Mankind in The Last Days | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Well, if you have your Bibles, please meet me in the second letter to Timothy written by the apostle Paul. And chapter two, excuse me, chapter three. And we will read from verse one again. And so It's second Timothy chapter three beginning in verse one. The word of God reads, but understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty, For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power, avoid such people.

Lord, we come before your word, and we ask, oh God, because we confess our weakness. Lord, we do not want this to be a dead service. As one man said, how can we have a dead service with the living Christ? We ask, oh God, that your power would radiate in this place, that your wisdom would be known, that as we hear the word of God, as we hear these verses, we will be like those officers who were sent to arrest Jesus. And they came back saying, no one has ever spoken like this man.

We want to be exposed to that same wisdom and power. We ask, oh Lord, that your people, that we would be astounded by your truth. And not just, oh God, emotionally or intellectually, we pray that you would cause us to obey this word, to apply it to our lives. And so, Lord, in this moment, may the spirit of wisdom and revelation rest upon the ministry of the word. We confess, oh God, that apart from your Holy Spirit's help, apart from the work of opening our minds and burning in our hearts, this meeting will be futile.

And so have your way and exalt the name of your Son in our midst. In Jesus name, we pray and ask these things because we hunger for righteousness. Amen and amen. Amen. As you are aware, last week, we began a new section in the book of second Timothy that introduced us into the theme of the last days.

And more specifically, Paul writes about how as we approach the glorious and triumphant return of the Lord Jesus Christ, we will first be met by an amplification and escalation of ungodly behavior. Inspired by the Spirit of God, the apostle begins to go into this list of specific sinful characteristics that will pollute the general population. And we learn that such conduct, the things that we just read, is mainly energized by the emerging false teachers and false doctrines that will only get worse and only magnify, as well as a greater resistance to the gospel and to the truth on a wider level. And this text, those few verses that we read, provide the necessary warning for the difficulties that will come as we as we advance in gospel work, and we really wanna see souls come to Christ. Paul is very realistic, and the Holy Spirit is very realistic, and he wants to let his people know you will have great difficulty.

There will be times of great difficulty. Not that the gospel is ineffective, not that people will not be saved, but it has been set, it has been declared that it's only going to get worse before it gets any better. But it's also the motivation, the motivation that Timothy would get from this to be all the more passionate about declaring the truth as society chooses to spiral into greater depravity and darkness. This is not to be hopeless. It's to charge the church to be more hopeful and more faithful to the word of the Lord, to stand your ground.

Let the world fall. Let the world stumble. But you, Timothy, and you, Christians, who are living in the generation and the generations to come that will lead to the second coming of Christ. Stand your ground. And our goal with these verses last week was to take take the the time to skip over each of these different traits and get an idea, of what is coming, what is already here, and what's only going to get worse, but we didn't get very far, did we?

No. We stayed at the first point. We stayed at the first attribute, which was for people who will be lovers of self. And the reason why we stayed there and the reason why Paul presents it first, it's because it is the primary cause, it is the heart that pumps the life into every other sinful thing that is listed here. It is the life giver.

It is the energizer of all these sinful attributes and even more, which gives us a great insight that if you and I wanna see greater holiness, if if we wanna deal with maybe some of the things that we are tempted to to fall into, then we must, by the power of the Holy Spirit, cut off the lifeline, which is self love. Deal with that, and you will deal with many other things. Kill that, and you will put to death many other things that choose and decide and want to put you to death. And that's why Jesus Christ, your Lord, I hope, your Master, I hope, has made it the primary condition for His discipleship program that you and I should deny ourselves. Deny yourself.

Don't love yourself. Don't praise yourself. Don't make you the center. The moment you do that is the moment all these other vices will become a reality in your life. But denying yourself brings forth a fruit, brings forth many fruits of great holiness and righteousness that will bless others and bless you.

But after talking about being lovers of self, he immediately meets it with what we read here, that in the last days, the quality of mankind will be lovers of money. They will love money. And this is a much more dangerous sin that most of us might estimate. It's a much more crucial thing to understand because, yes, we've always known that there has been a love of money since the beginning of the world. But more importantly, we have to understand that in the latter times, there will be a level of consuming passion for material gain like we have never seen before.

