Paul's Indictment of the Jews, Part 1

Introduction: Paul's Digression on the Jews

0:05 Let us turn again this morning to the first letter of Paul to the church of the Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians, as we continue our verse-by-verse study of this wonderful letter to this infant church at Thessalonica.

0:25 We have completed our study of the first two major sections of this letter, chapter 1 being the first of those two sections, 1 Thessalonians, Paul's paragraph of praise to God for what God by the Spirit had wrought there in Thessalonica, and then the first twelve verses of chapter 2, in which Paul set before us the kind of men and women God uses in accomplishing His sovereign purposes of grace through the ministry of the Word of God. And then for the past several weeks we have considered the complementary truth of those first twelve verses of 1 Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians, and chapter 2, namely that true ministers must be complemented by true hearers. And so Paul in verses 13 and 14 thanks God that not only were the people at Thessalonica blessed with a true ministry, but they were true hearers of the Word of God. They received the Word of God, they received it as the Word of God, and they so assimilated that Word that it became evident in their lives that it was not a dead letter. It was not a letter stored in the categories of the memory, but it was a living Word of God expressed in everyday experience, particularly patience in the midst of suffering.

1:49 Now Paul concluded that section in verse 14 with this remark about the Jews, comparing the suffering of the Thessalonians at the hands of their countrymen with the suffering of the Judean Christians at the hand of the Jews. For ye brethren, reading verse 14, became followers of the churches of God, which in Judea are in Christ Jesus. For ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews. And the moment he mentions Jews, he digresses then for the next two verses on one of the most strong statements in all of the letters of Paul on the state of the Jews as a nation.

2:31 And he says in verses 15 and 16 concerning the Jews, who both killed the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and have persecuted us, and they please not God, and are contrary to all men, forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sin all way, for wrath is come upon them to the uttermost. Now this is, in a very real sense, a digression from the main line of Paul's thought, and we find, in making this digression, as we mentioned, at the very mentioning of the word Jews.

Paul's Love for the Jews and the Context of His Indictment

3:13 In fact, if I were simply to read these two verses, and say the Jews are a people who killed the Lord Jesus, killed their prophets, cast out the apostles, contrary to all men, they don't please God, they're under the wrath of God, you might think that this was some kind of an anti-Semitic rally, at which I was seeking to stir up bitterness toward the Jews, as a nation. In order that none of us would ever try to bleed any anti-Semitic feeling from these verses, and understand their true intent, I would remind you that the same man who spoke these words of denunciation, calling the Jews killers of Christ, of the prophets, persecutors of the apostles and the Christians, people who are contrary to everybody, don't please God, under the wrath of God, the same man said these words about the same group of people. Listen, as I read from 1 Corinthians chapter 9. Unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews. To them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law.

4:27 The same man who spoke those words of denunciation said, I was willing to put myself under the strictest, kind of discipline in the rigors of the Jewish ceremonial law, if I might gain these people. And then he rises to an intensity of expression that few of us could duplicate in any measure with a good conscience. I say the truth in Christ. I lie not my conscience bearing witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart, for I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen, according to the flesh, who are the Israelites.

5:13 So whatever these verses in Thessalonians mean, they must never be construed as some kind of a sour, vindictive, hot-headed burst of temper from a man who's been embittered by the treatment he's received from the Jews. No, because this same man says I could wish myself a curse for these very same people. My heart's longing is that they might be saved, and not only is it my longing, my life proves I'll do anything to win one of my countrymen to Jesus Christ. Therefore, these are not to be regarded as sour, vindictive, hot-headed words, but the broken-hearted, sober, calm pronouncement of an inspired apostle who is explaining the state of the Jews as a nation. Now, why? Why did Paul make this digression? Can we discover anything in Scripture that might indicate why, when he's writing to this infant church at Thessalonica, the very mention of the Jews should cause him to break out into this description of a terrible indictment?

6:22 Well, I think there is some indication. As best we can put the chronology together, Paul was, at the writing of Thessalonica, this letter to the church at Thessalonica, Paul was in Corinth. And while he was there at Corinth, he had been receiving abuse from the Jews, so much so that God had to appear to him in a vision, and say to him, as recorded in Acts 17, verse 10, or Acts 18, Don't be afraid, Paul. Continue to preach.

