lives and in fighting. Another one is found in Deuteronomy chapter 1 in verse 28.

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• And there the people say, "Whither shall we go up? our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven." Well, there are no cities with walls all the way up to heaven, but it is an exaggeration. It is saying that they are a great people with huge defenses. And certainly it is not literal.

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• And we do that all the time. I can look at Alice or I can look at some of my children and I've said it to my children—I don't know how many times—I'd say, "Now I've told you a thousand times." I hadn't really told them a thousand times, but I told them more than once or twice, I can assure you, told them plenty of times. But that's a hyperbole. That's an exaggeration. And the only reason you would say that is you were emphasizing the fact that you've already told them that several times as well. I've said concerning Andrew and concerning Dean, my son-in-law, I've said he's as strong as an ox. Well, obviously he's not going to get out in the pasture and wrestle my 3,000-pound bull. We'd find out who was strong and it wouldn't be either Andrew or Dean. So I'm just simply pointing out the fact it is an exaggeration. They're both strong men, that is for sure. But we use that all the time.

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• The second one is a simile. A simile is a representation or a resemblance or a comparison by resemblance. For instance, when you look at Psalm 23 in verse 1, David said, "The LORD is my shepherd." Well, the Lord is obviously not necessarily a shepherd of physical sheep, but we are His sheep, the sheep of His pasture, the Bible says. And so David resembles the Lord then for a shepherd. And then, of course, there is Psalm 17 in verse 8. He says, "Keep me as the apple of the eye." Keep me as the apple of your eye. Let's see, the apple of the eye is the pupil.

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• And you do everything you can to protect your eyes. I've been in the woods many times and a limb comes back and it's amazing how quickly you can close your eyes and protect your pupil. So that's what David is saying: "Keep me as the apple of thine eye." And then, of course, you have in Ephesians 5 in verse 22, where the Bible says, "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord." In other words, the submission of the wife is to be a representation and a resemblance of her submission to the Lord. And when you get to Ephesians 5 in verse 25, it says, "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it." So the love of the husband to the wife is to be a resemblance of and a representation of that which, of course, is indeed that which demonstrates the love of Jesus Christ for the church.

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• Again, we say all kinds of things and we use similes. I guarantee every one of you in here said to someone, "I love you a bushel and a peck and a hug around your neck." Well, that's a simile. I mean, we just use those things all the time. When I was a boy, we used to say, "You're sweeter than snuff." Now, I've never dipped snuff, but we'd always say, "You're sweeter than snuff and not quite as dusty." But I remember when I was a boy hearing this Tube Rose commercial for snuff.

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• There's a little song that went in with it. It said, "If your snuff's too strong, it's wrong. Get Tube Rose. Get Tube Rose," you know. But a lot of people used to say that: "You're sweeter than snuff." Well, obviously, they were not snuff. It was just simply a comparison.

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• Now, the metaphor is a representation. It is a comparison of one thing by representing another thing. And we could go back and even use Psalm 23 in verse 1 there, where David again said, "The LORD is my shepherd." And then, of course, in Matthew 26 and verse 26, when our Lord was instituting the Lord's Supper and when He broke the bread, He said, "Take, eat; this is my body." Well, it was not literally His body, but of course, it was indeed a comparison. It was something that represented His body.

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• So you have then metaphors. I've often jokingly said concerning Alice that she's my good thing. And the reason I would say that is because the Bible says in Proverbs 18 verse 22, "Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD." So obviously I could call her my good thing, but I could also call her my treasure. I could call her my diamond. I could call her my rose. I could call her the flower of my heart. All of these things would be metaphors. And you find that in the Bible all the time.

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• And then, of course, the next main one is what you and I would know as personification. Personification is when you give life to something that does not have life or give lifelike abilities to something that does not have life. For instance, in Isaiah 55 verse 12.

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• Now, yeah, the Bible says there, "The trees of the field shall clap their hands." Well, obviously trees don't have hands, and trees do not clap. But it is a personification, pretending and saying that the tree is alive and really and truly saying that ultimately all creation is going to praise God, whether it's a tree or whether it's those whom He saved. Here's another one. In 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verses 15 and 16, the apostle Paul says, "If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body."

