The Strength of Weakness (Part 2)

Have you ever considered the possibility that your limitations and weaknesses may actually be the key to your usefulness in the service of Christ?

Something that the Lord has been emphasizing to me through His word over the past several weeks is the fact that His strength is made perfect in weakness. In First and Second Corinthians this truth is brought out quite a bit, and while I've been familiar for a long time with the truth that Gods strength is made perfect in weakness, its such a refreshing idea to me that my limitations and weaknesses are the key to my usefulness in Gods service, and that Gods design is to use those who are inadequate and incapable.

A couple of weeks ago we looked at Second Corinthians 12:9-10 where we read - "And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong." This is one of those paradoxes in Scripture, one of those statements that seems contradictory and counter-intuitive and that doesn't make sense to the natural mind. But then again, the Lord says in Isaiah 55 - ""For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," declares the Lord. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts."" In the book, That Incredible Christian, Tozer writes - "The Christian believes that in Christ he has died, yet he is more alive than before and he fully expects to live forever. He walks on earth while seated in heaven and though born on earth he finds that after his conversion he is not at home here. Like the nighthawk, which in the air is the essence of grace and beauty but on the ground is awkward and ugly, so the Christian appears at his best in the heavenly places but does not fit well into the ways of the very society into which he was born. The Christian soon learns that if he would be victorious as a son of heaven among men on earth he must not follow the common pattern of mankind, but rather the contrary. That he may be safe he puts himself in jeopardy; he loses his life to save it and is in danger of losing it if he attempts to preserve it. He goes down to get up. If he refuses to go down he is already down, but when he starts down he is on his way up. He is strongest when he is weakest and weakest when he is strong. Though poor he has the power to make others rich, but when he becomes rich his ability to enrich others vanishes. He has most after he has given most away and has least when he possesses most. He may be and often is highest when he feels lowest and most sinless when he is most conscious of sin. He is wisest when he knows that he knows not and knows least when he has acquired the greatest amount of knowledge. He sometimes does most by doing nothing and goes furthest when standing still. In heaviness he manages to rejoice and keeps his heart glad even in sorrow. The paradoxical character of the Christian is revealed constantly."
And we're going to continue to consider one of these paradoxical aspects, and that is the strength of weakness, or I suppose we could call it the adequacy of the inadequate. Last time we were at the end of Second Corinthians, this time we're going to go to focus on a small section at the beginning of First Corinthians and continue to consider this paradoxical idea of Gods strength being perfected in weakness. I want to focus mainly on verses 26-31, but to put it in its context we'll read from 1:17-2:5.

1 Corinthians 1:17-2:5 - "For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void. For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.” Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God. But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.” And I, when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God."

The subject of the power of God is an underlying theme throughout this entire passage. In verses 17-25 we're told about the message of the cross, which is called in verse 18 - "The power of God." Verses 26-31 talk about those whom God has called, that is, the people of God. In its immediate context the apostle is talking about the church in Corinth, but that local church is representative of the church as a whole and the truths in these verses can be applied to us by way of extension. And in this section God has chosen the weak things to shame the strong. And then in chapter 2 verses 1-5 Paul talks about himself and his own weaknesses, and the reason for it he says in verse 5 - "That your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God."
So verses 17-25 speak of the foolishness of the message. Verses 26-31 speak of the insignificance of the saints. And then 2:1-5 speak of the weakness of the apostle. Foolishness, insignificance, weakness, and yet the power of God underlies all of it. So what I want to focus on is the insignificance of the saints.

In verse 26 Paul instructs his readers to "Consider your calling, brethren..." Think about what you were when you were called. Called by whom? Called by God. God is in the business of calling men and women, boys and girls to Himself. And the Bible is very clear that our calling has nothing to do with us, but it's all of Christ. According to the Bible we are; called of Jesus Christ, called as saints, called according to His purpose, called into fellowship with Jesus Christ, called to peace, called by the grace of God, called to freedom, called in hope, called in one body, called into Gods own kingdom and glory, called for the purpose of sanctification, called to eternal life, called with a holy calling, called His brethren, called children of God, and on and on the list goes. That's a lot to consider, and that's just some of what the Bible has to say about our calling. But this list, by and large, consists of things we have been called to. The instruction in verse 26 is not to consider what we have been called to but rather to consider what we were when we were called. The Bible is abundantly clear that God does not call people because of who they are or what they've done, but in spite of that. In every aspect of our calling Christ is the one who accomplished it. It's not according to anything we have done or who we are but it's all bound up in Christ.