6:47 I have much people in this city. He was in Corinth by way of Berea, and by way of Thessalonica. What happened at Thessalonica? Well, you know what happened there at Thessalonica.

6:58 The Jews kicked him out of town. So he came to Berea, and he hadn't been to Berea long, before the Jews, fired up the mob, and they kicked him out of town. And now he comes to Corinth, and the same crowd is there, putting the pressure on him. So, because of his circumstance, his mind was filled with thoughts of the attitude of the Jews to the gospel, and to the Christ, who was central in that gospel.

7:19 So it's only natural, if you're in a special crucible of suffering, that anything that relates your mind to that, would cause you to think along those lines. If someone is going through a particular suffering, that's related to having a loved one in Vietnam, the very mention of the word Vietnam, makes your mind branch out into thoughts of that conflict. So here, Paul mentions that the church at Judea is suffering at the hand of the Jews, and when he says Jews, then immediately there comes to the surface of his mind, the treatment he's been receiving over the past months. He can think of his immediate circumstance, look back to Berea, look back to Thessalonica, and everywhere he went, he could see this trail, not only of tremendous triumph in the gospel, but of deep opposition by these people called the Jews. So then, this gives us a little idea of why we find this particular statement at this particular place in this letter. Now, to think our way through the verse, let us ask several very simple, and I trust helpful questions. Question number one, of whom is Paul speaking when he says, they killed the Lord Jesus, they killed their prophets, they persecuted the apostles, and all of these other things.

Defining 'The Jews' and Their Unique Privilege

8:35 Of whom is he speaking? Well, he's speaking of the Jews, you men who just came from the men's class. You learned this morning that grammar is important, and you'll notice at the end of verse 14, there is a colon. That means what follows is connected with what already came.

8:54 So this is what he's saying. You have suffered of your countrymen, as the Judeans have of the Jews who, so everything that follows is referred to the last word of verse 14, the Jews. Now, where does this term Jew come from? I did a little research and learned some things in preparation for today.

9:15 Originally, the word Jew was applied to someone of the tribe of Judah. But after the captivity, when for the most part, the only people who returned out of captivity were the people from the two southern tribes, mostly from the tribe of Judah, the word Jew, the word Jew, the word Jew, the word Jew, began to be applied to anyone who was an Israelite. So this day, the word Jew is used as a synonym for an Israelite. And this is the way it was used by Paul's time, so that the Jews then, are that particular race of people who can trace their lineage back to Abraham, that people whose whole existence could be summarized under one phrase,

9:59 unusual privilege. Unusual privilege. To that people and to that people alone, God gave the written oracles of Holy Scripture. To that people and to that people alone, God gave the ministry of the prophets.

10:15 Occasionally, he'd send a Jonah to a heathen nation, but for the most part, these were their privileges. You read of those privileges in Romans chapter 9. The covenants were made with them. They had the true worship of God.

10:28 They had the oracles of God. They had all of these tremendous privileges. So when Paul uses this word, the Jews, he's referring to that body of people. So much for our first question.

Seven Indictments Against the Jews

10:41 Second question.

10:44 With what things does Paul charge this people? And if you will read carefully through these two verses and take an inference from the 14th verse, you will find that Paul charges them with seven distinct crimes. Seven distinct attitudes. And dispositions.

11:05 And there is no significance in the seven. This idea of Bible numerology, wherever you find a seven, it's got to have some meaning. Now, it may occasionally, but I would like to go on record as saying the fact that there are seven has no significance to me. None whatsoever.

11:19 Now, if it does to you, fine, but it doesn't to me. This again applies to our hermeneutics, gentlemen. Let's not say there's something significant unless Scripture warrants that. Notice what those seven things are.

11:33 Beginning with, verse 15. They killed the Lord Jesus. Number one, they slew the Lord of glory. Number two, they killed their own prophets.

11:41 Number three, they have persecuted us. Better translated, they have driven us out. And we're going to see how literally that was done. Number four, they please not God.

11:52 Number five, they are contrary to all men. Number six, they forbid us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved. And number seven, is that, the persecution which he mentioned in verse 14, the general persecution of the church of Judea was carried on by the Jews. So here are seven specific indictments.

12:14 It's as though Paul as a lawyer is stating his case. Or better still, Paul is issuing this indictment and you hear of so-and-so who was indicted on three accounts or somebody was indicted on four accounts. Here the Apostle Paul is indicting the Jews as a nation on three accounts. Seven accounts for some of their terrible crimes and sins in the sight of God.