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• Now, have any of you ever heard your feet speak? I know you know your feet smell, but you've never heard them speak. See, that's a personification. And Paul went on and he said this, "And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body." Well, I don't think our ears have ever said anything, but that is a personification. I couldn't help but think this morning about the individual who went into the barber shop and he told the barber that he wanted his hair cut and fixed where he could part it in the middle from ear to ear and comb the hair over on both sides. The barber said, "You're not going to like that."

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• He said, "Yes, I will." Barber says, "You're not going to like it." He said, "Yes, I will. Fix it the way I told you." So the barber fixed it. Two weeks later, the man came back in the barber shop and said, "All right, change my hair back the way it was." The barber said, "I told you you wouldn't like it." "No, no, no, no," he says, "I like it, I like it."

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• "I'm just tired of people whispering in my nose." You know, I'm just simply saying there are personifications all through the Bible. For instance, you get in Leviticus chapter 18 and verse 25, the Bible says the land vomited out its inhabitants. Well, the land doesn't vomit, but it is just saying the people were so wicked, even the land could not stand them. So that is a personification. If I said to someone, "Well, I will just let my Glock do the talking," that's a personification. Pistols don't talk, but I'm giving a life ability to something that does not have life per se. So you have all of these metaphors and similes all through the Bible—hyperboles.

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• Let me give you one more. This one is very important. It is called an antinomy. An antinomy is a seeming contradiction between principles or conclusions that seem equally necessary and logical and reasonable. You could also call it a paradox. This term is used in logic and it's also used in epistemology.

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• Now let me tell you what the word literally means. It's made up of two Greek words: anti, which means against or in opposition to, and nomos, which is law. So it means anti-law in one sense of the word. And it literally refers to a real or an apparent mutual incompatibility between two reasonable and logical truths. For instance, I could ask you, how do you explain the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man? Is the sovereignty of God taught clearly in the Bible? The answer is yes. Is the responsibility of man taught clearly in the Bible? And again, the answer is yes. So many people say that there is a contradiction between those two doctrines. No, there may be a seeming or apparent contradiction, but there is no real contradiction. So you're going to ask, how can both be true? Well, Spurgeon was asked one time by a woman, "How do you reconcile the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man?" His response was this: "You don't reconcile friends. You only reconcile enemies."

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• And so he was saying that the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man were not enemies, that they were friends, and that, of course, both were true. So I think the answer is like walking along a railroad track. As long as you're walking along the railroad track and you're looking down, you see the rail on each side, and you're taking pains to step very carefully on the cross ties. As you keep looking at those cross ties and you keep looking at those rails, those things never ever come together.

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• They stay exactly the same width apart all the time. But if you stood still and then lifted up your head and looked way up the tracks, those two tracks seemingly merge into one, the farther up the track you look. And it's the same thing with these two doctrines. Both are clearly taught in the Bible. If you look at, try to analyze each one of them and say, "Here it is"—no, no. Look up into eternity and you'll see both of these things merge into one, because both are clearly taught and obviously taught in the Bible.

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• So we oftentimes use antinomies without even thinking. For instance, I have read—and probably you as well—where certain philosophers and skeptics and atheists proclaim there is no absolute truth.

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• Now just stop and think about that. "There is no absolute truth." What is he putting forth? An absolute. So if there is no absolute truth, then just what he said is not true. It contradicts itself. I've had people tell me that: "There is no such thing as absolute truth." I would say, and I would ask, "Are you sure of that?" And they would respond, "Absolutely." Well, you just denied your own proposition, but that is an antinomy.

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• Now, the interesting fact about those who claim contradictions exist in the Bible never consider figures of speech. They never consider hermeneutics. Hermeneutics is the art and the science of biblical interpretation. There are rules. There are principles. There are concepts that are involved in hermeneutics, and it's simply easy enough for individuals to say, "Well, my reasoning ability does not accept this as a fact or does not accept this as a truth."

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• And thus they rid themselves of any responsibility, so to speak, to study, to think, to research, to meditate. No, no, no. It's just easy enough for them to say, "I can't understand it, so it must be untrue or there must be a contradiction." In other words, everything is then determined by your own mind.

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• Now, let me mention something else. It should be clear and it should be obvious that when someone refuses and disbelieves the Bible as the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God, there is no way in the world that you're going to convict them or convince them of the truth of it. In other words, all of your arguments, no matter how reasonable, no matter how logical, no matter how biblical they are, they're going to fall on deaf ears. Why?

