Mark 9 (Lesson 3) – Aaron Cozort – 09-24-2025

In Admonition Podcast, authority of Christ, demon possession, faith, fasting, healing, Humility, Keywords Mark 9, prayer, servanthood, spiritual discipline by Aaron Cozort

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Take your Bibles, if you will, and open them to Mark chapter 9.

Tommy, I did a little messing with the sound system trying to get the nursery going back

on the speakers again and so I may be a little volume wise a little off where I need to

be.

just do whatever you need to do back there.

Mark chapter 9.

Alright, let’s begin with a word of prayer and then we’ll get into our study.

Our gracious Lord, Father of all mankind, giver of all good and perfect gifts, Father of

lights, we are grateful for your Son who came and offered Himself as a sacrifice on the

cross for our sins, that we might have the hope of eternal life, that we might have

redemption and justification, sanctification through the Spirit, that we might be able to

walk before you in holiness and righteousness, not our own.

but His.

Lord, we pray for those in this congregation.

May they set their path to follow the word that you have given to us, to follow the

scriptures, to be obedient to your truth.

May they live daily bearing their own cross as Christ has instructed us here in the book

of Mark.

May we be diligent as we strive to reach the lost.

to find those who are willing to open their hearts and their minds to hear the word of God

and be receptive to the truth that you have placed in front of us.

truly we know that we are sanctified by your word and your word is truth.

We pray that you will be with us as we speak the truth, uphold the truth, and always

strive to live in accordance with that truth.

All this we pray and ask in Jesus’ name, amen.

In Mark chapter 9, uh Jesus has interacted with the uh father of the boy who has the

spirit, and we’re around verse 25 uh when Jesus saw that the people came running together.

He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it,

deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more.” I was

thinking about something and I thought it’d be a good question to ask.

Why is it that just in your thoughts and opinion studying scripture, why is it that these

spirits that, you know, we’re dealing in a time of demon possession, why is it these

spirits

are creating these sort of maladies.

Someone’s deaf, someone’s dumb, can’t speak, someone is, uh you know, having uh seizures

or seizure-like events going on.

Why is it that the demons are creating those type of scenarios and yet we believe, based

upon scripture, that

when we see someone having those type of scenarios today, it’s not a result of demon

possession.

So why is it that they saw that and said it was demon possession then, but we see a

similar symptom and we say not demon possession?

I thought so.

That’s why I asked it.

So Philip is on the side of there’s a few people walking around who are demon possessed

today and he knows them.

ah

Okay, let me take you down a thought process because that’s a worthwhile answer.

We don’t have, as it were, visibility into the spiritual world to be able to say

definitively what’s going on inside of a person, right?

There’s no uh magical little set of glasses that we suddenly put on and we can see demons

or angels uh in the physical world.

But I think there’s another train of thought that we need to entertain in answering the

question.

Because what we sometimes fail to do when someone asks us questions is step back and ask,

are we asking the right question?

If you were to look at it this way and answer this set of questions, number one, were

there people who had the maladies of being blind or being deaf or being lame or having

seizures or having this type of scenario, this type of physical symptom, were there those

who existed with those maladies prior to the first century?

and the New Testament.

Yes.

Is there any, so part of the problem we have is once revelation ceased, once we no longer

have word from God, this is what this is, we have an absence of information, right?

We have only what we can determine and tell from our own eyes, from our own minds.

So bringing up Eric’s point, if we can’t tell,

how would we know?

But if instead of coming forward from the first century, we reverse direction and go

backwards from the first century, the question should be asked then, where in the Old

Testament do we see any examples of physical maladies being connected to demon possession?

And the answer is nowhere.

There are individuals with physical maladies, there are individuals who suffer as a result

of those maladies, yet nowhere in all of the Old Testament are any of those maladies

ascribed to demon possession.

It isn’t until the first century, while Jesus is walking the earth, while the Holy Spirit

is given through the gifts of the miraculous so that these miraculous deeds could actually

glorify God.

It is only in that sliver of time in all human history where God specifically draws out

demon possession as being something that is going on.

Not anywhere in the Old Testament, not anywhere in the New Testament.

Now, and I’ll get to the comment in a moment.

Do we find in the Old Testament God specifically drawing out that angels

were active in circumstances in the Old Testament.

Absolutely.

There are a number of times that heavenly beings, spiritual beings, appear to different

prophets.

There’s the individual who appears as a soldier of the Lord’s host that appeared to Joshua

outside the city.

There’s numerous occasions when Abraham is entertaining the three strangers and he doesn’t

know who they are and ultimately we’re

told through scripture that it was actually God himself and two angels, those angels being

sent on to Sodom and Gomorrah, we have an abundance of scenarios in the Old Testament

where God says, are angels interacting with humanity and humanity becomes aware of it

through revelation or through the action of the angel, okay?

So, it’s not as though God

has no discussion of demons or angels all the way up until the first century and now

suddenly there is, like somehow the doctrine changed or something, right?

That’s not what’s happening.

And yet, all through the Old Testament, you have Satan on occasion interacting with

humanity, right?

Genesis chapter 3, Satan talks to Eve.

But Eve is aware of who’s talking to her.

Eve knows that this uh serpent is more than just uh a creature that walks around.

So I point all of that out to say you have 4,000 years of history in which God could have

attributed all physical maladies to demon possession and he doesn’t.

It is only during the first century, during the time of the miraculous gifts, that demon

possession is connected to these physical maladies.

But let me add this.

Are all physical maladies that Jesus and the apostles interact with attributed to demon

possession?

No.

We have numerous people who are just simply blind.

And as a result of their blindness,

They need to be healed, but their malady is simply physical.

There are individuals who are deaf, and their issue is simply physical.

So even in the New Testament, in the time of the miraculous, you have a divergence and a

separation between physical maladies caused by demon possession and physical maladies that

were just normal.

physical maladies.

Here’s the individual who was born blind.

Well, what demon possession occurred for him to be born blind?

None.

He was simply born blind.

Okay, now, comment.

Okay.

Correct.

as you piece through this, the first thing you, when you’re trying to answer a question,

especially a random question somebody throws at you from the Bible, don’t begin with their

question.

Begin with what you know.

Begin with what Scripture says.

Like, all right, if we were going to try and answer the question, we first begin with,

here’s what we know, here’s what we may know, here’s what we

don’t know.

Now, how do those things bear on the question?

And to the point that, by the way, you see in the occasion when Jesus sends the legion of

demons into the swine, the demons knew that their ability to possess those on earth was a

limited time scenario.

because they ask Jesus, you come here to persecute us before our time?

uh As far as we know, we still have access to these humans.

So why are you interfering with our allowance, as it were, uh to do this?

So there’s inklings from the text that even the demons were aware.

This was not a permanent scenario.

And it had not been a permanent scenario prior to that point.

Therefore, now we can look at the question of what about physical maladies today and why

did demons use the physical maladies?

May I suggest one least idea?

Yeah, go ahead, Michael.

think it was because.

So, of that and the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit given at the hand of Christ

through the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles and then the laying on of the

Apostles hands to the church.

Those actions made it possible to demonstrate that Christ had authority not just over

physical or fleshly matters.

but that Christ had authority over spiritual matters and spiritual beings and physical

earthly beings.

So by nature of Christ being on the earth at this occasion as these things are going on,

it is a demonstration of his authority and of his power that could be demonstrated very

few other ways.

uh

in the occasion and the time period of the first century, you have a demonstration of the

authority and a confirmation of the word that was preached, which miracles always are.

They’re a confirmation of the word.

But the second aspect concerning physical maladies is if the demon is going to somehow

control the person, there’s only so many things you could do to a human body.

There’s only, I mean, we come up with a whole lot of diseases that people can have, but

there’s only so many different symptoms that you can cause to exist in a person if you’re

trying to torment them and control them.

And so the demons, by the way, it seems to also be clear that while the demons had some

level of control, they didn’t have complete control, right?

There was the child in this occasion who sometimes was

fine, and then sometimes the demon would exert control over and he’d spazz them and he’d

throw himself in the fire.

All of these things would occur.

They didn’t happen every moment of the day.

They occurred at different points in time as a result of the action of the demon.

So the point that we’re drawing out as we just think about that question, well, wait a

minute, why should we not assume physical maladies are the result of demon possession

today is because there’s no

evidence for it.

Just the same way there’s no evidence for the continuation of the miraculous gifts of the

Holy Spirit in any way, shape, or form after the first century.

There’s not one example nor one statement, and it’s exactly to the contrary of what

Scripture says, to believe that God continued handing out the ability to perform miracles.

If

that is the case, then as we look at the opposite side, not the miraculous side, but the

demon possession side or the activity of the spiritual beings under Satan’s control, you

have there the same thing.

Everything of scripture indicates that that did not continue, that it was for a limited

period of time, it didn’t exist beforehand, it didn’t exist afterward, and there’s again,

no evidence.

Now, people will say, well, wait a minute, what about this person that was healed over

here or this, you know, everybody’s seen this movie or that movie about demon possession.

Amazingly, all of these things seem to happen far off places somewhere in unconfirmed uh

scenarios with an entirely biased set of witnesses.

Just the same way, if you pay close attention to it, all of the televangelist healers

scenarios occur.

will it happen right there on stage in front of her?

Yeah, where did the person come from?

What’s the documentation of their illness and where’s the proof?

There’s been a long standing tradition, or least there was for years, some within the body

of Christ where they would offer a reward if…

If you can visit the local cemetery and call up someone out of the grave from the local

cemetery who’s been confirmed to be dead for an extended period of time, we’ll pay you

this sum of money.

Well, if you had the power to raise the dead, which some of them claim they do, seemed

like an easy way to make some money.

Nobody ever takes him up on it.

Wonder why?

Now, two things to just glean from this is number one, when someone asks you a Bible

question, don’t assume they’re asking the right question.

Don’t assume that the way they’re asking it is the right way to ask the question.

That doesn’t mean you have to be rude about it, but always redirect them to what do we

know?

If we’re going to have a Bible discussion, let’s not have it about what we think, let’s

have it about what we know to be the case.

Once we can discuss what we know, then we can talk about what we think we know, then we

can talk about what we don’t know, and that ought to be a pretty short conversation

because there’s no sense talking about a whole lot of things that we don’t know.

now.

As Jesus sees the people come running, He rebuked the unclean spirit saying, Death and

dumb spirit, I command you come out of him and enter him no more.

Notice Jesus is very explicit to this spirit.

Not only are you going to come out, you’re not going to do what?

Come back.

Off limits!

Then the Spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him.

And he became as one dead, so that many said, He is dead.

But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.

And when he had come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, why could we not

cast it out?

So the event occurs different than some other occasions where uh

evil spirit or an unclean spirit is cast out.

This one causes the individual to be convulsed, they fall to the ground, they’re basically

laying there as dead.

So, apparently, laying there long enough that some surmise that they are dead.

But Jesus goes over, lifts the individual up, and they continue on.

ah Jesus is going to go into the house, as you often see recorded, you know, these events

would occur quite often.

People would be bringing individuals to Jesus who had maladies, who had difficulties, who

had ailments, who had…

uh

uh evil spirits and they would bring them to Jesus.

Jesus would meet with them on a shoreline or on a mountain or outside of a house because

there wasn’t room for all of these people indoor anywhere uh in most of the places that

Jesus would go.

But then Jesus would go into the house and there would be some level of privacy.

So his disciples came and asked him privately, why could we not cast it out?

They’re trying to understand because they’ve cast out demons before.

You read that back when Jesus sent out the 12 and sent out the 70 that they had power over

evil spirits, that they commanded them and they came out, they healed people, so they’re

trying to figure out why could we not accomplish that this time?

So he said to them, this kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.

Why do you think Jesus says that?

Let’s ask it this way.

Who’s praying and who’s fasting?

Okay?

Is it, we’ll do it in category.

Is it the person who has the demon possession?

Yes or no?

Not likely, because if they’re possessed by a demon, they’re going to have very little

control over their praying and their fasting.

Okay, so it’s probably not them.

Now, when Jesus interacted with the Father, notice, let’s go back, when Jesus is

confronted by him, he answered him and said, oh, faithless generation, how long shall I be

with you?

How long shall I bear with you?

Bring him to me.

and they brought him to him, they brought the child to Jesus, and when he saw him,

immediately the Spirit convulsed him and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at

the mouth.

So he asked his father, how long has it been happening to him?

He said, from childhood.

And often he has thrown himself both into the fire and into the water to destroy him, but

if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.

Jesus said to him, if you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.

When Jesus confronts the situation, whose faith does He establish as the determining

factor?

The Father’s.

But spend some time with your thoughts on that.

Is it entirely based upon the Father’s faith because the other side of the equation,

Jesus, has no limit on His power or authority?

And if the apostles are on the other side of the equation instead of Jesus, do they have

limits on their power and their authority?

Yes, they do.

Okay?

When it’s one person and God, the only person who potentially has a potential or who has

the potential of falling short is the person, not God.

Because the only two in the scenario are person and God.

There’s no other dependencies there.

So, in a scenario where it’s the man and Jesus, the only one with the potential of falling

short is the man.

Not gonna be Jesus.

Is there any indication in the text that Jesus needed to pray and fast in order to command

the demon to come out?

No.

Okay, so let’s go through the scenario again.

You’ve got the one who’s demon possessed, the one who brings him who is desiring for him

to be healed, and the person doing the healing.

Jesus tells the one who brought him his faith is a part of the equation.

But this man says, had complete confidence.

I believe you could do it.

That’s why I brought him.

There’s no doubt in the man, the Father’s mind that Jesus can do this.

His only quandary is, why couldn’t the apostles do it?

So if it’s not the person being healed and the father already had full belief and

confidence, then who is the party that failed?

the apostles.

Because they’re not God.

They’re not God in the flesh.

They have the potential for failure.

They have a limitation of authority.

And even the text makes it clear because notice the question, verse 28, why could we not

cast it out?

They didn’t come to Jesus and say,

Why did the father have so much more faith when you were doing it than when we were doing

it?

That wasn’t the question.

The question was, why couldn’t we do it?

Why is there a difference in the authority that you have and the authority that we have,

or how do we understand the difference?

So when Jesus says this kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting, but Jesus did

not pray and did not fast in order to cast them out, then whose prayer and whose fasting

is under consideration?

Because he doesn’t tell the Father to pray and fast, he tells the Father to believe.

This would be the apostles, okay?

Now we’re getting into why couldn’t they do it?

So, let’s examine the situation again.

Did anything change about the person who needed to be, have the demon cast out, whether it

was Jesus or the apostles?

No.

Was there any difference in the state of the belief of the Father, whether it was the

apostles or whether it was Jesus?

No.

So now we’re down to Jesus and the apostles.

Jesus succeeded, he has authority over all flesh.

all over heaven and earth, okay?

So that one’s pretty easy.

He didn’t need to pray, he didn’t need to fast, he commanded the spirit to come out.

So if we identify that it is the prayer and the fasting of the apostles that was the

problem, now we’re beginning to ask a different question.

Let’s ask it this way, whose authority was going to cast the demon out no matter whether

Jesus did it or whether the apostles did it?

God’s authority.

It was the authority of God that would cause the demon to come out.

Jesus spoke and the authority was there.

When Jesus attributes prayer and fasting to being part of the reason they failed, Jesus is

establishing that their will and their request and their authority were not in alignment

with God’s.

and therefore the prayer and the fasting would have been for the benefit of aligning

themselves with God.

Not aligning, A-L-L-E-Y, aligning, L-I-G-N, aligning themselves with God.

Jesus is saying there’s a separation between you and God.

and you need to fix it.

You need to focus on why is it that you are not aligned with God and he tells them that

two spiritual disciplines that were the solution for that were praying to God, that is

speaking to God, and fasting.

What is fasting all about?

What is the purpose behind it?

There’s a number of different ones mentioned in Scripture.

What are they?

First, maybe we should ask, what is fasting?

All right, fasting is withholding food and or drink depending, know, Jesus fasted both

food and uh liquids for a period of time on occasion and just simply food on another

occasion.

So you have the withholding of eating and consuming things, okay?

Why would someone fast from a, we’ll just ask it, from a.

physical medical perspective.

Anybody ever had to go on a fast for 12 hours or 24 hours before a procedure or something?

There’s a lot of different reasons medically why someone may fast or say, you’ve got this

procedure at eight o’clock tomorrow morning, so eight o’clock morning four, cut it off.

Or eight o’clock the night before, no more.

There’s medical, physical reasons why someone might fast, but the Bible’s not really

discussing it in a medical,

hey, this is the great latest diet fad, so you should consider this.

No, no, no, that’s not what is under discussion.

Are there occasions where individuals fasted because of sadness and mourning?

Yes.

So fasting in the Old Testament on numerous occasions was tied to the grieving process.

If you’ve been around those who’ve lost loved ones,

You find that invariably in America, what we do is we bring a ton of food and they’re

interested in eating none of it because they’re grieving.

But we would hate for them to starve while they’re grieving.

So we bring them food and we don’t know what else to do.

So we bring them more food.

And they might have friends and family over who aren’t grieving nearly as bad, and those

people need to eat.

So we’re keeping them from having to make food while they’re grieving.

But the point is, there are times that people don’t eat because of sorrow or grief.

But then scripture also discusses fasting from a spiritual discipline perspective.

This is the type of fasting that Jesus was doing

in the wilderness.

This is the type of fasting that we read about elsewhere in scripture.

This is the type of fasting that Jesus condemns the Pharisees for participating in, but

then showing themselves physically to be fasting so they could be considered praiseworthy

by the crowd.

Jesus said, if you’re fasting and it is for spiritual purposes, it is between you and God.

It’s not you

cause yourself to look like you’re really almost nearing the point of death.

You don’t walk around with your hair disheveled and your self unwashen or anything like

that just because you haven’t eaten.

Just so people go, he must be, he might be a number of days into that fast.

Yeah, he’s really, there you go.

Man, that guy’s spiritual right there.

Jesus said, no, if you’re going to fast, do it privately.

Jesus didn’t condemn the practice, he condemned using the practice to be seen as

righteous.

So the practice is this.

The practice is withholding food for the purpose of clarity and focus on a spiritual

matter.

if you’re hungry.

It’s hard to focus.

But if every time you’re hungry and your body reminds you you’re hungry and you’re

intentionally hungry, it reminds you why you’re hungry.

So, if you say, know what, I really need to focus on this spiritual issue, but you just go

about your day, are you more likely to forget to focus on the spiritual issue?

Because you’re just going about your normal process?

Well, if you’re not eating, there’s a continual reminder day after day for however long

that fast is that you’re not eating for a reason.

And there’s actually good evidence that once you get past the initial hunger cravings,

there’s benefits towards additional focus of mind when your body finally stops getting in

the way and interrupting every thought that you have with, hey, let’s eat again.

um I’m not a doctor and I’m not giving any medical advice here as to how diabetics would

get around that, but I will say this, um when you look at it, it’s important to realize

fasting is never commanded anywhere in Scripture.

There’s not a single instance of a fast being a command in Scripture unless it is in a

scenario where

like this one, Jesus is saying, you’re going to accomplish this, it’s going to require

this of you.

ah So there’s not like a blanket command, everyone needs to fast three days a year or

anything like that.

But Jesus is pointing out that their spiritual discipline and as a result of that

understanding, their alignment with God,

is the reason why God didn’t do what they asked for.

So he’s telling them, it’s not God that needs to change, it’s you.

You need to get into a scenario with God that God will actually do what you ask for when

you ask for him to do it.

So as you examine the text, Jesus isn’t saying, you know what, there’s a special

procedure.

If you’re going to get this type of demon to come out,

You’re gonna pray for an hour.

You’re gonna fast for six hours.

You’re gonna pray for another hour.

You’re gonna faster He’s not giving them a procedure He’s telling them the problem and the

problem was their alignment with God If you go back into Old Testament texts like Nehemiah

Daniel many other Old Testament texts with both prophets and others David’s a great

example of this

over and over and over again in the lives of those individuals, they went in prayer to God

seeking to know what God’s will was.

What they should do in order to meet and achieve God’s will in a situation.

My understanding of this text is Jesus is saying, kind of like James chapter four,

you didn’t receive because you asked to miss.

You thought you could cast out the demon and you can’t.

God can, but God didn’t honor your request because of you and not the demon.

Okay?

So that’s at least my understanding of the text.

Hopefully that helps or draws out some things that you may not have thought about.

Here in verse 30,

We read, then they departed from there and passed through Galilee, and he did not want

anyone to know it.

For he taught his disciples and said to them, this occasion, much like the occasion where

they went off into the region of Tyre, Jesus is trying to find time to dedicate to

teaching his disciples.

But every time the crowd comes, every time the multitudes arrive, he can’t teach the

disciples because

of all of the people that are present.

So Jesus is going through Galilee and he’s trying to avoid being discovered and someone

saying, hey, Jesus is here, because he’s trying to teach the disciples.

He taught his disciples and said to them, verse 31, the son of man is being betrayed into

the hands of men and they will kill him.

And after he is killed, he will rise the third day.” But they did not understand this,

saying, and were afraid to ask him.

Jesus will use the reference the Son of Man.

Anybody know which Old Testament prophet that phrase comes from?

comes from Ezekiel.

Ezekiel uses the phrase son of man numerous times in Ezekiel’s prophecies.

And Jesus utilizes that description to make it very clear that he was human.

What if he had said, think about it practically speaking, what if he had said, the Son of

God is being betrayed into the hands of men and they will kill him?

What would be wrong with that statement?

You, go ahead Philip, say it You can’t kill God.

You can’t kill the Son of God.

Not in His Godhood.

Not as deity.

So Jesus emphasizes His being as a human to emphasize that this was going to happen to

Him.

But to use a phrase different than that would be to ascribe something that would simply

not be possible.

You can’t kill God.

They didn’t kill God.

They killed Christ in the flesh.

They could not touch the Spirit.

By the way, that’s not something we should be surprised about because Jesus tells us, do

not fear Him who can destroy the body.

Rather fear Him who can destroy both body and soul in hell.

It’s not

strange for us to question whether or not man can touch the spirit or destroy the spirit

or kill the spirit.

Jesus said flat out, no they can’t touch it.

Not mine and not anybody else’s, but God can.

So the discussion here is of the flesh and a fleshly death, but they did not understand

this saying, and were afraid to ask him.

One of the things that

leaders struggle with is those who they are leading who won’t actually speak up.

They won’t actually say what’s going on.

They won’t actually say what they’re thinking and instead of learning and instead of

providing an opportunity to learn, they clam up and nobody learns.

That’s what happens with the disciples.

All of them are thinking

this and none of them are saying a word about it.

Yeah, so uh there are a number of texts that make it quite clear it was not easy to be

Jesus’ uh Quote unquote measuring up was impossible.

Go ahead.

One, when Matthew gives the genealogy of Christ, man, there’s some real scandals in that

genealogy.

mean, you look at prostitutes, thieves, I mean, it was all.

But I think he was doing that to make us realize more that Jesus was flesh and blood.

You know, bringing…

more down the earth.

I mean, you know what I’m saying?

Yeah.

He had a family tree and the ancestors just like everybody else did.

So we’ll get just a couple more verses in here and then we’ll close.

Verse 33, then he came to Capernaum and when he was in the house he asked them, what was

it you disputed among yourselves on the road?

So we don’t have the discussion, we don’t have the dispute recorded, we have Jesus asking

about the dispute.

So they were traveling and there’s a discussion going on, but they kept silent.

For on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest.

And he sat down, called the 12 and said to them, if anyone desires to be first, he shall

be last of all and servant of all.

Then he took a little child and set him in the midst of them.

And when he had taken him in his arms, he said to them, Whoever receives one of these

little children in my name receives me.

And whoever receives me receives not me, but him who sent me.” Jesus is trying to teach

and prepare the disciples.

And the first principle that he establishes with them is that if you desire to be the

greatest, if you desire to be first in his kingdom, you’re going to have to not do it

man’s way.

man’s way of being first, man’s way of being greatest is I’m gonna be better than

everybody, I’m gonna exceed everybody, I’m gonna do better than everybody, I’m gonna be

the first in line, I’m going to be the one who achieves more, I’m going to…

Jesus says, nope, nope, that’s not how it works.

What did Jesus say was the attribute of the one who would be first in the kingdom of

heaven?

All right, he would be last and he would be servant of all.

Usually the status of greatest means I’m going to be sitting in a big chair, y’all are

going to be serving.

You think about going all the way back to the days of Joseph.

And what was the dream?

Joseph saw his sheaf standing up and all the others bowing down.

Joseph saw himself standing up and all the stars and the moon and the sun and the moon

bowing down.

All right, there’s the one who’s great and then there’s the servants.

Jesus says, no, no, no, no, no, you flip that over.

The one who’s the greatest is the servant of not a few, not a select one group.

but all, how is that demonstrated in the life of Jesus?

All right, one example in the private scenario, him washing the apostles feet there in the

uh Dine of the Betrayal.

What about at a grander scope of all humanity?

How did Jesus become servant of all?

He died.

He sacrificed himself.

He became the one who paid the price for everybody.

Turn to Romans chapter 5.

Romans chapter five verses six through nine, we’ll close with this.

For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

Not because of his lack of strength, but ours.

For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet perhaps for a good man someone would

even dare to die.

But God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were still sinners,

Christ died for us.

Much more than having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath

through Him.” Paul makes it clear in his discussion concerning the sacrifice of Christ

that he sacrificed himself not for a select group, not for those, as Calvinists believe,

who were already determined to be saved.

He sacrificed himself for

everyone.

Jesus establishes not just His teaching on the first shall be last and servant of all, but

also demonstrated it in going to the cross and showing the apostles what it really meant

to be servant of all.

Okay, thank you for your attention.

Lessons On A Good Life From Dorcas – Aaron Cozort – 10-05-2025

In Acts, Admonition Podcast, charity, Christian teachings, conversion, evangelism, faith, good life, Keywords Dorcas, purpose, Tabitha by Aaron Cozort

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Aaron Cozort (00:01)

Good afternoon.

We are going to do something a little bit different this afternoon ⁓ because we’re going to have a little bit of an extended evangelism training after the closing prayer. And so as a result of that, we’re going to have a short lesson. Now, if my wife were here, she’d be laughing already. ⁓ But take your Bibles, if you will, and open them to the book of Acts.

And we’re going to notice the end of Acts chapter 9 and the life as we have record of it in scripture of Dorcas. Dorcas who was also known as Tabitha. We’re going to glean some lessons on a good life from Dorcas. So as we go through this passage, we will notice these lessons, though we will be brief with them.

to give us some extended time at the end. First thing that we notice in Acts chapter 9 verse 36 is that a good life creates fullness and purpose. We’re introduced to Tabitha in Acts chapter 9 verse 36. At Joppa there was a certain disciple named Tabitha, which is translated Dorcas.

This woman was full of good works and charitable deeds, which she did. Three things that you learn about Tabitha here in this passage about Dorcas is number one, she was a disciple. This is someone who had heard the gospel, was one who believed that Jesus Christ was the Son of God. She was one who had repented of her sins and confessed the name of Christ and was immersed in water for the remission of her sins.

You can say, Aaron, how do you know that she did all that? Because she was a disciple. Because you can’t be a disciple unless you’ve done all of that. So the text tells us she was a disciple. She was one who had been obedient to the gospel call of Jesus Christ. But also notice that this woman was one who was full of good works. We’re going to notice this idea of a good life.

Dorcas was one who lived a good life. Number one, she was obedient to God. Number two, she lived a life that created fullness and purpose, for she was continually involved in good works and charitable deeds throughout her life. But, verse 37, we also learn from Dorcas that a good life ends in death.

You know, sometimes people imagine if they live a certain life, if they live good enough, if they’re obedient to God, if they’re a child of God, then all the negative things of life will just poof, suddenly disappear and they’ll never have to deal with them. But that’s not the way the world actually works. Nor is it what God promised us. We read verse 37, but it happened in those days that she became sick and died. You know, good people also suffer.

