Mark 14 (Lesson 6) – Aaron Cozort – April 15, 2026

In Admonition Podcast, Christian living, keywords Jesus Gethsemane, sanctification, Scripture fulfillment, sin, spiritual identity by Aaron Cozort

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All right, let’s begin with a word prayer.

Our gracious Father in heaven, we bow before your throne, grateful for the day that you’ve

granted to us, for the life that we have and the opportunity that we have to serve you.

We pray that you will strive, you will be with us as we strive to be obedient to your will

and follow your word and your commandments.

We pray that when we sin and fall short of your glory, that you will forgive us of those

things.

Lord, we are mindful of those who are dealing with uh illnesses, those who are recovering.

recovering from surgeries or procedures and those who are dealing with ongoing uh or

chronic illnesses.

We pray that you give them the strength that they need each and every day and pray that

you will help us to be a comfort and a strength to them.

Lord, we pray for our nation and nations throughout the world that they will do the things

which are right and in accordance with your will, that they will uphold values that are uh

those values that you would have each nation

to have and to utilize each and every day.

And Lord, we pray that we might be a shining example to those around us in our daily

lives, in business, in school, in all of our activities as to how Christians ought to

behave.

All these things we pray and ask for in Jesus’ name, amen.

As we mentioned, we’re in Mark chapter 14.

And we are in the account of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.

uh What mountain region or area is the Garden of Gethsemane at?

Anybody remember?

Mount of Olives, okay, so, or also known in some texts as Mount Olivet.

So, the Mount of Olives was just outside of uh the

city proper, and this garden there existed there.

It was one of the places that Jesus was known to go to, uh as the text lets us know that

he went where he was known to go to.

uh And so, part of the reason why uh Judas knew where he would be is he went where he

would normally go.

And that included the Garden of Gethsemane there in the Mount of Olives.

So, Jesus is going to go there.

He is going to pray.

We’ve already discussed most of that, so we’re not going to necessarily revisit those

things.

But we are going to pick up about verse 36.

He said,

Abba, Father, all things are possible for you.

Take this cup away from me.

Nevertheless, not what I will, but what you will.” Then he came and found them sleeping

and said to Peter, Simon, are you sleeping?

Could you not watch one hour?

Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation.

The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Again he went away and prayed and spoke the same words.

And when he returned, he found them asleep.

again, for their eyes were heavy and they did not know what to answer him.

Then he came the third time and said to them, Are you still sleeping and resting?

It is enough.

The hour has come.

Behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hand of sinners.” So as Jesus arrives,

back at their location and as he is preparing for what is coming next, he shows up the

third time after praying for an hour and what are they doing?

Sleeping again.

They are still sleeping in this regard.

And so as he arrives this time, he doesn’t question, you sleeping?

He rather says, it is enough.

Now, Mark combines it, says, are you still sleeping and resting?

And then says, it is enough.

Indicating that time’s at hand.

It’s time to wake up.

It’s time to go to the next, as it were, of things.

Jesus will identify the hour is come.

Behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.

Now,

It’s interesting because as you go throughout the majority of the New Testament text,

there’s going to be a phrase that shows up, publicans and sinners.

Now, when that phrase arrives, when you see that in the text, what does it normally mean?

basically working for the Roman government.

All right.

So the publicans were tax collectors and notably when you look in the text, the

associations that they kept when you read in the text, publicans and sinners, it usually

meant tax collectors and harlots.

In other words, these were the people who were outcasts from Jewish society, either

because they held allegiance to Rome for their income in opposition to their own country

because they collected taxes on behalf of Rome, or they were active in prostitution or in

harlotry.

And so these two categories were referenced together.

And all throughout Jesus’ ministry, you have this representation that Jesus was willing to

sit with, to eat with, to study with, to teach the Scriptures to these two groups of

people that the Pharisees wouldn’t be caught dead with.

And yet when you get to this text, when Jesus is now describing the people who He’s about

to be handed over to, how does He describe them?

As sinners.

not because of their reputation, not because of their position in culture, but because of

their actual participation in sin.

Jesus is going to identify the fact that He is being handed over to those whose allegiance

is not to God.

And Jesus is going to tell the disciples, hours come, the Son of Man is being betrayed

into the hands of those who do not hold allegiance to God.

Jesus isn’t going to pull any punches.

Jesus isn’t going to mince any words.

He says, these people are sinners.

Now.

We know there are passages in the New Testament, for instance, where Paul describes

himself as the chief of what?

Sinners.

Did Paul consider himself to be the chief of sinners because of his current lifestyle as

an apostle in the New Testament church?

Okay, what was the statement in view of?

Absolutely.

It was in view of his former participation in uh persecuting the church and acting in

opposition to Christ and to God.

And actively seeking to participate in those things that were seeking to destroy the

church that Jesus Christ came to purchase.

When Paul describes himself as the chief of sinners, he’s not talking about his current

state.

He’s talking about his former state.

and yet he lived every day recognizing that he was what he was by the grace of God.

That he had been allowed the opportunity to change because he rightfully recognized that

on the road to Damascus he could have just as easily been struck down by God as been

confronted and given the opportunity to repent.

Now, as you think about that…

John in 1 John chapter 1 will tell Christians.

If any man says that he has no sin, he’s a what?

He’s a liar and the truth is not in him.

But should Christians go about calling themselves sinners?

Not unless they’ve denied the faith of Jesus Christ.

We should be careful about portraying an attitude and a mindset and a description that

we’re not righteous, holy, sanctified, purchased by the blood of Christ people.

And yet some will go, perhaps in a show of humility, and describe themselves as, well, I’m

just a sinner.

That’s not the description of a New Testament Christian.

That’s not how the New Testament talks about Christians.

The New Testament speaks of us as being sanctified.

What does the word sanctified mean?

Set apart.

Well, if you are set apart for the purpose of God, then if you describe yourself as just a

common sinner, then guess what?

You’re saying you’re not set apart.

You’re saying, hey, if you want to find me, find me over there with the sinners.

because I haven’t been set apart by God.

When the New Testament speaks concerning Christians, it frames them in terms of holiness,

righteousness, set apartness, if you could allow the terminology.

It doesn’t speak of them in their former state unless it is setting a juxtaposition

between their current state.

1 Corinthians chapter 6.

Notice this.

Paul as he is writing to the church.

will write to them and say in verse 6, do you not know that the unrighteous will not

inherit the kingdom of God?

First thing Paul wants us to identify is if you’re actively participating in

unrighteousness in an unrepentant way, in a lifestyle in opposition to God, he says,

I need you to understand you will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

Well, Paul, what lifestyles are you talking about?

He says, do not be deceived.

Neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor homosexuals nor sodomites nor thieves

nor covetous nor drunkards nor revilers nor extortioners will inherit the Kingdom of God.

Paul doesn’t pull any more punches than Jesus did.

Paul says, this is your lifestyle…

I can assure you that one place you’re not going is heaven.

because God’s clear on it.

You live this way, you will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

But notice He says, and such were past tense, and such were some of you.

Could those in the church at Corinth, if they had been asked, raise your hand if you’ve

ever been a drunkard.

Do think someone in the church at Corinth could have raised their hand?

Absolutely!

Could there, based upon the text, have been those who could have been asked, raise your

hand if you were formerly a homosexual?

They would have raised their hands and said, yes.

But notice what he says, but you were washed.

Here’s the thing about pigs.

What happens when you wash a pig and they get free for a moment?

They’re going to go waller right back in the mire, right?

That’s what Peter tells us.

Those who are not faithful to God do.

You go wash them, you go clean them up, and they’re headed right back to the dump heap to

go waller in the filth.

Paul says, but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the

name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Paul says, you may have been these things before, but you’re not now.

But notice what else he says.

He says, all things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful.

Now, some will come to this passage, they’ll ignore the whole context about being washed,

justified and sanctified.

They’ll go, see, you can live however you want to because you’re saved.

No, that’s not what Paul’s talking about.

The idea of the phrase here, even in the original language is all things that are lawful

are lawful.

He’s already excluded the things that are not lawful.

He says the things that are lawful are lawful, but not everything that’s lawful is

helpful.

Elsewhere, he’s going to argue that those who use their liberty in Christ as an excuse to

trip their brothers up and cause them to sin are condemned.

He says, not everything that’s lawful is helpful.

But he goes on to say, all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the

power of any.

Foods for the stomach.

and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them.

Now the body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord and the Lord for the body.

And God both raised up the Lord and has also raised us up by His power.

Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?

Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot?

Certainly not.

Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one with her?

For the two, he says, shall become one flesh.

But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.

Flee sexual immorality, he says.

Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins

against his own body.

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you?

whom you have from God, you are not your own.

For you were bought at a price.

Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

Paul as he carries forward from this consideration of what they were to what they have

become will lead into a conversation about the fact do you not realize you belong to God?

By the way, in the church at Corinth, they had a group of people who lived in a city where

in the exact same city they had temples to gods where people would go into the temple to

commit fornication and offer that as worship to God.

Paul says, oh no, absolutely not.

Rather, do you not realize that your very body is the temple of God?

That you as a church together are collectively the temple of God?

that your body belongs to God.

We do not go about describing ourselves as sinners unless we’re simultaneously going to

describe the temple of God as a house of harlotry.

No, we’re not.

We are to speak of ourselves in view, not of our own imperfection.

but of Christ’s perfection.

Are we those who should freely admit we’re far from perfect?

Sure.

Are we those who should claim that we’re sinless?

Never.

But we should very much understand that we belong to God.

and that as those who wear the name Christian, as those who wear the name of the people of

God,

We ought to describe ourselves as nothing less than holy, sanctified, justified, and

washed in the blood of the Lamb.

Jesus says here in verse 41.

I’m going to be handed over to the hand.

of those who oppose the very nature of God, those who live in rebellion against God and

would kill His very Son.

When I come to this text, I cannot help but think concerning the parable of the Vineyard

Keepers.

Jesus in the parable of the vineyard keepers does not describe those vineyard keepers as

those who were generally obedient to the owner of the vineyard.

They just made some mistakes every once in a while.

No, that’s not how Jesus describes them.

He describes them as wicked and evil and those worthy of judgment by God.

that’s who he’s about to be handed over to.

He says, let us be going.

See my betrayer is at hand.

Not so many hours before, Jesus had just sat at dinner with Judas.

Jesus had just proclaimed that there would be one who was sitting there who had partaken

of the supper with him who would betray him, and they all asked, is it I?

Is it I?

Is it I?

Judas also asked, is it I?

He already knew the answer

because Judas had gone out from the event where Jesus had been anointed by the woman who

was there in Simon’s house and had actively sought to betray Jesus coming out of that

event.

Mark tells us that.

He knew it was him.

Jews didn’t get up from that supper and go, well, I guess I’m gonna betray him.

No, Judas had been looking for an opportunity to betray him, Mark tells us.

And now Jesus says, my betrayer is at hand.

And immediately, verse 43, while he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, with a

great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and the scribes and the

elders.

Is this the first time that the chief priests have sent someone to arrest Jesus?

No, the last time they sent soldiers to arrest Jesus, they sent the officers by

indications of the text, the officers of the uh the priest or the chief priests.

uh They had their own little uh perfunctory guard.

It is kind of like the the royal guards that are around certain places and and you know,

they have authority.

right there on the grounds.

But you go too far away from the palace and they don’t have any authority.

That was basically what Rome let the chief priests have.

You can have guards, but they’re not centurions and they’re not Romans.

And when we say this is what’s gonna happen, this is what’s gonna happen.

So they had limited authority, yes.

uh

on the types of people and what they brought with them.

says lanterns, torches, and weapons, a detachment of troops and officers from the chief

priests and Pharisees.

So with them are those who are, carrying torches, they’re carrying lanterns, they’re of

course making their way there in the middle of, in the midst of the night, they’re coming,

they’ve uh got weapons, they’re doing all of these things.

Now where has Jesus been for the last?

uh Six days.

In Jerusalem, what location specifically during the day?

In the temple.

Teaching.

Really hard to find, right?

No, really hard to find without a crowd of supporters around.

And so notice they come.

and they came uh from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.

Now his betrayer had given them a signal saying, whomever I kiss, he is the one, seize him

and lead him away safely.

So the common greeting of the day in Jewish society was the brotherhood kiss.

And so he says, whoever I greet, that’s the one.

indicating that many of the people who are coming along didn’t spend their time in the

temple studying about the Word of God.

They didn’t spend their time listening to the message of the teachers and the rabbis in

Jerusalem because otherwise they would have recognized Jesus.

Judas is going I’m going to have to point him out to you.

By the way,

By the way, also tells us that Jesus wasn’t the only blond-haired, blue-eyed Jew walking

around, if you’ve seen any of the English movies.

Jesus looked like a Jew, by the way, because He looked like all the other Jews who were

there.

not an Englishman.

So they come and Judas has told them, whoever I greet, seize him, but notice the rest of

the phrase, and lead him away safely.

Judas made it clear in his agreement to participate that as far as he was concerned, Jesus

was going to be taken safely out of this.

They weren’t gonna just kill him on the spot.

Bear in mind, when Jesus is crucified, what’s Judas’ reaction?

He goes out and hangs himself.

Judas, as we’ve mentioned before, had a position and a mentality and actions.

Judas thought Jesus was going to get out of this and Judas was still going to get paid.

So Judas is gonna make sure they know, you can’t harm him.

Just go get it.

As soon as he had come, immediately he went up to him and said to him, Rabbi, Rabbi, that

is teacher, teacher, and kissed him.

And they laid their hands on him and took him.

And one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and

cut off his ear.

One of those who stood by, what’s that mean?

That’s right, one of the apostles, one of the eleven who had gone with him into the

garden.

As he’s observing this, as they come for Jesus, as they lay their hands on Jesus, here

comes one of them, grabs his sword

and swings at the head of one of the soldiers of the high priest.

And well, and I’m firmly convinced he was a better fisherman than he was a soldier.

Because every indication of the text is he was not aiming for the year.

This was not a warning swing.

This was a decapitation swing that missed.

Who is it?

Peter.

Jesus answered and said, Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to

take me?

I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me.

But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.

Then they all forsook him and fled.

Now, Mark tells you about the ear coming off.

Mark doesn’t tell you about the ear going back on.

believe it’s John will tell you that Jesus puts the ear back on.

And isn’t it interesting that these individuals are so set on taking Jesus that they can

witness someone’s ear being cut off and then witness it being put back on and they’ll

still take it.

But Jesus will point out.

Why are you coming to me as if I’m a thief, a robber, a hoodlum, someone who’s dangerous?

Could be said another way, you do remember this afternoon I was in the temple teaching,

right?

and have been for days.

Jesus says that the Scriptures had to be fulfilled.

The things that they were doing, they weren’t doing to fulfill the Scriptures.

but they were a fulfillment of the Scriptures.

Many times in the Old and the New Testament, you find people participating in that which

is wrong, participating in that which is in opposition to God, participating in that which

they believe is of their own motivation, only to have it fulfill exactly what God said

they would do.

Yes?

Surprising that we stopped to think about the way people treat what they read in scripture

now.

I mean we’re talking about these people watching an ear that is cut off and bloody and a

hot mess and then all of sudden it’s back on and I mean you just have to believe that the

mess of the ear is as though it was never touched.

But we have people that read scriptures today that are so clear and they still can’t see

it as clear as what it is because the hardness of their hearts.

And so it really shouldn’t be a surprise to us that it was missed by them, the very things

that were being done in front of them because they were so filled with hate that they

could not see the people.

They could not see Jesus.

They could not even hear what he was saying because they were

so filled with that.

And we have people in our culture that are so filled with self-preservation and myself

more than Scripture that they can’t see what is very clear in front of them.

Absolutely.

You know, as you think about this, Jesus…

Jesus is pointing out.

things that should have made the honest person go, wait a minute, what’s going on here?

He’s identifying the actions that were inherently unjustified.

that would have made the sincere, honest heart

step back and wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, something’s not right.

And all of these will be details that will become, as it were, chinks in the armor of the

story of the chief priests and the elders that this man was a sinner.

further added to by the testimony of Pilate and others.

But notice as the statement is made, but the scriptures must be fulfilled, they all, who’s

the they all?

The apostles.

Then they all forsook him and fled.

Now we often,

give uh a hard time to Peter for his denial of Christ.

because Jesus points out what Peter’s going to do.

But Peter and John, if you read carefully in the text, are going to be two that actually

at least followed Jesus to the high priest’s location to his house where he’s going to be

put on trial.

All indication is the rest of the disciples are just gone.

So they forsook him and fled.

Now Mark tells us about another young man who was there.

that the rest of the gospel records don’t tell us about.

Some have some suspicions as to why that is.

But verse 51 says, certain young man followed him, having a linen cloth thrown about his

naked body, and the young men laid hold of him, and he left the linen cloth and fled from

them naked.

Now this isn’t just likely some odd story that Mark decided to include.

What do some consider this to likely be?

Mark talking about the fact that he was present.

In the same way that John never mentions John’s name in the entire book of John, John

won’t reference himself in the record of the life of Christ.

He will describe himself as the apostle whom Jesus loved.

He will use other figures to describe himself, but he’ll never use his own name.

Mark.

likely is describing himself as, and the text here seems to be clear enough that when the

idea of young man is that this is an adolescent like early teenage years, which would be

probably right for the participation of Mark later on in…

the travels that will occur as he is a young man at that point traveling with Paul and

Barnabas.

So early teenage years at this point,

and uh considered a full-grown man by the time that he is traveling with Paul and

Barnabas, someone old enough that he should have known better than to turn around and go

back during his time with Paul.

So whether this is Mark or not, we don’t know, but it does tell us that there were

innocent bystanders who were around watching these events transpire.

awoken as if in the night uh and came out trying to figure out what’s going on.

So perhaps this is not Mark.

Maybe this is just an innocent bystander, but the point is someone was awoken by all of

this going on.

They came out to see what was going on and they fled.

Verse 53, and they led Jesus away to the high priest.

And with him were assembled all the chief priests, the elders and the scribes.

But Peter followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest.

So, you got to high priest’s house.

And they’re going to bring Jesus to the house of the high priest.

Interestingly, there’s actually two high priests at the time, one appointed by Rome, one

appointed by the Jews, because the Jews weren’t willing to accept the Roman appointee.

But as they come into the house of the high priest, they come into the courtyard, they

come into the area of the house, there’s an area around the house.

and Peter will follow them into the courtyard of the high priest.

Again, John’s record indicates that John was present as well.

And he sat with the servants and warned himself at the fire.

This would have been the area of the courtyard where the uh servants would have been

allowed to be.

If you could give it uh a terminology, this was their break area.

All right?

It’s the middle of the night.

Those who didn’t have responsibilities were over here warming themselves by the fire.

Now the chief priests and all the council sought testimony against Jesus to put him to

death but found none.

First thing is, was it lawful for them to hold a trial at night?

No!

As a matter of fact, as you go through the text and you look at it, if you did a complete

study of it, you will find they break law after law after law.

Secondly.

They sought testimony.

What did the law say that they needed in order to put someone to death?

two or more witnesses.

Well, they’re at least giving some moderate attempt to find witnesses.

What’s the problem though?

For many bore false witness against him, but their testimonies did not agree.

See, the pesky thing about the law was the law required them to have two witnesses that

both condemned them for the same thing.

Except all the people who were willing to be bribed to be false witnesses hadn’t spent any

time listening to Jesus per say

so they couldn’t get their story straight.

Then some arose and bore false witness against him, saying, We heard him say, I will

destroy this temple made with hands, and within three days I will build another made

without hands.

But not even then did their testimony agree.

They’re trying.

The sham trial really is underway.

They’re trying to get this done semi-legally.

But witness after witness after witness.

Can’t get two to agree.

The high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, do you answer nothing?

What is it these men testify against you?

Now, as the testimonies keep rolling in, the high priest wants to know from Jesus, are you

not going to answer for yourself?

Of course, I’m sure they supplied him with a lawyer, No, not any more than the Jews

supplied Paul with a lawyer.

and he as this parade of false witnesses come before the court, Jesus just stands there.

doesn’t say a word.

Sometimes the best defense.

Keep your mouth shut.

Because then you can’t be a witness against yourself.

Some have suggested it’s better to be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove

all evidence.

All right, we’re going to put a peg in it there and then we will come back.

Thank you for your attention.

The Character of a Faithful Servant – Aaron Cozort – April 19, 2026

In Admonition Podcast, Christian character, Faithfulness, Gospel, keywords Timothy, Paul, Philippians, service, Spiritual Growth, Timothy's qualities by Aaron Cozort

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In Acts chapter 16

where we are introduced to a young man whose name is Timothy.

He is one who is a Christian in the region of Derbe and Lystra.

We read in chapter 16 of the book of Acts in verse 1 that he came to Derbe and Lystra,

behold a certain disciple was there named Timothy, the son of a certain Jewish woman who

believed, but his father was Greek.

He was well spoken of by brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium.

Paul wanted to have him go on with him and took him and circumcised him because of the

Jews who were in that region.

For they all knew that his father was Greek.

And as they went through the cities, they delivered to them the decrees to keep, which

were determined by the apostles and elders of Jerusalem.

So the churches were strengthened in the faith and increased in number daily.

This begins Timothy’s travels with the apostle Paul.

We’re familiar with Timothy, or we should be if we’ve studied our New Testament, as we

know that Paul will write two letters to Timothy.

We know that Timothy will travel with Paul.

Timothy will be sent by Paul to different regions.

But what I want us to focus on is the character of a faithful servant as exhibited in the

life of Timothy.

not looking at all the different texts that have to do with Timothy, but rather one

section in Philippians two.

As Paul is sitting in a Roman prison, he is sitting in Rome, Timothy being present at

times with him and then not at times because of him being sent out by Paul.

But at this moment in time, Paul is going to write to the church at Philippi, and he is

going to write to them, and he’s going to tell them that he desires to send Timothy to

them.

And as I was looking at this passage, you know…

Sometimes, let me just take a sidebar here and say this, sometimes when I’m preaching and

I look out of the audience, I see somebody who’s thinking about something other than what

I’m preaching.

and it doesn’t bother me too much because there are times where someone else is preaching

and I’m listening and they say something and then for a period of minutes my mind’s

somewhere else because they took me to a passage and suddenly I’m looking at the passage

and go, wait a minute, there’s a sermon right here.

And so if you find one of my other Bibles, you’ll find here in Philippians chapter two, a

sermon outline that preaching this morning.

that occurred to me as someone else was preaching about Philippians and about Timothy.

And I’m like, wait a minute, what did Paul just say about Timothy in these verses?

And truly, as you look at this, he outlines what it means to be a faithful servant,

especially a faithful servant of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So notice nine points.

So we’re not going to dwell on any of them.

Nine points in this passage that Paul identifies in the character of Timothy that teach us

what it means to be faithful to Christ.

Number one, we find in Philippians chapter two, verse 19, and it is a willing spirit.

You turn to Philippians chapter two, beginning in verse 19, Paul writes, but I trust in

the Lord to send Timothy to you shortly.

that I also may be encouraged when I know your state.” Going all the way back to Acts

chapter 16, when Paul was first introduced to Timothy, the thing and the characteristic

that you see in Timothy is his willingness to go, his willingness to be sent, his

willingness to do the work.

He had a willing spirit.

He was not one who every time he was presented with an opportunity had an excuse why he

couldn’t.

He was not one who endeavored to find a reason why he couldn’t go.

You remember when Moses was spoken to by God from the burning bush there in Exodus chapter

three and Exodus chapter four, as God gave him sign after sign that God was going to send

him to Egypt.

to stand before Pharaoh, to tell Pharaoh to allow his people to go, to do the work that

interestingly Moses thought he was supposed to do 40 years ago.

During that conversation, Moses comes up with excuse after excuse after excuse why he

shouldn’t be the one to go before he finally says to the Lord, can you send somebody else?

That wasn’t Timothy.

Timothy exhibited a willingness to go where others would not, to go when others would

stay.

He had a willing spirit.

And Paul writes to the church at Philippi, a congregation that had supported Paul, had

worked with Paul, had helped Paul, and that loved Paul.

that Paul was going send Timothy back who they also loved.

but notice as well.

He lived a trustworthy life.

As Paul sends word to the church at Philippi that he desires to send Timothy to them

shortly, he desires to send Timothy so that he may be encouraged to know their state.

One of the things that’s true is we live in a time where we know about the current events

of the lives of all sorts of people.

People we haven’t seen in years.

We see on social media what they’re doing.

We know where they’re traveling, know how their kids are, know how their grandkids are.

We haven’t even talked to them.

We know all about what they’re doing.

But Paul didn’t know how the church at Philippi was doing.

Other than the last communication that he had received from them.

And in Paul’s day, that communication traveled much, much slower.

So Paul had gotten word from Epaphroditus when Epaphroditus had come, but Paul wanted to

send Timothy back so that he could be encouraged about the state of the church in

Philippi.

that it was remaining strong, it was remaining faithful.

Well, if you want to find out how someone is doing, you better send someone who’s going to

come back and tell you the truth.

So Paul was going to send Timothy because Paul knew that whatever report he received back

from Timothy was going to be the truth.

Timothy was trustworthy.

He was able to be entrusted with a mission that was near and dear to Paul’s heart, and he

was able to be trusted that whatever report he brought back would be accurate.

is you consider the life and the character of a faithful servant of God.

It is a person with a willingness to do the work of God.

It is a person who lives a trustworthy life.

But then consider number three.

Paul writes concerning Timothy that he had a like-minded heart.

Paul will write about this young man and say, I don’t have anybody else who’s quite as in

tune with me as Timothy is.

Notice what he says in Philippians chapter two in verse 20, for I have no one like-minded

who will sincerely care for your state.

Timothy was truly exceptional.

He was exceptional.

because he lived out in faithfulness the model of Paul.

It’s one thing to teach people.

It’s a whole other thing entirely to care about those people.

We teach people sometimes that we don’t even know, that we have no close relationship

with, but Paul exhibited in his life a tender love, care, and concern.

even for churches that were maligning him.

Paul would write in 2 Corinthians, he writes to the church at Corinth that was allowing

people to come in and say, Paul’s not an apostle, Paul has no authority, and they’re

listening to these people.

Paul will go down a list of the things that he had endured and hardships for the cause of

Christ, and at the end of that list he says, the care of all the churches.

Paul writes to the church at Corinth, one that he had a very complicated relationship

with.

He points out how much he cares for them.

And Timothy was like-minded with Paul and that he cared deeply, sincerely, honestly for

the church.

It’s so sad when ministers go out from us and they start proclaiming a message of Christ,

but not the church.

They want to declare Christ, but not His Kingdom.

They want to talk about Christ, but not His people.

They want to encourage people to be saved by Christ, but not added into the kingdom of His

dear Son.

They want to talk about anything except the Church.

That wasn’t Timothy.

Timothy was like-minded with Paul that he cared deeply for the church.

But then consider number four, that he was genuine in his care for others.

Paul will write, as we just read concerning Timothy, that he sincerely, as the New King

James puts it, genuinely cared.

At times in our lives we go through scenarios where we’re busy doing other things.

We’re focused on something of priority and importance and someone comes up and they say,

hi, and we say, hi, how are you?

And our entire focus is on the thing we were already doing.

And they say, whatever they said, we don’t even hear it.

Now, that’s an example of maybe a bad tendency, but if we lived our entire lives that way,

if our care for everyone around us, if our care for our brethren was only a surface level

care.

If we desire to know how they were and then we find out that they’re absolutely in pain

and misery and difficulty and they need desperate help and we go well be warmed and filled

and move on.

James says, that’s not pure and undefiled religion before God.

That’s not what it means to be Christ-like.

That’s not what it means to be a Christian.

Timothy exhibited a genuine care for the church, a sincerity of heart that said he wanted

the best for this congregation, and I guarantee you it was not the only congregation he

felt that way about.

Paul will tell us that if we’re going to be faithful, we’ve got to move beyond the

surface.

We’ve got to move beyond the casual.

We’ve got to move beyond that which costs us nothing.

to a care and a concern for one another that is deep and genuine.

But then consider number five, that Paul will say concerning Timothy, that Timothy had

Christ-centered priorities.

You go back to verse 19 and he says, I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you

shortly, that I may also be encouraged when I know your state, for I have no one

like-minded who will sincerely care for your state.

for all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus.

Paul says, I’ve dealt with a lot of people.

I’ve known a lot of teachers.

I know a whole lot of people who I could send to you, but I’m gonna send Timothy to you

because in Timothy’s life, Christ comes first.

In Timothy’s life, his priorities are properly set.

Now that doesn’t mean that every person who has Christ as a highest priority has to become

a missionary, has to travel around with Paul.

That wasn’t Paul’s point.

Paul’s point was when he looked at Timothy, Timothy didn’t ask, what about me?

Timothy asked, what about Christ?

Timothy didn’t look at his life and say, wait a minute, what do I want?

Timothy looked at his life and said, what would Christ have me to do?

if the church was filled with more Timothes.

there wouldn’t be a brotherhood work that didn’t have enough financial resources to do

their work.

If the church was filled with more Timothes, there wouldn’t be an empty seat in a school

of preaching.

if the church was filled with more Timothes, there wouldn’t be a Bible class in need of a

teacher, for there would be one.

If the church was filled with more Timothes, there wouldn’t be any empty pulpits.

There wouldn’t be a lack of elders.

There wouldn’t be an absence of those willing to work and evangelize if the church was

filled with more Timothes because there would be people who would say, not, what do I

want?

What does Christ want?

Timothy was one who sought the things of Christ.

Now that’s not unique to teachers.

It’s not unique to preachers.

What did Jesus say?

Matthew chapter 6 verse 33, seek those things which are above.

Jesus will tell his disciples to seek first the kingdom of heaven and all these other

things shall be added unto you.

Did Timothy go through hard times?

yeah, he did.

In 1 Timothy, Paul is going to write to Timothy and he is going to describe the

difficulties that are going to arise and the things that he is going to endure as he is

teaching and preaching there in Ephesus.

And when you get to 2 Timothy, Timothy is in crisis.

Timothy is near giving up.

Timothy is in tears because of the scenario that he finds himself in and Paul’s writing to

him to carry on.

The fact that someone puts Christ as the determining factor in their life does not mean

their life will always be easy or the decisions they have to make will always be simple.

Timothy exhibited faithfulness as a servant, and that he did not consider what it was for

him that he should do, but what it was for Christ.

Then consider number six.

He had a proven character, proven through testing.

As Paul…

writes concerning Timothy, he says, for all seek their own, not the things which are of

Christ.

But you know, he writes to the church of Philippi, you know his proven character, that as

a son with his father he served with me in the gospel.

Paul will write concerning this young man and he will say, listen, I’m gonna send Timothy

back to you because he cares for the church genuinely, just like I do.

Because I want to be encouraged to hear about your state, but also because you know

Timothy and you know he’s proven himself.

over and over and over again as Timothy has remained with Paul, as he has served with

Paul.

Paul says, no one has been with me like Timothy.

and how he has proven himself again and again and again.

Paul again would write to the Corinthian brethren in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, and he

would write to them to follow me as I also follow Christ.

And Timothy lived out that message.

Timothy followed the example of Paul.

Paul as he wrote to Timothy,

would remind him concerning the things which he had already been taught and the things

which Paul had taught him privately and the things which Paul had taught him publicly.

Timothy was one who was listening and was fervent in his desire to know how to live and

how to serve and he followed Paul’s example.

Paul said to the church of Philippi, you witnessed it and it hasn’t changed.

We’re going to be faithful servants of Jesus Christ.

Our faithfulness must not be a whim.

Our faithfulness must not be something that flutters in and out with the breeze.

Our faithfulness and our service to God must not be that which is easy when life and times

are easy and absent when difficulties arise.

Our faithfulness to Christ, our faithfulness to His kingdom, our faithfulness to service

must be, as Paul writes to Timothy, instant in season and out of season.

That is constant and unchanging, always present.

As Paul said, he was.

Then consider number seven.

Timothy was one who was humble, uh

in service.

He had humility in his service.

Notice Paul writes, but you know, verse 22, his proven character that as a son with his

father, he served with me in the gospel.

Timothy, after he joined with Paul in Acts chapter 16, would travel with Paul over years.

And you want to know what typically happens with young people over years.

They start off humble.

They start off knowing, I don’t know anything.

They start off willing to learn and then they get too big for their britches.

and they think they know everything.

And they’ve got it all figured out.

I don’t need that old man anymore.

That wasn’t Timothy.

Paul writes concerning Timothy that his continued action year after year after year on

these journeys with Paul was to behave as a son to a father.

to be one who went where he was told, did what he was told, uh helped where he could,

served where he was able, and functioned with adoration and admiration to Paul.

Paul is going to say, here’s my son, my son in the faith, his name is Timothy.

Paul is going to describe the humility with which Timothy operated

and that was unchanging.

It was constant in his actions and his service.

Timothy was willing to submit himself.

Timothy didn’t say, you know what, Paul, I’ve got my own ministry to be active in.

I’m starting my own thing don’t need your instructions on where to go.

I’m not going to be sent by you.

I’m going to do what I want to No.

All the way up until the end of Paul’s life.

At time when Paul and Timothy were separated and Timothy, by and large, was operating on

his own, Paul will write in 2 Timothy chapter 4 as he’s nearing the end of his life for

Timothy to come to him

and to bring his cloak

and to bring the Scriptures, the parchments, and all indications of Scripture is that

Timothy did exactly as he was instructed by Paul all the way up to the end of Paul’s life

because he was humble in service.