We might think that the worst that can come from loving money is that you become so ambitious in life that you neglect your spiritual disciplines, and, you're not as, as frequently attending your church because, you want to make the extra shift, whatever the case may be. Honestly, that's what Christians believe the most dangerous thing about loving money is, is that you don't show up to church and you neglect your time in the morning and you just become so motivated for for gain that you just walk away from basic Christian disciplines. I'm telling you this afternoon that it is much more disturbing than that. Because you know the verse, not in second Timothy, but in first Timothy chapter six verse 10. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.

Never mind you just being lazier with your spiritual disciplines. It is a root of all kinds of evil. So what's the equation in light of understanding the last days? Here's the equation. Paul says that in latter times, there will be a greater love for money, and there will be more lovers of money.

And because of that, then the result will be, according to first Timothy six ten, that there will be greater evil. There will be more evil, all kinds of evil, creative types of evil for one sole purpose because it is the manifestation of loving gain. The scriptures testify this in a book, the book that most describes what the last days will look like in the book of Revelation. Consider these verses, turn with me to Revelation chapter 18, which describes the response, as you're turning there, the response of the inhabitants of the earth once they witness God judging the Antichrist's economic empire. Most of this chapter deals with the response of the merchants of the world who will witness the fatal hit that the economic system that this world will know during the tribulation will take.

Because as we know that in the final years before Christ returns, there will be a one world political system, a one world economic system that will be led by a political figure who is labeled in our bibles as the man of lawlessness, and this man will be an agent of Satan that will introduce a deception unlike the world has ever experienced. And with this widespread deception will come a false peace. There will be a false tranquility. And there will also be great prosperity. There will be a flourishing commercialization that will bring much luxury into that time and much gain for many people.

But God will judge him, and God will judge his work and his kingdom at some point. And I want you to see in Revelation 18 how, again, the merchants will respond to the swift wrath of the Lord, specifically on the economic headquarters of the Antichrist during the tribulation period. Verse 11 of chapter 18. And the merchants of the Earth weep and mourn for her since no one buys their cargo anymore. Cargo of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of scented wood, all kinds of articles of ivory, all kinds of articles of frankincense, Rather, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves.

That is human souls. Notice that when God judges Babylon, which is some say it's a literal place, some say it's a symbolic term to describe, again, the headquarters of the Antichrist economic and political agenda, the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn for her. That's disturbing. Do you know why it's disturbing? Read the book of Revelation.

And if you read the book of Revelation, you will see very quickly that there's little weeping and mourning from sinners on the earth concerning their sin. You don't see this kind of reaction when it when it deals with God trying to get the the world's attention by supernatural shakings and plagues and pestilences. Oh, no, no, no. If anything, read Revelation 16, you will see that the people will all the more curse God as they are objects of discipline when God begins to move supernaturally in a way that is so obvious that it is a transcendent being that is doing these things, and they will still bite their tongues and curse God. But oh, when their financial gain was damaged, when their sales, when their trade was destroyed, they wept.

They were broken. They were dismayed. They were shattered. And I read that and I thought surely this is an example of how man proves that they are under the lordship of mammon instead of the lordship of Jesus Christ. Surely this is an illustration of how people love money.

And they are more concerned according to this verse about the lostness of their gain rather than the lostness of their souls. Do you wanna know how you love money this afternoon? Let me give you a hint. You're more concerned about your financial condition than your spiritual condition. You're more concerned if you've lost money than if you've lost your testimony.

You're more concerned if you've lost something than if you've lost your prayer life. You're more concerned that if you didn't get the newest instead of growing in the presence of God. Here we see these people broken over the fact that they they had so much going for them, and it was all taken away at a moment. What a testimony of the fickleness of your finances. There is a very, very fine line between us owning stuff and stuff owning us.

And Paul said in that famous verse about the love of money, how it is a root of all kinds of evil. In the ESV, he goes on to say, for it is through this craving that some have wandered from the faith. We gotta read our Bible slowly. He didn't say it is through the gaining, just the craving of it. Just the appetite alone has the ability to pull you away from your faith.

Never mind having the stuff, just wanting it and dreaming about it and wishing it and going into debt for it. Just the craving has the ability to persuade you away from what truly matters, and that is your personal walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. There's a very fine line. Think about it. As we look at this, notice the reaction between these merchants concerning the loss of their possessions and a man like Job, who when everything was stripped away from him because God had allowed Satan to have a hand on his stuff, on his farm, on his land, on his cattle, on his own children.