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• Because the individual has already made up his mind. The Bible is not the Word of God anyhow. And so he's not going to listen. And basically when an individual comes to that position, what he has done, he has usurped the throne of God. He's in essence dethroned God and enthroned himself by saying, "I am the standard. It is my word." You remember that passage in Isaiah 55 verses 8 and 9 where God says, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." So one will either both submit to God and confess this truth, or he will try to elevate his mind above God and above His Word.

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• Now, the one main thing that my friend suggested to me that he just could not comprehend was the fact that God not only ordered, but God even allowed what you and I would call genocide, or the deaths of a lot of people in the Old Testament, on the one hand. And on the other hand, He said, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." I tried to explain to my friend that what he was doing was confusing things that differ, and that he was confusing the different roles and the different representations of God in Scripture. He's refusing to understand the attributes of God. Now, first, let me try to explain something. It is true that God is the lawgiver, but He's not only lawgiver. He's the judge and He's the king and He's the creator, and He's a savior. So there are different roles and representations of God in the Bible. You remember that passage in Isaiah 33 and verse 22, the Bible says, "For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save us." And when you get to the book of James chapter 4 and verse 12, the Bible says, "There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy." So the Bible then acknowledges God as the lawgiver. So let me just put this out very plainly. God has absolute sovereign authority to lay down the law for us. You need to pay attention to what I just said. God gave the law for us. The law is to be a rule for our lives. God is not under the law that He gave. God transcends His law. He is above His law because God is infinitely holy, infinitely wise, infinitely righteous, and infinitely just. And it's true God does not act contrary to His law, but God is not under His law. God is above His law. He is the giver of the law and only God can do as He pleases. That's why the Bible says in Psalm 115 in verse 3, "But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased."

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• He will save us. And when you get to the book of James chapter 4 and verse 12, the Bible says, "There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy." So the Bible then acknowledges God as the lawgiver. So let me just put this out very plainly. God has absolute sovereign authority to lay down the law for us. You need to pay attention to what I just said. God gave the law for us. The law is to be a rule for our lives. God is not under the law that He gave. God transcends His law. He is above His law because God is infinitely holy, infinitely wise, infinitely righteous, and infinitely just. And it's true God does not act contrary to His law, but God is not under His law. God is above His law. He is the giver of the law and only God can do as He pleases. That's why the Bible says in Psalm 115 in verse 3, "But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased."

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• He hath done whatsoever He is pleased. There's not one person alive today—I don't care if he is a multi-billionaire—he cannot do as he pleases. He cannot do as he pleases. I remember when I was a young boy, teenager, I could not wait to get away from home. No, it's not that I did not love my father and mother. I had a wonderful home life. No. But of course, as a boy, I had to work all the time on the farm. And the reason I wanted to get away was I wanted to get away, Brother Gary, so I could do what I wanted to do. And when I got away, I found out I couldn't do what I wanted to do.

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• I had to do what I had to do just to live. Only God can do as He pleases. Let me give you a quote by Spurgeon. Listen carefully. Spurgeon says, "God's power is likened to himself, self-existent, self-sustained. The mightiest of men cannot add so much as a shadow of increased power to the omnipotent one. He sits on no buttress throne and leans on no assisting arm."

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• "His court is not maintained by its courtiers, nor does it borrow its splendor from its creatures. He himself is the great, eternal source and originator of all power." And that is true. God is not only the lawgiver, He is also the creator. By that I mean God not only created, but He also maintains absolute control and authority over His creation. Do you understand that God has an absolute right to place and to displace peoples? He has the absolute right to kick out off of His property those who do not recognize Him, those who do not honor Him, those who do not worship Him, and those who are in disobedience and rebellion to Him. He has the absolute right to do that. The problem is so many people are going to claim that right for themselves, but refuse it to God.

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• So let's say that you're a property owner, and let's say that you have plenty of rental houses, and you rent one of your rental houses to an individual or to a family, and they go for months without paying you rent. And they're normally not paying you what they agreed to pay you. They're destroying your property. They're tearing it up.

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• Now, my question is, are you going to sit back and just fold your arms and say, "Well, it's just a house. It's just property. Let them tear it up"? No, you're not going to do that. You're going to take every measure you can to protect your property and get that person out of your house who refuses to pay the rent and acknowledge the contract that they signed. Well, the same thing is with God. Let me ask you a question before I show you a passage of Scripture. Here's a question.