Good people who are active in good works suffer. Good people who are Christians, who are active in good works, who are busy in those works suffer. And in her case, she got sick and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. Verse 38, and since Lydda was near Joppa and the disciples had heard that Peter was there,

They sent two men to him, imploring him not to delay in coming to them.” So verse 38, you’ll notice as we learn an additional lesson here, and that is that a good life builds good will and willingness among others to act. Here’s a woman who’s died, and yet in the fact that she has already died, there are still people willing to act on her behalf, even though she’s dead.

because of the life that she lived. Notice verse 39, then Peter arose and went with them. When he had come, they brought him to the upper room and all the widows stood by him weeping, showing the tunics and the garments which Dorcas had made while she was with them. Not only did the life of Dorcas, the good life that she lived, move these others who are disciples most likely to go to Lydda to find

or sorry, go to, yeah, to go to Lydda to find Peter and to bring him so that he might be able to aid them in some way with this situation. But when Peter arrives, here are the widows that Dorcas had spent her time and her energy and her effort striving to help. And they’re there waiting to show this apostle.

all the things that she had done for them, all the garments that she had made on their behalf. A good life builds good will and a willingness among others to act.

You know, there’s some principles in life that come from Scripture that we need to challenge ourselves to live out, and one of them is that those who do not give do not receive. Those who do not plant do not reap a harvest. And we need to be conscious of the fact that as we go through our daily lives, we are building our future.

We are building the opportunity in our future for others to do good to us if we have done good to them. Now we should never, absolutely never do good to others for the exclusive purpose of having good done to us. But we always ought to remember that when we act, we are planting seeds for the future. And there is a harvest that will come.

So if all we plant is wrath, frustration, difficulty, anger, annoyance, and bad attitudes, you can imagine the harvest. It’s going to produce what was planted. But then consider verse 39, a good life bears fruit.

These widows were waiting to show Peter the fruit of the life of Dorcas because of the impact that Dorcas had made in their lives. You look at someone who is a Christian, who is living out what God teaches from the scriptures as to how we are to live, and you will never find

someone who doesn’t produce fruit. Because the word of God produces fruit. And the word of God lived out in the lives of those who are obedient to God produces fruit. A good life bears fruit. But then consider verses 40 and 41. A good life demonstrates that it is God who makes the difference. Verse 40, but Peter put them all out.

and knelt down and prayed. And turning to the body, he said, Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up. Then he gave her his hand and lifted her up, and when he had called the saints and widows, he presented her alive.”

Peter arrives there in the house where she’s been laid. Peter’s immediately shown by these widows all the good things that Tabitha had done.

And Peter says, go away. Get out. Everybody out.

And it wasn’t because Peter had some strange potion in his pocket. It wasn’t because Peter had some power up his sleeve. Peter simply relied on God. Peter sat down or knelt down and prayed. Peter by himself could not have affected the situation. Peter, as a matter of fact,

didn’t even per se do anything to affect the situation except pray. But we’re reminded that Jesus told the apostles that after he departed, whatever they asked for in his name, God would do. Peter prayed that Dorcas be brought back to life and she was.

A good life demonstrates that it is God who makes the difference. A note here, just worthy of consideration, just how certain words are used. is not necessarily part of the lesson, but this one’s free. The word saint has already been used twice. Don’t ever be confused. Saints aren’t people who have been dead for 400 years who got voted on by a church to be saints.

are Christians who are alive, because Christians who were alive ran to Peter to go get Peter. And Christians who were alive were standing outside waiting to be let in to talk to Dorcas. That’s who saints are, they’re Christians. But then notice as well, verse 42, a good life combined with God’s demonstration of authority can convert souls.

You notice verse 42, and it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed on the Lord. Now, we know from other passages, for instance, the rich man in Lazarus, where the rich man says to Abraham, if you’ll just send Lazarus back, and if Lazarus is raised from the dead, then my brothers will believe and they won’t come to this place of torment where I am. And Abraham said, they have the prophets.

Let them hear them.

But if one was raised from the dead, they wouldn’t hear. Abraham realized that it’s not the miracle that makes the difference. It is the demonstration of God’s authority and someone who is willing to bow to that authority. And that authority is equally demonstrated right here. We don’t need to witness a miracle to know whether or not we should obey God.

We don’t need to witness a miracle in order to be saved. We simply need to recognize, open our minds and our hearts to the demonstration of God’s authority and allow that to convert our heart, our mind, our soul, and our life to Him.

individuals when they witnessed and when they heard about what had happened with Dorcas, about the power of God and the glory of God, were converted. We need to learn that a good life combined with God’s demonstration of authority can convert souls. We’re also taught over in Peter that there are times where the life of a woman

lived out in the godly manner that she lives can convert a husband without ever saying a word. There is great power in the life lived out in faithfulness to God. So as you’re thinking about a good life, I encourage you to think about the lessons of a good life that Dorcas teaches us. That a good life creates fullness and purpose.

So many people in life that you will meet, they are striving every day to achieve something that is meaningless and empty. And they have no idea what a good life really is. They have no idea what purpose and meaning really are. But a good life creates that. A good life gets people prepared for death. Because death’s coming, no matter how you live. A good life will build good will.

A good life will bear fruit. A good life will understand at all points and times that it is God that makes the difference. And a good life will find ways to convert souls. If you’re here this evening and you have need of the invitation of Jesus Christ to put Christ on in baptism to become a part of the disciples of Christ, those who are obedient to His will and faithful to Him.

until the end of this life. You have that opportunity this afternoon. If you lived a life that perhaps at one time could be described as good and now perhaps it’s not, there’s an opportunity to change. And if you need to repent, that opportunity is now. If you have need of the invitation, why not come as we stand?

Man’s Problems God’s Solutions – Aaron Cozort – Dec 7, 2025 011

In Admonition Podcast, Christ, community, cultural issues, evangelism, hope, Keywords Gospel, loneliness, repentance, Salvation, separation from God by Aaron Cozort

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all throughout this year.

and especially since April of this year, we have been working on growing the evangelistic

work of this congregation.

We have reached out to people through cards.

We have visited people’s homes.

We have had one-on-one meals with people.

We have had personal Bible studies with individuals.

We have had a number of precious souls brought to Christ as a result of that work.

But I was recently reminded by a friend.

that as you consider the gospel, not everyone approaches hearing the gospel for the same

reason.

As we examine our lives, as we look at the things that we are going through, we often

approach the Gospel for a number of different reasons, looking for a solution to one of

numerous problems that face the world and that face our very lives.

So I want to take

a brief overview this morning of some of the problems that the gospel addresses through

God’s solution to man’s problems.

Not everyone has the same problems, not everyone is aware of all of the problems that they

face, and yet

The gospel in God’s omniscience, in God’s plan for humanity’s redemption has solved all of

these problems and I will tell you I didn’t run out of problems to list.

I simply knew the limits of our time.

So here’s twelve, or eleven, of those problems.

Man’s problems.

God’s singular solution.

Consider

that one of the things that sometimes brings people to the gospel, sometimes is drawing

their mind towards the reality of life is the brevity of life.

That we all one day will face a time when our life will be over.

In Hebrews chapter 11, or Hebrews chapter 9 verse 27 rather, we are told it is appointed

unto men once to die.

We all have a day that we will face if we live long enough, if Christ awaits or delays

long enough so that we do face it, a day when we will leave this life.

Lazarus faced that scenario in John chapter 11.

word was sent to Jesus as he was away from the place where Mary, Martha, and Lazarus lived

that Lazarus had become sick.

And Jesus tarried another couple of days after receiving word and then he tells his

apostles there in chapter 11 verse 11 that it’s time to go because Lazarus is sleeping and

they say, well if he’s sleeping that’s good, he’s recovering.

Jesus says, no he’s dead.

And so Jesus and the apostles begin to journey back to where Lazarus was.

And as he arrives we read verse 17, And so when Jesus came, he found that he had already

been in the tomb four days.

Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away, and many of the Jews had joined the

women around Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother.

Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him.

But Mary was sitting in the house.

Now Martha said to Jesus, Lord if you had been here my brother would not have died.

Martha had such great confidence in the power and the authority of Christ that the power

and the authority of Christ would have been sufficient in his very presence that he could

have stopped her brother from dying.

And she was not questioning that, she was fully confident of it.

But notice what Jesus said, but even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will

give you.

Jesus said to her, your brother will rise again.

Martha said to him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.

Not only was she confident that Christ could do something about Lazarus dying when he did,

she was confident that there was coming a day where all who were in the grave would hear

his voice and come forth.

She says, I know that there’s a day coming where all will be those who will be obedient to

your command to rise.

Jesus said to her, am the resurrection and the life.

He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live.

And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.

Do you believe this?

Some individuals face the reality as they consider their own lives that life is brief, it

is but a time, and they need to be prepared for that life to be over.

And God, in the Scripture, in the Gospel, in the life of His Son, provided the solution to

man’s problem of the brevity of life.

Not that we would all continue to live forever on this earth, but that in His authority,

the resurrection is assured.

But then consider as well that we also find over in Hebrews chapter 6,

that God’s solution addresses man’s problem of a hopeless life.

Sometimes in your interactions with people, you will come across individuals because of

the circumstances they’ve lived through, because of the situation they’re currently

enduring, because of the time or the circumstance of their life where they have lost all

hope.

Yet, sadly, the reality is many who believe they have hope have no hope.

And yet the Scriptures and the Gospel address this problem in Hebrews chapter 6.

The Hebrew writer will address why a Christian, why someone who is obedient to the Gospel

has hope.

Hebrews chapter 6 we read beginning in verse 13,

As the Hebrew writer addresses these Jewish Christians he says, for when God made a

promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself, saying,

Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.

And so after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.

For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of

all dispute.

Thus God determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of

his counsel confirmed it by an oath that by two immutable things in which it is impossible

for God to lie we might have a strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold of

the hope set before us.

The Hebrew writer as he’s picturing the relationship and the promises and the covenant

that God made with Abraham said that God

took that covenant.

He took that promise and knowing humanity, knowing the way that we work, if we say, hey, I

promise I’m going to do that, and then we swear an oath that we will do the thing that we

promised to do, we consider that a binding contract, an assurance set in affirmation that

surely this thing will be done.

God does that with Abraham.

He not only gives a promise, but then he swears an oath, but there’s this problem.

If we’re going to swear an oath, we’re going swear an oath by something greater than

ourselves.

Otherwise, the promise would have been sufficient.

but God couldn’t swear in oath by anything greater than himself.

There isn’t anything greater than God.

So God swore in oath by himself.

And the Hebrew writer says by these two immutable things, absolutely unchangeable things,

God, his nature and his character.

that we have a hope set before us, just as Abraham did.

Abraham operated his life for 25 plus years based upon a promise God made and God swore an

oath by that these things would come to pass and the Hebrew writer tells us you too can

operate in your life based upon the hope that is found in the promise of God.

You see, many individuals who think they have hope actually don’t.

And then there are those who know and they come to the gospel because they know they have

no hope.

And yet the scriptures tell us we have this hope, verse 19, as an anchor of the soul.

both sure and steadfast, and which enters the presence behind the veil where the

forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become high priest forever according to

the order of Melchizedek.” The Hebrew writer says, not only does our hope persist in this

life, our hope proceeds through the veil that is death into eternity.

Why?

Because Christ entered eternity so that we might be anchored in our hope of eternity.

God presents a solution to man’s problem of a hopeless life, but also God presents a

solution to the problem of separation from God.

Here in chapter 7 of the book of Hebrews we read for this Melchizedek king of Salem,

priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and

blessed him, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all.

first being translated King of Righteousness and then also King of Salem, meaning King of

Peace, without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days

nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.

As the Hebrew writer is describing Christ, as he is describing his priesthood and

describing the nature of him as our anchor of hope, he points out

that there’s a problem.

There’s a problem that existed in the days of Melchizedek.

There’s a problem that still exists today and that is the problem presented in Isaiah

chapter 59 verses 1 and 2 and that is that sin separates us from God.

In the days of Melchizedek, in the days of Abraham, man was separated from God by sin and

they needed a mediator.

They needed a high priest.

They needed a priest who could stand between them and the Lord and bring these two groups

that were separated by sin back together.

And yet Christ as the anchor of our soul is a better mediator than Melchizedek.

He is a greater high priest than all the high priests of the Old Testament.

Verse 15 of this shame chapter.

We read, it is yet far more evident if in the likeness of Melchizedek there arises another

priest who has come not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to

the power of an endless life.

You see, Christ is the solution to the problem of separation from God because Christ is

eternally alive.

But in addition to that, Christ is also a better mediator because Christ

has never been separated from God.

Notice verse 16, sorry verse 17, for he testifies you are a priest forever according to

the order of Melchizedek.

For on the one hand there is a nulling of the former commandment because of its weakness

and unprofitableness.

For the law being made nothing uh perfect.

On the other hand there is the bringing in of a better hope through which we draw near to

God.

What was the function of the high priest?

He was to bring back to reconciliation the one who had sinned and God.

And the Hebrew writer says that God, through Christ, has allowed us to draw near to Him.

Consider as well, he says, inasmuch as he was not made priest without an oath, for they

have become priest without an oath, but he with an oath by Him who said,

the Lord has sworn and will not relent, you are a priest forever according to the order of

Melchizedek.

By so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant.

Also, there were many high priests because they were prevented by death from continuing,

but he, because he continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood.

Therefore, he is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through him,

since he always lives to make intercession for them.

The Hebrew writer points out that humanity has always needed and will continue to need

someone to approach God on their behalf, to make intercession for them, and that is what

Christ does for those who come to the Gospel.

But then the Hebrew writer also points out that God addressed the problem of human

mediators.

Already he said right there in the last few verses that one of the problems with human

mediators, one of the problems with the priesthood beforehand was that they died because

they were human.

Because they had all the frailties of life that come with having a high priest, a mediator

who could die.

And yet Christ is a better high priest.

We read verse 26, for such a high priest was fitting for us who is holy.

harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens.

Who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for his own

sins and then for the people’s?

For this he did once for all when he offered up himself.

One of the problems with human mediators, with human intercessors, is that they first have

to once again be reconnected with God.

they through their own sins become separated from God.

And the Hebrew writer points out that for the high priest before they could offer a

sacrifice for somebody else, they had to offer sacrifice for themselves.

Christ is not only a better mediator because He is one who has an endless life, He’s a

better mediator because He is sinless and He’s never been separated from God.

But then consider as well for the law, verse 28 says,

for the law appoints as high priests men who have weaknesses but the word of the oath

which came after the law appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.

Now this is the main point of the thing we are saying.

We have such a high priest who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in

the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected

and not man.

For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, therefore it is

necessary that this one also have something to offer.

For if he were on earth, he would not be a priest.

Since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law, who serve the copy in

the shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to

make the tabernacle, for he said, See that you make all things according to the pattern

shown you on the mountain.

But now he has obtained a more excellent ministry in as much as he is also mediator of a

better covenant which was established on better promises.

As the Hebrew writer points out concerning Christ that he’s a better mediator because he

has an endless life, he’s a better mediator because he has a sinless life, he also points

out he’s a better mediator because of his proximity to the one who you need mediation

with.

For he sits at the right hand

of the throne of God.

if you’re struggling with being separated from God, may I recommend that you build a

relationship with the one who sits right next to him and not with a man who’s far from

him.

But consider as well, if we turn over to 1 Corinthians chapter 1, that Paul presents a

number of other problems that man has

and they need to deal with, and the gospel has the solution to.

In 1 Corinthians chapter one, Paul is going to point out the problem of the powerlessness

of man’s solutions, as Paul is going to address the wisdom of men and contrast that with

the wisdom of God.

Notice in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 18 we read, for the message of the cross is

foolishness to those who are perishing.

But to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

For it is written, will destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing the

understanding of the prudent.

Where is the wise?

Where is the scribe?

Where is the disputer of the age?

Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

For since in the wisdom of God the world through wisdom did not know God.

it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

All throughout history leading up to the time of Christ, you had individuals who would

come to others and say, I have a way for you to be saved.

And still today you have individuals trying to declare the way that you can be saved.

and yet that way originated in their own mind, in their own thoughts, in their own

understanding, and not with God.

And yet Christ has pointed out, God has pointed out, that through the foolishness in man’s

eyes of preaching

God has offered salvation.

Consider, as the text continues, he says, verse 22, for the Jews request a sign, and the

Greeks seek after wisdom.

But we preach Christ crucified.

To the Jews a stumbling block, and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called,

both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God.

because the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than

men.

God presented a solution to the problem of the powerlessness of man’s solutions.

and he gave it in form of Christ.

But he also provided a solution to the problem of human power structures.

When we look at our lives, when we look at the world around us, when we look at the way

the culture around us reacts towards people who are prominent, people who are powerful,

people who are rich, people who have influence, what do people want?

They want to be a person of power, riches, and influence.

But God solved the problem.

God solved the problem that humanity faced because they were always looking for a solution

from the wrong source.

They were looking for a solution from the person of power, looking for a solution from the

person of prominence.

They were looking for a solution from the person with riches, and they didn’t have a

solution to offer.

As a matter of fact, they rejected the very solution that exists.

Consider verse 26.

He says, for you see, you’re calling brethren.

that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called.

Paul calls upon the church of to look around at their numbers and say how many of the

prominent citizens of Corinth are sitting among you?

How many of the wise instructors of the academic uh institutes there in Corinth are

sitting in your presence?

How many of the rich in your city are sitting among you?

not because the gospel didn’t call them, but because they wouldn’t answer the call.

Consider, he says, verse 27, that God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to

shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things

which are mighty, and the base things of the world, the things which are despised, God has

chosen, and the things which are not to bring to nothing the things that are, that no

flesh should glory in his presence, but of him

You are in Christ, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and

sanctification, and redemption, that it is written, He who glories, let him glory in the

Lord.” God knew that humanity had a problem.

with always looking to those who are powerful, those who are rich, those who are

prominent, those who are influential for a solution and never getting one.

And yet in Christ the solution is found.

But then consider in Acts chapter 13 as Paul is preaching to the Jews and the Gentiles in

this city.

Paul is preaching to them, admonishing them and encouraging them to be obedient to the

gospel, to be obedient to that which the prophets of the Old Testament had told them would

come, to be obedient to the God of their fathers who had obeyed God prior to their lives.

We read verse 37, but he Christ, whom God raised up, saw no corruption.

Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this man is preached to you the

forgiveness of sins.

And by him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be

justified by the law of Moses.

Beware, therefore, lest what has been spoken in the prophets come upon you.

Behold you despisers, marvel and perish.

For I work a work in your days, a work which you will by no means believe, though one were

to declare it to you.” So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged

that these words might be preached to them on the next Sabbath.

Now when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed

Paul and Barnabas, who speaking to them persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.

On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God.

But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy and contradicting and

blaspheming.

They opposed the things spoken by Paul.

Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, It was necessary that the word of God should be

spoken to you first.

But since you rejected and judged yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn

to the Gentiles.

For so the Lord has commanded us, I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, that you

should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.”

Now when the Gentiles heard this, were glad and glorified the word of the Lord, and as

many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.

And the word of the Lord was spread throughout all the region, but the Jews stirred up

devout and prominent women, and the chief men of the city raised up persecution against

Paul and Barnabas and expelled them from their region.

But they shook off the dust from their feet against them and came to Iconium, and the

disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.”

Notice that God also presents a problem to how to judge the wicked.

Here were individuals who should have been righteous.

They were Jews.

They were attending the synagogue on the Sabbath.

They were listening to Word of God being preached.

They should have been righteous.

But instead they were persecutors of those who were righteous.

They were those who were confronting and obstructing the message of the Gospel.

and yet God didn’t deliver an iron sword into the hand of Paul to deal with the problem.

God didn’t hand off the police force from the local community to Paul to handle the

problem.

Rather, Paul took the exact same instruction Jesus gave to his disciples when Jesus sent

his disciples into the regions of the Jews and said, there’s a city that will not receive

you, here’s what you do.

You judge the city.

How were they to judge the city?

How were they to levy a judgment against the city?

He says you depart and you shake the dust off your feet when you go.

You see, even in the gospel, God presents a solution to man’s problem of dealing with

those who are wicked.

God says you leave them behind and you make sure they know that the judgment that God has

set in place will surely be brought upon them.

Then consider as well, Acts chapter 10, we find that God’s solution solves the problem.

of goodness, not meriting salvation.

How many funerals would be so much shorter if they didn’t have a list of all of the good

things someone has done in hopes that those good things will be enough to get them to

heaven?

And they won’t.

In Acts chapter 10, we are introduced to Cornelius, and notice the description of this

man.

Before he’s a Christian, before he’s obedient to the Gospel, while he still knows that

he’s lost, notice his description.

There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the

Italian regiment, a devout man, and one who feared God with all his household.

and gave alms generously to the people and prayed to God always.

This is a description of a good man who’s lost.

Because goodness cannot merit salvation.

Goodness cannot correct your relationship with God if you’re lost.

All the good deeds, all the alms, all the prayers, all the devout actions that this man

could participate in,

could not rectify his relationship with God and he knew it.

About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly a vision of an angel of God coming in and

saying to him, Cornelius.

As that angel speaks to him, says, and when he observed him he was afraid and said, What

is it, Lord?

He said to him, Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God.

Now send men to Joppa and send for Simon, whose surname is Peter.

He is lodging with Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea.

He will tell you what you must do.

Cornelius knew that all the deeds he had done weren’t enough.

All the prayers he had prayed weren’t enough.

All the belief and fear that he had in God wasn’t enough.

The angel knew the same thing.

So did the Lord.

That’s why he sent the angel to tell Cornelius to send for Peter so that he could hear

words that would tell him what to do.

And so notice in the text beginning of verse 34,

We read, then Peter opened his mouth and said, In truth I perceive that God shows no

partiality, but in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by

Him.

Now, if you come to that verse and you take it out of its context, you might come to the

assumption that what Peter means is the person who fears God and does good things is

saved.

But that’s the exact opposite of what Peter means.

Peter means that the one who fears God and works righteousness, God will give the

opportunity for that individual to have salvation.

But how’s he going to get it?

The word which God sent to the children of Israel preaching peace through Jesus Christ, He

is Lord of all.

That word you know which was proclaimed throughout all Judea and began from Galilee after

the baptism which John preached

how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about

doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil.

For God was with him.

And we are witnesses of all things which he did in both uh in the land of the Jews and in

Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree.

Him God raised up on the third day and showed him openly, not

to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us, who ate and drank

with Him after He arose from the dead.

And He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that it is He who was ordained

by God to be judge of the living and the dead.

To Him all the prophets witness, that through His name, whoever believes in Him will

receive remission of sins.”

While Peter was still standing, speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all those

who heard the word.

And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished as many as came with Peter,

because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.

For they heard them speak with tongues and magnifying God.

Then Peter answered, Can anyone forbid water that these

should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we and he commanded them

to be baptized in the name of the Lord then they asked him to stay a few days.

Here’s a man who was devout, a man who gave alms, a man who prayed, a man who did good and

what was he missing?

He needed to obey the gospel.

God presents a problem to the fact that goodness does not merit salvation.

But then consider as well in Acts chapter 2 we’re presented with the reality that God in

the gospel has presented a solution to the problem of guilt.

Sometimes people come to the gospel, they begin searching for God, they’re looking for

salvation because they know they have sinned and they know they are guilty.

and they need help.

In Acts chapter 2, read about people just like that.

In Acts chapter 2 verse 35, Peter tells the crowd that was standing there on that day that

God was going to make the enemies of Christ His footstool.

Therefore, he says, verse 36, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made

this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ.

Peter as he concludes this first portion, because it’s only the beginning of his sermon,

he tells these Jews, you have put to death the very Son of God and God is going to hold

you accountable for it.

not only is he going to hold you accountable he has taken that same son which you

crucified and he has put him as Lord and Christ

And the text tells us verse 37, now when they heard this they were cut to the heart and

said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do?

It is a declaration of guilt and recognition of their lost state.

Peter replied and said to them, repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of

Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.

and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” These individuals on this day faced

the problem of guilt.

Their own hands had put to death the very Son of God.

What greater sin have you participated in than to sacrifice and crucify and to shout for

the blood of the very Son of God?

And yet, their problem of guilt, Peter said,

God already presented a solution for.

Repent and be immersed in water for the remission of your sins.

But then consider as well there’s also a solution here in this sermon for the problem of

culture.

Someone says, I just, I don’t know what to do about the world that we live in.

Peter did.

Verse 39, for the promises to you and to your children and all who are far off, as many as

the Lord our God will call.

and with many other words he testified and exhorted to them saying, saved from this

perverse generation.

Then those who gladly received his word were baptized, and that day about three thousand

souls were added to them and they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and

fellowship and in breaking of bread and in prayers.

See, God has a solution in the gospel for the culture that is around us.

He says, Get out of it!

and rather be immersed in water for the remission of your sins, be added to the church,

and enter a new culture.

One where obeying the commands of God is exactly what you’ll be surrounded by.

But then consider as well that we also find in this text the problem that is solved of

being alone.

Loneliness is hard.

Loneliness for some is insurmountable.

And yet, there are few, if any, circumstances where a person is truly alone if they are a

member of the body of Christ.

And God solves the problem of being alone.

Consider verse 41.

Then those who were gladly received His word were baptized, and that day about three

thousand souls were added to them, and they continued steadfastly in the apostles’

doctrine and in fellowship and in breaking of bread and in prayers.

Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.

Now all who believed were together and had all things in common.

and sold their possessions and goods and divided them among all as anyone had need.

So continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house,

they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor

with all the people.

And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” God presents a

solution to the problem of being alone.

He offers us the church that we’re added to

by Him when we are obedient to the gospel.

If someone is alone and they’re a Christian, one of two things is true.

They’re imprisoned and separated from people physically and they’re alone by no choice of

their own.

or they’ve chosen to separate themselves from the Church of God where they could no longer

be alone.

to those who are lost and outside the body of Christ, you are alone because you are

separated from the one who really matters.

And that’s God and Christ.

When Paul said he was alone and no one else stood with him, he excluded from that list God

and Christ, for they always stood with him, and he was never alone.

If you’re here this morning and you’re facing the problems that humanity faces, you’re

facing the struggles and the realities of this life, know this, God already has a

solution.

If you’re studying with someone and maybe they know they’ve sinned, but the biggest thing

weighing on their mind is they’re alone.

or they’re without hope, or the culture around them seems insurmountable, or one of the

many other problems that the gospel has already presented a solution for.

Remember this, that just because they’re looking for a solution to a problem, you have the

opportunity to point them to the solution God has already given.

and help them solve the problem.

If you’re here this morning and you face that problem, why not accept God’s solution to

hear the Word of God and believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God?

To repent of your sins, confess the name of Christ and be immersed in water for the

remission of your sins.

To rise to walk in newness of life, making the problem a thing of the past.

If you’re here this morning and you have needed the invitation of Christ, why not come

forward now as we stand?

James 1 – Walker Cain – June 03, 2026

In Admonition Podcast, Christian living, faith, keywords James, perseverance, Spiritual Growth, temptation, trust in God, wisdom by Aaron Cozort

image

Good evening.

Today if you don’t mind, please go ahead and turn your Bibles to the book of James.

We will be studying him tonight.

Before we do that, let’s have a word of prayer.

Our Lord and our Holy Father who is in heaven,

We come before thee at this time and we thank thee for the God that you are.

We thank you that you show us so much of, show us all of your will and your word that you

desire for us to do.

We thank you for the fact that you’ve told us what we need to know and have left the

things we don’t need to know to you.

Lord, we pray that you give us wisdom as we study those things you have given to us so

that we can apply it to our lives.

have it in our hearts and move forward with lives that reflect your image.

We give this prayer in your son’s holy and righteous name.

Amen.

The book of James, in all likelihood, was written not by the apostle James, not James the

son of Zebedee or James the son of Alphaeus, but James the brother of Jesus.

And the biggest reason for this is seen in the very first verse.

James chapter one, verse one.

James.

a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ to the twelve tribes which are scattered

abroad.

Greeting.

How did Paul usually start his writings?

Paul, an apostle of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And then you have Peter who did the same as well.

Now it is the case that John did not begin his epistles with this, but John also didn’t

give his own name when he started his epistles.

Looking at this, James, since he does not say he is an apostle, it’s very likely he is not

one.

Now why is it the apostles were willing to say it when they were not?

Why was it that the apostles said it when they were apostles?

Imagine you have a new book out, a new study, and if the person who releases the study

shows that he is a doctor, shows that he has the PhD, the credentials behind it, there’s

more authority behind it.

Now we can get into debates.

about how having more degrees doesn’t mean you’re going to do a better work in a certain

study.

But if you’re an apostle, if you’re one of those who had the inspired Word of God in your

heart, if you were a walking New Testament, that was all the credentials you needed for

people to listen to what you said.

Therefore, when Paul said, an apostle of Jesus Christ, that was to get attention.

James starts differently.

We have these three different James that are seen throughout scripture that we know of.

James, the two apostles, and then we also have James, the servant, which is the brother of

Jesus most likely.