Notice the difference of reaction. Oh, he wept. Oh, he was broken, but he worshipped. He worshipped. Why?

Because he had stuff, but stuff didn't have him. These people, they wept. Why? Because all they had was stuff, and that was taken from them. There's a very fine line between us owning money and money owning us.

And it's a very unpopular teaching to talk about the love of money, and I'll tell you this, it's because many preachers love money themselves. Many people are in ministry just for the sake of financial gain. I fear for you, preacher, and how you will stand before God because you've all along served mammon instead of the man, Jesus Christ. But secondly, did you hear the list there? And did you notice that a majority of the materials that were mentioned describe luxury over necessity?

Look at the list again. What is this? Cargo of gold, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk. This is talking about extravagance. This is talking about about stuff that you add on to what is necessary, and it is true that the sadness here stems from their sales and their trade taking a blow and their merchants not being able to make more as a result of what God had done.

But consider how strange this is. This is during the tribulation period. This is during a time where the world will know unusual manifestations of God's wrath. Up to that point, we really are just experiencing God's passive wrath where he lets people and nations dive into their sin. But when the tribulation period comes, it will be very much God's active wrath on display.

And so you're gonna see catastrophic things, millions of people dying, animal, all these things just just turning to ash. And yet you look at this in Revelation 18, and what do you see? A people who are still concerned about the newest and the latest. Like, look at how the grip of the love of money can it can so get you that it can distract you from the very thing around you that is signaling the second coming of Jesus Christ. Didn't Jesus talk about the last days being like that?

They will marry, give into marriage, they will drink, they will eat, they will buy, they will sell. In the last days, the days of Noah, the days of Lot, we think that when the tribulation period comes, we're all gonna be in bunkers. No. There's gonna be people here that are gonna be very much busy with their work and growing in stocks and real estate and jewelry and fashion and furniture, not knowing that you are at the threshold of the return of Jesus Christ. Materialism has such a powerful, convincing power over people that it can even keep the devotion of men in the final hours of history.

But did you notice the last thing that was mentioned on this list? The last thing on this list that these merchants are so disturbed about? Slaves. That is human souls. The word slaves in the original simply means bodies, the bodies of men.

And in other word for word translations like the NASB, the new King James, the King James, they would they would say slaves and human soulshuman lives. What does that mean? The Spirit of God is showing us that the love of money will be so great in the last days that people will become objects for sale. That people, their bodies will actually be commodities. Not the service of people, not not slave labor, no, people.

People will actually be given up. People will actually be on the same list as cattle and chariots. Because we are being told by this that the love of money will be so great that the desire for financial gain will be so intense that humans themselves will be for sale. We're already seeing that today. We're seeing, though you do not see it so obviously, it's happening.

It's even happening this afternoon where little girls are being kidnapped by vicious men and being sold into sex trafficking. Oh, that that seems so vile and despicable. Right? Well, pornography makes an annual revenue of $12,000,000,000 And guess what the commodity is of pornography? Humans.

Their bodies. You don't think we're living in the last days, Or what about the services that are given under the guise of healthcare, when in reality there is genocide happening in the wombs of mothers on a daily basis? And even some of those body parts that are extracted are are sold and used for research. We're not living in the last days, Oh, you're waiting for volcanoes to erupt. You're waiting for a tsunami.

They'll come. But Paul says here, there's gonna be lovers of money. And notice on that list in Revelation 18, where where the human souls, where are they listed? Last. Last.

They're last on the list. To say that man will cherish and esteem material goods over the sanctity of a human life. In the last days, there will be lovers of money. We're in the last days. We're seeing it.

And it's only gonna get worse, brothers and sisters. But we come back to our main text and after telling us that for people who will be lovers of self, lovers of money, Paul moves on to say that they will be proud and arrogant. Again, the ESV is unique here because in other word for word translations, the word proud is replaced with the word boastful. Boastful. In the original Greek, the word is alezon, actually meaning empty pretender.