Indictment 1: Killing the Lord Jesus

12:39 Now this morning, we shall only have time for the first three. And I want us to consider them as a group because there is something definitely related between them and I hope you discover it as we go through. I'm not going to tell you at the beginning but I hope you discover it as we work our way through. Number one then, of what were these people guilty?

13:02 In the first place, the Apostle declares they killed the Lord Jesus. And in the original, the emphasis is upon the Lord. It would read this way if we were translating literally. Who the Lord killed even Jesus.

13:21 What Lord? The Lord who is Jesus. But it was the Lord that they killed. It was not some other man.

13:28 It was the Lord whom they killed. Called the Lord of glory, in a similar context in 1 Corinthians 2.8. The Apostle Paul says here, whom the princes of this world killed and they would not have done it, he said, had they known that it was the Lord of glory.

13:49 They killed the Lord of glory. Now this is the first indictment against the Jews as a nation that they in a peculiar way were the slayers of Jesus Christ. Now, theologically and experimentally, every Christian knows that it was his sins that put the Lord Jesus to death. And he accepts the full weight of that blame.

14:17 If you're a Christian, you have no problem singing or quoting the words of John Newton when he said, I saw one hanging on a tree in agony and blood. He fixed his loving eyes on me as near his cross I stood. My conscience felt and owned the guilt and plunged me in despair. I saw my sins.

14:40 His blood had spilt and helped to nail him there. If you're a Christian this morning, you gladly and sadly make that confession. I saw my sins. His blood had spilt and helped to nail him there.

14:57 And though this is true experimentally and theologically, yet, his blood had spilled and helped to nail him there. And though this is true experimentally and theologically, yet, his blood had spilled and helped to nail him there. And though this is true experimentally and theologically, the Jews, that is, the unbelieving apostate Jews, are the ones who put the Lord Jesus to death. And it's interesting that as you read through the preaching of the apostles, there is this continual accusation made in their preaching, in the presence of Jews, you killed him, you slew him.

15:28 Not we, all men in general, or even we Jews in general, but you Jews. Peter is a Jew, Paul is a Jew, preaching to other Jews, accuse them of killing the Lord Jesus. Now immediately we run into a problem. For last year the church that is infallible, and makes no mistakes and never changes, issued a dictum in which they said that the Jews as a nation were no more guilty of the death of Christ than any other people.

15:57 Now shall we listen to that infallible church which says, in order to placate, and to get into the ecumenical spirit of the day, no, the Jews did not kill the Lord Jesus, we've all, we're all guilty of the crime. You see what they were doing? Is taking an element of truth, that is theological and experimental, and trying to project it into the realm of the factual, and into the realm of the historical. This cannot be done.

16:24 For we read, and I want you to look at some of the passages with me quickly, such statements as cannot be misunderstood, that the Jews as a nation, that is the unbelieving apostate Jews, are indicted for the death of Jesus Christ. In Acts chapter 2, in that first Pentecostal sermon, the Apostle Peter declared in Acts 2, and verse 22, speaking to Jews gathered out of every nation under heaven there at the feast day in Jerusalem, him, speaking of Christ, being delivered by the determinate counsel of God, and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands, have crucified and slain. He says the very hands that you now fold as you listen to me preach, are hands that took the Son of God, and slew him, they are hands that drip with his blood. That's the accusation. Now turn to chapter 3, of the same book of Acts, and we find in verses 12 to 15, Peter preaching again.

17:38 And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? Or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though we by our own power or holiness made this man to walk? The God of Abraham, and Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus, whom ye delivered up, and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. But ye denied the Holy One in the just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you, and killed the Prince of life.

18:12 What could be more explicit than that? He's talking to the stock of Israel, those of the lineage of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And he says to that people, you desired a murderer, and you killed the Prince of life. And then turning over to Acts chapter 5, we see that early in the history of the Jews, they wanted to throw off that indictment.

18:37 They wanted to somehow get out from underneath that indictment. Though they had cried, as recorded in Matthew 27, his blood be upon us and our children, it isn't long before this continual note in the preaching of the apostles begins to get under their hide. So we find the religious leaders, the scribes, the leaders, the rulers of the synagogue, they come to the apostles, and they say in Acts 5, 27, and when they had brought them, and set them before the council, and the high priest asked them, saying, did we not straightly command you that you should not teach in this name? And behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and this was part of that doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood on us.