And look at the team that God has chosen, verse 26 - "For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble." God picks a strange team that is frankly unimpressive. If you've ever been involved in picking a team for an athletic event then you know that you try to get all the good players first. It doesn't matter how good you are, you want to make sure you surround yourself with the best so that you can work together and win. And, of course, this is the natural way of thinking, not just in the athletic world, but in the world of business or politics or anywhere else. You've got to get the best and the brightest in order to succeed. But God chooses His team quite differently. He has called the weak and the foolish and those who are unqualified. Why? Because when He picks a team like this it will be evident to all that when He wins it's not going to be due to those whom He has chosen, it's going to be all of Him. He will receive all the glory. And that's what the passage goes on to say.

And this is not a new idea introduced in the book of 1 Corinthians. We can go throughout the Word of God and see that this is how God always works. We see this in the Lords relationship with Israel in Deuteronomy 7:6-8 where we read  - "For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the Lord loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the Lord brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt." The Lord didn't chose them because they were the mightiest but because they were the least. The Lord says of Abraham in Isaiah 51:2 - "When he was one I called him." When the Lord called Gideon, Gideon responded - "Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house." And what were Amos' credentials? What qualified him to serve the Lord? Amos 1:1 - "The words of Amos, who was among the sheepherders from Tekoa." You've got to be kidding. A shepherd? Not impressive enough for you? Don't worry, he wasn't just a shepherd, he was also a gardener. That's what he said, that was his own admission in Amos 7:14 - "I am not a prophet, nor am I the son of a prophet; for I am a herdsman and a grower of sycamore figs." Surely he can't speak for the Lord. Why don't you go tend your herds and your fig trees, and when we want a lesson agriculture we'll call you. What qualified him to speak for the Lord? The Lords calling. Amos 7:15 - "But the Lord took me from following the flock and the Lord said to me, ‘Go prophesy to My people Israel.’" And the Lord works the same way today.

Consider your calling, brethren, not many were wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble.

When we come into the New Testament we see the same thing. Christ didn't call the wise men of the world, or the powerful, or the first class. He called fishermen and tax collectors, the nobodies, the bottom feeders. God doesn't call people based on wisdom, power, influence, prestige, but He calls people in spite of all that. And God didn't get at this by default either. It's not as if Christ tried to get more powerful and influential people and it didn't work so He had to go to plan B and got stuck with the riffraff, the off-scouring of society. No, He actually chose foolish, weak, despised and base things so that He would get all the credit. There had to be a reason that He was born into a carpenters house.
He could have done it the other way around. He could have gone right in and converted Herod and Caesar and Pilate, and then set out to convert the whole world from the top down, but that's not what He did. Where did we come up with the idea that the way to win the world is some high level political strategy and we're going to do it from the top down? Wherever we got it, it didn't come from the Bible. Because God has chosen the weak and foolish, the base and the despised.

When we look at verse 26 the temptation is to focus on the letter m in the word "many." "For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble." See, it doesn't say that there were not any, but it simply says that there were not many... wise or strong or noble. And the temptation is to think, God put that m in there for me because He knew He was going to call me and I'm such a wise person or I'm so powerful or influential. And it's true, there are some. There aren't many, but there are some. The problem is that 90% of people think that they’re in the top 10%. So don't think of yourself more highly than you ought, but think with sober judgment.