But does he call himself the brother of Jesus here?

He does not.

Even though we have the three James’s and one of them being the most well known is the

brother of Jesus, he does not say it right here.

He just mentions that he is a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ to the 12 tribes

which are scattered abroad.

knowing that this is most likely the brother of Jesus.

Think about the fact that he is willing to say not James the brother of the Lord, but

James a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, a servant of God.

Instead of trying to bolster himself in the fact that he’s the Lord’s brother, instead of

trying to find a way to increase the way he looks, he starts as a servant.

We studied together the idea of selfishness turning to selflessness.

And what happened in John 13 through 16 where the apostles were told that the biggest

thing that they needed to know was that they needed to be servants.

And this James knows that right here.

He starts with the fact that he is a servant.

Now that is the author.

Who is it to whom he is writing?

The 12 tribes scattered abroad.

Now why is James writing to the 12 tribes scattered around?

Israel is gone, why are we even talking about the 12 tribes anymore?

God’s people throughout time are represented by this idea.

We’ve talked about Revelation in Aaron’s classes and talked about that woman and she

represented not just the Jews, not just Christians, but the people of God throughout time.

And the idea of the 12 tribes is used for the same idea.

to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad.

Additionally, we know that we are considered the children of Abraham, the twelve tribes

today, if we are following him.

If someone could read Galatians 3.29.

Galatians 3.29.

seed and heirs according to the promise.

Okay.

So, if ye be Christ’s, if you have submitted to Christ, you do as he says, and you are

following his way, then you are Abraham’s seed.

You’re part of the twelve tribes scattered abroad.

Additionally, with this idea of the twelve tribes scattered abroad, in the book of Acts,

the reason they were scattered abroad was persecution.

So you have this idea of God’s people, and then on top of that they were scattered because

of persecution.

One of the things we need to keep in mind with the book of James is the fact that there

was persecution, that persecution was the backdrop of what is set here.

Verse 2, my brethren, count at all joy when ye fall into diverse temptations.

This idea of temptations, we’re going to see this word temptations and it’s going to be

both the idea of the desire for sin, but also, indistinctly, trials, things that we face,

persecutions.

My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into diverse temptations.” How does that work?

How do you look at temptation and say, is something good.

What is the benefit that is going to come from this?

First, look at what it says about this joy.

Thankfully, this is not saying we need to feel ooey gooey over the fact that there is

going to be trial and temptation.

Now, it is the case that the apostles rejoiced in the fact that they were counted worthy

to suffer shame for Christ’s name.

They were glad that they were able to suffer for the Lord.

At the same time, we don’t have to have positive emotions over every single hardship that

comes.

And we see that right here because he says, my brethren, count it all joy.

We think about the word count.

Is that feel?

Is this a decision or an emotion when we think about counting something?

It’s a decision.

have it in your mind that this is a joy.

And then if we look at this word joy in the Greek and in the context, it’s the idea of the

source of your joy or a calm delight.

This isn’t just a yippee, we get to go suffer today.

This is something that keeps you going throughout life.

This is a joy that you keep.

and that is going to help you through what you suffer, through diverse temptations.

Now, this isn’t the temptations that happen specifically for the people who go scuba

diving.

These are the diverse, the many temptations that you will suffer throughout time as a

Christian.

Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

You counted all joy.

And why is it that you counted joy?

It’s because of what it is going to do for you.

Because of what the outcome is going to be.

And it’s going to work patience.

This word patience is hu-po-ma-ne.

It is the idea of endurance.

Now, when we think about become, endure.

How many in the military, that were in the military are here today?

Okay, so in training, did you have to learn endurance?

Did you have to go through and be pushed to the limit when it came to physical training?

We do that, and people do it in the gym or they do it preparing for the military because

they want to grow.

They want to become more.

The body says, okay, I am not going to become stronger until I need to be stronger.

that happens with our physical bodies, can happen with our faith as well.

We don’t grow until there is a reason to grow.

When did the church take off in the book of Acts?

It was after the persecution came.

when they were scattered abroad because of what the Jews were doing to the Christians.

After that, they went out and the church spread rapidly outside of Jerusalem.

Now, it was already growing amazingly.

There were at least 5,000 men that were saved.

And then after that, it’s described as multitudes being saved.

This persecution, this temptation, this trial, whatever it is, can help us grow.

it worketh patience, it worketh endurance.

But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting

nothing.

Okay, so we want our patients to grow.

And if we’re going to let our patients grow, it’s going to come through the persecutions.

Now why is it we want our patients to grow?

We let patients have her perfect work so that we can be perfect and entire.

Now we need to ask, what’s this idea of perfect and entire?

Is this the idea of you need to suffer these trials so that you can be sinlessly perfect

yourself?

Now it is the case that we can live and not have to sin.

Paul wrote to the Romans saying, children, I write these things to you, that ye sin not.

We don’t have to sin in our daily lives.

We don’t have to sin every month or every year.

Now with that, God also gives us forgiveness when we do sin, when that does come in our

lives.

If we are willing to confess it, forsake it, walk in the light as he is in

1 John chapter 1.

This idea of perfect, rather than being sinlessly perfect, is the idea of complete.

You can follow God’s word completely.

Even though in the past you have not been sinlessly perfect, you can follow God’s Word

completely in how He says to be saved.

Follow His Word completely in how He says to serve Him.

And part of that completeness might just be repenting of the sin that has come and doing

that the way He has said to do it.

We can be complete in the way we serve the Lord.

knowing this, the trying of your faith worketh patience, but let patience have her perfect

work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

Wanting in this time was used for the idea of this is something that you lack.

Not just we don’t want anything, but there is nothing that you don’t have that you need to

have.

Speaking of that idea, wanting nothing, the next verse, if any of you lack wisdom, let him

ask of God that giveth to all men liberally and abradeth not, and it shall be given him.

So we’ve already started with this idea of we have persecutions here, things that the

people are facing.

And now James is giving them the opportunity of a tool before them.

If any of you lack…

wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally.” If God is going to give this

to you, what has to happen?

Okay, if they were to want wisdom, the very first thing they had to do was they had to

acknowledge that need.

He said, if any of you lack wisdom, before any of them were going to pray for wisdom, what

did they have to realize?

They needed it.

It’s like a child, a father might say, son, if you want me to show you how you can do

that, I will do that for you.

The son’s like, no, I’m going to figure it out.

And he stays there for six hours trying to do it.

And then he’s finally like, OK, how am I supposed to do this?

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God.

Asking requires acknowledgement.

And then it requires acting on that need.

There can be plenty of times where we realize we need something and then we don’t act upon

it.

We can realize we need to go to the doctor.

We can realize that we need to go take care of this family problem.

We can even acknowledge it out loud without taking care of the problem.

But if we want wisdom from God, we need to ask for it.

The Lord gives us everything that we need, but he also will not do anything for us.

We cannot do ourselves We can think about this when we have with Peter Who is in prison

and then an angel of the Lord smote him and woke him up.

He was apparently in some nice deep sleep That angel did he carry him out?

Did he say, okay, let’s go, you can keep on sleeping, I’m gonna just put you in a good

king-size bed over in this other place?

No, he woke him up and he said, put your clothes and your sandals on, we’re getting out of

here.

Now, Peter didn’t have to open up the gate, that was something he could do, that was done

for him as well.

But everything he could do, he had to do.

Our lives, if we want wisdom, we need to ask for it.

Everything that might help us with wisdom, we might not be able to take that ourselves,

but what we can do is expected of us.

We need to acknowledge the need.

We need to act on the need.

And then we need to accept it.

When we, what, now what is this?

In that time period, if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God to give it to all men

liberally and abradeth not.

With this, they had miracles.

There were some who had miraculous wisdom, miraculous knowledge, and they could ask for

that from God if they had that gift.

Now, us today, do we have the gift of miraculous wisdom, of miraculous knowledge?

God can still give us wisdom.

We are not going to pray to God and then be like Solomon who had it all instilled into him

in that moment.

But God can still train us.

Now the way he does it, that might just be a little uncomfortable.

How do we most of the time learn wisdom?

We can do it the easy way, where we read.

We look to the word, we listen to those who have come before us that have some more age

than we do, say, okay, I want to do it this way and not that way because of the outcome

that is going to occur.

There might be other times where getting wisdom might just mean going through a trial.

It might just mean I’m going to have to go through this and learn what the best route is.

And then next time this situation occurs, I’m more prepared for it.

You have the difference between knowledge and wisdom and that’s important right here as

well.

This isn’t the idea of if any of you lack knowledge that you want to have.

It’s the word wisdom.

Knowledge, those are the things you know.

That’s the intelligence.

That’s all those things that that computer has on it.

All those things you could find on Wikipedia or some source that is more reliable than

Wikipedia.

And then you have wisdom.

that says, okay, here is this knowledge, here is this data, this information, I’m now

going to apply it properly.

Now for us to be able to apply that information properly, sometimes we’ve had to use the

information before.

It’s like that idea of a muscle we talked about earlier.

the idea of endurance.

takes working through something to increase that faith, to increase that patience rather.

And the same thing can happen with wisdom.

It grows in situations.

Take this with the idea of the greatest generation.

What made the greatest generation, those of the World War II era, the greatest generation?

You had 18-year-olds going out and they were fighting and they had to realize that they

had lives on the line based on their

decisions.

Based on the things that they were going to do, they didn’t have a chance to say, nope, I

don’t want to do it.

They had to get in there and do it.

And then they came home after that kind of experience.

You don’t have people afraid of decisions like that.

You don’t have people who aren’t going to be able to tell their left from their right.

They know how to get it done when it needs to be done.

That is what we call the greatest generation.

But it took exercise.

It took strength for that to be the case.

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God.

God might just train us through things that we need to do.

Now, this is not saying we are all going to face the war so we can get more wisdom.

That’s not where we’re going.

But there might be things we have to face in our lives that help us grow.

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God.

And we’ve talked about the person who is receiving the wisdom.

what he has to do and now here is the giver.

Let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally and abradeth not and it shall be given

him.

This is a God who is going to give to all men liberally and even outside of the context of

wisdom God gives liberally and literally to all men.

God makes the sun to rise on, excuse me, both the just and the wicked.

There are those who receive the blessing of the sun coming up and the sun going down and

that time moving forward even though they are not following the Lord.

The Lord gives to all men liberally and abradeth not.

On top of that idea, is often described, abradeth not is usually described as this is

something where God is not going to, God is going to force you to use this gift in a

certain way.

We have those who give gifts in our lives.

Perhaps someone gave you a painting for Christmas.

And then you look at this painting and you’re thankful for it.

And maybe it’s an owl, really, really buggy eyes on a purple background.

Just think of something crazy.

And they expect it to be there every single time they come over for Christmas and

Thanksgiving.

Because the fact that they gave you a gift,

demands for you to decorate your house a certain way.

Is that a gift?

Is that a gift or is that them dictating how you’re going to do something?

A proper gift is going to be, hey, I give this to you, use it the way you will.

Now it is the case we are going to be judged for the way we use God’s gifts when it comes

to our riches, when it comes to opportunities before us, when it comes to the wisdom He’s

given us because you can have wisdom, the ability to apply knowledge and still lack

prudence, applying your ability to apply knowledge.

But with this, God is going to give us wisdom and then he leaves it in our stewardship.

You can also look at this idea and remember that God is not going to reprimand because

you’ve lacked wisdom before when you’re willing to come to God to ask for it.

He’s not going to say, why do you need wisdom in the first place?

He’s just going to give you what you need.

In verse five it says, and it shall be given him.

God can answer prayers in multiple ways.

Three ways.

He can say yes,

He can say no and he can say wait.

But when we ask for wisdom according to James here, whenever we ask for wisdom God says

yes.

If we are truly seeking this, if we could look throughout Proverbs the one who seeks

wisdom, the one who looks for that kind of treasure, it’s not going to be hid from him.

He’s going to seek it as a precious jewel and when you seek something like that,

In this spiritual sense, you’re going to find it.

Now, you might not go find pearls, but you can find wisdom.

That is available.

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally and

abradeth not, and it shall be given him.

But let him ask how?

In faith, nothing wavering.

For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea.

driven with the wind and tossed.

This word wavering is the idea of to separate and that’s going to become more important as

we go through and get to verse eight.

We are to ask for whatever we need in this context, and faith, believing that God can give

it.

We don’t have to believe that God is going to give every single thing to us that we ask.

We don’t have to believe He is going to make it to where we are going to be healthy again.

That’s going to be expecting God to follow our will, something that is not going to always

be the case.

But what we do expect is that God always has the power to answer that prayer, to do what

is right.

And ultimately, no matter what, He’s going to give us what we need.

David says,

seen the righteous forsaken or their seed begging bread.

The point we need to take from that is the fact that whatever we truly need, even if what

we truly need isn’t on this side of eternity, we are going to have it.

Let him ask in faith, trusting God’s power and His will, nothing wavering, not separating

in the mind.

Why is it?

For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

This idea is going to come out to be one who is double-minded.

Verse 8, a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.

Double-minded is literally die psyche.

Two different minds.

Okay, so you have someone who is saying, okay God, I am asking for this.

And then you have this other psychology in him that’s saying, I don’t think he can do it.

You have two different things going on in the same brain.

I don’t have enough space up here for two different things to be going on at the same

time.

I don’t know about you, but this needs to be a man who is not double-minded.

One who if he prays for it, he trusts that God can do it and he also trusts in God’s will.

Even if he doesn’t do it, God’s going to do what needs done.

We cannot look to our God and be double-minded in any fashion.

We do not pray to God asking, Lord, we hope that we’re saved.

and then doubt our salvation the rest of the day.

We are not double-minded in any fact of our lives because everything that needs to be sure

to us, God has made sure.

We can be sure in the answers He gives to prayer.

We can be sure in our salvation and every other aspect of life that it’s necessary.

This man is not going to receive anything from the Lord.

Verse 7.

If we pray to God and we have a mindset that says, don’t know if you can do it, but I’m

going to ask anyway just in case.

I don’t think you have the power and I don’t really trust your will with this, but I’m

going to ask you anyway, if he is just a resort plan, if he is just us saying, okay, we’re

just going to do this shot in the dark, that’s the way we look at God, he’s not going to

answer our prayer.

It’s as though a child comes to the parent,

and then the child doesn’t trust the parent when he asks the question and the parent’s

like, no, we’re not going to do that today.

There is a lack of respect, a lack of faith that makes it to where this relationship is

not going to have the same blessings it could if there was a full trust, a

whole-mindedness.

Looking through scripture, there’s the idea of simplicity, the idea of being whole.

There is the simple gospel that we preach.

The idea of simple through this is not, okay, it’s just four parts, or whatever the case,

it’s the fact that it’s whole, it’s united, it’s together.

Usually something simple has few parts and the fewest parts you can have on any assembly

is one.

That is when something is the most together, the most united.

Let him ask, a double-minded man is unstable.

We are not to be unstable.

We are rather to be stable, having a single-mindedness toward God, toward what he is able

to do.

So we’re talking about the context of trial, of persecution.

And there’s been the fact that through this persecution we realize that, okay, there is

good that can come through this.

I can become stronger in my faith because of what is being faced here.

And then there is, okay, I’m facing this persecution.

There is this wisdom that I desire so that I can do what is right, so that I can follow

the Lord properly and also help others as much as possible.

If you lack wisdom, you ask of God, and He’s going to give it to you.

That way you can go through this persecution.

Then don’t ask, but ask in faith, in belief, nothing wavering.

If you go through these persecutions and you don’t truly believe in God, you’re not going

to be praying to the Lord properly.

He’s certainly not going to listen.

And most certainly, if there’s a lack of true faith in what God can do, why would you stay

faithful in the persecution in the first place?

It’s not going to work out without this single mindedness.

And now in this context of trials, it looks like James shifts gears, but it’s in the same

context.

degree rejoice in that he is exalted, but the rich in that he is made low.” James starts

talking about riches, whether one has everything in the world or he’s just trying to find

his next meal.

In both of these, they could be a trial in and of themselves.

The Proverbs writer says, give me food convenient for me.

He doesn’t want to be overfilled because he doesn’t want to curse and deny and say, is the

Lord, thinking he’s self-sufficient.

He also doesn’t want to be poor and still and take the name of his God in vain, living a

life getting by and using means beyond what God desires.

Both of these things can be difficulties, but viewed properly, they can help one in their

life for God.

Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted.

Take your lack of riches, take the suffering that you have and contrast it with how rich

you are spiritually.

Let it just be a lesson in how God has blessed you.

But the rich in that he is made low.

Let your riches contrasted

with your God, with the service that He has rendered, show you how humble you really

should be.

And now He is going to show how humble they ought to be, because as the flower of the

grass, He should pass away.

For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass.

And the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth.

The reason that these riches are something that is not to be exalted is because it’s going

to perish.

Think about the Lord.

Think about his characteristics.

Is the Lord, is his glory going to pass away or is it going to stay forever?

let those of low degree rejoice and they are exalted.

They might not have anything in this temporal world, but they have an eternity ahead of

them with God.

But the rich and that he has made low, what he has in this earth, the things that he

thinks are so abundant, they are going to fade and go away in the sunlight.

Makes me think about seeing, you see recently cut hay, and first you see green.

You see green and then after you have it cut, it all dries out and it dies.

It withers.

All of that lushness that was once there, it becomes dry and then it’s ready to use.

But for our illustration, it loses what it once had.

You could think about flowers.

they’re pretty.

They come every year.

But they also die and they pass away from this life.

riches even though they look abundant, even though we feel like we want to exalt those who

have gathered riches.

They’re only going to last for a little season.

In and of themselves they are a lesson of how temporal this world is so that we can

realize the blessing that is on the other side.

James, after describing the fact that we need to be patient, the fact that we must ask for

wisdom and then putting riches in the proper mindset, discusses the temptation, discusses

temptation itself again.

Verse 12, blessed is the man that endure temptation, for when he is tried, he shall

receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

We live in a world that says, faith only.

All you have to do is believe and then you will be saved.

Even here, we start seeing it is not that case.

Blessed is the man that endureth temptation for when he is tried he shall receive a crown

of life.

If you are being tried, then you have done something that the world doesn’t like.

If you have done something that the world doesn’t like, then your faith is working through

action.

It’s already coming out.

The fact that there is this focus on what we have to do.

We have this focus on faith and then there’s going to be the idea of religion at the end

of this chapter.

Pure religion before God and the Father is this, to visit

the fatherless and widows and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

We’re to start having a contrast of faith, what you believe, the motive behind it, and

then you have religion, which is not what you believe, but what you do.

You have your faith.

what you know is the case, that you have looked at the evidence and decided, this is a God

who is here, He has given me evidence of who He is, He has given me a perfect word that

I’m going to believe, and then you have religion, what is going to be done because of it.

And without that pure religion of visiting the Fatherless and widows, of doing those

things required of God, James is also going to show that faith without works is dead.

We need to endure temptation because this life requires things of us as Christians.

But if we do it, we shall receive the crown of life which the Lord hath promised to them

that love Him.

This love here is the agape love, the love that decides that He is worth it.

This life is going to send things toward us that challenge us, that try to make it to

where we give up.

But the Lord needs to be worth it through it all.

He shall give us a crown of life.

We’re already going to be in the presence of the Lord if we go through this life and serve

Him.

And then on top of that, He allows us to celebrate victory.

No, it’s not a literal crown.

We are going to be in a spiritual world.

But He acknowledges the fact that we have

persisted through this world.

Not of our own boasting, of our own merit, but we have decided to stay and stick with Him.

Verse 13, Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God.

For God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man.

Let no man say when he’s tempted, I am tempted of God.

We’ve talked about all this idea of persecutions, of temptation, and now we’re going,

okay, we’ve seen all these things that you have to go through and learn, and then, okay,

God isn’t doing it?

Correct.

God is not sending the temptations our way.

Now, there is a distinction here between the temptations that are the trials through which

we must go, and then the temptation, that desire toward sin.

that God does not send either our way.

That is not.

Personally, I need to do more study before making that claim right there.

God does not send anything, God does not, certainly does not send any temptation towards

sin our way.

Anything that the Lord allows, He allows to help us toward doing His will, toward

following His way.

Now as we think about this idea, 1 Corinthians 10 13, if we would turn there.

1 Corinthians 10 13.

If we could have someone read that, please.

I like that version.

says God will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able.

This starts to show this idea.

God will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able.

Okay, but what does that mean?

God will allow you to be tempted in those things you are able.

God will allow temptations that you will be able to bear.

Now the reason we are able to bear it is not because okay, there’s these stronger

temptations than these weaker temptations.

It shows that God is going to make a way of escape.

There’s the fact that whatever temptation comes our way, the Lord is going to make a way

out of it.

no matter how strong we are in that present moment.

But the fact is, it says, God will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able.

That means there are things He will allow us to be tempted with.

But that also shows that He allows it, He does not cause it.

We can think of Job.

The devil was the one who did it.

He did it all.

But the Lord gave permission to the devil to do it.

There’s things that happen in this life that hurt.

There’s things that happen that we just wonder why in the world, but it’s not God’s fault.

God allows things in this world, but these are things that show us this isn’t what we’re

living for.

And also, is these are those things that are going to work patience.

Our God is so good.

Our God is so wise and powerful that He can take the things that hurt us in this life,

allow them to happen.

toward a good purpose, toward us growing in His way and how He desires us to be so that

one day when we are in eternity, when all of this life is gone and passed away, we have

grown closer to Him and those things we suffered for a little season.

Paul showed that he wouldn’t count these things as anything, this little temptation we

have on this earth compared to the joy that awaited him.

in the same to as to apply to us.

Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God.

For God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man.

God has not allowed these things, though He will chase in us, allows us to be chastened

with them.

Hebrews 12 shows that Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith, and He for the joy

set before us endured the cross, despising the shame.

And it lays all of that out clearly and then shows that…

We might be chastised for a time.

God might allow there to be things that help us learn, but it’s because of His love that

He allows it.

God does not tempt us, but rather God uses those things that are here in our lives to help

us grow closer to Him.

Anything that is a temptation, anything that is designed for us to sin is not from God.

But those things that might be hard that help us grow closer to God are those things that

are allowed of Him.

This is shown further, he contrasts it beautifully, James does.

He says, every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lusts and enticed.

Then when lusts have conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin, when it is finished,

bringeth forth death.

The most disgusting way that I’ve ever heard sin described was someone had a night with

the devil and then the child was death.

Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed.

And then lust when it hath conceived bringeth forth sin.

And sin when it is finished bringeth forth death.

These things

are not from God.

Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lusts.

We’re not even describing the devil yet here.

This is just saying every man is tempted when he is drawn away with what he wants to do.

Sunday we talked about the idea of selfishness and we discussed this verse.

Temptation comes from my will and the way that I want to follow and when I go after that

instead of following his way.

When I do that, instead of obeying the God who has given me His perfect Word, I’ve decided

to follow a way that is absolutely disgusting and is only going to lead toward death.

Now thankfully, even though sin is so wicked, so crude in and of itself, God has given a

way for us to be saved, to be delivered from that.

That’s His love.

Do not err, my beloved brethren.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of

lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

Despite that sick nature of sin, and despite the consequence that is going to come from

it, every good gift and every perfect gift is from above.

Whatever is good in this world,

That is something He has given to us.

It comes from the Father of lights, the one who is above, the one who doesn’t change, in

whom is no variable, and it’s neither shadow of turning, the shadow of Him literally

moving.

You don’t see any indication that He changes from who He once was.

Our God is good, and our God is always good.

And whatever He allows is for us to be able to grow closer to Him.

of his own will begat he us by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits

of his creatures, of his own will.

Okay, earlier…

Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lusts and enticed.

Sin is when I follow my way and my desires.

What was God’s will?

Of his own will begat he us by the word of truth that we should be a kind of firstfruits

of his creatures.

While man decided to go into sin, to follow his own way, to follow his own lusts that led

to sin and that led to death, God was making it to where through what he planned we could

be begotten as sons of him.

um by the Word of truth.

The way we become the sons of God, John 3 describes it as, except ye be born again by

water and spirit.

Well, what did the Spirit give us?

All scripture is by inspiration of God.

It was inspired by the Spirit.

And we are begotten again, as James describes James 1, 18, by His Word, if we do what He

has said.

that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.

Now because of this, because of the persecution you’ve had to face, because of all these

things God has done to help you face it, and then the Lord who does not tempt you and has

given you a way out of disgusting sin, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow

to wrath.

James, after showing all of these blessings from God, all of these things he was willing

to do,

He is then going to bring in some strong application for who they need to be.

They’re going to have to hear the word of God, listening to what he says, and then on top

of hearing the perfect law of liberty, they must be willing to do as the Lord describes,

following what he desires, not only hearing it sitting in the pews, but going out and

applying it in life.

This idea can be summarized in verse 23.

verse uh

He will be blessed in his deed.

God approves of his actions.

Thank you for your time tonight.

We will now conclude class.

I Was At The Birthday Party – Justin Evergarden – Dec. 28, 2025

In Admonition Podcast, birthday, celebration, Christian faith, Christmas traditions, Church, covenant, Jesus, Keywords Christmas, Obedience, resurrection by Aaron Cozort

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Justin Evergarden (00:00.184)

This past weekend, or week, we all got to enjoy spending time with our families during the holiday known as Christmas. So you’d know that this Sunday we’re going to preach a Christmas sermon. But not one that you’d typically think of. The title for this one is, creatively, I Was At the Birthday Party. For most of the religious world, Christmas is viewed as a major birthday celebration.

A time when millions pause to recognize the birth of Jesus. Even people who rarely attend worship or even open a Bible suddenly become aware of the story of Bethlehem, the manger, the shepherds, and the angels.

Christmas carols fill the air and messages of peace and goodwill are found all over, at least on the surface. Devotion to Christ is also seen. But historically, Christmas did not begin with a biblical celebration. Most understand that Jesus was not truly born on December 25th. Careful study reveals the date is almost certainly incorrect. The shepherds wouldn’t have been outdoors as we read in Acts chapter two and verse eight.

This would suggest a warmer climate for that type of year for farmers in the local region. Many scholars propose that Jesus was born sometime actually between late summer and early fall, between August and October. So where did December 25th come from? Early Christians did not celebrate Jesus’ birth at all. But after the first several centuries, around the third and fourth century, as Christianity spread through the Roman Empire, church leaders attempted to replace pagan winter festivals.

December 25th coincided with pagan celebrations such as Sol Invictus, this would be roughly translated the unconquered sun, and Saturnalia, a festive day honoring false gods to redirect attention towards Christ.

Justin Evergarden (02:01.897)

Jesus’ birthday, as they said, to this existing holiday season, although well-intentioned resulted in a tradition Jesus never asked for. We didn’t ask for this tradition to take place, neither did Christ. And even though many today know that Jesus was not born on December 25th, they still want to celebrate His birth in some way. There’s nothing wrong with that. But this is why we repeatedly hear coined phrases like

the largest one you probably heard it on the radio Jesus is the reason for the season and then we have songs like Jesus is born this day by Mariah Carey which features lyrics like Jesus born on this day he is the king of all nation today Aziz Sagera wrote a classic song reminding listeners of the significance of that specific date Christ was born on Christmas Day a spiritual song which

Lyrics explicitly state when Christ was born, when Christ was born, on Christmas Day, on Christmas Day. That song particularly has it repeated twice. We often hear the song Go Tell It on the Mountain, which includes the line, that blessed Christmas morn. I say blessed because we’re so used to singing blessed. There’s a word blessed. That blessed Christmas morn. This links the event to the holiday that leads us to an important question.

Is Christmas Day more special than an average day? Is Christmas in and of itself any holier than the average day? Nowhere in the Bible do we read instructions for Christians to celebrate Jesus’ birth annually. Instead, what we do read are instructions that tell us to observe a weekly holy day. So why this first day of the week? The day is sacred for two reasons.

Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of week. Turn your Bibles over to Mark chapter 6 and verse 9.

Justin Evergarden (04:12.86)

I’m sorry, Mark 16 in verse 9.

Justin Evergarden (04:23.26)

Now when he rose early on the first day, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven demons. We see this also reflected in Luke chapter 24, verses one through three. Just a little further over, Luke chapter 24, verses one through three. We’re gonna be hopping around quite a bit, mostly in John and first Corinthians this morning.

Justin Evergarden (04:49.512)

24, one through three. On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they and certain other women with them came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. Let’s look at another parallel passage. Move forward again to the book of John chapter 20.

