We continue our study today in the Word of God. In our series on regeneration and renewal, we have been speaking last Sunday about the fact that perfection, biblical perfection, is the goal of renewal. That is the direction of the Christian life. Where are we heading for in the Christian life? What is the purpose of this being renewed by the Spirit in our mind? What Paul speaks about, the renewal of your mind. Where is the goal that we are aiming at? And we saw it is -- perfection means to be like Christ, to become like Him.
And so let us sum up a few points that we talked about last week. We saw that when we speak of becoming like Christ, what exactly do we mean? Do we mean that we should all become gentle and meek and mild? Does it mean simply that we are talking about a certain type of character that we can picture in our mind? We shall see that there are aspects to this where Jesus is not necessarily meek and mild. There is always the danger, as Albert Schweitzer long ago pointed out in his work, Quest of the Historical Jesus, the great danger that we fashion Christ in our own image, rather than, as the scripture teaches, that we are fashioned by Christ in His image. We make a Christ in our own image. We imagine Him to be meek and mild, which sometimes He is. But we must be careful that we do not define holiness in terms of merely human virtues. God's character is not like our character, nor His virtues entirely our virtues.
When the Lord Jesus drove the merchants out of the temple with a whip of cords, He was not exactly meek and mild. And our concept of His character begins to be disturbed, because He doesn't fit into our scheme of human virtues. When He overturned the tables of the money changers, we feel a little offended, because our definition of holiness is not necessarily God's definition of it. So, when we say that we become like Jesus, we must become like the Jesus that is manifested in the scriptures, and not a Jesus of our own making. But much more, we saw that in order to keep our definition of holiness on trust, that to become like Jesus means not just becoming like Him in what we think His character was, but much more, that we become like Him in fulfilling the same mission that He fulfilled. That is what discipleship is about. He walks in front, we follow after. As Peter puts it, we walk in His footsteps, which very few Christians are doing today, needless to say.
Very few Christians are doing today. We do not walk in His footsteps. We do not walk where He walked. We do not walk in the direction that He went. Renewal, then, is to become like Him. But to become like Him is to do, first and foremost, what He did. All this we saw last week from John chapter 14, verse 12. "He who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also." And we saw that this does not apply primarily, even less solely, to miracles. We saw that the work of Jesus refers to His entire mission that God entrusted to His hands. And the Lord Jesus says, "He who believes in Me" -- any ordinary Christian, according to the biblical definition of Christian, which again is not necessarily the same as the way the churches today define Christian -- but in the biblical definition, or in the Lord's teaching of a believer, "He who believes in Me, will do" -- not probably will, maybe will, or ought to do, but will do the works that I do. In other words, in the Lord's teaching, if you believe in Him, if you truly believe in Him, you will do the work that He did. You will engage in the same saving mission in which He was engaged.
That was the background of our discussion last week. And then, we illustrated this truth of the Word of God from Ezekiel chapter 22 verse 30. As we can turn to this passage, Ezekiel chapter 22 and verse 30. So we come to the second part of our analysis of perfection as the fulfilling of the same mission that the Father entrusted to the Son and to which we likewise are called. Many people find the words in Philippians very hard to understand where the Apostle Paul says, you were called not only to believe, but also to suffer. Remember those words of Paul in Philippians. We were not called simply to believe, Paul said. We were called to suffer. How conveniently the church likes to forget those passages of scripture which either it cannot understand or doesn't particularly like to listen to. We were called to suffer, not only to believe.
Now in the light of it, Paul is saying, just as Jesus was called to suffer, we, as the Apostle Peter says, are to walk in his footsteps. What are we suffering for? Is it because God likes us all to suffer? He sort of thinks it's rather a nice thing for Christians to suffer or it's good for their souls? Not at all. The purpose of suffering in scripture is primarily with the purpose of fulfilling salvation, God's salvation. Not that we can die for other people's sins. Jesus died for the sins of others. He died for our sins. We cannot do this. But in conveying his saving work to others, we are called upon to suffer. Our ministry is to convey the saving work to others. That is the ministry of every Christian. We are called not just to believe, we are called to suffer. And suffer, what for? In order to bring salvation to others.
Now we were illustrating this very important truth from Ezekiel chapter 22. And for those of you who were not here last Sunday, let us begin to read this passage again, starting at verse 29, speaking about Israel. Ezekiel 22 verse 29, reading on to verse 30. "The people of the land, that is, of the land of Israel, have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy and have extorted from the sojourner without redress. And I sought for a man among them, that is, among my people, who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it. But I found none. Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. Their way have I requited upon their heads, says the Lord God."