So I believe that the best fit for that is actually boastful. Because the original says empty pretender. And it helps make a distinction when you have boastful there instead of proud because the neighboring word is arrogant. And being boastful and arrogant, they overlap but they're not the same thing. But Paul says in the last days, there will be empty pretenders, and this is to speak about how men will exaggerate their own greatness.

Speaks about one who boasts about their accomplishments, their knowledge, their abilities, their experiences by stretching the truth or even making claims that have no basis of reality. It highlights the attitude of someone who comes off and wants to make sure everybody knows that they are superior. Are they the most significant one in the room? And it is essentially the verbal manifestation of self love. So in the last days, there are going to be people who are going to give the impression that they are something or someone when in reality, they are something else.

And let me give you a very innocent example. You got people today that edit themselves to the point where they are different online than they are in person. And it's a cultural thing. It's normal to us. It's like it seems fine.

But I I think it speaks of what Paul is talking about here. Even on a physical level, we want to show people that don't know us in reality and people are making tons of money on this through Instagram and other things, and they have so skewed themselves that they are pretending to look like somebody, to have perfect skin, to have the perfect shape, and to be perfectly symmetrical. What is that? Is that just it's fun. No.

It says something. In the last days, this is gonna become very known, very common, and it's gonna be widespread. Arrogant as well. Boastful and arrogance, again, they overlap, but they're not necessarily the same thing because you can be arrogant and not be boastful. You can be arrogant and not necessarily trumpet it.

It's not as vocal. It's something that manifests in different ways, but it primarily plagues the heart. And it's a convincing of yourself that you harbor, and that is you are greater than everybody else, just about everybody else. And the eyes of the inner man, they look at others with contempt. And although they don't demand the praise of others, there is an internal worship service happening continually in the innermost parts of who they are.

The arrogant eventually cannot hide their arrogance. When you esteem yourself above others as preeminent in value and worth, it will, it will make itself known. Sometimes it's known through actions. Other times it verbal vomit. It just slips out in the right time.

And there's some kind of comment that is made because out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. This is the channel in which the heart is revealed. And sometimes, as Proverbs says, all it takes is a look that can speak much louder than words. Why am I saying all this? Because in the last days, humility will be a rarity.

In the last days, a humble spirit will not be as common as boastfulness and arrogance. Over history, we have lost species of animals, and in like manner, as we advance from generation to generation, humility will become nearly extinct. The Bible speaks about this sin in great, great warning. In James four:six, we are told God does what? Tell me.

He resists or he opposes the proud. Guess what's so fascinating about that verse? James is talking to Christians. He ain't talking to non believers. And he's not teaching about the pride of those who have not submitted to the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.

He's actually talking to Christians. And if we don't believe that, then Peter borrows the same language when he tells Christians, clothe yourselves in humility toward one another. And then he says, for God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. What's amazing about that word resists or opposes is that it actually means to range in battle against. You know what that means?

It's a military term. So let me translate it in in simple language. God will go to war against the proud. Unless somebody knows, I can't find of any other kind of sin that God speaks in such manner. He will set up the battle ranks.

He will declare war against those who have harbored arrogance. You know why that's concerning to me? I don't know about you. I have enough things fighting against me. I have this flesh to deal with.

I got the world to deal with. And I got the devil to deal with and so do you and the hordes of demons. They oppose me daily, and I'm sure they oppose you too. But according to this verse, if I wanna add one more, all I have to do is be unrepented in my pride and and I have God to deal with. And guess what?

If God is on our side, it doesn't matter who stands against us. The flesh, the devil, all the hordes of hell. If God is for me, none of these things can overcome me. But if God is against me, it doesn't matter who I have on my side. It doesn't matter if I have the entire world standing behind me with their hands on my back.

As Paul said rhetorically to the Corinthians, are we stronger than he? So you can only imagine the wars that the Lord will have with people in the last days as there will be a greater military of the boastful and the arrogant. And let's be very vigilant here, believer. Let's be very, very discerning concerning spiritual warfare if pride is the very thing that invites God's army against me. One of Satan's greatest strategies against the Christian will attempt him to be proud.

Consider that. One of Satan's greatest strategies is to allow the heart to become puffed up. This is how clever he is. Because when we allow that pride to be planted and nourished and mature, then the enemy knows, never mind, I don't have to deal with him. God will deal with him.