Justin Evergarden (05:25.49)

picking up in verse one. Now the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early while it was still dark and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. Then she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved and said to them, they have taken away the Lord out of the tomb and we do not know where they have laid him. Therefore, Peter went out and the other disciple and were going to the tomb.

These passages are given to us by different apostles. As such, these passages should remind us that the resurrection, not the birth, is the foundation of Christian hope. The Church was established on the first day of the week. We read about this Pentecost in Acts chapter 2. That particular chapter is known as the hub of the Bible when the Church was established. Pentecost occurred 50 days after the Passover. That would place it on a Sunday.

So the beginning of Christ’s kingdom and the announcement of the gospel both happened on the first day of the week. Yet despite the clear biblical focus, many today give more time, give more emotion, and give more thought to an uncommanded annual holiday observance than to weekly observances Jesus actually required. Many want to attend Jesus’s birthday party.

thus the title of today’s sermon. But there are four things, three things they don’t want to do and one thing they won’t be able to do. You see, they want to attend Jesus’s birthday party, but they don’t want to be his friends. Many today will gladly celebrate Christmas in honor of Jesus’s birth, but outside of the season, they resist his authority, don’t they? They may enjoy the idea of Jesus, but not the commitment.

of following him, Jesus made his expectations unmistakably clear. We’re already in John, go back a little bit to John chapter 15 and verse 14.

Justin Evergarden (07:39.981)

Pay attention to what he says. You are my friends if you do whatever I command you.

He’s not talking about a spiritual being puppeteering you. He says, you do whatsoever I command you. This is not seasonal. This is not optional. This is not emotional only. This is daily obedience. Consider the difference between simply attending the birthday party and actually being his friend. We’ll have a couple of illustrations here.

It’s one thing to sing Christmas carols, isn’t it? But it’s another to praise Him regularly. Carols once a year do not equal worship from the heart. They sound good. I love Christmas carols. They’re cute. They’re pretty. They have a nice ring to them. They’re very well composed. Beautiful music.

but it doesn’t equal worship. It’s one thing to give spare change to the bell ringers outside of Walmart. It’s another to help the helpless every day, isn’t it? A moment of charity does not replace a lifestyle of service, a lifetime of service. It’s one thing to give a few hours a year towards honoring the Lord. It is another to worship Him every time the opportunity arises, isn’t it?

It shows devotion. shows love.

Justin Evergarden (09:13.995)

Sunday assemblies, Bible reading, these things reveal true devotion.

It’s one thing to be at the birthday party and it is another to truly be His friend. If we don’t want to spend time with our Lord Jesus Christ in His Word studying His gospel today on this planet, what makes you think that He’ll want to spend an eternity next to us in heaven when we can’t spend more than a few hours a year with Him on earth?

I hope we take that question to heart. Friendship with Jesus means commitment. It means loyalty. It means obedience. And most of all, it means love. A love that changes priority. Anyone can show up for a holiday, but only a disciple shows up for a lifetime. The Bible itself gives us a clear picture of people who liked Jesus, but did not want to be his friends.

We’re still in John, go over to chapter 6. Rewind the clock a little more.

Justin Evergarden (10:21.793)

We’ll start in verse 15. But before that, we see Jesus feeds the 5,000. The crowd is excited. I would be free food.

They follow Him, they listen to Him, and they even want to make Him King. Let’s read verse 15. Therefore, when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him King, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone. These were people completely devoted to the point of, you don’t wanna be our King? You don’t wanna get a choice. We’ll make you be our King. But they were thinking of a physical kingdom.

not a spiritual kingdom. But when Jesus begins to speak about commitment, things change. Same chapter, chapter 6 verse 66 moving forward.

He preaches, he talks to them. And we read in verse 66, from that time many of his disciples went back and walked with him no more. They liked the miracle. I’m sure they liked the meal. I don’t know of many preachers that don’t like a free meal.

They liked the moment. But when obedience and submission were required, what did they do? The majority of the people left. They bowed out. was time. Nope. No thanks.

Justin Evergarden (11:53.82)

Moving forward to verse 67, Jesus then turns to the 12 and asks, will ye also go away? Peter responds,

with loyalty. Verse 68, but Simon Peter answered him, Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Take a look at this passage and let’s notice a few things that the passage teaches us. The crowd showed up for the event. The disciples stayed. They stayed for the relationship, not for the free meal to hand out to the miracles.

Justin Evergarden (12:38.031)

Now let’s look at today. Many today celebrate His birth every single year. Many claim to enjoy the benefits of Jesus. They love the baby and the manger. Don’t they? Why? Why are we so hung up on a baby and a manger? Is it because a baby and a manger isn’t going to demand anything from you?

isn’t going to demand anything. A baby won’t condemn you for your sin. How could it? It can barely babble. My six month old teaches me that every day. He loves to babble.

But at the same time, it’s not the baby that can save you, is it?

Justin Evergarden (13:21.319)

The one who can save is the same Jesus that grew up and died on a cross. For you and for me. He’s the same Jesus that defeated death by resurrecting after. Just like in John’s day, most people don’t hate Jesus. They just don’t want to be His friend. There’s something else that they don’t want. Whether they’ll admit it or not, they don’t want to take part in His wedding. Many want to celebrate Jesus’ birth, but far fewer

want to enter a covenant friendship and relationship with them. Let’s go over to Isaiah chapter 7.

Justin Evergarden (14:17.031)

Isaiah chapter 7 and verse 14 specifically talks about the virgin birth. the sake of time, we’re going to move forward. Galatians 4 and verse 4 also says about the timing of his birth. But the Bible places even greater emphasis on his wedding. It’s a symbol of his relationship with the church. He wasn’t married to what we would think today as a woman, but to the church. Some don’t even know that the Lord had a bride. Yet the Scriptures teach that He did.

easy let’s turn over to Revelation chapter 21

Justin Evergarden (14:55.557)

Revelation 21 and verse 2.

Justin Evergarden (15:02.093)

Then I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. The holy city, the new city we learned in class today was not physical Jerusalem. It was talking about a spiritual city, a spiritual kingdom. And this holy city is pictured as a bride. Moving forward in verse nine of Revelation 21.

Then one of seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me saying, come, I will show you the bride, the lamb’s wife. Notice the angel explicitly calls her the church, the bride of Christ. So who is the bride of Christ? It’s the church. The apostle Paul uses the same type of marriage imagery to show natural relationships. Let’s look at second Corinthians.

chapter 11.

Justin Evergarden (16:11.224)

2 Corinthians chapter 11 will start in verse 2.

Paul here is presenting the church as a chaste virgin. I am jealous for you with goodly jealousy. For I have been, for I have betrothed you to one husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin to who? To Christ. Let’s parallel that scripture with Ephesians chapter five.

Justin Evergarden (16:44.768)

I told you we’re going to jump around a lot.

Justin Evergarden (16:57.504)

Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 25.

Justin Evergarden (17:04.652)

Husbands, love your wives just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for her. Let’s continue. That he might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word. That he might present her to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.

So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and treasures it just as the Lord does the church. For we are members of his body and of his flesh and of his bones. For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh.

This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning who? Christ and the Church. It’s a marriage relationship. Christ gave Himself for her. He sanctifies her. He nourishes her, cleanses her. This imagery tells us two things. Christ is faithful to His bride, and as such His bride must be faithful to Him.

Jesus warned that many would not be invited to the wedding.

I’m sorry, that many would be invited to the wedding, but would not be in attendance. Let me rephrase. Move forward to Matthew chapter two.

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22, Matthew chapter 22.

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We’re going start in verse 5, but Jesus tells a parable about a king who prepares a wedding feast for his son. And what’s the first thing you do for a wedding? You prepare the invitations. You get the invitations. You get the postcards marked. You write them down. You stamp them. Back in these days, it would have worked a little differently. But the invitations are set and everything is ready. The celebration is planned, but notice the response in Matthew chapter 22 and verse 5. But they made light of it.

and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business.” Your translation might have the word merchandise. They cared more for their jobs and their earthly gain than they did this wedding. They didn’t reject the king outright in this instance, in this passage. They were simply too busy to attend the wedding. But if we move on to verse 6, we see that some even become hostile to the invitation.

And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them.” When’s the last time you killed somebody for inviting you to their wedding?

We read it right here!

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We laugh, but it’s shocking, right?

Let’s jump down to verses 11 through 13.

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But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. So he said to him, friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment? And he was speechless. And the king said to the servants, bind him hand and foot, take him away and cast him into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen. He is cast out.

He wasn’t cast out because he showed up.

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but because he refused to come on the king’s terms.

So what was the problem? The problem wasn’t ignorance. The problem was not a lack of an invitation. The problem was refusal of covenant.

Many today admire the king’s son. Again, they celebrate his birth every single year. But when invited into his covenant to be part of his bride, they decline, don’t they? They delay. Or, many times, they demand it to be on their own terms.

Let me tell you, we operate on God’s not ours. Sorry, not sorry. It is not my terms, it is on God’s terms how we worship and what we are to do. Celebrating His birth is not wrong, but refusing to join His body, refusing to join His church, refusing to join His bride means missing the entire purpose for which He came.

Move over to Matthew chapter one and verse 21.

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and she will bring forth a son and you shall call his name Jesus for he will save his people from their sins.” That’s the whole point, isn’t it? But we don’t want to join the establishment that saves us from our sins. They want to go to the birthday party but they don’t want to take part in the marriage. The third thing that they don’t want to do, they want to go to the birthday party but they don’t want to observe his death.

A blessing of being in Christ’s Church is the privilege of gathering every single week to observe the Lord’s Supper. Jesus did not give us an annual celebration of His birth, but He did give us a weekly memorial of His death. Paul writes the words of Christ in 1 Corinthians. Turn over there now to chapter 11.

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1 Corinthians 11, starting in verse 24.

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And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, Take, eat, this is my body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same manner, he also took the cup after. Supper saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood. This do as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till he comes.

Should we only remember the Lord’s sacrifice once a year for a couple of hours? Or as we gather around the Christmas tree?

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Let’s move forward to 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verses 1 through 4.

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It continues, moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, and in which by you stand, by which you are also saved if, big if there, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first all of that which I also received.

that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. The death, burial, and resurrection of Christ is the heart of Christianity. It’s the foundation of our entire belief system. Yet most people who so loudly celebrate Jesus’ birth rarely partake of His Lord’s Supper, don’t they?

They rarely attend weekly worship. They rarely even meditate on his sacrifice.

According to Acts chapter 20 and verse 7, the early church met every first day of the week. This was not optional.

This was commanded remembrance wasn’t it? Yes. Let’s go back to the hub of the Bible. Let’s go to Acts chapter 2.

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Acts chapter 2 and verse 42.

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and they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.

God has always taught His people to remember salvation through sacrifice, not sentiment.

When Israel was delivered from Egypt, did God command them to celebrate the birth of Moses? They had salvation from Egypt, they had salvation from Egyptian captivity. No, instead He commanded them to remember what? The night of blood. Turn back over to Exodus chapter 12.

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Let’s take a look at an Old Testament example of this.

chapter 12 and verse 13.

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Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood I will pass over you. And the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.”

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This day shall be unto you a memorial, he says in 12 and verse 14.

for I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night. I will execute judgment, verse 12. Verse 14, this day shall be to you as a memorial and ye shall keep it as a feast of the Lord throughout, once a year? Throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance. Israel was to remember not the birth of their deliverer.

not the excitement of their escape, but the cost of redemption. Remember the lamb that died in their place where they spread the blood on the door seal? We have another lamb that died for us, don’t we? Turn over to 1 Corinthians chapter 5.

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And verse seven.

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Therefore purge out the old leaven that ye may be a new lump, since ye truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our what? Our Passover, was sacrificed for us.” Paul connected this to Christ.

Just as Israel had a commanded memorial, so does the church. Israel could not ignore the Passover and still claim faithfulness, could they? No, of course not. No one could ignore the Lord’s Supper today and still claim devotion to the cross. We have to observe this. Those are three things that they may wanna go to the birthday party, but they don’t wanna take part in. But there’s something they won’t be able to take part in. They won’t take part.

the resurrection. The Bible equates salvation with being in communion with Christ. Those who belong to Him are those who walk with Him, those who worship Him, those who obey Him.

those who partake in His memorial. And if you do so, you’re promised the resurrection. Let’s go back to John, John chapter 6.

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starting in verse 54. Jesus declares, whosoever eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life. And I will raise him up in the last day.

and will raise him up in the last day. So what happens if we don’t partake of the Lord’s Supper?

What happens if we don’t obey God? Most of the religious world celebrate Jesus’ birthday, but they don’t want His friendship because that’s equal to obedience. They don’t want His wedding because that means having to join the church. They do not want to observe His death, the Lord’s Supper. And therefore, according to the scripture we just read, they will not take part in the resurrection.

The resurrection is reserved for the faithful in Christ, those who serve Christ. Romans 6, 3 through 6 says, Know ye not that so many of us were baptized into Christ, were baptized into His death? Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death. Just like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of our Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we also shall be in the likeness of this resurrection. Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed and henceforth we should not serve sin.

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Perhaps you’re here today because you appreciate Jesus’ birth. It’s good. I commend it. It is admirable to acknowledge the moment when our God entered the world in human flesh. It was a very important part. But being a Christian, being saved requires far more than celebrating a birthday once a year. It requires friendship with Christ, doesn’t it? It requires a friendship that’s shown in obedience.

It requires becoming His bride through faithful membership in His church. So how do we gain entrance into His church? Through baptism. If you look at John chapter 3 and verse 5, he says, Verily, verily, say unto you, accept a man be born of water and of the Spirit. He cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

Well now preacher, you’re telling me I have to be baptized. I’m not. God’s Word is. But preacher, I thought it was faith only. Take a moment and turn your Bible over to James chapter 2 and verse 24. Let’s go to the book of James.

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James 2 and verse 24.

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James was taught by Christ.

And he says, when you see, you see then that a man is justified by works and not by faith only. Not by faith only, it takes more than that. Christ said earlier as we read, ye are my friends if you do whatsoever I command you.

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So many want to argue faith only salvation or that we’re saying from the pulpit, we’re saying works only. Let me be clear. It takes faith plus works to be saved from eternal hellfire.

and you have to be responsible for the actions in your own body. A miraculous spirit is not pulling the strings. You make these choices. Baptism also is not a work. It’s a submission to Christ.

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If we hear the Word, we have to take the time to listen. That’s a work. You have to believe it. Yes, believing in something takes work sometimes. No one will ever argue the point of you have to repent of your sins. No one will ever argue that you have to confess with your mouth that you believe Jesus is the Son of God. We have whole false doctrine teachers telling people over and over again, say the sinner’s prayer and you’ll be saved. Just say these words and that’s it. You’re good for life. No one will ever argue that those aren’t works.

But when it comes to baptism, baptism isn’t something you do, it’s something you submit to. And the one part of the God’s plan of salvation that’s not a work, they don’t wanna do because they claim it’s a work.

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It is a submission to Christ if we do all these things. Then we have hope of sharing in the resurrection. This season I hope we all realize that there is so much more to Christianity than an annual celebration. I hope we realize that it is lifetime commitment. It is a covenant relationship. It is worship. It is discipleship. It is sacrifice. It is devotion.

And beyond all of that, it’s the only path to eternal security. We have to obey what God gave us. If you’d like to become a Christian today, or maybe you have some other need that we could help you with in any way, we’d be happy to pray for you at this time. We have the Baptistery filled if you need to put on Christ in Baptism. Repent of your sins. Let the old man of sin be buried and rise again in newness of life just like Christ was. If you have any today, please

Back To The Bible – Book 3 (Part 1) – Aaron Cozort – 07-20-2025

In accountability, Admonition Podcast, Bible Study, evangelism, faith, Keywords Back to the Bible, prayer, Salvation, sin, Spiritual Growth, teaching by Aaron Cozort

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As we begin this morning, ah raise your hand if you do not have or at least do not have

with you a copy of the booklet.

We’re going over the Back to the Bible booklet, so if you’ll raise your hand, ah Jacob or

Walker will bring one of those to you.

as they’re making their way around.

We uh have proceeded through the first two of the booklets in the Back to the Bible

series.

We will begin this Sunday with the third one, and we’ll conclude that next Sunday morning.

So, uh we’re not going to cover the entire thing in this particular lesson, and we will…

as we’ve done before, discuss some of the things that are in it for the sake of helping

you to understand what you will be doing if you sit down and study with someone these

booklets, as you sit down and help them to understand the Word and the will of God.

But uh as we pause just for a moment, we’re going to take a moment right now and hopefully

you all still have your…

the other bookmarks, you have your bookmarks with you.

And we’re going to take a moment uh for us to pray for the people who are on those lists.

You know, as we’re progressing in our training concerning how to study with people.

m

You’re reaching the point where you can sit down and study with these people.

You can look for an open opportunities and open doors to be able to study with the

individuals who you have on oh the names that you have on that sheet.

And so I encourage you to be thinking about the people who are on those sheet.

Be looking for life events occurring in their lives.

that you might find the opportunity to be able to uh instill in them and sit down and

study with them the Word of God, that they might know both how to live and how to be

obedient to God.

So we’re going take a moment and pray silently on behalf of those who are on each of our

own lists.

One last thing as we begin.

Those who’ve been here through all of the studies, remember that at the beginning, one of

the first things you will have done, if you didn’t have the opportunity to do it at the

beginning of your study with someone, then this would be the opportunity that you would

take to do it.

ah Preferably, I prefer to do it at the very beginning before any of the study has begun.

But if you don’t do it then, you need to do it.

at this point right here, before you open the third book, before you start into the third

book, sit down with the questions that are on the back of this.

ah This is the Back to the Bible Survey.

These questions are in the booklet.

These questions can also just be on a piece of paper.

Stick it your Bible.

You’re going to regularly think through these questions.

The key to the questions is getting the person to write

them down.

You know, if you had them write them down at the beginning of the first study, have them

give you that piece of paper.

Bring it back out at this point.

Not at this moment in time at the beginning of the study, but during the third study.

Which means you have to keep track of it.

So put it somewhere where you won’t lose it.

ah But if you do have them write it down at this point in time, that’s fine too.

But what I encourage you to do is go through these questions.

Now, the questions just by way of reminder that are on this survey.

Or, do you know God exists?

You don’t have to rehash that before the third one.

If you’ve gone through two booklets, you’ve probably got a good idea whether or not they

believe that God exists.

But just going through the questions that are here.

Do you know who the Holy Spirit is?

Do you believe the Holy Spirit is God?

The answers that are on this are yes, no, or unsure.

Do you know who Jesus is?

Do you believe Jesus is God?

Do you believe the entire Bible is God’s Word?

Do you believe the Bible contains contradictions, mistakes, and or false statements?

Now, if you filled this out before the first study, they may have said, well, not sure

about that, or they may have said no.

and you may be at this point now and they may have changed their mind entirely because of

reading what’s in booklet number one concerning inspiration and revelation.

they may be in a different place on some of these answers than they were when they started

this study with you.

Do you believe God will do everything he has stated in his word?

Now, the last section from this point forward

is the point that I typically make sure we’ve gone over and we’ve answered and we’ve

written down the answers before we start the third study.

First question, are you saved?

You know, every single person I’ve ever studied with who comes from a denominational

background has said yes to that answer.

They’re certain they’re saved.

Part of the reason it’s important to have this written down is because the person they’re

going to argue with during the course of the third book is themselves.

And I don’t know about you, but if you’ve ever observed someone who’s tried to convince

themselves to go to the gym, work out on regular basis and get in shape, most of the time

we beat ourselves in our own arguments.

And so if they’re going to be arguing with themselves, the only way you’re going to be

able to hold them accountable for their answers is if it’s written down.

That’s why it’s so important.

because as they argue with themselves, they’ll be looking at the sheet and going.

You know that’s not what I said two hours ago, or an hour and a half ago, 45 minutes ago.

I said this.

And now I’m looking at the Scriptures and it says this.

Okay?

So the next thing, if yes, at what point were you saved?

What did you do to become saved and have them give you the details?

What day it was?

Where were they?

How old were they?

What did they do?

And it may go something like this, well, I was 14 years old.

ah It was in Samaritanis C.

I was at the Northwest Baptist Church.

I went down to the front with two other friends of mine.

We kneeled down and we prayed.

May go something like that, maybe something entirely different.

But they’re going say, this is what I did.

They’ll know what they’ve thought about it before.

They’ve considered it before.

They’ll give you the answer, and they’ll write it down.

How old were you when you were saved?

Have you been baptized?

Yes, no, or unsure.

How old were you when you were baptized?

Now, they may say, well, I was saved when I was 14.

I was baptized when I was 18.

That’s a completely normal answer for most people in the denominational world.

well, I prayed and I was saved on July 7th, but the baptismal ceremony was until July

24th.

Circle the word that describes your baptism.

Sprinkling, pouring, immersion.

Someone may say, well, I’ve never been baptized as an adult, but I know I was baptized

when I was a baby because my mother told me I was.

Okay?

If you’ve been baptized, were you saved before or after baptism?

And if you were to die tonight, do you know where you would go for eternity?

Yes, no, or unsure?

as you open the third book.

You’ve gone through revelation, inspiration, and authority.

You’ve talked about the church, who started it, who it belongs to, what are the aspects of

it that they need to know and they need to understand.

They now know what the body of Christ looks like.

They now know that the Word of God is inspired and is something that they are accountable

to.

And as you open up this book,

You’re now not talking about those things, you’re talking about them.

But you’re not going to approach it in talking about them, per se.

You’re going to do the same thing you’ve done in the last two studies.

You’re going to open up the Word of God and just see what it says.

You’re going let them read it for themselves.

This does not and should never turn into an accusatory study.

unless it’s them accusing themselves.

You go back and look at the gospel record of Christ’s life.

the times where you see an extreme uptick in the animosity of the Pharisees and the chief

priests.

is when Jesus causes them through the conversation or the teaching or the parable.

to see themselves as guilty.

So there’s a caution there.

Not everyone will accept this the same way.

Not everyone will react the same way.

Some will get angry.

Some will get angry at others because they’ve always been lied to.

Some will become sad.

Some will grieve.

Some will be very, very stoic all the way up until the point they make a decision.

And some will get part way through, close it, and walk away.

as you realize that what they’re facing is the challenge of what they’ve always believed

with what they’re now confronted with is actually in the Word of God.

You must remember Paul’s instruction to Timothy.

He says, preach the Word, be instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke,

exhort with all long suffering.

Do not give up on an individual because you study the third study with them and they’re

not immediately converted.

one of the individuals that was incredibly kind and beneficial to us in our work, our

first work in North Carolina.

was an older lady who uh she attended the congregation where her husband was a member with

him for seven years.

before she could talk herself out of what she had always believed.

She knew what the Bible taught before she’d been there year.

And it took her six more years to get out of what she had always been taught.

Do know that person was the single most evangelistic person in the entire congregation?

My emphasis here is you give people time.

Don’t give up on them because they didn’t change their mind in one study.

Remind yourself that the scribes and the Pharisees and the Sadducees, many on the council

denied Jesus, denied Jesus, would not accept Jesus, knew that He was who He claimed to be,

and still

wouldn’t obey Jesus, and yet we’re told in the book of Acts that after his resurrection

many of them believed.

Sometimes you have to give people time.

Now let’s begin with Isaiah chapter 59.

The section of this study starts with your spiritual condition, that’s the header.

Then what is sin?

How many of sin?

Those are the areas we’re going to, sorry, and the consequences of sin, those are the

areas we’re going to discuss this morning.

Isaiah 59 verses 1 and 2,

The visual is helpful.

Man’s here, God’s here, sin’s in the middle.

Sin is what divides man from God.

You know what?

That is not something that most people are astounded by.

Most denominations will teach that.

Most religious groups will say there’s something that separates humanity from God and it’s

our morality.

It’s not a big surprise when that is discussed.

So as you go through, again, read the text, let them fill it in.

First John chapter 3 and verse 4, the question is, what is sin?

If sin is what separates man from God, then what is it?

Paul, sorry, John will write in 1 John chapter 3 and verse 4,

John says sin is when we violate the law of God.

When we violate the law of God, we’ve sinned.

Easy enough to understand.

Now, some might say, well, what’s a transgression?

One, the original Greek word carries with it the idea of missing the mark.

as if there was an archer who was shooting at a target and he overshot the target or he

fell short of the target.

That’s a good illustration.

People get that.

Hey, this is what you were supposed to do, but you went over it, you went under it, you

missed it.

James chapter 1.

James chapter 1 in verse 14 and 15, But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his

own lust and enticed.

Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin, when it is finished,

bringeth forth death.

As they look at that text,

The man is tempted when he is.

drawn away by his own lust.

You know, many in the religious world who have a Calvinism background are far less

concerned about the sins they commit themselves and spend much of their time worrying

about the doctrine of original sin, the sin they believe they inherited from Adam.

If you were to go back and look at the doctrine of Calvinism, you would find that

Calvinists teach that you are born in sin, and you’ve probably heard people say that.

I know that I was born in sin.

That’s going to be a challenge when they look at this and go, sin occurs when I am

allowing myself to do that which God has told me not to do.

Because babies can’t do that.

And babies don’t do that.

When lust has conceived, it brings forth sin.

Now, there’s already a conclusion there that, as you’ve observed throughout this study, we

don’t draw out everything that’s in every text.

Sometimes we loop back to these texts.

Build one thing upon another.

James chapter 4.

James chapter 4 verse 17, therefore to him,

that knows to do good and doeth it not to him and his sin, you can emphasize that one is a

sin, James 1, of commission.

You don’t have to use that word, but you can say one is a sin because you violated the

law.

Here is a sin because you failed to do what the law commanded you to do.

One is God told you not to do something and you did it.

The other is God told you to do something and you didn’t do it.

Both of them are sin.

If one knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

So the question, have you ever failed to do what you knew was right?

There’s not a competent, well-meaning, well-thinking individual who’s an adult who could

say no to that question.

Yes, of course, there have been times where I failed to do what was right.

Romans chapter 3.

under the header of how many have sinned.

Romans chapter 3 verse 10, as it is written, there is none righteous, no not one.

Now the context in this discussion is righteous in and of themselves because there may be

some confusion.

They may go, wait a minute, well aren’t Christians righteous?

What does it mean?

Paul’s discussion in this text is righteous separated from God, apart from God, righteous

in and of themselves.

uh Romans chapter 3 verse 23, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

And you ask the question, how many have sinned?

All have.

Does this include you?

you’ll find in this text, in this booklet, more than the others the directed questions.

And if you’re like me, maybe you’re not, but if you’re like me, you’ll be less comfortable

asking those.

It’s really easy to ask a question about the text, but you’re going to feel a little weird

internally going, does this include you?

But just ask the question.

Don’t overthink it.

Just ask the question.

Does this include you?

They’ll answer it.

You answer it.

Romans chapter 6 verse 23.

The consequences of sin.

For the wages of sin is death.

But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The wages of sin.

is death.

They understand what wages are.

This microphone is driving me nuts today.

Sorry.

They understand what wages are, and if they don’t immediately connect, when you go to

work, you earn wages.

You get paid and you are owed that because you worked for it.

That’s what wage is.

God is saying when you sin, you earned.

death.

A lot of people really want to believe that they’re owed heaven unless they just somehow

did enough bad in their life to have missed heaven and end up in hell.

That’s not what the text says.

The text says the wages of sin is death.

How many sins must one commit to be separated from God eternally?

You know, I’ve never had anyone miss the answer.

I never had anyone say, you probably have to commit a few thousand.

No, they look at the text and go.

One, because now that you’ve committed the sin, you’ve earned the wage.

And if they struggle with that, ask how many hours they have to work at their employer

before they expect to be paid for the hours they work.

You want to just one hour.

Do you expect to be paid for that?

You expect to be paid for the first hour and every hour thereafter?

Yeah.

it’s your wage.

1 Corinthians chapter 6 verses 9 and 10.

Paul writes to the Corinthians and says,

Nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor

revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.”

You may be tempted to take a moment here and explain what all the depth, the detail of all

these things are and what all they mean.

Don’t.

Not because it’s not important for them to know it, but if they don’t know what it means,

that’s probably not the sin that they need to repent of.

But there’s a few of them on there I can just about guarantee you they’re going to

identify with from some point in their life.

Will the unrighteous inherit the Kingdom of God?

Nobody misses it.

The answer is no.

Matthew chapter 13 verses 40 through 42.

As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of

the world.

The Son of man shall send forth his angels, they shall gather out of his kingdom all

things that offend, and them which do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of

fire, there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” At the end of the world sinners will

be.

punished.

something that I haven’t always stated, sometimes they’re going to use a word that’s not

the direct word right out of the text.

