Relevance of Biblical Prophecy 2

[00:00:00] In the letter to the Colossians and chapter one. [00:00:09] Colossians, chapter one and verse nine. [00:00:26] For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray and make request for you that ye may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, to walk worthily of the Lord unto all pleasing, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all power according to the might of his glory, unto all patience and long suffering with joy, giving thanks unto the father, who made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in life, who delivered us out of the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of the son of his love, in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins, who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For in him were all things created in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things have been created through him and unto him and he is before all things, and in him all things consists. [00:02:13] And he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the first born from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence. [00:02:26] For it was the good pleasure of the father that in him should all the fulness dwell, and through him to reconcile all things unto himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross, through him I say, whether things upon the earth or things in the heavens, and you being in time past alienated and enemies in your mind, in your evil works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and without blemish and unreprovable before him. If so be that ye continue in the faith grounded and steadfast and not moved away from the hope of the gospel which ye heard, which was preached in all creation under heaven, whereon I, Paul, was made a minister. [00:03:37] Sufferings, for your sake, fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church whereof I was made a minister, according to the dispensation of God, which was given me to you, Lord, to fulfil the word of God. Even the mystery which hath been hid for ages and generations, but now hath it been manifested to his saints, to whom God was pleased to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the gentiles, which is Christ in you the hope of glory whom we proclaim, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ, whereunto I labour also striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily. [00:04:47] Now this evening we are going to take the second part of our study upon this matter, the relevance for today of biblical prophecy. [00:05:02] Last week we spoke, you will remember about, we spoke on two matters. First, what do we mean by the word prophecy? And you'll remember we found that it meant a good deal more than most people realize. Most people think that prophecy is prediction and it's a much, much wider thing. Biblical prophecy is much, much wider in its scope and meaning than just prediction. It is really the forth telling of the mind of God on any given subject. It has to do with the past, the present and the future. It can be explanation, it can be revelation, the declaration of the mind of God concerning a given matter at a given time. [00:05:59] And we talked quite a lot, I think, about that last week. Then we spoke about the relevance of biblical prophecy for today, because this is the whole problem. There are those who will accept that there are certain lessons to be learned from God's prophecy, prophets of old and what they said, but they feel that all those prophecies have for the major part been fulfilled and that we are just left with the lessons from their lives and the lessons of fulfilled prophecy. And so we spoke about the relevance of biblical prophecy for today. You remember we looked at that literal word in two Peter, chapter one and verse 19. [00:06:51] We have the word of prophecy made more sure whereunto ye do well, that ye take heed as unto a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts. Knowing this first, that no prophecy of scripture is of private interpretation until the day dawn. So biblical prophecy has very much relevance for today. And you will remember that we said, in fact, it is very more relevant than much of what we hear over the news media, very much more contemporary and relevant. And we spoke about a number of things in connection with the relevance for today of biblical prophecy. Remember, we spoke about how some prophecies have a double and even a treble fulfillment. And this is one of the reasons why people have a problem, because some prophet like Isaiah or Jeremiah spoke of a return from exile. There are those who believe that that prophecy was completely, its fulfillment, was completely exhausted in the return from Babylon. But when we study the prophecies quite more carefully, we discover that, in fact, it seems that it has a further fulfillment and indeed we are seeing today the fulfillment of many of those prophecies given so many thousands of years ago. We looked at a number of scriptures. We looked especially at Matthew 24, you will remember, as an example of prophecy which was not exhausted in its first fulfillment. Although the Lord was speaking about when would the temple be destroyed and the city be destroyed. It is quite clear from some of the things he said that that was not final fulfillment, because there were certain things which did not take place in the first fulfillment in 70 ad. Well, now we have also spoken a number. I think I made mention of the fact that we must be very careful of what the scripture calls private interpretations. Oh, and there are plenty of them. When it comes to prophecy, what it means is that we must remember that scripture interprets scripture and we must never build a doctrine on a single phrase or a parable or upon any one truth. We must remember that it is all the truth together that finally adjusts everything. And it is because of a non recognition of this principle that you have such contradictory interpretations of prophecy. [00:09:58] There are many other things that we spoke about concerning the relevance of prophecy for today. Indeed, some of the prophecies are shut up, are sealed up till the time of the end, which surely means that their relevance is for the last days. Well, now, I won't say any more about that, or we will not have time to cover the matter this evening. I want now to speak this evening upon what is the relevance of biblical prophecy for today. [00:10:32] Not