Now today we need to look at some vital principles involved with understanding this passage. God looked for a person. He looked through the whole land of Israel and what did he see? He saw them practicing extortion, trying to get the most out of his fellow men, trying to promote himself by stepping down on the other person's head, so that he can lift himself a little higher. This is a very familiar picture in the world, in which you advance yourself at the expense of the next guy. When you make yourself look good by making the other guy look bad. When you try to get glory by humiliating the other person. And when God looked through Israel, he saw that's exactly what the Israelites were doing. "The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery." That doesn't mean that they went around holding each other up. It meant they took from others to enrich themselves, to get the benefit for themselves at the expense of another person. They oppressed the other person, it goes on to say. They had turned their backs upon the commandment of the Lord, which said, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, with all your strength, and your neighbor as yourself."
And all this was done. Holiness had departed from Israel. God's truth was rejected and trampled underfoot. And when God looked through the land of Israel, amid this terrible scene of selfishness and pride, he looked for one man who could stand in the gap, in the breach before me, so that my wrath would not consume the land. Now there are many important things in this passage that we must understand in order to get the picture, because we may not be familiar with this picture of a gap or breach. And last week we began to look at it. We saw that in those days the primary feature of a city was its wall. You cannot start building a city without first building its wall. We see that from Nehemiah and from Ezra in the Old Testament. They could not start rebuilding Jerusalem without first building its walls. Why? Because if you build up a building, the enemy comes and burns it down. You're just wasting your effort. You cannot build up the city without first and foremost building strong walls about it. Once the walls are secure, then you can start building the city inside. Without the wall, no city could survive. The walls were essential for the salvation, the security of that city.
Now, to get this picture then, the picture presented to us here in Ezekiel 22 verse 30 is that the walls are breached. And again, last week we saw that what happens in those days is when you want to take a city, the way to capture that city is first and foremost again to break down a wall. So they would bring in the battering rams and breach holes into the city, make breaches in the wall, so that your troops can pour into the city and capture it through its breaches. But then you say, what's the connection here? First it says that there is extortion and robbery, and suddenly it goes on to say, there is not a man to stand in the breach. Well, if you understood the picture we were talking about last week, we saw from Isaiah chapter 30 and verse 13, that it is sin -- sin that causes the walls to be breached. In other words, the breach in the wall was a picture in the Old Testament of how one's defenses are weakened and broken down by sin and unrighteousness. So when it says somebody to stand in the gap, what it is saying is that because Israel has sinned, the walls have collapsed, speaking spiritually, in parabolic language of course. And now what is needed is somebody to rebuild those walls, to build up those breaches, to stand in the gap and protect the city from the oncoming attacks which will wipe it out.
Now I wonder if you can capture this picture. And then we saw that in this verse, God's heart is exposed. His feelings are revealed. He said, we could not find someone to stand in the breach. There is nobody there that is concerned enough about the welfare of God's holy city to care that it is about to be destroyed. And because there was no one to care, no one to stand in the gap, verse 31 says, God's wrath would be poured out upon Israel, upon the people of God, not upon unbelievers, poured out upon his own people, the people of God that would be wiped out in his judgment. This is the story. And this verse came to pass, of course, in 587 B.C., as we saw also last week, in 587 B.C., the Babylonians poured in, they breached the walls, and they destroyed Jerusalem, they leveled it to the ground, they burned the temple, they destroyed the holy city, which the Israelites fervently believed could not be destroyed, because it is the holy city, it is God's city, God would never allow it to be destroyed, it was eternally secure. Well, it wasn't eternally secure, it was destroyed.
And when the prophet spoke out against the people of God, when the prophet spoke out against the temple, God's prophet spoke out against Jerusalem, against the holy city, Micah said some fearful words in Micah 3, verse 12, he said, I will tell you this, that Zion, the place where God's holy temple is built, will be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem, the holy city, will be in ruin, and they shouted, "Treason! Treason! How can you say that? God dwells in this holy city." But the prophet of God says, "Zion will be plowed like a field, and the holy city, Jerusalem, will be a heap of ruins."
Now, how can we understand this principle? The enemy went in through the breaches, exactly as Ezekiel says here, God will pour out his wrath against his own people. How comforting when we think that God will only destroy the unbelievers, whereas Christians can live in sin and get away with it. We don't understand, if you think like this, we don't understand the principles of scripture. And these principles, by the Lord's grace, I shall seek to expound in this time together. To understand this picture of the breached wall, and the destruction that is to ensue, let me establish first -- the first principle is this. God in the Old Testament is portrayed as the Savior. He is the Savior. Let us make no mistake about this. God is our Savior. And in order to portray this, God in the Old Testament is pictured as a man of war. A man of war. You see, that's what I said earlier. We cannot portray God according to our own image. Gentle Jesus, meek and mild. God -- the picture in the Old Testament is of God as a man of war, dressed in full armor and ready for battle.