They’re going say, well, they’re going to be judged, punished, burned.

You put the right word in yours.

If they’ve got the gist of it, move on.

Don’t argue over technicalities as long as they’re understanding the text.

Now as you think about where this study has left them,

It’s left them seeing sin.

It’s left them seeing God’s judgment.

Now, if you left them right here,

That’d be a pretty sad place to be, wouldn’t it?

But the thing is…

At this point in the study, they’re answering all of these questions for the most part,

most people you’ll study with, they’re answering all these questions thinking it’s

somebody else.

because they’re saved.

This is about lost people.

This is about people who will be judged by God, not welcomed home.

This is about people who are going to hell, not heaven.

At this moment in the study, they’re fine with it.

And I want to emphasize that for this reason.

When you sit down with the Word of God, with a tool like this or any other tool, when you

sit down with the text of Scripture, it is important that you do not sit down to see why

others need to be accountable to God.

while simultaneously not holding yourself accountable to God.

It is not enough to open the Word of God and see what others must do.

You’ve got to open it up and see what you must do.

If you’re here this morning and you’re outside the Body of Christ.

You need to realize and we need to remember.

that God will hold each and every one of us accountable for what we do in this life.

that when we reach eternity, we will give an account for the words that we say, Jesus

says, that you’ll be judged by every idle word that you speak.

By the things that you think.

Jesus emphasized in Matthew chapter 5, 5, around verse 20, that if a man lusted in his

heart over a woman,

He’s just as guilty of committing sin as if he had committed an act of adultery.

If he hated his brother, he’s just as guilty of sin as if he had murdered his brother.

We’re going to be judged for the words that we speak, for the thoughts that we think, but

we’re also going to be judged for the actions we take.

And if we add in James chapter 4, we’re to be reminded that we’re going to be judged for

the things that we violate and the things we fail to keep.

If you evaluate your life and you think, you know what, I’m not passing that test.

I violated something that I was told not to do.

I failed to do something I was told to do.

I’ve thought things that I shouldn’t have thought.

I’ve said things I shouldn’t have said.

then the text of Scripture very plainly teaches us that the wages of sin is death.

but the gift of God is eternal life.

If that is where you find yourself this morning, no, that’s not where God wants you to be,

nor is it where you have to stay.

If you’re outside the body of Christ this morning, why not consider changing your position

in life and being obedient to the Word of God?

by hearing the Word and believing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, by repenting of

your sins and confessing His name, by being immersed in water for the remission of your

sins, to rise to walk in newness of life, no longer being guilty of those old sins, no

longer living that old life, but being obedient to the Word of God.

If you have need of the invitation of Jesus Christ, why not come forward this morning as

we stand?

Back To The Bible Book 2 – (Part 1) – Aaron Cozort – 07-06-2025

In Admonition Podcast, biblical authority, deacons, elders, Jesus, keywords church, New Testament, oneness, organization, qualifications, worship by Aaron Cozort

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helps if I turn it on and not on.

Good morning.

It’s good to see all of you here, especially good to see many visitors that we have among

us.

We’re grateful for your presence and we’re grateful for the opportunity that you have to

be with us this morning.

We pray that you will be able to come back and visit with us again soon.

Raise your hand if you’re…

If you do not have one of these booklets uh with you or if you do not have one here,

Isaiah is going to pass them out.

So if you just raise your hand if you need one.

We’re going to be covering the second booklet in the Back to the Bible series.

And Isaiah, if you need more, there’s more in the back in the foyer.

ah So just keep your hands up till you get one and uh they’ll make sure those are passed

out.

We mentioned a few weeks ago,

as we started this training, this is an opportunity for us to train ourselves how to study

with others.

It is also an opportunity to learn because sometimes we find, oh, I didn’t know that

particular detail or I didn’t know best how to present that particular detail concerning

the Word of God.

As we study with individuals who, by and large,

have spent their entire life never being given any structure to how they study the Bible,

and certainly not to God’s expectations for their lives.

So as we go through this study, you may find some things, you come along, say, well, I

didn’t know that, or I need to study that more, or you say, this is entirely foreign to

me.

I’ve never heard anything like this.

Don’t hesitate as your time here before you leave and walk out those doors to let us know.

We’d be happy to study with you further and if this is, with this being the second book,

you will have missed the first booklet.

You say, I liked what I saw here, but I’d like to start at the beginning.

Just reach out to myself or Justin and we’d be happy to sit down and go through this

material with you.

Now, having said that, we will have the slides, the overheads uh for these lessons as we

go through.

but we will move through at a fairly rapid pace.

uh So if you’re turning to all of the passages in the text, that’s good.

If you say, can’t keep up, that’s fine too.

The passages will be on the slides.

Now, not all of the slides came in exactly the way they were supposed to this morning, so

bear with me if we have some issues there.

We’re beginning with a second booklet dealing with the church.

And we’re gonna begin in Matthew chapter 16.

As we have done in the previous two studies, we’re going to take this particular lesson,

this particular booklet, break it up into two lessons, and I will be commenting along the

way on some things that you may want to consider if you’re sitting down and studying

through this with someone who is trying to learn what God would have them to do.

This particular booklet focuses on the church and worship and what God

commands us to do under the New Testament age.

We noticed in the first booklet as we concluded that study that we are not under the Old

Testament anymore, but rather that we are under the New Testament, the law of Christ, and

in accordance with that we need to know what the law of Christ, the New Testament, says

concerning the church and worship.

Matthew chapter 16 verse 18.

And I say unto thee, now this is Jesus speaking to his disciples because he asked his

disciples, who do men say that I am?

And they gave some of the ideas that the people had said.

Then Peter pointed out that you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

Jesus commended Peter concerning this and he said, and I also say unto thee, thou art

Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church.

and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” The question is, who built the

church?

The answer is Jesus did.

It’s His church and He came to build it.

To whom does the church belong?

Well, as we just answered, it belongs to Jesus.

Did Jesus build, according to the text, churches, plural, or the church?

singular.

singular.

There’s only one.

He didn’t come to build a plethora of churches.

He certainly didn’t come to build two or 20,000 different churches, all believing and

teaching different things.

Then consider, as we go further, I gotta fill these in as we go, uh turn if you will to

Ephesians chapter 1.

Ephesians chapter 1 beginning in verse 20.

Now some of these longer texts when you’ve got

A number of verses here, they won’t all be on the text, just the ones, the section where

it’s highlighted for the answers, but we’re going to read the entire thing.

In Ephesians chapter 1 verse 20, which he worked in Christ, being God the Father, worked

in Christ, when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the

heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion.

And every name that is named, not only in the age

in this age, but also in that which is to come.

And he, God the Father, put all things under his, Jesus’ feet, and gave him to be head

over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in

all.” Is Jesus the head over all things to the church?

Now one of the things, especially for the visitors who haven’t been in one of studies

before, one of things we reiterate is as you’re sitting down with someone and you’re

teaching them the gospel and using the Back to the Bible series, you might ask the

question.

You let them answer it.

You let them read it.

You let them acknowledge what the text says.

Now if you’re going around, if you’ve got maybe a group of three and you’re taking turns,

it’s okay if everyone answers.

But make sure that they’re seeing the answer.

Make sure that they’re reading the answer and that they’re acknowledging that the answer

is what came exactly out of the text.

So is Jesus the head over all things of the church?

Yes, that’s what the text plainly says.

In verse 23, the church is also called his blank, his body.

The church is the body of Christ, according to the text.

Now consider as well Ephesians chapter 1 verses 22 and 23.

There are some things that you can do and in the booklet, the evangelism explained

booklet, there’s some of these visuals are there.

Sometimes I’ll use them and sometimes I won’t.

Depends on the person I’m studying with and how well I think they’re coming to this.

But imagine if you had a body with multiple heads.

Would there be something wrong with that body?

Yes there would.

Well, what if you had a body with one head but multiple bodies?

Be something wrong with that body?

Absolutely.

We’d all acknowledge that.

The text says that the church singular is the body singular of Christ.

Christ is not the head of a multitude of bodies.

Christ is not

one head with other heads of a single body.

Rather, there is one body and one head.

Consider as well, we go over to Ephesians chapter four.

In Ephesians chapter four and in verse four, we read, there is one body and one spirit,

just as you were called in one hope of your calling.

Is there only one hope?

The answer is yes.

Is there only one Holy Spirit?

The answer is yes.

Is there only one body?

The answer is yes.

Now, why is it that it’s important when you get to chapter 4 that you had already gone to

chapter 1?

Because chapter 1 tells you in the context what the body is referencing.

It’s referencing the church.

So when you know the body is referencing the church, you now know that what Paul is saying

in Ephesians 4 is that there’s one church.

John chapter 17, as Jesus is praying in the garden, or praying up in the upper room before

he goes into the garden, get my words out here correctly, Jesus is praying with his

disciples in private in the upper room.

And we read in John chapter 17 and in verse 20, I do not pray for these alone, that these

are the disciples sitting there.

He says, do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in me through

their word, that they may be one as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also

may be one in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.

Did Jesus pray that his followers all be one?

The answer is yes, he did.

As a matter of fact, when you look at that text, notice how many times Jesus emphasizes

the oneness of the relationship of his believers and himself and God the Father.

over and over and over he repeats this idea of oneness.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 1, Paul as he is writing to the church in Corinth will write to

them about division and the problems that they have there in the church at Corinth.

And chapter 1 verse 10 we read,

all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among you but that you be

perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

Now it’s important that someone realizes that Paul is writing to a church and he’s writing

to them and he’s admonishing them, he’s pleading with them to all speak the same thing.

that there should be no divisions among them.

So, is religious division condemned by Paul in this passage?

Yes it is.

Since religious division is condemned and since Jesus prayed that all his followers be

one, must we strive to be one religiously?

Yes we must.

Alright, then consider

Colossians chapter 1 verse 18.

Colossians chapter 1 verse 18, and He is the head of the body.

Now, who do we already know is the one who’s the head of the body because Ephesians told

us?

Jesus is.

Okay, so the context here is Jesus.

Jesus is the head of the body, the Church, which is the beginning, the firstborn from the

dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

Since Jesus is the head of the Church, the body.

Should we go to anyone other than Jesus and the inspired writers of the New Testament,

which taught what Jesus said, you need book one to remember that, and the inspired writers

of the New Testament to learn the organization, worship, and name of the church?

Should we go to anybody else other than Jesus for that information?

No.

It’s His church.

He built it.

He gave the instructions for it.

Okay?

the organization of the church.

So we’re going to move from kind of a header up here concerning the church and who’s in

charge of it, who’s the head of it, to how is it organized.

And we’re going spend the majority of our time here this morning.

Matthew chapter 15.

Matthew chapter 15.

We read in verse 13, but he answered and said, every plant which my heavenly father has

not planted will be uprooted.

If a church is not built in accordance with the word of God, will it be rooted up?

One of the things that you need to know and you need to recognize as you’re studying with

people is that you will be confronted with your own thoughts on a matter as you’re trying

to teach them.

And if you are not settled on what the Word of God says, and if you cannot with confidence

state that you agree with what the Word of God says,

You need to ask someone else to have that Bible study.

Because the last thing you need to do is sit down with the Word of God and try and

convince someone to believe the Word of God and obey it if you don’t believe the Word of

God and obey it.

Jesus spoke to the Pharisees and He condemned the Pharisees there in Matthew chapter 23

because He said that they would go scouring the earth to make one proselyte, that is to

take a Gentile and convert them to being a Jew, to convert them to Judaism, and they’d end

up creating someone who was twice the child of hell that they were.

What’s Jesus’ point?

Jesus’ point and his emphasis was that when they would sit down and convince that

individual to leave paganism, to leave their polytheistic ideologies, to leave their

religions that didn’t originate in God, they’d turn around and teach them to obey the

doctrines of men and the thoughts of men instead of God.

So they would rescue them from

false teaching and paganism only to introduce them to false teaching and human doctrines.

when you sit down with someone and you emphasize to them that if they will open up the

Word of God and they will just do what it says and when they do what it says they will be

right in the eyes of God and then they look at you and go, well is that what you believe?

And you start squirming.

And you start, well I don’t know that it means exactly

You need to have the honesty and the uprightness of character to say, know what, I’ve

always thought that that wasn’t what I believed, but I’ve had to change my beliefs to

match what God says, just like He’s telling you you have to do.

part of the challenge to be a teacher is that you have to teach yourself.

And if you are unwilling to open the Word of God and believe what it says,

Do the courtesy of not trying to teach someone else to do what you won’t do yourself.

If a church is not built in accordance with the Word of God, will it be uprooted?

Yes, it will, because God didn’t plan it.

Now, consider as well Acts chapter 14.

Acts chapter 14, you’re reading about the early church.

You’re reading about the growth of the early church.

So in Acts chapter 14 and in verse 23,

you read, so when they had appointed elders in every church, well, what’s going on?

Who is this talking about?

Well, if you read a few verses back and help them with this so they have a frame of

reference, Paul and Barnabas have gone out on a missionary journey and they have

established churches and preached and in cities and as a result, individuals have been

converted.

churches have been established.

Now they’re going back through those cities on a return journey.

And we read, when they had preached the gospel to that city and many dismayed…

uh Sorry, I looked down and went to the wrong verse.

Verse 23, so when they had appointed elders in every church and prayed with fasting, they

commended them to the Lord in whom they believe.

So as they returned in their journeys back to their original starting point, they ordained

or appointed elders in every church.

Did these inspired men ordain elders in every church?

Yes, they did.

Are we right if we did as they did in ordaining a plurality of elders in every

congregation?

Absolutely.

If we do what the early church did and the early church was right in the eyes of God, then

we’ll be right in the eyes of God.

We don’t have to have a conference or a discussion or a big meeting about it.

All we have to do is open the book and do what they did.

All right?

Acts chapter 20.

There was one question that didn’t show up on that slide, and I’m going to read it before

as you all are turning over to Acts chapter 20 verse 17.

Could we be wrong if we did not organize the church the way those inspired men of God did?

Absolutely.

Now we’re leaving it to our judgment to be right in the eyes of God instead of God’s

example.

Acts chapter 20 verse 17.

We read, Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews.

This is Paul.

Go back to the verse before it and you’ll see that.

He reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers and in the

marketplace daily with those who happened to be there.

Go down to verse 28.

wrong chapter.

I’m in chapter 17.

That’s…

that’ll happen by the way.

When you sit down and study you’re trying to focus on two things at once, you’ll start

reading from a chapter and they’re like, what are you reading?

Acts chapter 20.

I’m making all the mistakes for you so you know that it’s okay to make them.

Alright, Acts chapter 20 verse 17.

Not 17, verse 17.

Notice the plurality there.

Verse 28.

Yes.

Did you know there’s a bunch of denominations that do not believe that?

That they have individuals in different roles serving as the overseers of the church.

In most Baptist churches, it’s deacons that are overseers in the church, not elders.

But that’s not what the text says, is it?

The elders were given the role, the responsibility, and did you notice what Paul said?

That the Holy Spirit said that this is what they were to do.

Now, Titus chapter 1.

Titus chapter 1, verses 5 through 7.

read, for this reason I left you…

I’m going to catch up here with the slides.

Titus chapter 1 verse 5 uh

a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled, holding fast the

faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort

and convict those who contradict.” As Paul writes here in this text, we read this.

Notice when Paul told Titus to set things in order, did he tell him to ordain elders?

The answer is yes.

When we do what Titus did in organizing the church, are we doing the will of God?

Yes.

We’re doing exactly what God told the first century church to do.

Do the terms, because you’ve seen them in these passages, do the terms elders, bishop, and

overseer refer to the same office?

The answer is yes.

They’re described as elders, Paul met with the elders, but they’re also described as

overseers.

And in the King James Version, the Old King James Version, you find the term bishop used

to refer to an overseer.

It’s an Old English word that means overseer.

Can you say that again?

Alright, we’ll get into that in just a moment.

So, deacons are different, but elders, bishops, overseers, all referencing the same group

of people and all to be appointed in the body of Christ.

And as you notice there in Titus chapter 1, there’s a list of qualifications, something

that may come up.

has come up in multiple studies with people as I’ve studied in this area.

They’ll say, well, the church where you attend, do you have elders?

And I’ll say, no.

And they’ll look at you like, whoa, isn’t that what you’re supposed to have?

But that’s where the text helps you, doesn’t it?

Because as you read Titus chapter 1 verses 5 through 7 or 5 through 9, you’ll find a list

of qualifications.

And you can say, well, at the moment we’re working on getting to the point where we have

men who are qualified and able and willing to do it, but we have to have them meet the

qualifications.

We can’t appoint somebody who’s not qualified.

So you understand and help them understand that at times a church, just like the churches

as Paul went through on the missionary journey the first time and established the

churches, he didn’t put elders in or appoint elders the moment he established the church.

He came back through and appointed elders and he sent Timothy and he sent Titus back to

the churches to appoint elders to give time for the men there to mature and to meet the

qualifications.

So you actually can re-emphasize the importance of doing it God’s way and not man’s way.

Over in First Timothy chapter 3, we find another list.

And if you’ve been in the adult Bible class here on Sunday mornings, you know that we’ve

been through this passage, but we’re going to read it again as we go through the text.

Verse 1 of chapter 3, this is a faithful saying, If a man desires the position of a

bishop, he desires a good work.

A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good

behavior, hospitable, able to teach.

As you’re going through and studying with this person, don’t spend eight weeks teaching

him what all these things mean.

That’s not the point of the study.

The point is for him to realize there’s qualifications and God set a standard.

All right?

So notice, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not

quarrelsome, not covetous.

one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence.

For if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church

of God?

Not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride, he fall into the same condemnation as the

devil.

Moreover, he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into

reproach and the snare of the devil.

Now, must an elder be married?

Well, in order to be the husband of one wife, you have to be married.

Must an elder have children?

Well, the text clearly states that he must be one who rules his own house.

Well, having his children in subjection with all gravity.

May a recent convert or a novice serve as an elder?

The answer is no.

The text plainly states that he must be one who is not a novice, not one who’s

inexperienced in the Word of God.

So if you had an entire congregation that had just been converted in the last month, would

you have anyone qualified to be elders?

No!

Why not?

They’re all novices.

You have to give people time to develop from the state of being a babe in Christ, a

novice, to being mature in Christ in order to have one who’s qualified to be an elder.

But then consider chapter 3 verses 8 through 12 to the discussion or the question that was

just asked.

Likewise, deacons.

must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money,

holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience.

But let these also first be tested, then let them serve as deacons, being found

blameless.”

Now, notice in the text that the text tells you what a deacon is, just the same way the

other text told us what an elder was.

The role of an elder, according to Paul in Acts chapter 20, was to be an overseer.

The text here tells us the role of a deacon is to be a servant.

As a matter of fact, if you were to go look up the word deacon and its original meaning in

the Greek, because it’s a Greek word, not an English word, it means minister or servant.

So you have in the church in the first century those who were overseers who met

qualifications.

Now you have a group of servants who are meeting

qualifications.

Now does that mean they’re the only ones who can do any work or any service in the church?

Not at all.

but rather they have special responsibility and service that they do, therefore they must

meet qualifications for those responsibilities.

Let’s continue down into verse 12.

Likewise their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things.

Let deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.

What church official is under discussion here?

Deacons.

Is it God’s plan that there be qualified elders and deacons in every church?

Yes, it is.

That is exactly what God established to be the ideal scenario and the organization of the

church.

Now, a few things that you may have noted.

These are important for you to remember and also important to not get distracted.

As an individual goes through and answers these questions, they may have spent their

entire life in a church where they have women elders.

They may have spent their entire life in a church where they have single men serving as

deacons who’ve never been married.

They may have spent their entire life, if they grew up as Mormons, seeing elders as young

18-year-olds who wear a name badge with the word elder.

And those are great discussions to have.

They may have questions about them.

So somebody tell me, what do do with questions that come up in the middle of the study?

All right, we defer, we don’t debate.

We write down the question and we come back to it later.

Why?

Because one of the things that you need to remember as you’re studying with people is they

will begin to see

what they’ve been taught doesn’t match what the Word of God says.

And they’ll have questions, and the questions are legitimate, they’re great, they’re

important, and they should get answers to every single one of them.

But it’s not the most important question.

It’s not the most important thing.

But we humans,

have a tendency to see something and immediately go down a rabbit hole.

Only to lose entirely our sight of what was actually important.

There’s a reason why I don’t spend a lot of time on social media.

Because I’ll see something and I’ll go down a rabbit hole and an hour later that an hour I

didn’t have to spend, I’ll have spent an hour doing something that I didn’t need to do.

because I can get distracted.

When you’re studying with someone, they have a question about that.

Appreciate the question.

Thank them for the question.

Write the question down and come back to it.

Because what we’re doing is we’re establishing what God said, not having a debate or an

argument about what they think or about what I think or about what somebody else thinks or

about what their preacher thinks.

What does the Bible say?

You’re building their framework of knowledge about what the Bible actually says.

Philippians chapter 1.

You see not only the command in the text for these roles, but then you also see the

example as Paul writes to the churches that this is exactly how the churches were

established.

This is exactly what the churches were made up of.

in the first century church.

So when Paul opens his letter to the church at Philippi, we read Paul and Timothy, bond

servants of Jesus Christ to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi with the

bishops and deacons.

There’s a picture just in an opening introductory verse where you see Paul greeting all

the Christians, all the saints,

all the holy ones, that’s what saints are, they’re not people who’ve been dead for 400

years, they’re holy ones, they’re alive, they’re in the church right then, to all the

saints and the elders and the bishops that are in the church in Philippi.

So you see there the church at Philippi was organized with both elders and deacons,

bishops and deacons, overseers and servants.

That’s how the church was organized in the first century.

Now, due to time, we’re gonna put pause right there.

We’ll put a bookmark in.

Hope you’ll be back next Sunday morning because we’ll be continuing this.

But why?

Why is it important?

Why is it necessary for us to even ask the question, must we organize the church the way

the scriptures tell us to organize it?

And the answer comes back to this.

In Ephesians and in Colossians as we read, the church was purchased with the blood of

Jesus Christ.

and it’s His church.

Not mine, not Joe’s, not yours, not Martin Luther’s, not anybody else’s.

It’s not the Pope’s, it’s not the Cardinal’s, it’s not the Elder’s, it’s not the Bishop’s,

it’s Christ’s.

So if we’re going to have a part in the church that Jesus established, and if we’re going

to have a part in the church for which Jesus died and shed his blood, we better make sure

that we examine that church and it actually looks like his church.

If you’re driving down the road and you come to my house, you’re all welcome anytime you

need to stop by.

But if you come to 315 Southwick Drive, and as you pull in, you pick up the phone and you

say, Aaron, I’m right outside.

And I look out the window.

I’ll see you.

I’m right here.

Where are you?

I’m right in front of this two-story brick house.

It’s a beautifully landscaped lawn.

I love how you’ve treated that lawn.

I can tell you, you’re not at my house.

My house is not brick and my lawn is not landscaped.

So I can tell by your description of the house that you’re not at my house.

You say, but I’m at 315 Southwick Drive.

What state are you in?

You know there’s another 315 Southwick Drive.

It’s not in Mississippi.

in Mississippi?

if it doesn’t look like his church and it’s not organized like his church and it doesn’t

do what he says his church does then maybe it’s not the church for which he died.

And if you’re not in a body, a church for which Christ died, you are not in a place where

salvation is found.

And many others have started and founded churches that do not belong to Jesus Christ.

So how are you going to know if you’re in the right church?

You’re going to open up the Word of God and see what Jesus said His church looks like and

find that church.

and join in participation with those Christians and elders and deacons in being obedient

to that Savior.

If you’re here this morning and you’re outside the body of Christ, why stay outside His

church?

He came and He said it to build His church and the gates of Hades.

the gates of hell will never prevail against his church.

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

Revelation 13 (Lesson 2) – Aaron Cozort – May 24, 2026

In Admonition Podcast, beast, biblical prophecy, Christian faith, Church, end times, God's sovereignty, keywords Revelation, Revelation study, spiritual warfare, symbolism by Aaron Cozort

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Take your Bibles, if you will, and open them to the book of Revelation, chapter 13.

We will briefly review from uh from the beginning of the book just to catch up those who

are visiting with us on where we’re at in the book.

But let’s begin with a word prayer.

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

blessed us with, grateful for the opportunity that we have to serve you, to glorify your

name, to sing praise to your name, to pray and to bow before your throne, to come to you

in.

uh supplication and in prayer, but also in thanksgiving.

Lord, we are mindful of those who are not with us and not present because of illness or

health.

We pray that you give them the strength that they need to be able to once again be

assembled together with us.

Lord, we pray for endurance for those who deal with chronic issues and continually day by

day are afflicted with hardships.

Lord, we pray that you be with those who are struggling spiritually and we pray that you

help them to open your word and to align their heart and their mind with your word and

your will.

And Lord, we pray that we might be an encouragement and an exhortation to them to do those

things.

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

All this we ask in Jesus name, amen.

John is on the Isle of Patmos.

for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

And as he is there on the first day of the week or on the Lord’s Day, as the text says, he

hears a voice behind him and he turns to see one who has the appearance of Christ, but in

a glorified state.

He has seven stars in his right hand and the stars represent what in the book of

Revelation?

The churches.

and he has seven golden lampstands that are before him and they represent the angels of or

the messengers of the churches.

so Jesus speaks through John to the seven churches of Asia Minor and to each one of them a

message is delivered.

Some of them nothing positive is said about them.

Some of them nothing negative is said about them and others there’s a

There’s a mix.

There’s some good and some bad, some things they need to work on.

But many of them are told to repent, to correct things that they are doing, at least some

portion of the congregation is doing.

And if they do not, then he will make war with them.

But they’re also warned, as in Revelation chapter two, verse 10, that persecution is

coming.

Some of them were going to be imprisoned.

Some of them were never going to come out.

of prison.

Then chapter four opens and John is shown an open door and in the vision he goes through

the door and he goes into the throne room of God and he sees the glory that is described

there, the glory of the one who sits on the throne, though he doesn’t actually describe

the one who sits on the throne.

The representation of God the Father’s glory might

and power surrounded by the Spirit of God, surrounded by the sea, surrounded by the four

beasts that turn every direction and that are a picture from Ezekiel of God’s battle

wagon, as it were.

They are the ones who see everything and deal with it on behalf of the Lord.

But he also sees the 24 elders that are surrounding the throne.

And every time the beast

call out to praise and glorify God because he is worthy.

The elders praise and glorify God and they take their crowns of victory and they cast them

down before the throne.

And this goes on continually.

Then chapter five opens.

In chapter five, you find again, as the worship continues in the throne room of God,

An angel comes forth and they are searching for one who can open the scroll that’s in the

right hand of the one who sits on the throne.

The scroll is filled front and back with writing and John desires to know what the one who

sits on the throne has revealed in the scroll, but there’s no one found who’s worthy to

open the scroll.

And so John begins to weep.

One of the elders comes to John and says, do not weep.

for we have found the one who is worthy to open the scroll and is the lion of the tribe of

Judah.

It is the lamb who was slain but is alive.

He is the one who appears to be dead but is alive.

He is the lamb that has seven eyes.

He sees everything.

He has seven horns.

And that means this isn’t a cute little lamb.

This is a lamb that does battle, okay?

It is the Christ.

It is the descendant of David.

Chapter 6 opens as the scroll begins to be opened, as the seals from the scroll begin to

be opened.

Seal 1 is opened and a white horse goes out and begins to conquer.

And the white horse looks like a Parthian warrior.

He looks like the only enemy Rome never defeated.

And he’s going out and he’s conquering.

And then three more horses.

persecution starts coming, hardship starts coming.

And so there’s economic hardship, there’s physical hardship, and there’s death.

And then you have the fifth seal opened, and the altar uh is seen, and the souls that are

under the altar are crying out, how long, Lord, are you going to allow the persecution

that is seen representatively in the?

second, third, fourth horse, how long are you gonna allow this to continue?

They’re killing us.

And those saints are told to rest for a little while, they’re given white robes, and

basically are told, I’ll deal with it, I’ll deal with it when I’m ready to deal with it.

Next seal opens up, sixth seal opens, and God forecasts dealing with it.

He says, this is how it’s gonna happen.

All the rich people, all the mighty people, all the glorious people, all the people who

think they are secure in everything they have are going to run for the hills, they’re

going to run under the mountains, and they’re going to cry for the mountains to fall on

them because they’re trying to avoid the wrath of the Lamb.