the fact that it has something to say for today, but what does it say? What has it got to say? What is its relevance? [00:10:42] What is its relevance for us in the day in which we live? [00:10:48] Firstly, in its most general terms, there are three things I want to underline in its most general terms, the relevance of biblical prophecy. First, it is the explanation of human history. [00:11:10] It is the explanation of human history. Its relevance is that here we have the mind of God declared as to the meaning of human history. [00:11:31] We cannot find anywhere else such an authoritative, dogmatic, categorical revelation are the meaning behind human history. What lies behind creation? What lies behind human life? What lies behind the very constitution of man? Why did God constitute us, spirit, soul and body? [00:12:09] What lies behind the fall? [00:12:12] What lies behind sin? [00:12:15] What lies behind the redemption of God, the redeeming purpose of God, the coming of Christ into this world to save us? Not just the act of saving us or the purpose of saving us, but why we have in biblical prophecy the revelation of the eternal purpose of God. Not all the teaching in the world could have discovered that meaning it had to come by the Holy Spirit, moving men to speak, to speak the word of God. And as it were, to reveal, to express to us the mind of God in this matter. [00:13:11] If you turn to Ephesians chapter three and verse eleven, we have this wonderful little word according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord. [00:13:34] Or again, if you turn to John chapter one and verse 18, we read these words. No man hath seen God at any time. The only begotten son who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. [00:13:54] So we have the explanation of human history. God had an eternal purpose. In other words, God had an original purpose in the creation of this universe, in the creation of human life, in the constitution of you and me, the way that we have been constituted, he had a purpose in it. Many people muddle this up and think that the eternal purpose of God was to save mankind. But before ever the fall came, before sin entered into the human race, God had a purpose in his mind. And it is that original purpose of God, that age long purpose of God, which is the explanation of human history, both of its dark side and of its light side. [00:15:02] Now I read to you, Colossians chapter one. Why did I read Colossians chapter one? Because it may be a surprise to you that this is prophecy. [00:15:14] Colossians chapter one. Not the way he speaks about praying for them, but what he goes on to say is not teaching. This is prophetic. Listen, you've got an explanation of something that could have come by no other way than a revelation from God. Listen to what he says. [00:15:33] Verse 14. [00:15:35] In whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins, who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. There you begin to have the explanation of human history. Go on. For in him were all things created in the heavens and upon the earth. Things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions, visible or invisible, remember or principalities or powers, all things have been created through him and for him. [00:16:19] So we have the explanation of human history. [00:16:24] We have the explanation of all that has been created. It was all created through Christ, and it was all created for Christ, and it all exists in him. For he goes on to say, and he is before all things, and in him all things hold together or consist. For it was the good pleasure of the father that in him should all of fullness dwell. [00:16:55] And he is the head of the body, the church. I'm sorry, I've gone on to verse 19. And he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, the that in all things he might have the preeminence, for it was the good pleasure of the father that in him should all the fullness dwell, and through him to reconcile all things unto himself. Now, there you have a prophetic word that's not just teaching, that's a prophetic word. That is an explanation of all history. We've got there the key to why the creation came into being. We have the key as to the very meaning of creation. It was something done through Christ, and it was something created for Christ. And we find that it is in him that it holds together. [00:17:50] And then we've got the explanation of how God, why God has answered the fall, and through him to reconcile all things unto himself. [00:18:04] And we have the explanation again, put even more. For in him it was the good pleasure of the father that in him should all the fullness dwell. [00:18:15] We have the explanation, if you like, of the calling out of a redeemed people. He is the head of the body, which is the church, that in all things he might have the preeminence. Now, no doubt thats making your minds reel a bit. [00:18:35] But the fact of the matter is youve got an explanation here thats not teaching. Teaching now comes out of this prophetic. So prophecy precedes teaching. You see, God has spoken, and thousands of teachers will follow in the wake of the prophet, and they will take up these things and start to teach them and teach them and teach them and teach them. [00:19:00] But the beginning is here in prophecy. Now, doesn't this begin to lift our whole idea of prophecy onto another level? We've got the explanation of human history here. [00:19:15] For instance, I think going back to Isaiah, chapter twelve. Now listen to this. Isaiah is now not talking about the future. He's talking about the past. You remember we said sometimes prophecy is all to do with the past. It's the explanation of the past. Isaiah, chapter twelve. No, that's wrong. Chapter 14, verse twelve and 13. [00:19:44] How art thou fallen from heaven, o day, star, sun of the morning? How art thou cut down to the ground, thou that didst lay low the nations? And thou saidst in thy heart, I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit upon the mount of the congregation in the uttermost parts of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will make myself like the most high. [00:20:16] Now you have the explanation there of the dark side of human history. Why was there a need of redemption. Why did man fall? How did sin come in? We're not told the whole answer, but we're given by prophecy. We are given an explanation which is sufficient for us. And what is the explanation that this great created being called Lucifer, son of the morning, Satan has said, I will not have this Christ. [00:20:54] I will be like the most high. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. [00:21:03] So you have the explanation of human history, of time, of the whole battle between dark, lightness, light and darkness, light and dark, good and evil. [00:21:21] Oh, so much more. I wish I could say it. What is the purpose of God? [00:21:27] What is the purpose of God? [00:21:30] Biblical prophecy. [00:21:35] The relevance of biblical prophecy is that it tells us that the heart of God was that there should be a bride for his son. Now, this is putting it in human words. You understand, God takes human terms, terms that we can understand, intimate terms. And he says, now, this is what I deserve desired for you. I wanted to bring you in my creation of this whole universe and my creation of man. I wanted to bring you into such an intimate union with myself into such an intimate union with myself through my son, in my son, that it was like a marriage relationship. [00:22:22] That's why marriage has been instituted, to signify this mystic union between Christ and his church. But if there had been no fall and there had been no sin, there would have been not. Well, we wouldn't have called it the church. The church would have been the whole human race. Do you understand? [00:22:44] There would have been no old man and new man. There would have only been a man and that man would have been brought into union with Christ. A bride for God, a home for God, a temple for God's habitation in the spirit, a city in which God's glory and government was manifested and known to the ends of the universe. However you like to look at it, it's all there. A body, a home, a bride, a temple, a city. It's used in different terms, but wherever you go in the Bible, from Genesis to revelation, you will find this purpose of God lying behind all things expressed, declared, revealed. That is the relevance of biblical prophecy. [00:23:39] Because you and I are given by the Holy Spirit an understanding of what lies behind human history, of what lies behind the fall, of what lies behind our redemption. [00:23:59] You and I were not saved that we might just become witnesses or that you and I might just serve the Lord. Of course that's true. You and I were not saying that we might just have peace and joy. That also is true. You and I were saved, that we might become as it were the home of God, we might become the resting place of God, the eternal resting place of God, the eternal dwelling place of God, that you and I might become the bride of Christ, the wife of the lamb, that we might become, as it were, the means for the government of God to go out to the ends of the universe and perhaps even beyond. [00:24:42] Thats why God, if I may speak in such simple terms, why God took such a risk with man, why he created man in his own image. That means he gave him a will. He gave him a kind of moral responsibility. He gave him a genius, which is a pale reflection, God, the ability to create, the ability to be creative, all these things God gave to man. [00:25:15] The thought of God was that man should come into a union with himself. And we have all this from the beginning in the Bible. Now you take Genesis, chapter two. Genesis, chapter two isn't teaching. Genesis chapter two is prophetic. [00:25:32] For there we have revealed to us the fact that there was a tree of life. [00:25:36] What does it mean, the tree of life? [00:25:41] And why have we got there? This amazing story of the marriage of Adam and Eve? It is quite clear when you look at the books that it is not just and only the literal and earthly side of it. It is taken as signifying something, expressing something, declaring something, manifesting something. It is prophetic, and it is relevant for us to the end of time, because there we have the key to everything. This fallen man is built on the basis of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He is a little God. [00:26:24] Satan spoke half the truth when he said, you shall be as God. In other words, you will be like a little demigod. You will be able to say, I will do this. I will do that. I am self sufficient. I am independent. [00:26:42] Or the tree of life. [00:26:45] All the way through the Bible, you will find from that point all the way through, right to the last pages of the Bible, you find the tree of life. And that tree of life speaks of a life in union with Christ. [00:27:00] So youve got the two things there over this. There has been the whole battle of time right through to the end. And theres no doubt about it, the enemy doesnt even like us talking about it this evening. It is a strange thing. He doesnt like the gospel being preached in its simplicity, that is just to unsaved people. [00:27:24] He doesnt like that. But if theres one thing it seems to me he hates more than anything else, its any talk about this original purpose of God. Why? Because it goes right back to his original mistake. [00:27:37] If he knows, hes made a mistake. I dont even know. Pride is so incredible that you never admit to a mistake. [00:27:46] That finds a lot of us out, doesnt it? [00:27:48] But pride is just like that. And I have a very deep suspicion that Satan has never admitted to any mistake. [00:27:58] But it goes right back to before time and touches the enemy in his most sensitive spot. [00:28:11] This whole matter, it's over. This, that has been the whole battle. The whole of human history is explained in a conflict between truth and the lie, between light and darkness, between good and evil, between God and Satan, Christ and the devil. [00:28:39] Every now and again in the Bible we get a picture of this. [00:28:42] The curtain is drawn aside and we see that all these things that we see, things visible, are only really the expression of spiritual forces that lie behind them. [00:28:55] Isn't that what the apostle Paul meant when he said, we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against world rulers of this present darkness, against hosts of wicked spirits in the heavenly places? [00:29:12] Isn't that what was meant when the angel came to Daniel and said to him in the most extraordinary terms, Daniel, my dear fellow, your prayer was heard the first day you opened your mouth. But I've been waylaid on my journey. What does it mean? [00:29:31] He says, the prince of so and so, I think it's Persia or Greece came and withstood me. And then there was a