When Jesus Christ returns to this world, to this pride pumped, pride filled world, I want you to see how he's going to deal with this sin. It's quite amazing. Because one of the prophets, the minor prophets, and they're minor not because they're less significant than Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, just because their prophecies are a little shorter. One of the minor prophets pulls the curtain back and gives us a little peek into the millennial reign of Jesus when he physically returns on the earth. And I want you to turn to that book called Zephaniah with me in chapter three, and I want you to see how the Lord Jesus Christ will specifically handle the people of Israel and those who are proud and arrogant in the midst.

I'll give you some time to find Zephaniah. It's not a very popular book. Zephaniah chapter three. And once we hear the rustling of the leaves, calm down, we'll expound. Zephaniah chapter three.

Again, this is a prophecy about the world to come, not heaven. This is why we believe in the literal reign of Christ because you have a lot of prophetic words to deal with because they haven't happened yet and if we're just waiting for heaven, then we have a lot of wasted real estate in the Bible. Zephaniah chapter three, beginning in verse 11. On that day you shall not be put to shame because of the deeds by which you have rebelled against me. Now look what happens.

For then, on that day, when Christ returns and becomes king, I will remove from your midst your proudly exultant ones, and you shall no longer be haughty in my holy mountain. Think about this. When the Lord Jesus Christ pierces through the skies and with those pierced feet lands on the Mount Of Olives, one of the top priorities that Christ will come to accomplish is to cleanse the world from pride, is to wash the hearts of those who would try to be in close proximity to his dwelling place from haughtiness. Because those who have haughtiness harbored in their hearts cannot be close to his earthly throne. He will not tolerate it.

As he comes as the Messiah, he will deal with this pride that will be so common. Can you imagine a world where pride will be suffocated? It's hard to imagine. You know why it's hard to imagine? Because we live in a culture today that celebrates pride as confidence and as strength.

But our king is meek and he is humble, gentle, lowly in heart and he will demand from the citizens of the world to reflect his character. And so when Jesus first came into the world he said, learn from me for I am gentle and lowly in heart. But when he comes again he's not going to say learn from me. He's going to make you be humble. Because when we stand before the superiority of his glory, the moral majesty, the radiating righteousness, the power of his wisdom, pride will have a very difficult time surviving under his rule and reign.

And I look at this and I get excited. Because if what will characterize the last days is that there will be the proud and the arrogant, what do you think will characterize the inhabitants of the earth when Jesus comes? Look at verse 12. But I will leave in your midst a people humble and lowly. They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord, because that's one of the evidences that you are humble and lowly.

You are dependent on the Lord. You hide in the Lord. You seek wisdom from the Lord. Your protection is the Lord. Your provision is not your bank account, it's the Lord.

The humble and lowly, that's who I'm gonna leave in the midst. I'm going to come and clean up all the junk that the human heart has created and that the antichrist has encouraged, and I will leave in your midst the humble and lowly. I'm excited. Come, Lord Jesus. But I'm not just excited because this is a glorious window into that time.

I'm excited because it holds application power for today. Well, what do I mean by that? Well, we'll ask this. If Jesus is going to deal with the pride in the world by becoming the ruler of the earth, the righteous king of the nations, then what is the solution for the arrogance that might so live comfortably in my heart? The pride in my heart.

The haughtiness, the snobbiness of my heart. The same solution for the world when he comes. Jesus Christ must sit on the throne of my will. If Jesus Christ sitting on the throne on Mount Zion will deal with the pride in the world, then Jesus Christ sitting on the throne of my heart will deal with the arrogance that will try to live so comfortably within me. In other words, as you submit to him, as we seek him, as we crown him as lord and master every single day, trust that he will be faithful to remove the pride from the midst of us and to instead replace it with a humility that reflects his character.

The more I behold the example of Christ, the more I pray for the reality of Christ in my soul, the more I seek to imitate Christ, the less pride has the power to have its way in me. The solution to the pride in this world will be when the prince of peace comes, to eliminate it with his power. And the only power for pride to die in my heart is if Christ becomes the king of it. We should be very careful of praying things as a church. Really.

Because when we pray, Lord, lead this ministry. Lord, have your way in our midst. Lord, be the center of attention and have all things unto your glory. You know what he might do as a response? Remove the pride from the midst.