Let us look at this. Already back in Exodus chapter 15 verse 3, we see God described as a man of war. Exodus 15 verse 3. Let me read this to you here, in the well-known song of Moses. Verse 3. We'll start at verse 2. We see the connection of salvation and man of war. "The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation. This is my God and I will praise him. My Father is God and I will exalt him. Verse 3. The Lord is a man of war. The Lord is his name." This picture of God as a man of war is quite common in the Old Testament. In Isaiah it occurs many times. For example, at Isaiah 42 verse 13, Isaiah 66 verses 15 and 16. So we see this vital picture of God as a man of war.
How do we grasp this picture? A man of war basically in the Old Testament simply means a warrior. Somebody who goes to battle. The man of war in modern terms we might say is simply described as a soldier or military man. The picture of spiritual warfare that we have in the New Testament and which our brother Joe has been expounding for many weeks is very basically derived from the Old Testament. Spiritual warfare is what it's about. And in the Old Testament the scene that God is mighty in battle against every form of evil and unrighteousness is also a common picture. Psalm 24 verse 8, "The Lord, mighty in battle." And therefore we have this picture of God as a soldier, a military man. Man of war of course does not describe the rank. It only describes his activity. David was also a man of war. So he could be a king or a private, he could be a general or a sergeant. These are all described as men of war. Man of war does not describe rank. It only describes his activity, that he fights against evil, against unrighteousness of every sort.
And the theme in the Old Testament that God fights for his people is very common in the Old Testament. So common that I've got simply too many verses to give to you. But if those of you would like to note some of these verses that God fights for his people, then you have this for example in Exodus chapter 14 verses 14 and 25, Deuteronomy chapter 1 verse 30, Deuteronomy chapter 3 verse 22, Joshua 10:14 and 42, Joshua 23 verses 3 and 10, 2 Chronicles 20 verses 8, 29, and 32. And so it goes on and on like this, that God fights for his people. This picture is also used in the New Testament, where Paul says, "If God be for us, if he fights for us, who can be against us?" If God takes his stand on our side, who can oppose us? Indeed, in the Old Testament it says that anyone who fights against God's people is fighting against God himself, in 2 Chronicles chapter 13 and verse 12.
So let us grasp clearly that to be like Jesus, to have his mind, means first and foremost, not so much a certain type of behavior in terms of meekness or mildness or whatever it may be, but in terms of a direction or a mission. The mission to stand for godliness, for holiness, for truth, for righteousness in the world. You see, holiness -- again our being like God or being like Christ -- is defined in terms of a certain mentality. This mentality is fulfilled in a mission. The mission in the battle for truth, the battle for holiness, for righteousness.
Now when we understand this, we are ready for the second point, the second principle. The second principle that we need to see is that when God saves his people, he makes them into a city of righteousness, a people of holiness. "You are a holy nation, a royal priesthood." This is what happens. His people are always described as holy. Because he is holy, his people are holy. Zion is the holy city, it is described in the Old Testament. God's city, Zion is described as God's city. His special possession, the place where he lives. His people is the place where he lives. The church is the dwelling place of God. As Paul says to the Christians in Corinth, "Do you not know? Do you not know that you are God's temple? That God dwells in you?" And there you go out and sin, he says to the Corinthians. When God lives in you, you dare to desecrate his temple, which your body is.
So in the same way in the Old Testament, the holy city, God's city is his special possession. We see that in Psalm 48, verses 1 and 8. We see the city of God. And in Matthew chapter 5, verse 35, the Lord Jesus refers to that same concept. City of Jerusalem is the city of the great king. It is God's city. You are God's city. Because the Lord goes on to say in Matthew chapter 5, "A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. You are God's city set on a hill. You are the light of the world." Let us understand our mission in the world, brothers and sisters. Let us get this thing clear once and for all. God didn't save us just so that we can be saved. He saved us in order to be a light in the world. He saved us with a mission, namely to be the light of the world. You are the light of the world. A light that cannot be concealed any more than a city set on a hill can be concealed.
It's no use saying, "Don't look at us. We are all hypocrites here in the church, you know, just look at Jesus." The Lord meant us to be looked at. You cannot be hidden. You are like a city on a hill. Everybody will see you. And what do they see when they look at the church? They see the glory of the Lord being manifested? Or do they see only breached walls, crumbling walls, because of unrighteousness and unholiness in the church? Which do they see?
So then, when God saves us, that salvation, even in the Old Testament, is portrayed as a wall. Did you know that? Salvation is security. The wall represents security. The wall is portrayed as salvation. Isaiah chapter 26, verse 1. Isaiah 60, verse 18. Let me just read for you the second of these two passages. Isaiah 60, verse 18, reads like this: "Violence shall no more be heard in your land, devastation or destruction within your borders. You shall call your wall salvation, and your gates praise." Your wall shall be called salvation. What a beautiful picture. And your gates shall be called praise. The gates is the place where people come in and out. You will go out with praise, you will come in with praise. Why? Because your walls are salvation. You are the saved of the Lord.