battle between these two. And he said evidently he had overcome. And he said, now I've come to tell you the answer to your prayers. God has spoken. And then he gave him an amazing revelation of the mind of God concerning the coming Messiah. [00:29:52] Write down a detailed time, right down to times. [00:30:00] And then he said, now I must go because the prince of so and so needs me in this matter. Well, you might say Daniel might have thought. What is he talking about? [00:30:11] The only big boss around here is Cyrus or Darius or somebody else. Who is he talking about? It was a revelation of something that all these kingdoms have behind them. Spiritual forces, world rulers of this present darkness, principalities and powers, hosts of wicked spirits in the heavenly places. There's a battle. What is the battle over. Over little you and little me? No. [00:30:39] Do you think the whole battle is over me or over you? Why? We are nothing. Satan could walk over me tonight if he wanted to in within half an hour. And he could do the same with you, left to ourselves. But don't you see? We are the redeemed of the Lord. [00:30:59] We, having been delivered from the power of darkness, have been transferred into another kingdom. And he hates it. [00:31:08] It's the flag we're wearing, not us. It's the name that we're named with not our names. It's the name of Jesus. He hates it. [00:31:19] Hates it. And that's why Satan hates baptism. [00:31:24] Because baptism is not just the forgiveness of sins, nor just some initiation ceremony. Baptism is the testimony that you've been taken out of one whole old realm, put into another by the sovereign power of God alone and in spite of Satan and hell. [00:31:44] The explanation of human history in this matter of the eternal purpose of God centers the redeeming purpose of God and upon it centers the destructive purpose of Satan. [00:32:00] Think about that. The whole redeeming purpose of God is centered on this. Why has God redeemed us? So he just redeems us, full stop. No, he has saved us back into his original plan. Isn't that wonderful? That's why God is so great, because he hasn't put aside his original plan. He's not going to allow Satan to undo him. [00:32:25] He's Satan all right. We'll wait a few thousand years, but we'll get it done. [00:32:32] Satan's not going to stop. And as c t studs it, in the end, Satan becomes a servant of God because God uses Satan to do the very thing that Satan is trying to undo. [00:32:46] Many of us were pushed to the Lord by Satan. [00:32:51] He made us that miserable and that unhappy and so empty that we were driven to God. I'm not going to say we should thank God for the devil, but you understand what has happened. It is perfectly true. S t stud did thank God for the devil, got into a lot of trouble because of it. [00:33:11] But the fact of the matter is that God has used Satan and such is Satan's pride that he can't even see it. [00:33:20] What a terrible thing pride is on this whole matter centers the redeeming purpose of God has saved us, to put us back into his eternal purpose, back into the original plan, and is going to go right onto its fulfillment and its accomplishment. [00:33:42] Satan, the destructive plan or purpose of Satan is also centred upon this plan. If he can destroy it, he will. If he can destroy the knowledge of it, he will. Why are the people of God so ignorant as to the eternal purpose of God? Why, if the apostle Paul says it's been hid from ages and generations, but now hath it been revealed unto us, why is it that the people of God are so hopelessly unaware and ignorant of this tremendous fact? [00:34:20] People get all excited about details of prophecy or whether we're going before the tribulation, during the tribulation, or after the tribulation of when and where this will happen and how and when that will happen. And they don't even know what lies behind human history. [00:34:39] As if biblical prophecy is only to do with times and dates and localities. [00:34:45] Biblical prophecy is the explanation of human history and the explanation of Satan's hatred and the explanation of God's redeeming love and purpose. [00:35:05] All is explained in the end, in two cities. It can truly be said of the Bible that it is the tale of two cities, Babylon and Jerusalem. As far as the Bible is concerned, there are only two cities, Babylon and Jerusalem. And if you go back to Genesis, chapter eleven and twelve, you find in chapter eleven the story of Babel. [00:35:42] This was a human city created by man, organized by man. It was the genius of fallen man. And if you read carefully the story in Genesis, chapter eleven, you will find that they got on so well that they said, we will build a tower that will reach to heaven. Now, many people only stop with the fact that they were building some kind of. They had some kind of high rise development in Babel. And others go further and think of it as some form of spiritism. They had astrological instruments on top. But in fact, there at the very beginning almost of the Bible, you have the whole of man's history in a cameo. [00:36:32] It was fallen man's determination that he, by his own genius, by his own strength, by his own power, would bring heaven and earth together. [00:36:45] And the whole of human history from that day to this has been the dream of a utopia, a dream of a paradise coming to this earth by man's own efforts and man's own ingenuity all these thousands of years have not proved yet to man that he is not capable of it. Still today, in 19 70, 74, he believes that he is capable of bringing a golden age in by his own resources and with his own ingenuity. It's all there. [00:37:21] Babil means originally gate of God. Oh, they said, what shall we call this city, which is the creation of our minds, of our genius, of our hands? We will call it the gate of God. God's gate. [00:37:40] And with great humor, some jewish scribe changed it to bavel, from Babil to bavel. By the spirit of God, he changed it, which means confusion. [00:37:57] God said, what you call my gate? The gateway into heaven, the gateway into a paradise, gateway into a golden age, gateway into a utopia. I call it confusion. [00:38:14] And the whole of human history has written over it. Babel. [00:38:19] Confusion, confusion, confusion. And are we not confused? We see the pyramids, but we hear of the wickedness of the pharaohs. We see. We hear of the hanging gardens. Botanical zoological gardens of Babylon. And we hear of the wickedness of