Remove the exultant ones. Remove the ones that are a part of the ministry to have it for themselves and their own name and their own reputation. Be careful. The same way he will cleanse the earth when he becomes king. If Christ is king of Maranatha Bible Church, Christ will cleanse this place from pride, from those who will not allow him to cleanse their hearts first.

Then we come back to our text in second Timothy, and we read, we're making progress. We didn't stay on one. For people who will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, and then interesting enough in the ESV, we are told that people will become abusive. Abusive. That is an interesting translation of the original word, which is in the Greek, blasphemos.

Sound familiar? It's where we get the word blasphemous. And that word is so pregnant with application. It speaks of to speak evil against, to revile against, to ridicule, to slander, and even to be abusive. And most people have limited the sin of blasphemy as being something that we can only do against God.

No. We can be blasphemous against one another. And that's why I believe the ESV chose the word abusive to widen the application of the original word to not make people think that it's something that people will only do against God. No, they will, they will do it against others. Paul by the spirit, listen to this, foretells that there will be a heightened level of insults, of disrespect, of vulgarity, of cursing, of dishonor and reviling that will be the common language of the folk.

And even though such words carry the force to cut, to wound, to destroy, and even defile the imagination of those who are in the presence of blasphemy, it will be so prevalent. It will be so normal. And you know that we're living in that day. Whatever direction you turn into, your eyes will see, your ears will hear blasphemy. It's in our entertainment, if we can call it that.

It's in the music. It's in the conversation on the commute. It's in the conversation at work. It's so prevalent. And I wonder if Paul had a chance to make a weekend visit to America and then head back to heaven on Sunday evening, he would make the observation, this is the blasphemy that I told Timothy about two thousand years ago.

This is it. I'm sure he would come to that conclusion. And we can spend the rest of the remaining time pointing to how it's real here, how it's real there. You're fully aware of it. But again, remember this point that when we started this section in Timothy, we don't want to just study the evil behavior that will mature, the wickedness that will grow in our generation and the future generations if God does not tarry.

We want to make an ambition that if this world is only gonna get darker, then let the light of Christ shine brighter. Let's match the wickedness with righteousness. If the world is going to succumb to the power of the evil one and allow the flesh to dominate, then we may we submit to the power of the spirit and still remain the salt of the earth. And so I'm reading this and I'm thinking, okay. Yeah.

Abuse, abuse with the language, abusive with slander and reviling and cursing. I mean, you got Christians today who are calculating what they're cursing because you want to be cool. You're not cool. You're immature. You're marring your testimony.

I can't help but think about how every ugly dimension that Paul lists here, Christ is the exact opposite. He is the exact polar opposite. And and when I saw this, that people are gonna use their tongue to be abusive, that that my mind rushed to, well, how did Jesus use his tongue? Because he's our example. And if the world is gonna intensify in this, then, Lord, let Christ be real even with this mouthpiece.

And I couldn't help. My mind went to that prophecy of the suffering servant in Isaiah chapter 50. Would you meet me there? It's so precise about one of the elements of the Messiah who will come into this world, and it doesn't deal with his healing power, though that is wonderful. It doesn't deal with his miraculous abilities.

It doesn't deal with doesn't necessarily deal with his powerful preaching, though it is included in that. Look at what this is about Jesus. This is what Isaiah foretold about Christ, your Lord, your savior, our master. In Isaiah chapter 50 verse four we read, the Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens.

He awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught. You know, that verse, I'm sure you're convinced can be a whole sermon series. What does it say about Jesus as this is one of the suffering songs of the Messiah? We are told here that Christ says the Lord God has given me. Oh, look at the humility.

Look at the servanthood. Look at the dependency of Christ in the flesh. The Lord God, Yahweh, has given me, and I've received something from him. What is it that he has received from God? The tongue of those who are taught or learned.

And as I said earlier in prayer, that tongue was so impressive, so powerful, so captivating. It dripped with the honey of God's word. It dripped with piercing power, convicting strength, comforting grace that even when the Pharisees sent those officers to arrest him, they came back spellbound. They're like, where is he? They're like, we've never heard anybody spoke like him.