Now think of it. When you understand the picture of the walls representing salvation, then the broken down walls represent what? Is it hard to see? The broken down walls means the walls of salvation are breached. How were they breached? They are breached through unrighteousness. They are breached through sin. This we saw already last week. As we saw from Proverbs chapter 25, verse 28, it says, "A person unable to restrain his spirit is like a city without walls." The walls have crumbled and fallen and broken down. When you live in an uncontrolled manner, without self-control, and self-control, as we remember, is the fruit of the Spirit, then you fall into every manner of sin, and when you fall into every manner of sin and greed and unrighteousness, then your walls are crumbled down, your walls are breached. You are a city without walls, and at the mercy of the dominion of God.
So let us grasp this second principle very clearly. What is the first thing that when you approach an ancient city that you see? Those from the first team who were in Israel last year will remember. When you look at any city of old times, the first thing that you see are its walls. That's the most visible part. Beyond the walls you see a few roofs sticking out, but it's the walls that is the first thing that strikes your eye. Therefore, when people look at Jerusalem, what do they see? Its walls. What do they see? Salvation. When people look at the church, that city set up on a hill, what do they see? They see salvation. Or they should see salvation. But when they look at you, when they look at me, when they look at the church today, what do they see? The glory of God revealed in His saving power?
I think not. The reputation of the churches in Hong Kong is so bad today, is so bad, that you will talk to anyone about becoming a Christian, you will say, "Yeah, yeah, but look at the churches." And there we go again, there we go. And you say, "Well, don't look at the churches." Well, why shouldn't they look at the churches? Because the Lord Himself said, "You are the light of the world." Where is God's saving power to be seen today, I ask of you? Is God's saving power seen simply because there are enough people who raise their hands and profess to believe in Jesus? Or is God's power seen in this very thing, that He has set a people free from sin? That His saving power is seen, that people who lived in sin before now live in righteousness. People who were hateful before are now loving people. Where is God's power seen if it is not seen in the transformation of our life? What's the use of me to preach to other people about Jesus when they look at me they only see selfishness and greed and unrighteousness? How dare I talk about God's saving power when I am manifestly by my conduct unsaved and no different from any unbeliever?
The first thing that they saw, the walls of the city. And this is what we read in Isaiah 52 verse 10. Let me read to you Isaiah 52 verse 10, this beautiful verse. Isaiah 52: "The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of God." All the ends of the earth shall see. Where will they see his salvation? Well, you look at this context, it's talking about Zion in verse 7, the last part of verse 7: "Who says to Zion, 'Your God reigns.'" It goes on to describe Jerusalem, verse 9. "Break forth together into singing, you waste places of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem." That is where people will see the salvation of God, in the redemption of Jerusalem. That is why in verse 10 it says the Lord has made bare his holy arm. Where? His holy arm was made bare in the redeeming of Jerusalem. That is why all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of God. When God redeems his people, when God redeems his church in these days, then people will see God's mighty salvation. When we are saved, people will look at the church and say, "There is God's salvation revealed."
But is that the case today, my friend? Is that the case today? Do people look at the church and say, "Now we see God's salvation. We have seen it with our own eyes." Do they see it? Or do they see some very, very ordinary people who are experts at scrambling with one another, slandering one another, backbiting, living in selfishness and pride? What do they see? Why am I preaching this message? Because I'm talking about regeneration and renewal. That's why God calls us to be born again by his Spirit, through the blood of Jesus. Why did he redeem us? Why did he regenerate us? That we may be the praise of his glory in the face of the earth. That we may be the light of the world.
I wonder when the Lord Jesus looks at the church today, whether he wonders, what did he die for? Did he die for this people who have claimed greedily the salvation for themselves, who want to live just as they lived before, more or less, with the only main difference being that they go to church on Sundays from time to time at least. Or if they go regularly to church, they congratulate themselves as being a very good Christian. And if they think of any activity in the church, they regard themselves as an outstanding Christian. Pitiful. That Jesus died for this? For this He died? Regeneration, yes. What about renewal? The Apostle Paul says that the new man, Ephesians chapter 4 verses 23 and 24, the new man was created in Christ Jesus how? In true holiness and true righteousness. That's what the new man according to Paul is. And you are that new man. You have put on the new man, he says. Now if you have put on the new man, then everybody must see true righteousness and true holiness, is it not? But what do they see?
# Being Like Christ: Standing in the Gap — Part 2 (1983-01-05)
...pitiful sight. And even more pitiful, when God looks around, he can't find anyone to rebuild those walls and to stand in the breach. And today when somebody talks about holiness, everybody starts shouting, "He is preaching salvation by works." Listen, my dear friends, brothers and sisters, if I may humbly say so, I too have studied theology and I also know about justification by faith. On this one, I don't need to take many lessons from anyone. We are talking not about a salvation by holiness, but we are talking about holiness after salvation and in the consequence of salvation.