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• Why were you born in the United States? Why were you not born in China? Why were you not born in Africa? Why were you not born in France? Have you ever thought Africans live in Africa? Chinese folks live in China. French folks live in France. Have you ever wondered why these geographical places are occupied by one particular group? Well, let me show you. I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Acts chapter 17. Look in Acts chapter 17.

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• And notice, if you would please, beginning there with verse 24. The apostle Paul is preaching on Mars Hill, and he says this—and watch carefully. Acts 17 verse 24: "God that made the world and all things therein"—that is, He's the creator—"seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth"—He's the sovereign—"dwelleth not in temples made with hands; neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; and hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth"—watch—"and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation."

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• Who placed you in the United States of America? Who placed the Chinese in China? Who placed the Africans in Africa? Who placed the French in France? I'm just simply pointing out it was God who set the bounds of our habitations. So God then is not only the creator, He is also the controller and caretaker of His creation. And He determined the habitation of all the peoples of the earth.

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• And yes, He gave Canaan land to the Hebrews. And yes, He kicked out the Canaanites. There is a reason I will show you just momentarily. But it's interesting. When the children of Israel were on their way to Canaan land, God placed severe limitations upon them. I want you to go back in your Bibles to the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 2. Let me show you some of these limitations. Deuteronomy, chapter 2. And let's begin reading there with verse 2. Deuteronomy 2 and verse 2, look what God says.

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• "And the LORD spake unto me, saying, Ye have compassed this mountain long enough: turn you northward. And command thou the people, saying, Ye are to pass through the coast of your brethren the children of Esau, which dwell in Seir; and they shall be afraid of you: take ye good heed unto yourselves therefore: meddle not with them; for I will not give you of their land, no, not so much as a foot breadth; because I have given mount Seir unto Esau for a possession. Ye shall buy meat of them for money, that ye may eat; and ye shall also buy water of them for money, that ye may drink."

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• But you see what God says? "Don't you meddle with these people. I gave this land to Esau and his descendants. I'm not going to give you a foot breadth. Don't even try." Skip down, if you would please, to verses 8 and 9. "And when we passed by from our brethren the children of Esau, which dwelt in Seir, through the way of the plain from Elath, and from Ezion-gaber, we turned and passed by the way of the wilderness of Moab."

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• "And the LORD said unto me, Distress not the Moabites, neither contend with them in battle: for I will not give thee of their land for a possession; because I have given Ar unto the children of Lot for a possession." Note, if you would, God says, "Don't mess with the Moabites either. I gave them their land. You're not going to get any of it." Now, it is true, obviously, clearly true that God gave Canaan land to the Israelites.

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• And He told them to dispossess the people, to kick them out. Why? Well, look in your Bible. So Deuteronomy chapter 9, I want you to see how this is emphasized in the Scripture. Deuteronomy chapter 9, and let's begin reading there with verse 3. Deuteronomy 9, verse 3: "Understand therefore this day, that the LORD thy God is he which goeth over before thee; as a consuming fire he shall destroy them, and he shall bring them down before thy face: so shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the LORD hath said unto thee. Speak not thou in thine heart"—now watch—"Speak not thou in thine heart, after that the LORD thy God hath cast them out from before thee, saying, For my righteousness the LORD hath brought me in to possess this land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD doth drive them out from before thee. Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."

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• Watch verse 6: "Understand therefore, that the LORD thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness; for thou art a stiffnecked people." Did you hear what God said? God said, "The reason I'm kicking the Canaanites out is for their wickedness, their vileness." They were idolaters. They were abominable. They were exceedingly wicked. I've read where some of the archaeologists in excavating some of these Canaanite cities saw such reprobation and such wickedness.

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• Some of them even got physically sick just looking at some of the pictures and some of the paintings and some of the stuff that they excavated. I mean, it was awful. God said, "I am driving them out."

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• Now, let me show you something absolutely amazing. Turn in your Bibles, if you would, to Genesis chapter 15. Someone is gonna say, "Well, listen, God shouldn't drive them out like that. I mean, goodness, I mean, they were sinners, yes, but everybody's a sinner." No. It is true that everybody's a sinner, but not everybody's as wicked and depraved as some people. Everyone is totally depraved, I understand that, but there are still degrees of exhibition of your depravity as well. You've got to understand this, that God is the judge of all the earth. Notice if you would, what God told Abram in Genesis 15, beginning there with verse 13. Look what He said. Genesis 15, verse 13: "And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; and also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance." Why did Abram and his descendants have to go into the land of Egypt for 400 years?