We've never heard anybody utter words like he uttered. But this prophecy doesn't deal with the the the wisdom that confounds the wise. It doesn't deal with, necessarily the the scriptures that Jesus pulled out of the bible, though it includes that, the the application, the ability of Christ's tongue is right here. That I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. So all that revelation, all that knowledge that he had received from God as he grew up, the scripture tells us in wisdom and stature, it had the ability to lift the weary head.

Can you imagine, like, look how compassionate God is that one of the prophecies of the Messiah is that when he will use his tongue, people who are discouraged, beaten by life, deflated will feel a strength to move on. That was the kind of preacher Jesus was. When you heard Jesus preach, it provided strength. It provided life. It provided hope.

Unlike the Pharisees, when they preached, Jesus condemned them. You throw burdens on people that you yourself are not even able to carry. That was not Jesus. He lifted burdens. When he spoke, he alleviated.

When he spoke, he healed. When he spoke, people sent a balm to their souls. If you're aspiring to be a preacher, imitate your master. That even in the hardest words, the hardest rebukes, people will still feel a strength. That's the spirit of Christ and the true preacher.

That even if it's a rebuke, they would sense their weary hearts come to life. But how did he achieve this? How did Jesus as, yes, truly God, but also man, how did he achieve this ability to sustain people with the word, unlike the abuse that will be known in the last days? Morning by morning he awakens. He awakens my ear as to hear as those who are taught.

This speaks about the fellowship that Jesus had with the father. Was it sporadic? Morning by morning. I want you to never read those passages in the gospels the same way again when you read that Jesus often secluded himself to lonely places to pray or when you read in Mark that Jesus woke up even before the sun came up, you know what he was doing that morning? He was receiving the tongue of those who are taught.

He was receiving the revelation he needed for that day to sustain someone else with his words. Are we not imitators of Christ? I read this and I thought, Lord, do I do this morning by morning? Do I come to you and to your word, not some subjective thing, but do I come to your word and do I come with an open ear? And do I say, Lord, awaken my ear, that I may know how to sustain with a word?

I don't want I wanna stand in complete opposite to the to the world who are so quick to tear down and destroy. They will be abusive. But lord, if I'm going to live in these last days, make me like you. I wanna be the person that when people hear me speak, they are only built up. They feel that much more grace and energy to live as a Christian.

They feel that much more joyful to be in the will of God. And if they veer off that my words by your grace will bring them back. And that can only come from one thing, brothers and sisters. If you want to have that kind of tongue, unlike the tongue of the world that holds no wisdom, no ability to provide strength. Even modern day psychology, it's so silly to me.

When I hear these people, even Christians, and I won't mention these people's names because I believe they're good people, but these philosophers, these modern speakers that write books about the meaning of life and stuff, there's no power. It's just how to tidy up your life a little bit, but it doesn't have the ability that only God can give and that's sustained with a word. I want to be that vessel by God's grace. I hope you would want it too. But it can only come from one thing.

Can't come from seminary. Can't come from degree. And listen. Those who acquire greater knowledge, you want to know if it really came from God? When they speak, does it give you grace?

I don't care how much knowledge they have. You can study books and memorize it, and you can just spew out information, even Bible information. If it doesn't have if it doesn't have the fruit of sustaining with a word, it's just knowledge and God touches it on it. Morning by morning, he awakens, he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught. Can you picture it in Jesus?

As this world is going to pull away from God more and more, of course they're gonna inherit abusive tongues. But as we come closer and closer, God deposits deposits a knowledge. Not to impress people with debates, not to simply be apologetic with our faith, but to even provide strength to the weary heart. Look at the next verse. In verse five, we read something, and we'll close here.

Because if we wanna achieve that, yes, we have to have that morning by morning morning fellowship. And if you work night shift, don't be condemned, okay? I often tell people, people get so burdened, and I love that burden. Brother, I can't. My schedule, this and that.

And I just say, give God what you can give him. And like the woman who anointed his head and anointed his feet, Jesus will defend you and say, she has done what she could. But when we come to Isaiah 50, look at verse five. Messiah continues, the Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious. I turned not backward.

Let's just read on to prove that this is Christ. I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard. I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting. This is Christ. But when you look at verse five, notice he says, the Lord God has opened my ear.