There are some people who think that because they can mouth words like "justification by faith," they have got a whole system of theology and the rest of us know nothing about it, that we are foolish enough to talk about justification by works. Whoever imagined we can save ourselves? We are talking about what Jesus died for. That he died in order to save a people who are created in his image, as it says there in Ephesians 4, in true righteousness and holiness. And I am asking today the question that if we are not holy after we claim to be saved, what will God do to us? The answer in the church is: nothing. God won't do anything to you. You can live in sin, my friend. Because Jesus died for you, you have now a license to sin. Because God will never touch you again. I tell you that this is a falsehood of which I don't wish to be guilty as a part.
And therefore let us move on to understand the principle. The next principle is this. The third principle I want to talk about today. And I am going to state it as a fact. When God's people become unholy, when the holy city becomes unholy, what will God do? Let me tell you this. God will fight against his own city and destroy it. The whole Old Testament testifies to this. If you think you are secure as a Christian to sin, and that God will just close his eyes because he cannot see your unrighteousness, because somehow you are hidden behind the righteousness of Christ, so that hidden behind his righteousness you can keep on sinning, let me tell you, you have not understood the word of God.
Why do people not stand in the gaps today? Because there are no gaps to stand in according to them. The wall of Jerusalem remains intact. No matter how much you sin, that wall cannot be broken. It is an impregnable wall of salvation, we are told. Well, I challenge anyone to demonstrate this thing from scripture to me. I only read of the city wall of Jerusalem breached again and again. I read of Micah saying that the holy city will become a heap of ruins and Mount Zion where the temple is built will be plowed like a field. Because, he says to them, you have committed sin and violence in your city.
Grasp this principle clearly, brothers and sisters. If you want to know the mind of God, if you want to understand what it means to be renewed in the thinking of your mind according to Romans chapter 12 verses 1 and 2 -- God will not compromise with sin either in the non-Christian nor in the Christian, and especially not in the Christian whom he redeemed with his blood. Let me show you the scriptural teaching on this matter. Scriptural teaching is so abundant that if I were to stress this alone I could go through many sessions, but I have to content myself with just giving you a quick overview. The judgments of the Lord against the unrighteous of his own people is a common theme of the Old Testament. And we must be reading the Bible with our eyes closed if we can't see what his word plainly states.
Even on the personal level, let us look quickly at Psalm chapter 6 verse 1. Let me read to you Psalm 6 verse 1. The first thing that God will do when his people sin is that he will chasten you. Make no mistake about it. If you do not think God is the living God, and if you claim to be redeemed by him -- if I dare to put it like this -- you go out and sin and see what God will do with you. If God does nothing with you, only one of two possibilities exist. Either God is not real or you are not his. That is why these two points are closely connected. There are many people to whom God is not real. That's right. God is not real. "Where is God? I believe in Jesus, but I never experienced his moving." Are you one of that type of Christians? Why is God so real to me and not real to so many Christians?
Well, if you want to -- one quick way, and I don't recommend you try this way -- is you commit yourself to Christ and then you go out and sin. Try it. If you are foolish enough to try it. And God's chastening hand will come upon you without fail. He will deal with you in a painful manner. Unless you are not his people. Of course, if you are not his, why should he chasten you? As I said before, I don't chasten somebody else's child. The next door neighbor misbehaves, I don't go and spank him because he's not my child. But if my child sins, I will deal with my child because I love my child. I don't want my child to fall into sin. I will discipline my child. Even if it hurts me, I will. But if you are not God's child, of course he doesn't discipline you. He doesn't chasten you.
Look at these words. The psalmist knows that he is God's child. That's why he says, "O Lord, rebuke me not in thy anger, nor chasten me in your wrath. Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am already languishing." That's why he is asking for no more discipline. He is already languishing. "O Lord, heal me, for my bones are troubled. My soul also is sorely troubled." But you, O Lord -- come on. God has already been chastening him. That's why he is pleading that he will have no more chastening. The psalmist sinned. When David sinned, God dealt with him, as you may know. He dealt painfully with David. And David is pleading, "Lord, no more. Please. I have already had my fill of chastening. I can't take much more of this."
The same principle. If you think this applies only to the Old Testament, then you don't know your New Testament either. Just read Hebrews chapter 12 and you will see. In Hebrews chapter 12 it says, "Everyone that God loves, he will chasten." He will discipline you for sure. If you are his. That's why we know God is so real. That's why we have fear and trembling. We dare not sin. Because I know God is real. But what happens if you disregard his chastening? If you, like the Israelites, a stiff neck, very stiff, sinews of iron, forehead of bronze -- "I can't take it." If you carry on in the stiffness of your neck, God will destroy you. Oh yes. On the authority of God's word, I'm telling you this. Not only you as an individual, but even you as a nation, as a people of God. That's what he did.