Nebuchadnezzar. And the babylonian rulers. We hear of the glory of Nineveh. And we know that the Syrians were famed for their cruelty. Throughout the ancient world. [00:38:48] We think of the greatness of Greece and of Rome. But we also know how evil and wicked they were as well. [00:38:58] Here is all the genius of man. Here is the resourcefulness of men. Don't you see? All the way through scripture, Bavel became Babylon. [00:39:09] And in fact, in the Hebrew it is always Bavel, always Babel. [00:39:16] But we use the greek word Babylon in English. And so you miss perhaps the point that Babel and Babylon are the same. [00:39:28] And so you go right the way through the Bible. Right the way through. And you find that Babylon is taken for a symbol. And Babylon, what is it a symbol of? It is a symbol of man's resources, man's ingenuity, man's genius. Fallen man in all his power and might and glory and religiousness. [00:39:51] It's all there. [00:39:54] Right the way through to the very end of the Bible. Till you come to the last chapters of revelation. And what do you find? You find in chapter 17 and 18. [00:40:04] Babylon. [00:40:07] When Babylon had long since ceased to exist in New Testament times. There it was. Babylon. [00:40:17] What does it all speak of? It has become a symbol for something. Now, dear child of God, don't think of Babylon as just the place. Babylon. You must remember. It is a symbol. London is Babylon. Washington is Babylon. Moscow is Babylon. Zurich is Babylon. The jerusalem. Which is down here. Israeli Babylon. That's what it says in the book of revelation. [00:40:42] Where they crucified our Lord. It says, spiritually, Egypt. [00:40:49] It's all Babylon. Babylon, Babylon, Babylon. Why? [00:40:53] Because it is the city which has not got the foundations. [00:40:58] It apparently is so beautiful, so magnificent, so well organized, so well built. But it hasn't got the foundations. [00:41:06] Move over to Genesis, chapter twelve. And you find that in one of these cities. In this great babel complex called ur of the Chaldees. God appears to a man called Abram. And he says to him, get out unto a place that I will show you. And out goes AbrahAm into the wilderness. [00:41:32] By faith. [00:41:37] How does Stephen in his last great Message describe it? He puts it like the God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham. [00:41:51] And said to him, get thee out of thy father's house and of thy kindred. [00:42:01] It was glory then. It was something to do with glory. Not mans glory, but divine glory. [00:42:09] All the way through the scriptures you will find glory is associated with BAbylon. Mans glory. Mans might in revelation 1718. Thats what they say. Oh, they said the glory of Babylon. What has come of the glory of Babylon? She has overthrown. [00:42:29] The writer to the HebreWs tells us quite clearly. He explains the whole of AbRams pilgrimage. And this is how he puts it in Hebrews, chapter eleven. [00:42:44] Hebrews, chapter eleven. [00:42:47] And verse ten or verse eight. By faith, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out into a place which he was to receive for an inheritance. And he went out not knowing whither he went. Verse ten. For he looked for the city which has the foundations, whose builder and maker or architect is God. [00:43:14] And a little farther over, it says in the same chapter, verse 16. [00:43:20] But now they desire a better country. That is a heavenly wherefore God is not ashamed of them to be called their God, for he hath prepared for them a city. Now, the Bible is explained by two cities. First, from the beginning, you begin to find this one called Babel, or Babylon, going right the way through to the last chapters of the Bible. And now you begin to find Jerusalem. And all the way through you find Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Jerusalem. Till you come to the last chapters of the Bible. And there you have Jerusalem coming down out of heaven, having the glory of God. The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham. It's all to do with glory. Babylon never gets the glory she never achieves the end. She has not got the foundations, she collapses. [00:44:16] Jerusalem, Jerusalem win she goes right through because her origin is in God. [00:44:27] Babylon came up out of the earth. It was built up out of the earth. It's very interesting. Many of us cannot quite grasp this. It hurts us somehow in our sensibilities that this Babylon is not just all bad. There is so much in this Babylon which is good. And in revelation 1718, you're told about the music and all the culture and the education. [00:44:54] There is so much that's beautiful. When you look at this world, you think of the music that there is. It is man's genius. Many of the composers of that marvelous music, which spoke the language of the human heart and was in so many instances human genius, lived absolutely and totally rotten lives. [00:45:18] Many of the greatest pieces of architecture in the world were built at the cost of human blood, in abject wickedness all the way through. You've got this twistedness, this confusion, barbel confusion. [00:45:38] It's everywhere. It perplexes you. Some people get so upset about this. They say, oh, but I love good music. At least I thought we'd get that in heaven, of course, you'll get good music in heaven, of course you will. [00:45:51] But you may not hear some of the stuff down here. Youll get better. [00:46:00] The point is this, that the whole thing is Babylon. And isnt it amazing that when it comes to the end of the Bible, and I remember when I was younger, I could never understand this, that all the people, all the angels and the multitude of the redeemed, they shouted hallelujah when they saw Babylon going up in smoke. [00:46:21] And I fear sometimes that some of us would find it rather hard to say hallelujah. We think of many things that we have an affection for in this world, things that we feel somehow are the product of genius. [00:46:35] They've got cultural merit and value. [00:46:40] They're good things we feel. But you see, God is not judging as to whether the thing is good apparently or bad apparently. He's judging as to whether it's got the foundations. [00:46:50] Has it got the foundations? If it hasn't got the foundations, however apparently decent and good it might be, it will fail. [00:47:03] Where, may I ask, do you get such an explanation of human history but from biblical prophecy? You won't find it anywhere