And if we're not careful, if we're not familiar with biblical language and phrases, we might think that it's just an emphasis that he was very attentive in his quiet time in the morning. No. That's not what it is. We heard it earlier that yes, he comes morning by morning. He listens.

He comes to the word and he was rich. He was the word. But then we're told that the Messiah says the Lord God has opened my ear. And he's not talking about made me more attentive. No, the Messiah who would come was alluding to what you read in Exodus 21.

Some things that most Christians would skip. And that's laws concerning Hebrew slaves. Can I show you what this means? Let's turn there. And these were the instructions that were given to the slave masters in the old covenant.

There was rules. And as you read these rules, you're gonna quickly get the impression that slavery in the Bible is not the same way we understand American slavery. Exodus 21. Look at this. Now these are the rules in verse one that you shall set before them.

When you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh, he shall go out free for nothing. And then we come here to verse five. So this is the rule. If you purchase a slave, he's really like an employee. He comes on in and after six years, no matter who he is, no matter how close he is to you, no matter how much he's done for you, my law is you have to let him go.

But the slave has a choice. And the fact that a slave has a choice implies that he was not being beaten and whipped and had an iron collar around his neck. No. Look at verse five. But if the slave plainly says, I love my master.

How can you love your master if you're a slave? The way we understand slavery. This is important as you answer people's questions. I love my master, my wife, and my children. I will know, I will not go all free.

Hey, if you're a slave, you're counting down the days for that sixth year. But again, different concept of slavery as people would understand it in, in our history. I will not go out free. Then his master shall bring him to God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost, and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be his slave forever. So if a man would be free after six years and, and in his heart he goes, but I love my master.

He's treated me so well. I enjoy his, his fellowship. I enjoy his friendship. I wanna be a part of him and his family forever. Then he would turn around and he would say, I want to be your slave forever.

So then the master would take him before God, open his ear, take a sharp instrument known as an awl, and pierce it on the doorpost as a sign of his slave ship to him forever. Jesus says in Isaiah 50 verse five, the Lord God has opened my ear. What is he saying? That as the servant of God, he was a slave to God forever. He was dedicated to the cause of God.

He loved his God as his master, and he chose to not do his will on the earth, but the will of him who sent him. And because of that dedication, ever since he was a babe, god honored him morning by morning with a tongue of those who are learned to empower others. That is Christ, but that is an invitation for you and I. You wanna be used by God this afternoon? You want to be set apart?

You want God to so touch your mind and your tongue that when you speak it springs out life? Open your ear. I'm not talking about morning devotion time. I'm talking about the opening of the year that Jesus described. Put your ear on the doorpost and let God pierce it.

And let him claim you forever. That is the vessel that God uses. The one who says, I'm yours. I'm not gonna be passionate about you for six years. I'm not gonna serve you like everybody serves you in the beginning of my faith when I come to know you.

I'm yours forever. The day I die, I'm dedicated to you. And it is those types of vessels who will stand out in the last days. It is those types of instruments who have dedicated their whole life to God that God will use. And that's why there are many Christians that don't have that.

You know why? It's because they haven't given everything to him yet. They're his, they're his employee, they love God, but it's like in and out, right? It's like, no. Dedicate yourself and watch what he'll do in and through you.

Let's pray. Heavenly father, we realize according to your word that we are indeed in the last days. For we see what mankind has become and what direction mankind is headed towards. But Lord, we will not study this merely as a subject. We long to know what is our call in in all of this.

And we pray and we beg of you oh God, that although these times will be difficult, although there will be a greater rejection of the gospel and a greater self love, make us like your son. Conform us to his image, even down to the detail of how we use our words. If the Lord will reject you day after day, then Lord may we be like the master who met with you morning by morning. We submit ourselves to you. If anybody in here has not fully given themselves as a bondservant of Jesus Christ, may today be the turning point.

May they say, I love my master, and I will not go away from him. I will not just visit him. I will not just come for the holidays. I will be his slave forever. May that be true of every servant in Maranatha Bible Church.

We ask, oh God, that we would be found faithful in these final hours of history. We ask, oh God, that although there will be perilous times you will see a city on a hill through this local body, among many other local bodies, that will shine bright for Christ. Lord, we submit to you in worship, not just in song, but through our our lives. We give you all glory and thanks for the word of the Lord today. In Jesus name we pray.

Amen.