Look across to chapter 7. Psalm 7. And what do we read there? Chapter 7. Psalm 7 and verse 11, reading to verse 13. "God is a righteous judge, and a God who has indignation every day." Every day. Verse 12. "If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword. He has bent and strung his bow. He has prepared his deadly weapons, making his arrows fiery shafts." He will whet his sword. What do you do with the sword, my friend? You tap the guy on the back with the sword? A sword is for destruction. He will whet his sword. What does whet mean? Sharpen the edge. That's what it means. You take out a whetstone and sharpen the edge, in order to make it yet more deadly than it is. He bends his bow. There is the imagery again. He is about to destroy you. A man who does not repent will suddenly be destroyed, as the scripture says, and that without remedy if he persists in wickedness.
Well, if you think this only applies to the Old Testament, then let me tell you that Hebrews chapter 10 verse 31 is in the New Testament. Hebrews 10 verse 31 reads like this: "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." And let me tell you, Hebrews chapter 10 verse 31 is not a quotation from the Old Testament. It is a statement in the New Testament applying to Christians. Read it for yourself. It is because there is no more fear of God and the fear of sinning today that we have this dreadful situation before us. That the walls of Jerusalem are falling down and the prophets of God, if there are any in the church today, have nothing to say.
Instead, what do they preach? They preach peace and security. "Peace and security," we are told. Let me tell you, the characteristic message in the Old Testament of the false prophet is peace and security. That is the typical identifying message of the false prophet. Do you know the teaching of scripture, brothers and sisters? Do you know it? Let me read you Ezekiel chapter 13. Chapter 13. And this is what we read in Ezekiel 13 verses 10 and 16. Ezekiel 13 verse 10. Because, yea, because they -- that is the false prophets -- perhaps we should read from verse 9. "My hand will be against the prophets who see delusive visions and who give lying divinations. They shall not be in the council of my people, nor be enrolled in the register of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter the land of Israel, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God. Because, yea, because they have misled my people, saying, 'Peace,' when there is no peace. And because when the people build a wall" -- notice we are talking about wall -- "these prophets daub it with whitewash. Say to those who daub it with whitewash that it shall fall." And then in verse 16 we read this: "A prophet of Israel who prophesied concerning Jerusalem and saw visions of peace for her when there was no peace, says the Lord."
The identifying mark of false prophets is that they are always telling you that peace and security -- these words are repeated in the New Testament, of course, when the Lord Jesus said, "In the days when they shall say to you, 'Peace and security,' suddenly destruction will come upon them." Do you remember the Lord's teaching? There it is. Let me read to you Jeremiah chapter 6 and verse 14. Jeremiah 6 verse 14. These vital words we should take to our heart. O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness that you may be saved. How long -- sorry, chapter 6 verse 14. They -- again we shall read from verse 13. "For from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for unjust gain, and from prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely in Israel. They have healed the wounds of my people lightly, saying, 'Peace, peace,' when there is no peace." There it is. The message of the false prophet again. "Peace, peace. Everything is secure. Everything is fine. Don't worry about it. You are safe. You can stand in the assurance of your safety."
Chapter 8 verse 11 of Jeremiah. The same thing again. Verse 10 of chapter 8 of Jeremiah. "Therefore, in the judgment of God, he says, 'Therefore I will give their wives to others and their fields to conquerors, because from the least to the greatest, everyone is greedy for unjust gain. From prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely. They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, "Peace, peace," when there is no peace.'" There it is. Always peace, peace. Safety and assurance. Everything is fine. Don't get worried. Don't get anxious. You build the thin wall there and we will put whitewash on it so that nobody can see that this wall is going to collapse presently. Nobody can see what that wall is made of. Just put whitewash on it. Whitewashed tombs, the Lord Jesus says to the Pharisees. Whitewash. Hide the truth. Let's talk about peace and security. Let's not talk about judgment. Let's not talk about the walls of Jerusalem falling because it is the holy city which cannot fall. Well, it fell, false prophets notwithstanding. In 2 Kings chapter 25, verse 10, we read the dreadful account when Nebuchadnezzar breached the walls of Jerusalem which the people imagined could not be breached and flooded into the city.
So let us go on. Let me tell you this. God, as we saw, is a warrior for righteousness, holiness, and truth. But God will fight against his own people. He will become your enemy when you enter into sin. Grasp this principle. It is a fundamental principle of scripture. If you go into unrighteousness and sin after that he has redeemed you, he will fight against you. You say, where? Let me give you a whole list of references. Let me read to you Jeremiah 21, verse 5. "I myself will fight against you, Israel. I myself will fight against you. I will not just send somebody else to fight against you. I myself will fight against you." Jeremiah 21, verse 5.