But then consider number eight.

Timothy was committed to the gospel.

Once again, in verse 22, he says, but you know his proven character that as a son with his

father, he served with me in the gospel.

The good news, the declaration of the message of Jesus Christ, that message

that Paul said he proclaimed faithfully that Jesus Christ came to this earth, lived and

died and was buried and was resurrected and ascended back into heaven that we might have

the hope of eternal life.

And Timothy didn’t just serve Paul.

Timothy wasn’t a bond servant to Paul.

Timothy wasn’t enslaved to Paul.

Timothy was a bond servant to Christ.

and he declared faithfully the message.

Again, Paul in 2 Timothy chapter 4 would write to Timothy and charge him to preach the

word, be instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering

and doctrine for the time will come where they will not endure sound doctrine but will

heap unto themselves teachers having itching ears.

Paul writes to Timothy and he says, never change the message.

no matter what people want to hear.

No matter whether they all leave, no matter whether the room you’re talking to has got one

person in it or a million people in it, you don’t change the message.

because the message doesn’t belong to you.

It belongs to God.

Paul said that as a faithful servant, Timothy was committed to the gospel.

And you say, well, Aaron, does that mean I need to quit my job?

Does that mean I need to go live on a foreign land?

Does that mean I need to live in a hut in Africa somewhere in order to be committed to the

gospel?

No.

It means wherever you are, in whatever state you’re in, whatever period of life you find

yourself, whatever opportunity that you have, you will declare the truth of the Word of

God.

You will stand firm for the doctrine of Jesus Christ.

You will hold fast to it and not your opinion.

You will proclaim it and not fables.

You will declare the truth of it, and you will never turn from the right hand or to the

left.

because your commitment is to the message of Jesus Christ.

Then consider number nine.

Paul will write that Timothy was valuable.

He was valuable to spiritual leadership.

He was valuable to Paul.

As Paul writes to this church which he loves, this church which had sent him support,

this church which he was concerned about, this church that he earnestly desired to hear

their state so that he could be encouraged, he will go ahead and notate that I’m not

sending Timothy until I’m done with it.

Paul will say, verse 23, therefore I hope to send him at once as soon as I see how it goes

with me.

But I trust in the Lord that I myself shall also come shortly.

Paul’s going to tell the church at Philippi, I’m going to send Timothy after I know what’s

happening here.

If you have a tool that is useless, you don’t care if you’ve got it with you or not.

It’s useless.

I’ve got a lot of tools, and if they’re broken, they’re useless.

If they don’t work right, no point in carrying them.

If they don’t function for the job, no point in having them.

It’s kind of like,

when you go into that drawer and you grab the tape, you know, the tape that’s been in the

drawer for like 10 years, and it got all hot and it congealed together, and now it’ll

stick to nothing except itself.

You can’t get it off by the time you get it off, you put it on something, it won’t even

hold it together.

It’s worthless.

If you’re like, well, do I want to keep it or get rid of it?

Get rid of it.

Why?

It’s worthless.

Not Timothy.

Paul said, I’m going to send him to you right after I’m done with him because he was

valuable.

He had value to the work of Paul.

And Paul is going to make sure of his state before he sends Timothy to somebody else.

Paul valued Timothy.

He valued the work he could do, the effort that he could put forth, the labor that he

could accomplish, because at the time that Paul’s writing this, he’s sitting in prison.

There’s only so far Paul can go.

There’s a limitation to who Paul can see.

There’s a limitation of the work Paul can accomplish.

So he needs someone who can go for him, even locally.

And that’s what Timothy was doing.

So Paul says, I’m going to see how it goes with me before I send him to you.

the characteristics of a faithful servant.

They’re not mind-blowing.

They’re not the characteristics of some above-human hero or God.

They’re the characteristics of faithfulness.

And they’re exhibited in the life of a young man named Timothy.

But as Paul writes about Timothy, he could be writing about any one of us if we were

willing to exhibit the characteristics of Timothy.

so as you consider your life.

Paul will write to Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 2 and in verse 2 that the things which

Paul had taught Timothy, Timothy was now charged to commit to other faithful men.

who would be able to teach others also.

Paul says, Timothy, can’t die with you.

It can’t stop with you.

You know what I taught you.

Now you’ve got to go teach others.

But here’s the shining characteristic that you’ve got to look for as you decide who to

teach, Timothy.

They must be faithful.

They must be willing to live the same life you’ve lived.

They must care for the Body of Christ.

They must genuinely care for the Body of Christ.

They must be humble.

They must be willing to serve.

They must be committed to the Gospel.

They must be those who are trustworthy.

They must be those

are valuable.

And you’ve got to hand the gospel to them so they can hand it to others.

that faithful character of Timothy encourages us, exhorts us.

Perhaps it rebukes us if we are not of such character.

If you’re here this morning and you’re outside the body of Christ, this message was not

primarily intended for you.

For in order to be faithful to Christ, you must first be willing to submit to Christ.

Timothy was.

Back in Acts chapter 16, we read that there was a disciple there in Derbe.

And that disciple’s name was Timothy.

That meant he had already been obedient to Christ.

He was a Christian.

So what did he do to begin his journey of faithfulness?

He heard the Word of God and believed it.

He repented of his sins and confessed the name of Christ, and he was immersed in water for

the remission of his sins that he might rise to walk in newness of life.

But he didn’t determine that to be the end.

He determined that to be the beginning.

And then he lived faithful unto death.

If you have need of the invitation of Jesus Christ, either to put him on in baptism or to

once again become faithful to him, why not follow Timothy’s example?

and be committed to the gospel no matter what comes.

If you have need of the invitation, why not

Mount Carmel – Aaron Cozort – April 19, 2026

In Admonition Podcast, Baal, biblical history, biblical lessons, Elijah, faith, keywords Mount Carmel, Obedience, Old Testament, prophecy by Aaron Cozort

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Good afternoon.

This afternoon, we’re going to spend a little bit of time looking at Mount Carmel.

Some of the events that transpired at Mount Carmel and the history of it in the Old

Testament, its location, as well as some of the attributes of that location in the

prophetic period of the Old Testament.

Now, Mount Carmel is actually a ridge of mountains, not a singular mountain.

It is there up there at the hook, the northern part of Israel.

It forms the uh border of the region of Galilee and the southern region of Samaria that is

there in the northern part of Israel.

It is one of those regions that has

Old Testament significance from the days of Joshua till the latter part of the Old

Testament.

It is an area that is on the edge of a very fertile plain, that is the Valley of Jezreel.

It is one of the most fertile areas of the northern part of Israel and of Israel at large.

As a result of this, the

view of Mount Carmel is one of both beauty and oh the plenty that is provided by that

region.

It receives more moisture, more rain because of its proximity to the seas than some of the

other areas around it do.

And as a result, it is very uh plentiful in the growing of crops and the growing of things

in the valley around it and even some of the regions on top of it.

When you begin to look at Mount Carmel in the early portions of the Old Testament, you

first see it as a border reference in the book of Joshua.

If you’ll turn to Joshua chapter 19.

As the land is being divided up, Carmel will be mentioned within the land of Asher, the

tribe of Asher.

Verse 24, we read, the fifth lot came out for the tribe of the children of Asher according

to their families and their territory included Helcath, uh Halai, Benton, Akshaf,

Elimelech,

Amad and Mishal.

It reached to Mount Carmel westward along the brook Shihur-Libnath.

So the first reference you really have of that location by name is of it as a border

reference for the tribe of Asher.

You skip forward to 1st Samuel chapter 15 and you’ll find another occasion where

Carmel is going to be mentioned.

It’s going to be mentioned in reference to the events that will transpire in this chapter.

God has told uh the king, King Saul, to go and to defeat uh another nation and as they go

and and seek to defeat them as they have been told to do by God, God gave them very

specific instructions.

He says, you go and you do war against the Amalekites and you don’t leave

any of them alive.

You don’t keep their cattle, you don’t keep uh their possessions, you don’t keep any of

that, that you are to destroy all of it.

And yet, Saul did not do so.

We find in 1 Samuel chapter 15 and verse 1, Samuel also said to Saul, the Lord has sent me

to anoint you king over his people over Israel.

Now therefore heed the voice of the words of the Lord.

Thus says the Lord of hosts, I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he

ambushed him on the way when he came up out of Egypt.

Now go and attack Amalek and destroy, utterly destroy all that they have and do not spare

them, but kill both men and women, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and

donkey.

So Saul gathered together the numbered, uh numbered them in telling.

200,000 foot soldiers and 20,000 men of Judah.

Saul came to the city of Amalek and lay in wait in the valley.

So as the events transpire, Saul is going to defeat them, but then Saul is not going to

keep the commandments.

You go down to verse 10, now the word of the Lord came to Samuel saying, I greatly regret

that I have set up Saul as king.

For he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments.

And it grieves Samuel and he cried out to the Lord all night.

So when Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul, it was told Samuel, saying Saul

went to Carmel.

And indeed, he set up a monument for himself and he has gone on around, passed by and gone

down to Gilgal.

Saul, having defeated the Amalekites and yet not having kept the commandments of God,

will go about to erect a uh monument for his own glory.

And yet he did not obey the Lord.

He sets that monument up at Mount Carmel.

And so there in this northern region of Israel, there by the sea, as you were to…

travel down into the southern regions of Israel everybody would see the monument up on top

of the mountain.

Oh great Saul

except that God says, Saul has not kept my commandments.

You turn over to 1 Samuel chapter 25.

We read about the death of We read in chapter 25 verse 2, then Samuel died and the

Israelites gathered together and lamented for him and buried him in his home in Ramah.

And David arose and went to the wilderness of Peran.

Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel and the man was very rich and he

had 3000 sheep and 3000 goats and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.

The name of the man was Nabal.

and the name of his wife, Abigail.

And she was a woman of good understanding and beautiful appearance, but the man was harsh

and evil in his doings.

He was of the house of Caleb.” So here another occasion where you read about Carmel is you

find out that this was the business location and the dwelling location of Naboth.

And Naboth, or sorry, Nabal.

Nabal will be one who will uh end up being smitten

and Abigail will become the wife of David, but you read here in the text that this is one

who is a descendant of Caleb and he is dwelling, and at least his operations are dwelling

in Carmel.

So you have different events in the early period of the Old Testament.

They reference Carmel.

You see most specifically and the significance of it as a border city.

And of course you also realize by the time you get to the days of David that there’s also

a city that is there in addition to the mountain itself.

Then you get to some of the imagery, that being textual imagery about Mount Carmel.

If you turn over to Song of Solomon, Song of Solomon is going to reference Carmel and

going to use it in terms of its beauty.

Here in Song of Solomon chapter seven, we read beginning in verse four, your neck is like

an ivory tower.

Of course, writing about this woman that Solomon is writing about, he says, your neck is

like an ivory tower.

Your eyes like the pools of Neshbon by the gates of Beth-Rabim.

Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon, which looks towards Damascus.

Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel.

You and the hair of your head is like purple.

A king is held captive by your tresses.

OK, so used poetically here to describe the woman who he speaks of it.

She’s above everybody.

She is superior in her appearance above everybody.

Just the same way Mount Carmel stood out above the landscape around it being surrounded

both by the sea.

and then by the Valley of Jezreel.

You turn over to Isaiah chapter 35 and while the beauty of the location is mentioned in

Song of Solomon, Isaiah’s usage is also going to carry some similar ideas and in the

concepts there.

Isaiah chapter 35.

As he opens this chapter, we read the wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them

and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as a rose.

shall blossom abundantly and rejoice even with joy and singing.

The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it.

The excellence of Carmel and Sharon.

They shall see the glory of the Lord, the excellency of our God.

So.

As Isaiah speaks concerning the future glory of Zion, he uses the imagery and the

reference to Carmel and to Lebanon and to this region because of its grandeur, because of

its beauty, because of its glory to give forward that concept speaking of Zion.

But when you turn over to Amos, you know, when you have glory, you have beauty, you also

tend to have the other side.

of that coin.

And so, as Amos will begin to write and begin to prophesy in Israel, he will speak

concerning desolation when it comes to Carmel.

He will speak concerning judgment.

And notice what Amos is going to write.

Chapter 1 verse 1, the words of Amos, who was among the sheep breeders of Tekoa.

which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and in the days of

Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel two years before the earthquake.

And he said, the Lord roars from Zion and utters his voice from Jerusalem.

The pastures of the shepherds mourn and the top of Carmel withers.” Amos says he speaks

concerning the judgment of God against Israel.

will point out that it doesn’t matter how high and lifted up you are, it doesn’t matter

how abundantly safe you appear to be because you have the high ground when the Lord speaks

judgment against you, even the mountains wither.

And so you have across the Old Testament a picture of beauty, a picture of being a border

location, a picture of a place of commerce, a picture of judgment.

But then the most significant events that transpire at Mount Carmel are found in 1 Kings

chapter 18.

1 Kings chapter 18 occurs during the days of Ahab.

Ahab is going to be king in the northern kingdom of Israel.

Ahab is going to be one who does not follow the commands of God.

He is not obedient to the message of the prophets, specifically of the message of Elijah.

Elijah is going to tell Ahab to be obedient to God and Ahab is going to refuse.

As a result of Israel’s rejection of God and their following after idols, in chapter 17

Elijah is going to proclaim a drought.

We made mention of this in our Bible class this morning.

And for three and a half years that drought is going to transpire.

But as the time of that drought comes to an end,

Elijah is going to come back to Israel.

And if you go through and read all of the text, we won’t for the sake of time.

uh Ahab has been sending out soldiers and messengers and people searching everywhere for

Elijah because he knows it’s not raining because of Elijah and knows that if Elijah will

say the word, the rain will continue.

Now, it’s interesting to note

that here is a king who knows that if he could get Elijah to tell it to rain, it would

rain, but he won’t do what Elijah says.

He won’t obey the word of the prophet, but he knows that the weather will.

So Ahab is going to be told by Elijah that he’s returning and there is going to be a

contest that will transpire on Mount Carmel between Elijah and the prophets.

of Baal.

You’ll notice in 1 Kings chapter 18 beginning in verse 19 we read, therefore send and

gather all Israel to me on Mount Carmel.

The 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Assyria who eat at Jezebel’s table.

Elijah is going to call for the king.

He’s going to call for Jezebel.

He’s going to call for their prophets, the prophets of Baal, which was the god of the

storms of the Canaanites.

The Canaanites held special significance to the region of Mount Carmel as well.

And so the god of the storms, Baal, is going to be represented here at this time.

And Elijah is also going to call for the gods or sorry, the prophets of the gods of

Asheroth or Asherah.

And this is the God of Jezebel’s preference.

her parents, her lineage being the daughter of a king, they were more followers of Baal,

but she had her preference for Asherah.

And so they’re going to call the prophets.

Now we know from the event that only the prophets of Baal are going to show up.

But verse 20 says, So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, gathered the prophets

together on Mount Carmel.

And Elijah came to all the people and said, How long will you falter between two opinions?

If the Lord is God, follow him.

But if Baal, follow him.

But the people answered him, not a word.

Then Elijah said to the people, I alone am left a prophet of the Lord, but Baal’s prophets

are four hundred and fifty men.

Therefore, let them give us two bulls and let them choose one bull for themselves

cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it.

And I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it.

Then you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord.

And the God who answers by fire, he is God.

So all the people answered and said, it is well spoken.

Now, Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, choose one bull for yourselves and prepare it

first.

For you are many, and call on the name of your God, but put no fire under it.

So they took the bull which was given to them, and they prepared it, and they called on

the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us.

But there was no voice.

No one answered.

Then they leaped about the altar which they had made.

And so it was at noon that Elijah mocked them and said, Cry aloud, for he is a God.

Either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping

and must be awakened.

So they cried aloud and cut themselves as was their custom with knives and lances until

the blood gushed out of them.

But when midday was past, they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening

sacrifice.

But there was no voice, no one answered, no one paid attention.

All Israel’s gathered for this contest.

All Israel’s waiting to see which God really exists.

Which God is actually going to act on behalf of His prophets.

Now consider that Baal was the god of storms, and yet it hasn’t rained for three and a

half years.

And here are 450 of the prophets of the god of storms.

And not only that, can they not get it to rain?

They can’t get fire from heaven.

Now, what is it that is uniquely important about the God of storms?

Well, he can send lightning.

He can send fire from heaven.

He can cause this sacrifice to light up.

except no answer, no response from their God.

Verse 30 we read, Then Elijah said to all the people, Come near to me.

So all the people came near to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken

down.

You’ll note that Elijah has not just come to a random

place.

Elijah has not come to a random location.

Elijah has come to a location where there had been an altar to God.

but Israel and the people had allowed it to crumble.

Israel and the people had allowed it to become that which was broken down and in

disrepair.

And so Elijah will come to this altar and he will begin to repair it.

And Elijah took 12 stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob.

to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, Israel shall be your name.

Then with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord and made a trench around

the altar large enough to hold two sies of seed.

And he put wood in order and cut the bull in pieces and laid it on the wood and said, Fill

four water pots with water and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood.

Now as Elijah commands this, you can probably imagine what the reaction of the people is

going to be.

Do you realize how precious water is?

You’re telling us to take water when it hasn’t rained for three and a half years and we’re

going all over the place just trying to find enough water to be able to water our flocks

and our herds and you’re telling us to pour it out on the ground?

That’s exactly what he tells them to do.

And notice what we read.

He says, fill four water pots with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the

wood.

Then he said, do it a second time.

And they did it a second time.

And he said, do it a third time.

And they did it a third time.

So the water ran all around the altar as he also filled the trench with water.

Elijah said, not enough.

You remember how in the days of the judges, God called a judge to come and to defeat an

army and he gathered together an army of 30,000 people and he started off to go do battle

and God stopped him and said, too many people.

You go and fight the battle with this many people and Israel’s going to be convinced that

they won the war.

So everybody that’s afraid, send them home.

So they sent home everybody who was afraid.

And they still had thousands and God says, no, too many people.

He said, you’re to have to get them to go take a drink out of the water and whichever ones

lift the water up versus the ones who go and lap the water, send one group home.

And so they go to battle with 300 men.

300 when they started off with 30,000.

And God says, okay, now Israel will know that I am the one who has delivered their enemy

into their hand.

So Elijah’s doing the same thing for the Northern Kingdom of Israel because he’s saying,

no, I’m not gonna test God with a dry altar.

Israel’s gonna find some excuse some reason why yeah, there was a spark under there.

He hid something in it It wasn’t real.

It wasn’t really the Lord So he says pour water on it That’s not enough water pour water

on it.

No not enough water pour water on it till the water is flowing out of the altar Flowing

into the trough then he says fill the trough with water

Elijah is not going to leave any room for them to be ambivalent about who this is.

So the water ran all around the altar, verse 35, and he also filled the trench with water

and it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice that Elijah the

prophet came and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day

that you are God in Israel and I am your servant.

and that I have done all these things at your word.” When Elijah says that, he doesn’t

just mean the event on Mount Carmel.

He means three and a half years of no rain since the last time the people saw him.

They need to know that this wasn’t Elijah doing this, this was the Lord.

And so he says,

Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that you are the Lord God and that you

have turned their hearts back to you again.

Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood and the

stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench.

Elijah finishes praying and he doesn’t wait half a day.

He doesn’t wait till the next morning.

He doesn’t wait until he jumps around and makes a big ruckus.

He finishes praying and fire comes down from heaven and consumes the sacrifice.

It consumes the wood.

It consumes the stone.

It consumes the water.

Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and they said, the Lord, He is

God.

The Lord, He is God.

And Elijah said to them, seize the prophets of Baal, do not let one of them escape.

So they seized them and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon and executed them

there.

Then Elijah said to Ahab, go up, eat and drink.

for there is the sound of the abundance of rain.

As Elijah proceeds from the events of the challenge, he tells Ahab, hey, it’s time for you

to get home.

Rain’s coming.

It’s time for you to finally be at peace.

Rain’s coming.

And he says, so Ahab went up to eat and to drink and Elijah went up to the top of Mount

Carmel.

Then he bowed down on the ground and put his face between his knees and said to his

servant, up now, look toward the sea.

So he went up and looked and said, There is nothing.

And seven times he said, Go again.

So you can imagine here’s Elijah, he’s there at the top of Mount Carmel.

He’s there and the people have dissipated, the people have gone home.

They’ve seen what they came to see.

They know that the Lord Jehovah is God.

and they have put an end to the 450 prophets of Baal.

But as Elijah is there, he prays, he sends his servant, go look.

Now from, as you can see here in the image on the screen, from the top of Mount Carmel,

you can look right off into the Mediterranean Sea.

So the servant would walk from where Elijah was and he’d go look out over the

Mediterranean Sea.

So Elijah prayed and sent the servant out, the servant came back, nothing.

Elijah prayed, sent the servant out, nothing.

Six more times Elijah prayed, sent the servant out, came back, nothing.

And he said to his servant, go up now, look toward the sea.

So he went up and looked and said, there is nothing.

And seven times he said, go again.

Then it came to pass the seventh time that he said, there is a cloud.

as small as a man’s hand rising out of the sea.

So he said, go up and say to Ahab, prepare your chariot and go down before the rain stops

you.

Notice that the clouds not descending out of the sky.

The cloud is a rising out of the sea.

God creates the cloud out of the Mediterranean Sea.

And as the servant observes it, Elijah says, hurry up, go tell Elijah, get on his chariot

and go.

Or he’s not getting home.

And notice what we read.

Now it happened in the meantime that the sky became black with clouds and wind and there

was a heavy rain.

So Ahab rode away and went to Jezreel.

Then the hand of the Lord came upon Elijah.

and he girded up his loins and he ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of Jizreel.

Ahab takes off running.

It’s going to be the beginning of a lot of running for Elijah in the coming days.

But Elijah is uh swiftly footed by the hand of the Lord, kind of like in my mind, Philip

in Acts chapter eight, when Philip goes and meets the eunuch as he’s on the chariot headed

out of Israel, I get the feeling it’s uh very much the same thing.

If you had probably watched Elijah go by, you would have gone.

What was that?

That was a prophet, headed to go do something.

Elijah went by, Elijah beat the king back who was traveling via chariot and he met him at

the Valley of Jezreel.

Sadly, from this location, Elijah will prove to Israel that the Lord is God.

And from the high mountaintop of Mount Carmel, the evidence will be given that God alone

is the God they should serve.

But as is often the case when someone leaves the high of

Knowing for certain how everything’s going to turn out they often end up down in the low

of uncertainty

Because as Jezebel is going to find out what happened to the 450 prophets of Baal, Jezebel

will say, before this day is done, I’m going to have Elijah’s head.

And Elijah will begin running and he won’t stop.

He won’t stop for quite some time.

As a matter of fact, he’ll reach Sinai before he’s done.

running away from Jezebel.

There’s some things we need to learn, but I want to focus on this one.

What Elijah said to Israel before the contest began.

Elijah said to Israel, if the Lord is God, follow Him.

Simple enough.

If God is who he says he is, and he’s proven it over and over and over again, then follow

the Lord.

If you’re here this afternoon and you’re not following the Lord, may I encourage you to

learn the lesson of Mount Carmel.

May I encourage you to understand who created this world and everything that exists in it,

who is above all kings and all principalities and all powers, who controls the nature of

this world and everything around it, and who will tell you that one of these days this

world’s coming to an end.

and you don’t know when it will be.

But you know this, he said, today is the day of salvation.

He has assured you that if you will be humble and repent, if you will be obedient to his

will, then he will forgive and he will give you a home in heaven with him.

Jesus said, you believe in God, believe also in me.

For in my Father’s house are many mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you, I go

to prepare a place for you, and if I go to prepare a place, I will bring you again to

myself, that where I am there you may be also.” If you’re here this afternoon and you’ve

not been obedient to the message of Christ, why not do that today?

To hear the Word of God and believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, to repent of your

sins and confess the name of Christ.

to do exactly what Israel finally did when they declared, Jehovah, He is God.

To declare that Jesus Christ came in the flesh, lived, and died, that we might be saved.

Confess the name of Christ and be immersed in water for the remission of your sins, rising

to walk in newness of life with the realization and the knowledge.

But this world is not our home.

This world is temporary.

This world is under the control of one who created it and will end when he says it’s going

to be done.

You’re member of the body of Christ and you’ve done what Israel did and you departed from

the Lord.

Maybe the place of glory and significance and honor for God in your life is in shambles

and disrepair.

It’s time to repent.

It’s time to come back.

God was willing to forgive Israel.

He’s willing to forgive you too.

If you have need of the invitation, why not come now as we stand.

Mark 14 (Lesson 7) – Aaron Cozort – April 22, 2026

In Admonition Podcast, biblical prophecy, Christian Lessons, Humility, Isaiah 53, keywords Jesus trial, Mark 14, Peter denial, repentance, resilience by Aaron Cozort

image

Open your Bibles,

Appreciate your presence.

We’re down into the latter portions of this chapter.

We’re gonna pick up around verse 53 this evening as we continue through our study.

But let’s begin with a word of prayer.

Our gracious Father in heaven, we bow before your throne, grateful for the day that you’ve

blessed us with, for the life that we have, the opportunities that we have to serve you,

and we pray that we might strive to do so diligently.

We pray that you be with those who are dealing with illnesses, injuries, recovery from uh

procedures or hardships in this physical world.

We pray that you give them strength and comfort and peace.

pray that you

help us to also be an encouragement to them.

Lord, we pray that you be with those who are dealing with issues of a spiritual nature.

We pray that they will have a heart willing to open your word, to study your will, to know

what you would have them to do and how you would have them to live and to walk and the

peace that they should have in knowing what you have put in your word.

Lord, we pray that you will forgive us when we sin and fall short of your glory.

In all this, we pray and ask in Jesus name.

Amen.

Mark chapter 14, beginning verse 53, they led Jesus away to the high priest, and with him

were assembled all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes.

What time of day was this?

Nighttime, not evening time, nighttime.

uh The evening time is when the feast or the supper would have been held.

And then they continued to talk after that supper was held.

And then uh after they had talked for a while, Judas went out from among them after that

supper was held.

Then Jesus continued to talk and continued to teach and instruct the disciples.

And then when that was finished, Jesus and the disciples went out to the Garden of

Gethsemane.

So you have the travel time from wherever they were in the city to the garden.

And then Jesus spent three hours praying.

So at the earliest, if you could imagine they probably began the feast supper, let’s say

if they began it at 6 p.m.

What time does this make this?

probably close to midnight or either close to midnight or even later than that.

And interestingly, just by pure happenstance, every single one of the chief priests

happened to be at the high priest’s at midnight when they brought Jesus back.

Pure coincidence.

Everybody just happened to be there for this event.

So the chief priests were there, but not just the chief priests.

All the elders were there.

So the 70 of the Sanhedrin were there.

And not just the chief priests, not just the Sanhedrin, but all the scribes were there

too.

as if maybe they knew something was going on.

and that they were in a hurry to make sure it started, happened, and finished because they

had a narrow window of opportunity.

So, notice they arrive.

Peter followed him at a distance right into the courtyard of the high priest and sat with

the servants and warmed himself at the fire.

Now the chief priests and all the councils sought testimony against Jesus to put him to

death, but found none.

As they are searching for testimony, Mark makes it clear they didn’t find anybody.

They didn’t find what met the legal parameters.

They found volunteers to lie.

They found volunteers to uh bear false witness.

They just didn’t find any legal reason to do what they were trying to do.

Verse 56 says, For many bore false witness against him, but their testimonies did not

agree.

Then some rose up and bore false witness against him, saying, We have heard him say, I

will destroy this temple made with hands.

And within three days I will build another maid without hands.” But not even then did

their testimony agree.

And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, saying, Do you answer nothing?

What is it these men testify against you?

The high priest, seeing that they’re having a bit of an issue because they’re not getting

to the legal excuse to kill him,

tries to get Jesus to testify against himself.

The question is not an honest one.

The question is not that which is seeking for knowledge concerning the testimony and the

witness that these individuals were giving because who had gone to find the witnesses.

the people at the instruction of the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes.

So he says, do you answer nothing?

Are you not going to rebut their testimony?

What is it these men testify against you?

But he kept silent and answered nothing.

Again, the high priest asked him, saying, are you the Christ, the son of the blessed?

Jesus said, I am.

And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming with the

clouds of heaven.

Jesus here utilizes the imagery of Daniel 7.

Stick your finger over here in Mark 14 and take a brief jaunt, if you will, with me to

Daniel chapter 7.

Daniel chapter seven.

We read beginning in verse 9, I watched till thrones were put in place and the ancient of

days was seated.

His garment was white as snow and the hair of his head was like pure wool.

His throne was a fiery flame and its wheels a burning fire.

A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him.

A thousand thousands ministered to him.

Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.

The courts were seated and the books were opened.

I watched then because of the sound of the pompous words which the horn was speaking.

I watched till the beast was slain and its body destroyed and given to the burning flame.

As for the rest of the beast, they had their dominion taken away, yet their lives were

prolonged for a season and a time.

I watched in the night visions and behold one like the son of man coming with the clouds

of heaven.

He came to the ancient of days and they brought him near before him.

Then to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom.

Then all peoples, nations and languages should serve him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away in his kingdom, the one

which shall not be destroyed.

As the vision.

puts these items before Daniel.

Daniel, of course, is seeing this imagery that corresponds to the imagery of chapter two

and the kingdoms in chapter two.

So this fourth beast is a picture of Rome.

But the point is that as the fourth beast is in its power, Daniel is going to see the son

of man seated on the throne.

there with God and reigning.

And the picture of Jesus and the picture Jesus identifies for the chief priest, for the

high priest rather, is not one of his return from heaven.

The coming with the clouds in this context is not the return of Christ.

It is rather the ascension of Christ to

the position of authority returning not to earth, but to where He came from.

Where did Christ come from?

Heaven.

By the way, as He identifies that fact, as He points this out, He’s identifying that His

origin isn’t earthly.

His origin isn’t from men.

His origin isn’t what everyone else’s is and his authority isn’t either.

So he is arguing for as he makes this statement, I am the one who fulfills the prophecy

made by Daniel.

Therefore, I am king.

I am ruler.

I am over all of you, you included.

and he tells the high priest, you’re going to witness this.

You’re going to see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

He says, I am and you will.

It is important to realize that Jesus directly gives attribution to Daniel 7 being

fulfilled in

his day.

Quite often, people come to Daniel 7 and they say, this is when Christ returns.

No, no, no.

You got to pay attention to the direction he’s going.

He is going to the Father, not from the Father, in Daniel 7.

So Jesus says, you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming

with the clouds of heaven.

Same way Daniel describes it.

Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, what further need do we have of witnesses?

It really probably wouldn’t have mattered what had come out of Jesus’s mouth.

That would have been what the high priest would have said no matter what.

But he essentially is saying, he’s claiming to be God again.

That’s all we need.

We’re all witnesses now.

They argue what they have argued before that he was blaspheming by claiming this position.

He says, you have heard the blasphemy.

What do you think?

And they all condemned him to be deserving of death.

What person was among the number of the elders or the Sanhedrin that we know of, that we

know by name?

Turn to John chapter 3.

There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.

Now we learn elsewhere of Nicodemus later on, I believe it’s John that records it, that he

was not consenting to the death of Christ.

But the uh perception here ah is that the

crowd, totality of those assembled there were in favor of this.

Now, don’t have Nicodemus specifically stated as being present when this occurs, not by

name, ah but he is among one of the rulers, so it certainly is a possibility.

But he also points out, Mark does, he says, then some of them began to spit on him and to

blindfold him.

and to beat him and to say, prophesy.

And the officer struck him with the palms of their hands.

They go beyond just the actions of a judicial proceeding to now starting to assault Jesus,

to mock him.

So as to say, hey, if you’re who you claim to be, if you are…

who you say you are, if you have the knowledge you claim to have, then just tell us who

hit you.

This goes back to Isaiah chapter 53.

In Isaiah 53…

Isaiah will write beginning in verse one, who has believed our report?

And to whom is the arm of the Lord been revealed?

For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of dry ground.

He has no form or comeliness when we shall see him.

There is no beauty that we should desire him.

He is despised and rejected by man, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

And we hid as it were our faces from him.

He was despised and we did not esteem Him.

Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed Him stricken,

smitten by God and afflicted.

But He was wounded for our transgressions.

He was bruised for our iniquities.

The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray.

We have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us

all.

He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth.

He was led as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before its shearers is silent.

So he opened not his mouth.

He was taken from prison and from judgment.

And who will declare his generation?

For he was cut off from the land of the living for the transgression of my people.

He was stricken.

and they made his grave with the wicked, but with the rich at his death, because he had

done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.

Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him.

He has put him to grief.

When you make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his

days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

He shall see the labor of his soul and be satisfied.”

By his knowledge, my righteous servant shall justify many, for he shall bear their

iniquities.

Therefore I will divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with

the strong, because he poured out his soul unto death.

He was numbered with the transgressors, and he bore the sins of many and made intercession

for the transgressors.” As the prophet Isaiah

speaks concerning the treatment of Christ.

As he speaks concerning the things that he would suffer, he points out again and again and

again and again, this happened because of us.

This didn’t happen because of him.

The idea that we sometimes come to, you know what?

If somebody had something bad to them, what bad thing did they do to deserve it?

The answer with Jesus?

Nothing.

The answer is what bad thing did we do to cause him to deserve it?

What did we do to cause him to have to go through it?