19:22 You see, an integral part of the apostles' doctrine was insistence upon this fact, you Jews killed the Prince of life. You slew him. And early in the history of the Jews, they said, now wait a minute, we don't like your doctrine because one of its major points is you're trying to bring the guilt of the blood of the Son of God upon us. We don't want it.

19:45 This is though Peter says, wait a minute, when you cried his blood be upon us and our children, God took you at his word, at your word. And we will let you know that though you do not want this accusation to be made, this accusation is true. Because Peter answers in verse 29, Peter and the other apostles, answered and said, we ought to obey God rather than man. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom he slew and hanged on a tree.

20:15 You're going to throw off the accusation? We'll bring it back to you. You slew him. You slew him.

20:20 You slew him. Beautiful picture of absolute inflexibility where the facts of God and of truth are involved. Then we read on in the ministry, not only of Peter at this section, but in the ministry of Peter, Stephen in Acts chapter 7, we won't take time to look at the reference, but it's there, verses 51 and 52, Acts chapter 10, as Peter preaches to the Gentiles, and then in Acts 13, 27 to 29, an instance in the ministry of the apostle Paul, perhaps we could look at that for a moment, Acts 13, 27 to 29, perhaps back up to verse 26, so we know to whom Paul is speaking, men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you, that feareth God to you, is the word of this salvation sent for they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor the voices of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him. And so the accusation is made again that historically the Jews, the apostate blinded Jews as a nation, were guilty of the blood of the Son of God. Now this fact is a very practical use. And obviously its use is not to create a sentiment of anti-Semitism.

21:47 Never should it be used that a Jew, a someone of the stock of Abraham, is made to go through life bearing the reproach at the lips of Gentiles of being a Christ killer, or a machi, or some other God dishonoring terminology. Whatever use this truth of scripture is to have, certainly it cannot be that of few for any kind of vindictive spirit. For the very one who was crucified said to those who put him on the cross, Father forgive, for they know not what they do. The very apostle as we mentioned who brings this charge says, I could wish myself a curse.

22:29 The very Stephen who accuses them of letting the blood of the Son of God says, at his own death, at the hands of the same people, Father lay not this sin to their charge. There is a lesson. I want you to hold in abeyance that question. What is the lesson?

22:46 Just get the fact. Indictment number one, they killed the Lord Jesus. All the pronouncements of Rome and the ecumenical flavor of our day, notwithstanding, in a peculiar way, historically and factually, the death of Jesus Christ is made at the feet of the Jews. Second thing of which they are guilty.

Indictment 2: Killing Their Own Prophets

23:06 It says, they killed the prophets. We are back now in 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 and in verse 15. They killed their own prophets. Now who were the prophets?

23:20 Those peculiar mouth pieces of God who spoke in the name of Jehovah in the first person. Thus saith the Lord. And many times they were the vehicles of speaking in the first person the very message of God. Notice they are called their own prophets.

23:39 Outside of the rare exception of a Jonah being sent to Nineveh and occasionally an Amos who has a message for some of the other nations, the prophets were the peculiar possession of the Jews. What a privilege to have men who stood among you as the very representatives of God to announce to you the message of the living God. The prophet was a peculiar gift to the Jews and yet what did they do with those prophets? Here Paul says they killed their own prophets.

24:13 And the whole pattern of Judaism through its long history was that of absolute rejection of the message of the prophets. A few exceptions here and there but the whole trend was this kill them, silence them, put them to death. This is the accusation made at the close of the kingdom period in 2 Chronicles 36 in verses 15-20. In verses 15 and 16 we have this summary of their attitude to the prophets up to this point.