else, and in many theological colleges you won't find it either. [00:47:16] Where does it come from? It comes from the book. [00:47:20] Why is it that all the way through the book you got it wherever you turn? What is Zion? Why Zion, Zion, Zion, we think, great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God and all the rest of it. And very few people understand what theyre singing about. What is Zion? Why has God chosen Zion for this habitation? Why is it that little dried up hump of a hill in Jerusalem? [00:47:51] Of course not. [00:47:54] Well, I wouldnt say that myself. [00:47:58] Ive got quite an affection for it. [00:48:02] Nevertheless. [00:48:05] Nevertheless, it represents something spiritual. [00:48:10] Something spiritual. Zion, Zion. Everywhere you go you find daughter of Zion. [00:48:17] Zion, Jerusalem. It's everywhere. Through the scriptures you think of psalm 46. [00:48:25] God is our refuge, a very present help in the time of trouble. [00:48:32] Therefore will we not fear. Though the mountains shake and so on and so on and all the catastrophe and shaking. And then there is a river, the streams whereof make land. The city of God. [00:48:47] God is in the midst of her. She shall not be moved. You find it everywhere through the Bible. Zion, the city of God, Jerusalem, what is it all about? [00:49:06] Youve got only two cities in the Bible, and all of us are found in one or other of those cities. [00:49:14] Youre either in Babylon or youre in Jerusalem. [00:49:22] Youre either of the earth or your from heaven and the only way you can get out of Babylon into Jerusalem is by the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. [00:49:39] He takes you into the grave, cuts the link between you and Babylon, and takes you out in his resurrection into the New Jerusalem. That's why it's called the mother of us all. [00:49:53] That is the explanation of human history. Now that's only just one point. You see, the explanation of human history, it's everywhere you look in the Bible. What does the writers of the Hebrews say in chapter twelve? He says, ye are come unto Mount Zion, unto the heavenly Jerusalem, the church of the firstborn. You've come there. And then he contradicts himself. Not really, but he does in Hebrews 13 and verse 14 when he says, we have here no continuing city, but we seek one which is to come. [00:50:32] Youve come and you havent come. [00:50:35] Thats the paradox of being a child of God. Were out of Babylon and were in the Jerusalem, and yet were still arriving there, were still seeking it. [00:50:46] Oh, how wonderful this whole matter really is when we see the whole of history explained by these two cities, Babylon, Jerusalem. [00:50:58] In the end, Babylon comes to its final glory in revelation 17 and 18, spreads itself over the whole earth, encompasses everything, and in a moment it's destroyed. [00:51:15] But the Jerusalem which is going to outlast all comes down out of heaven. It doesn't come from the earth. It wasn't produced by the earth, nor by man's resources, nor by man's ingenuity, nor by his education or his genius. It was the genius of God, the work of the Holy Spirit. [00:51:38] And she comes down from heaven. [00:51:41] That leads me to a second thing about the relevance of biblical prophecy. We won't get very much farther this evening. [00:51:47] And that is, I've put it like this, the warning concerning origins. [00:51:53] The warning concerning origins. [00:51:57] I don't know how else to put it really. But what is the relevance of biblical prophecy? [00:52:03] Its relevance is the warning that it gives concerning origins. [00:52:13] Origin determines destiny. [00:52:23] All the prophets put their finger on this matter of origins as the determining factor in everything. [00:52:34] One that the psalmist put it so beautifully. He said, when finally all the peoples are registered, added up, it will be said, of this one, he was born there in Jerusalem, and of that one he was born there. And he ends up that beautiful psalm by saying, all my springs are in thee. That's in a nutshell. [00:52:57] That's it in a nutshell. [00:52:59] What is your origin? [00:53:02] May I ask you? What is the origin of your salvation? [00:53:05] Is there a vestige of your salvation that has its origin in you? [00:53:10] In this you must be good Calvinists. [00:53:13] No, not a single thing. Not a single thing. [00:53:18] The origin of your salvation is totally in God. He was the one who drew you, he was the one who gave you repentance, he was the one who gave you the gift of faith. He was the one who saved you. [00:53:33] If you can say that your salvation has its origin in you, dear person, dear, I was going to say dear child of God, I will have to say, dear friend, you're not saved. [00:53:44] You've got a self manufactured salvation. [00:53:49] You, your Christianity has got its origin in you. [00:53:58] Your good works, your resolution, your character, your ingenuity, this is true of your christian life. This is where most christians make the mistake. They know they can't say themselves. They see it with the eye of faith and they say, lord, you are my saviour, you died to save me, I receive you, I cast myself upon you. But then they start a christian life which has its origin in them. [00:54:29] Having received the savior as their salvation, they don't take him as their life. They start to live their own kind of life and dress it up. That's rather like sort of tying apples on an apple tree to make it an apple tree. [00:54:48] That's what many people do, I'm afraid. [00:54:51] They try somehow or other to live this christian life. And the whole thing is try and try and try again. [00:54:59] And what you're doing, you're tying on all the fruits, you get this one and you try a bit of humility and you tie it on. But it still shrivels because it's not coming from the life inside the tree, it's something from without that you are trying to tie on the tree. It can't be done. It is the fruit of the spirit which is love, joy, peace, long suffering that comes from a life inside. What is the origin of your christian life? Don't you begin to see it? [00:55:34] You have been crucified with Christ, thats gods estimate of you. [00:55:42] Dont try to christianize yourself. [00:55:46] Leave yourself where God has put you on the cross and in the grave. [00:55:51] Say farewell to yourself and come out in Christ and walk in newness of life and say, ive got nothing, nothing, nothing but my savior and he is