But before we go too much further, there’s a question that needs to be asked.

In the day of the wrath of the Lamb, who will be able to stand?

And so chapter seven, you have a pause.

Chapter 7, you have a pause because God’s going to tell you who can stand in the day of

the wrath of judgment from God and the answer is everyone who has God’s name written on

their forehead.

You go back to chapter 3 and you find the church is told that God’s name is going to be

written on their forehead.

So what is he saying?

He says, everybody who belongs to me, who’s a part of the church, who’s alive on the

earth, but who’s dwelling places in heaven.

Those people can stand in the day of God’s wrath.

And so they’re all marked so that they do not get touched by the judgment.

Then you have seven trumpets begin to sound.

These are going to be partial judgments.

So the first four trumpet sound, then the fifth trumpet, sixth trumpet, seventh trumpet

with the last three trumpets, they’re three woes.

We’re not gonna go through all of the things that happen in those trumpets.

They’re partial judgments.

We’re gonna see pictures of them happen again with the full.

pouring out of judgment because the trumpets were partial and the bowls that are coming up

are going to be complete.

Okay, so we’re not gonna go through all of them.

Then we see uh chapter, I don’t know, lost track of my numbers here.

Chapter 10 opens and John sees as the seventh trumpets about to sound, another pause,

another reassurance to the Christians.

God’s in control.

You’re gonna look all around you and you’re gonna see everything that’s coming and you’re

gonna see everything that John’s about to tell you and you’re going to assume that God’s

lost control and that the Christians are going to be annihilated and there is no hope, but

that’s not the case.

So mighty angel stands one foot on the sea, one foot on land, which by the way, pause real

quick.

We’re in chapter 13 and where did the first beast come out up out of?

the sea.

Where’s the second beast going to come up out of?

The land.

So in chapter 10, an angel standing with one foot on the sea and one foot on land.

In other words, God’s in charge.

When the beast rises up, the angel’s already able to be victorious over him.

He’s already standing over where he came from.

It’s a picture, you know, when, if you were to think about it this way,

um When you’ve got a great big tall skyscraper and then the penthouse, the area at the

very top is owned by the person who owns the skyscraper, what’s the point?

Everybody else lives underneath them, right?

They’re in charge.

What they say goes.

The angel is standing on the place where the two beasts are gonna come up out of saying,

I’ve already told you what’s going to Isaiah would make the point over and over and over

in Isaiah’s prophecy that God is going to tell you the end from the beginning.

He’s going to tell you what’s going to happen before it ever happens.

He’s going to tell you how it’s going to turn out before it ever happens.

He’s going to tell you how he’s going to be victorious and how he’s going to deliver his

people before any of the trouble ever begins.

And that’s what the angel standing on the sea and on the land is doing.

He’s got another revelation.

He’s got a small little book and John is told to take a little book and consume the book

and he does.

And the message is sweet in his mouth, but bitter in his belly.

It’s sweet because it’s the word of God.

It’s bitter because the message is going to include troubles coming.

And it’s coming in the form of the attack of Satan on God’s people using an empire.

that looks like the three first empires Daniel talked about.

Okay, so we’ll get into that more in just a moment.

But before we do, there’s also two witnesses.

In chapter 11, John sees these two olive trees and seven lampstands, one on each olive

tree, and this uh picture that the fire of God, the message of God never goes out.

But then the two messengers, the two witnesses turn into two prophets.

The two prophets speak God’s message and they can’t be stopped as long as they’re speaking

God’s message.

But the moment they stop speaking God’s message, when the message is completed, the people

come and they kill the prophets.

They kill the messengers.

They kill the witnesses and they leave them dead in the streets for three and a half days.

And they don’t bury them.

They just leave them dead lying there in the street.

But then God comes and resurrects them back to life.

Pope takes them out.

of harm’s way and the message is you’re going to speak God’s message, you’re going to

declare what God tells you to declare and they may kill you for it, but the moment they

kill you, they can’t touch you.

You remember what Jesus said all the way back in Matthew chapter 10?

Do not fear what men can do to you.

Do not fear him who can kill the body.

rather fear Him who can destroy both body and soul in hell.

And that’s the message to the churches.

Don’t fear the people who can kill you.

So then chapter 12 opens and you see the woman and the dragon.

The woman is represented with 12 stars above her head.

She represents the people of God and the dragon is clearly stated in chapter 12 as being

Satan, the devil himself.

The devil wants to consume the one, the child, that the woman gives birth to.

The woman is representative of God’s people.

The God’s people in the Old Testament bring forth the Messiah.

The child’s the Messiah.

All of that is clear within the text.

So she gives birth to the child and the moment she does, as the devil’s waiting, as the

dragon’s waiting to consume the child, the child escapes up into heaven.

Devil loses.

Then the devil goes up into heaven and tries to make war with the child in heaven.

The devil loses.

The devil’s cast with his angels, cast back down to the earth, comes down to again try and

attack the woman and the offspring of her children and loses again.

The devil’s a three-time loser.

But when he can’t get his way trying to defeat God’s people in the Old Testament,

And when he can’t get his way trying to defeat God’s people in the form of the Christ, the

Messiah, and when he can’t get his way to stop the birth of the church and the formation

of the church and the offspring of the woman, then what is he going to do?

Well, he’s going to take the government that he’s got influence over and he’s going to

start using the government to persecute the people of God.

So we find at the end of chapter 13, we’re going to be introduced

to the sea beast, which is representative of Rome, the land beast, which is representative

of Rome’s prophets and priests and their religious leaders, and a number which is given to

the people.

So, before we get into chapter 13, just a reminder, we’re not gonna deal with chapter 17

yet, but I do wanna put in front of you the kings that are represented from Daniel’s

prophecy.

Again.

This is looking at Rome from Daniel’s prophecy.

John doesn’t care what the latest historian or the first historian had to say about who

the first king of Rome was.

John doesn’t care what everyone in consensus in world history says the first king of Rome

was.

John only cares what Daniel said about the first king of Rome.

And Daniel said the first king of Rome was Augustus.

And the second king was Tiberius and the third king was Caligula and the fourth king was

Claudius and the fifth king was Nero.

And in Nero, that fifth king, persecution began against God’s people.

Up until that point, Rome didn’t care one whit about the church.

There was persecution from the Jews, but under Nero, persecution began and Nero looked

like he was going to kill the people of God.

And then Nero died.

And suddenly the persecution stops because Rome enters a civil war.

And for three kings that are all gonna be uprooted, they’re gonna come and go in just a

matter of two years, no persecution.

Then Vespasian comes to the throne and he’s represented in the sixth because the first,

the three that come after Nero are there for such a short time, they don’t matter.

Okay?

So Vespasian comes to the throne and is in the days of Vespasian.

that John is writing.

John is writing because the persecution’s about to begin again.

Now after Vespasian, Titus is gonna come to the throne, but he’s only gonna reign for two

years, two months, and two days.

And then Domitian comes to the throne.

And in Domitian, you have the resurrection of the beast.

You have the resurrection of persecution.

But Domitian does something different than what Nero did.

Nero took the Christians as a convenience in Rome, in the city of Rome, and he hung them

up and he lit them on fire in the streets because they were a distraction to what Nero was

doing in destroying the empire.

He needed a scapegoat, and that’s what the Christians were.

And everybody, you remember the quote from the Jews that come to see Paul in Rome?

As Paul, in the end of the book of Acts, gets to Rome, and he’s about to be on trial, and

he’s there in the city of Rome, and he’s under house arrest, and the Jews come to him, and

they say, tell us about the sect everywhere spoken against.

the perception of Christians by even the Jews in Rome is everybody hates these people.

So they were a good scapegoat because everybody hated them, okay?

So chapter 13, verses one through 10, we have the sea beast arise out of the nations.

The nations are in turmoil.

The picture is one from Daniel chapter seven.

We went through most of this.

Last week, we’re not going to go into it in depth, but notice just by way of reminder, we

find in verse 7, it was granted to him, that is the sea beast, to make war with the saints

and to overcome them, and authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation.

Do you remember what the three temptations that Satan offered Jesus were?

What was the first one?

turn the stone into bread.

What was the second one?

We can use Matthew’s recording because Luke and Matthew swap them up, the second and the

third.

What was the second one?

Took him up to the pinnacle of the temple and said what?

Cast yourself off because the Old Testament says that the angels won’t let you dash your

foot on a stone.

Let’s see if God keeps his promises.

What was the third one?

And if you bow down and worship me, what will I give you?

All the nations of the earth.

Seems as though Jesus wasn’t the only one that Satan used that offer with.

because what does Satan deliver to the sea beast?

What does the dragon deliver to the sea beast?

He delivers to him uh authority over all tribes, tongues, and nations.

but it’s important to remember verse 6.

Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God to blaspheme his name, his tabernacle,

and those who dwell in heaven.

As we continue to point out and will continue to point out every time we run into it, the

Christians alive on the earth are not described as those who dwell on the earth.

They are described as those who dwell in heaven.

their home, their abode is in heaven, their temporary dwelling place, their sojourn is on

the earth.

and the dragon and the sea beast are going to blaspheme the name of the Lord, they’re

going to blaspheme his tabernacle, the church, and they’re going to make war with those

whose dwelling place is in heaven, but are alive on the earth.

When it is described as the sea beast having authority over every tribe, tongue, and

nation, we all understand because we’ve already been told by John that the dragon only has

the authority God lets him have.

His authority is three and a half.

His authority is temporary.

His authority is circumscribed.

And so when someone who has limited authority gives someone else below them limited

authority, they don’t have any more authority than the first person had.

Jesus is offered by Satan every nation under heaven.

And yet when you come to Matthew chapter 28 verse 18, when Jesus has been resurrected from

the grave, Jesus tells his apostles all what?

Authority has been given unto me in heaven and on earth.

That hadn’t changed.

Jesus still has all authority.

Jesus’ authority isn’t circumscribed authority.

Jesus’ authority is complete.

authority as the Hebrew writer will point out, his authority is complete with the

exclusion of the one who gave him the authority, which is God the Father himself.

The Hebrew writer will point out that we rationally recognize that the one who put all

things under his feet, that is the feet of Christ, is excluded from being under his feet.

So Christ does not have authority over the Father.

rather the Father has put all things under the authority of Christ.

Okay, that includes, by the way, the dragon, all nations, tongues, and peoples, and the

sea beast.

We’re gonna see that before we’re done.

He says, verse eight, sorry, verse seven, it was granted to him to make war with the

saints and to overcome them.

And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation.

All who dwell on the earth will worship Him whose names have not been written in the book

of life of the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Who’s going to worship the beast?

Everybody who’s not a Christian.

Why are they going to worship the sea beast?

Because they already worship the dragon.

and he’s a representation of the dragon.

Why are they going to fall before Rome?

Because they want what Rome has to offer.

He says, if anyone has an ear, let him hear, verse 9.

He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity.

He who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword.

Here is the patience and faith of the saints.

As John concludes his description of the sea beast, he reminds the people of God, he

reminds the Christian, you’re not going to get out of this by raising an army and going to

war.

you’re going to get out of this by faithfulness to Jesus Christ.

So then we read verse 11, and then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he

had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon.

Every good thing has an opposite.

So when Jesus is seen in chapter five, what did he look like?

a lamb and a lion.

Okay?

Go back to the sea beast and notice verse 2, now the beast which I saw was like a leopard,

his feet like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion.

Everything good, Satan makes a corrupted version of.

Everything righteous that God does, Satan corrupts.

Think of it this way.

Back in Genesis chapter three, what did Satan say?

You shall not surely die.

Everything God says, Satan turns it on his head.

So now we have the second beast and the second beast comes forth, he looks like a lamb.

He’s got two horns.

And notice he speaks like a dragon.

In other words, he’s just the mouth.

piece of Satan.

He looks cute and cuddly.

He looks nice and friendly.

He looks kind of like the wolves in sheep’s clothing of false prophets look like because

that’s what he is.

He’s the false prophets of Rome.

So notice he saw he had two horns like a lamb.

and spoke like a dragon and he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his

presence and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast whose

deadly wound was healed.

They come forth, the second beast comes forth, he says to all the nations and all the

people and all the tongues, you’ve got to worship this guy, he’s been resurrected back to

life.

They claimed that Domitian was Nero resurrected.

They claimed that Domitian was a god on earth.

And so the priests of Rome would go about and they would say, do you good business owner

proclaim Caesar to be god?

you do?

That’s great.

You go ahead and keep running your business.

Why don’t we help you with your business?

Why don’t we, I tell you what, why don’t you incorporate your business into the worship

that we have?

and they would corrupt people both through monetary and religious matters.

But the qualification was you had to declare Caesar to be God.

Notice he performs great signs so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on earth

in the sight of men.

What did Elijah do?

All right, Elijah disproved Baal from being God and proved that the false prophets of Baal

were false prophets by the fact that they couldn’t bring down fire from heaven.

Well, know, Satan’s got a little more sophisticated since then.

So now Satan’s false prophets are able to appear as though they can bring fire from

heaven.

That’s convincing enough in the Old Testament to convince people that that must be God.

So it must be God.

He performs great signs.

He also, verse 14, deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs, which he was

granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an

image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived.

So they say, hey, you know what?

Caesar is God.

Caesar’s resurrected.

Caesar is who we say he is.

Caesar is this great God who can do these great things, watch us perform these false

miracles and be convinced by them.

All right, now let’s make an image to Caesar.

Now in Daniel, do you remember somebody who made an image to themselves and told

everybody, when you hear the music, what are you gonna do?

You’re gonna fall down and worship Nebuchadnezzar.

The picture here is not about going in history going, where did the priests of Rome do

this exact thing?

These are all still Old Testament pictures.

John is representing what the false prophets of Rome are going to do in pictures from the

Old Testament.

And he uses this time Daniel’s picture of Nebuchadnezzar and Shadrach, Meshach, and

Abednego.

is going to make this great image and everybody is going to fall down and worship or

they’re going to die.

Okay, so notice he granted power, verse 15, to give breath to the image of the beast.

So now in the representation in the image and the vision, John is seeing it and he sees

the sea beast and he sees the land beast and then the land beast builds this great image

like Nebuchadnezzar and the dragon breathes the image to life.

Oh, look, this is going to be the very image of your God in front of you.

He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, and the image of the beast

should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be

killed.

Old Testament imagery.

You don’t worship the image.

You don’t worship the beast.

What happens to you?

You die.

He causes all, verse 16, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave to receive a

mark on their right hand or on their foreheads.

that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark of the name of the beast or the

number of his name.

Now if you read Hal Lindsey’s book, The Late Great Planet Earth, and you go read about

what this is, this is a coming technology where you won’t be able to buy anything, you

won’t be able to sell anything unless you’ve got a chip implanted in you.

and you read all of the nonsense about the central bank digital currencies coming today

and you’ve got people breathlessly, this is it, this is it, you won’t be able to buy or

sell or anything and the government’s gonna have complete control over everything, you

won’t be able to get a loaf of bread unless you’ve got the central bank digital currency

and that’s 666, that’s the number of…

Because if, if we were to accept that interpretation, long before that, you’re going to

have every Christian walking around with God’s name tattooed on their forehead.

And if that were the case, I don’t think the world would have to try too hard to figure

out which one was which.

in the vision.

All of God’s people are already marked.

So what does Satan do in the vision?

Satan says, well, I’m going to have my own mark.

And I tell you what, if you don’t use my mark, you’re going to starve to death.

You’re going to go hungry and you’re going to do any business.

Have we ever seen a time in world history where a government decided to mark a bunch of

people so they could know exactly who they were and whether or not they were allowed to

own a business, do business, or participate in an economy?

absolutely.

Is this anything new?

No.

And by the way, if you go back to World War II, there were people.

who were dispensational premillennialists that were saying, it’s the end of times.

Look what they’re doing in Germany.

They’re marking people.

Was it the end of times?

Was it the return of Christ?

No, it wasn’t.

So John says, here’s wisdom.

Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a

man.

His number is 666.

Now there’s nothing mysterious, ominous, or special about the number 666 except this.

What’s the number of perfection?

Seven, what does John say the number of a man is?

Six, what day was man created?

Sixth day.

God said, there, I’m done.

And he rested.

He stopped.

But when you look at perfection, man doesn’t attain to it.

And when you put a number in a row and you say, you know what?

I’ll tell you what.

If we put man’s number here and we just keep putting man’s number, if it ever maybe, if it

just improves a little bit, eventually it’ll be seven, right?

Well, put it one sixth.

Is it seven?

No.

Try again.

Put one six.

No?

Another six.

It’s kind of like an Avon Costello routine.

You keep putting the numbers there to see if they ever make seven.

They never will!

His point is, this isn’t God.

That’s the point of 6.6, sis.

It’s falling short every time of perfection.

It’s never going to achieve Godhood.

It’s false.

It’s derived from men, not God.

So the number 666, what does it say?

Well, John tells you what it says.

It’s the number of a man.

It belongs to men.

It doesn’t belong to God.

It’s not his number.

So John sees the sea beast come forth and he sees the land beast come forth and he sees

them go forth and start persecuting the church.

and he sees them entangle all the world’s economies in all of the worship of the beast.

And if you were watching this in the form of a movie, you would have seen John looking at

the earth and seeing all this stuff happening on the earth, and then John would have

looked up to heaven.

And you might have considered the thought crossing John’s mind.

I wonder how the Lord’s going to deal with this.

Chapter 14 opens, I looked and behold, a lamb standing on Mount Zion and with him 144,000

having his father’s name written on their forehead.

you go back to the days of Elijah.

And as Elijah is running for his life, being threatened by Jezebel, and he finally reaches

his point of what he considers safety, and he stops.

And then he runs more and he finally reaches Sinai.

and God talks to him there.

And he says, I’m the only one.

and God informs him, no, there are 7,000 in Israel who have not bowed the knee to Baal.

You think you’re the only one left.

You feel like you’re the only one left, but you’re not.

John is seeing the whole world swept over by the influence of the sea beast and the land

beast and the influence of the dragon.

And John is reminded by Christ, don’t worry, I have those who belong to me.

Now over in chapter seven, we were already told who the 144,000 are.

They’re the righteous people of God who are alive and who dwell in heaven, but they’re

alive on the earth.

They’re the Christians.

They’re the ones that are faithful to Christ who will not give up.

their testimony of Christ.

And they’re standing with the Lamb on Mount Zion.

They’re the church, and they’re faithful, and they might be dying physically, but they’re

not succumbing to the influence of the beast.

They’re not trading the name of God for the name of the beast.

They’re not getting 666 written on their forehead.

They’re faithful.

They’re overcoming, even if they’re dying.

So they’re standing there on Mount Zion with a lamb.

And they have the Father’s name written on their forehead.

And I heard a voice from heaven like the voice of many waters and like the voice of a loud

thunder.

And I heard the sound of the harpists playing with their harps.

They sang as it were a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and

the elders.

And no one could learn that song except the 144,000 who were redeemed from the earth.

These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins.

These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes.

These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.

And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of

God.

Now.

will close the challenge to any premillennial dispensationalist that’s waiting for a

thousand year reign of Christ, which they think they find right here.

and ask them, when Christ reigns, how many women are going to be found with Christ?

Because according to this text, none.

How many married people are going to be found with Christ?

None.

How many people are going to be those who are going to be with Christ who can sing this

new song?

Well, it’s going to be a male chorus.

And for some of the more foolish of my brethren who would like to come to this passage and

therefore argue that instrumental music and worship is therefore authorized because the as

they’re as they’re singing in a vision, there’s visionary harps that are being strung.

You might also ask you, does that mean that you’re going to recommend that all Christians

remain virgins?

Because if one is a good idea, then so is the other.

The picture is an Old Testament picture.

The picture is a Davidic picture of the nation of God unified under a king’s banner.

When did that happen in the Old Testament?

It happened when David took Jerusalem.

Go back and read the history of David.

Northern Kingdom divided.

They wanted the descendants of Saul.

Southern Kingdom, Judah said, no, we’re making David king.

And so, Northern Kingdom and Southern Kingdom go to war with one another.

For years they go to war with one another.

And when David takes Jerusalem, which is also known as what city?

Zion.

The nation shortly thereafter will be unified.

They will be one.

And through the remainder, basically, of David’s reign and the reign of Solomon, you have

12 tribes all unified in worship and praise and allegiance to God.

It’s an Old Testament picture.

And where in the Bible were harps authorized for use in worship?

In the Old Testament, under David.

This picture is a representation of the church represented by a glorified Israel led by a

glorified King.

lion of the tribe of Judah.

the son of David, reigning from his throne in Zion.

But I remind you in Matthew chapter 28 verse 18, as of the point that Jesus was

resurrected and was back on the earth before he ascended into heaven, Jesus said, as of

that moment, all authority has been given unto me in heaven and on earth.

And he’s been reigning ever since.

Thank you for your attention.

Revelation 12 (Lesson 2) – Aaron Cozort – May 10, 2026

In Admonition Podcast, biblical symbols, Christian faith, Church, end times, God's victory, Jesus Christ, keywords Revelation, prophecy, Satan, spiritual warfare by Aaron Cozort

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Good morning.

Good to see everyone this morning.

Take the Bibles, if you will, and open them to Revelation chapter 12.

We continue our study in the book of Revelation.

We’ll begin with a word of prayer and then we’ll get into our study.

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

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

come together, to glorify your name, to praise you, to worship ah you, and to bow before

your throne.

Lord, we pray that as we open these pages of scripture, we might understand the things

that we have read.

that we might grow to a greater understanding of your providence and your will and your

protection and your service of your church as it exists in this world.

Lord, we pray that you will be with us as we go throughout our daily lives.

May we always have confidence in you.

May we always rely upon your name and your authority and not our own.

Lord, we pray that you will be with those who are struggling because of illness.

because of injury, because of uh difficulties physically in their health.

Lord, we pray that you give them strength and comfort and that they have the ability to

regain the desired health that they would like to have.

All this we pray and ask in Jesus name, amen.

Chapter one opens up.

John is worshipping on the Lord’s Day.

He hears a voice behind him.

He turns around to see the one who is speaking.

It is the manifestation of Christ in a glorified state.

holds Christ holds the seven stars in his right hand and it’s the seven churches of Asia

Minor.

uh He’s surrounded by seven golden lampstands and it’s the messenger of the seven

churches.

When you find

a figure that shows up later in the book and it’s explained and interpreted in the midst

of the book, you can pretty well just hold on to that figure and assume that what the text

tells you that is, is what that is.

So if you see stars falling from heaven, you should not immediately assume that uh it’s

the uh final return of Christ and the end of time and uh

some nuclear explosion, it might be churches succumbing to the influence of Satan.

But as you go through the text, you find John goes into that open door in chapter four.

He goes into the throne room of God and he sees the glory of God.

He sees the glory of God’s throne and before the throne is a sea of glass.

That is a perfectly

Have we ever in our modern vernacular termed a sea or a body of water as a sea of glass?

Absolutely.

When you get near a body of water and it’s so still, there’s no ripples, there’s no

movement, you just see yourself.

You see the reflection, just right off the top.

We use that terminology.

The Bible uses that idea that there’s a time when the seas are calm, when they’re uh

reflective, and there’s a time when they’re tumultuous.

You’re going to see that coming up.

All right.

So the seas before the throne, God is there.

The elders are before the throne.

The beasts are before the throne.

Everyone’s praising God.

Everyone’s declaring God is worthy.

And of course, they’re also going to declare

the Lamb, the Messiah, also worthy.

The Messiah begins to open the scroll and the revelation begins to be seen.

The visions and the signs that the book tells us in chapter one is what the message of the

book is.

It’s given in signs and symbols through the angel to John so that John might tell the

church what the church needs to know.

And so, the seal begins to be opened, you see that first horse and then the second horse,

the third horse, fourth horse.

You see the Christians under the altar who’ve died for the testimony of God, and they’re

crying out and asking, how long, Lord, are you going to allow our deaths to continue?

They’re told to rest for a little while.

They’re given white robes.

The next seal is opened and the son…

turns dark, the moon turns to blood, sky starts falling, all these things start happening,

and the rich people, the mighty people, the people of prominence and power run and hide

themselves and call upon the mountains to fall on them to protect them from the wrath of

the Lamb.

That happens in seal number six.

It is a foretaste.

It is a forecast of God

answering the prayers of the saints.

In chapter seven, you’ve got to pause.

You’ve got a, uh wait a minute, hold on, don’t start yet, message.

Because we need to seal the people of God.

We need to mark the people of God.

The people of God are going to be marked multiple times in the process of the book.

They’re going be marked again.

coming up in just about a chapter or two.

But the marking is just a clear statement.

There are those who belong to God and there are those who don’t belong to God.

Here in a little bit, we’re going to find those who belong to the beast.

They’re going to be marked because Satan wants to know who belongs to him too.

And he wants to exclude those who don’t, okay, because it’s leverage.

So, the trumpets come forth.

This is all inside the seventh seal.

And the seven trumpets begin to sound and we have partial judgment in trumpets one, two,

three, four, five, six.

In the last three trumpets, four, five, six, or sorry, five, six, seven, you have three

woes.

And we’re in the sounding of the seventh trumpet right now.

We just saw as we ended the last chapter, one last partial judgment, a tenth of all the

people died.

All right, one last partial judgment in trumpet number six.

We’re about to get trumpet number seven.

But in the midst of that and all the things that were going on in these trumpets, there

was another pause.

An angel who holds the little book, who’s got one foot on the land and one foot on the

sea, comes forward to John and John is told to take the little book.

So John goes, the angel says, give me the little book and John eats the book.

just like Ezekiel did, and it was sweet in his mouth, as sweet as honey, just like

Ezekiel’s message was, but it was bitter in his belly, just like Ezekiel’s message was.

Ezekiel lived in a time when God’s people in the form of a nation, Judah, were about to be

judged and the nation was about to fall.

He lived in a time in between the first or the the second carrying away and the third

carrying away where he’s prophesying that Jerusalem is going to fall and the nation is

going to go entirely into captivity and all the prophets, air quotes there, all the

prophets in Judah were saying no, no, it’s all over.

The people who went away, they were the bad people.

We’re the good people.

We’re the people of God.

God saved us.

We’re never going to lose the city of Jerusalem.

And Ezekiel is going to write to them as God gives him instruction and he’s going to

measure the city and he’s going to measure the temple and he’s going to go look inside the

temple and he’s going to go into the temple and at the heart of the temple he’s going to

find a secret room in the holiest of holies where there are priests worshipping idols.

at the very core of Judah, Jerusalem, and the worship were those who were given over to

idolatry inside the very temple of God.

and the message from Ezekiel is, oh, not only are you gonna fall, God’s going to get his

war wagon, he’s gonna do battle with you.

And you’re going to fall entirely because you are rotten from the inside out.

And so the picture and the message is bitter.

Now, John’s gonna be given a message about a temple.

and John’s going to told, you tell them that the temple’s gonna be trodden on the outside,

but the inside, not gonna be touched.

The inside was pure.

The church was going to survive the coming trouble.

So then another figure is shown.

You have the two witnesses.

On one side, you’ve got uh the high priest.

On the other side, you’ve got the uh leader of the people.

If we use Zechariah’s imagery of the two olive trees in both figures, in all the figures

you have here in this picture, you have God’s people, God’s people, God’s people, God’s

spokesman, God’s people.

It’s just a continual set of images that represent the leadership of

God’s actual people and not those who just claim to be.

And the point that is made in chapters 10 and 11 is that God’s witnesses are going to

speak, God’s people are going to remain faithful to Him, the world is going to kill them,

they’re going to torture them, they’re going to do harm to them, but they’re not going to

be able to touch them when their life is over.

And so their power and their reach is limited.

Chapter 12 opens up with the woman and the dragon.

Lots of discussion over who the woman is.

Lots of discussion over who the dragon is.

The dragon is interpreted in the text.

We’re told that the dragon is Satan, the devil.

So we don’t have to wonder who the dragon is.

It’s Satan, the devil.

All right.

But we also see it represented in the nation that is persecuting the people of God.

It’s not the devil.

because the devil’s a dragon.

It’s the devil in his persecuting power of a government.

Okay?

And that government is looking to consume, to kill this woman.

Chapter 12 opens up in verses one through six.

The woman gives birth and the dragon loses battle number one.

In chapter 12, you’re going to find

that the dragon is a three-time loser.

He’s going to lose once, he’s going to lose a second time, and he’s going to lose a third

time.

Every time the dragon tries to accomplish anything, he loses.