Isaiah 63, verse 10. I would like us to turn to Isaiah 63. Let me read to you this passage. It's just too important to miss. Isaiah 63, verse 10. "But they, Israel, rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit." Grieved his Holy Spirit. Familiar from Thessalonians, isn't it? Where Paul says to the Thessalonians, "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God that is within you." But what happens if you grieve the Holy Spirit? "Therefore he turned to be their enemy." God turned to be their enemy, and God himself fought against them. There is the scripture.
Psalm 106, verses 40 and 41. Let me read to you. "The anger of the Lord was kindled against his people, and he abhorred his heritage, and gave his people into the hand of the nations." God's anger was kindled against his people and he abhorred. The word "abhorred" is very strong. He was disgusted with his own people, his heritage. Psalm 78, verse 59. "He was full of wrath and he utterly rejected Israel." He utterly rejected Israel. Psalm 78, verse 59. Shall we go on? Do you want more references to prove that God fights against his own people when they fall into sin? I can go on and on again.
In fact, coming back to our picture of the breach in the wall, any judgment of the Lord against his own people is described as a breach upon them. 2 Samuel, chapter 5, verse 20. And judgment against his people is described in this way also in Judges 21 and verse 15. When Job came under what he thought to be God's judgment, he said, "Lord, the Lord has hit me with breach upon breach. The Lord has laid breach upon breach upon me." Job chapter 16 and verse 14. Shall we go on? I can tell you more. How can we today claim to read the Bible and be so blind to the reality of God's dealings with his people? How can we be so foolish?
Jerusalem, the holy city, the walls are breached and crumbling. Jerusalem fell, as I told you, in 587 B.C. Psalm 60, verse 1, reads like this: "O God, you have rejected us, broken our defenses, our walls. You have been angry. O restore us again. Restore us again." Psalm 80, verse 12. "Why have you broken down its walls so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?" Psalm 89, verse 40. "You have breached all Israel's wall. You have laid all his strongholds in ruin." Do we have ears to hear, brothers and sisters? Do you dare to live on in sin in any fashion? He will breach the walls himself. He breached the walls of his own holy city. Do you get the picture? I wonder if it pains our hearts, whether it grieves us. And so we can go on. That God becomes the enemy of his people. Lamentations, chapter 2, verse 5. "Who lays their walls in ruins and causes their gates to collapse." Lamentations, chapter 2, verses 8 and 9, and the whole chapter of Lamentations, chapter 2. Or Jeremiah, chapter 30, and verse 14. Jeremiah 26, verse 18, quotes the words of Micah, "Zion shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins."
Last week, I said, the time of the church is short. Our days are numbered. The time of the Gentiles will soon be passed. Our time will be gone. Even as Paul warned us already in Romans, chapter 11, when Israel sinned, God cut Israel off. And Paul warns in Romans, chapter 11, that if you sin, God will cut you off. But the prophets in the churches tell us today, "Peace, peace, peace and security. Don't worry about it, my friend. Let us not be anxious about these things. The walls of the holy city will not fall. God will not fight against us. Our time shall not come." I can hardly withhold my tears to listen to this chorus of false prophets telling us peace and security. The days for us are numbered and who will listen to our voice. "Jerusalem shall stand forever," that was the slogan in the Old Testament. "The enemy shall never take it." Did not God turn back the Assyrians at the walls of Jerusalem? Our time is short.
Let me tell you one thing, brothers and sisters, as a principle of scripture. There is no assurance without holiness and righteousness. There is only assurance in the scriptures for those who live in holiness and righteousness. If you live in sin and you think that you are safe, let me put it bluntly in the words of scripture, you are a fool. You have closed your eyes to the truth and allowed Satan to blind you to reality. In scripture there is only assurance for those who walk, as Paul says, in righteousness and true holiness -- not an outward show of holiness, not an outward show of piety, but true holiness. In the holiness, whether anybody sees it or not, doesn't matter, so long as that holiness is inside. No matter what kind of names they call you, true holiness is inside. But because the church has turned its back on these things, they want an assurance without holiness, they want security without righteousness, and their prophets are calling forth saying these very things. Read on in Ezekiel chapter 13 and you will get the message. Ezekiel called out but nobody wanted to listen. His voice was drowned in the chorus of false prophets who were together shouting peace and security. In the meantime the walls of Jerusalem were falling down. The walls were breached. And so utterly corrupt was the nation that God could not find one person to stand in the breach.