24:42 2 Chronicles 36 verses 15 and 16 And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers rising up betimes and sending because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. But they mocked the messengers of God and despised his words and misused his prophets until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people till there was no remedy. We find the same indictment made in the book of Jeremiah no less than 11 times. God says through the prophet Jeremiah I sent my prophets to you rising early and late pleading with you to turn from your sins but you would not. And you'll find in almost every one of those instances let's just take one that is a specimen Jeremiah 25 and verse 3 perhaps we can enlarge this at some future date but in the interest of time I must just touch over but an interesting study Jeremiah 25 and notice verse 3 From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon even unto this day that is the three and twentieth year the word of the Lord hath come unto me I have spoken unto you rising early and speaking but you have not hearkened and the Lord hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets rising early and sending them but you have not hearkened

26:10 nor inclined your ear they said turn ye again now every one from his evil way and from the evil of your doings they spelled out their sin they called them to repentance but verse 7 yet ye have not hearkened unto me saith the Lord that ye might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt therefore because you've not heard my words I will send judgment oh get the picture this morning beloved what was the prophet what was the prophet looking at it from God's side the prophet stood between the unseen Jehovah God and his gathered people and he stood as the visible representative of God to speak the words of God from God's standpoint he was a messenger of mercy notice how this context said I had compassion upon you so what was the expression of my compassion I sent the prophet to you now from the human standpoint the prophet stood between the people and judgment and the only thing that stood between the people who were enmeshed in their sins heading to judgment was the prophet and as the prophet stood he stood there seeking to turn the people away from judgment as they would hear his message and turn away from their sins so the prophet standing between God and his people stood between the people in judgment and if they would not hear the prophet there was only one thing for God to do bring down his judgment and that is exactly what happened and prophecy after prophecy here in Jeremiah states this again and again

27:40 I had compassion I loved you in mercy I sent my prophets but since you would not hear judgment had to fall and so what did they do to these messengers of God who were the last link between themselves and judgment they killed and what is killing them simply the expression of their desire to be done with the voice of God we do not want to hear exposing sin calling us away from our darling lust and if the prophet will stand there to continue to remind us of our sin and our relationship to God and the demands of that relationship there is only one thing to do we cannot sin with delight while the prophet is exposing us let's kill it let's kill it and that is what they did so when you turn to the New Testament you find in a passage like Matthew 23 and verse 37 the accusation of our Lord God before Jesus Christ to the Jews as a nation Matthew 23 and verse 37 O Jerusalem Jerusalem and the first thing he uses to describe the character of Jerusalem is this thou that killest the prophets as the Lord weeps over Jerusalem the thought that enters his mind as uppermost as it were a summary description of the whole disposition

29:09 of the nation of the Jews is this you kill your prophets those messengers from God who stand between you and judgment you kill them you will not hear them you cannot stand their presence why did they do it keep that question in the back of your mind third thing we find they did the third indictment is this they persecuted us or as I mentioned earlier they drove us out would be a literal rendering and that is a literal description of what happened for as Paul sat there in Corinth writing he could look back just a few months and see how did it place after place he was literally driven out of town by this band of apostate Jews who oppose the gospel let's look at a couple of passages just quickly so you just don't take my word for it Acts chapter 13 and verse 15 Acts 13 and verse 15 perhaps we should back up to verse 49 and the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region that is Antioch but the Jews stirred up the devout and honorable women and the chief men of the city and they raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas notice and expelled them out of their coast they made them exiles said get out of here who did it

Indictment 3: Persecuting the Apostles

30:38 the Jews were behind there stirring up this animosity chapter 5 verse 14 verses 2 to 5 but the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and made their minds evil effected against the brethren long time therefore abode they speaking boldly in the Lord speaking boldly in the Lord which gave testimony to the word of his grace verse 4 but the multitude of the city was divided verse 5 there was an assault made both of the Gentiles and also of the Jews with their rulers to use them despitefully and to stone them and they were aware of it and fled unto Lystra and Derbe and then you read on in chapter 14 verse 17 chapter 17 twice chapter 18 the history of the apostle Paul is the history of a man whose steps are dogged at every turn by these apostate Jews seeking to drive him out wherever he would establish himself as a herald of the gospel so beloved the historical evidence is clear that when the apostle Paul said sitting down somewhere at Corinth writing to the church at Thessalonica thinking of their suffering at the hands of their countrymen being parallel to the suffering of the Judean Christians at the hand of the Jews and he begins to write out the indictment they killed the Lord Jesus they killed their own prophets they drove out us apostles and our companions