As these men are hitting him, as they are assaulting him, they do not realize that it is

for their very sins that he’s allowing it to happen.

So often we think about us, we think about our sins, we think about current moments in

time, but there is a reminder that Jesus was dying even for the people who were putting

Him to death.

Jesus would teach over in Matthew chapter 5 as He speaks to His disciples and to the

crowds that are gathered around that they ought to do good for those who mistreat them.

They ought to love those who despitefully use them and persecute them.

because in doing so they will share the characteristics of their Father in heaven.

For he sends his reign upon the just and on the unjust.

Jesus is going to point out that if you’re going to be like God instead of like men, as a

matter of fact, he points out the juxtaposition is not between like God or like men, but

between like God and like those who are not worthy of the kingdom of heaven.

That’s the separation he makes.

He says, your righteousness is going to exceed the righteousness of the scribes and the

Pharisees, which shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.

then you’re going to have to do good to those who do evil to you.

You’re going to have to love your enemies.

You’re going to have to pray for those who do wrong to you.

And the prayer isn’t going to be, sure hope they get what’s coming to them.

for the prayer of Jesus on the cross was, Father forgive them for they know not what they

do.

They’re going to beat him.

They’re going to mock him.

And as they do so, they’re only getting started.

We read then in verse 66, now as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant

girls of the high priest came.

And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, You also were with

Jesus of Nazareth.

But he denied it, saying, I neither know nor understand what you are saying.

And he went on the porch and a rooster crowed.

And the servant girl saw him again and began to say to those who stood by, this is one of

them.

But he denied it again.

And a little later, those who stood by said to Peter again, surely you are one of them,

for you are a Galilean.

and your speech shows it.

If you’ve ever traveled somewhere you’re not from, and I don’t mean you went out of Shelby

County and you went to DeSoto County.

I mean you went to somewhere you’re not from.

And someone comes up to you at any random public place and says, where are you from?

Because they know you’re not from here.

You don’t talk like you’re from Jerusalem.

You don’t talk like a Judean.

You talk like a Galilean.

There was an accent difference and they knew it.

Said, you’re not from here.

You’re one of those Galileans.

Now, were there any Galileans there in Jerusalem for the Feast of Passover?

Sure there were, but were they hanging out at the high priest’s house at midnight?

No.

So Peter kind of stuck out like a sore thumb.

So, they say, you are a Galilean and your speech shows it.

Then he began to curse and swear, I do not know this man of whom you speak.

Peter insists, no I don’t know him.

No, I don’t know him.

No, you got the wrong guy.

And the second time, the rooster crows.

Jesus would tell Peter before the cock crows second time.

You’re going to deny me three times.

mark is going to give both rooster crows.

It’s interesting to note, not all of the writers list both occasions.

Some just describe Jesus as saying, before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.

And they only reference the first sounding of the rooster.

But if the rooster is crowing, by the way, what does that tell you about how long how much

time has transpired since this whole thing got started?

All night.

Roosters don’t crow at 1 a.m.

Well, he’s not the ones that stay alive.

The ones that stay alive are the ones that crow when the dawn comes.

They crow when they’re supposed to, not all night long.

So this has been transpiring, not for a moment, not for 15 minutes, but for hours.

as they have gone through the night with Jesus on trial and with the persecution that

would follow after it, we’re into the morning.

But the other thing I wanted to point out is, as Mark mentions, with the first denial that

the rooster crowed.

I think perhaps he’s helping us realize, you know, sometimes…

when we know we shouldn’t do what we’re doing?

We have that reminder right there, right in front of us that sounds, that says, hey, pay

attention, you’re not supposed to be doing this.

And we just keep on.

The other thing perhaps we should consider.

Why is Peter there?

Peter there getting ready to pull his sword to defend Jesus and vanquish all the soldiers

of the high priest that are…

No indication.

Why is Peter there?

Okay?

How so?

But yet what’s happening, he doesn’t understand.

Jesus even said they didn’t understand.

So here’s this man that he has believed to be the son of God this entire time.

And how is it that now he is finally caught by those who’ve been trying to kill him all

along?

So what is Peter supposed to do?

Is he supposed to keep following?

Because he said, I’ll follow you anywhere.

But yet at the same time, he knows this can’t be good because Peter’s not ignorant of the

ways of the laws of the land and the fact that this is all illegal.

So I think he’s conflicted in what am I supposed to do?

uh we have no indication that Peter ever behaved in such a manner before to swear and

curse at somebody.

And when people are torn up over something,

That’s usually when they start to make decisions that they might not otherwise make.

And here he is wanting to do what he said he would do for the Lord.

But also a little self-preservation.

Maybe they’ll take me next if I get too close.

So I don’t want them to think I’m with him, but I don’t know what to do.

That’s why I think he’s conflicted.

I think part of what Eddie, encapsulating what Eddie said is part of what’s going on.

Now, bear in mind, we’re somewhat reasoning about what we’re not told, but we’re looking

at the events.

And as humans, we need to think what is going on?

Bear in mind that all the rest of the disciples,

fled.

Peter also fled, but it seems as though Peter fled with the soldiers and all those who

were arresting Jesus and then followed at a distance.

And then as they’re going in the gate of the high priest’s house, Peter sneaks in as

behind him.

By the way, if you read John’s record, you’re going to find out John’s there too.

because John knew someone in the house of the high priest.

So John is there, Peter is there, no indication the rest of the apostles are there.

So the two of them are there, they’re present, they’re on the periphery of these events

going on.

But Peter…

had been told by Jesus, if you kind of track back over the last little bit, Jesus had told

him that Satan desired to sift him his wheat.

That before the cock crow twice, you will deny me three times.

He had been told, let me wash your feet, and Peter had refused.

And then Peter had reversed back to, don’t wash all of me.

Throughout this night, there have been these exchanges between Jesus and Peter over and

over demonstrating to Peter that Jesus knew what was going on and Peter didn’t.

When Jesus goes and prays in the garden and comes back and the three of them are asleep,

who does he address?

Peter.

Could you not watch with me one hour?

as he gets to the second time he comes back?

He points out that the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Pray that you enter not into temptation.

As the soldiers come, who pulls the sword and cuts off the ear of the servant of the high

priest?

Peter does.

You’re watching a series of events where Jesus is saying, Peter, you’re…

under attack and you don’t even see the opponent.

We’re reminded.

from scripture.

Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.

Paul will remind the Galatian brethren to be humble and watchful as they seek to restore

someone else that they don’t find themselves caught up in sin as well.

Peter is being told again and again and again, Peter, you’re not as strong as you think

you are.

You’re not ready for what’s coming.

You’re not listening.

You’re not paying attention.

And the enemy you face is bigger than you.

But Peter was also told that not only would he get through it, that he would repent and

return.

There are times…

Where the people around us will look at the direction we’re headed and they will tell us,

you do realize there’s a cliff over there, right?

Right over there, right the direction you’re going.

Straight ahead of you.

There’s a cliff.

No, no cliff.

Straight ahead.

Straight on till morning.

Isn’t that the phrase from Peter Pan?

No problem at all.

Smooth sailing.

No, there’s a cliff in front of you.

We don’t listen.

And we should, as we look at this, realize

one of the problems Peter had

was humility.

Peter struggled with the humbleness to examine, to listen, to understand what Jesus was

telling him

and the lack of humility became a blind spot.

It became the opening for the attack.

So now Peter’s not there saying, I’m going to be a witness on behalf of Jesus.

I’m going to stand up for Jesus.

He’s back in the background pretending he’s not who he is.

We need to be careful when we find ourselves in a position that we are tempted to pretend

we’re not who we are.

Where we think, you know what, people will not accept me as the Christian that I am, so

I’m just going to keep my mouth shut.

I’m just going to act like I’m just one of the people.

I’m not going to do anything wrong.

I’m just going to pretend I’m not who I am.

Careful.

That’s an opening for Z.

That’s you saying, you know what?

I’m not going to do anything wrong, but I’m not going to stand up for what’s right.

I’m not going to be seen to be an ally of God.

I’m just not going to be an ally of Satan.

Careful.

Eddie, do you have another thought?

being humble and then it made me think of 1 Peter 5, 8 where Peter draws on Satan being a

roaring lion, but it’s just two verses before that where he says, humble yourself before

the Lord.

I wonder if he thinks, as he wrote that, if he was thinking back to those events that

transpired.

And we can often see things looking back better than when we were in that situation.

And at the same time,

Give Peter some credit.

ah The likelihood is that maybe at this point in time he’s 25 years old.

The likelihood is he was at least a good number of years younger than Jesus.

Quite often the disciples of a rabbi would be ten or more years younger than the rabbi

himself.

So if Jesus begins his ministry at age 30, it’s quite likely that those who were his

disciples were in their either late teens, early 20s.

If Jesus has been ministering for three and a half years and if Peter was 22, 23 when

Jesus began ministering, he’s only 25, 26.

Raise your hand if you were making a bunch of wise decisions at age 25 or 26.

You’re not there yet.

patient.

doing before he thinks and everything.

But everybody, you we all need to remember, he’s the only one that stepped out of the

boat.

He’s the only one that had the faith to do that, you know?

And in doing that, yes, we all have done things in our lives what Peter’s doing now, you

know?

But Peter’s the one who was, who did come back.

He’s one of the characters that I love so much in the Bible.

That is, they’re all real, we can relate to.

And then they’ve done that kind of thing, you know, and it gives us hope that if Peter can

deny Christ and turn around and come back and be the preacher on the first day of

Pentecost and then everything after that, we can too.

Absolutely.

And, you know, in that same vein, you also have to appreciate the fact that there’s a

reason

Satan wanted Peter and it wasn’t just about Peter.

because Peter was the one willing to walk in front.

Peter was the one who was in front of, ahead of, and willing to go in front of and before

the other apostles.

Peter was the one willing to walk out on the seat of the Lord while all the other apostles

are staying in the boat.

So,

the person willing to step forward, the person willing to lead, suddenly also gets a much

bigger target on their back.

Certainly, uh but I think it’s more, again, my opinion.

Jesus is identifying Peter as the one who needs to be strong, but who will fall, who will

then need to be strong again for the rest of them.

And he knows that he’s susceptible, but he also knows he’s resilient.

There’s a principle of uh design and engineering.

In some engineering scenarios, you want as much strength as you can get.

You want…

Something will not bend ever.

It will only hold its position.

But what is true about an object of great strength like steel, when you have an object

like steel, that it is incredibly strong, it is incredibly resistant to bending and to

breaking, but it does have a breaking point.

that when it breaks.

It doesn’t get back together again.

It is.

It’s not like the limb that gets blown down and it lays on the ground for a little bit,

but then gets a little bit of soil, gets set back up, starts growing again.

It’s.

Bro.

So there’s a principle of strength and then there’s a principle of anti-fragility.

Something that is anti-fragile is both strong, but it’s resilient and it pushes back and

it reforms over time.

So when you have something that is anti-fragile, it’s actually more resilient than

something that is just strong.

Jesus is going to tell Peter, you’re not going to be able to out-strength the person who

you’re going up against.

But when you repent, when you become anti-fragile, when you return back to your former

position,

you help the others.

So Peter.

rubber on a tire at the east of the road.

So Peter is going to deny Jesus three times.

The second time, verse 72, the rooster crowed, Peter called to mind the word that Jesus

had said to him, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.

And when he thought about it, he wept.

Mark tells us that the words came to mind.

Another of the records, I think it’s either Luke or John, tells us that at that moment

that the rooster crowed the second time, Jesus looked across the courtyard at Peter.

Peter saw Jesus and knew exactly what he had done.

Now, here’s a interesting thought question for you.

Is it disappointing to people when we do exactly what they told us we were going to do?

Yeah, generally, it’s a little disheartening.

I don’t know how many times my wife has said to her children, how many times have I told

you?

She never has to say it to me.

I’m perfect.

But anyway.

when somebody says, told you you were going to do that.

We had a friend growing up that had a habit of saying to people.

Never a good time to say I told you so.

What she really meant was I told you so.

But here’s the thing, Jesus told Peter two things.

Jesus told Peter He was going to deny Him.

Jesus also told Peter that he was going to repent and be restored.

And so often we focus on the first one because of the drama of it, because of the account

of it and the story of it.

But Jesus said with as equal assurance to Peter that he was both going to deny him, that

he was also going to repent and be restored.

And I surmise that the second part

was of far greater comfort to Peter afterward.

It is with that in mind that I think the Hebrew writer utilizes the same type of statement

when he over and over and over again uses the term, let us in the book of Hebrews.

He talks about how they’re turning back and then he says, let us and he calls them to

faithfulness.

He doesn’t separate them and say, you know what, you all are sinning, you all are doing

wrong, you all need to repent and you all need to get it right.

He identifies that they’re making a wrong decision, that they’re determining a wrong path.

And then he says, and he puts himself right there in there with them and says, let us do

the right thing.

Let us hold fast.

We need to remember that when someone struggles and when someone falls and when someone

sins and when someone does it, even when we told them they were going to do it, if they

didn’t change and they said, I’ll never do that.

And then they go and do it.

Hopefully we have also said and when you realize what you’ve done

I’ll be right here for you.

so you have someone to come back to who loves you.

Peter knew.

that the person who he had denied.

was also the one who was his Redeemer.

And we can’t forget that.

When we look at ourselves, our failures, our sins, our faults, we are to remember that the

one who we deny when we live a life that is not Christ-like is also the one who has said,

I’m right here waiting for you when you come back.

Thank you for your attention.

Revelation 11 (Lesson 2) – Aaron Cozort – April 26, 2026

In Admonition Podcast, biblical interpretation, city imagery, keywords Revelation, prophecy, seals, symbolism, throne room, two witnesses by Aaron Cozort

image

Got a few more coming in.

We are in Revelation chapter 11.

You might wonder how when I did a gospel meeting down in Louisiana, I managed to go

through the entire book of Revelation in just four days.

Of course, then again, each night of the gospel meeting was about an hour and a half long.

And we went really, really fast.

ah We didn’t do a lot of review either.

All right, let’s begin with a word of prayer and then we’ll get into our study.

A gracious father in heaven, we bow before your throne, grateful for the day that you’ve

given to us, grateful for this book of revelation that helps us to understand the Old

Testament better, helps us to see the fulfillment of the prophets and the prophecies that

were made in the Old Testament, and also helps us to understand the message that you will

provide for and protect and deliver your people, that you will defend your church from its

enemies,

and that ultimately our concern should be about being faithful to you, knowing that there

is a reward in heaven awaiting those who are faithful.

Lord, we pray that you be with all those throughout this world who are struggling with

just such persecution.

We pray that you will be with them and help them to be strong and faithful, always serving

you no matter what comes and help us to do the same.

Help us to have a mindset ready to endure persecution

and hardship, at the same time willing to preach the truth and stand up for your Son and

the testimony of His Word.

All this we pray and ask in Jesus’ name, Amen.

They’re all streaming in behind you.

Isaiah, you’re on the wrong screen because I can’t click and it won’t move.

There we go.

All right.

So, chapter one of Revelation opens up and John is…

in the spirit on the Lord’s Day as the text tells us, he opens the book, introduces it and

introduces who’s writing it.

But this was a message that John was given.

It was sent and signified.

In other words, it was given in the form of signs, visions, pictures, not straight, normal

prose.

and it was of things that must shortly come to pass.

Verses one through three tells us that.

So when John opens the book twice in verses one and three, John tells us the things are

about to take place.

They’re not way off in the future.

In the first century when John wrote it, these things were at

hand, any interpretation of the book that ignores that message that’s in verses one and

two, and by the way, also is in chapter 22.

It bookends the book in chapter 22 verse five or verse six.

John says, these things are shortly to come to pass.

If you ignore what John says, guess what?

You’re going to get the book wrong.

Okay.

So the events were at hand.

John is going to be there worshiping on the Lord’s Day and he hears a voice behind him and

he turns around to see the one who is speaking and it is a picture, uh a representation of

Christ in a glorified state and he has in his right hand the seven stars and he’s

surrounded by seven golden lambstands and he says to John, you’re going to write what I

say.

You’re gonna write what you see.

And so John is going to introduce the book to the seven churches of Asia Minor, and as

these churches receive the book and as they are introduced with a message from God about

their current state and about what’s coming, then chapter four opens and John sees an open

door.

He goes through the open door and in the vision as he goes through the open door, because

he’s presented with an open door, so you’re supposed to understand he went through it, all

right, because he was told to come.

He comes into the throne room of God and he sees the one who’s sitting on the throne and

he doesn’t describe the one sitting on the throne, he describes the glory of the one

sitting on the throne.

He’s surrounded by a rainbow of emerald.

He’s one of great power.

Before him are the seven spirits of God.

Before him is the sea.

Before him are the four beasts that look every direction and that are representative of

different types of power.

And then you also have the 24 elders.

So the 24 elders have crowns of victors.

They have a victory crown upon their head.

And whenever the four beasts that are before the throne begin to praise God and declare

how worthy he is, the 24 elders come off of their thrones.

They cast their crowns before the throne and they worship God.

Then Chapter five opens, and as that occurs.

there is a book in the hand or a scroll in the hand of the one who’s sitting on the throne

and it’s sealed with seven seals.

It’s got a progressive revelation from the one who’s sitting on the throne, God, and John

wants to know what it says because it’s written.

It’s as though, and again, I always form this in view of like a movie, you know, when they

show the person sitting on the throne and in his right hand is the scroll.

You have that moment in the movie where the camera just zooms in and you can see the

writing on the inside and it zooms back out.

John knows it’s got a revelation from God.

He wants to know what it says.

But they search heaven and earth.

They search the under the earth.

They search those who are alive, those who are dead and those who are in heaven.

And nobody’s worthy to open the scroll.

Nobody has the right authority to open a seal.

All right.

So John begins to weep, but one of those in the vision comes to John and says, they’ll not

weep, we found the one who’s worthy.

And the one who’s worthy is the lion of the tribe of Judah.

He is the lamb that was slain.

He is the alpha and the omega.

He is the first and the last.

He is the one who was, who is, and is alive forevermore.

And so the picture of Christ,

is of the lamb who is standing as if he had been slain, but he’s standing, so he’s not

slain, he’s not dead.

And the lamb who has the seven eyes and seven horns and has the seven spirits of God goes

to the throne, takes the book, and begins to open the book.

Chapter six, the book begins to be opened, the seals begin to be opened, and inside the

first seal you have the white horse, the second seal the red horse.

Third seal of the black horse or third seal of black horse, fourth seal of the pale horse.

These progress, this imagery comes from Ezekiel, by the way.

But as you get into the fifth seal, you see the souls of those slain for the testimony of

the word of God under the altar.

And they’re crying out to God, how long?

These are Christians and they’re being persecuted and they’re being killed.

Now, back in Revelation, Chapter two, verse 10.

you have a message to the church in which John is told to write to the church, some of you

are going to be put in prison and some of you are going to be killed.

Be faithful unto death.

Now we’ve often been told and rightfully so that the be faithful unto death means up to

and including.

Well these Christians had been.

Be faithful unto death and I will give you a crown of life is what the passage says and so

here in

the fifth seal, you open the book, or He opens the revelation from God as the fifth seal

is open, and here are the Christians who have been slain for the testimony of the Word of

God, and they’re crying out to God, how long you let this go on?

And they’re told to rest, and they’re given white robes, and they’re told to rest for a

while, and then the sixth seal is open.

And sixth seal is open, you have a pre-vision of…

the judgment of God and the wrath of the lamb coming upon those who are persecuting.

But at the end of that initial picture, which is really a picture about the rest of the

book, you have a question that’s asked.

In the day of the wrath of the lamb, who is able to stand?

So chapter seven opens, there’s the picture from the sixth seal.

All right, chapter seven opens and the angel comes up.

and tells the four angels that are holding back the wind, they’re holding back the

judgment of God, say, wait, wait, wait, wait, don’t let the judgment happen yet.

We’ve got to mark all of God’s people.

We’ve got to make sure we don’t miss a single one.

We’re going to write God’s name on their forehead so we know who they are.

So in the beginning of chapter seven, all of God’s people are marked and how, what’s the

number of them?

144,000, there literally were only 144,000 Christians in the whole world at the time,

right?

And it was exact, not 144,001, it was just 144,000 and oh, they were all Jews because they

were all from specific tribes and there were 12,000 from each, no, no.

The number 12, some of this is gonna be important when we continue in chapter 11, the

number 12 represents God’s people.

The number 1,000 represents all.

When you multiply 12 by 1,000, what do get?

12,000.

God’s people and all of them.

When you multiply that by another 12, what do you get?

144,000.

You get God’s people multiplied by God’s people multiplied by all of them.

And they’re pictured with Old Testament imagery because the whole book is pictured with

Old Testament imagery.

If you went to the Old Testament and you said, what would be a representation of God’s

people?

Well, it’d be 12 tribes of Israel, wouldn’t it?

Absolutely it would, okay?

So God’s people multiplied by God’s people multiplied by all of God’s people is the

picture.

And how could we represent it?

Old Testament imagery of the tribes of Israel, okay?

So all of God’s people are marked because none of God’s people are going to be judged by

the judgment that’s coming.

They’re gonna suffer through it.

They’re gonna go through it.

They’re gonna endure it.

And some of them are gonna die because of it, but they’re not going to be judged by it.

All right, so then you have seven angels with seven trumpets and they’re about to start

sounding.

They’re about to start delivering the judgments of God.

And you see there in chapter eight and chapter nine, those initial blasts from the

trumpets, you see.

partial judgment coming forth.

A third of this is affected and a third of that is affected.

Partial judgment, partial judgment, partial judgment.

So the first four sound and then you get to the last four.

Sorry, the last three, I can’t do math.

The first four sound and as you get to the end of the fourth and to the beginning of the

last three, you have a series of woes that come along with the last three trumpets.

But you don’t have the last three trumpets yet.

You have the first one, number five, the second one, number six, and then another Paulist.

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

We got to tell the church they’re going to get through this.

We’ve got to show them because of what’s coming, because of the danger and because of the

threat and because of the persecution that’s coming with this judgment and with what this

nation is doing to them that is being judged.

Rome.

that they’re gonna get through it.

So before the last trumpet sounds, before the last whoa, there’s pause.

And in that pause, you have a mighty angel.

comes up and he’s got one foot on the land and one foot on the sea and he’s holding a

little book.

What does the little book signify?

A message from God, another revelation.

So John sees the one who’s clothed with a cloud, who’s got the rainbow above his head.

He’s a mighty representative of the throne.

And it’s again, Ezekiel imagery.

And he’s got a little book and he gives John the book because John’s told to go take the

book.

And John consumes the book.

He eats the book and it’s sweet as honey in his mouth.

But in his belly it’s what?

Bitter, it’s sour.

It’s a message from God.

It’s sweet as honey.

But it’s not good news.

bitter.

Okay, the message that’s going to be declared is not going to be one of sunshine and roses

and happiness.

It’s going to be one of hard times.

Okay, so then we get to chapter 11.

Chapter 11 opens and we’ve got two witnesses.

Verses one through six, which we covered last week, we’ve got the two olive trees and the

lampstands and the city being measured.

Okay, so John first is told, go measure the temple, said the city, my brain’s on Ezekiel,

uh go measure the temple, the temple’s measured, but the word for temple is the inner

sanctuary.

And God tells Israel, or sorry, God, let me get my words out.

God tells uh John that he’s gonna go measure the inner sanctuary, but don’t measure the

outer courts.

because they’re going to be trodden under.

He’s telling John the church, because that’s the temple of God in the New Testament,

right?

It’s not a physical temple.

God didn’t send Jesus to come build a physical temple.

You remember what they accused Jesus of so that they could crucify him?

What did one of the false witnesses come and say?

Alright, Jesus had made the statement that He would tear down the temple and rebuild it in

three days.

First they said, well this guy’s a lunatic.

There’s no, you see how many years it took Herod to rebuild this temple?

There’s no way anybody could tear down and rebuild it in three days.

But what was Jesus talking about?

That’s right, his body.

He was going to be crucified.

He was going to go down in the grave.

He was going to be resurrected in three days.

Hold on to that.

But oh, by the way, when you come to the New Testament period under the church, what is

referenced as his body?

The church.

So the temple is the body.

The body is the church.

And it’s, by the way, in this chapter going to be killed for three days.

And then it’s going to come back to life.

Watch it.

All right.

So John’s told, go measure the temple and the outer part of it is going to be damaged.

It’s going to be trodden under, but the inner part doesn’t get touched.

Now that can be a picture of Jerusalem.

Can be a picture of the physical temple because that temple, what happened to it?

Not one stone left upon another.

So when you come to this passage and you open it up and you see temple and you see it was

trodden under, but not destroyed, can’t be the temple in Jerusalem.

That temple is completely gone.

But then you see the olive trees.

This is a picture from Zechariah.

So the Zechariah’s picture is a leader of Israel and the governor.

Zerubbabel and the high priest of Israel as the city of Jerusalem is being put back

together.

And Zechariah says, God to Zechariah says, these are my two witnesses.

They represent the leadership of my people and the spiritual leadership of my people.

Okay?

Two witnesses.

And the point is,

if we can combine the picture of the olive trees and the lamps.

The point is this, Matthew chapter five.

You are the light of the world.

City that’s set on a hill.

No man lights a candle and puts it under a bushel.

God has always told His people, you are the light of me in the world.

Now what happens if you’ve got a candle and it’s just a normal candle and you light it?

burns down until eventually does what?

Goes out.

What if you instead have a wick that is connected to a pool of oil that is constantly

being fed by a new supply of oil from an olive tree?

never goes out.

First picture of the two witnesses in chapter 11 is number one, the temple where the inner

sanctuary is never touched.

It doesn’t get destroyed.

Second picture of the witnesses is the lamps connected to the olive trees where they are

continually supplied with oil.

and they never go out.

All right?

Remember, the picture again and again and again in chapters 10, 11 and 12 is two God’s

people.

You’re going to get through this.

You’re going to continue.

God is going to provide for you.

So then we have the next picture of the two witnesses and this is chapter 11 verse 7.

I’m going to back up, though, and get just a couple of things.

Verse three, I will give power to my two witnesses and they will prophesy one thousand two

hundred and sixty days clothed in sackcloth.

Now, what did we say one thousand two hundred sixty days is?

Three and a half years, okay?

So three and a half years is going to come forward from Daniel chapter 12, time, times and

half a time.

Three and a half is half of what?

seven.

eh So instead of a perfect amount of time, you have a broken amount of time.

You have a temporary amount of time.

It’s going to be hard, but it’s not going to be permanent.

Okay.

So notice what he says.

He says, I will give power to my two witnesses.

They will prophesy for 1260 days, clothed in sackcloth.

These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth.

And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth, devours their enemies.

And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner.

These have power to shut heaven so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy.

And they have power over waters to turn them to blood and to strike the earth with all

plagues as often as they desire.

OK, so the the prophets are here pictured in the form of Elijah and Moses.

So you’ve got two witnesses from Zechariah that represent God’s people.

You have two pictures of prophets who represent God’s people who declare God’s message.

And God says they’re going to declare God’s message for a temporary period of time.

The message is going to be heard and nothing’s going to stop them.

Everybody who tries to oppose them as God’s message is proclaimed is going to lose.

But then this happened.

when they finish their testimony, verse 7, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless

pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them.

Now, we’re not going to go into full detail about the beast yet.

I want to hold off on that.

Just know that the beast here is the same beast as Daniel 7.

Daniel’s beast is borrowed.

Daniel’s pictures are borrowed.

So we’re gonna get a land beast, we’re gonna get a sea beast, we’re gonna get all sorts of

things.

But where does it come out of?

Bottomless pit, uh that’s hell, right?

As we’re going through this, we need to appreciate the pictures.

The pictures that we often struggle with because we want the picture to be literal.

We want it to immediately attach to something we already recognize to be something God has

said is actually going to happen.

Well guess what?

When the Christians in the first century were persecuted and killed, did they see beasts

killing them or humans killing them?

Did they see a great big giant beast that just swept them aside or did they see an army

and centurions and emperors who were throwing them to literal beasts in a coliseum?

That’s what they saw.

But in Daniel’s vision, a nation is represented by what?

a beast.

If you go back to Daniel 7, the first nation Babylon is represented by a beast, the second

nation, the Medo-Persian Empire is represented by a beast, the third nation, the Grecian

Empire is represented by a beast, and the fourth nation is represented by an indescribable

beast.

Well, this is your indescribable beast.

He comes up out of the bottomless pit, makes war against them, overcomes them, and kills

them.

Now just a minute ago, for 1260 days, nobody could kill him.

Why?

Why could nobody kill them before the end of 1260 days?

The key is in the beginning of verse 7.

correct because they hadn’t finished their testimony yet.

Here’s the thing you need to think about and need to realize from all Old Testament

history.

No prophet dies until he’s done talking.

No prophet dies until God’s finished relaying his message.

Think about the young prophet that was sent to Jeroboam.

God sends this young prophet.

He goes to Jeroboam with a message saying, Jeroboam, you have rebelled against me.

I’m going to rip away the kingdom from your lineage.

You’re no longer going to get to be on the throne.

And what does Jeroboam do?

He reaches out to tell them to kill this man.

And what happens to his hand when he reaches out?

withers.

While the prophet is still speaking, nobody can kill him.

While God’s message is still being declared, nobody can touch him.

When the young prophet goes back home and the old prophet convinces him to stop and eat,

and then the young prophet carries on after he had been told, don’t stop, don’t eat, get

out of that nation.

What comes and kills him?

A lion.

And then does it consume him?

Nope.

Kills him and sits right there next to him.

See, God’s messengers will declare God’s message and nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing

will stop them.

But the message has been declared and now the persecution begins.

Now they’re going to start dying.

Okay, so notice this, their witness is finished.

The beast ascends out of the bottomless pit, will make war against them, overcome them and

kill them.

and their dead bodies will lie in the streets of the great city which spiritually is

called Sodom, Egypt, and where our Lord was crucified.

Now this is where a lot of people struggle.

Because where was our Lord crucified?

Jerusalem, that’s where the physical city was, where the Lord was crucified.

But was he crucified inside of?

was he crucified in Egypt?

Was he?

No.

This is one city described three ways.

one city described by three analogies.

And Jerusalem is not named, but it is an analogy.

Just the same way Sodom is and just the same way Egypt is.

The city where the beast comes up out of, the city that is pictured here, the city where

the people of God are killed.

isn’t Jerusalem.

Because the beast that’s persecuting them is Daniel’s beast.

And Daniel doesn’t ever speak of Jerusalem as a persecutor, does he?

The indescribable beast, the fourth kingdom, the kingdom of iron and iron mixed with clay

in the image in chapter two is what nation?

Rome.

Now over in Revelation chapter 17, and I’m trying not to spend too much time in 17 until

we get to 17.

John decided to wait until chapter 17 to give it to us.

I’m trying to wait until chapter 17 to get to it.

In chapter 17, you’re going to find out that the city rests on seven hills.

And there’s only one ancient city of power that rested on seven hills, and it’s Rome.

When John describes the city, it’s the city that rests on seven hills.

When John describes the beast, he uses Daniel’s language of the indescribable beast and

the kings and the heads of that beast as his picture.

John says Daniel’s indescribable beast is Rome and its persecuting power is in its kings.

but the beasts that you’re going to see in the coming chapters are going to be two beasts

and a harlot.

Okay?

The persecutors that you see making war with the saints are going to be two beasts and a

harlot.

And you’re seeing an initial description of the persecuting power here in these three

cities or these three locations.

Notice the description.

We read.

Let me get back here where I was.

and the dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which is spiritually, or

sorry, which spiritually is called.

Now notice, John is specific with his language.

He’s telling you that the spirit of the city is Sodom.

What was Sodom known for?

corruption, abomination, but notice this, go back to the earliest description of Sodom.

What is the earliest mention of the city of Sodom?

All right.

The very first picture of Sodom is when Abram and Lot have to part ways.

They have to part ways because they’re growing too big, they’re getting too big.

So Abram tells Lot, you go one way, I’ll go the other.

You pick, you decide.

And the very first mention of Sodom and the very first picture of Sodom we have in

Scripture is that Lot lays his eyes on the well

watered plain of sod.

And the picture of Sodom is, by the way, Lot’s going to start off outside.

And then he’s gonna move further in, and by the time you get to the end, he’s in the city.

It is a seductive commercial city.

It is full of corruption.

It is full of the abomination and wickedness and yet it is pleasant to the eye.

It is something that looks like, you know what, if I get closer and closer to this, I’m

going to get more prosperous and more prosperous and more prosperous.

It is a picture.

of the seductive commercial nature of Rome.

Sodom represents seduction.

All right, so you’ve got beauty to desire something.

You’ve got this natural richness.

You’ve got seduction because when you get to the core of it, what is it?

The city of abomination.

It looks real good on the outside.

It looks beautiful and plentiful and like you’re going to be successful and grow and

prosper.

And instead, it’s going to kill you.

going to eat you from the inside with immorality.

There’s the picture of Sodom.

Now Egypt.

What is the Old Testament picture of Egypt?

abundance, plentifulness, and what did they do to God’s people?

Enslavement.

Okay?

This is the nation that enslaved God’s people.

This is the nation that persecuted God’s people.

and put them to task.

So you’ve got Sodom, looks beautiful, but is seductive.

You’ve got Egypt, looks plentiful, but enslaves God’s people.

And then the city that’s not named, the city where they killed the Lord, that’s the

description.

What does Jerusalem represent in the picture?