We don't like to think of ourselves as inadequate. That goes against everything that our culture is telling us. If you really want to make something of your life then you need to make sure that everyone knows how great you are. You're certainly not inadequate. I read an interesting quote from the Wall Street Journal and here's what is says - "The self-esteem movement has worked hard for a quarter of a century to tell children they are perfect in every way. This has resulted in producing an entire generation with no proper sense of inadequacy." And that's absolutely true. We see these little kids riding around in minivans with bumper stickers on the back that attest to the fact of their genius. We wouldn't want them to think of themselves as inadequate.
But the fact of the matter is that we don't need to look any further then the mirror to deal with inadequacy. And, again, this is not by happenstance, this is by design.
Look at verses 27-28 - "but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are."
Three times in these verses, "God chose, God chose, God chose." It's not that this is all that He could get, He intentionally chose the inadequate. And this goes back to the truths presented in Psalm 139 and elsewhere in the Scriptures, you are unique. You are special, you are loved by God and He has loved you in spite of your weaknesses and inadequacies, and, in fact, He has specially designed you with them. God is not in need of our wisdom or our strength or our wealth.
And Paul applies this to himself and his fellow workers in chapter 3 verses 5-7 where he says - "What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything." He says basically the same thing in 2 Corinthians 12:11 - "I am a nobody." That's kind of a low view of yourself, Paul. A nobody? That's not very good for your self-esteem. No? You want the truth? I'll go one better. Look at chapter 4 and verses 9-13 - "For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor. To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless; and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure; when we are slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now." The scum of the world and the dregs of all things. Try that one on for size. How's that for your self-esteem?

The Foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men. Overwhelmingly in Gods working with man throughout time, God always chooses the weak and unqualified. Indeed, God has never chosen anyone who was capable."But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are."
Judges chapter 7 is where we read the account of Gideon going up against the Midianite army. And the army of Midian was so vast that we read in verse 12 - "Now the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the sons of the east were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as numerous as the sand on the seashore." This army is so vast that not only can the people not be counted, but the camels can't even be counted. So this innumerable host is coming up against Israel and we look at the army of Israel and we see a mere 32,000 men. 32,000 against an innumerable host. The odds aren't exactly in Israels favor. But what does God say? Verse 2 - "And the Lord said to Gideon, "The people who are with you are too many for Me to give Midian into their hands, for Israel would become boastful, saying, ‘My own power has delivered me.’"" Gideon, your army is too strong. Why? Because if I give Midian into your hands with an army that size then Israel will boast against Me that her own strength has saved her. That sounds an awful lot like 1 Corinthians 1:29, doesn't it? God has chosen the foolish, the weak, the base, the despised, why? "That no man should boast before God." So God tells Gideon to tell the people, "Whoever is afraid let him go home." And 22,000 leave. Now we're down to 10,000. But what does God say? Verse 4 - "Then the Lord said to Gideon, "The people are still too many."" And the Lord tests them and reduces their number to an insignificant 300 men. Verse 7 - "And the Lord said to Gideon, "I will deliver you with the 300 men."" What is God doing here? He is reducing the army to such an unbelievably insignificant number that it would be apparent to everybody, not least of all Gideon, that God was the one who was delivering Israel. "Lest Israel boast against Me that her own faith has saved her." The Lord says "I can't win a victory with this many people because they're too strong.” It wasn't that God was incapable of defeating the Midianite army with 32,000 soldiers. But the army was just big enough that had the Lord delivered Midian into their hands the people would have become boastful and said "My own strength has delivered me." So the Lord had to reduce their number to such an insignificant amount that it would be clear to everyone that the Lord is the one who won the victory. The only qualifications the army had to meet was that it had to be small, weak, and insignificant. Once it was at that point then it became useful.

"For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God."
Paul tells the Corinthians what God has done, but he also tells them why God has done it. Gods intention is clear, vs. 29 - “So that no one may boast before Him.” Gods has arranged it in such a way that He will get all the glory. God is not going to share His glory.
You know that old saying, "To the victor go the spoils." Well that's true. God always leads us in triumph in Christ, and we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. But He is the victor and He gets the glory. And He has set it up in such a way that no one may boast before Him. That no one would steal His glory.

This was the problem with Achan back in Joshua chapter 6, right? Who defeated Jericho? The Lord did. So He told the children of Israel that all the spoils from Jericho were His. Not because He was a little short on cash, but because He wanted to remind the people that He was the one fighting their battles. But Achan saw some of the things under the ban, he saw some of the spoils of war and he coveted them and took them and hid them in his tent. He stole some of the Lords glory, and the Lord said, we're not going to have any of that. Bring him out and his family and all that belongs to him and let all the congregation of Israel stone him with stones. This is something that the Lord takes very seriously.