And the point to the Christians is, you don’t have anything to be worried about from

Satan.

He’s never going to win.

But

The woman is uh one of those figures that people struggle with because they wonder, well,

is the woman here, the woman over in chapter 17?

No.

The woman in chapter 17 is a harlot and she’s killing the Christians.

That’s not the woman here.

The woman here gives birth to the Messiah.

The woman here is protected by God.

The woman here is desired to be destroyed by the dragon and he does not succeed.

The woman here has a crown of 12 stars or a garland of 12 stars upon her head.

It’s the people of God.

Seen from a corporate perspective, that is from a group.

One of the things that’s important to realize when you dig into the text of scripture is

that

individual people of God succumb to the power of Satan.

That sometimes a portion of the people of God collectively succumb to the power of Satan

and fail to be faithful to God.

But all the way through history, from the beginning all the way to the end, God’s people

collectively have never been defeated by Satan.

have never turned away from God.

The point that you should understand from the Old Testament, from the history of Israel,

is God always had His remnant, and His remnant was never defeated.

His remnant was never touched by Satan.

Did they go through hard times?

Sure they did.

Did they have struggles?

Sure they did.

Did many of them die at the hand of persecutors?

Absolutely.

persecutors inside and outside of God’s people in Old Testament Israel.

But they never lost to Satan.

Not one time.

And so the picture here of the woman is of those who are represented by the number 12,

that is the number of God’s people, who are represented by those who give birth to the

Messiah, which was God’s people.

It is represented by those who are

able to escape the attack and the onslaught of Satan in Old Testament pictures by going

through the waters.

It is those who are protected by being taken out into the wilderness.

All of these are pictures of God’s people and they’re Old Testament pictures of God’s

people.

Let’s start with chapter 12 verse 1 and I know we’ve covered some of this but since it’s

been two weeks we’ll kind of rehash just a little bit of it as we go through.

Now a great sign appeared in heaven.

a woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet and on her head, a garland of 12

stars.

This is a woman of light, not a woman of darkness, not a woman of evil, not a woman of

reproach.

She’s a woman clothed with brightness and glory and light.

Okay?

Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.

and another sign appeared in heaven.

Now notice, John’s gonna remind you, by the way, these are just signs.

These are pictures.

This isn’t telling a historical event.

He says, another sign appeared in heaven, behold, a great fiery red dragon having seven

heads and 10 horns and seven diadems on his head.

This is a representation of

a power that desires to fight against God.

And it’s represented in Daniel’s picture from Daniel 7.

It’s represented as an indescribable beast the way that Daniel describes the beast.

It’s represented though with crowns and heads and horns.

That tells you something about it.

If you go read Daniel chapter seven, it tells you that it’s a government.

It tells you that it is a people that oppose the kingdom of God because they have a

kingdom on this earth.

Okay?

So it is Satan, but it isn’t Satan in the sense of it’s not the person of Satan.

It is Satan in his governmental influence, okay, and his persecuting influence.

Now notice, his tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth.

You remember the people who dwell in heaven in the book of Revelation?

Who are they?

Good people or bad people?

Righteous people or unrighteous people?

The people who dwell in heaven, who are they?

Righteous people.

The people who dwell in the earth, who are they?

unrighteous people.

If a third of the stars go from being in heaven to on the earth, what happened to them?

They became unrighteous.

Now, in Revelation two and three, what does Jesus say to the churches in which there are

moral issues, doctrinal issues, that if they will not repent?

Their candlestick will be removed and he will come and make war with them.

That makes them the enemies of the Messiah.

And they’re the churches.

This dragon, his influence, his power, his persecution affects the church.

And churches fall.

Congregations lose to this dragon.

Not all of them.

of them.

John’s telling the Christians, he’s telling the church, he’s telling those who are

faithful, he says, you’re going to see some of your brethren give up.

You’re going to see some of them succumb to the influence of the dragon and they are going

to depart from the faith and they are going to lose.

And it’s going to look like it saved their life.

It’s gonna look like it was the thing that kept them from being killed.

So you’re gonna be influenced to go do the same thing.

says, don’t do it.

You’re giving in to a loser.

Notice, 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.

mental image here you got a doctor waiting to receive the baby as the mother gives birth

nope not a doctor it’s the dragon and he’s waiting to kill the baby as soon as it comes

out

And yet, notice what happens.

She 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 1260 days.

Watch the figure.

Number one, Satan goes, yeah, I know the Messiah is coming.

I’ve read all the prophets.

I know that the Messiah is going to be born in Israel.

I know that the Messiah is going to be born, the King of the Jews.

I know that the Messiah is going to come forth from Bethlehem.

I know all of those things.

And when he comes out, a killing.

Did that actually happen?

An attempt to kill the Messiah when he was just entering the world?

Absolutely it did.

Was it successful?

No.

The woman gives birth, the child is born, the child is in a vulnerable state and yet Satan

swings and misses.

Satan loses number one.

But he doesn’t just lose with the child.

He loses with the people of God who bring forth the child.

And so the picture here of the woman is that she’s taken into the wilderness and she’s

fed for three and a half years.

What picture is that from the Old Testament?

Elijah.

Here comes the government.

Here comes the king of Israel Ahab and he wants Elijah dead because Elijah said it’s not

going to rain for three and a half years and he sends people everywhere to go find Elijah

and they search high and low all throughout the nation.

Nowhere is Elijah found.

Why?

Because Elijah’s been taken out into the wilderness and he’s being fed by ravens.

And then Elijah’s being taken to a foreign land to tire and being fed by a widow who had

nothing.

God protects His people.

But there’s another picture, Egypt.

When Israel is leaving Egypt, where does God take them to protect them from the enemies of

Israel?

In the wilderness.

Out on Mount Sinai, Mount Sinai, they didn’t go to Mount Sinai because there was a great

big city there where they could live comfortably.

There was nothing there.

It was a place where someone would take sheep and let them graze because there was nothing

there.

Israel’s taken to Sinai.

Israel is then taken out into the wilderness after they reject the Lord and will not go

in.

Kind of like some stars fell, right?

And then God takes them out into the wilderness and for 40 years their shoes don’t wear

out, clothes don’t get any holes in them.

They’re fed by God every morning for 40 years.

You see, God is making it clear just the same way the book of Hebrews has Hebrews chapter

11, by faith, by faith, by faith, by faith, by faith, by faith.

That’s what John’s doing in Revelation.

He’s saying, go look at the Old Testament and tell me, when did Satan ever win?

Identify one single time Satan ever won.

Now, what are you worried about?

Notice what else he says.

She fled into wilderness where she has a place prepared.

that they should feed her there 1260 days.

And war broke out in heaven.

Now this, this of course is back at the beginning of time.

This is where Satan and his his followers, uh they, they decided to rebel against God.

And this is no watch this.

The Messiah comes forth and the Messiah sends up into heaven out of Satan’s reach.

This is a Daniel 7 picture, remember?

In Daniel 7, who comes to the ancient of days?

Turn over to Daniel chapter 7.

Verse seven, I saw in the night vision and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful, terrible,

exceedingly strong.

had huge iron teeth.

It was devouring, breaking in pieces and trampling the residue with its feet.

It was different from all the beasts that were before it.

It had 10 horns.

I was considering the horns and there was another horn, a little one coming up among them

before whom three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots.

And there in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth speaking pompous, that

is blasphemous words.

I watched till thrones were put in place and the ancient of days was seated.

His garment was white as snow.

The hair of his head was like pure wool.

His throne was a fiery flame.

Its wheels a burning fire, a fiery stream issued and came uh 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 open.

The fourth beast comes up, he’s devouring, he’s conquering, nothing can stand in his way.

He looks like he’s just gonna have the run of the place until John looks at heaven and he

sees the one who sits on the throne and there are multitudes surrounding him and

judgment’s gonna begin.

not the final judgment, not the last day, not the end of time, the judgment of the beast.

But then notice, I watched, then because of the sound of the pompous or blasphemous words

which the horn was speaking, I watched till the beast was…

playing.

and its body destroyed, given to the burning flame.

As for the rest of the beasts, 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.

Now how did the child escape?

when I’m in heaven.

How did Jesus go back into heaven?

in the clouds.

Now, he didn’t go as a baby, but he was the child of God’s people.

And he ascended back into heaven and he was untouched by the devil.

Now notice, 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 kingdom.

that all peoples nations 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 in

Matthew chapter 16 in plain spoken language what did Jesus say he came to build?

church.

And what did he say the gates of Hades would not affect?

His church.

When we say the gates of Hades, what is Hades?

It’s the grave.

It looks like the dragon wins when Jesus is put on the cross.

Even the apostles turn and flee.

Even the apostles begin to doubt.

The apostles are hiding come Sunday morning when they should have known that three days

later the temple that was destroyed is going to be brought back.

looked like the devil won, except the devil didn’t win because Jesus ascended from the

grave and came forth and was victorious and ascended to the Father never to die again.

Rome didn’t win.

The devil didn’t win.

It looked like he won for a moment.

It looked like the devil won for a moment when Egypt and its armies was behind the people

of God and the sea was in front of them and there’s a wall of water on one side and an

army on the other and it looks like it’s all over.

till God delivers His people.

Now.

Notice what happens.

The child escapes.

The Messiah is untouched.

So what does the dragon do?

He follows him up into heaven and go make war.

Remember something that Paul teaches us.

Paul teaches us that our battle, our warfare, isn’t with physical powers, with earthly

powers, but with spiritual powers and spiritual might and spiritual dominions.

There’s a point that we need to understand.

Every battle that we face in this life has already been decided in heaven.

Every warfare that we face as a church has already been won in heaven.

It’s only upon us to stay on the right side.

So the child goes into heaven, the child goes to his throne, the child goes to the ancient

of days and Satan falls on his tail.

But watch this.

Child’s not gonna do war with Satan.

The child is so far beyond Satan, he doesn’t need to do war with Satan.

He sends a messenger.

War broke out in heaven.

Michael and his angels 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, the 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.

The point is, the devil tries to win on the earth, fail.

So the devil takes the war up into heaven, fails.

Where is the devil?

The ruler.

Nowhere.

Where is the devil the influencer?

Only over those whom he deceives.

The devil reigns over nothing except those who give their power, their lives, and their

abilities to him.

He has no authority in heaven.

He has no authority on earth.

He just loses everywhere he goes.

Now notice something as you look at this.

The term Michael, the name Michael is an Old Testament picture.

Turn back to Exodus chapter 15.

Exodus chapter 15.

After the people come through the Red Sea and after they come forth out of the Red Sea and

the Egyptian army is destroyed, Moses writes a song and the people sing the song of Moses.

by the way, in Revelation, we’re going to read about the song of Moses and the Lamb.

Okay?

Hold on to that for a few chapters.

But in Exodus chapter 15, verse, let’s begin in verse 7.

In the greatness of your excellence you have overthrown those who rose against you.

You sent forth your wrath and consumed them like stubble.

And with the blast of your nostrils the waters were gathered together, the flood stood

upright like a heap, the depths congealed in the heart of the sea.

The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoils.

My desire shall be satisfied on them.” The mindset of Pharaoh and his government and his

army was all my people just gave Israel all the plunders of Egypt and I’m gonna go get

them.

And it’s all gonna be mine.

Notice, I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.

You blew with your wind.

The sea covered them, they sank like lead in the mighty waters.

Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?

The name Michael means who is like God.

the very name of the angel that is described as the one who God sends forth, the child

sends forth, the child doesn’t go to battle with Satan, the child doesn’t even need to go

to battle with Satan, he sends a messenger.

and he sends a messenger whose name is, Who’s Like God.

because the point of Exodus, the point of Egypt was always, there’s nobody like God.

Now the devil, the dragon, the government, the all-powerful mighty ruler of the world

wants you to believe he’s like God.

and he’s defeated by a messenger whose name is asking the question, who is like God?

Go ahead, give me an answer.

Who’s like God?

Nobody.

Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?

Who is like you, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders, you stretched

out your right hand?

The earth swallowed them.” Now, hold on to that phrase.

The earth swallowed them.

You in your mercy have led forth the people whom you have redeemed, you have guided them

in your strength to your holy habitation.

Moses writes, God, you used the earth and you protected us from the enemy who is like you.

All right, go back.

So Satan goes into heaven and he does warfare in heaven and he loses again.

So when he loses again, where does he go?

Well, there’s no place found for him in heaven.

So he goes back to the earth to go persecute the woman again.

Who’s the woman?

God’s people can’t do anything in heaven, got no authority there and keep losing, so I’m

going go back to the earth and try again.

So notice what happens.

uh Beginning in uh verse 9, 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 in 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.” Real quick, before we proceed.

What does the name Satan mean?

Accuser.

What does Satan do when Satan is before God in the book of Job in Job chapters 1 and 2?

He accuses, based upon no shred of evidence.

He accuses Job of being one who would only be faithful to God if God continues to protect

him.

Job will only be faithful to you because you’ve built a hedge around him.

Nobody can touch him.

Satan makes it clear, God, Job is only faithful to you because he’s rich.

and he’s got luxury and he’s got abundance and nothing can touch him because you won’t let

me.

So God says, no, that’s not why Job’s faithful.

You can take everything that he’s got, but you can’t take him.

You can’t touch him.

And Satan enacts the policy, having been the accuser of taking away all of Job’s things,

all of Job’s possessions, all of Job’s children.

And what does Job do?

bows down and declares there’s no one like God.

The Lord gives, the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of Lord.

And Job’s wife comes to him and says, why don’t you curse God and die?

Because Satan comes back and accuses Job.

Well, you know, everybody will give everything for their life, but you won’t let me touch

him.

So God says you can touch him, but you can’t kill him.

And so Satan takes Job and he takes away his health.

He takes away his happiness.

He takes away his home.

He takes away everything he’s got.

And he’s sitting now in the city, dump scraping open sores with pottery shards.

And his wife comes to him and says, why don’t you curse God and die?

And he says, why are you talking like the foolish women?

Who is like the Lord?

You remember what the apostles say to Jesus after many who believed in Jesus turned back

and walked with him no more.

After many who had been his disciples said, these things are too hard, who can understand?

And Jesus said to his apostles, will you go away also?

What was Peter’s reply?

Lord, to whom shall we go?

You have the words of eternal

Peter in that moment testified the same thing that Job did.

If I leave God, who am I going to?

Who is like the LORD?

You see, God’s people have been accused by Satan and accused by Satan and accused by Satan

for generations after generations after generations for millennia.

And Satan’s always wrong.

because Satan always loses.

God’s people know it.

So notice what happens.

Now salvation has come.

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.

Now notice how God’s people win because it’s not how most of us think.

That’s not how most of us imagine God’s people winning.

We often imagine God’s people winning because they outlast Satan, like Job.

We imagine God’s people winning because God delivers them and they just go on into glory.

That’s not how God tells John the people are going to win.

You remember the message which John was given by the angel?

Sweet in your mouth is the Word of God.

Bitter in your belly.

The message is not one of happiness and flowers and roses and everything’s perfect.

We read, 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.

people of God win.

because they do not deny Christ even to the point of being killed for their testimony.

You see, the devil’s perspective is everybody will say something to keep their life.

And he’s been proven wrong over and over and over and over and over again.

Because the Christians overcome by the power of the blood of the Lamb.

They’re washed in the blood.

They overcome by the word of their testimony, which was the message of God.

And because they love God more than they love their lives.

So if you kill them,

You might take their physical life, but you’ll never take their soul.

We read in verse 12, 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.

A pronouncement of danger, of that which is coming is going to affect not the people of

God primarily, but the people of the earth.

that the one who they think is their leader, the one who they think is their deliverer,

the one who they think is the power has deceived them and will turn on them and do harm to

them.

That’s exactly what’s going to happen.

So we get to the end of chapter 12 and beginning of chapter 13, but let’s just mention as

we close, let’s read verses 13 through 17 just to notice this final defeat.

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, 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

caused 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.” What did Moses say had delivered the people of God from Pharaoh?

He said, God parted the waters, God congealed the bottom of the sea, and we went forth,

and then the earth swallowed them up.

This isn’t forecasting some great thing that occurs in some nuclear warfare.

This is Exodus language.

The devil tries, the devil fails.

The devil tries again, the devil fails.

The devil tries one final time and he fails again because the devil is not the ruler of

this world.

The devil is not the final authority in this world.

The devil is a deceiver and the only authority he has is over those who allow themselves

to be deceived.

So then notice.

We’ll we’ll close.

Revelation 13 (Lesson 1) – Aaron Cozort – May 17, 2026

In 666, Admonition Podcast, beasts, biblical history, Christian persecution, Daniel, keywords Revelation, prophecy, Roman Empire, symbolism by Aaron Cozort

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We’re closing up the twelfth of Revelation and getting into chapter thirteen.

So we’ll be doing that as soon as we get started.

But let’s begin first with a word of prayer.

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

blessed us with, grateful for

the opportunities that we have to serve you and pray that we will do so in a way that is

acceptable and right in your sight.

Lord, we ask that you will help us to be diligent, to strive, to overcome the things that

the world throws at us that we might always remain faithful to you, obedient to your word,

and open and willing to following the commands that you have given to us.

Lord, pray that you will grant us grace and mercy when we sin and fall short of your

glory.

We pray that you will continue to be with those who are struggling because of illness and

injury and because of uh recovering from procedures.

Lord, we pray that you be with us as we go throughout all of our daily lives.

May we seek your will.

May we turn to you in times of need.

May we always remember that even when we feel as though we’re strong, we are to be those

who are humble enough to bow before you and to seek your help even in those times.

All this we pray and ask in Jesus name, amen.

We’re going to forgo a little bit of the first 11 chapters of review this morning, just

review chapter 12 and get into 13.

Chapter 12, we opened up, and this is another one of those pictures of comfort for the

Christians, for the church.

It’s one that is not as well understood by some, much more disagreement about it than some

of the other pictures, but if pay attention to it.

you’ll get a clear picture of what’s going on.

You’ve got a woman who’s about to give birth.

She’s got the 12 stars above her head.

She’s pictured as God’s people.

God’s people bring forth the Messiah.

So she’s going to give birth and the child is going to be the one who rules and has a rod

that goes forth and he is one who is going to be the king, but he is going to attempt to

be killed by…

the dragon the moment that he comes forth from the womb.

But the dragon’s going to fail.

The child’s going to be taken up into heaven where he’s going to live and he’s going to be

out of the reach of the dragon.

But as a result of that, you’re then going to have the first loss of the dragon.

You’re going to have John and the vision representing that hate.

The dragon tried, the dragon failed.

So then you’re gonna get the second part of the picture.

So the dragon takes his soldiers and his army and he goes up to heaven and he’s gonna try

and get to the child there.

He goes up to heaven, doesn’t even get to interact with the child.

Michael the archangel and the other angels defeat him, send him back down to the earth.

right, loss number two.

Then when he gets back down to the earth, the woman has been taken away into the

wilderness to be provided strength.

Now, how long was she fed in the wilderness?

Three and a half years, 1,260 days.

All right, you’re gonna find in these sections a lot of, quite a few, 1,260 days, three

and a half years, time, times, and half a time.

You’re gonna find figures, phrases that all represent the same amount of time.

It’s half of a seven.

Seven would be a perfect amount of time.

This is a temporary amount of time.

So the beast is, sorry, the dragon is going to have power for three and a half years.

Things are going to happen for a period of time, but you are to be reminded God is saying

all the way back in the book of Daniel where this terminology is introduced, I’m in

charge.

I give people the authority to do something and then I take that authority away.

because as a result of the fact that their authority is not equal with God’s, they have

circumscribed authority.

They have temporary authority.

There are times where it looks like the dragon is winning.

There’s times it looks like the beast is winning, but it’s always short term.

There are times where as the dragon is winning and as the beast is winning, God’s people

have to go find refuge for a time.

And the three and half years is derived from an Old Testament picture with Elijah and his

going away from Ahab, Ahab seeking his life, turning the entire northern kingdom of Israel

against God and against the worship that they should have been following and against God’s

prophets.

And so during that period of time, there’s no rain three and a half years.

And yet, while there’s no rain in Israel for three and a half years,

Elijah is being fed by ravens, provided for by stream, and then taken to a widow’s house

where he who is by the way not even an Israelite and he she’s she is going to provide for

him on a daily basis until the three and a half years is done.

not because of what she has, but because of what God continues to give her every single

day.

So the point and the picture is the devil comes back and tries to make war again with the

woman and with her offspring, which are the people of God now represented in the church.

And guess what?

He fails again.

So the devil is a three time loser.

And as you look at the text you have in chapter 12…

Beginning verse 13, 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 time, times and half a time, three and a half

years, 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 keep the commandments of God and have testimony of Jesus Christ.

By the way, if you’re looking for a clear explanation of who the offspring are, who are

they?

They’re the people who keep the commandments of God and give a testimony concerning Jesus

Christ.

They’re the Christians.

So the woman represents God’s people.

Old Testament, New Testament, God’s people.

They brought forth the Messiah.

Their offspring is the church.

And when Satan can’t become victorious over the woman, can’t stop the child, can’t win in

heaven, he just goes and starts persecuting the church.

Now hold on to that.

because John has just said, as he has said again and again and again and again,

persecution is coming.

This is a picture that indicates the dragon is going to persecute the church.

Now, who was the dragon?

The devil.

The text told us in clear language, the devil, Satan.

The one who stands up and argues that God’s people aren’t really as good as God’s people

actually are.

He’s the accuser, but he’s not the successful defeater.

He is not the one who will defeat God’s people.

So as the devil is trying to fight against God’s people because he’s already lost fighting

against the child.

He’s going to start recruiting some help because you can’t win by yourself.

What do you do?

Get somebody else go to war with you.

And so chapter 13 is going to be a picture of Satan’s associates.

The powers that he’s going to use to persecute the Christians.

And again, we are using

Old Testament imagery.

We’re using pictures like Daniel used in Daniel chapter 7 where he introduced the beasts

and the nations and Daniel chapter 8 where he introduced another set of beasts and the

same nations.

Two different figures, two different sets of animals all representing the same nations.

John is going to use that

as he delivers the text to the people indicating there’s persecution coming.

And I’m going to tell you what it’s going to look like, but I’m going to tell you in a

figure.

Chapter 13 opens.

In Chapter 13, we’ve got the dragon, we’ve got the sea and the land beast, and the number,

oh, the notorious number 666.

Okay, Chapter 13.

As you get into chapter 13, we’re going to get into some pictures of some horns.

So I’m just throwing this up here, not because we’re gonna spend a bunch of time on

chapter 17 while we’re still in 13, but just to remind you what Daniel tells us about the

horns of the last beast.

Daniel describes the kings of the final beast, the indescribable beast in Daniel 7.

Now, this is important because the perspective on the book of Revelation lives or dies

based upon which Caesar you start with.

And it falls apart and makes no sense at all if you begin with Julius Caesar.

But you need to understand something about Julius Caesar.

Julius Caesar was a usurper.

He wasn’t a recognized emperor of Rome.

He wasn’t imbued with the power from the Senate.

He usurped the Senate and its power.

And the first recognized…

Caesar of Rome was Augustus, also known as Octavius.

Octavius will come to the throne.

Octavius will be Senate appointed as Caesar.

And Daniel ignores Julius Caesar.

Daniel does not count him as the first emperor of Rome.

Instead, he begins with Augustus.

And when you do that, by the way, you’ll notice that everything in Daniel lines up with

everything in Revelation because John also ignores Julius Caesar and emphasizes first

Augustus.

As he does so, he does so not arbitrarily, but because Old Testament prophecy ignored

Julius Caesar.

So, when you look at the Caesars and you look at the kings of Rome, you begin with

Augustus and you have Augustus, have Tiberius, have Caligula, you have Claudius, you have

Nero.

What did Nero do in regards to the Christians while he was on the throne in Rome?

He tortured them, persecuted them, hung them up in the streets and lit them on fire to

light the streets.

He did everything he could.

to persecute the Christians in Rome.

And then he died.

Nero who was proclaimed to be God, Nero who was proclaimed by himself of course to be the

exalted one and ruler died.

Guess what happened when he died?

All the persecution stopped.

The persecution stopped because Nero was using the Christians as a scapegoat to avoid

people rebelling against.

Nero.

But when Nero dies, the empire turns over and goes into civil war.

And in the coming few two years, they’re gonna have three emperors come to power, get

deposed from power, come to power, get deposed from power, come to power, get deposed from

power.

It is a time of upheaval in the Roman Empire.

And as a result of the upheaval, nobody cares about the Christians anymore.

Don’t worry about those people, worry about who’s in Rome.

And then Vespasian comes to the throne.

Vespasian comes to the throne and his focus is get the nation back on track.

Get the nation and the empire back out of civil war and under control.

And so again, Vespasian does not persecute the Christians.

It is under Vespasian though that the city of Jerusalem is destroyed by Titus, his son, as

general.

And then Vespasian will fall and Titus will come to the throne.

But Titus is only going to reign for two years, two months, and two days.

before he is going to be gone.

He’s there for a little while, then he’s gone.

And then, demission comes to the throne.

And in Daniel’s prophecy, demission begins persecuted.

In Daniel’s prophecy, demission begins to speak pompous words, proclaim himself to be God,

and fight against those and persecute those

who will not acknowledge him as God.

That’s Daniel’s prophecy.

And John is going to bring Daniel’s prophecy forward in chapter 17.

And I just needed to give you just that glimpse into chapter 17 because we’re going to be

introduced to some horns and some beasts and some things in 13 that you’re going to get

explained in 17.

All right.

So the dragon comes forth and the dragon’s got seven heads and 10 horns, by the way.

The 10 horns will be interesting and worthwhile to keep in mind as we get into chapter 17.

But chapter 13 verses one through 10, you have the sea beast that is going to rise up and

he’s going to be given power by the dragon.

And he’s a picture of the…

persecuting power of Rome.

uh Chapter 13 verse 1, and I stood on the sand of the sea and I saw a beast rising up out

of the sea having seven heads and ten horns and on his horns ten crowns and on his head a

blasphemous name.

All right, hold on to this.

Go back to Daniel 7.

Chapter 7, verse 23, Thus he said to me the fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on

earth, which shall be different from all other kingdoms and shall devour the whole earth,

trample it and break it in pieces.

Ten horns are ten kings who shall arise from this kingdom and another shall arise after

them.

He shall be different from the first ones and shall subdue three kings.

Question, if you have 10 and you add one more, how many do you have?

11, okay, just checking.

All right, hold on to that, don’t lose that.

He shall speak pompous words against the most high, shall persecute the saints of the most

high, and shall intend to change times and law.

Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time.

and times and half a time.

Daniel tells us in Daniel 7, here’s this beast and I wanted to understand who it was and I

wanted to understand what it was and I was told it was a fourth kingdom.

It was an indescribable beast.

It had 10 horns which represented 10 kings.

and it spoke blasphemy.

The eleventh horn, the last one to come up, chucked away the three that were before it,

came up, came to power, and now if you take eleven and you subtract three, how many do you

have?

eight.

So when we read about eight horns, it’s because three of them are going to be ignored.

Okay?

So watch this as we’re going through it.

Chapter 13.

He’s got the 10 horns of Daniel.

He’s got the 10 heads as, or uh sorry, 10 crowns.

Who wears crowns?

Kings do, okay?

These aren’t the crowns of victory, by the way.

These are the crowns of

Kings, okay?

So 10 heads, sorry, let me get this right.

10 horns and 10 crowns on seven heads, okay?

Get my words out.

All right, now the beast which I saw was like a leopard.

His feet were like the feet of a bear and his mouth like the mouth of a lion.

The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority.

Okay, back to chapter seven of Daniel one more time.

Daniel chapter 7 verse 2, Daniel spoke saying, saw in my vision by night and behold the

four winds of the heaven were stirring up the great sea and four great beasts came up from

the sea each different from the other.

The first was like a lion and had eagle’s wings.

I watched till its wings were plucked off and it was lifted up from the earth and made to

stand on two feet like a man and a man’s heart was given to it.

and suddenly another great beast, a second, like a bear.

It was raised up on the one side and had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth, and

they said thus to it, arise, devour much flesh.

After this I looked and there was another, like a leopard, which had on its back four

wings of a bird.

The beast also had four heads and dominion was given to it.

After this I saw in the night vision and behold a fourth beast.

dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong.

It had huge iron teeth.

It was devouring, breaking in pieces and trampling the residue with its feet.

It was different from all the beasts that were before it and it had 10 horns.

I was considering the horns and there was another horn, a little one coming up among them,

before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots.

And there in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth speaking pompous

words, blasphemous words.