Say what?

Rejection of God and religious corruption.

Think about it.

This is the city that represents God’s people, God’s religion, where God’s temple is, and

I use the word God’s in air quotes because guess what?

They were the people who killed the very son of God.

This is the city where they took God’s primary witness.

The one in whom was no guile, the one in whom was no sin found, the one in whom where they

could not find two witnesses that could agree on anything they could put him to death for,

and they killed him anyway.

And it wasn’t the people that did it.

It was the corrupt religious leaders that did it.

So you’ve got commercial beauty and yet corruption.

You’ve got prosperity in Egypt and corruption.

You’ve got religion and corruption in Jerusalem.

What’s God saying about the great city?

The great city has three aspects that are all gonna go to war with His people.

They’re gonna go to war economically, they’re gonna go to war in regards to all of the

things that the nation does and enslavement, and they’re gonna go to war in terms of

religion.

John is not telling you that this is the city of Jerusalem.

John’s telling you it’s not the city of Jerusalem.

He’s telling you that it’s spiritual Jerusalem, the city that claims to belong to God but

would kill his very son.

by the way, what

world power killed the Son of God.

Because the Jews didn’t even have permission to kill anybody.

The Jewish nation and the Jerusalem leaders didn’t have authority to take anybody’s life.

So who killed the Son of God?

Rome did.

Rome has held the task because Rome is about to start persecuting Christians.

By the way, Rome, nowhere in Scripture, nowhere in the New Testament, nowhere in any

archaeological evidence or traditional evidence that we have ever persecuted the

Christians in Jerusalem.

The Jews persecuted the Christians in Jerusalem.

In the book of Acts, who saves Paul from the threat of death from the Jews in Jerusalem?

The Roman soldiers do.

Rome’s never pictured as persecuting Israel, or sorry, persecuting the Christians in

Jerusalem.

Where did Rome persecute the Christians?

In Rome?

Where did Rome kill Paul?

In Rome!

Rome is pictured here as Sodom, Egypt, and Jerusalem in their spiritual application, okay?

So, verse nine, then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, nations will see their dead

bodies three and a half days and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves.

Now, if you wanted to say,

that their death was complete and finished and never again would they live again, what

number could you represent it as?

the number of completeness and perfection.

A seven, but this is what?

A broken seven.

They’re going to prophesy for three and a half years.

They’re gonna be dead for three and a half days.

He says short temporary period of time with a connection by the way to who else who was

dead for three days.

Christ.

Who claimed he was going to tear down the temple and rebuild it in how many days?

Three days.

Okay.

So the picture here, by the way, where does this three day picture come from when Jesus is

asked about that statement?

He said, I’ll give you no other sign but this.

Jonah, who was in what?

The belly of a fish for three days.

It’s a picture of a prophet.

It’s a picture of the fact that God will get his message declared and God will provide for

his prophet whether the prophet likes how it happens or not.

You think it was pleasant in the belly of the fish for three days?

I don’t know that waits signing up fish cruises.

Hey, you can end up here in the belly of a fish for three days.

Don’t worry, you’ll come out alive on the other end.

Don’t think so.

And yet God is saying, listen, I know how to protect my prophet.

I know how to deliver my prophet and I know how to get my message spoken.

By the way, that particular prophet was sent to preach to what?

a great city that was either going to repent or be judged.

Over and over and over again, Old Testament pictures that represent what we’re being told.

Judgment’s coming, judgment’s coming, judgment’s coming.

My messenger will speak, my people will speak, and I will protect them, but it’s not gonna

be easy.

He goes on to say, then from those, ah sorry.

So in this great city, we have,

peoples, nations, tongues, and they’re all going to see the bodies of who?

The two witnesses.

They’re lying in the street.

Now, as you notice this, the witnesses are killed.

They’re not buried.

They’re just left there.

McGuigan pointed out that when Mussolini was killed in Italy, the end of World War II,

they didn’t even bury him.

They just left him dead in the street.

because of their despising of everything he had done.

The not burying is an act of despising someone.

If you care about someone, you bury them.

Who buried Jesus?

Was it the Jews?

No, it was his disciples and Joseph of Arimathea who came and requested the body to bury

him.

Okay, now the Jewish leadership needed the bodies down because of the Passover, but they

didn’t care what happened to them.

Jesus’s people cared what happened to them.

Okay, so notice this, they leave the bodies in the street, they’re there for three and a

half days and

They did not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves and those who dwell on the

earth will rejoice over them, make merry and send gifts to one another because these two

prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.

We’ve made mention of this already and we’re going to keep mentioning it every time we run

into it.

Those who dwell on the earth doesn’t represent the people alive on the planet.

It represents the enemies of God because the people who are alive on the planet who belong

to God

They’re dwelling places where?

In heaven.

They’re sojourners on the earth, not dwellers of the earth.

They don’t have a permanent home here.

They have a sojourning place here.

All right?

And so those who dwell on the earth are gonna rejoice.

Here comes God’s messengers.

Here comes God’s people.

They make testimony of God’s message.

They tell us that we’re gonna be judged and we kill them for it.

and we think because we killed him, hey, let’s have a party, we’re not going to be judged

now.

Isn’t that the way Israel always treated the prophets?

You know what?

If the prophet prophesies something against you, throw him in prison or kill him.

Then you don’t have to worry about the prophet or the prophecy anymore, right?

Except is that how it actually worked?

No.

But that’s the way the world thinks.

They were tormented

by the message.

They were tormented by the truth, so they killed the messenger.

Go back to the uh parable that Jesus gives of the vineyard keepers.

King has the vineyard, he goes off on a journey, hires vineyard keepers to keep the

vineyard, sends back a messenger to get his portion of that which the vineyard has

produced.

What do the Vineyard Keepers do?

Well, the first one, they beat and send him back.

So he sends another, beat and send him back.

Sends another, they beat or kill him.

Finally sends his son, what do they do to him?

Kill him and say, hey, we get to keep the vineyard down.

Jesus’ question, what is the King going to do when he returns?

He’s going to destroy the vineyard keepers.

Here’s the picture.

God sends a messenger, they reject the message.

God sends a messenger, they beat the messenger.

God sends a messenger, they kill the messenger.

Does that keep the judgment from happening?

Now, we’re going to read these last few verses of verses 11 through 14, and then we’re

going to get into uh the rest next week.

Now, after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered them, and they

stood on their feet, and great fear fell on all those who saw them.

They kill them.

They don’t even bury them.

They leave them in the street and they throw a party.

Three and half days later, what happened?

God resurrects them back to life.

And everybody’s afraid.

Why are they afraid?

They just thought they had won.

They killed the messengers.

But now they realize they can’t win.

Because they can’t even keep the dead people dead.

He’s, they see them.

Great fear fell on all those who saw them.

They heard a loud voice from heaven saying, come up here.

And they ascended to heaven in a cloud and their enemy saw them.

Who went to heaven in a cloud?

Christ and who else?

Elijah.

God’s messengers keep.

Defeating all their enemies.

You can’t keep God’s messengers dead.

You can’t kill them and have victory over them.

Now Elijah didn’t die.

But they have really, really wanted him dead.

He just avoided it all points.

So again.

They heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, come up here.

And they ascended to heaven in a cloud.

And their enemy saw them.

In the same hour there was a great earthquake and a tenth of the city fell.

In the earthquake, seven thousand people were killed and the rest were afraid and gave

glory to the God of heaven.

The second woe was passed.

Behold, the third woe is coming quickly.

Now, all of this, if you go back into chapter nine, all of this happens in the sixth.

trumpet.

Okay, we’re still in the sixth trumpet because in the sixth trumpet was a second woe.

And John just said, all right, I wrapped up the second woe.

Okay, so the sixth trumpet actually goes from chapter 9 verse 13 all the way through to

the end of or to verse 14 of chapter 11.

Here’s the thing, we’re still in a partial judgment phase.

We’re still in a partial condemnation phase.

God says, I’m gonna send my witnesses, you’re gonna tell them that they’re gonna be judged

and they’re going to kill you for it.

But don’t worry, I’m gonna resurrect you back to life.

And then I’m gonna get you out of the judgment and I’m gonna give them what they deserve.

But it’s still only partial judgment.

Still just the second woe Okay, we’ll pick up in verse 15.

The Chariots of the Bible – Aaron Cozort – April 26, 2026

In Admonition Podcast, Chariots, Elijah, Exodus, faith, Joseph, keywords Bible, Philip, Salvation, Solomon, trust in God by Aaron Cozort

image

Good morning.

In ancient times.

one of the most feared weapons of war.

one of the most likely assurances of victory.

is the army with the iron chariots.

Chariots in the Old Testament were a mighty weapon.

They had some disadvantages.

They uh didn’t do well in mountainous terrain.

They were better on the valley.

But in the plain, in the open field, they presented an overwhelming force.

to the enemies of the opposite army.

Egypt was known for its chariots, not always of iron, but often of iron.

They were known for their power and their prowess on the battlefield.

but in Exodus chapter 14.

the chariots were not the weapon that they thought they would be.

In Old Testament history, back in Exodus chapters three and four, God tells Moses to go to

Pharaoh in Egypt and to tell Pharaoh to let my people go.

And as Moses and Aaron go before Pharaoh, Pharaoh asked the question, who is this God that

I should hear him?

Pharaoh wants to know, why should I care?

what the God of the Hebrews says.

Pharaoh refuses to let the people go.

And Moses and Aaron will begin to show a number of signs that God had told Moses he would

show Pharaoh to demonstrate to Pharaoh just exactly who God actually was.

and to demonstrate to the world that God, Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, the I Am that I

Am, is Lord of heaven and earth, and beside him there is no God.

to demonstrate to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians that it did not matter what God they

trusted in, that God could not deliver them from Jehovah.

And so, through the series of miracles and plagues, as we call them, that God, through

Moses and Aaron’s hand, will deliver to Pharaoh, God will make subservient and make it

clear that He is superior to all other gods.

So when that last plague comes, the death of the firstborn, and a cry goes up throughout

all Egypt because of the firstborn of man and beast that dies in the night.

Pharaoh sends word to Moses and Aaron, take Israel and leave.

Now before they left, God had told Israel to go to all their neighbors, to go to all those

around them and ask of them anything that they would give them.

the nation of Egypt was plundered by choice.

handed many great riches over to Israel.

and Israel left Egypt.

As they began journeying, God takes them not the normal way.

He doesn’t take them the normal path out of Egypt, the clear road that was the commerce

road, which by the way was the same road that Joseph had been brought in on as a slave

after he had been sold to the Ishmaelites and the Midianites all those years before.

No, we’re not taking that road.

They go down into Egypt and they go to the edge of the Red Sea.

But after Pharaoh has determined to let them go, Pharaoh has a change of heart.

So Pharaoh and his army are gathered together and they get on their chariots and they give

chase.

Exodus chapter 14, we find the events that transpire in the remainder of the text.

You’ll take your Bible and turn over there.

Exodus chapter 14, we find the chariots of defeat because the weapon that they thought

would be their victor, that would cause them to defeat Israel finally on the open road,

not in

their place where they were in Egypt, not under the power that I imagine perhaps they had

surmised that God had somehow gotten control over Egypt.

No, they were out on the open road.

They were in the place where the battle could be easily won.

They get on their chariots and they go and we read verse 6, so he made his chariot ready

and took his people with him.

Also, took 600 choice chariots and all the chariots of Egypt with captains over every one

of them.

And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt and he pursued the children of

Israel and the children of Israel went out with boldness.

So the Egyptians pursued them all, the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and

his army, and he overtook them camping by the sea beside Pyhathoron, Hyaroth, before

Baal-Zethon.

And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the

Egyptians marched after them.

And so they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord.

As the nation of Israel is camped by the sea, by the Red Sea, not the Reed Sea as all the

modernists want it to be, they weren’t camped by an ankle-deep body of water.

They were camped by a sea.

They had an impassable location to one side and an army to the other.

They look behind them and they see the chariots.

They see the forces of Pharaoh and they’re afraid and they cry out to the Lord and notice

what occurs.

Then they said to Moses, because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to

die in the wilderness?

Why have you so dealt with us to bring us up out of Egypt?

Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, us alone, that we may serve the

Egyptians?

For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than we should die in the

wilderness.

Moses said to the people, Do not be afraid.

Stand still and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today.

For the Egyptians whom you see today you shall see again no more forever.

And the LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.

And the LORD said to Moses, Why do you cry to me?

Tell the children of Israel to go forward.

You ever have somebody come to you and say,

I have looked all over the place for this object.

I have searched high and low.

I cannot find it anywhere.

and they’re asking you about their glasses that are sitting on top of their head.

Where are my glasses if you go?

Right there.

God says to Moses, why are you crying out to me?

As if it should be obvious.

I brought you here.

Where’s the logical next step?

Except the logical next step for God.

was insurmountable for Israel.

It was impassable for Israel.

It was a sea.

But God tells Moses, what are you waiting for?

Tell them to go forward.

Then notice what occurs.

Lift up your rod, verse 16, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it.

And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.

And I indeed will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they will follow them.

So I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, his chariots and his horsemen.

Then the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gained honor for myself over

Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen.”

and the angel of God who went before the camp of Israel moved and went behind them and the

pillar of cloud went from them before them and stood behind them.

So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel.

Thus it was a cloud and darkness to one and he gave light by night to the other so that

the one did not come near the other all that night.

As the Egyptians arrive the day is coming to an end.

The time when camps are being set up and battle is inevitably going to come first light.

And so as Egypt is behind them, the Red Sea in front of them, God says, go forward.

And you’re going to go on dry ground.

And you’re going to go through the sea.

And I’m going to use the sea to make it the last point to Pharaoh.

I win.

Because I am God and Pharaoh is not.

And so Pharaoh is there, his army is there, his men are ready.

They’re going to destroy this nation of the Israelites, except God takes the cloud that

Israel had been following, that had been guiding them as they’ve gone on their journey.

And instead of it being in front of them, He moves it behind them.

By the way, tells you that the cloud’s an angel.

And so the cloud is behind them and you can’t see through the cloud.

So on one side of the cloud it’s darkness.

On the other side of the cloud, the cloud’s giving light to all the nation of Israel.

So it’s just normally dark and black as night, except the Egyptians can’t see through the

cloud to see the nation of Israel.

Imagine probably they couldn’t hear through the cloud either.

Text doesn’t tell us that, but you get a couple million or so people traveling and moving

and you think you’d probably be able to hear it.

Not too far away.

But as the night comes, sea is going to divide, Israel is going to go through on dry

ground.

Notice what the text says.

Verse 21, Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea.

And the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the

sea into dry land.

And the waters were divided.

So the children of Israel went in the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters

were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

And the Egyptians pursued and went after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s

horses and his chariots and his horsemen.

Now it came to pass in the morning.

Watch.

that the Lord looked down upon the uh army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and

cloud, and he troubled the army of the Egyptians, and he took off their chariot wheels so

that they drove them with difficulty.

And the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the Lord fights for them

against the Egyptians.

Then the Lord said to Moses, Stretch out your hand over the sea, and the waters may come

back upon the Egyptians and their chariots and on their horsemen.

And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, when the morning appeared, the sea returned

to its full depth, while the Egyptians were fleeing into it.

So the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.

Then the waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all the army of

Pharaoh that came into the sea after them, not so much as one of them remained.

But the children of Israel had walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters

were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

So the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the

Egyptians dead on the seashore.

Thus Israel saw the great work which the Lord had done in Egypt.

So the people fear the Lord and believe the Lord and his servant Moses.

here in the Old Testament.

Egypt thought chariots are our solution.

Pharaoh thought I couldn’t get them any other way.

I’ll get them with my military might.

I’ll run them down with my chariots.

I’ll defeat them, God says.

I’ll make your chariots your weakness.

So we think through some of the episodes in the Old and New Testament of chariots.

This one stands notably before us as a picture of defeat.

What they thought was their strength became their weakness.

But then another picture, chariot of promotion.

In 1 Kings chapter 10,

We find another event.

I’m sorry, I’ve got the wrong verses on the slide.

Turn to Genesis chapter 41.

Go the right way.

Genesis chapter 41, I mixed the passages with the wrong title.

So ignore that promotion.

Promotion is right, passage is wrong.

In Genesis 41, we’ll find another occurrence, this one again having to do with Egypt, but

earlier on in their history.

in the time where Joseph was in Egypt.

Joseph will be called upon to interpret a dream.

And in Genesis 41, we find that Joseph is going to interpret that dream to Pharaoh.

Pharaoh is going to see a dream in the night.

He’s going to not understand.

He’s going to be troubled by it.

He’s going to look for an interpretation.

of the dream and will be completely failed in giving that interpretation by all of his

wise men by all of those who should have been able to tell him according to their own

claims what the dream meant.

But there was one who had earlier gotten in disfavor with Pharaoh and had been put in

prison who suddenly remembered that two years before when he was in prison, he had made a

commitment to a man who had interpreted his dream that when he got out of prison, as the

dream had declared that he would, he would remember Joseph and he had forgotten.

He had failed to remember Joseph.

So Joseph was brought out of prison and brought before Pharaoh and he interprets Pharaoh’s

dream.

And he tells Pharaoh, there’s going to be seven years of plenty.

There’s going to be seven years of prosperity.

There’s going to be seven years of abundance.

As a matter of fact, if you go and look at the passage and you do the math, 20 % of the

produce from the seven years was sufficient

to feed the entire nation.

for the entire year.

And yet the land produced enough that 20 % was all that they set aside to feed the entire

nation and all the nations around them in the years of famine.

So every year uh Joseph tells Pharaoh, 20 % of all that is grown and produced in the land

should be stored up.

because coming after the seven years of prosperity are seven years of famine.

And we read in verse 37, so the advice was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of

all his servants.

And Pharaoh said to his servants, can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the

spirit of God?

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, inasmuch as God has shown you all this, there is no one as

discerning and wise as you.

You shall be over my house, and all my people shall be ruled according to your word.

Only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you.” And Pharaoh said to Joseph, See,

I have sent you over all the land of Egypt.

Then Pharaoh took his signet ring off his hand, put it on Joseph’s hand, and he clothed

him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck.

And he had him ride in the second chariot, which he had.

and they cried out before him, the knee.

So he set him over all the land of Egypt.” Earlier on in Egypt’s history, the chariots

were a sign of the king’s power.

They were a sign of the king’s authority.

And as Joseph is placed in this second chariot behind Pharaoh, he is promoted from

prisoner

to second in the kingdom.

and he is paraded through the land on this chariot to make it clear to all the nation,

whatever Joseph says, you do it.

Chariots declared prominence, authority, and power.

And in this scenario, Joseph is raised up by a chariot of Egypt to declare that he has

authority.

But notice this, that Joseph’s authority came not because of his greatness, not because of

his lineage, not because of his background.

not because of his education, not because of where he had been the last few years

preparing for power, but it came because of his submission to the wisdom of God.

The chariot and the promotion came as a result of Pharaoh saying, there is no one in all

the kingdom who should be given this authority except you because God has given you this

wisdom.

So while the promotion is given to Joseph, the credit as Joseph gives it to Pharaoh goes

back to God.

But then consider 1 Kings chapter 10.

and the chariot of misplaced confidence.

In 1 Kings chapter 10,

We’re going to read concerning Solomon.

As Solomon grew in wealth in all the things that he had, in all the wisdom that he had, as

his wisdom brought to him the wealth of the nations around him, we find that Solomon is

going to start doing things that God had specifically told him not to do.

And one of those things is he is going to build a standing

army.

God told the nation of Israel, you don’t do that.

You don’t need to gather to yourselves horses and chariots.

You do not need battlements for I am your defender.

But as Solomon grows in his wealth, Solomon is going to turn against that command.

We read in verse 14 of chapter 10, the weight of gold that came to Solomon yearly was 666

talents of gold.

Besides that, from the traveling merchants and from the income of traders, from all the

kings of Arabia and from the governors of the country.

And King Solomon made two large shields of hammered gold.

Six hundred shekels of gold went into each shield.

He also made three hundred shields of hammered gold.

Three minas of gold went into each shield.

The king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.

Moreover, the king made a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with pure gold.

The throne had six steps and the top of the throne was round at the back.

There were arm-

on each side of the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the armrest.

Twelve lions stood there, one on each side of the six steps.

Nothing like this had been made for any other kingdom.

All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were gold, and all the vessels of the house of the

forest of Lebanon were pure gold.

Not one was silver, for this was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon.

Recently, uh this last year, we saw silver spike up to a really big high price.

In the days of Solomon, it went down to nothing.

It wasn’t worth a thing.

There was so much gold around, nobody even wanted the silver.

Notice we read, for the king had merchant ships at sea with a fleet of Hyrum.

Once every three years, the merchant ships came bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes and

monkeys.

So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.

Now all the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom which God had put in

his heart.

Each man brought his present, articles of silver and gold, garments, armor, spices, horses

and mules at a set rate year by year.

And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen.

had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen whom he stationed in the chariot cities with the

king at Jerusalem.

The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones and he made cedar trees as abundant

as the sycamores, which are in the lowland.

Also, Solomon had horses imported from Egypt and Kiva.

The king’s merchants brought them in, bought them in Kiva at the current price.

Now a chariot was imported from Egypt.

Now a chariot that was imported from Egypt cost 600 shekels of silver and a horse 150.

And thus through their agents, they exported them all.

to the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Syria.

Solomon goes against the command in the law not to build standing armies, not to gather to

Israel horses and chariots, rather to trust in God.

When you turn over to Isaiah chapter 31,

Isaiah is going to speak concerning this matter, concerning the things that had transpired

in the intervening time in Israel.

In Isaiah chapter 31 and in verse 1, notice what we read.

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses who trust in chariots

because they are many.

He says, but do not look to the Holy One.

of

Solomon is going to begin something that will lead straight to the demise of the nation.

He’s going to begin their attitude of trusting in worldly power, trusting in armaments and

battlements instead of their God.

And as a result of that, he is going to bring shame and disgrace and misplaced confidence

into the life of Israel.

And instead of trusting in the one who Joseph trusted in, instead of trusting in the one

who gave the wisdom to Solomon, they rather trusted in the power and the military might

they surrounded themselves with.

But then consider another chariot in the Old Testament, this being the chariots of

deliverance.

In the days of Elisha in 2 Kings chapter 6,

We find that Elisha is not in good graces with the king of Syria.

And as a result of that, the king of Syria is bound and determined that he is going to

stop Elisha from telling all of his plans to the king of Israel.

Because everything that the king of Syria told his servants in the secret place, Elisha

would tell to the king of Israel openly.

And so the king of Syria has determined that he’s going to do something about it.

So he sends his chariots, he sends his armaments, he sends his battlements, he sends his

horsemen to go get Elisha and to finish this problem.

So one morning, the servant of Elisha goes out of his house and as he goes out of his

house, he sees they’re completely surrounded by the armies of Syria.

Notice what we read beginning in 2 Kings, Chapter 6.

beginning in oh verse 8.

Now the king of Syria was making war against Israel and he consulted with his servant

saying my camp will be in such a such place and the man of God sent to it king of Israel

saying beware that you do not pass this place for the Syrians are coming down there then

the king of Israel sent someone to the place of which the man of God had told him thus he

warned him and he was watchful there not just once or twice

Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was greatly troubled by this thing.

he called his servants and said to them, Will you not show me which one of us is for the

king of Israel?

And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king, but Elisha the prophet who is in

Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.

So he said, Go and see where he is, that I may send and get him.

And it was told to him, saying, Surely he is in Dothan.

Therefore he sent horses and chariots and a great army there.

and they came by night and surrounded the city.

And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army

surrounding the city with horses and chariots.

And his servant said to him, Alas, my master, what shall we do?

As the servant of Elisha comes back in, you can imagine, just picture, he walks out the

door.

turns around and walks back inside.

That says, Master, what are we going to do?

And notice the answer.

Verse 16, do not fear for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.

And Elisha prayed and said, Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.

Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man and he saw and behold, the mountain was

full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

So when the Syrians came down, Elisha prayed to the Lord and said, Strike this people,

pray, with blindness.

And he struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.

As the king of Syria sends his army, his horses, his chariots, his overwhelming force to

get one single man.

They surround the city, they begin their advance, and as they come down into the city,

Elisha prays.

And he doesn’t pray that the chariots of fire come down and wipe the nation out.

He doesn’t pray that the chariots of fire come down and eliminate every last one of them.

He doesn’t pray that the chariots of the Syrians lose their wheels and the horses go lame.

He doesn’t do any that.

He just prays that God give them life.

So the entire army becomes blind.

Verse 19, now Elisha said to them, This is not the way, nor is this the city.

Follow me and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.

But he led them to Samaria.

So it was when they had come to Samaria that Elisha said, Lord, open the eyes of these men

that they may see.

And the Lord opened their eyes and they saw and there they were inside Samaria.

Now bear in mind that the king of Syria has been at war with the king of Israel and the

capital city of Israel is Samaria.

They just ended up with their entire army in the place the Syrian king has been trying to

get to to defeat Israel.

And their whole army is there.

they had been walked into the capital city by Elisha.

But they don’t overthrow the city of Samaria.

As a matter of fact, they’re going to be afraid.

as he takes them into the city.

Verse 21, now when the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, my father, shall I kill

them?

Shall I kill them?

He answered, you shall not kill them.

Would you kill those whom you have taken captive with your sword and your bow?

Set food and water before them that they may eat and drink and go to their master.

Then he prepared a great feast for them, after they ate and drank, he sent them away, and

they went to their master, so the bands of Syrian raiders came no more into the land of

Israel.

as God delivers Israel not by defeating the other army, not by annihilating them as He

certainly had the power to do, but He delivered them by treating them with kindness.

They go home and they never come back.

But now consider another chariot, this one from the New Testament.

In Acts chapter eight, there’s a man from Ethiopia.

He comes to Jerusalem to worship.

He comes to Jerusalem because as a proselyte, as one who had been converted to the Jewish

religion, that’s what you do.

You sojourn to come to Jerusalem, to the temple to worship.

And that’s what he’s done.

And as he is proceeding home back to Ethiopia from Jerusalem, he is reading the

scriptures.

He’s reading the thing that he had been converted to.

He was one who had converted to believe in the God of Israel.

And so he’s opening the scriptures of Israel, the Old Testament prophets, and he’s reading

them and he’s trying to understand what he’s reading.

And so as a result of that,

as he is in his chariot as he is going back to Ethiopia.

Philip is going to be sent to him.

Chapter 8 verse 26.

Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, arise and go toward the south along the

road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.

This is desert.

So he arose and went and behold a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under

Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians.

who had charge of all her treasury and had come to Jerusalem to worship was returning.

And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet.

Then the Spirit said to Philip, Go near and overtake this chariot.

So Philip ran to him and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah and said, Do you understand

what you are reading?

Notice first that the Ethiopian was reading.

Notice second, he was reading

out loud.

because you can’t hear someone reading silently.

You can see someone reading silently, but you can’t hear someone reading silently.

So as the chariot is going, here is the man, he is in the chariot and he’s going and he’s

reading out loud the prophet Isaiah.

Notice what we read.

He says, do you understand what you are reading?

He said, how can I understand unless someone guide me?

And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him, tells you the chariot’s large enough to

have seats in it.

Then the place in the scripture which he read was this, he was led as a sheep to the

slaughter and as a lamb before it shears his silence.

So he opened on his mouth in his humiliation.

His justice was taken away and who will declare his generation for his life is taken from

the earth.

So the eunuch answered Philip and said, I ask you of whom does the prophet say this of

himself or of some other man?

As the eunuch is reading from Isaiah 53, this passage that speaks concerning the Messiah,

the eunuch doesn’t know and the eunuch had no answers from the Israelite religion.

Who is this one being spoken of?

Is it Isaiah?

Is he talking about himself or is he talking about someone else?

Then Philip opened his mouth, verse 35, and beginning at this scripture preached Jesus to

him.

Now as they went down the road, they came to some water.

How far down the road did they go?

Don’t know.

But they kept going.

As they kept going, Philip kept teaching.

And as they’re going down the road, as Philip is preaching to him, Jesus, the eunuch comes

up with a really strange question.

For notice what the eunuch asks.

As they’re going down the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, see, here is

water.

What hinders me from being baptized?

The eunuch asks a question that many in the religious world today would never have asked,

because they never would have been preached Jesus.

They would have been preached man’s doctrines.

They would have been preached church tradition.

They would have been preached the things that have been preached for hundreds of years,

not thousands, because they wouldn’t have been preached Jesus.

But from the very prophet Isaiah,

Philip is able to teach the gospel and to preach Jesus and the conclusion of the eunuch

is, I need to be baptized.

So when he sees water, he does what anyone in authority does.

He sees an asset, he sees a resource, he sees a need, he says, hey, can we do it now?

He says, hinders me?

What is holding me back from being baptized?

Phillips answered.

If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, I believe that

Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

So he commanded the chariot to stand still and both Philip and the eunuch went down into

the water and he baptized him.

Now, when they came up out of the water, the spirit of the Lord caught Philip away so the

eunuch saw him no more and he went on his way rejoicing.

But Philip was found at Aztos and passing through, he preached in all the cities till he

came to Caesarea.

We find here the chariot of salvation, not because the chariot saved the eunuch, but

because the chariot provided the place for the gospel to be heard.

The chariot provided the opportunity.

Imagine the eunuch had been on a horse.

You think he would have been reading?

You think he would have been reading out loud?

Probably not.

But the chariot provided the opportunity.

The chariot waited.

while he was being baptized and the chariot took him away rejoicing.

Why?

Notice the thread.

You go back into the Old Testament and you find a Pharaoh who rejected the word of God.

said, why do I have to obey the command of the Lord?

He rejected the word of God and his chariot became his destruction.

You go forward, backward in time to the next one and you find Joseph, who’s promoted and

paraded around in a chariot all through Egypt to declare him to be second in charge.

And yet, Joseph simply admitted, I am just speaking the word of God.

He honored the word of God.

You have Solomon who gains riches.

through the wisdom of God, but turns it into something in opposition to God.

And Isaiah comes along and says, you’re going to destroy your nation because you trust in

military power instead of the Lord.

And so you no longer respect the word of God.

And you come forward to the eunuch and the eunuch, sorry, skipped one.

You go forward to the days of Elisha, and Elisha, as he trusted the Lord, tells his

servant to look again, and he sees the deliverance, not deliverance through military

might, not deliverance through destruction, but deliverance through an opportunity at

redemption, an opportunity to do good instead of evil.

And then you go forward to the days of the unification.

And as they’re traveling in a chariot, Philip preaches the Word of God.

And the eunuch doesn’t say, you know what, I’ve got all the money I need.

I’ve got all the riches of the entire nation available to me.

I can do whatever I want.

I don’t need your salvation.

No, that’s not what the eunuch says.

The eunuch humbly looks as he sits in his chariot and says, here’s water.

What hinders me from obeying the gospel of Jesus Christ?

See, chariots may be a place of power and prominence.

They may be a place of promotion.

They may be a false sense of security when it comes to military might in ancient days, but

this is one thing they’re not.

They’re not a way to be saved.

The only thing that can save a person is obedience to the will of God, having believed the

Word of God.

So the eunuch says, here’s water.

What hinders?

me from obeying God.

What’s Philip’s response?

If you believe, you may.

They both go down in the water and Philip is Philip immerses the eunuch for the remission

of his sins.

And when he comes up out of the water, not by the way, when he believes, not when he

prays, but when he comes up out of the water, he goes on his way rejoicing.

If you’re here this morning and you’re not a member of the body of Christ, if you’re not

in the place where salvation is found, if you’re still wondering where

Hope is in this life.

Let me assure you, it is not in military might.

It is not in power.

It is not even in just wisdom.

It is in the submission to the Word of God.

If you have need of the invitation this morning to put Christ on in baptism, to rise to

walk in newness of life, to go on your way rejoicing the same way the eunuch did, you can

do that this morning.

There is water.

But if you’re here and you’re a member of the body of Christ and you’ve turned away from

God, know this, it didn’t work out so well for Solomon.

And it didn’t work out so well for Israel.

You need to submit to the wisdom and the Word of God.

If you have need of the invitation this morning, why not come now as we stand?

Keep Serving – Jacob Kennedy – April 26, 2026

In Admonition Podcast, biblical examples, Elijah, encouragement, keywords faith, Moses, Paul, perseverance, service to God, spiritual resilience by Aaron Cozort

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339-361.

At first, that number might not mean anything to anyone here, but that’s the number of how

many people have committed suicide this year alone.

We face a problem in our world today.

A problem that is brought on by overwhelming sorrow, by feelings of loneliness, of

hopelessness, of people who look at life and they say there’s just nothing left to live

for.

There’s no reason.

And while that is a tragedy that is unable to be fully expressed, how many times do we see

Christians committing spiritual suicide?

How many times do Christians look at the world around them and they say, well, there’s

just not enough Christians.

There’s just no reason to keep going.

I’m all alone.

I have no one to support me.

As followers of God, it is hard at times to deal with life.

to face the world that is around us, a world that is full of sin, a world that is full of

those who wish for God to be dead.

but we’re not alone in these feelings.

No one is alone in feeling alone.

We have many people in the text of scripture who felt alone, who felt as if there was no

reason left to live, who felt as if surely their life should be at an end.

this afternoon, we will consider three individuals.

Two of which prayed to God asking for death to come.

They wished for God to take their lives.

But then there was one, we’ll close with him, who looked at death in a different way.

He longed for death, but he would not ask God to take his life.