We see something similar in Numbers chapter 20. Back in Exodus 17 the children of Israel were in the wilderness and they were grumbling against Moses and against the Lord because they were thirsty. Well God told Moses to pass before the people with his rod and strike a rock, and God declared that from that rock would come forth water that all the people could drink. So Moses did as the Lord commanded and water came forth and the people drank. Well when we come to Numbers chapter 20 we see a similar situation. The people are again grumbling because they are thirsty and the Lord tells Moses to go again to the rock, but this time he is told to speak to it and it will bring forth water. But we read in verses 10-11 - "Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly before the rock. And he said to them, “Listen now, you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?” Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation and their beasts drank." But we read in verse 12 - "But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”" It was not disobedience that kept Moses out of the promised land. Oh, make no mistake, he disobeyed. God told him to speak to the rock and instead he struck it. But that's not why he was kept from entering the land of promise. The Lord said it is "Because you have not believed Me to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel." You did not believe Me to treat Me as holy. What did Moses say before he struck the rock? "Shall we bring forth water from this rock..." Who was the one bringing that water out of the rock? God was. Was Moses able to bring forth water from a rock? No. Moses was lifting himself up and putting himself on the same level as God, saying "Shall we bring forth water from this rock?" And God says, no Moses. You are not on my level. I can bring forth water from the rock, but I'm not going to share my glory with anyone. Moses was useful as long as he realized his own inabilities. But it was as a result of lifting himself up and trying to share Gods glory that he was kept from entering the promised land.

Consider what you were when you were called brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised, God has chosen the things that are not, that He might bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.

Verses 30-31 - "But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.”" God’s grace is running all through this passage. He has called us in spite of ourselves. He has chosen the weak, foolish, base, despised things. And it's as a result of His doing that we are in Christ Jesus. This is all as a result of God’s grace. That's the same thing that we read in 2 Corinthians 12. It's because of God’s grace that His strength is perfected in weakness.
Any time we see our inadequacy we see God’s grace. I was thinking about our inadequacies in verse 26, not many wise, not many mighty, not many noble, and in God’s grace He called us anyway. There were not many wise, but "God was well pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe." (1 Corinthians 1:21) There were not many mighty, but the Lord says "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is perfected in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:9) There were not many noble, but "you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich." (2 Corinthians 8:9) It's all as a result of God’s grace. In Ephesians 3:7-10 the apostle Paul is talking about the gospel and he says - "of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God’s grace which was given to me according to the working of His power. (There were not many mighty) To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, (There were not many noble) and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; so that the manifold wisdom of God (There were not many wise) might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places."

Vs. 31 - "So that, just as it is written, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.”" That's the one thing worth boasting about and yet it's the last thing that we want to boast of too much of the time. If you want to boast, why don't you boast about the fact that you know God through the cross of Christ? We can think of all sorts of things to boast in. You ask someone, How did you get into this school? I got into this school because I'm smart and I got the grades. How did you get picked for that team? I made the team because I'm strong and very good. And how did you get in the church of Christ? I got into the church because the Son of man came to seek and save that which was lost. I got into the church because God has chosen the foolish, weak, base, despised things of this world. I got into the church because God in His grace was well pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. And God has chosen to do it this way (verse 29) so that no one can boast before Him.

Verse 31 is a quotation from Jeremiah chapter 9 verses 23-24 which reads in its entirety - "Thus says the Lord, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord." Verse 23 there resembles 1 Corinthians 1:26 doesn't it? There were not many wise, "Let not the wise man boast of His wisdom." There were not many mighty, "Let not the mighty man boast of his might." There were not many noble, "Let not the rich man boast of his riches." But let Him who boasts boast in the Lord.

The Door

John 10:9 - “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me he will be saved.”

The psalmist said in Psalm 104:34 - "My meditation of Him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the Lord." And again in Psalm 63:6 he says - "When I remember Thee on my bed, I meditate on Thee in the night watches." From time to time we hear about the importance of meditating on Word of God, but in both of these verses the psalmist is talking about meditating, not on the Word of God, but on the person of God. And when we consider His names and titles throughout the Word of God we can begin to say along with the psalmist, "my meditation of Him shall be sweet." Meditating on the Lords various names and titles is very enriching and, as I've said before, these names and titles communicate quite a bit of information if we'll take the time to stop and consider them.