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• Well, the interesting thing is this. God says, "Because the iniquity of the Amorites was not yet full." Watch verse 15: "And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full." In other words, God certainly destroyed them. But note, if you would, He waited an additional 430 years before He destroyed them. He allowed them to live rent free for 430 years, to rebel against Him, to hate Him, to despise Him for 430 years. And now God says, "I'm bringing them out—the people of Israel out of Egypt—I'm going to bring them in."

  #52 | 36:32 to 37:27 | cleaned

• And here's what I want you to do: you dispossess them. You take their lives. You move them out of the land. God put up with the Canaanite treason and refusal to pay rent for 430 years. Stop and think about this. Governments today execute criminals. And every act of treason merits a death penalty. Have you ever stopped to think what treason really and truly is? Treason is primarily against God. And if people are going to allow a wicked civil government to execute someone for treason, when that individual is trying to murder a nation or a people, then obviously God has the right to execute those who commit treason against Him. And idolatry is indeed treason. So I want you to stop and think about this because this was actually what I pointed out to my friend. I said, "Here is what you have actually concluded."

  #53 | 37:28 to 38:40 | cleaned

• You may not have said it. You may not have thought it in these terms, but I said, "Here is the outcome of your position." When anyone takes a position that you have taken, what you're saying is this: I'm willing to allow God to be the giver of life, but not the taker of life. I will allow God to be merciful, but I will not allow God to be just. I will allow God to be the savior, but not to be the judge. I will allow God to be the creator, but not allow Him to be the condemner. I will allow God to bestow His blessings and benefits upon me, but I refuse to allow Him to remove those blessings and those benefits because of my sins and my stubbornness and my wickedness. I will allow God to give me breath, but I will turn around and use that breath to curse and condemn God without experiencing any pain or any penalty for my cursing of God. I will allow God to give me life, but I will not allow God to take my life.

  #54 | 38:41 to 39:46 | cleaned

• You think, "Well, I will allow God to give me all the abilities He wants to give me, but I'm not going to allow God to tell me how I can use those abilities. I'm going to be in control, not God." That's exactly where men are. So let me ask you this question: Who is bringing God down to their pitiful, finite, depraved human reasoning? When you come to this conclusion, what you're saying is God is not the lawgiver. I am. I determine the law. I determine right from wrong. I'm able to say who can live and who can die. So my question would be this: How dare you condemn God? And how dare you mock the judge of all the earth? What you're doing is dethroning God and enthroning yourself.

  #55 | 39:47 to 40:53 | cleaned

• Spurgeon said this in a sermon on Matthew 20 and verse 15. This is one of the greatest quotes I've ever read. It hits the nail on the head. Spurgeon said, "There is no attribute more comforting to His children than that of God's sovereignty. Under the most adverse circumstances, in the most severe trials, they believe that sovereignty has ordained their afflictions, that sovereignty overrules them, and that sovereignty will sanctify them all."

  #56 | 40:55 to 41:30 | cleaned

• "There is nothing for which the children ought to more earnestly contend than the doctrine of their Master over all creation—the kingship of God over all the works of His hands, the throne of God and His right to sit upon that throne. On the other hand, there is no doctrine more hated by worldlings, no truth of which they have made such a football, as the great, stupendous, but yet most certain doctrine of the sovereignty of the infinite Jehovah. Men will allow God to be everywhere except on His throne. They will allow Him to be in His workshop to fashion the worlds and make the stars. They will allow Him to be in His almonry to dispense His alms and bestow His bounties."

  #57 | 41:31 to 42:20 | cleaned

• "They will allow Him to sustain the earth and bear up the pillars thereof, or light the lamps of heaven, or rule the waves of the ever-moving ocean. But when God ascends His throne, His creatures then gnash with their teeth. And we proclaim an enthroned God, and His right to do as He wills with His own, to dispose of His creatures as He thinks well, without consulting them in the matter."