everything and he will be my life and he will be my love and he will be my grace and he will be my power, he will be my all. What is the origin of your christian life? Origin determines destiny. Many a so called christian life will be shattered at the coming of the Lord. [00:56:22] It will be seen in an instant. [00:56:24] In an instant that it's self manufactured. [00:56:29] It didn't come through faith in God. It didn't come by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. It didn't come by the manifestation of Christ in us. [00:56:41] It was something we concocted. [00:56:45] That's the whole tragedy of trying to be something. [00:56:50] Not that we want everyone to be themselves spiritual, especially when theyre ghastly, but you know the kind you get people who say, well, thats me. And youll have to put up with it. But thats not the spirit either. But nevertheless, you know, we hinder the Lord greatly when we become artificial. We try to be like the others. We try to act like the others and talk like the others and walk like the others and do everything like the others. [00:57:18] We become little imitations. God cant change imitations. He cant deal with imitations. He wants you. [00:57:25] Its you he wants. He wants to get his hands on you and do something with you. And he wants a really original manifestation of Christ in you. [00:57:36] So that its through the colour of your eyes that we see Christ, and its through the complexion of your skin we see Christmas. And it's through your hands that we see Christ, and through your personality that we see Christ. [00:57:55] Origins. [00:57:57] Here it is all contained. Again, I believe in a prophetic word. What is of the earth is earthy, all it. Again. [00:58:10] What is born of flesh is flesh. [00:58:18] It can never go into the spiritual dimension if it's only flesh. Or again, the city which has the foundations. You can call foundations origins. A house originates with its foundations. [00:58:35] The city which has the foundations origins, because it's got the foundations. That city is unshakable, immovable, invincible. It will go through. [00:58:50] You may have got some other city that may look like the real thing, even more grand in some ways, but it won't go through. It hasn't got the foundation. [00:59:01] Don't you think this is really what the Lord was trying to say in a personal way when he spoke at the end of the sermon on the mountain, that final word about two men who built a house, one on rock, one on sand. The two houses looked exactly alike. [00:59:18] It was the storm, the wind, the flood, which found out the difference. [00:59:26] For the difference in those houses was not in what they were, apparently, but in what could not be seen with the naked eye. It was in their foundation. [00:59:38] One had the topsoil of its own nature, the other had dug right down through the topsoil of its own nature, to the nature of Christ the rock. [00:59:54] There's so much more we could say on this. This is prophetic revelation. [00:59:58] The relevance of biblical prophecy. Who would have ever understood that? Why, you and I would be taken in by many things, but for biblical prophecy, which puts its finger unerringly upon origins and says, don't be taken in. [01:00:15] For instance, let me give you an illustration. It has long been my belief that Ishmael looked more like Abraham than Isaac. [01:00:24] Well, why not? [01:00:28] I bet you that Ishmael was the split image of his father. [01:00:33] And everyone could say, you can see who he is. [01:00:36] He's one of Abraham's lot. [01:00:39] Look at the nose, look at the eyes. [01:00:44] And Isaac was probably very much like his mother or someone else. [01:00:53] But the word of God puts its finger not on what is apparent, but on origin. [01:01:03] Where did Ishmael originate? Not in God nor in heaven. He originated in a human plan, thought out by Sarah and accepted and ratified by Abraham. [01:01:24] Ishmael's origin was not God. Therefore, Ishmael goes out of the purpose of God and remains out of the purpose of God to the end of time. [01:01:37] But Isaac, Isaac. Isaac was born of the promise. Through faith, he was born of God. He may not have even looked like Abraham, but his origin was God. Therefore, Isaac is the son of promise and he goes right through into the kingdom. [01:02:03] Origen determines destiny. Oh, we could go on and could go on and could go on with all this. The fact is, it's everywhere in the Bible. This is the essential meaning. Listen to this. It is the essential meaning of Pentecost. People talk about Pentecost as if it's only to do with being filled and anointed with the Holy Spirit, with gifts, with equipment. But the essential meaning of Pentecost is this. This life, this church, it originated in heaven and it came out of heaven with the Holy Ghost and into us. [01:02:42] And because it came out of heaven into us, it will take us back on the loop. [01:02:49] You see, it came out of heaven down, as it were, into us. My christian life. Where did my christian life find its origin in Christ. He is my christian life. How did he get into me? Through the Holy Spirit, thank God. [01:03:05] How is he being released in me by the Holy Spirit? If you see any of it at all, it all came. Where did the ministry come from? It come from Christ by the Holy Spirit. The anointing releases it. [01:03:19] So I'm very thankful. [01:03:21] This is why we don't have to say my ministry, my ministry, my work, my this, my that. [01:03:31] When we begin to see this, it's his ministry, the ministry, his work, the work. It's something much bigger than any one of our servants of the Lord, it's bigger than any of us as individuals or all of us put together. This is something much bigger. We are servants of truth, not masters of truth. [01:03:51] We are servants of Jesus Christ, not manipulators of Jesus Christ. [01:03:59] Oh, how wonderful it is. Where does it originate? Where does my ministry, where does yours, where does your work originate? Is it your work, work done for God? Or is it the work of God you are doing together with him, your coworkers together with God? It's everywhere once you begin to see it. Have you ever thought of this little word which finds us all out? Romans 1423 whatsoever is not of faith is sin. [01:04:32] Origin whatsoever is not of faith is sin. Ishmael there's many an Ishmael christian life, many an Ishmael christian work. [01:04:50] What is the origin? [01:04:52] Or again I think of two corinthians 518, but