Twice in John chapter 10 the Lord Jesus calls Himself "the Door." What does this reveal to us about our Lord? Well, what do doors do? Doors separate the outside from the inside and they make a way between the two. When you go through a door your location doesn’t change by any more than two feet, but your circumstances can change drastically. Think about it. Outside it may be cold, wet, raining, dark, but you go through the door and it’s warm, it’s dry, it’s bright, you’ve only gone about two feet but your circumstances have changed completely, all from simply going through a door.

There are many Old Testament accounts that demonstrate new testament truths, and I find it helpful when pondering the titles of the Lord Jesus to think back to the Old Testament and see if the Lord has given us a picture anywhere to demonstrate the truth being conveyed through His names and titles. So as we think about the Lord Jesus as the door there are a couple famous doors in the Bible that we might look at.

The first one I want to look at is found in Genesis chapter 6 and that is the door of the ark. In Genesis chapter 6 the Lord told Noah to build an ark because He was going to destroy the earth with a flood because all the thoughts of mens hearts were only evil continually. But as God instructed Noah how to build the ark He told him to make it with a door. The ark had a door, and anyone who entered through that door was saved from the flood. This is a picture of what the Lord Jesus is saying. “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me he will be saved.” It’s as simple as those people going through the door on the ark. Anyone who went through the door was saved and anyone who did not enter through the door was not saved. It’s so simple. In looking at the entire population of planet earth at the time of the flood you can divide everyone into two groups, those who went through the door and those who did not go through the door. And it didn’t matter how big a sinner a person was, if they didn’t go through the door they were not saved. It didn’t matter if they were a really bad sinner or a not so bad sinner. There was no concept of being sort of saved. Their salvation was very cut and dry, very clear. If they were on the ark they were saved. If they were not on the ark they were not saved. There was no concept of sort of saved.

Let’s go back in time to the days just before the flood. The ark was there, the door was there and people had decisions to make. Every door presents a decision. You may not even realize it, but every time you come to a door you make a decision, “do I enter or do I not enter?” You can walk down a long corridor, passing several doors to get to the one you want, but what you might not realize is that subconsciously you were choosing not to enter each door that you passed. So when it came to the ark everyone on earth was presented with a decision, “do I enter the door or not? Do I get on the ark or do I stay off?” Now, 2 Peter tells us that Noah was a preacher of righteousness. The message was out that a flood was coming and so people had to decide what they were going to do in light of the coming flood.

So we come to one guy and we ask him if he is saved. And he responds by telling us that he is a very religious person and he goes to church every Sunday, so he doesn’t really think it’s that important to enter through the door and get on the ark because he’s a religious person. And he says, “you know, I don’t really think it’s necessary to get on to the ark, as long as you believe something and as long as you’re sincere.” But let's rephrase the question. Instead of asking "Are you saved?" we ask "Have you entered through the door?" The flood is coming on the whole earth and God has revealed that only those who have entered the ark through the door will be saved. It doesn’t matter what group of people you belong to, it doesn’t matter how religious or sincere you are, if you’re not on the ark you will not survive.

We come to another person and we ask her if she is going to get on the ark, and she respond by saying, “well, you know, I don’t think that the ark is the only way to be saved. Now, if you want to get on the ark you can, but I want to be saved my own way, and there are other people who are saying that if I do this certain thing that I will be saved too. So the ark may be a good way for you, but I don’t think that the ark is the only way.” Well the truth is that the ark was the only way to be saved. There was only one way to be saved then and there is only one way to be saved now.

The ark also presents us with a beautiful picture of the security of the believer. If someone trips while they are on the ark they are still saved, they are still on the ark. Everyone who entered through the door of the ark was saved from the flood, and Noah may have fallen down on the ark but he never fell out of it. 

Some people may have thought that God was such a loving God that He would never send the flood. And it’s true that God does love people, but that doesn’t mean that He didn’t send the flood. No, God loved people and He still sent the flood. God is a just God, and sin demands punishment, but God provided a way that people could be saved from the flood. God is a God of love, but the way that God demonstrates His love is not by not sending anyone to hell, but by providing a way that people might be saved from it. In Romans 5:8 we read that - "God demonstrated His own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us." The Lord Jesus is the way. God has made a way that we don’t have to go to hell. He has given Himself as the Door that by Him we may enter and be saved. It’s a decision that we must make. Christ is the door. We must enter through Him to be saved, because He is the only way of salvation, as He said in John 14:6 - "I am the way... No one comes to the Father except through Me."