Let me come to this fourth principle that I mentioned. Bear it strongly in mind. There is assurance, there is strong assurance, but only assurance for those who walk in righteousness and truth. If you feel so much as a little bit of assurance when you live in sin, that assurance is not of God. I say this unequivocally and without hesitation on the basis of God's word. Romans chapter 8 tells us that we have assurance that we are sons of God when the Spirit of God witnesses with our spirit that we are God's children. That's what Paul says in Romans 8. That is the only foundation of assurance in scripture. Assurance is based on God's Holy Spirit witnessing with our spirit. And you think he will witness with your spirit when you walk in sin and you still have a conscience that listens to the voice of God and to his Spirit? You won't have any assurance when you live in sin, otherwise assurance would wipe out all conscience, wouldn't it? This so-called assurance would sear our conscience and destroy it. That is the foundation of assurance.
The fifth point, and we must close very quickly. Let me say to you that God does not delight to judge his people. He has no pleasure in destroying his people whom he redeemed out of Egypt in the Old Testament, whom he redeemed with his blood in the New Testament. Read carefully again Ezekiel chapter 22 verse 30. When you go home, look at the heart of God. Look at the pain in his heart. He is about to destroy his people. He is about to destroy Jerusalem. He says, "Where? Where is someone to stand in the gap? I don't want to destroy them. Will nobody build up those walls again? Will you be a builder of the breach?"
You know, when God looked at Israel, he was amazed. He was amazed that there was no one to intercede, no one to build up the wall. Look at it in Isaiah chapter 59 and feel God's heart there. Isaiah 59 verse 16. This is what it reads. "God saw that there was no man. God saw that there was no man, and wondered" -- notice these words -- "and wondered that there was no one to intervene. Then his own arm brought him victory, and his righteousness upheld him. He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation upon his head. He put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped himself in fury as a mantle, and he went forth to repay his adversaries in his wrath." There you can see where Ephesians chapter 6 comes from, as our brother Joe drew our attention to. There you see where Ephesians 6 comes from. You want to be like the Lord Jesus? You want to be like him? It is he in the first place who put on the armor of righteousness, the breastplate of righteousness. It is he who put on the helmet of salvation. When we put that on, we are simply doing what God does. You see, we are fulfilling his same mission. That is why being like Jesus, being like God, is to be like him in the very same mission that he came to accomplish -- salvation. That's his mission.
What is salvation about? Do you understand salvation? Salvation is to save from sin. It is to fight against sin. To save a soul is to bring that person to righteousness. Did you know that? It's not just to bring him to believe in Jesus in some sense or other. It is to bring him into a saving faith in Jesus that transforms his whole life from darkness to light, from unrighteousness to righteousness. That's what it says in Daniel chapter 12 verse 3: "He who is wise shall shine as a light in the firmament, and he who turns souls to righteousness as the stars forever and ever." You see the connection. He who wins souls is wise. He who wins souls is one who turns others to righteousness -- not just so that he comes to the church, not just so that he gets baptized, not just so that he believes in Jesus in some sense or other, but that his life is changed from darkness to light. If you have not turned from darkness to light, you are not saved, whatever you call yourself, no matter how much you profess to believe in Jesus. Salvation is regeneration. Regeneration is transformation. It is newness of life. What kind of cheap conversion, of salvation, do we preach these days? What kind of diluted form of the gospel are we selling? That is the gospel according to the word of God -- transformation.
Shall we stand in the gap, brothers and sisters? Let us read Isaiah 58 to close. The previous chapter, Isaiah 58 verse 12. "And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt. You shall raise up the foundations of many generations." Look at these words: "You shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in." Will you stand in the gap? Will God find in the church today somebody who stands in the gap? Or will he also wonder that he cannot find anyone who cares to intercede, to stand in the breach, to build up the walls of righteousness, the walls of salvation again? And then you look at this passage, you'll see what it is to be called the repairer of the breach. You will see the whole context talks about righteousness. The person who is the repairer of a breach is somebody who lives in righteousness and brings others to righteousness.
That's what Jesus did. Jesus was supremely the one who stood in the gap. He was supremely the one who extended his hands upon the cross to bridge the gap, to heal the breach, to reconcile us to God. He did this by laying down his life for us. And we are to do the same. We also are to take up the cross and follow after him. As he became the repairer of the breach, so today also, today in this 20th century, we are to be the repairers of the breach. We are to stand in the gap and endure whatever suffering is necessary to rebuild the breach. Are you ready for this? Are you ready to be called to follow after him, to walk in his footsteps, to be called not only to believe but also to suffer for the salvation of others? Or in the words of 1 John chapter 3 verse 16, that even as he laid down his life for us, so also we are to lay down our lives for one another. To build each other up. That's what edification means. To build each other up in righteousness and truth, that today again we may catch the vision of a new Jerusalem with many standing in the breach, rebuilding the walls of salvation, until the church becomes again a thing of glory and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of God. Do we share his heart and his burden? May God speak to us. Let us pray.