In Daniel’s vision, Daniel sees the first beast and it looks like what?

a lion.

Second beast looks like what?

A bear.

Third beast looks like what?

A leopard.

When you get to Revelation chapter 13 verse 2, now the beast which I saw was like a

leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth was like the mouth of a

lion.

John is not randomly grabbing creatures and describing something.

Daniel is going with a great big banner that says, go read Daniel 7.

to the Christians in the first century, he’s telling them, go understand what Daniel said.

And then you’re gonna know why I’m saying what I’m saying.

the three parts of this beast look like the three first kingdoms.

What were those kingdoms according to Daniel?

Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Grecian, and Rome.

And the point is that Rome, when Rome came to power, it didn’t decimate and wipe out all

the history that had ever existed.

It didn’t take away all the nation, it just co-opted them.

Rome would come in and say what you can either pay us money, pay us tribute and become

part of our economy or we can kill you.

Which would you like?

you want to just do business with us?

Great.

We’re going to build some roads.

We’re going to put some Centurions through.

We’re going to take over.

We’re going to take a lot of your money, but you’re going to be prosperous because we just

made you part of our economy.

And then they go to the next nation and they do the same thing.

unlike some prior powers, Rome was not of the mindset, let’s go into every nation and turn

them into Romans.

They didn’t do that among the Jews.

They also didn’t do what some of the previous powers had done where they uprooted people.

So the mindset of the Babylonians and the mindset of the Assyrians was you come in, you

rip people out of their home and out of their land, then they don’t have as much to fight

for because they don’t have their homeland to fight for.

So you shuffle people around, throw them back into a land that’s not theirs, that they’re

not used to, and they’re going to be less problems because they’re gonna have less

historical fortifications and mindsets by which to attack you.

Rome didn’t do that.

Rome just said, yeah, stay in your land.

You know what?

If you all participate well enough, long enough, we’ll let you learn how to become Roman

citizens.

So, Rome did things differently.

It co-opted all of the previous governments.

It co-opted all of the previous kingdoms.

It integrated them into this mesh that was Rome.

And so, when Daniel looks at it, Daniel says, here’s this kingdom and then this kingdom

and then this kingdom and then this kingdom coming consecutively.

But when John looks at it, he says, look,

It all looks like one thing.

It all looks like the kingdoms of Daniel just meshed in together.

That’s the picture of the sea beast.

The dragon, though, is the one that gives him the power.

The dragon gives him his power, his throne, and his great authority.

The point of the message is, here comes this great beast that’s gonna start persecuting

the Christians.

But his power is the power of the dragon.

Now what have we already learned about the power of the dragon?

It’s temporary.

It’s circumscribed.

It’s not equal with God.

So when you give temporary…

power, limited power to somebody else when it was temporary and limited to begin with,

does it suddenly become unlimited and permanent?

No.

The moment the dragon gives the beast the power, the Christians are supposed to know,

okay, God’s got this under control.

just the same way God had Babylon under control, God had the Medo-Persian Empire under

control, God had the Grecian Empire under control, God has the Roman Empire under control.

When we see the dragon giving the beast his power, that’s not a moment to be afraid,

that’s a moment to go, I know how this is going to turn out.

It’s going to turn out the way it always has.

So then notice, I saw one of his heads.

as if it had been mortally wounded and his deadly wound was healed.

Now, the thing to understand when you read as if it had been, he’s saying in the vision,

it was.

He’s not saying it kind of looked like it.

He’s saying in the vision, one of his heads got killed.

Okay?

Now, how many heads did he have?

Seven?

Okay?

So you have seven heads.

and one of them gets mortally wounded.

Watch this.

I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was

healed, and all the world marveled and followed the beast.

He says, I watch one of his heads and it dies.

and then it was healed, how would we describe something that was dead and healed?

What term would we use?

resurrected.

Remember in the book of Revelation everything good has an evil counterpart.

If there is a resurrected king who is good then there’s a resurrected what?

King that is evil.

So the people of the world look and they marvel.

They see this beast and they see one of his heads die and then they see it resurrected

back to life and they go, that must be God.

Now in Rome, you didn’t have a king that died and was resurrected back to life.

But if you go read some history, you’ll find even from the Roman historians that they

considered Domitian to be an offshoot of Nero.

They consider Domitian to be the descendant not physically, but in his rule of Nero.

And so the world sees this persecuting power and it dies.

And then this world sees the persecuting power come back and they go, let’s just go follow

Rome.

Let’s just do whatever Rome says so that they don’t turn their persecution on us.

So the world marveled and they followed the beast.

So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast and they worshiped the beast

saying, is like the beast?

Who is able to make war with him?

And he was given a mouth to speak great things and blasphemies and he was given authority

to continue.

Somebody take a guess for how long?

For 42 months.

Temporary power begets temporary power begets temporary power, but it all looks like

unlimited power.

It self-boseth of its unlimited power.

It speaks blasphemous and pompous words.

It looks just like the beast in Daniel’s day.

It looks just like the three kingdoms of Daniel 7 all rolled up together speaking as

though they’re some great thing.

and they start asking the question that sounds a lot like the Old Testament scriptures

speaking concerning God.

Notice what they asked, who is like?

Now if you go to the Old Testament, you would read, is like Jehovah?

But that’s not the world, and that’s not what the world is saying.

The world is saying, who is like the beast?

And the question from the Old Testament would be who is able to make war with Jehovah?

But that’s not what the world’s asking.

The world’s asking who can make war with the beast?

He is usurping God’s position.

Now watch.

He was given a mouth, sorry, verse six.

Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God.

To blaspheme his name, his tabernacle,

and those who dwell in heaven.

The beast who’s given the power by Satan, who speaks great words, who conquers everybody

who stands in his way, who is proclaimed to be undefeatable, starts speaking against God.

And he speaks first against the name of God.

No, Jehovah’s not God, Caesar is God.

And in Rome, the policy was this, you could worship anybody you wanted to, as long as you

also worship Caesar.

You want to worship the gods of the Greek pantheon?

Go for it.

You got to attack Caesar on.

You want to worship the gods of the pagans?

No problem.

Attack Caesar on.

You’ll be fine.

You want to worship the god of the Hebrews?

No problem.

Attack Caesar on.

You’ll be fine.

Except what would the Christians not do?

They wouldn’t worship Caesar.

They wouldn’t glorify Caesar.

They wouldn’t proclaim Caesar to be God.

And that was something Rome couldn’t tolerate.

That was something that Domitian would not allow.

And it became public policy to persecute those who would not proclaim Caesar to be God.

So notice he speaks blasphemous words against the name of God, against the tabernacle of

God.

Notice it does not say the temple of God, the dwelling place, the temporary dwelling

place.

What is the temporary dwelling place of God on the earth in the Christian age?

The church, Christians.

And then notice what he says, and those who dwell in heaven.

Now, for those of us who haven’t gone through the text and hadn’t paid attention to those

who dwell in the earth, those who dwell in heaven, those who dwell in the earth, those who

dwell in heaven, we might read that and go, oh, wait, wait, wait, this is the beast

reaching up into eternity.

No.

Who are those who dwell in heaven?

They’re the Christians who are still alive on the earth, set in contrast to the

unrighteous who dwell in the earth.

So here comes the beast and he’s got the power of Satan and he’s got the picture of Daniel

and he’s got the pompous mouth of Daniel and he starts persecuting and blaspheming the

name of God and the people of God.

Verse 7, it was granted to him to make war with the saints and overcome them.

And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue and nation.

All who dwell on the earth will worship him.

Does that mean all the Christians will?

No, because Christians don’t dwell on the earth.

They dwell in heaven.

They’re going to get persecuted by him.

They’re going to get killed by him.

but they’re not going to proclaim His name.

They’re not going to worship Him.

He says, all who dwell on the earth will worship Him whose names have not been written in

the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

If anyone has an ear, let him hear.

Who used that phrase quite often?

Jesus did.

He used it to call people’s attention to something they should understand.

And John does the same thing.

John says, there’s no reason early first century church that you should misunderstand

this.

There’s no reason you should miss this point.

Persecution is coming for you, but it’s coming from a power that has already been

defeated.

So then notice.

We read, he leads into captivity and shall go into captivity.

He who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword.

Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

John says, I’m going to tell you how to endure this.

I’m going to tell you how to get through this.

Bear in mind that the one who lives by the sword dies by the sword.

You don’t get through this, Christians, by rising up and revolting and doing physical

battle against Rome.

You live by the sword, you’re going to die by it.

Rather, you get through this by enduring and faithfulness, and then God will see you

through it.

This is an instruction to keep focus where it belonged on the gospel and on Christianity

and on being faithful to God and not on political power or military might.

because those things weren’t going to be the things that are going to help them endure

this persecution.

But, devil’s not done, dragon’s not done, it still needs a little more help.

So, we have the land beast.

Chapter 13 verse 11, then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth and he had two

horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon.

Here comes this beast and he’s the land beast and he comes up.

and he speaks, when you hear him speak, he sounds like a dragon.

When you look at him, he looks like a lamb.

You remember when the Christians were warned that the servants of Satan often looked like

preachers of righteousness?

That they appeared as sheep, but they were wolves in sheep’s clothing?

The picture of the land beast is going to be the religious leadership in Rome.

It’s gonna be the people who look like they’re nice guys.

And inwardly, they speak like a dragon.

They have Satan that comes out their mouth.

Okay, so we got just a few minutes left.

Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth.

And he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon.

And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence.

and causes the earth and those who dwell in the worship to, or dwell in, uh let me get

this right, who causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast.

Here comes this land beast and it comes up and it influences all those who dwell in the

earth to go worship the sea beast.

They say, that’s your God over there.

Go worship him.

These are the false prophets of Rome.

These are the high priests of Rome.

These are the ones who are influencing the people to worship the first beast, even though

the first beast has no more authority and all of his authority is circumscribed from the

dragon.

Okay?

So then notice, he performs great signs.

so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men.

Who did that in the Old Testament?

Made fire come down from heaven.

Elijah did.

You have a number of occasions where fire comes down from heaven.

Back in the days of Moses, it came down from heaven.

All right, so these false prophets are doing things that make it look like…

They’re the prophets of some great God!

except it’s all stuff that looks like it.

It’s like Simon the Sorcerer in Acts chapter 8.

Everybody thought that he was some great thing until what?

until Philip showed up and actually started doing real miracles.

And when Philip showed up and started doing real miracles, everybody immediately

recognized that Simon wasn’t anything.

Guess who also realized it?

Simon!

So notice, he performs great signs so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the

earth in the sight of men, and he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs

which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth

to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and live.

He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast

should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be

killed.

Notice, here’s what’s happening.

Here comes the religious power of Rome.

The religious power of Rome says, Caesar is God.

And they do all sorts of things to convince people, Caesar is God.

And if you can’t be convinced, then you can be killed.

He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on

their right hand or on their foreheads.

That no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast or the

number of his name.

Here is wisdom.

Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a

man.

His number is 666.

Now I’d love to explain all of that to you, but we’re short on time.

So let me say this.

We’ll talk about it next.

Courage – O.C. Woodlee – March 08, 2026

In Admonition Podcast, biblical story, Christian life, courage, Jesus, keywords faith, overcoming fear, Peter, Spiritual Growth, storms, trust by Aaron Cozort

image

Good evening.

I’d to thank everyone for being here this afternoon.

There are moments in life when our courage feels strong.

There are times when our faith feels strong, when conviction feels firm, and when it seems

like nothing could shake our confidence in God.

When life is calm, when the path is clear, and when the wind is not blowing against us,

it’s easy to believe that our faith

will never falter.

But life has a way of revealing what’s truly inside of you and I.

Sooner or later, every faithful child of God will face moments when their faith is tested,

moments when fear rises inside of them, moments when the storm is loud and the waves are

high and suddenly the courage we thought we had begins to fade away.

And it’s in those moments that one of the most searching questions in all of scripture

is asked.

In Matthew chapter 14 verse 31 tells us that immediately Jesus stretched forth out his

hand and caught him and said unto him, little faith, why did you doubt?

The question here was spoken to Peter.

Peter had just done something that no other man in history had ever done.

He had stepped out of the boat and he had walked on water.

And think about how amazing this truly is.

The other disciples, they decided to stay in the boat.

They were terrified of the storm.

They were afraid of the waves.

They were uncertain of what was happening, but Peter had courage.

And in verse 28 of Matthew chapter 14, we are told, and Peter answered him and said, Lord,

if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.

And Jesus said simply, Come.

What does Peter do?

Peter gets down out of the boat.

and he goes to walk on water.

Now that would take some courage.

I think it might take some courage just on a calm day to decide to get out of a boat

thinking you can walk on water.

What he did was amazing.

What he did was climb down to that boat, walked on water, and the Bible says that he done

it.

In Matthew chapter 14, 29 through 30, we are told,

and Peter was come down out of the ship he walked on water to go to Jesus but when he saw

the wind boisterous he was afraid and beginning to sink he cried saying Lord save me.

But when he looked at the wind and saw the wind was boisterous look at the word boisterous

you remember in Luke 16 when the rich man said I am what in those fires what did he say he

said I am tormented in those fires.

The word boisterous is the same word as tormented.

The wind and the sea was tormenting Peter.

It was boisterous.

And Peter sees this and he begins to cry out saying, Lord, save me.

Peter did not fail because Jesus failed.

Peter did not sink because the word of Christ was unreliable.

Peter began to sink because his fear replaced his courage.

Jesus reached down and he took him and grabbed him by the hand and asked him a question.

Did he ask him, why did you sink?

He didn’t ask that, did he?

He said, wherefore?

didst thou doubt.

When he saw the waters, he was afraid.

But what did Jesus say?

Christ said, don’t be afraid.

You know, we can hear that sometimes, don’t be afraid.

But when our lives get into some turmoil, we sometimes forget it.

There are times when the storms of life shake us.

Times where fear creeps in and sometimes we begin to sink.

Not because Christ felled, but because we took our eyes away from him.

We live in a time today

where courage is desperately needed.

The world is growing darker, the truth is being attacked, faith is being mocked, and it’s

becoming easier for Christians to become afraid.

Afraid of what?

Afraid to speak the truth.

Afraid to stand up for what they know is right.

Afraid to speak the gospel.

Afraid to be different from the world.

So Jesus asked, wherefore didst thou doubt, O ye of little faith?

The phrase little faith appears five times in the Bible.

Jesus uses it every time.

Peter had faith, but he had little faith.

You can have great faith, or you can have little faith.

And sometimes I’m afraid we have little faith.

I mean, we follow Jesus.

We say, when the Lord says, come, we say, Lord, I’m coming, as long as it’s easy, as long

as it don’t require much from me.

And I think fear has a lot to do with that.

And Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 1, 7, For God hath not given us

the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

God has not given us the spirit of fear.

In this way the word fear is used in this text.

only appears in the New Testament.

It is related to the word used in Revelation 21 8 where the Bible says the fearful will be

among those judged.

In Matthew chapter 25, why did the one talent man not use that power?

He was afraid.

But that is no excuse.

How many times do we say, can’t do that, or there’s no way I’m not able to do that?

I know I say that a bunch.

We all say it.

But God has not given us the spirit of fear or cowardness.

He’s given us the spirit through His truth.

So maybe the Lord could be asking you and me today, wherefore didst thou doubt?

O ye of little faith.

How many people today doubt the church?

They doubt the church that they’re in.

God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power.

Paul told Timothy in the previous verse in Saint Timothy 1 6, wherefore I put thee in

remembrance, that I’ll stir up the gift of God which is in thee.

Evidently, Timothy needed a little bit of encouragement.

He had the ability, he had the opportunity that he need, but Paul reminded him that he

might need to stir it up a little bit.

And sometimes it’s exactly what we need.

We may have talent, we may have opportunity, but like Timothy, it needs to be stirred up.

Paul,

had the spirit of courage, he had the spirit of love, and the same God who strengthened

Paul can strengthen us today.

And so today we must remember and ask ourselves the same question that Peter was asked.

Wherefore didst thou doubt?

Our first point this afternoon is courage begins when we trust the word of Christ.

Peter did not step out because the storm had stopped.

Peter did not step out because the sea had calmed down.

He didn’t step out either because the waves were calm.

Peter stepped out because of Jesus said one word.

Jesus said, That one word was enough.

Matthew 14, 29.

And he said, come.

And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.

Think about what is happening here.

The sea was still raging.

The wind was still blowing.

The boat was still rocking.

Nothing about the situation looked safe at all.

And yet Peter climbs out of the boat and puts his foot in the water.

Why?

because the Lord said, comp.

And that is where true courage begins.

Courage does not begin when the storm stops.

Courage begins when we trust the Word of God more than the situation around us.

You see, from a human perspective, what Peter was doing made no sense at all.

Humans can’t walk on water.

I’ve tried before, it don’t work.

You can run as fast as you want, before you get there, you’re still going to sink.

Storms don’t make walking easier.

If anything, storms make everything ten times harder.

But Peter trusted the word of Christ more than the storm that he was standing in.

And because of that, Peter did something no man has ever done.

Peter walked on the water.

And brethren, that is still how courage works today.

True courage is not pretending the danger does not exist.

True courage is trusting God even when the danger is real.

The Bible is filled with examples

of this kind of courage.

You think of Joshua.

Joshua had to learn this type of courage.

When Moses died, Joshua was suddenly had the responsibility of leading Israel.

He had to face enemies.

He had to face battles and enormous pressure and listen to what God told him in Joshua

chapter 1, 9, have not I commanded thee, be strong and of good courage, be not afraid,

neither be thou dismayed, for the Lord thy God is with thee, whithersoever thou goest.

Notice what God did not say.

He did not say the battles would be easy.

He did not say there would be no more enemies.

He did not say there would be no danger.

Instead, he told Joshua to be strong and courageous.

Why?

Because the Lord was with him.

God would be with him every step of the way.

David understood this as well.

In Psalm 27, David tells us, Lord is my light and my salvation.

Whom shall I fear?

The Lord is my strength in my life.

Of whom shall I be afraid?

This is language of courage.

Not because David never faced any danger, but because David trusted the God who was

greater than the danger he was facing.

And the same thing was true for Peter.

As long as Peter could see Christ, the storm could not stop him.

The waves could not defeat him.

The sea could not swallow him.

Because the Lord says something, His word is stronger than any storm combined.

And this is a lesson that you and I need today.

Because many times our obedience of God

will require courage.

Standing for the truth requires courage.

Living differently from the world requires courage.

Remaining faithful when others are falling away requires courage.

And there are times when the pressure of society is pushing so hard against us to those

who want to follow Christ, it makes it hard to be courageous.

Sometimes people are mocked for believing the Bible.

I was talking to Michael before I got up here saying I was so nervous.

was walking back and forth and he said, what’s your lesson?

And I said, courage.

He goes, come on.

And so, you know, this lesson is for me and is it for you.

But sometimes Christians are pressured to compromise.

And in those moments, the easy thing to do is just to stay in the boat, stay where you’re

at.

The boat feels safe.

The boat feels comfortable.

The boat feels secure.

But sometimes Jesus calls us out of that boat.

Sometimes he calls us to trust his word even when the storm is raging and the question is

will we trust him enough to step out of the boat?

You see Peter had something the other disciples did not have.

They all believed in Jesus.

They all followed Jesus, but Peter the one willing to step out when the Lord said come.

The others stayed in the boat yet Peter stepped into the water and sometimes the

difference between a life

of fear and a life of courage is simply whether we trust the Word of God or the Word of

Christ to obey it.

Because the truth is the safest place Peter could be that night was not the boat.

The safest place that he could be was in that storm and wherever Jesus told him to go.

And that’s the same thing as the truth for us today.

The safest place in the world is not comfort.

The safest place is obedience to the Word of God.

Wherever Christ leads us, that is where we must go.

In John 12, 26,

If any man serve me, let him follow me and where I am, there shall also my servant be.

If any man serve me, him will my father honor.

Even if the wind is still blowing, even if the waves are high, even if the storm looks

frightening, because the word of Christ is stronger than any storm.

And when we trust his word, courage is what begins to start.

But Peter’s story does not end here.

because the same man who had enough courage to step out of the boat also faced something

every Christian eventually faces, fear.

And that brings us to our next point, point two.

Fear enters when our focus leaves Christ.

Peter had the courage to step out of the boat, but the story does not end there.

Something changed.

Matthew chapter 14, 30 tells us, but when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid and

beginning to sink, he cried out saying, Lord,

Save me.

Notice the turning point in that verse.

It was not when the storm began.

The storm was already there when Peter stepped out of the boat.

The wind was already blowing.

The waves were still rising.

The danger was already present, but Peter was still walking on water.

The problem began when Peter saw the wind boisterous.

In other words, his focus shifted from where it needed to be.

Instead of looking toward Christ, he started looking at the storm.

Instead of thinking about the command of the Lord and what he had said, he started

thinking about the danger that was around him.

And when his focus shifted from where it needed to be, fear entered into his heart.

And fear entered in his heart and he began to sink.

Brethren, that is exactly how fear works in the life of a Christian.

Fear uh grows when our focus moves away from Christ and toward our circumstances.

And as long as Peter was focused on Jesus,

He walked on the water, but the moment he started focusing on the storm, it began to sink.

Because that is a lesson that we all need.

Because storms come into every single one of our lives.

No Christian is immune from difficulty.

No servant of God escapes hardship.

Sometimes the storm comes in the form of discouragement.

Sometimes it can come through suffering or from the pleasures of this world or through the

doubt that creeps into our minds.

But storms are a part of life.

Jesus never promised his followers that they would be free from them.

He in fact he warned them that they would come.

In John 16 33, these things I have spoken into you that in me you might have peace.

In the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.

Notice what Jesus said, in the world you shall have tribulation.

He didn’t say you might have it.

not maybe, but he said you will have it, you shall have it.

Storms are going to come, but the key to surviving the storm is where we keep our eyes.

And Hebrews 12, too, gives us one of the most important instructions in the Christian

life.

Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

That phrase, looking unto Jesus, carries the idea of fixing our attention upon him,

keeping our eyes upon him, holding our focus upon Christ.

Because when our attention shifts away from Christ, fear begins to grow.

And fear is powerful.

I debated whether or not to use this story, and I had actually two different stories to

say.

I won’t say the other one, but I’ll say this one.

One night, or one morning, this was the deer and deer season.

I’m a big deer hunter when I’m back home.

And so I get up at four o’clock in the morning, and normally I’ll run straight to my

stand.

I’m too afraid to start walking, so I’ll run.

But one morning I got up and started walking up our hill and going over to the gate and I

hopped over the gate and I had me a little headlamp, a headlamp on with my .30-06 in my

hand.

And as soon as I hop over the gate, I look up and there are eyes staring right back at me.

And I’m telling you, I’ve never been so afraid in my life.

I didn’t know if it was Bigfoot, I didn’t know if it was Bear or something creepy that was

looking at me.

So I called my dad and I said, Dad, I need you to come up here and help me.

He said, Son, you have a

You have the gun in your hand.

And I’m like, no, Dad, I’m shaking here.

And he’s like, just don’t forget, the Lord says that you are over the animals.

I had never been so mad in my life when he said that.

Some things that I was going to say because Eddie and Erin have been teaching me not to

say some of those things, but I was so mad.

I said, you know what?

What if a bear comes up to me?

I tell the bear, hey, don’t hit me.

It’s not going to work that way.

The bear is going to take me out.

It’s going to take me out.

So I mean, I think that’s just silly.

anyways, fear has a way of terrifying our lives.

Fear has a way of controlling us even when it could be nothing.

I kept walking and guess what?

It was a deer.

And I jumped it up.

So I mean, that whole time I was afraid and I could have waited about 10 more minutes, the

sun could come up and I could have had a deer.

But instead, I was just screaming and hollering and was afraid.

But fear can silence truth.

Fear can make strong people hesitate.

Fear can make faithful people question themselves.

And sometimes fear causes Christians to begin to sink spiritually.

When we start focusing upon the of the world, instead of the promises of God, their

courage begins to fade.

And that’s what happened to Peter.

For a moment, the storm looked bigger than the Savior.

For a moment,

The waves look stronger than the word of Christ for a moment.

Fear is what replaced courage.

But notice something important about Peter.

Even when he began to sink, he knew exactly who to call.

The Bible says he cried out saying, Lord, save me.

Peter did not cry out to the other disciples.

He didn’t cry out to the boat either.

He cried out to Jesus.

And that is exactly what we must do when fear enters our lives.

Because every Christian has moments when fear enters in.

Every strong believer faces time when courage feels weak.

Every faithful servant of God sometimes feel overwhelmed by the storms around them.

Well, what happens to Peter is what we need to also say and what we also need to do.

Peter looked back to Christ, fixed our eyes upon Christ because the storm may be loud, but

Christ is greater than the storm.

The waves may rise, but Christ stands above the waters.

And when we keep our eyes focused on him, fear begins to lose its power.

But the story also does not end with Peter crying out, because what happens next reveals

something beautiful about the character of our Lord.

Third point and our final point, Christ is ready to lift us when our courage fails.

Think about the Savior that Peter was standing before.

This is the same Christ who spoke the world into existence.

This is the same Christ who calmed the storm with just a word.

The same Christ who rose the dead and the same Christ who would soon conquer death itself

later on in the book.

And yet Peter allowed the wind and the waves to cause him to doubt.

Sometimes we do the same thing.

We belong to Christ.

We believe Christ.

We follow Christ.

But when the storms of life arise around us, fear begins to take hold.

Doubt whispers in our minds and courage begins to be weakened.

But brethren, the Christ we serve today is the same Christ who stood on that water.

We find in Hebrews 13, 8 that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

He has not changed.

The same Savior who caught Peter is still able to lift us up today.

The same Savior who walked upon the sea still rules over every storm in our lives today

also.

And when our courage begins to fail, His hand is still strong enough to hold us.

Think about courage in the New Testament.

It’s hard not to think about the Apostle Paul and the courage that he had.

Look at everything that he went through.

Paul was beaten.

Paul was imprisoned.

He was persecuted, rejected, and constantly facing danger all along in his life.

Second Corinthians 11, Paul lists some of the things that he went through.

Of the Jews, five times received I have 40 stripes, saved one.

Thrice I was beaten with rods.

Once I was stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck.

and pearls of waters and pearls of robbers and pearls of my own country, man.

And you read that and you almost have to ask the question, how do you beat a man like

that?

How do you stop someone like Paul?

You can’t threaten him.

uh You can’t beat him.

You can’t discourage him.

Why?

Because his faith was fixed on Christ.

In Philippians chapter 1, 20 through 21, Paul said, according to my earnest expectation

and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed.

with all boldness as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it

be by life or by death.

For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” How do you defeat someone who believes

that?

If you let him live, he serves Christ.

If you kill him, he goes to be with Christ.

You can’t defeat a man whose courage is rooted in that kind of faith.

And that’s same kind of courage that the gospel produces.

Paul understood something that Peter was learning that night on the sea.

When your faith is anchored in Christ, the storm cannot defeat you.

The world cannot overcome you.

Fear cannot control you because Christ is greater than the storm.

And when our courage begins to fail, His hand is still strong enough to lift us up because

Christ is greater than the storm.

He is the one who walked upon the sea.

He is the one who caught Peter when he was sinking.

He is the one who conquered sin, who overcame death, and he is still the one who calls men

and women today through his word.

Brethren, courage is not the absence of storms.

Courage is trusting Christ in the middle of them.

Courage is keeping our eyes upon him when the winds begin to blow and when the storms of

life come into our lives.

And so this afternoon we must ask ourselves the same question Jesus asked Peter.

Wherefore didst thou doubt?

Maybe there is someone here today who has allowed fear from keeping them to obey the

gospel.

Maybe you know what he has commanded, you know what to do, you may believe in Christ, but

fear may be holding you back.

Fear of change, fear of what others might think of you if you obey the gospel, fear of

stepping out in faith.

But notice something and remember something.

Peter did not experience walking on water until he stepped out of the boat.

And sometimes the greatest step of courage

as a person can take is to simply obeying the word of Christ.

Jesus said in Mark 16, 16, he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that

believeth not shall be condemned.

And the Lord calls men and women today through his word by hearing the word, by believing,

by repentance, by confessing his name and baptism for the remission of our sins.

Acts 2, 38, repent, be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the

remission of your sins, and you shall receive the gift.

of the Holy Ghost.

And maybe today in that moment someone needs to step out in faith to stop letting fear

hold you back from stop letting fear control you.

If there’s any way that we can help you, come now, it’s together we stand in