There’s another door I want to look at and that is the veil in the Tabernacle.This is actually more of a curtain, but it served the same purpose. It separated the inside from the outside and made a way between the two. In Exodus chapter 26 the Lord was giving Moses the blueprints for the Tabernacle. This was that special tent in which God Himself was going to dwell in the midst of His people Israel. The tabernacle itself consisted of two rooms. As you entered in you would come into the larger room called the Holy Place. Only the priests were allowed into the tabernacle and the majority of their work would take place in the outer court and in this first room, the Holy Place. But the second and smaller room in the tabernacle was called the Most Holy Place, or the Holy of Holies, and it was in the Most Holy Place that God Himself dwelt above the Mercy Seat on the Ark of the Covenant. And in Exodus 26:33 the Lord instructed Moses- "You shall hang up the veil under the clasps, and shall bring in the ark of the testimony there within the veil; and the veil shall serve for you as a partition between the holy place and the holy of holies." Separating the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place was the veil. And that veil basically said "stay back!" No one was allowed to enter the Most Holy Place except for the high priest, and he was only allowed to enter once a year in order to make atonement for his own sin and the sins of the people. And even that one time when the high priest could enter he would have to follow very specific instructions "lest he die." And Hebrews tells us that this physical tabernacle pictures for us a heavenly tabernacle and a spiritual truth. The veil made a separation between God and man. God, being holy, cannot allow sinners into His presence. But on the cross an amazing thing happened. In Hebrews 9:6-12 the writer is talking about the tabernacle and he says - "Now when these things have been so prepared, the priests are continually entering the outer tabernacle performing the divine worship, but into the second, only the high priest enters once a year, not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance. The Holy Spirit is signifying this, that the way into the holy place has not yet been disclosed while the outer tabernacle is still standing, which is a symbol for the present time. Accordingly both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make the worshiper perfect in conscience, since they relate only to food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until a time of reformation. But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption." When Christ died on the cross He offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice, not in the earthly tabernacle but in the true tabernacle. And because of that perfect sacrifice there will never be a need for another sacrifice. And what's more, Christ opened the way into the presence of God. As the Lord Jesus died on the cross, we read in Matthew 27:50-51 - "And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom." There were many strange things that happened surrounding the death of the Lord Jesus, but they happened for a reason. The veil being ripped in two from top to bottom wasn't an accident and it wasn't a coincidence. God was showing that with the tearing of the flesh of the Lord Jesus the way into His presence was opened once and for all. That veil that always said "stay back" was now torn in two and the way into Gods presence was opened. And the writer to the Hebrews points this out clearly in Hebrews 10:19-22 where we read - "Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water." we’re told that this veil is a picture of the Lord Jesus’ flesh. When He gave up His life on the cross He made a way for us to enter into the presence of God. We can now come to God, not on our own, but through the Lord Jesus. We can come to God by Him. We have confidence to enter into the presence of God by Him.

As for the earthly temple, the Jews simply sewed up the veil and continued on with their religious rituals. But as for the heavenly tabernacle, the way is open for everyone. Christ is the veil that was torn, He is the door that is now open and it's only through Him that we can have access to the Father. Because of who He is and what He has done we don't need to fear coming into Gods presence. Our sins have been paid for by the blood of Christ, so through Him we have confidence to enter the presence of God. Ephesians 2:12-13 - "Remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ."

John 10:9 - “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me he will be saved.”

The Lamb of God

John 1:29 - "The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”"

There are certain Biblical phrases and passages of Scripture that we can become so familiar with that we don't often stop to consider the depth of truth which it contains, and John 1:29 is one such passage. Here we find John the baptist pointing to the Lord Jesus and declaring "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." We casually read over this because we're used to the Lord Jesus as the Lamb of God, but imagine how odd this must have sounded to those who heard John make this declaration. What would you think if one of your friends pointed to a stranger walking down the road and said, "Look, the Lamb of God." This is really a strange name. But it gets us to start thinking, what has this man done to earn such a title? If we were pointed to a man and told "Look, the tortoise of Toledo." We could probably deduce that this person merited such a name by being notoriously slow. This is a silly example, but I think you get the idea.
During WWII there was a soldier by the name of Rommel who earned himself the name "the Desert Fox." And without knowing anything about this man we can surmise that he must have been consistently sly and crafty in his wilderness warfare. Names like this carry with them a great deal of information. So in John 1:29 why would John call the Lord Jesus "The Lamb of God"?