all things are of God, who reconciled us unto himself through Jesus Christ. All things are of God. Or again I think of revelation 20 213, I am the alpha, the omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. [01:05:17] Origen did he begin? Then he will end. [01:05:24] Is he the first? He will be the last. [01:05:28] Or I think of Colossians 311 where it speaks about the church and then says, Christ may be all in all began with Christ, is developed through Christ, and ends with Christ. [01:05:46] The warning concerning origins the prophets unfailingly put their finger on sin or fallen flesh, whether international, national or personal, because they said, if it is fallen flesh, it will end in corruption and death. [01:06:10] If it is sin on any level, it will end in judgment and death. Now its not that God just said to a prophet and shook him and said, now then go to them and say to them that on this matter, you know, they really have got to realize it. This means judgment and death. The prophets had a spiritual understanding. [01:06:34] This is prophetic insight. [01:06:37] If there is sin, it will unerringly lead to judgment and death. [01:06:48] If a thing originates with fallen flesh or the natural mind, it will always work out in corruption and death. [01:06:58] But the other side is true. [01:07:02] If it is the righteousness which God gives, it will bring life eternal. [01:07:07] But the free gift of God is eternal life. And we must say another point on this, on the question of our origins. It may appear good, it may appear religious, it may appear cultured, it may appear creative, it may appear beautiful, it may appear the work of genius. But has it got the foundation origin? [01:07:29] Now isn't it a wonderful thing when in all that mess that the apostle Paul talks about in his letter to Timothy, he says, but Timothy, even though there's going to be a falling away, something that eats like a gangwe, the foundation of God standeth sure having this seal. The Lord knoweth them that are his, the foundation. Stand on it. Don't be swept away. Stand on it. Your origin, of your own life, your own salvation, your own christian life, of your work, of your ministry, of this church, there that you're in is Jesus Christ. Stand there. Don't be moved away. [01:08:16] There is, thank God. And let's lift up our hearts on this. Something which, because it begins with God, with Christ, must triumph. Now the other side is just as true, and we will end here, but just let this wonderful truth get into your hearts. [01:08:36] There is, on the other hand, that which, because it begins with Christ, must end in triumph. [01:08:47] You can push it down to hell, but it will burst out of hell. [01:08:54] The Lord Jesus went, it says, into hell and preached the gospel to the spirits that were imprisoned. [01:09:05] You cannot destroy in the end. You can let go. You can afford to let go. You can lay down your life. [01:09:15] You can go into death. [01:09:17] Because if your christian life has begun with God, it will end in triumph. Even if they destroy your mortal body, it will go through and up and out. [01:09:29] This is the meaning of the redemption of our body. Not a hair of your head shall perish. [01:09:38] So when your body's gone back to dust, the final triumph of a redeemed person, spirit, soul and body, is that the whole body is brought back. [01:09:57] What begins with Christ ends in the throne and glory of God. And I will give you in closing two scriptures which you know very, very well, but which sum up the whole of this matter of biblical prophecy in relation to this origin, romans 323. For there is no difference. [01:10:23] All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. [01:10:33] Origin sin fallen short of the glory God. And the other well known scripture, one Peter, chapter five, verse ten. And the God of all grace who called you unto his eternal glory in Christ, after that ye have suffered a little while, shall himself perfectly establish, strengthen you origin. [01:11:17] If the origin was the calling of God, then all the sovereign power of God is at your disposal. [01:11:30] It will take you through cover you, will protect you, will guard you, will guide you. [01:11:36] Origin sin fallen short, falling short of the glory of God, the calling of God, the God of all grace who's called you unto his eternal glory in Christ. [01:11:54] If that's the origin, you will go through. If you will only take hold of the grace of God, you will go through to the throne and to the glory of God. [01:12:06] May the Lord help us we will seek on another occasion. I'm not sure I'm here next week. I don't even know where I am next week. [01:12:16] But if we are here, then we will talk about the outline of human history, which of course is what most people think of in connection with biblical prophecy. But don't you forget that the relevance of biblical prophecy is much more than just predicting the course of events. It is the explanation of human history and it is the warning about concerning origins. [01:12:48] And if you will take what I've said and start to read all through the Bible, you will find that Isaiah means something to you never meant before. Jeremiah will mean things he never meant before. You'll go all the way through and you'll find everywhere there's warning. Origin, origin, origin. You'll find the prophets again and again saying, what is it? Where does it begin? Where does it begin? Where is its origin? [01:13:12] If it's God, it goes through to glory. Think of Isaiah, from chapter 40 to 66, all glory. [01:13:20] Because it began with God, it will end with God. But where it doesnt begin with God, its all judgment and death. [01:13:31] The Lord help us then to understand that. And when we can, we will go on to the rest. Shall we pray? [01:13:40] Dear Lord, we together now ask thee that thou wilt write something of this word in our hearts. We do need Lord illumination. We need that spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of thee. If really were to understand a matter like this tonight. But Lord, thou hast said in thy word that this which has been hid from ages and generations has now been revealed to us by thy spirit. And we pray that every one of thy children here shall know that work of revelation by the Holy Spirit in the heart, just as it were bringing us to a real understanding of these things. Lord help us. We pray, for we ask it together in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.