We’ll know more about that as we continue.

But as we look at these individuals,

As we consider their lives, what happened to them, why they were in this position, and

what God did to help them, I want you to keep one phrase, command, if you will, in your

mind.

Keep serving.

As you notice this first individual keeps serving when complaint surrounds and abounds.

Numbers chapter 11.

Turn with me there, Numbers chapter 11.

Here we find Moses as he’s leading the people of Israel and he is taking them through this

wilderness and they find themselves in need of food.

Well God provides for them manna and gives them exactly what they need.

But as we open up the text of Numbers chapter 11, we find, when the people complained, it

displeased the Lord.

And the Lord heard it, and his anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among

them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp.

And the people cried unto Moses, and when Moses prayed unto the Lord, the fire was

quenched.

What we have here is the fact that the Israelites are complaining.

They…

Well, they do what comes naturally to them, it seems.

And God sends down fire to punish them.

And when they see the problem that they’ve caused for themselves, the punishment for their

complaint, they cry to Moses and they say, well, Moses beseech God on our behalf.

Get this fire out of the way.

Get this judgment out of the way.

And you would think that they would have learned their lesson.

Surely a miracle such as this of punishment would teach them not to complain.

But if we keep reading, we note in verse four that they began to complain once again.

They thought back to all the things they saw they had in Egypt.

verse 5, verse, end of verse 4, Who shall give us flesh to eat?

We remember the fish which we did eat in Egypt freely, the cucumbers and the melons and

the leeks and the onions and the garlic.

But now our soul is dried away.

There is nothing at all beside this manna before our eyes.

And the manna was as coriander seed and the color thereof is the color of bedlam.

And the people went about and gathered it and ground it in mills and beat it in mortar and

baked it in pans and made cakes of it.

And the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil.

And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it.

Brethren, what we’re shown here is that God was providing for them miraculously.

They didn’t have to go and work and toil and get grow crops or gather seed or anything of

that nature.

they had as soon as they walked out the door there’s food there’s exactly as much food as

they need and yet they sit there and they complain they say well we miss all the the fish

we had we missed we missed the cucumbers and the onions and the garlic because you know we

had it just so great in in egypt there was no reason that we had any issues there i don’t

know why we left egypt it was just wonderful there

But yet if you remember they were crying out to God because of the pain, the oppression

they felt.

But all this is gone now that God has blessed them.

And how often is that the case?

When God takes us out of a trial, when God blesses us through a situation that’s rather

difficult, we come out on the other side and we seem to forget that God provided for us in

the past, that God takes care of His own.

But it comes to a head in verse number 10.

And then Moses heard the people.

Notice this next word you’re reading in the King James that says the people weep.

throughout the family.

They were in tears, crying their eyes out because God had provided for them, but it wasn’t

what they wanted.

It wasn’t what they wanted so of course the natural response is just to bawl your eyes out

and to cry.

They said it was for them.

Every man in the door of his tent and the anger of the Lord was kindled greatly.

Moses also was displeased.

when we give into complaining, when we begin looking at maybe things that other people

have that we don’t.

Maybe we look at the blessings that God has given us and we say, well, it’ll do, but it’s

not what I want.

God provides us what we need.

Does that always mean we have exactly what we want?

No, of course not.

But what it means is that God takes care of us.

And when we fall into the same trap that the Israelites fell into of complaining, of

looking around at the blessings and seeing them as nothing but just dirt,

We spit in God’s face.

It’s like the child who looks at his parents after having a whole big meal put before him

and they say, you guys just never give me anything to eat.

I just can’t eat anything.

And it starts crying to the parents and say, well, you just don’t love me anymore.

I don’t ever have what I want.

Meanwhile, the father was spending 12 hours trying to get that food, working hard in his

job.

The mother had to spend hours cooking.

It’s kind of a slap in the face, isn’t it?

And that’s exactly what Israel was doing to God.

And Moses is angry too, because he’s having to hear it.

He’s having to listen to them complain.

But note what happens in verse 11.

And Moses said unto the LORD, Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant?

And wherefore have I not found favor in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this

people upon me?

Have I conceived all this people?

Have I begotten them, that thou shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, as a

nursing father beareth the sucking child, unto the land which thou swearest unto their

fathers?

Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people?

For they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh that we may eat.

They were going to the wrong source.

They were complaining to Moses and saying, Moses, it’s your responsibility, don’t you

know?

It’s your responsibility to miraculously produce flesh for us to eat.

That’s all on you, Moses.

And Moses says to God, I didn’t bring these people into existence.

They’re not my children.

Why do I have to bear them?

Why do I have to bear the burden of leading them?

It’s understandable where Moses is feeling, how Moses is feeling right now.

But what happens next?

It shows just how desperate Moses had gotten.

It shows how far he had fallen in listening and hearing this constant complaint.

Verse 14.

I am not able to bear all this people alone because it is too heavy for me.

And if thou deal thus with me, kill me.

I pray thee.

out of hand, I have found favor in thy sight, let me not see my wretchedness.

Moses looks at God.

And he says, I can’t bear this burden alone.

I can’t deal with this anymore.

Keep in mind that Israel had been complaining basically ever since they left Egypt.

And Moses says, I’m done, Lord.

I can’t.

I can’t do any more.

There’s two things to note in these two verses.

Number one is the fact that Moses says, I am not able to bear this alone.

Now tell me, who told him he had to bear it alone?

When did God say, Moses, you have to bear this entire burden of leading these millions of

people by yourself?

When did God say that?

He didn’t.

In fact, if you go back to when Moses is called in Exodus chapter 3 and chapter 4,

specifically chapter 4, God tells Moses that Aaron is going to help him.

That he’s going to send Aaron to be a spokesperson for him after Moses says, well, I’m not

eloquent in speech.

God says, Aaron is coming.

I’ve already sent him to come and help you.

Let him be your spokesperson.

Do you think that Aaron just threw his hands up and said, well, you got this, Moses?

He might have.

But the fact is that God had provided for Moses assistance.

But Moses felt as though he had to bear this burden by himself.

And how many times does that same problem happen?

Where we feel an immense

need to help and that’s a righteous thing.

That’s a good thing to feel, but it gets to the point where we feel as though we are the

only one who can do everything.

When that is our mindset, brethren, when that is our mindset, brothers and sisters, we

will fall into the same depression, the same sorrow that Moses fell into.

Because mankind wasn’t meant to serve alone.

We weren’t meant to be alone.

The next thing we know in verse 15 is just how far.

Moses had fallen to where he looks at the Almighty and he says Lord if I have been

faithful in your sight if in your sight I am found righteous then please do me a favor and

kill me

That’s a very serious request.

And it shows.

A man who feels as though he has nothing left to give.

But yet when Moses feels this way, what does God do?

Does he say, Moses, get over yourself?

Moses, you have no reason to feel this way.

Moses quit complaining.

There are times when we see that kind of response from God when it was necessary.

But here, God takes a different approach.

He looks at Moses and he tells him, verse 16, gather unto me 70 men of the elders of

Israel.

Whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people and officers over them, and bring them

unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee.

they may stand there with thee.

God says, hear you, Moses.

I hear that you feel alone.

So here’s 70 men to help.

Moses, I know it’s hard for you.

But here’s some assistance.

And what do we see Moses doing?

He gets up and he does the work.

He keeps serving even though he felt all alone in his service.

He kept serving even though he felt as though complaint was all he could hear.

He kept serving even though complaint abounded.

Are we like Moses?

Will we resolve to keep serving even when all that fills our ears is complaint?

Even when we feel as though we’re serving all by ourselves?

Number two, turn with me to 1 Kings chapter 19.

1 Kings 19, here we note, keep serving even when the enemy is behind you.

In first Kings 18, we have Elijah offering a challenge.

He says, here are these prophets of Baal.

Here’s all this Baal worship and here’s those who are worshiping God.

Why are you on the fence about this Israel?

How long haught ye between two opinions if Baal be God serve him, but if God be God serve

him.

And when he offers this challenge, he says, let’s get to the bottom of

Let’s truly prove once and for all who is the real God.

And so they have a sacrifice that’s prepared and there’s no fire that’s to be lit.

The sacrifice is everything is ready for the fire, but there is no fire that’s to be lit.

That’s the responsibility of the God.

And so the prophets of Baal, they stand there and they cry out to Baal.

Even go so far as to cut themselves and to offer anything they can to get bail to burn

this offering and to show himself to be the true God and this goes on for hours Elijah is

even so bold as to begin to mock them say well, maybe he’s on a trip Maybe he can’t hear

you.

You you just cry a little louder.

Maybe he’s a little deaf

But then Elijah, when it gets his turn to pray to God and ask God to send down fire to

consume the offering, not only does God’s fire consume the offering, but also consumes the

altar and the barrels of water that have been dumped on top of the altar and the barrels

of water that had covered a trench around the altar.

God left no doubt, He is God.

And so after this great mountaintop of victory, this great spiritual high,

Elijah receives word that Jezebel heard about this and she heard about the prophets of

Baal being killed and she says, you see these prophets of Baal?

You see them Elijah?

Yeah, you’ll be like.

It’s understandable to be afraid when a queen of that power threatens you.

And so Elijah runs.

In verse three, we find that he runs of chapter 19.

We find he runs to Beersheba and left his servant there.

And in verse four, he went a day’s journey further into the wilderness and he came and sat

down under a juniper tree and he requested for himself that he might die and said, it is

enough.

Now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am not better than my fathers.

Elijah had let fear take hold to the point that he sits down under this juniper tree and

he looks at a praise to God and he says, Lord, I’m done.

Take away my life.

Now, it is interesting the fact that Elijah is running because he doesn’t want to die at

the hands of Jezebel and then proceeds to ask God to take his life.

I figure we’ll do some crazy things to the human mind.

But nevertheless, Elijah looks at this situation as being hopeless.

He sees no way out.

And he feels like a failure too because he says, I am not better than my fathers.

He thought he was going to be successful in turning Israel back to the Lord.

He thought surely after seeing this great victory on Mount Carmel, surely they’ll turn

back to God.

But then when he sees this, he sees this threat, he says, I’m no better.

Just as these others who’ve gone before me tried, I’m going to fail too.

So what does God do?

Does he leave Elijah alone?

Does he ignore his prayer?

No.

He sends him an angel to minister to him, to give him what he needs, some food and water.

He tells him to rest and he does it again another day and then he sends him off to run

further where he’ll talk to him.

And when he arrives at Mount Horeb, he came to a small cave, verse 9 tells us.

And God asks him when he arrives and he says, What doest thou hear, Elijah?

Elijah, why are you here?

Verse 10, Elijah responds, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts, for the

children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars and slain thy

prophets with the sword.

And I even I only am left.

and they seek my life to take it away.

Elijah shows God or tells God what he’s feeling, where he’s at, that he feels as though

he’s alone and that there’s no hope.

God shows him power in sending a storm, of sending an earthquake, of causing a great fire,

but then he comes to him in a small, a still small voice.

You can almost hear that as the words of a friend.

the calm after a storm.

And he asks him again, what doest thou hear, Elijah?

Verse 14.

He says the same thing.

Elijah gives him the same response of feeling alone, feeling as though there’s no hope.

And what does God say, verse 15?

Go return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when thou comest, anoint Haziel to

be king over Syria.

He goes through and tells him, get back to work.

You’re not done yet, Elijah.

You’ve had your time to rest, but now it’s time to get back to work.

and by the way, verse 18, yet I have left me seven

thousand in Israel all the knees which have not bowed into Baal and every mouth which have

not kissed him.

God tells Elijah, you might feel alone, but you’re not.

You’re far from being alone.

There are 7,000 that are still faithful.

And yet, how many times when we look at our lives of maybe our friends though, or

workplace, we see all these wicked people, and we feel as though we’re all alone.

but then we come here.

We come here on Sundays and Wednesdays and we see all these brothers and sisters in

Christ.

Is there not some encouragement in that?

Of realizing I’m not alone.

We’re not alone.

Brothers and sisters, as long as we are faithful to God, He has a whole army ready to help

us.

We just have to reach out.

We cannot abandon God and call it quits.

Even when fear is against us, even when we’re afraid and the enemy’s behind us, even when

we feel alone, brethren, keep serving.

Then finally, look with me at Philippians chapter three, or chapter one rather.

Philippians one.

With Paul we note, keep serving when the reward is before you.

In verse 21, Paul says, to me to live is Christ and to die is gain.

He looks at his life and he says, if I live, well, I’ll give glory to God.

Christ will be manifest and that I will be teaching his gospel.

I will be sharing the truth.

I’ll be spreading how to be saved.

I’ll be helping those who are saved to be strong.

I’ll glorify my God as long as I live.

but for me to die, for me to depart and go be with God, that’s gain.

Excuse me.

Verse 22, but if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor.

Yet what I shall choose, I whatnot.

For I am in a straight betwixt two, having a desire to depart and to be with Christ.

Sorry.

One moment.

having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.

Don’t miss that.

Paul understands that it is far better for him to be with God, to be with Christ, and at

the time of writing this, he’s in a jail cell.

He’s in prison.

But yet even in the midst of that he says…

I’m going to keep serving.

Even when looking at the reward that was before Him, He says, I’m going to keep serving.

Even though was far better to depart and to be with God, Paul says, I’m going to keep

serving as long as I’m in this body.

Do we have that same determination?

To where we look at persecution and we say, this is rough, this is hard, but you know

what, heaven’s far better.

And as long as I’m here, I’m not going to do anything to jeopardize my home with God.

We take precautions, we gather insurance or we buy insurance.

We make sure electrical is where it’s supposed to be because we don’t want to lose our

home.

We don’t want to lose our house, our houses.

If we care so much about a physical piece of property, ought we not to care about our home

and glory with God?

ought we not to show the same level of care about our home with the Lord?

There will be times when we want to depart.

When we say, I’m done.

I’m ready to go be with God.

I’m ready to go home.

This world is a crazy and sinful place.

I just want to be with my Lord.

But even when we feel that way, we need to remember as Paul does, that we’re going to keep

serving.

God.

We need to resolve as does Paul that we’re going to do what needs to be done because we

love our Lord.

We want to serve Him.

keep serving.

There are times when we want to stop.

When complaint abounds.

When fear besets.

There are times when we just look at this world and we say I am ready to go home.

Use that.

Use that desire to go be with God.

Use that love for the Lord, that longing for home and say, I’m going to do the best that I

can so that when I reach heaven’s gates, I can hear my father in glory say, well done.

good and faithful servant.

Keep serving the Lord.

If you’re here today and you find yourself not serving God as being a part of His church

but having abandoned Christ, having fallen away from the truth, it’s not too late.

Correct your course.

Come back home to God.

If we can help you to be right with the Lord, let us know what we can do.

Come forward now as we stand

Mark 15 (Lesson 1) – Aaron Cozort – April 29, 2026

In Admonition Podcast, Bible Study, biblical lessons, crucifixion, faith, Gospel, keywords Jesus Christ, Mark 15, Obedience, prophecy, Salvation by Aaron Cozort

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Thank you.

We are in Mark chapter 15.

Let’s begin with a word of prayer as we get started with our study.

Gracious Father in heaven, we come before your throne grateful for the day that you

blessed us with, for the opportunities that we have to serve you, for the health and the

energy and the abilities that you’ve given us to be able to be together with one another,

to fellowship with one another, to encourage one another and provoke one another to love

and good works.

Lord, we pray that as we take time out of the schedules that we all uh work to keep, that

we might take our our minds and apply it to the word of God, apply it to what you would

have us to learn and how you would have us to live.

We might see in Christ our example in suffering, our example in living and our example in

obedience.

Lord, we pray that you be with those who are dealing with illnesses and difficulties,

recoveries,

pray that you will give them strength during the hard days and that you will help them to

fully recover their desired health.

Pray that you be with us as we go through this period and pray that you be with those who

are not present because they’re traveling and allow them to reach their destination

safely.

All as we pray and ask in Jesus name, amen.

The end of chapter 14, we have the record of Peter denying Jesus and then departing after

oh the rooster crowed the second time.

Chapter 15 begins with one of those words Mark uses quite often, immediately.

It says immediately in the morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders

and scribes and the whole council, and they bound Jesus, led him away and delivered him to

Pilate.

So they’ve been going all night long through this trial and through the sham trial that it

was searching for witnesses, not finding any, finally concluding that they could condemn

him because he claimed to be the son of God.

or as he puts it, the I am, which has even more significance than just claiming to be the

Son of God.

ah But in the verses here, they led him away to Pilate or led him away and delivered him

to Pilate.

Then Pilate asked him, Are you the king of the Jews?

He answered and said to him, It is as you say.

If you go through John’s record and some of the others, you’ll know that Mark is doing

what Mark often does.

He’s given you the sound bites and moving on.

He’s given you the highlights and not all the details.

ah But Jesus is going to be asked by Pilate, are you the king of the Jews?

Now, why is that a strange question from Pilate?

All right, there’s no indication that Pilate had ever had any interaction with him.

So the indication is the question is coming from the accusations, not from the knowledge

that Pilate has.

But what is it that the Romans had established by way of a ruler over the Jews?

Herod, who was king of the Jews.

So if you were asking from a political perspective, doesn’t Pilate know the answer of who

the king of the Jews is?

Sure, because matter of fact, here in a little while, Pilate’s gonna send Jesus off to

stand before Herod, the king of the Jews.

And yet, in spite of the fact that Jesus recognizes Herod’s role and Pilate recognizes

Herod’s role, in spite of that, the question is asked and the question is answered.

But notice, he says, it is as you say.

Now, as you…

track all the way back to the birth of Jesus.

What is it that the wise men from the east came to Jerusalem and asked concerning?

All right, where is the one who is born the king of the Jews?

Now, who heard about the request and the inquiry of the wise men?

Herod did.

Now, this would have been this current Herod’s father.

All right, because the Herod that was alive when Jesus was born was not going to live very

long after that.

And you remember in the text where it tells us that after Herod died is when Jesus and his

parents, uh or when his parents determined they could safely return back to the land of

Israel out of Egypt.

But the point is,

Back when there was a king and Jesus was born, somebody was looking for the king of the

Jews and they weren’t looking for Herod.

Here at Jesus’ trial, Pilate, the governor of the Roman Empire over that region is looking

for the king of the Jews and it’s not Herod.

Herod and all of the Herodian line were puppet kings.

They were put in place by Rome.

They answered to Rome.

They were not even Jews.

What descendancy were they from?

What lineage were they from?

Esau, they were Edomites.

So they’re not even Jews, those who are ruling over the Jews.

And so as you understand this, there’s an understanding from Pilate, there’s an

understanding from the text beginning and end of Jesus’ life that Jesus came to be the

king of the Jews.

He was prophesied to be the king of the Jews and the king that they had wasn’t the king of

the Jews.

That is, by the way, in complete agreement with what the prophets had said and what the

Old Testament prophesied, because the Old Testament was clear back in the days before

Judah fell that at the time that God put an end to the kings and the rulers in Judah,

there would not be another king to sit on the throne in Jerusalem until the Messiah came.

And so Herod was not someone who intercepted that.

Herod was

not someone who ruled in that seat of the king of the Jews as a descendant of David.

And so as he stands before Pilate…

Pilate says, are you the king of the Jews?

He answered and said to him, it is as you say.

Now, what is it that Pilate is going to write over Jesus’ head when eventually Jesus will

be led to the cross and crucified?

And what did the Jews want him to write?

All right, the Jews wanted him to say, he said he was the king of the Jews.

Pilate said, what I have written, I have written.

You brought him because he claimed to be the king of the Jews.

I could find no evil with him.

The only accusation that he would admit to was he was the king of the Jews.

And so that’s what I wrote as the condemnation.

He was crucified because he was the king of the Jews.

Now, notice the chief priests accused him, verse three, of many things, but he answered

nothing.

Then Pilate asked him again, Do you answer nothing?

See how many things they testify against you.

But Jesus still answered nothing.

So that pilot marveled.

Is it always wise?

to say nothing when people throw accusations at you.

Careful with the word always.

Is it always wise to say nothing?

No.

Is it always wise to say something?

No.

And Jesus here is doing more than just making a wise choice.

Jesus is actually fulfilling prophecy.

Jesus is choosing to behave in a certain way that fulfills Old Testament prophecy, Isaiah

53, and others.

Jesus is standing there allowing the accusations to flow forth from the chief priests,

from the scribes, from the Pharisees.

Did you notice, by the way, the statement is clearly made that these were accusations, not

proof?

They had an abundance of things to accuse him of.

Where was their evidence?

They didn’t supply any.

They didn’t have any evidence, but they had an abundance of accusations.

so Pilate questions him, are you not going to answer?

Are you not going to represent yourself?

Are you not going to give an explanation as to why all the things that they’re saying are

false?

Now, for us, in our current society, if our laws were enacted the way that they’re

actually written, what is the case when a person is brought to court or accused of

something?

What is their by-nature stance in court?

All right, innocent until proven guilty.

Has that always been the case everywhere and at all times?

No.

uh Quite often you were guilty at the accusation of someone in power unless you could

prove you were innocent or somehow get around the charges.

so Pilate is astonished that Jesus is not answering.

anything.

But it’s not just the Jews that Jesus isn’t answering.

When Pilate questioned Jesus, did he answer Pilate?

No.

Verse 6 says, at the feast he was accustomed to releasing one prisoner to them, whoever

they requested.

And there was one named Barabbas who was chained with his fellow rebels.

They had committed murder in the rebellion.

All right, so a little bit of Jewish history here.

Regularly throughout the first century, the Jews would begin to rebel against

the Romans.

They would try and overthrow the Roman rule.

As matter of fact, you can remember that many of the ones who followed Jesus were looking

for a Messiah who was going to do what in their mind?

throw off the shackles of the Romans and they would once again return to the power and the

glory that they had when David and Solomon were on the throne.

He was going to restore the nation to Israel.

That’s what the disciples, even the apostles come and ask Jesus about in Acts chapter one.

Are you now going to restore the kingdom to Israel?

Jesus says it is not appropriate for you to ask questions about things you don’t

understand.

If I could paraphrase.

And so, many of the Jews are looking for the relinquishing of Roman power over them.

Now bear in mind, they have been subjugated under the Romans.

Before that, they were subjugated under the Grecian power.

Before that, they were subjugated under the Medo-Persian power.

Before that, they were subjugated under the Babylonian power.

So they’ve had 600 years of no real independence in their history because of their fall to

Nebuchadnezzar.

And as a result of that, many of them are striving to once again become their own nation,

once again become the ones in charge.

Well,

It seems as though that Barabbas had been involved in this sort of rebellion, except

notice

that they had committed murder in the midst of the rebellion.

This was not an individual who was of upstanding character.

This was not an individual who was a good person, just got caught up with the wrong crowd.

This was a person who had incited rebellion.

This is a person who had committed murder.

This is a person who was not

the kind of person you invite back into society.

than the multitude, crying aloud, began to ask him to do just as he had always done for

them.

But Pilate answered them, saying, Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?

For he knew that the chief priests had handed him over because of envy.

Mark points out that Pilate

had perceived exactly what was going on.

That this didn’t have anything to do with the chief priests and the elders trying to

uphold Roman law.

It didn’t have anything to do with them upholding their own law.

It didn’t have anything to do with them having justification for their actions.

It had everything to do with the

power that Jesus had and the sway that Jesus had among the people as opposed to what they

had.

So Pilate offers the people to release the king of the Jews.

But you might remember there’s an uh admonition back in Proverbs chapter 1 where Solomon

will write to his son, do not follow a multitude to do evil.

The same multitude of people who wanted to call Jesus king at the beginning of the week

are going to refuse to have the king handed back over to them at the end of

We need to be cautious when somebody says, don’t you believe this?

Everybody does.

Don’t you agree with this?

Everybody does.

Don’t you think that this is what we should do?

Everybody thinks we should.

I dare say history has proven over and over and over again that everybody is often wrong.

when those type of statements are made.

So Pilate offers the Jews, and he says to them, Do you want me to release to you the king

of the Jews?

For he knew that the chief priests had handed him over because of envy, but the chief

priests stirred up the crowd, so that he should rather release Barabbas to them.

Pilate answered and said to them again, What then do you want me to do with him who you

called the king of the Jews?

So they cried out again, crucify him.

Then Pilate said to them, why, what evil has he done?

But they cried out all the more, crucify him.

Give me one good reason.

Nobody was interested in giving him a good reason.

Simply shouting him down with the cry, crucify him, crucify him, crucify him.

But you’ll notice the incitement as well.

The chief priests going among the crowd inciting the people again, careful with a crowd.

It’s one thing to say, you know what, most of the people in the crowd are good people.

Yeah, well good people in a crowd do really bad things.

and so they are being incited to cry out and cry out for him to be crucified.

So Pilate verse 15, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them and he

delivered Jesus after he had scourged him to be crucified.

Part of the problem you go look back and do some digging into history is that Pilate was

dealing with a nation that regularly, as we already mentioned, liked to revolt.

And there’s good indication in some of the historical records and things that have been

found that essentially Pilate had dealt with revolt after revolt after revolt.

And it seems as though Pilate’s neck was on the line.

another revolt and it won’t be the people revolting that will be gone, it will be pilot.

And when the Roman government takes a governor out, they don’t take him out to dinner.

Take him to the grave and say, we’ll get somebody who can do the job.

So Pilate is in it for his own skin.

He is willing to appease the people for his own interests, not the interest of that which

is right.

You go all the way back to Exodus chapter 18 and what were some of the qualifications for

judges that were established in Israel?

They had to be those who hated a bribe.

They had to be those who did not defer to those who were rich, to those who were poor.

They had to be impartial judges.

In other words, they would side with the innocent.

by Pilate’s own testimony.

This person’s innocent.

And the people who are crying out, crucify him, won’t even give him a reason to crucify

him.

They just want him executed by the power of the government.

So notice Pilate is going to hand him off.

to be scourged, then He is going to hand him off to be crucified.

Now again, Mark gives us the summary snippet version.

The scourging was intended to do what?

get someone to talk.

was an investigative technique.

If you brought somebody close enough to death through scourging, they’d probably tell you

if they were guilty or not.

They’d find some way to communicate something that they had done so the scourging would

stop.

They didn’t find anything.

When the scourging was over, which by the way, when you were under Jewish control and

under Jewish law, how many times could you be beaten or could you be uh have pain

inflicted upon you under Jewish law?

40 stripes.

They would back off one in case they miscounted to keep the law.

So they’d give 40 stripes save one.

Romans had no such law.

Romans had no such uh ordinance or rule that they followed.

The Romans would beat you until you spoke up.

or until they concluded, there’s nothing to learn here.

Quite often it is stated and pointed out due to the scourging that by the time they were

done scourging an individual, that their back was basically just flayed, just opened right

to the organs from behind.

Sorry, I thought there was a comment.

And so he’s going to scourge him first.

Then he’s going to crucify.

Then the soldiers led him away into the hall called Praetorium.

And they called together the whole garrison.

And they clothed him with purple, and they twisted a crown of thorns, and put it on his

head, and began to salute him, Hail, King of the Jews!

Then they struck him on the head with a reed, and spat on him, bowing the knee, they

worshiped him.

And when they had mocked

They took the purple off of him, put his own clothes on him, and led him out to crucify

him.

It’s not enough that they’re going to beat him.

It’s not enough that they’re going to scourge him.

They’re going to mock him.

They’re going to torture him.

They’re going to blaspheme him.

And every single step along the way.

It’s fulfillment of prophecy.

They brought him to the place Golgotha, which is translated place of a skull.

Then they gave him wine mingled with myrrh to drink, but he did not take it.

And when they crucified him, they divided his garments, casting lots for them to determine

what every man should take.

Now it was the third hour and they crucified him.

And the inscription of his accusation was written above the King of Jews.

Now back here just a little bit ago, verse 23, the the wine mingled with murder the way I

understand it.

And I’m no expert on the matter, but the way I understand it is this is basically uh

something that would dull the the senses and the pain of what is about to occur in the

actual crucifixion.

And so, it’s a bit of uh a painkiller to keep someone from uh dying before they were done

crucifying you.

The last thing they want is you to die before they’ve made their point, as far as the

Romans were concerned.

But it also would have had an effect on someone’s mental state.

And Jesus refused to accept that and refused to dole his

mental acuity at the things that were going on.

What time of the day is the third hour?

Nine o’clock.

So they’re in the midst of this and they crucify him at the third hour and they write the

inscription in verse 27, with him they also crucified two robbers, one on his right hand,

the other on his left.

So the scriptures were fulfilled, which says, and he was numbered with the transgressors.

If you’ve ever read through Isaiah 53 and you’ve read that statement, you go, wait a

minute, what does it mean he was numbered with the transgressors?

Well, Mark’s going to tell you exactly what it means.

He’s going to say that means he was killed.

He was crucified with those who deserved it.

Though he did not.

Verse 29, those who pass by blasphemed him.

wagging their heads and saying, Aha, you who destroy the temple and build it in three

days, save yourself and come down from the cross.

Jesus had a reputation.

Not everybody agreed with Jesus.

Many who had listened to Jesus at earlier points turned back and walked with him no more.

Many chose not to agree with Jesus, but that didn’t mean they didn’t know who he was.

Didn’t mean they didn’t know what he had said.

That was pretty hard to escape in all Israel.

If you remember, we talked about in a lesson

recently about the two disciples that were on their way to Emmaus, and Jesus meets up with

them and he asks them about what they’re discussing and what things have been going on.

And they basically ask, where are you from that you don’t know what’s going on?

The city at large knew what was going on.

Even those who were not from there, who were only there for the feast, knew what was going

on.

And so some come by and they blaspheme him.

and they speak as if he deserved the things which he was getting.

I think it’s interesting that this phraseology here about the wagging of the head and and

the the statements that they were making has an interesting Old Testament picture with

what God had told Israel, specifically the nation of Judah, that all the nations around

them would do as they traveled by Jerusalem after it was destroyed.

God said that people would wonder at what had been done, at what their God had done to

them.

Interestingly, you go back all the way to the time of Job and the disposition generally of

the Jews and the Israelites and many individuals was if you were suffering, it was because

God was doing it to you.

If you were enduring great tragedy,

It was because God was punishing you.

And somewhat it appears to be here that some of the people who are coming by are operating

under the assumption if he’s on the cross, it’s clearly God judging him.

Now what accusation do they bring forward or what statement do they bring forward as a

proof text that he deserved to be where he was?

Notice.

You who destroy the what?

The temple.

You spoke against our God’s temple and now look what He’s done to you.

in the mind’s eye of many, they considered speaking against the temple to be speaking

against God.

You remember that Jesus would point out as he was teaching concerning swearing and oath

that there were some who would swear an oath by themselves and others who would swear an

oath by something greater and some

determined that if they swore an oath by the temple then they had to keep it.

If they swore an oath by the gold of the temple they had to keep it even more.

in the Jewish mind.

the very representation of God in amongst their people and His presence in their nation

and their status as the people of God.

revolved around that temple.

Now, there’s nobody who thinks that way today, right?

Certainly no nations or religions built upon an ideology that says this one physical

location is a holy place representative of our place before God.

But that was their mindset.

So to say you’re going to destroy the temple?

was to the people’s mind a statement against God.

That’s something that the invading outsiders from days gone by did, not somebody who

claimed to be God’s son.

That’s something that someone who rebelled against God would do, not somebody who belonged

to God.

So as they make this accusation, the only one really that the Jews had managed to come up

with that could stick, because Jesus had actually said it.

They utilized this as a lever to turn the people against Jesus.

which reminds us that something doesn’t have to be true, sorry, doesn’t have to be false

to be turned into a lie.

Something doesn’t have to be incorrectly stated in order to turn it into being something

that was never intended.

Had the people understood what Jesus was referencing,

they would have realized that they were taking part in the destruction of exactly that

temple right then.

because what was the temple he was referencing?

his body.

They were fulfilling his promise.

they were crucifying Him.

Without their actions, this statement wouldn’t have come true.

And yet…

they were fulfilling that which they were accusing Him of being worthy of death because

of.

But they also said, save yourself and come down from the cross.

If you are the son of God, I think another of the texts will articulate.

Save yourself.

He said he would save Israel, but he can’t even save himself.

Is it true that Jesus couldn’t save Himself?

And it is a reminder to us that having the power to do something doesn’t mean that you

should.

Jesus was held on that cross, not with nails.

but with a decision, a decision that had been made before the world was ever formed.

Revelation 13 verse 8 describes Jesus as the Lamb that was slain from the foundation of

the world.

Jesus wasn’t held on that cross by the power of the guards, by the authority of Pilate.

Jesus would tell Pilate, have no authority, but that which given you from above.

Jesus would also point out to Pilate that he could call 10,000 legions of angels and walk

free.

He also made a point that the reason why his servants didn’t fight is because his kingdom

out of this world.

We need to remember as we go through life, as we struggle with the difficulties that arise

in life, as we examine some of the things that we face in life, that many times

We are faced with the reminder that we can fight for what is in this world or we can fight

for what is not in this world.

And as Jesus hung on the cross, He was already fighting.

Not fighting to get out.

Not fighting to get off.

Not fighting to live.

fighting for those who were defenseless against sin.

Jesus was held on the cross by a decision.

And they thought the fact that He was still there was evidence that He was powerless to

come down.

Likewise, verse 31, the chief priests also mocking among themselves with the scribes said,

He saved others, himself He cannot save.

Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross that we may see and

believe.

Even those who were crucified with Him reviled.