The Common Thread: Rejecting Saving Truth

32:04 these were not the outburst of a heated temper these were the calm broken hearted facts that history bears out now let me ask you a couple of questions that I hope will begin to bring this material into the message of the Lord to our own hearts this morning here's my question what do those three have in common the Lord Jesus the apostles and the prophets why does Paul group them together what do they have in common there are certain things unique about each of them certainly of our Lord he was the Lord of Glory the apostles weren't nor were the apostles the prophets weren't nor were the apostles the prophets spoke in the first person many times as the direct mouthpiece of God the apostles most of the time did not speak that way but they spoke as been rationalizing and reasoning and thinking and yet under the guidance of the spirit they spoke so as to be directed by the spirit what do they have in common well will you turn to Ephesians 2.20 and again men I am delighted that I hope we'll have an example this morning of what Mr. Starrett was trying to teach you in the class let scripture interpret scripture and here we have

33:31 I believe the answer to our question what do these all have in common Ephesians chapter 2 verses 19 and 20 now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone where does that saving truth come from upon which the church of Jesus Christ is formed and built here it is the foundation is the apostles and the prophets and the Lord Jesus Christ the chief cornerstone what do the Lord Jesus the apostles and the prophets have in common here it is they are the peculiar vehicles through which saving truth comes to men the Lord Jesus said I am the way the truth and the life he that hears me and sees me hears and sees the Father I speak not my own words but the words of him that sent me he says of his own in John 17 the mark of a man who is a Christian they have received the words that I gave unto them the apostles spoke in the name and authority of the Lord Jesus all that he commanded them and of course the prophets as well

34:59 so the thing that they had in common was that they are linked together in that they were the peculiar vehicles through which saving truth was transmitted now my next question is this if they were the peculiar vehicles through which saving truth was transmitted particularly to the Jews why in the world did they kill the Lord Jesus kill the prophets and drive Paul out if they are the vehicles of bringing saving truth and if in a peculiar way they were sent to Israel almost exclusively up to this time before the gospel then went out after Pentecost to all the nations why why did they treat them this way have you got any idea why I want to suggest two or three reasons as to why they did reason number one is that the Lord Jesus the prophets and the apostles coming to this privileged people remember Paul is talking about the Jews killed Christ the Jews killed the prophets the Jews drive us out wherever we go because when the Lord Jesus came and when the prophets came and when the apostles came they said to these privileged people message number one inherited privileges are not enough have you got it the Jews said

Why They Rejected the Truth: Insufficiency of Privilege and External Religion

36:28 oh my we are the favorite people Abraham is our father oh John preached to those harlots and the rest about repentance but not to us John turns and says look don't think to excuse yourself of the necessity of repentance and reformation for God is able to raise up of these very stone children unto Abraham in John chapter 8 the Lord is talking about spiritual liberty and these people say oh we don't need that we don't need that we don't need that we don't need that we don't need that we don't need that we don't need that we don't need that we don't need that they say oh we don't need that message that's for those poor gentile dogs we were never in bondage we are free men and Jesus said ye are of your father the devil if you were the children of Abraham you would do the works of Abraham and the message of the apostles the message of the prophets the message of our Lord Jesus Christ to the Jewish nation again and again was this inherited privileges are not enough privilege is to lead to experience but never be a substitute for it and they couldn't stand that because you see the experience comes the privilege comes naturally you don't need to work for it sweat for it think about it it's there if you happen to be born and your name was Finkelstein you were privileged but the insistence of the prophets and the apostles and our Lord was privilege is not enough oh do you see the message see the message see why they killed him see why they killed him

37:57 because it meant a Jew with all of that history of redemptive privilege if he was to rightly hear the Lord Jesus would have to say I'm nothing but a gentile dog in my heart and I need salvation like a gentile dog and that would humble him so he says take that fella and put him on a cross the prophets came saying the same thing what unto me are the multitude of your sacrifices I don't want this God wants reality there's only one thing to do with a fella like that got to kill him put him out of the way the apostle came and said the same thing external privilege was not enough secondly and this flows right out of it they said external religion is not enough with all that privilege and all that history the Jews had built up a very complex intricate religious system it came to its fullest expression in the scribes and pharisees who would tithe every little mint and anise and cumin careful that whenever they came from the marketplace they washed accordingly never would be defiled until the Lord Jesus stood and said you hypocrites you're like whitewashed sepulchres all pretty on the outside but just pull away the tombstone of your heart and out comes the reeking smell of uncleanness he said in Mark 7 this people worships me in vain