For any Jewish person or anyone familiar with their Bible, this title of the Lord Jesus takes us back to the Old Testament. The reference to the Lord Jesus as the Lamb of God points us all the way back to the beginning. In Genesis chapter 3, right after the fall of mankind, we read that the Lord God made garments of skin for the man and his wife to clothe them. These garments of skin that God made for Adam and Eve were the skins of an animal, probably a lamb. An animal had to be sacrificed, had to die, in order that the result of mans sin might be covered. And from this point on the Lord begins to teach us the necessity of having a sacrifice for our sins. This must have been something that God taught Adam and Eve and that they passed down to their children, and so on for generations. Because even as early as the fourth chapter of Genesis we see mankind offering a sacrifice for his sins. In Genesis 4:4 we read this - "Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering." Abel offered to God a lamb, an excellent sacrifice, for his own personal sin. This is a lamb for a person.
By the way, why did animals have to be sacrificed in the Old Testament? These were sacrifices for sin. According to Gods perfect standard death is the penalty for sin. God is completely Holy and cannot tolerate even the smallest sin, so He declares that the soul that sins must die. We read in the New Testament that the wages of sin is death. And not just physical death but spiritual death, a separation from God for eternity. See, God made us in order that we might have a relationship with Him, but we cannot come near to God if we are sinners. Once Adam sinned the entire human race was plunged into sin. We are born sinners. So this presents us with a problem, we've been created to have a relationship with God but we can't because we are sinners. So what did God do? He provided a way for sinners to be able to come to Him and have a relationship with Him. Cain and Abel were sinners but early on God began to reveal His plan to rescue us from our sin and draw us back to Himself. And all the way back at the beginning He begins to teach us the idea about a substitutionary sacrifice. What does that mean? The wages of sin is death, right? So God made it possible for something else to die in our place. Abel brought a lamb to God as a sacrifice and the life of that lamb paid the price for Abel's sin, enabling him to have a relationship with God.

As we read on through the Bible we come to Exodus chapter 12, and here we read once again of the sacrificial lamb, only this time it's not for the individual, it's for a household. In Exodus chapter twelve the Lord had already done many signs and wonders through Moses in the land of Egypt, and He was preparing His people for the final judgment that would take place against the nation of Egypt in order that they would let His people go. This is what we read in Exodus 12 verse 3 and also verses 12-13 - "Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month they are each one to take a lamb for themselves, according to their fathers’ households, a lamb for each household... For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments—I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt." The shed blood of the lamb would cover anyone in the household. Each family escaped the judgment of God by the blood of the lamb. This event, as you know, is called the Passover and it's something that the Lord didn't want His people to forget. He wanted them to remember how they had been covered by the blood of a sacrificed lamb. So we have a lamb for a household.

So we saw the lamb for the individual in Genesis 4, we see the lamb for the family in Exodus 12, we come to Leviticus 16 and we see a sacrifice for a nation. In Leviticus chapter 16 Israel is instructed concerning the day of atonement, a special day in which the entire nation would come together and their sins would be atoned for by one sacrifice. Leviticus 16:17 says concerning the high priest - "When he goes in to make atonement in the holy place, no one shall be in the tent of meeting until he comes out, that he may make atonement for himself and for his household and for all the assembly of Israel." This passage is talking about a special day that Israel would celebrate once a year, a day called the day of atonement. And this sacrifice for sins was offered for the entire nation.  In this verse we actually see all three, a sacrifice for an individual, a family and a nation.