As these events proceed, the tempo of the mocking continues and continues.

to the point where even the people who are hanging on the cross, who have to struggle and

push themselves up on a nail in their feet, do so just to make a statement reviling Jesus.

Now when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth

hour.

started at nine in the morning.

noon arrives.

And as noon arrives, you have a nice giant cloud get in front of the sun, right?

No, no, this was no cloud.

This was no eclipse.

Have you all ever watched an eclipse?

How long does it take to go by?

Yep, 10, 12 minutes.

There’s nowhere where it’s three hours.

for three hours darkness.

I know in some of the movies and some of the things that have been made, you have the

portrayal of this being a almost nighttime scene.

I don’t think so.

I think this is more likely, far more like an Egyptian scene.

You remember one of the plagues in Egypt was what?

Darkness.

And the book of Exodus tells us that the darkness there in Egypt in the midst of that

plague was such that you couldn’t see what?

You couldn’t see the end of your nose.

You couldn’t see a hand before your very face.

And as many have illustrated, if you’ve ever been down into a cave and they turn all the

lights out, you know what complete absence of light is.

This isn’t nighttime with a full moon.

This is darkness.

at noon.

for three hours.

Imagine the soldiers.

trying to do their job of observing what’s going on.

Think about the crowd.

You’re three hours into this and mocking and mocking and mocking pervasive throughout that

three hours.

What think happened to the mocking when nobody could see anything anymore?

probably died down pretty significantly about that point.

I think my opinion here.

When you get over to the day of Pentecost.

You’ve had 50 days of people thinking about what happened.

It’s not that the sermon that is preached is powerful, but it was evidenced by more than

just the sound of a rushing mighty wind, evidenced by far more than just speaking in

tongues or cloven tongues of fire on the heads of those who were talking.

It had been evidenced by the events of the crucifixion.

which is, by the way, a reminder.

that we should understand the value of the Gospel.

because there is a far cry difference between someone who knows what they’ve done is wrong

and someone who knows how to make it right according to the Word of God.

These people would walk away from this event knowing what they did was wrong.

but not having a solution for what to do next.

as we close.

We read.

Verse 33, now when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until

the ninth hour.

At the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying, Eli, Eli, Lama sabachthanai,

which is translated, My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?

Comes from Psalm 2.

Some of those who stood by when they heard that said, Look, he is calling for Elijah.

Why do you think they didn’t understand what he said?

He didn’t say Elijah.

It’s a little bit of a reminder here that many of the Jews no longer spoke Hebrew.

They had become, much like much of the rest of society, a Grecian speaking people.

That is the one thing that the Greeks exported, was their language.

So the common tongue was Greek.

You find even the soldiers of the high priest who would go with Saul of Tarsus to Damascus

as they’re traveling to Damascus and they see the light.

And one text says that they didn’t hear any, the soldiers didn’t hear what was said.

And another text says that they heard but didn’t understand.

And the text is clear that he spoke, Jesus spoke to Saul in Hebrew.

That means that even the soldiers of the high priest who were Jews didn’t understand

Hebrew.

they had lost much of their knowledge and through their ignorance of even their own

language they could not recognize a quote from the Psalms.

in Hebrew.

They were so divorced from their knowledge of the Old Testament that they couldn’t even

hear a quotation from the Old Testament and recognize it in their own language.

So they question, he calling out for Elijah?

All right, we’re gonna put a peg in it right there and we’ll pick up ah here.

Not next week, I’ll be out of town next week, but we’ll pick up two

When God Comes (Isaiah 35) – Aaron Cozort – May 03, 2026

In Admonition Podcast, biblical prophecy, Christian faith, Jesus Christ, joy, keywords Isaiah 35, Messiah, miracles, New Testament fulfillment, prophecy, Salvation by Aaron Cozort

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morning.

encourage you, if you will, to open your Bibles to Isaiah chapter 35.

Isaiah 35 speaks concerning the Messiah, speaks concerning the Messiah in a day, in a time

where judgment was coming.

And Isaiah had to prophesy over and over concerning Israel, concerning their rebellion,

concerning the nations around them and their rebellion, and concerning God’s judgment.

But in the midst of all of the prophecies of judgment, Isaiah speaks again and again and

again and again about the coming Messiah.

And in Isaiah 35, Isaiah gives leading indicators for how the people of God would know

that the Messiah had come.

But he does so framed in

passages and in context that proceed from earlier points in Isaiah like Isaiah chapter 33.

We’re not going to delve into all of those for the sake of time, but I encourage you to

spend some time reading chapter 33, chapter 35, and get the full context in view.

But in these 10 verses of Isaiah chapter 35, Isaiah gives a forecast, if you will.

of exactly what the Messiah will look like.

Exactly how you would be able to identify the Messiah when God comes.

And that’s our subject this morning.

When God comes.

For we understand now, looking backwards, with the knowledge that is provided in the

Scriptures, that

It wasn’t just a man who was coming.

It wasn’t just a king who was coming.

It wasn’t just a prophet who was coming.

It wasn’t even just a priest who was coming.

It was one who was God in the flesh who was prophet, priest, and king.

It is the one that John the Baptist, as he was preaching in the wilderness, would tell the

people, there’s one coming who I am not worthy to stoop down and loosen his sandals.

There is one who is coming who will be the Lamb of God.

And we read in John chapter 1 as John is preaching and he sees Jesus amongst the crowd, he

says, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

When God comes, a number of things are going to be true, and they were true in the days of

Jesus, and they were foretold in the days of Isaiah.

So let’s begin in Isaiah chapter 35 and in verse 1.

The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them.

It tells you already, there’s a context here.

Let’s spend just a moment in chapter 33, back to verse 17.

Your eyes will see the King in His beauty, Isaiah writes.

He tells the people as he’s writing to them and as he’s looking forward to this day and

this time where the Messiah will come, he says, your eyes will see the King in His beauty.

They will see the land that is very far off.

Your heart will meditate on terror.

Where is the scribe?

Where is he who weighs?

Where is the one who counts towers?

You will not see a fierce people, a people of obscure speech beyond perception or a

stammering tongue that you cannot understand.

Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feast.

Your eyes will see Jerusalem a quiet home, a tabernacle that will not be taken down.

Not one of its stakes will ever be removed, nor will any of its cords be broken.

But there the majestic Lord will be for us.

in 33, he tells them, you’re going to see the Messiah.

You’re going to see Him in Zion, Jerusalem.

And He’s going to be there for us.

In chapter 34, in the intervening time, He’s going to pronounce a judgment against Edom.

He’s going to pronounce that God’s judgment is going to come forth from His throne.

But as He does that,

He draws them back to the picture of the wilderness.

To a time when God delivered Israel, but He delivered them through a wilderness.

A time when God brought them to that place which He had promised them, but He brought them

through a wilderness.

For 40 years they wandered in the wilderness after coming out of Egypt and yet,

God delivered every single promise.

He had made to their fathers, to their grandfathers, to their great-grandfathers, to their

great-great-grandfathers, all the way back to Abraham.

So we find ourselves in chapter 35 verse 1 in the wilderness.

We read, wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them.

And the desert shall rejoice and blossom as a rose.

It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice even with joy and singing.

As the chapter opens up, Isaiah says, the wasteland, the wilderness, it’s going to rejoice

at what it’s going to watch.

It’s going to rejoice at what it’s going to witness.

It’s not barren.

It’s not that which is untouched.

It is not that which can uh never be brought forth and bring forth life.

No, rather, this is that which God has judged, and now it’s going to rejoice in His reign.

Notice, he says, even with joy and singing, the glory of Lebanon shall be given to it.

The excellence of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord, the excellency

of our God.

In the opening verses, Isaiah describes the planet, the world, the place.

where the Lord is going to come to as if the place where he comes to his creation rejoices

in his presence.

As if the wasteland and the wilderness is as bountiful and beautiful as the cedars of

Lebanon, as the hill of Carmel, and the valley that was around it.

and it produces not fruit, not crops, but joy and singing.

The land produces a rejoicing.

Why?

Because it sees His excellence.

It sees the glory of the Lord.

So when God comes.

the world, the creation, rejoices.

But as we get into verses 3 through verse 10, we’re going to see five points that Isaiah

delivers about the coming of God.

And the first one is in verses 3 and 4, and that is when God comes, the weak are

strengthened.

In Isaiah chapter 35 and in verse 3 we read, In verses 3 and 4 we are told about the God

who is coming.

about the one who is going to come and is going to deliver his people.

Turn over to Matthew chapter 11.

encourage you to write these verses down and spend more time with them in your own private

study.

Matthew chapter 11.

We find beginning in verse 28,

Jesus will say to those who are listening at this time, come to me, all you who labor and

are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will

find rest for your souls.

For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Jesus tells those who are listening, amongst the people, amongst the throngs and the

multitudes that would follow Him, come to Me, for there’s rest for the weary.

There’s comfort for the downtrodden.

There’s strength for the weak and the feeble knees.

It’s in my oath.

It’s in my burden.

It’s in my message.

It’s in that which I proclaim.

Turn to Hebrews chapter 12.

The Hebrew writer will reference Isaiah 35 as he speaks to these Christians, as he

presents to them the decision that they are facing as to whether or not to be faithful to

the Lord or not.

We find in Hebrews chapter 12 and in verse 12, Therefore strengthen the hands which hang

down.

and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not

be dislocated, but rather be healed.” The Hebrew writer tells the Christians, if you turn

back, if you go away from God, you’re going away into destruction.

You’re going away into that judgment that you will not return from, because you will have

turned your back on the only sacrifice which can save your soul.

Rather, He exhorts them to be reminded that Isaiah said hundreds of years before Jesus

ever arrived that when God comes, it’s time to strengthen the weak knees.

It’s time to lift up the feeble hands.

It’s time to help one another be faithful to God.

When God comes, the weak are strengthened, and Jesus will pronounce that He was there to

do that very thing.

But then consider verses 5 and 6 of chapter 35.

In Isaiah chapter 35, verses 5 and 6, we find that when God comes, the blind see and the

lame walk.

In Isaiah 35 and in verse 5 we read, the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of

the deaf shall be unstopped.

Then the lame shall leap like a deer and the tongue of the dumb shall sing and the water

shall burst forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.

Isaiah harkens back to the days when Israel came out of Egypt and Israel

whined and complained in the wilderness and they said God has brought us out here to die

because there’s no water anywhere and all of our flocks and all of our herds and all of

our children were going to die here in the desert.

But out of the rock, God produced a fountain of water that not only delivered water to a

few of the people, not only delivered enough water to the adults in the group.

not only delivered enough water for the children and the adults in the group, but

delivered enough water for the flocks and the herds and the adults and the children and

the old people and all of them had an abundance in the wilderness.

And Isaiah takes that picture and connects it to the miracles that Jesus would do that

would be the clear indicators God had come.

Notice what we read in Matthew chapter 11.

In Matthew chapter 11,

Beginning in verse 1, now it came to pass when Jesus finished commanding His twelve

disciples that He departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities.

And when John heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of His disciples and

said to Him, Are you the coming one?

Remember what Isaiah 35 is all about.

When God comes and John sends two of his disciples to Jesus because he’s hearing even in

prison about the works that are being done by Jesus, the mighty deeds that are being done.

And John wants to know, are you the coming one?

And he said to him, Are you the coming one, or do we look for another?

Jesus answered and said to them, Go and tell John the things which you see and hear.

The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised

up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.

Blessed is he who is not offended because of me.

Jesus delivers to these two disciples the answer, am I the coming one?

Ask Isaiah.

the Old Testament prophet if I’m the coming one.

Go look back in the Scriptures and validate it.

Don’t accept my opinion.

Look at the testimony.

Look at the witness that I have delivered because I fulfilled the forecast.

I have done exactly what God said He would do when He came.

in John chapter 9.

At beginning of that chapter, Jesus sees and points out to his disciples a man who has

been born blind.

And he asked the disciples, who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind?

And through the course of the events, Jesus will heal this man of his blindness.

The man will be put under inspection by the leadership of the Jews.

He will be questioned, his parents will be questioned concerning this healing that has

occurred because everyone who is around there knows that the man was blind.

and that he’s been healed.

And after all of the questions and all of the things happened because Jesus is now gone

from the man’s presence and he doesn’t know where he is, the man says, I don’t know who

healed me, but I know that it was the Lord.

After the man is put forth from the questioning of the leadership, Jesus comes and finds

him and notices.

The eyes of the blind see the Lord.

Go back to chapter 33 of Isaiah and remember again what was written.

Verse 17, your eyes will see the King in His beauty.

They will see the land that is very far off.

For the one who was blind, they saw no land.

They saw no king.

But for this blind man, he would, for he was no longer blind.

You find over in Matthew chapter 15 a summary of the things that Jesus did with great

power and great might from God.

In Matthew chapter 15, beginning in verse 30, we read these words, Then the multitudes

came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others.

And they laid them down at Jesus’ feet, and He healed them.

So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame

walking, the blind seeing, and they glorified the God of Israel.

When God comes, the blind see, the lame walk, the deaf hear.

And Jesus said this was the proof that He was God who came.

But then consider chapter 35 verses 6 and 7.

We read, then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing.

And the waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert.

The parts ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water.

In the habitation of jackals where each lay there shall be grass with reeds and rushes.

When God comes, the desert becomes a river.

Isaiah looks forward to the events that are going to occur when the Messiah arrives.

And he says there will be water where there has never been water before.

And Isaiah is not talking about H2O.

In John chapter four, Jesus walks through Samaria.

And as He’s there in Samaria, as He’s there by a well outside of the city, He meets a

woman.

A woman who’s had five husbands and the man she’s with isn’t her husband.

A woman who has been given over to believe the things that the Samaritans had taught

concerning God.

They claim to be the people of God.

They claim to follow after Isaac.

They claim to follow after the patriarchs.

They claim to worship God, yet they didn’t observe and follow the commandments of God.

And as the woman comes to the well, Jesus asks water of her that he might have a drink.

And she wonders why a Jew would ask of her, a Samaritan woman, for a drink.

Through the course of the conversation, Jesus will offer her water.

He will say to her in verse 14, if you knew who was speaking to you, you would ask for a

drink from him.

And she wonders about this because she says, you have nothing to draw the water with.

You have no way to give me water.

But he says, if you would just take up the water that I have, you will never thirst again.

Jesus would tell the woman that there is water available when God comes.

that isn’t like the water that we drink.

It’s not like the water that you drink and then you’re thirsty again.

It’s the water that springs up to everlasting life.

in John chapter 7.

John chapter 7 and in verse 32.

We read the Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning him and the

Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take him.

Then Jesus said to them, I shall be with you a little while while a little while longer.

And then I go to him who sent me.

You will seek me and not find me and where I am, you cannot come.

Then the Jews said among themselves, where does he intend to go where we cannot find him?

Does he intend to go to the dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks?

What is this thing that he said?

You will seek me and not find me and where I am you cannot come.

On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out saying, If anyone

thirsts, let him come to me and drink.

He who believes in me and as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of

living water.

This he spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in him would receive, for the

Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Isaiah makes it clear when God comes, rivers of living water will flow forth out of Zion.

But you consider back in Isaiah chapter 35 and in verse 8 that when God comes, a way will

be made for redemption.

In Isaiah chapter 35 and verse 8, Isaiah writes a highway

shall be there, and a road, and it shall be called the highway of holiness.

The unclean shall not pass over it.

Whoever walks the road, although a fool, shall not go astray.”

Isaiah as he looks forward to this time, as he looks forward to when God comes.

He says they’re going to build a new road.

They’re going to build a highway of holiness.

They’re going to build a path and the unclean aren’t going to walk on it.

They’re going to build a place where those who could be ignorant, who could be unlearned,

still won’t go astray.

John chapter 14.

Jesus would say to His disciples, am the way, the truth, and the life.

No man cometh unto the Father but by Me.

When God comes, a way would be made for those who desire to be with God.

to become holy and in fellowship with Him.

as…

sorry, Acts chapter 19.

In Acts chapter 19.

Paul is at Ephesus, and as he is correcting those who were mistaken concerning their

salvation, who had been taught ignorantly concerning the things which they did not know,

we find in verse 8, he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months,

reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God.

But when some were hardened and did not believe, but spoke evil of the way before the

multitude, he departed from them and withdrew the disciples, reasoning daily in the school

of Tyranus.

And this continued for two years, so that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord

Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.

as Paul is there in Ephesus and as he’s teaching daily amongst the synagogue.

When he begins to get the pushback, when they begin to start mistreating the Christians,

Paul takes the Christians and they’re described as those who belong to the way.

This isn’t some magical name.

This isn’t the new name spoken of in Isaiah.

This is a people who lived differently.

from the Jews.

This is a people who lived differently from the Gentiles.

This is a people who walked in the way that God told them to walk.

Paul.

was able to provide them access to that way of living through the Gospel.

If turn it over to Hebrews chapter 10,

The Hebrew writer

will write beginning in verse 19, therefore brethren, having boldness to enter the holiest

by the blood of Jesus.

Now notice this, here’s a destination.

It’s a destination that the Old Testament person, the Jew living under the law, no matter

how righteous he was, couldn’t go to.

No matter how faithful to the law a Jew was, if he wasn’t the high priest he couldn’t go

into the holiest.

He couldn’t go into the tabernacle, into the holy place unless he was a priest.

He couldn’t go into the most holy place unless he was the high priest and then only once a

year.

If he was a righteous, holy Jew, he still couldn’t go to this location.

And yet, the Hebrew writer says, for the Christian.

we have been given boldness to enter the holiest, that is the holy of holies, by the blood

of Jesus.

He says, verse 20, by a new and living way, which He consecrated for us through the veil

that is His flesh.

The Hebrew writer says, one who went to the cross, the one who when he died the veil was

torn in the temple from top to bottom, the one who pierced the veil that is death and

provided us a way into eternity, that one has given us a new and living way.

Or as Isaiah would put it, a highway of holiness.

into the very presence of God.

But notice what he says.

He says, by a new and living way, which he consecrated for us through that veil that is

his flesh, and having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true

heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and

our bodies washed with pure water.

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering for He who promised is

faithful.

Isaiah had told them 800 years before.

When God comes, He’s bringing a new way.

He’s making a new road to a destination you can’t get to right

and it is a way of holiness because those who walk on that way will be washed in the blood

of the Lamb.

Those who walk on that way, though they are ignorant, though they are unlearned, though

they are not educated in all the ways of the world, they won’t go astray.

for the walk in holiness.

When God comes, there will be a way made for the redeemed.

But then consider back in Isaiah 35,

verse 10.

When God comes, joy will replace sorrow.

Verse 9 says, no lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast go up to it.

It shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there.

as we live in this life.

We should understand that this world is not our home.

In this world, there’ll be tears.

In this world, there’ll be pain.

In this world, there’ll be persecution.

In this world, there’ll be death.

In this world, there’ll be separation.

In this world, there’ll be discomfort.

In this world, there’ll be troubles and trials and hardship.

And as Paul wrote, these are the things that we endure as we grow.

looking to put on immortal life.

But this world is not our home.

And as Isaiah paints a picture of a place where on the road of holiness there is no

trouble, there is no persecution, there is no threat.

because God is there.

He writes in verse 10, and the ransomed of the LORD, the ransomed of Jehovah shall return,

and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads, and they shall obtain

joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”

Isaiah paints a picture.

of the church, a picture that’s continued all the way into Revelation 21 and 22.

He paints a picture of the kingdom that Jesus came to establish.

Jesus said that He came to set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed and the gates

of Hades shall not prevail against it.

Jesus said, I’m coming to establish a way.

I’m coming with a message of water, of life.

I’m coming and proving that I am who I am because the blind will see and the lame will

walk and the deaf will hear and the dumb will speak.

I’m coming, so strengthen the weak hands and the knees that are about to give out.

because I’m bringing salvation and joy.

that can never be taken away.

if you turn over to First Peter.

Peter will write to the first century Christians.

beginning in verse 3, blessed be the God of our Father and of our Lord Jesus Christ, who

according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the

resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Does that sound like the new living way that He has provided through the flesh?

Washing us from an evil conscience and washing ourselves with pure water.

Does it sound like that?

Yeah, it is.

Verse 4, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away,

reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation,

ready to be revealed at the last time.

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been

grieved by various trials.

that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes,

though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of

Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love, though now you do not see Him, yet believing

you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, the

salvation of your souls.”

of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully who prophesied of the

grace that would come to you.

Peter says, the resurrection of our Lord, He has provided you salvation.

And He has provided you rejoicing and joy, inexpressible.

And yes, you’re going to have some trials in this life.

Yes, you’re going to have some hardship.

It’s just designed to strengthen your faith.

It’s there to test you in the fires of the hardship of this life that what comes out of it

is genuine faith as precious as gold.

In Acts chapter 8, Philip will run up and meet a chariot.

Chariot leaving Jerusalem headed to Ethiopia.

And as Philip meets the one who is

going back to the land where he came from as he meets up with the eunuch in verse 34.

The eunuch has been reading the scriptures.

He’s been reading Isaiah.

He’s been reading about one who’s going to come, one who’s going to die, one who’s going

to bear the transgression of the people and bring about their redemption.

And Philip asks the eunuch, do you understand what you read?

And the eunuch says, how can I unless somebody guide me?

Is he speaking about himself or somebody else?

And verse So the eunuch answered, I ask of you, of whom does the prophet say, this of

himself or some other man?

Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this scripture, preached Jesus to him.

Now as they went down the road, they came to some water.

And the eunuch said, See, here is water.

What hinders me from being baptized?

Then Philip said, If you believe with all your heart, you may.

And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

You know what he realized.

The eunuch realized God had come.

The proof was in the evidence of the Old Testament prophets.

The proof was in the evidence of the miracles that Jesus had performed.

and when the proof could not be in doubt.

The eunuch simply wanted to know, can I have access to the same living way that everyone

else has gotten access to?

And Philip says, if you believe, you may.

So Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and he baptized him.

Now remember, when God comes,

Joy replaces sorrow.

And we read, now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip

away so that the eunuch saw him no more, and he went on his way rejoicing.

when God comes.

there will be joy.

When God comes, there will be redemption.

When God comes, there will be a river of water of life.

When God comes, the blind will see, the lame will walk, the deaf will hear, the mute will

speak.

When God comes, the weak will be strengthened and hold fast.

In 1 John chapter 1, John will write to the church,

And he says, that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen

with our eyes, which we have looked upon and our hands have handled concerning the word of

life.

He’s talking about Jesus.

The word as he introduces him in John chapter one, verse one.

The one who was with God and was God in the beginning, the one who took on flesh.

And John says, we witnessed him our eyes.

Have seen the LORD.

He says, life was manifested and we have seen and bear witness and declare to you that

eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us, that which we have seen

and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us and truly our

fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.

And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.

This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you that God is light and

in Him is no darkness at all.

If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not

practice the truth.

But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship

Sorry, if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another

and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin.

If you’re here this morning and you’re outside of the new and living way that He

consecrated through His flesh, if you’re outside of the redemption and the salvation that

is found through His resurrection, if you’re outside of the place, the New Jerusalem,

Zion, the Holy City, the people of God, the Kingdom, the Church, they’re all the same

thing.

They’re the thing that Jesus came to build, the thing He came to establish, and the thing

He said, can enter in if you’ll simply hear the word of the message which is proclaimed to

you and be obedient to it.

And that’s what that eunuch did.

He heard the message.

He saw the confirmation and he said, well, what stops me from entering the kingdom?

Phillips said the only thing you’re waiting on.

is to believe and obey the command.

Philip and the eunuch stopped the chariot and said, let’s go.

If you’re here this morning and you’re outside the kingdom, if you’re outside the place

where salvation is found and redemption is had when God comes, then know this, there’s

coming another day when the Lord will come and your time and your opportunity will be

over.

If you have need of the invitation of our Lord to put Christ on in baptism,

to participate in that new and living way, to walk on the highway of holiness, to be part

of the church, the blood-bought body of Christ.

We can help you with that.

If you have needs, why not come forward now as we stand and as we sing.

Revelation 11 (Lesson 4) – Aaron Cozort – May 03, 2026

In Admonition Podcast, Bible Study, Christ's reign, Christian theology, end times, keywords Revelation, prophecy, spiritual victory, symbolism by Aaron Cozort

image

Amen.

Isaiah, go plug the screen in.

We’re in chapter 11 and by way of review, well, nothing is going to work this morning.

So we’ll just review it without the screen.

So by way of review, oh as you open the book, you find John, he is worshiping on the

Lord’s day.

There’s a reason, by the way, that we go through this review each time because if, as

we’re going through it,

we should be capturing in our mind the flow of the book.

The book is not like some other books where you just open it up, you read a few verses or

a psalm and that psalm and that chapter is detached from the previous one.

This is kind of like opening a novel.

And if you open a novel that you’ve never read, you know nothing about, and you decide to

open the page 100 out of 300 and you just start.

How’s the novel gonna go?

Poorly, because it’s not being used the way it was designed to be used, okay?

So as we go through the book of Revelation, we’re taking the time to review at beginning

of each class for one, because somebody might have missed a class and somebody might be

catching up, but for another, because as we’re looking at this, it is a progression.

There are events that,

lead from this event to that event to the next event.

eh So John is in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day.

He’s in exile on Patmos and he is there worshiping and as he is worshiping he hears a

voice behind him and he turns around to see one who is represented by this glorified

figure of Christ.

Christ is the one who has the stars in his right hand and he has the golden lampstands

around him.

He tells us that the stars are what in chapter one?

Seven churches, do not miss, as we get into chapter 11, that we’ve already been told what

stars represent, okay?

So, he’s there, and he holds seven stars in his right hand, and they are the seven

churches.

And he’s surrounded by seven golden lampstands, and what do those represent?

the angels of the seven churches, the messengers of the seven churches.

Okay.

So then as the book is introduced, the introduction is written to these seven churches of

Asia Minor.

And then in chapter four, John sees an open door.

John goes through the open door and we’re presented with a visionary picture of the throne

room of God.

The one who’s sitting on the throne just got to the throne.

He’d never been on the throne before.

He just started reigning that day, right?

No.

You mean the one who’s on the throne when John goes into the throne room and the one he

sees who’s on the throne has been there the entire time?

That’s gonna be important to remember when we get into chapter 11, that John didn’t show

up and suddenly God’s now reigning.

You remember what Nebuchadnezzar learned in Daniel chapter four, when God put

Nebuchadnezzar quite literally out to pasture for a period of time?

When Nebuchadnezzar came back to his senses and was returned back to his throne, what did

Nebuchadnezzar declare?

That the God of the Hebrews was the only true God, and that He ruled in the kingdoms of

men.

Now that was a true statement.

And He also said that He gives power to whom soever He wills.

In other words, not only does He rule, He rules exclusively

He rules exhaustively.

There is no one who matches His authority anywhere, at any point, at any time.

And that has been true since the day that the world began.

It was true when Nebuchadnezzar was on the throne.

It is true when Caesar is on the throne.

It’s true when John walks into the throne room.

At no point in time did God hand over His authority over this universe.

He was ruling when John went through the door.

Okay?

So all those who are in heaven, the beasts that are before the throne, the elders that are

before the throne, they fall down and they worship the one who is before the throne.

They cast their crowns of victory before the one who’s on the throne.

And then you see in chapter five, there’s a book in the hand of the one who’s sitting on

the throne.

And they go searching heaven and earth to find anyone who’s worthy to open the seven seals

that are closing the revelation from God that is standing or that is sitting there in the

right hand of the one who’s on the throne.

And John wants to know what it says and John begins to weep because there’s no one worthy

in heaven or on earth or who’s in the grave who’s able to open the seals.

As John begins to weep, someone comes to John and says, do not weep for one who has been

found who is worthy.

To open the book and notice it is Jesus Christ.

It is the lamb that was slain.

It was the one who appears to be dead but is standing upright.

It is the lion of the tribe of Judah.

and he is worthy to open the scrolls.

So he is declared worthy to open the scrolls and again worship is offered by those who are

in heaven, by those who are on earth, by those who are the elders who are before the

throne and they praise the one who’s worthy to open the scrolls.

As he opens the first seal, begins to show John what’s in the Revelation, a white horse

goes forth and he’s conquering.

The one who’s on the white horse looks like the primary enemy that Rome could never

defeat.

And he’s going forth and he’s conquering like a Parthian warrior.

And then there’s this red horse.

difficulties start to arise.

And then there’s this black horse and more difficulties start to arise.

Then there’s this pale horse and death starts to come.

And then you have the fifth seal open and the saints who are dying as a result of the

persecution from horse two, three, and four…

are crying out under the altar asking the Lord, how long are you going to let this go on?

And they’re told to rest for a little while, they’re given white robes, and then the sixth

seal is opened.

Sixth seal is opened, and you have an initial picture of the wrath of the Lamb coming

against those who are persecuting the people of God.

This is picture one of the point of the book.

This is like reading the preface on that novel.

It sets up the book because when the seventh seal is opened, then you’re gonna get a

partial judgment that is part of the picture in the sixth seal.

The sixth seal is a representative forecast, if you would.

You know, when we turn on the Weather Channel and we look at what’s

coming when there’s a storm on the way and you look at the forecast, do you watch the

forecast before the storm arrives, during the storm, or after the storm?

If you’re paying attention to the weather, you watch it before it arrives.

It’s a little late when it’s past you.

Like, hey, give me an update on what happened.

That’s the news versus the forecast.

Okay, the forecast is what’s coming.

That’s what the sixth seal is.

It’s a forecast of what’s coming.

The difference is when God gives a forecast, God’s always right.

When the weatherman gives a forecast, God’s always right.

But anyway, so.

As the sixth seal is opened and as this judgment is forecasted, the angels say, wait,

wait, wait, wait, you can’t start the judgment yet.

We’ve got to mark all the people of God so none of them get judged.

They’re exempted from the judgment.

So they need a stamp on their foreheads that has the name of God on it so that we know not

to judge them.

This is a picture.

like the lamb’s blood on the doorposts in Egypt.

Every house that had the blood on the doorposts in Egypt didn’t have what happened.

Firstborn didn’t die because all of the people who belonged to God, who obeyed God, had a

sign on their house that indicated we’re exempt from the judgment.

That’s the picture.

So then the partial judgment begins and you’ve got the seven trumpets.

As the seven trumpets begin to sound, a third of this is judged and a third of that is

judged and a third of this is judged and all of these things begin to happen.

and you start seeing things like the sun turns dark and the moon turns to blood and the

stars fall from the sky and the earth is ripped open and all these fantastic things begin

to occur and you think, no, the world’s coming to an end.

Except all it is is Old Testament language like Isaiah chapter 34, where God uses all the

same figures to describe the fall of a nation like Edom.

At what point in Old Testament history was Edom a world power that affected the entire

planet?

Never.

Not one time in all of history.

Yet when Edom, the descendants of Esau, as a nation fell and their fall was prophesied by

Isaiah, Isaiah spoke of it in language as if the world was coming to an end.

Because in the nation of Edom, the world was coming to an end.

The nation was going to be judged.

So in Isaiah 34, Isaiah uses language like the sun turns to darkness and the moon turns to

blood and thundering and lightning and all these things occur and all these forecasting is

the fall of the nation that is a miniscule nation that exists in one small subset of one

small part of the world.

In this case, God speaking of Rome.

And we’re gonna see that.

Then, as those uh trumpets begin to sound, you get the fifth trumpet and one woe is

pronounced.

And the sixth trumpet and another woe is pronounced.

And before the seventh trumpet sounds, as you’re getting a warning, the seventh trumpet is

about to sound, there’s another pause.

And John sees an angel, a mighty angel, a high representative of the throne of God.

He’s got God’s rainbow over his head.

He’s a mighty angel.

He’s got one foot on the land and one foot on the sea, and he speaks.

And John is told to go to him, and he goes to the angel, and he says, give me the little

book that’s in your hand, another revelation from God.

And John takes the little book and he eats the book because this is Old Testament Ezekiel

imagery.

And it’s sweet as honey in his mouth, but it’s bitter in his belly.

The message is not going to be a positive one except it’s a message from God, so it’s

good, but it’s forecasting a hard time.

And so John begins to deliver to the Christians what he’s seeing and he’s going to see two

witnesses.

These witnesses come forth and they’ve got the representation of the Old Testament

prophets.

They look like Moses and Elijah, not physically, but in the deeds that they do.

They speak great things.

They speak the message of God and while they’re speaking, nobody can touch them.

But when the message ends, the world comes forth and it kills them.

Matter of fact, the great city comes forth and kills them.

the great city that was known as Egypt and Sodom and the city that killed our Lord.

Now we’ve talked about before and we talked about last week that the city that killed our

Lord was what city?

Jerusalem.

But they used whose authority and power to do it?

Rome.

But we also talked about that the picture here is a three-fold picture.

Egypt represented those who persecuted God’s people, those who rejected the authority and

the Word of God.

Sodom represented those whose immorality was so degraded that they had rejected God

entirely and they were judged for it.

Corruption morally, corruption politically.

The third city, Jerusalem,

represented religious corruption because it wasn’t a great government that opposed Jesus

Christ.

It was the religious leaders in Israel who opposed Jesus Christ.

Those who were supposed to be the shepherds of God’s people opposed the shepherd from God

and they killed him.

And so the great city here is pictured three ways, with corrupted political power, with

corrupted morality, and with corrupted religion.

But the city that is the great city in Revelation sits on seven hills.