  #58 | 42:21 to 42:51 | cleaned

• "Then it is that we are hissed and execrated, and then it is that men turn a deaf ear to us. For God on the throne is not the God that they love, but it is the God upon the throne that we love and love to preach. It is the God upon His throne in which we trust." And that is certainly true. You begin to proclaim the absolute right for God to do as He wills and men hate and despise Him. Now, it is true that God has commanded us to love our neighbors. In fact, I'll quote that over and over, but it is also true that it is God who defines love. It is also true that it is God who tells us how to love our neighbors.

  #59 | 42:51 to 43:48 | cleaned

• Love is not some sentimental, emotional, abstract thing floating around somewhere in the universe. No. Love is the fulfilling of the law. I want you to listen. Romans 13 verses 8 through 10: "Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law." Now listen to what he's saying. Love is—listen carefully—"For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." What is love? It's not a feeling. It is obedience to God. It's acting biblically toward your neighbor. That's why God said in 1 John 5 in verse 3—listen carefully—"For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous." So love then is not some nebulous thing floating around somewhere.

  #60 | 43:48 to 45:15 | cleaned

• Love is obedience to God. Now, let me ask you a question. God has commanded us to love our neighbors as ourselves. Has it ever dawned upon you that if you love your neighbor in the way that God commands you to love your neighbor, it will involve confrontation and possibly even danger as well as self-defense? You say, "What?" Well, look in your Bibles to the book of Leviticus chapter 19. Leviticus chapter 19, and let's begin reading there with verse 17. Leviticus 19 and verse 17. Look what God says. Leviticus 19 verse 17.

  #61 | 45:15 to 46:15 | cleaned

• "Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him. Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD." Now, when He said in verse 17, "Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him." So if we love our neighbor the way God commands us to love our neighbor, we confront him when he is sinning against God. We try to rebuke him in Christian love, reprove him in Christian love, and do so humbly and sweetly and kindly, but we confront him with his sin and his rebellion. That's confrontation. And God said, if we do not confront him, then we hate him. Isn't that amazing? Now, one does not love his neighbor if he does not rebuke his neighbor when he's in sin and seek to bring him back to obedience to the Word of God.

  #62 | 46:15 to 47:33 | cleaned

• Let me go further. Loving your neighbor also includes defending him and possibly taking life. How can I say that? Well, self-defense, as I've pointed out in times past, is obligatory. The sixth commandment, "Thou shalt not kill," is a negative. The positive is "Thou shalt preserve life." I have a duty. I have an obligation. I have a responsibility to preserve my life. So if Steve then tried to kill me, I have the duty and responsibility to protect my life and preserve my life, even to the point of taking his life and stopping him from murdering me. If I allow him to murder me, I violated the sixth commandment. Now, wait a minute. If I'm going to defend myself against a vicious, unwarranted attack, what if Steve then turns around and attacks Gary? Now then, I'm obligated to protect Gary's life, even to the point of taking Steve's life. If I love Gary the way I love myself, I will protect him just the way I protect myself. You follow that? Now, let me tell you why I'm going to tell you this.

  #63 | 47:35 to 49:02 | cleaned

• This lawyer asked our Lord, "What should I do?" Our Lord says, "What does the law say?" He said, "Well," he said, "You should love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy strength, with all thy mind, and thy neighbour as thyself." Our Lord said, "You got it right." Now listen to me. Listen to that again. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself." Do you realize you cannot love your neighbor rightly unless you love God supremely? It's the love of God that fosters the love for our neighbor. The one who does not love God with all of his heart and mind and strength, he cannot love his neighbor as himself. And so when someone comes along and says, "Listen, you have to love your neighbor." Yes, you do. The Bible says in Galatians 5 in verse 14, "For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."

  #64 | 49:04 to 50:24 | cleaned

• James 2 in verse 8, "If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well."

  #65 | 50:24 to 50:33 | cleaned

• Now listen, there is absolutely no contradiction between God commanding the deaths of the Canaanites and the deaths of any other individuals who were wicked and vile and in loving our neighbors as ourselves. God defended His own people by taking the lives of His enemies and their enemies. And if we love our neighbors as ourselves, we're willing to defend their lives, even to the point of taking the lives of others.

  #66 | 50:33 to 51:08 | cleaned

• And you have to remember this: God is not under His law. We are the ones that are under His law. God is creator. God is lawgiver. He is judge. He is king. He is savior. And He acts in each role and in each attribute. Anytime you deny any aspect of God, you are denying God. Period.