So we see Gods plan being revealed to a greater extent as we go through the Word of God and finally we come to John 1:29 and we read - "The next day John saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”"

First for the individual, then for the family, then for the nation, and now the Sacrificial Lamb for the sins of the whole world, Jesus Christ. He is the one to whom all the Old Testament sacrifices were pointing. In the Old Testament when a person sinned they had to bring a Lamb to the tabernacle in order to have it sacrificed for their sin, but they couldn't bring just any lamb from the flock, they had to bring one that met very specific requirements depending on the type of sacrifice. It had to be a male, it had to be a certain age, it had to be free from any spots or blemishes, it had to be in perfect health, and so on. And the Lord Jesus met everyone one of the requirements. He is the one to whom all these Old Testament sacrifices point. His is the fulfillment, and He is the only sacrifice that can truly take away sin. And that's exactly what He came to do. Hebrews 9:26 says that Christ was manifested in order to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

One of the requirements of an animal sacrifice in the Old Testament was that it had to be without blemish and without spot. You couldn't bring a sacrifice that had any defect, it had to be, for all intents and purposes, perfect. In 1 Peter 1:18-19 we read - "knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ." Here we're told that our redemption was bought with the blood of Christ, and Christ was the Lamb of God without blemish and without spot. Whereas the Old Testament sacrifices had to meet this requirement outwardly, the Lord Jesus met this requirement inwardly, meaning that there was no blemish on His nature and character. He is absolutely perfect. He doesn't have the blemish of sin. A blemish is an acquired mark, that is, something that is inflicted on you from the outside. A spot is an inherited mark, that is, a defect that you are born with. The Lord Jesus had neither. He was never caused to sin by His environment, He was never tricked into sinning, neither did He inherit a sin nature. This is why the virgin birth of our Lord Jesus is so important. He didn't inherit Adams sin nature, so He is truly the Lamb of God without blemish and without spot.

In Numbers chapter 28 we read of a continual burnt offering, two lambs were to be sacrificed every day, one in the morning and one in the evening. The Old Testament sacrifices had to be offered perpetually. These sacrifices could temporarily atone for sin but they were unable to completely take away sin. We read in Hebrews 10:1-4, 11 - For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins? But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. And every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins." See, these sacrifices in the Old Testament were never permanent. If someone sinned they had to come and offer a sacrifice for their sins. If they sinned again they would have to offer another one. And the cycle would keep on going. The priests were constantly offering sacrifices for sin, as well as burnt offerings to God, But the book of Hebrews deals with the superiority of Christs sacrifice of Himself. We read in Hebrews 9:11-12 - "But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption." And in verses 23-28 we read - "Therefore it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him."

He is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Isaiah 53:6-7 says - "All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth." He is the perfect sacrificial Lamb. Though we were going astray like sheep, lost in our trespasses and sins, He came as the Lamb of God and was led to the slaughter in our place, in order to bear away our sins and accomplish our redemption. We have been reconciled to God through the shed blood of Christ, our sacrificial Lamb.

I mentioned earlier the Day of Atonement talked about in Leviticus 16. On the Day of Atonement there was a sacrifice that involved two animals, two goats. We read in Leviticus 16:7-10 - "He shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the doorway of the tent of meeting. Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat. Then Aaron shall offer the goat on which the lot for the Lord fell, and make it a sin offering. But the goat on which the lot for the scapegoat fell shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make atonement upon it, to send it into the wilderness as the scapegoat." Now here we have an interesting picture. The Lord is instructing His people concerning a sacrifice that had to take place once a year. They would take the first goat and kill it and sprinkle it's blood for cleansing. Then they would take the live goat and the high priest would confess the sins of the congregation on the head of the live goat and someone would take it off and let it go in the wilderness. Now, what's this all about? Why two animals, why not just one? Like I said, all of the Old Testament sacrifices point to and picture the Lord Jesus and His sacrifice of Himself. Here in Leviticus 16 these two animals picture for us the Lord Jesus' death and resurrection. The Lord Jesus had to die in order that we might be forgiven of our sins through His blood and we might be able to draw near to God. But Jesus didn't stay dead, He rose from the dead, and so that live goat is a picture that, yes, Jesus died but He rose again and because He lives the problem of sin has been taken care of once for all. If Jesus did not rise from the dead His sacrifice would not have been of any more value than the sacrifice of those animals. If Christ has not risen then our faith is vain and we are still in our sins. But the fact is that Jesus did rise from the dead and just as that live goat carried away the sin of the people the Lord Jesus has carried away our sin. Psalm 103:12 - "As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us."

John 1:29 - "The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”"