And what city in New Testament power sat on seven hills?

Rome.

So Rome is pictured as the ones who kill God’s two witnesses.

And then they do what?

Throw a party.

They start rejoicing.

They don’t even bother to bury them.

Leave them dead in the streets.

God’s witnesses are left.

And as they throw a party and rejoice and just have a grand old time, three and a half

days go by.

What happens at the end of the three and a half days?

God breathes life back into them and like the bones, the valley of dry bones in the book

of Ezekiel where this entire valley of dry bones stands up and comes to life, God’s people

are resurrected back to life and they’re not left in the earth, they are taken up into

heaven.

In other words, God’s message is going to be declared, God’s people are going to be

persecuted, some of God’s people are going to be killed, but once they’re killed,

People on earth can’t touch them.

They’re safe as soon as they’re dead.

And so in chapter 11, we find the witnesses resurrected and we’re gonna pick up in verse

11 of chapter 11.

Yeah, verse 11 of chapter 11, we’re going to read through this and then primarily we’re

going focus on chapter 12 as we get into it.

Now, after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered them, and they

stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them.

And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, Come up here.

And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them.

In the same hour there was a great earthquake and a tenth of the city fell.

In the earthquake seven thousand people were killed and the rest were afraid and gave

glory to the God of heaven.

Now notice this, the people of the earth witness a group of people get killed.

Now how many people die?

All right, 7,000.

So here’s what we gotta do because we know how we’re supposed to handle the book of

Revelation.

We’re supposed to read the number and assume the number’s literal, and we’re supposed to

go find in history where 7,000 people to the number died and prescribe that that was the

event that John was writing about, right?

No.

What does the number seven represent?

Perfect.

What does the number 1,000 represent?

Cattle on a thousand hills belong to the Lord.

Does that mean that only the thousand hills belong to the Lord?

It means all, okay?

So, perfect and all.

A perfect number of people were judged.

And what did it result in?

Notice that resulted in people who became afraid and glorified God.

What does that sound like?

That sounds like Nebuchadnezzar when Nebuchadnezzar learned his lesson and he glorified

God, but it didn’t necessarily change the nation of Babylon, it?

Because as soon as you get out of chapter four of uh Daniel and you get into chapter five,

you’ve got Nebuchadnezzar’s grandson reigning on the throne.

And as Nebuchadnezzar’s grandson is reigning on the throne, he’s throwing a grand old

party using God’s.

ah utensils out of the temple to drink wine out of and declare that he’s the ruler of

everything.

just because there is a moment where someone observes God’s judgment and they see God’s

judgment and they say, know what, it is the God of heaven who is in charge.

It doesn’t mean it’s going to change their life.

It doesn’t mean they’re going to repent.

It doesn’t mean that from that point forward they’re going to be faithful to the Lord.

It means something happened and they woke up for a period of time.

and realize that there’s a God in heaven that they need to be accountable to.

You ever known anybody who lives their entire life completely ignoring God, His commands,

His ordinances, everything that God has told them to do, living a life of sin, and then

they get sick and they’re near the point of death and they suddenly start repenting of

things?

And if that continued, and if they remained faithful from that point, it’d be great.

But what happens more often than not?

They get better.

And what do they do?

Go right back to the life they’ve been living.

That’s the picture here.

They witness a whole bunch of people who are judged for some action and they see it occur

and they go, the God of heaven is the only God.

but it doesn’t cause them to repent.

They give glory to the God of heaven.

The second woe is passed.

Behold, the third woe is coming quickly.

Then the seventh angel sounded.

We talked about before that all of the seven angels that are sounding, the seven trumpets

are occurring inside the seventh seal.

Well, as the seventh angel sounds, you’re about to get introduced to seven bowls.

And the seven bowls are going to be inside the seventh trumpet, and the seven trumpets are

inside the seventh seal, and the seven seals are on the book that John wanted to know what

it said.

All of this is on the book that you’re introduced to in chapter 5.

All of this is the continuing revelation of what you find God introducing in chapter 5.

So the seventh trumpet sounds, and there was a loud voice in heaven saying, the kingdoms

of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign

forever and ever.

Seventh trumpet sounds and a uh pronouncement occurs.

A herald comes forth and he says, Jesus Christ is going to reign forever and ever.

So we are to assume, right, that it’s at this moment after all this persecution, after all

this tribulation, after all this time that Jesus Christ finally comes to the throne.

Right?

You’re wrong.

wrong.

This isn’t a pronouncement about some future time when John says, revelation from me tells

you that Jesus Christ is finally going to arrive on His throne.

No.

Go back to chapter one.

Verse 9.

I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience,

endurance, holding up under hardship the patience of Jesus Christ.

was on the island that is called Patmos for the Word of God and for the testimony of Jesus

Christ.

When John wrote this book, when John received this vision, was there a kingdom that

already existed?

Yes!

And John had been a part of it since Acts chapter 2 and the day of Pentecost.

Was Jesus already on the throne?

Yes!

Matthew chapter 28 verse 18,

This pronouncement is not the pronouncement about the beginning of Christ’s thousand-year

reign as the premillennialist.

Sorry, I got rebuked by somebody on Facebook because I said premillennialist.

They said, not all premillennialists are dispensationalists.

Accurate.

They’re all wrong, but they’re not all dispensationalists.

So dispensationalist premillennialists.

are waiting for the thousand year reign of Christ to commence.

They’re two thousand years late!

He’s been raining since AD 33.

He’s been reigning in a kingdom that John was a brother in.

He’s been reigning in a kingdom he set up in the days of the fourth kingdom of Daniel’s

prophecy, Rome.

He’s been reigning for 2,000 years and they’re only looking for a thousand year reign.

This pronouncement has nothing to do with the beginning of His reign.

has everything due to the commencing of judgment because of His reign.

Go back to chapter six.

Chapter 6 verse 9, when He opened the fifth seal, saw under the altar the souls of those

who had been slain for the Word of God and for the testimony which they held.

And they cried with a loud voice saying, long, oh Lord, holy and true until you judge and

avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?

Question, did the Christians who were dying in the first century in John’s day cry out and

ask, Christ, when are you finally going to get to the throne?

They said, when are you going to finally start judging these people?

And that’s what you have proclaimed in this verse.

God tells them in chapter six, have a robe, rest, wait.

In essence, watch and you’re going to see the answer to your question.

So in chapter.

11, they’ve received six.

They, the people who dwell on the earth, the enemies of God, the people who are

persecuting God’s people, they’ve received six warning judgments, six partial judgments.

and at the very end of the last one they pause for a moment having observed it and they

glorify God.

but they don’t repent.

And so now you have a proclamation as the seventh trumpet commences that Christ is on his

throne.

He’s always been on his throne.

And he begins to give final judgment to those who dwell on the earth.

He begins to give final judgment to the persecutors of his people.

He gives complete judgment to them.

and it is pictured as the authority of the throne going forth.

He says, the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his

Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.

And the 24 elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped

God.

What were they doing in chapter four?

Same thing.

What were they doing in chapter five?

Same thing.

Guess what they’re doing now?

The same thing.

because he was on the throne then and he’s on the throne now.

But notice they say, give you thanks, O Lord God Almighty, the one who is and who was and

who is to come, because you have taken your great power and reigned.

The pronouncement here is not about the beginning of his reign.

It’s not about him coming to the throne.

He’s the one who’s ruled, who is, who was and always will be.

But power has now gone forth from the throne and his authority has put those who dwell on

the earth in their place.

Notice we read the nations were angry and your wrath has come and the time of the dead

that they should be judged and that you should reward your righteous servants, sorry, and

that you should reward

your servants, the prophets, and the saints, and those who fear your name small and great

and should destroy those who destroy the earth.”

Notice the judgment that is coming.

It is coming against those who destroy the earth.

They’ve made it completely uninhabitable for the righteous people.

And God’s judgment is going to come forth from them.

Then verse 19, then the temple of God was opened in heaven and the ark of his covenant was

seen in his temple.

So again, movie scene moment here.

John’s watching and he looks up into heaven and there’s the temple.

It’s the figure of the Old Testament temple.

And you see something that never was seen in the temple.

Not in all the days from Solomon’s temple being laid and the foundation being laid and the

walls being set up to the commencement of it, never did this occur.

You look straight through the front doors of the temple, you look and you see straight

through to the Ark of the Covenant.

Why did that never occur in the temple made by Solomon?

There was a veil.

And the only time someone could go through the veil was what day?

Day Atonement.

And who was the only person who could go through the veil?

The high priest.

And he had to have a certain robe on and bells on to make sure that he didn’t die when he

walked through.

And the day that he would go through the whole uh holy place would have been filled with

the smoke and the incense.

You wouldn’t have been able to peer through and see the Ark of the Covenant.

by the way, also add to the fact

that the Israelites hadn’t had the Ark of the Covenant for 600 years before Jesus came.

So something occurs in John’s vision that never could have happened in real life.

He sees straight through.

to the very mercy seat of God.

and notice what we read.

and there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail.

Now where have we seen that language before?

When a nation falls.

This is the Old Testament language we were talking about earlier from Isaiah 34 and from

other passages.

When a nation falls, God’s temple opens up, God begins to rain, and a nation falls.

because God’s power went forth and judged those who dwell on the earth.

but we’re not done comforting the people of God yet.

One more message to the people of God before the seventh trumpet actually sounds.

Chapter 12 opens, now a great sign appeared in heaven.

So, John sees the temple open up in heaven.

He sees the ark of the covenant and he sees the power begin to come forth out of the

temple.

and a nation falls.

But wait a minute, there’s a sign up there.

Let me read the sign.

Here’s a sign that appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with a moon under her

feet, and on her head a garland of 12 stars.

Now, what is the number 12 representing the book?

We’ve said there are 12 tribes of Israel and there are 12 apostles and there are 12 of the

elders multiplied by two, there’s 24 elders.

There’s 12 of this and 12 of that and those who belong to the Lord who were marked with

God’s name, there’s 12 multiplied by 1,000 multiplied by 12.

12 represents the people of God.

Here’s a woman on her head.

She represents the people of God.

She’s got a crown that represents God’s people.

She’s a woman who’s about to give birth.

God’s people give birth to the Messiah.

Okay?

So watch this.

The moon was under her feet and on her head a garland of 12 stars.

Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.

And another sign appeared in heaven.

Behold a great fiery red dragon having seven heads and 10 horns and seven diadems on his

head.

and his tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth and the

dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth to devour her child as soon as

it was born.

bore a male child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron and her child was caught

up to God and His throne.

Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God that they

should feed her there 1,260 days.

and war broke out in heaven.

Michael and his angel fought with the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought, but

they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer.

So the great dragon was cast out.

That serpent of old called the devil, and Satan, who deceives the whole world, he was cast

to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Then I heard a loud

voice saying, heaven now salvation and strength in the kingdom of our God and the power of

his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day

and night, has been cast down.

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and

they did not love their lives to the death.

Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them.”

woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down to you having

great wrath because he knows that he has a short time.

Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who

gave birth to the male child, but the woman was given two wings of a great eagle that she

might fly into the wilderness to her place where she is nourished for a time and times and

half a time from the presence of the serpent.

So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman that he might

cause her to be carried away by the flood.

But the earth helped the woman and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood

which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth.

And the dragon was enraged with the woman and he went to make war with the rest of her

offspring who kept, who keep the commandment of God and have the testimony of Jesus

Christ.

and you say, oh my, what is this?

Well, we’ve only got five minutes.

So let’s talk about it for a moment.

Here’s what we know.

Here’s what we know.

We know there’s a woman who gives birth to a child and the child is going to be what?

She bears a male child, verse five, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron, and

her child was caught up to God and to His throne.

Read Psalm two.

In the second Psalm.

We read, and it opens with the words, why do the heathens rage?

And the people plot a vain thing.

The question from the psalmist writer is, why are the nations raging against God and

plotting to do something they’ll never succeed at?

It is a vain thing.

If you go to the book of Ecclesiastes and you remember that phrase that keeps getting

repeated over and over, vanity of vanities, all is.

Vanity.

The nations are plotting a vain thing.

They’re plotting something that’s never going to work.

They’re going to fail.

Now notice, the kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together

against the Lord and His anointed saying, Let us break their bonds in pieces and cast away

their cords from us.

They say, know what?

God has entrapped us and ensnared us long enough.

He’s bound us up to do His will long enough.

We’re going to break His hold over us.

We’re going to kill His anointed one.

and then we’ll get to do what we want.

Sound like the vineyard keepers in Jesus’ parable?

You know what?

Here comes the son.

Let’s kill him and then the vineyard is ours.

Okay?

Now notice, he who sits in the heavens does what?

She’ll laugh.

The idea here in the Hebrew is, shall laugh with derision at the audacity of the nations

to think that they could defeat the authority of the Lord.

Notice, the Lord shall hold them in derision, then He shall speak to them in His wrath and

distress them in His deep displeasure.

Yet I have set my king on my holy hill of Zion.

I will declare the decree.

The Lord has said to me, you are my son.

Today I have begotten you.

Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance and the ends of the earth

for your possession.

You shall break them with a rod of iron.

and shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.

Now therefore be wise, O kings.

Be instructed, you judges of the earth.

Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling.

Kiss the Son, lest ye be angry and you perish in the way when his wrath is kindled but a

little.

Blessed are those who put their trust in him.

question.

Where does the child that becomes the Messiah, that becomes the one who God says, are my

son?

Where does he come forth from?

He comes forth from heaven, but he’s born of a woman who is a part of what nation?

Israel, the people of God.

Remember what the woman had on her head, right?

12 stars.

She represents the people of God.

The Messiah comes forth out of the people of God.

He’s born into the world by the people of God.

And when he enters this world and the world rejoices and the angels come forth and

rejoice, not long after that, there’s a king who wants to do what?

Kill him!

Except he sends his soldiers to go kill all the children age two and down.

And guess what?

Before the soldiers ever get there, God takes the child off into Egypt.

brings a child back to Nazareth, child’s raised, child comes to his power, the child ends

up Jesus Christ who, yes, goes to the cross, yes, looks like he’s going to die, yes, looks

like he’s going to be defeated entirely by the devil.

except He’s put to death and He doesn’t stay dead.

Just like God’s witnesses, He might go to the grave, but He comes forth.

And then He ascends out of the reach of all of the nations of the earth to go reign on His

throne.

And the nations are reminded in Psalm 2, hundreds of years before Jesus is ever born.

You better be careful when you start messing.

with the people of God.

because they have someone who sits on the throne that when you make him just a little

angry.

He’s going to rule with a rod of iron and He is going to bring His wrath upon you.

You see, when you get to chapter 12, this is an Old Testament picture from Psalm 2, where

it looks like the devil’s got power and the devil can do what he wants and the devil’s

going to defeat the people because who wins, a dragon or a woman?

The answer is the woman.

Because every time the devil tries to use his power to defeat the woman,

God just snatches her out of his grasp.

Absolutely.

And it’s also pointing out that Satan is always co-opting the forces of this world to do

his work.

But guess what?

The other part of the message is he always loses.

All right?

So our significant point out of chapter 12, as you’re going to see it, is the devil is a

three-time loser.

And he is always going to lose to the child who’s on the throne.

Okay?

AI and Biblical Wisdom – Aaron Cozort – May 03, 2026

In Admonition Podcast, AI, change, character, Ecclesiastes, faith, keywords Biblical perspective, Society, spiritual insights, technology, wisdom by Aaron Cozort

image

I don’t know, I’ll tell the boys to advance the slides.

I put it down somewhere.

There it is.

Thank you,

This afternoon, we’re going to discuss something that is more oh off uh the front page of

the news, as it were, than many of the sermons that I often preach.

But as times change and as circumstances change and as society changes, it is important

for us to realize that there are things that we need to discuss, we need to evaluate, we

need to study.

And we need to do so in a biblical context so that we can navigate the changes that exist

in the world around us, but also do so in a biblical way.

We’re going to open this morning or this afternoon with Ecclesiastes, Chapter one and in

verse nine, Solomon would write in Ecclesiastes, Chapter one and in verse nine, that which

has been is what will be.

That which is done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.

This afternoon, I want us to spend some time talking about what the world around us refers

to as AI, artificial intelligence.

It is better understood in a political, or sorry, a practical perspective, and in a

technical perspective as machine learning.

It is a machine learning algorithm.

But I don’t want to have a lesson on AI.

I don’t want to teach everybody how to use AI.

I don’t want to teach you how to use a grok or chat GPT or anything like that.

I want us to consider what the changes going on in the technological world should teach us

and help us to understand from a spiritual perspective.

And it’s interesting that as we begin with Ecclesiastes chapter 1, we’re beginning with

Solomon.

We’re beginning with a man who was granted by God essentially unlimited wisdom, unlimited

knowledge and insight.

When you look at what the world in society and news is presenting to us today, they’re

They’re telling us that AI is essentially that.

It’s unlimited knowledge.

It’s unlimited wisdom.

It’s unlimited analysis.

It’s unlimited this and unlimited that.

And while I can tell you in my day-to-day life and my work and the work I do both in

preaching as well as the work that I do in technology, I use the AI tools all the time.

I use them because they’re valuable just like any other tool that I use.

I also use a car.

You wanna know why I use it?

Because I can get further with a car than I can on my own two feet.

And faster.

And.

Maybe not cheaper, but more cheaper by the mile than the shoe tread.

At the end of the day, we use tools, we use technology, we use things that exist in this

world because where they originated when it comes to all things that exist in this world

is the one who created the world.

When in the 1940s, scientists delved into harnessing the power inside of the atom and they

created the atomic bomb,

They weren’t creating anything that didn’t already exist.

They simply were tapping into what God had placed in nature and had placed within the very

core of what builds nature.

They were discovering what God had already put there.

And the same thing is true when it comes to AI.

in view of the idea that there is nothing new under the sun, we’re going to examine the

lesson this afternoon.

I’m channeling Jacob and saying this morning instead of this afternoon.

In view of ancient wisdom for the age of abundant intelligence, we’re going to examine

four ancient truths, four things that I think if we put our spiritually educated

biblically educated mindset view of these four truths, we will be able to both operate

inside the coming world.

We will also be able to understand why the world around us fails to comprehend what

they’re dealing with.

One unchanging requirement.

Three ages in recent history have existed.

The Information Age.

Usually most people calculate the Information Age to be something around the 1980s going

forward until the early 2010s.

They look at history and one of the things that exploded in that period of 30 years was

the ability to have abundant information.

When you step back into the early 1980s, most people would have gotten their information

from a daily newspaper.

It would have arrived on their door and they would have found out what had happened the

day before, the week before, the month before, however quickly the news arrived and got

printed on the paper.

But in the 30 years spanning from 1980 to 2010,

The speed at which we had access to information got faster and faster and faster and

faster to the culmination of now we use in our normal parlance, Googling something because

the tool created by a company called Google became the easiest way to look up information.

In the information age, information got more abundant, more abundant, more abundant, more

abundant.

It also got cheaper and cheaper and cheaper and cheaper.

The newspaper you used to buy had a limited number of pages, it had a limited number

amount of information and a whole lot of ads.

And now you’re able to just get on your device and look up something.

I remember for years,

stopping in at the auto parts store.

And at the auto parts store, you would have a whole shelves of what?

Auto manuals.

It would go, it would cover the Honda Accord from this year to this year.

And they weren’t cheap books either.

But you could get that and you could pretty well diagnose or fix if you were technically

competent, almost anything wrong with that car during that span of time.

Pretty hard to sell those for the same price that you used to be able to sell those books.

Why?

Because the information is now abundantly available online.

the information aid.

We’re now in what society would call the intelligence age.

Because we have taken information for the last 30 years, leading up to 2010, and we found

cheaper and cheaper and easier and easier ways to store that information, we have now been

able to apply technological systems, which are really just mathematical probabilistic

systems.

It’s highly specialized guessing.

is what AI is.

But it’s guessing based upon a million or a billion or a trillion parameters of

information.

So it’s highly specialized guessing.

But what the system does is it processes and analyzes that information in volumes and

massive amounts way faster than we have ever been able to do before.

Providing in the last 10 years

and in the coming years, more abundant, easier to access intelligence.

We call it artificial intelligence simply to distinguish it from human intelligence.

But let’s be clear about one thing.

There’s a difference between knowledge, intelligence in the form of analyzing knowledge

and a soul.

If we’re clear from scripture, turn back to Genesis chapter one, we should know, we should

understand, we should realize that the soul originates with God.

In Genesis chapter one, we read beginning in verse 25, and God made the beast of the earth

according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the

earth according to its kind.

And God saw that it was good.

Then God said, us make man in our image according to our likeness.

Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, over the

cattle, over all the things that are and over every creeping thing that creeps on the

earth.

So God created man in his own image.

In the image of God created he him, male and female created he them.

He did not create them male, female and binary robot.

He created them male and female.

And notice, God also gave them a uniqueness in the world.

not because they were alive.

Everything God created had life within it.

Not because they could breathe, not because they could make a decision, but rather because

He made them in His image.

One of the things that we need to realize in the coming period of time in the world that

we currently now live in that information is abundant.

It becomes cheaper, it becomes more available, and intelligence is about to become

abundant and cheaper and more available, which leaves one of the most scarce things…

character.

because you can’t generate character.

You can’t generate faithfulness and judgment.

You can hardly efficiently train it because most people don’t want to learn.

You turn to Proverbs chapter one, you will find the Proverbs chapter one tells us in in

verse seven that the fool despises wisdom and instruction.

and we have no shortage of that type of person on the planet today.

character will be in scarce supply in the coming age because intelligence will be

abundant.

Intelligence will become virtually free.

You can now with a few short requests and about $20 generate a rather good commentary on

any book of the Bible in about three and a half minutes.

about as good as anybody in the Brotherhood could write.

Well researched, well thought out, well examined, three minutes and less than 20 bucks.

and you don’t need a single preacher to do it.

Intelligence is going to be abundant.

Character is not.

Proverbs chapter 4.

the Proverbs writer, and we’re gonna keep coming back to Solomon.

I’m gonna show you in a minute why.

Proverbs chapter four, verse seven, Solomon writes to us, wisdom is the principle thing.

Therefore, get wisdom.

If you go back to Proverbs chapter one, where we just mentioned just a moment ago, this

same writer,

This same individual inspired with wisdom from God will write in Proverbs chapter 1 and in

verse 2 to know wisdom and instruction, to perceive words of understanding.

He’s writing about the Proverbs that he’s about to write.

He’s introducing that which he’s put into this book to receive the instruction of wisdom,

justice, judgment, and equity, to give prudence to the simple.

To the young man, knowledge and discretion, a wise man will hear and increase learning.

A man of understanding will attain wise counsel to understand a proverb and an enigma, the

words of the wise and their riddles.

But then notice what he says in verse seven.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.

But fools despise wisdom.

and instruction.

As Solomon introduces this book of wisdom and knowledge and insight and intelligence and

discernment…

He admonishes his son, do not miss that the fear of the Lord is the beginning.

It is the necessary starting point if you’re going to gain wisdom.

And here’s what we know about the world.

The world does not fear the Lord.

The world will not use highly abundant and almost free intelligence to garner a greater

fear of the Lord.

But we should.

We should, we should use every encyclopedia and all of its knowledge to fear the Lord more

than we’ve ever feared Him before.

We should use the knowledge and the wisdom that has been garnered and gathered and

assembled and categorized and indexed on the internet to fear the Lord more than we ever

have before.

We should use abundant intelligence to fear the Lord more than we ever have before as we

delve in society further and further into the secrets that nature and nature’s God, if we

could coin the term from the founding fathers, had placed in nature.

We’re going to suddenly realize just exactly how ignorant we have always been about that

which God created.

But then consider as well, there’s three levels of AI in its usage.

AI is used, number one, as an assistant.

In other words, help me with this.

That’s what you do with an assistant.

You say, I need to know X.

Find out the information.

So you will find in common, uh to be commonplace in businesses and in education that

people, instead of

sitting down and researching X, we’ll get the AI tool to do the research for them.

Well, sometimes people will look at that and say, wow, we’re really lazy.

I remind you that it was Einstein that said when he was asked what the formula for a

particular math problem was, he said, why would I spend time remembering what I can easily

get out of any book?

Even Einstein knew there was a limit to the things you could remember, memorize, and hold

in your head.

And he didn’t need to hold that which was abundantly available in his head.

That didn’t mean he didn’t think study was important, or knowledge was important, or

intelligence was important.

Rather, holding things that were of rare or scarce value were important.

But then consider analysis.

One of the things that AI provides in the tools,

is the ability to analyze information very quickly.

If you wanted to analyze how every single use of the word love is used all across

scripture, it used to be you could get access to some of that analysis through some highly

valuable and specialized and costly tools that were available from software providers.

You can now simply sit down and ask Chad GPT or Claude or uh Grok, any of them.

because the Bible is by the way one of the most well-known books in all of human history,

you can ask it and it will do very good analysis for you.

Be careful to let it know that you only want an answer from the Bible because it knows a

whole lot of denominational nonsense too and it thinks it’s true.

So tell it I only want an answer from the Bible and it will do analysis for you as you’re

studying.

It’s very good, very useful.

The third level and more pervasive in the next few years will be agents.

uh If you think about insurance or if you think about travel, what is a travel agent?

A travel agent is someone who you get to go book your trip for you so you don’t have to do

it.

AI will do that in a lot of ways.

Now, unfortunately for society, we’re talking about this, some of the disruption that’s

coming for society.

some of the disruption that’s coming in the economy is going to be because of agents.

Because instead of a travel agent, you’ll be able to simply tap a button on a phone, get

an AI to go book your trip for you.

You tell it where you wanna go, what kind of place you wanna stay, what your budget is,

and it’ll go do the whole thing.

A lot of travel agents are gonna lose their job.

A lot of lawyers are gonna lose their job.

Because intelligence is what lawyers make their living off of.

not necessarily intelligence in the right sense, but knowledge, wisdom, and insight in the

law, and that’s going to be abundantly available.

A lot of change is going to come in the next 10 or 15 years to the culture and to the

world around us, to the jobs that exist in this world.

But in all of these things, what do you see is continually scarce?

character.

When a person can fake knowing anything just by having an AI that knows everything, you

might want to be careful with that person because if they’re not of good character, you’re

going to have an abundance of hard times as a result of the choices of that person.

But then consider Luke chapter 14.

Jesus would say, which of you intending to build a tower does not

First, sit down and count the call.

You evaluate the changes that are coming, the things that we’re seeing in this world, the

differences that are going to occur.

We need to be mindful.

And we need to plan ahead.

when anything that’s always been valuable suddenly becomes worthless.

It causes a lot of difficulty in this life.

Take your Bibles, if you will, and open them to first Kings.

towards the end of the time where Solomon has dedicated the temple, we understand that

Solomon had been granted wisdom from God, that Solomon had been using that wisdom.

He had been using it in making decisions in the kingdom.

He had been using it in making uh his plans and the things which he had done.

He had been using it in building the temple.

And in 1 Kings chapter 10 and in verse 14, we read the weight of gold that came to Solomon

yearly was 666 talents of gold.

Beside that, from the traveling merchants, from the income of traders, from all the kings

of Arabia and from the governors of the country, and the king Solomon made 200 large

shields of hammered gold, 600 shekels of gold went into each shield.

He also made three hundred shields of hammered gold.

Three minas of gold went into each shield.

The king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.

Moreover, the king made a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with pure gold.

The throne had six steps and the top of the throne was round at the back.

There were armrests on either side of the place of the seat and two lions stood beside the

armrests.

Twelve lions stood there, one on either side of the six steps.

Nothing like this had been made for any other kingdom.

All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were gold and all the vessels of the house of the

forest of Lebanon were pure gold.

Not one was silver.

This was accounted uh for this was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon.

I want you to notice what happens when something that is scarce suddenly becomes abundant.

as we’re reading here about all of Solomon’s wealth and all of Solomon’s riches that he

gained by having virtually unlimited intelligence.

As you examine the list, you have this made of gold and this made of gold and this made of

gold.

And the reason why it was all made of gold is there was so much silver available in the

Kingdom of Israel because of all of the wealth garnered through unlimited wisdom and

intelligence that silver had suddenly become worthless.

When something that used to be scarce suddenly becomes so abundant that everyone has as

much as they want, its value drops to virtually zero.

So as you think about what is coming in the future, if information is reached a point

where it is virtually free, and if intelligence becomes something that reaches a point

where it is virtually free,

How do you make decisions on what to do in planning for the future?

In planning for income, in planning for savings, in planning for retirement, in planning

for grandchildren, in planning for legacy, how do you make decisions?

And what do you make sure to focus on?

One of the things that you see here in this example is how something can become devalued

just by being abundant.

and intelligence is becoming abundant.

So anything that has value exclusively because of intelligence?

is going to become devalued.

Anything that is still scarce, and what have we mentioned again and again and again, is

exhibited as still being scarce in this world?

Character.

Now suddenly becomes more valuable because it’s still scarce.

Nehemiah chapter four, Nehemiah chapter four, verse six, as Nehemiah has returned to

Jerusalem to work to rebuild the wall, Nehemiah is going to come to the wall.

He is going to observe the city.

He is going to see the plight that is going on in the city.

And Nehemiah is going to work with every single family.

in the city who had a property that was up against the wall and he’s going to commission

all of them to build the wall together.

And so in Nehemiah chapter 4, we have a description of the fact that the people worked

together because the people had a mind to work.

And as you go through the course of that event and that story, you’ll find that at the end

when the wall was completed, they dedicated portions of the wall that had been built by

individual families and they put the family’s name on the wall.

as a dedication to the work and the labor that they did.

mention this because as we enter into what is bound to be a rather tumultuous time in

human history.

Something that has never changed is that when God’s people work together…

They build what could never have been built working alone.

And in the coming days and in the coming years, there will be challenges for the church.

There will be hardships for the church.

There may be a significant change in the ability of the church to do the things that it’s

done in the past.

It may become easier.

It may become harder, but it’ll change.

But what won’t change is the willingness of those who believe in the Word of God and are

obedient to the Word of God to work together to reach lost souls.

Ecclesiastes chapter 3.

And in verse 6, Solomon tells us that there is a time to keep and there’s a time to throw

away.

My wife loves this verse.

She just wishes I would apply it more often.

The last part, not the first part.

I consider almost everything to be a time to keep and she considers almost everything to

be a time to throw away.

but when uh intelligence becomes as abundant as information.

Think about what you’ve probably done somewhat in your life.

Years ago, you would buy a product.

The product would come in a box or in a package.

You’d open the package.

Inside the package was an instruction manual.

And the manufacturers now know what happens to most of the instruction manuals.

Most of the instruction manuals immediately get thrown in the trash.

Why?

Because the information is abundantly available at a search that does not involve

searching your house for where you put the instruction manual.

You can get on YouTube, can get on Google, you can put in the name of the product, and you

can get the user manual downloaded for free.

I don’t need to keep the paper anymore.

Now I know some of you, you still have filing cabinets full of those papers somewhere in

the house for that product, that thing that you bought 20 years ago.

Some of those products you’ve got papers for you haven’t owned in 20 years.

But when information becomes abundantly available for free, guess what you don’t have to

keep as much of stored up just in case you need it in the future?

Information.

When intelligence becomes abundantly available, same thing’s going to change.

That’s going to change a lot of people’s lives and their actions and how they operate.

But there’s a time to keep and there’s a time to throw away.

There’s a time to realize that, you know what, the past, as nostalgic as it may be, is the

past and it’s time to move on.

Holding on to the past doesn’t usually get us very far.

Changes will come.

Things will change.

But here’s the thing, as we’ve gone through this, I want you to notice that nothing we’re

talking about here is new.

All the way back in Solomon’s day, humanity had access to unlimited wisdom and knowledge.

Matter of fact, the queen of Sheba came to Solomon back in chapter 10, sorry, chapter nine

of, sorry, it is chapter 10 of first Kings.

Queen of Sheba had heard about Solomon and all of his wisdom.

And so she came to inquire of Solomon to find out just exactly how much wisdom he had.

And when she left, she said that the half had not.

been told.

Abundant intelligence is not a new thing in this world.

It’s just new in the packaging that is currently in.

But I also might remind you, Matthew chapter 15 verse 13, that Jesus would tell us that

every plant which my Heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.

One of the things that you’ve seen occur in the last 150 years of modern technology and

innovation and industrialization is you have seen splintering and splintering and

splintering and splintering of the church.

Because with new things come men who want to chase the new thing instead of the thing God

gave.

So there’s a warning here that with this new technology, you will find men promoting the

following of technology instead of God.

You will find false teachers teaching something that sounds a lot like the Bible, but it’s

not.

It sounds a lot like the Word of God, but it’s

We need to have our eyes and our ears open.

We need to be careful to examine the things which we hear, the things which we’re taught.

One of the things that is somewhat abundant in the current tools of AI is sometimes it

will just straight out lie to you.

They call it hallucinating.

It just loses its context and it just gives you an answer out of nothing because it knew

you wanted an answer.

So it just told you anything.

Well, people do that too, by the way.

Employees do that.

I don’t know what the answer is.

I’m just going to make it up.

But when we allow ourselves to be duped into believing that religiously, it has eternal

consequences.

I am here to remind you that over in the book of Acts, when we read about the Bereans, we

read about those individuals who were Jews, those individuals who were not Christians, but

they were more noble than those of Thessalonica in that they searched the scriptures daily

to see whether or not the things Paul was preaching were true.