  #67 | 51:10 to 51:36 | cleaned

• Now, let me make some applications. First of all, we must remember that there's no comparison between the mind of God and the mind of man. God is infinite and we are finite. If I do not understand something, I'd much rather give God the benefit of the doubt. I'd much rather say, "Lord, my mind is so puny and so weak. And Lord, unless You open my eyes and enlighten my mind, I will never see the answer to this. I'll never be able to explain it. But Lord, until You give me light, I'm going to trust You. I'm going to lean upon You." As the Scripture says, those who walk in darkness lean upon Him. So I'm not going to condemn God just because I have a lack of understanding and I cannot comprehend certain things.

  #68 | 51:37 to 52:37 | cleaned

• The second one is this: If we truly wish to comprehend and understand and grasp truth, we must study to show ourselves approved unto God, workmen that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the truth of God. So how many people do you know that will come up and say, "There are vast contradictions in the Bible and I've studied them out"? No, you haven't studied anything out. You have assumed certain things and you've just come to the conclusion. You don't understand it, so it must be a contradiction.

  #69 | 52:38 to 53:14 | cleaned

• And you have to remember this: God does not give all men equal light. Neither does He give men light at the same time, as well as in the same degree. It is our refusal to study that is sin as well, because God commanded us to study. The third application is this: Do not mock God. Do not condemn God. You have to remember you start mocking God—what does the Bible say? "Be not deceived; God is not mocked."

  #70 | 53:16 to 53:56 | cleaned

• "For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." You start mocking God, you're setting yourself up for destruction and mockery yourself. Years ago, I was preaching in Ohio. In the church there was an American Indian. We went out to eat every day. And this American Indian who was a member of that church was with us at every meal—his pastor, myself, a couple of other men. And I thought I was having decent fellowship with him. Until the last day that I was there, we went to dinner.

  #71 | 53:56 to 54:42 | cleaned

• And he sat quietly across the table from me, never said a word. Kind of had his head down. So I called his name and I asked him, "What's wrong?" And he looked up at me and he said, "You white men stole our land." I looked at him and I said, "Let me tell you something and listen carefully. It was not your land. It is God's land. He created this earth. The Bible says, 'The earth is the LORD's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.' Everything belongs to Him. I said, 'Your people were running around worshiping eagles and trees and everything else.' And I said, 'And you were idolaters, and God had an absolute right to dispatch you and to take you off the land and give it to someone else.' And I said, 'That's exactly what He did.'"

  #72 | 54:43 to 55:44 | cleaned

• "And He gave it to us." I said, "But let me go further. God has the absolute right to kick us out of the land and off the land when we refuse to give God honor and glory and obedience. God can displace whomever He pleases, whenever He pleases, because the earth is the Lord's. He's the creator. He's the caretaker. He's the controller of it. God is absolutely sovereign. Not ever try to elevate yourself by thinking somehow you're more intelligent than God. You're not."

  #73 | 55:44 to 56:23 | cleaned

• And you never will be, because God is God and you're not. There's no contradiction. Just as God defended His people and took lives, so even under "love thy neighbor as thyself," we're to defend our neighbor and take life if it is necessary. God is not only creator, He's not only lawgiver, He's judge. And a judge has the absolute right to pronounce a sentence of execution. He has an absolute right to pronounce a sentence of dispatching or dispossessing someone.

  #74 | 56:24 to 57:05 | cleaned

• Judges do it all the time here in the land. Moreover, our God is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is sovereign. So don't come along saying there's contradictions. No, our puny minds are not able to be pitted against the infinite mind of a sovereign God of heaven and earth. Let's just give God the benefit of the doubt and say, "Lord, I'm going to trust You until You open my eyes and give me understanding in this matter."

  #75 | 57:06 to 57:45 | cleaned

• Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee. We thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your truth. Lord, help us to lean upon Thee. Help us to trust Thee and look to Thee and glorify Thy great name. May, Father, we not mock Thee. Lord, there's a multitude of things we do not understand and probably will never understand in this life. But Lord, we shall understand in eternity. And until then, we can trust You that Thou art infinitely wise and You say and do that which is for our good and Your glory. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.

  #76 | 57:46 to 58:32 | cleaned

• so so

  #77 | 58:54 to 58:55 | cleaned

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T21:18:32Z