If it is necessary to check the teaching and the preaching of an apostle, it is most

certainly necessary to check the things that come out of AI.

We need to be aware.

We need to have our heads up.

We need to have our eyes open and we need to check what we’re learning against the Word of

God because it may sound right and it may be entirely wrong.

Daniel chapter 6.

Daniel was a governor of the king of Babylon who ruled under the king of Persia.

Daniel was an old man, probably 85 or older.

And as Daniel was serving as governor of the land of Babylon, together with three other

governors, the king decides everything that I give to Daniel turns out great.

So I’m just going to give Daniel more.

And the other governors decide that’s a really bad idea because they don’t want less

power, they want more power.

So they go to begin some investigation of Daniel’s life to try and find something they can

use against him and they find out.

that there was no charge or fault that could be laid against Daniel because he was

faithful.

So they go to the king and they inquire of the king, great king, considering all of your

might and majesty and all of your greatness, we think it would be best if you would issue

a decree that no one should offer any request or prayer to any king or any God except you

for 30 days.

a law and a rule which certainly could have been written by the kings of the Medes and the

Persians but could never have been adopted by a follower of God.

So the king writes the law, signs the law, and when the law had been written and when the

law had been signed, Daniel went and did as he did every day.

And he went into his house and he opened the windows towards the land of Jerusalem and he

prayed in accordance with, by the way, the prophecy that Solomon made at the consecration

of the temple.

And the people observed that he was praying, and they took him before the king, and they

sent word to the king that Daniel had violated the law which had been written, for he had

prayed to the God of the Hebrews.

And the king knew that he had been duped.

The king also knew something about the law, the Medes and the Persians.

What was written was written and it couldn’t be changed.

So the king took Daniel and put him in a den of lions.

And the king, the door of the lion’s den, was about to be closed.

determined that surely Daniel’s God could protect him.

So the king went back to his house and stayed up all night worrying and concerned about

Daniel’s well-being.

And first thing in the morning, the king came to the door and inquired, Daniel, has your

God saved you?

Remember this, in a time of abundant intelligence and AI, all of the magical wonders that

technology can offer do not stand in comparison to the might or the ability of God.

Daniel answered the king, I am well.

For God has sent his angel and shut the mouths of the lions.

We need to be reminded that no matter what the law says, no matter what men contrive to

order people to do, we are to follow God no matter what comes.

And we are to trust in God no matter what comes.

Obedience to God requires character.

It requires honesty, discipline, self-honesty, and humility.

All of these should be an abundant supply amongst Christians, and they should be mighty

rare in the world to come from the world around us.

So in view of that, what kind of person do you want to be when you have access to all of

the world’s knowledge and intelligence?

Because if we don’t determine now how we will live, how we will move, how we will have our

being, if we don’t determine before it ever occurs how we will operate in obedience to

God, then we will be too late when we have to make a decision.

How will you be as a person when everything that was so hard suddenly becomes easy?

When everything that you couldn’t afford is suddenly available at the touch of a finger?

When everything that you wanted to produce can now be produced for virtually nothing?

Will we just have houses chocked full of stuff forever?

Proverbs chapter four verse seven.

In the coming age, in the coming years, I suggest to you that this passage will become

abundantly more important in all of our lives.

Wisdom is the principal thing.

Therefore, get wisdom.

And with all thy getting, get understanding.

If you’re here this afternoon and you have needed the invitation of our Lord, understand

this.

No matter what humanity produces by way of technology, our Lord reigns.

No matter what a world power produces by way of a weapon, our Lord reigns.

No matter whether the language that is spoken abundantly around the world is English or

Mandarin.

Our Lord reigns.

No matter whether Christians are lauded as the unique bright shining light in all the

world or persecuted in every corner of it, our Lord reigns.

If you’re not yet a child of our Lord, we encourage you to hear the word of God and

believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God because he provided evidence as we discussed

in our sermon this morning that he was.

If you believe that he is the son of God, you must be willing to repent of your sins and

confess the name of Christ.

You must be willing to be immersed in water for the remission of your sins, to rise to

walk to newness in newness of life, because this world will be burned up and everything in

it.

And when eternity comes, you will stand before God in judgment.

As the Hebrew writer says, we’re all going to die.

And after this,

the judgment.

So when you’re ready for that day I encourage you to be ready standing as a Christian,

obedient to God, faithful to Him.

If you have need of the invitation why not come now?

Matthew 5 – Justin Evergarden – May 06, 2026

In Admonition Podcast, Christian living, heart purity, influence, Jesus teachings, keywords Bible study, Matthew 5, persecution, righteousness, salt and light by Aaron Cozort

image

Good evening, everyone.

It’s now 7 p.m.

Time to start Bible class.

Give everybody just a moment to file in.

Before we get started, we’ll go ahead and start off with a word of prayer.

If you would please bow with me.

Dear Lord, our Almighty God and Heavenly Father, we come to Thee in prayer this time

thanking you so very much for the wonderful day that we’ve had to enjoy.

Thank you for keeping us safe on our drive to this location to study your Word.

Lord God, may we please take the lessons that are given to us tonight and apply it unto

our daily lives.

May we remain attentive and aware of all that you have to teach us for.

everything that we go over tonight, Lord, we know that we’re simply skimming the surface

of the bountiful and unending amount of knowledge that you’ve decided to share with us.

Please continue to be with us.

Bless the sick of the congregation and those in need of prayers.

Please continue to guide and direct our lives as you see fit.

And so we pray to you in Jesus’ name, amen.

So last we came together for class, we were going through the book of Matthew,

specifically Matthew chapter five.

And last class period, we had made it almost through all of the Beatitudes.

I had it marked down that we had made it all the way to verse 10.

So that’s where we will pick up again this evening and continue our study of the book of

Matthew.

So, as we do, the chapter really breaks into three natural sections.

The first are verses 10-12 where we going to start.

I know it also goes back all way to the first where Jesus finishes the Beatitudes by

speaking about persecution.

Second, verses 13-16 where He speaks about the influence in the world as salt and a

comparison to light as well.

And then the third section would be verses 17 through 48 where He deals with the subject

of righteousness.

Christ shows us that true righteousness is deeper than simple outward performance in this

section.

uh It’s something that reaches the heart.

So, if you remember correctly or if you still have your notes from Matthew chapter 5 last

time, I know it’s been about a month or so since we last had the class, uh our key thought

is still the same as it originally was.

which is, let your light shine, as well as our key word still being righteousness for this

chapter.

So, we’ll go ahead and pick up in verse 10, and I’ll go ahead and read this first one.

You know I like to call on people to read.

So, verse 10, he starts out with, This is an important verse because it reminds us that

living right does not always make life easier.

Sometimes it does, and it’s great when it does, but not always.

Many times in life, doing the right thing can make life harder on us.

But Jesus does not say, blessed are they which are persecuted, because uh they were rude.

He says, blessed for righteousness sake.

He does not say blessed are those that are persecuted because they were foolish.

Again, He says, for righteousness sake.

That means that this is a type of suffering that comes because a person is standing behind

what God wants them to stand behind.

He says, for righteousness sake.

Now, we live in a world, unfortunately, where many Christians are persecuted the world

over.

In

Our country right now, for the most part, you don’t see that.

We don’t have to worry about being a Christian and going out to the local McDonald’s and

getting shot for our faith.

But there are countries where simply possessing a Bible is completely illegal.

So, uh here we don’t have to worry about being killed for our faith, but many brethren

around the world do.

So, we want to always keep that in context of the many blessings that we have here in the

States.

ah Of course, we still face things like persecution.

We face ridicule many times ah and lots of times mockery, specifically from the scientific

community.

ah But as we study throughout not only the rest of this chapter, but the rest of the

Bible, we see that science and the Bible always go hand in hand.

ah They are a great commentary for one another.

When looking through the proper lens, they’ll never coincide.

ah So, Paul said, if we turn over to 2 Timothy,

3 and verse 12, we’ll have someone get that.

It’s a good commentary on what Christ is saying here in 2 Timothy 3 and verse 12.

So, all shall suffer persecution if we live justly in Christ Jesus, all of us.

If you are doing what is right, you are going to suffer in the world because of this.

Persecution is not a sign that something has necessarily gone wrong.

Sometimes it’s a major sign that you’re doing something right.

And rightly so.

Many times the apostles were doing the right thing and they suffered because of it.

Who here has ever heard the phrase, no one ever kicks a dead dog?

It’s an old phrase or a horse.

Yeah, no one ever kicks a dead horse is another way people don’t usually attack what is

powerless, uh what is irrelevant and what is just not accomplishing much.

But they will attack what is alive, what is moving, what is visible and especially that

which is effective, won’t they?

Of course, when a Christian lives in a dark world and stands for righteousness, darkness

many times pushes back.

So, Jesus says that the persecuted are blessed.

Why is that?

Is it because the kingdom belongs to people like that?

The kingdom belongs to those who are willing to suffer for what is right?

These are the types of servants that God looks for.

He doesn’t just want people with an outward appearance that just punch in the punch clock

in the back of the building and pretend to be a Christian.

It’s, who was it?

Was it, uh I’m trying to think of the name right now.

uh Big playwright of the earliest, early centuries.

uh

Shakespeare, thank you.

All the world is a stage and everyone’s a player, right?

So, Christians aren’t that.

We’re not actors playing the part of Christians, are we?

Christians is a denotation of our job.

It is a definition of who we are.

So, there’s a big difference between a subjective reality and an objective reality.

Subjective, you can look like something, but you’re not actually there.

An actor can only portray things that they’ve seen before.

Now, those of you that know me know that I used to do magic back in the day.

I was a magician for corporate events and trade shows for many different years.

And one of the things that I got told many, many times were, you’re just an actor playing

the part of a magician.

See, that’s the subject of reality.

The object of reality is when you start to take that term and redefine it.

We know that there’s no such thing as magic and miracles today, right?

But as a magician, it would be someone who, I prefer the term illusionist.

because it’s someone who performs illusions.

Now, objectively, you could be that, someone who performs that.

So now you’re not an actor pretending to be that, you are actually that thing.

This is what we want to be as Christians.

Our Christianity should not be subjective, it should be objective.

The objective reality of who we are on the inside.

And if it is on the inside, that’s what’s going to project onto the outside.

moving forward, verse 11 through 12, this is kind of when it gets personal.

Jesus makes the persecution more personal.

So, if we go back, verse 10, He said, �Blessed are� who?

�Those.� Now, in verse 11, He changes and He shifts here.

He said, �Blessed are ye.� Blessed are you, specifically.

�When men shall revile you and persecute you.�

and say all manner of evil against you falsely.” Key word right there.

If they’re saying evil against you and it’s truthfully, that’s not a good thing.

But you are blessed when they accuse you falsely.

For my sake, not for your own sake, but for my sake.

Rejoice in being exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted

they the prophets which were before you.

Verse spoke more generally.

Verses 11 and 12 become very, very personal to us.

So, Jesus tells us the kinds of things that may happen.

He lists them out.

He says, men may revile you, they may persecute you, they are going to say evil things

against you falsely.

The word falsely there, this is not about suffering because we did wrong, this is about

suffering because we are suffering for Christ specifically.

And many times that kind of persecution takes the form of words.

People can attack your name, they can attack your motives, because they don’t see into the

heart of a Christian like God can.

They can attack your character and even the reputation of the church.

So, I had an illustration in mind and I had thought about bringing a prop to kind of

illustrate this point, but you’ll have to use your mind’s eye because I figured out that

it wouldn’t work.

But if you take a flashlight,

and shine it on something, typically what are you trying to do?

You’re trying to illuminate it, right?

You’re trying to cast more light on it so you can see more detail in the dimly lit room.

Now, if you were to use this illustration as what they’re doing, accusing falsely, they’re

shining the flashlight and your deeds, your actions will cast a shadow.

So the more deeply they look, the more deeply they falsely accuse,

If you are of the Christian character that you are supposed to be, what kind of shadow is

going to lay out in front of you?

Is it going to be a clean shadow, nice sharp lines, or is it going to be hazy with the

false accusations?

Well, maybe they did do that kind of thing.

The point being is when people look at a Christian who’s living inside the way they are,

it will reflect on the outside.

So, being under that type of scrutiny,

shining the flashlight, you’re going to see the deeds cast in the shadow.

You are going to see everything laid out bare in front of them and your own deeds and

actions will speak for themselves.

The motives will become clear.

They try to inspect us, they try to expose us, but the shadow goes in front of us.

In other words, the very pressure that they use against us can sometimes make our

testimony of Christ just that more visible because they see how we do, how we act.

So, Jesus says, rejoice and be exceedingly glad.

Now, that sounds strange from an earthly perspective, but it makes sense spiritually.

because our reward is not rooted in this earth, where is our reward rooted?

It’s rooted in heaven, exactly.

And so, Jesus says, this puts us in the company of the prophets.

The prophets were not always celebrated in their day.

Many times they were stoned, and we read about them having to wipe the dust off their

sandals and keep moving forward to the next city.

Many of them were opposed, rejected, persecuted.

So, if the world pushes back against us for doing right,

Could it possibly be that we’re walking a road that’s faithful to Christ?

Yeah, no one ever kicks a dead dog, no one ever kicks a dead horse.

If we suffer that kind of persecution, this should absolutely be something for us to

rejoice over.

Absolutely, because they’re seeing our actions.

They don’t want to continue seeing the good actions and the light of Christ that’s being

brought into the world.

So now we move forward to verses 13 through 16, and we’re gonna, I’m gonna label this.

inner small sections, salt and light, because Jesus moves from persecution now over to

influence.

And what happens?

So, let’s go ahead and have someone read verse 13.

nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a lamp stand.

Alright, so backing back up to verse 13, he says, are the salt of the earth.

Salt does several things and we’re going go through that tonight, but each one gives us a

good lesson.

So salt, what’s the number one thing that comes to your mind that salt does?

It adds what?

Flavor to the food, yes.

It keeps things from becoming tasteless.

Bland.

It enriches the flavor.

Specifically, if you take a little bit of salt and you add it to melted chocolate when

you’re making brownies or whatnot, it elevates the chocolate and actually makes it

sweeter.

I didn’t know that for years.

I thought that was crazy, but apparently that’s how it works.

I tried it, 100%.

It gets a whole lot sweeter.

In the same way spiritually, Christians bring meaning and godly influence to a world

that’s spiritually bland.

We had flavor to it.

A good flavor.

What something else salt does?

It preserves.

In Bible times, this would help slow corruption and decay.

Typically now we have preservatives.

We have all these chemicals that I’m not even going to try to pronounce.

but we have them in everything from our McDonald’s french fries that sit under the seat

for months at a time and still look like they were ate yesterday, right?

I saw the movie Super Size Me years ago and they had a hamburger and they put it in a

sealed jar and they came back six years later and unwrapped that thing, looked like it was

made five minutes ago.

Disgusting.

But that’s aside the point.

Salt is there.

to slow corruption and decay in a natural way.

So, it’s a fitting picture because Christians are meant to have a preserving influence in

the world.

Our lives, our teachings, our example should be one that holds back corruption, just as

salt does from food.

We should be trying to influence the world in a way that the corruption doesn’t take and

point people toward the holiness of Christ.

Did know that salt can also help heal?

I actually didn’t know this one until I had studied specifically for this lesson.

Saltwater gargles, I have listed Epsom salts for your feet and other methods.

The world, however, is sick in sin.

Christians are meant to bring a healing influence to the world.

This is why Christ says, we are the salt of the world.

We can’t heal the world through human philosophy.

Can we heal the world through entertainment?

The world is littered with it.

It’s just getting worse.

What about politics?

Here’s one that hit hell and to me, what about self-help books?

Not if they’re not Bible-based, absolutely not.

The Word is healed by the Word of God, first and foremost.

Something else about salt is that salt does not do its, uh it doesn’t do any of its work

if it’s not in contact.

with what it’s going to preserve, with what it’s going to flavor, with what it’s going to

heal.

It must come in physical contact with what is going on.

As a Christian, we’re called to be different from the world.

is different from a hamburger, right?

But to flavor the hamburger, we put a little bit of salt on there.

Well, maybe the French fries, but.

Do we have to come in contact with the world as Christians to have an influence on them?

Yes.

Can we live in the world, but still be apart from the world at the same time?

Yes, absolutely.

That’s what we’re called to do.

That’s what we’re told to do.

But then Jesus gives the warning.

If the salt loses its savor, it becomes useless.

So here’s the analogy.

If a Christian has no influence, if a Christian has no conviction, if a Christian has no

testimony, that Christian is not fulfilling his purpose.

Be ready always to give an answer of the hope that lies within you.

1 Peter 3 15, with meekness and fear.

He says, we have to have that testimony ready to give to people.

This is our salt.

Someone get Luke 17 and verse 32.

You can also just say it if you haven’t memorized.

It’s only three words.

Remember Lott’s wife.

What happened to Lott’s wife?

She turned into a filler of salt.

Why was she turned into a filler of salt?

She disobeyed, she looked back.

And the terminology there in the Greek gives the light as if she was almost looking back

at a longing, uh a disappointment to see the city of Sodom, which, you know, burn and get

the justice that it so rightly deserved.

They had been told, they had been given a chance to repent and they did not want that.

So she turns around.

She’s literally turned into a pillar of salt.

Does God want statues?

He wants servants.

He wants warriors for Christ, people going out, doing the job of evangelist, having

testimony.

Her assault was not supposed to be a monument in this, in her case, physically to her

indecisions of whether or not to follow God.

Yes, she physically went, but her heart, we can safely assume remained in Sodom because

she looked back.

Could her salt have been more properly used to salt the earth with the testimony of what

had happened in Sodom and Gomorrah?

Absolutely.

I think it’s very fitting to use Lot’s wife in this same analogy with Matthew chapter

five.

God wants our lives to season the earth with a testimony of His truth, His Word, not

merely become a warning because of disobedience.

So, moving on to verses 14 through 16, we’re going to label this one, Ye are the light of

the world.

And we’ve already read it, so, uh Jesus changes pictures, but the point stays the same,

it’s influence.

He says, You are the light of the world.

There are a couple of things that light does that darkness absolutely cannot do, that evil

cannot do.

Light reveals while darkness tries to hide.

Light shows the way while darkness obscures it.

Light can bring clarity and darkness makes it harder to see.

We read a city on a hill cannot be hidden and a candle is not lit so it cannot be covered

up.

When you light a candle, typically why do you light a candle?

So you can see, for light.

This was the key lesson of the chapter, remember, let your light shine.

Jesus is not calling us to a private religion.

This is not the Gnostics back in the day of the early church.

Or as Brother Cain likes to say, the Gnostics, because it starts with the G.

These were a type of people that claimed that they had a private,

lesson from God.

had some kind of hidden knowledge, thus, gnosko, hidden knowledge, or gnostics, gnostics.

Notice what he says will happen.

He says that they may see your good works.

This is important because some people talk, unfortunately today, as if works don’t matter

at all.

But he says specifically, so that they may see whose good works.

Ours.

There’s ownership in the word your.

It takes possession of works in the sentence.

Again, this is important because people talk as if works don’t matter.

Now, we can never do so many works that we deserve salvation.

That’s not how it works.

It’s still a gift from God, but He still demands that we work.

And that’s for every Christian.

Jesus says artworks can glorify God when they are done from the right heart and for the

right purpose.

So, good question.

If people watch my life, are they seeing enough light to be pointed towards God?

When they shine that flashlight on us and our works, our shadow is laid out, bear to see,

can they see that arrow or that shadow on the ground pointing towards Christ?

That’s something I hope we all ask each

ourselves as we go throughout our lives.

So, verse 17 through 18.

Now we come to the heart of the chapter.

Jesus turns to the subject of righteousness in relation to the law.

He says, think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets.

I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.

For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no

wise pass from the law

till all be fulfilled.” Jesus says very plainly, I have not come to destroy the law of

Moses.

I not here to destroy it.

I am here to fulfill the law and prophecy.

That means He came to bring them to their intended completion.

There is a big difference between simply tearing something down and completing it.

The law of Moses was not permanent in the sense of final covenant of man for all time.

It was preparatory in nature.

It pointed towards Christ.

One useful way to explain this is kind of like in terms of our local legal systems or

constitutions.

A government may have one constitution for a certain period, certain laws on the books for

a certain period.

We see this all the time when we go from Republican to Democrat.

Republican to Democrat, don’t we?

Did laws change between the two back and forth?

Kind of seesaw and teeter?

I’m not saying that’s what’s happening here in the Bible, but we did have a different law,

a different covenant.

And now we have, if you read the book of Hebrews, it’s all about it.

We have a better covenant because we have a better lawgiver.

We have a better sacrifice.

We have a better high priest, which is Christ.

The former one served its purpose while it was in force, but it’s replaced when the new

leadership comes.

Now, it’s always been led by God.

In a similar way, God’s people have lived under different divine judgments or

arrangements.

What three different periods do we have in the Bible?

Patriarchal, Mosaic, and Christian dispensations, right?

Jesus did not recklessly tear down the old law, He fulfilled it and established the new

law.

When you look at the different prophecies of the Bible,

I can’t remember right off the top of my head how many prophecies.

think there are, uh correct me if I’m wrong, Kennedy, there were over 300, 400 different

prophecies in the Bible of Christ specifically.

And we had read in one of our books that someone did the math on it.

And the chances of Him fulfilling every prophecy of the Old Testament, the one person, was

as if you had the entire state of Texas full up about two foot with quarters.

And on a single quarter in all of Texas, there was an X.

And it would be like walking and waiting through these quarters and on the first try

reaching down and pulling out that quarter with the X on it.

That’s a good comparison to how hard it would have been to fulfill that.

And many people argue, well, people lied about some of the things that he did.

uh He was trying to fulfill the prophecy so he did X and Y and Z.

If that was the case, how did he fulfill the prophecy of being born in Bethlehem?

Someone get Hebrews 10 and verse nine, please.

Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 9.

Alright, and now if you turn back over to Hebrews 9 and just skim through and look at

verse 16 through 17, He teaches that a testament goes into effect when the testator, the

person who wrote it, passes or dies.

Christ’s became binding through His death.

We don’t get the money from our in-laws until after they’ve passed.

You don’t go for their will and testament until the death has already occurred, do you?

If you do, something’s wrong.

This means that we are not under Moses today as our covenant authority.

We’re under Christ.

And this matters because many in the religious world still try to mix covenants.

They want an all you can eat buffet.

They want specific things and rules for Moses.

And then they walk over to the salad bar, they walk over to Christ.

Oh, I like that, but I still want some of this over here.

I’ve met families that study and still today don’t know which law and covenant they’re

under.

And so we have to teach them.

Easiest way for that is typically I’ll ask them to sit down and read the book of Hebrews

with me because that’s the theme of the whole book, is what covenant are we under?

Someone back up a little bit and get Hebrews 8 and verse 13.

says a new covenant he has made the first obsolete.

Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

So tell me, you get a brand new cell phone, do you still keep the old cell phone or do you

trade it in towards the new one to get some money back?

I knew there’d be somebody in here that’s like, I keep it just in case.

In relation to the covenant, you don’t do that.

Generally, you would trade that in because it is now obsolete.

It’s no longer working.

But the new one is, and it’s far better.

Romans chapter seven verses two through four uses marriage language to show the

impossibility of being bound in that way to two systems at once.

So, Matthew 5 and verse 17 is not a minor point.

This is foundational.

Christ fulfilled the old law and established the covenant under which we now live.

So, that brings us to verse 19 back in Matthew chapter 5.

This is respect for God’s commands.

He says, �Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments.� Does every

command from God matter?

Yeah.

Does it matter if it�s small or big?

No, God’s truth is not ours to dim down.

It is not ours to soften, and it is absolutely not ours to selectively obey.

We have to obey all of God’s laws.

If Jesus treated the revelation of God with that kind of seriousness, then shouldn’t we

too?

Yes.

So, verse 20.

Let’s go ahead and have somebody else get verse 20 for me of Matthew chapter 5.

that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and parishes,

ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Okay, now if you remember from our

earlier notes a little over a month ago, this is one of the key verses of the entire

chapter.

The Pharisees looked righteous.

They were subjective in their following of Christ.

They had appearance, they had ceremony, they had visibility.

They definitely had religious performance.

They walked down the street to be seen of others praying.

But Jesus said true righteousness is one that has to exceed theirs.

That does not mean bigger parades.

That does not mean louder prayers so people can hear you when you’ve got the door closed.

make a show out of it.

It’s not by being louder, it’s not by being more theatrical, it’s not, but it is by going

deeper, internally.

Their righteousness was often outward without inward purity.

Jesus is about to show that the kingdom of righteousness is not just about actions, it’s

about motives, it’s about desires, it’s about the heart.

Does God know the thoughts and the intents?

of the hearts of every man and woman alive?

Yeah, absolutely.

He knows everything.

So he knows if we are just punching that punch card in the back and pretending to be a

Christian on Sunday.

He knows what you’re talking about around the water cooler at work.

He knows the guy that you sent a vulgar sign to while you were driving past him on the

freeway.

He knows what you’re thinking when you honk the horn at the guy who doesn’t move forward

at the red light.

Yeah, I know, I just used two driving, but Memphis is full of bad drivers.

brings us to verse 21 and through 26.

If you want to label this section in your Bible, I’m calling this one, Murder and Anger.

Right?

have heard that it was said of them of old time, thou shalt not kill.

But I say unto you that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in

danger of the judgment.” Here Jesus begins again in the same repeated pattern we’ve seen.

You have heard, but now I say to you.

Now, why can Jesus say, but I say unto you?

Because He’s the one with authority, right?

Look, you’ve heard under the law of Moses that you should not kill, you should not commit

murder is the Greek word there.

But I say unto you, because I’m above Moses, right?

I have more authority than that, which he absolutely did.

He’s not correcting Moses.

He’s correcting the shallow way people had handled Moses.

These are people that were very legalistic.

Remember the Pharisees, the Sadducees?

They were very, very legalistic and they wanted to follow the letter of the law.

They would never necessarily go beyond that.

The Pharisee could absolutely say, I’ve not murdered anybody.

But Jesus says, about anger?

What about contempt?

What about bitterness?

Holding on to anger that you could let go of.

In other words, sin begins deeper than the final outward act.

It reminds me of the word Methusko.

Raise your hand if you’ve ever heard the word Methusko.

I know you two in the back.

The word Methusko is a transitive verb.

It’s Greek, but it’s very much considered like the word thaw, to thaw a piece of chicken.

At what point uh of taking it out of the freezer, setting it on the counter, putting it in

the bowl of water, putting it in the microwave, hit and go,

At what point does the chicken begin to thaw?

As soon as you take it out of the freezer, it’s the start of a process.

So Jesus says, whoever’s angry with his brother without a cause.

I jumped forward in my notes.

if a man carries rage and contempt in his heart.

He can justify the world’s by saying, well, I never killed him.

I never murdered him.

I never went the final.

But Christ is saying, what about anger?

It’s very related back to Methusco, to Thal.

He’s saying don’t start the process.

Anger is where the murder starts from, from one reason or another.

Don’t start the process that leads you down the road to that final act.

Then Jesus presses the need for reconciliation.

If a relationship is broken, for lack of better term, He basically says deal with it.

If relationship is broken, do not pretend to be right with God while refusing to make

things right with your brother.

When Jesus said, whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause, he’s condemning a

specific anger, a sinful anger, selfish anger, hateful anger.

But that also shows that there is such thing as righteous anger and unrighteous anger.

There are times then…

We absolutely should be angry.

It doesn’t mean we have to be angry at the person, but we can be angry at the sin.

The difference is that righteous anger is controlled.

Righteous anger is holy.

And righteous anger is never centered upon one’s self.

Can we have a cause for righteous anger?

Yes.

Should we be angry without a cause just to be mad?

No, that’s just your Sinusso discourse in your heart.

Someone get Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 26 and someone else please get Mark 3 and verse

5 after that.

Ephesians 4.26 and Mark 3 and verse 5.

Be ye angry and sin not.

Is that a command to be angry?

not necessarily, but he’s saying it is okay to be angry.

If we have righteous anger, that is okay.

But there’s a comma there.

It sits there and says, sin not.

All right, Mark three and verse five.

So here we have Christ, righteous anger.

It said because of what?

Because of the hardness of their hearts.

It’s because their motives behind pushing the rules they were, was not righteous.

It was wrong of them to act that way.

And so out of anger, he said, hold out your hand, I’m gonna heal you.

Despite what they say, because he had righteous anger.

As Christians, we need to make sure that when we are angry at people, it’s for the right

reasons.

We don’t need to hold contempt in our heart for things that are unrighteous reasons for

anger.

And sometimes that’s hard whenever somebody just cuts you off in traffic, right?

It is hard.

Yeah, yeah.

My wife will tell you, I had some guy pull out.

I’m pulling out of the parking spot just the other day.

I had just backed up and I start turning my wheel and he wedges himself, comes around the

corner and wedges himself right there within a paint job of my vehicle.

And I just look at him and go, what do you want?

Like I’m trying to pull forward and get out of your, you can’t wait?

I have two more foot to go and I’m out of the way.

And the dude just looks at me like I’m.

You gotta let it go.

And it hurts.

It hurts sometimes, right?

I was fuming about it for the next hour and a half.

I do.

I do, namely this lesson actually.

So that’s what I did.

I had to start reminding myself of the Beatitudes.

I had to start reminding myself of Matthew chapter 5.

And look, at the end of the day, I wish that man well.

I hope that, you know, he gets the help he needs, right?

Driving lessons.

Verses 27 through 30.

We’re gonna move forward.

He comes to adultery and lust.

I’m not sure how much further we’ll be able to get in this because we’re getting fairly

close on the clock.

You have heard it said by them of old time, thou shalt not commit adultery.

So here he is, here’s this pattern again.

You have heard it said, but I say unto you, whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after

her, hath committed adultery.

with her already in His heart.

Here again, Jesus takes the law deeper than the Pharisees ever did.

They were satisfied with just the outward act, right?

The Pharisee could feel justified in his own mind by not doing the final act.

But Jesus shows us that sin starts much earlier.

Remember the example of Methusco.

It begins in the heart.

So, the Lord is teaching us that righteousness is not simply about what our hands have

done,

but also what our heart has welcomed into our lives, what our heart has entertained, and

sometimes even what our heart has desired.

And sometimes those desires need to be unlearned, and it’s not always the easiest.

A man can be clean in the eyes of society, but still stand guilty before God if he allows

lust to take root in his heart.

This is something that’s especially needed in our time.

Now, why?

Because many people, my glasses are getting annoying, because many people excuse inward

lust as though it was harmless.

Well, it’s okay, I’m not acting on it.

So, but even though you’re not acting on it, are you still cultivating something on the

inside if you hold it in?

Yes.

Jesus says the heart matters.

The inward man matters.

The private thoughts, the hearts, the intentions of man matters.

The hidden life matters.

Your reason for doing something, obeying Him, matters.

Now the Bible tells us we are to fear God and keep His commandments.

But Christ says, if you love me, what?

Keep my commandments.

Let’s use our definitive two cents here, right, collectively.

Which would God prefer the reason be that we serve Him?

Out of fear or out of love?

Love.

It’s okay to fear God, we should.

He’s the most powerful being in all of existence.

He created us in the universe.

He has the final say on everything.

But our fear,

I’m sorry, let me start over.

Our love should outgrow our fear.

Early on when we are disciplining young children, they listen because they don’t want to

get a spanking from dad.

As they grow up, they start to love dad.

And they start to listen and obey, no longer out of fear of the hand or the belt or the

nose in the corner, however you choose to discipline, but out of love.

This is what God wants for us, is to grow in our faith and our love for Him.

Going back to the verse where we were talking about, Jesus says that the heart matters.

This is where we need to stress something important.

Jesus is not condemning the mere recognition that a person is attractive.

That’s going to happen.

What He is condemning is the deliberate, lustful looking.

The look that feeds sinful desire.

The look that turns people, a person, into an image to be worshiped.

Now, do mean by an image to be worshiped?

Justin, we don’t worship idols anymore.

How many idols do we carry around in our wallets from day to day?

dollars bills.

Many, many people worship that.

They lust after money, piles of money.

Some lust after women, some lust after cars.

It could be any number of things.

Then Jesus says, “‘If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, cast it from thee.

If thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, cast it from thee.'” His language is severe on

purpose.

He showing us how important this stuff is.

He is not teaching self-mutilation.

He’s not saying if you like looking at that pretty girl, go ahead and gouge your eyes out.

He is teaching radical seriousness.

Sin is so destructive.

Sin is so dangerous.

Because by disobeying our Creator, we can condemn ourselves to eternity in hell.

It has got to be dealt with very decisively, like a surgeon with a scalpel.

Anything that leads us to commit sin needs to be addressed decisively and immediately and

thoroughly.

So the lesson is this, don’t play with sin.

Do not pet temptation.

Don’t sit there and say, well, it’s okay if I watch this, it’s a…

I the saying is a slippery slope.

It’s slicker than you think.

Don’t make excuses for lust.

Don’t try to manage it while keeping it alive.

If something in your life is feeding a sinful desire, it needs to go.

If Christ is not in it, neither do we need to be in it.

Jesus is teaching us that it is better to lose something precious in this life.

than to lose our soul eternity in hell.

The battle with lust is not won when the hand is restrained.

It is won when the heart has surrendered to God.

And we’ll go ahead and leave it there, and we will pick up next time on verses 31 through

32, where we will talk about divorce and marriage.

I’m sure everybody is looking forward to that one.

Thank you for