39:24 they draw nigh with their lips their hearts are far from me the apostle Paul said the same thing in Romans 2 he is not a Jew which is one outwardly but one who is inwardly whose circumcision is not in his flesh but in his heart what did the Lord Jesus and the apostles and the prophets have in common not only their insistence that inherited privileges are not enough but that external religion is not enough there must be reality of heart work in short beloved it was close applicatory experimental privilege preaching which cut through to the hearts of the Jews that made them put the Lord Jesus the apostles and the prophets to death they couldn't stand having their hearts laid bare that's what they couldn't stand so we read in John 3.19 that this is the condemnation that light has come into the world and men love darkness rather than light why because their deeds are evil neither will they come to the light lest their deeds should be reproved and so what happened oh listen beloved this has been one of the saddest periods of study you know what happened when the Lord Jesus the prophets and the apostles came insisting you Jews listen you've got a wonderful heritage but that privilege is not enough you've got a wonderful God revealed religion

The Consequence: Willful Leading to Judicial Blindness

40:52 but external religion is not enough they had to do one of two things as the light of that truth came to them they had to open their eyes to it and let it come and renovate them from the inside out or they had to close their eyes to that truth and that's what they did they closed their eyes to it and you know what happens after so long a period of time when a man closes his eyes to truth long enough listen to me and I hope God will haunt some of us with the thought you know what God does God says alright you want your eyes shut you know what I'll do willful blindness then gives way to judicial blindness God takes the needle of judicial blindness threads it with the thread of his sovereign immutable power and purpose and he comes to the man who shut his eyes long enough and God himself shows his eyelids shut and that's what happened to the Jews chapter and verse alright listen listen and oh may God help us to listen is on the brink of eternity we read in Romans 11 and verse 7 that blindness is in part happened to Israel what kind of blindness turn to the 13th chapter of John and you'll find a description a horrible description of that blindness

42:17 this passage is quoted some 4 or 5 times in the gospels and then in the book of the Acts as well and we read in John 13 and in verse 38 I'm sorry John 12 I believe it is yes and verse 37 but though he had done so many miracles before them yet they believed not on him that the saying of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled which he spake Lord who hath believed our report and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed now notice the next verse therefore they not believe it doesn't say they would not it says they could not why for whom hath blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts that they should not see with their eyes nor understand with their heart and be converted and I should heal them if you want some verses young people and impenitent adults that ought to send you home to weep over your state today here it is could not believe God had sewed their eyes shut and why did he sew their eyes shut if you read the rest of the gospels this passage is quoted in the other way

43:42 they shut their eyes shut eyes they close their eyes and closing their eyes so long to all the light of the prophets of the lord jesus and the apostles god turned willful blindness into judicial blindness and they were hardened in their sins oh what a frightening doctrine of holy scripture and i tell you dear young people and some of you adults but particularly young people my heart is bled in secret for you these past couple of days as i've sought to pray this message into my own heart and some of you adults because you know what you're doing in your heart you're like those jews some of you young people have been blessed with wonderful inherited privileges and thank god for them you inherited the privilege of a christian home a mother and dad from whose lips you've never heard a curse word you've never heard the lord's name taken in vain you inherited the privilege of a home that has encouraged you to you've never heard the lord's name taken in vain you inherited the privilege of a home that has read the Bible and come to church. You've inherited the privilege of a pastor who loves you enough to look you in the eye and try to talk down on your level where you live. And the cry I get in many parts of the country is from young people. Pastor never directed anything to us.

45:03 Sent everything over our heads. Never talked to us. Never talked on our level. You've inherited the privilege of this pastor and others who've loved you enough to look you right in the eye and talk to you and warn you and try to know where you're living and how you think.

45:16 You've inherited the privilege of Sunday school teachers that labor in the Word and in doctrine. But young people, that inherited privilege is not enough. And you know it.

45:27 Privilege leads you to the end of that privilege, namely an inner experimental acquaintance with Jesus Christ. It isn't enough. And you're reminded of that again and again from this pulpit and from your mother and your father. And you know what some of you are doing?

45:42 You're shutting your eyes to that light. You know what God's going to do to some of you? I fear that the needle and the thread may already be joined in beginning to pierce some of your eyes.

45:56 And when that happens, you... Some of you adults, I fear it.

46:03 In your heart, you're very miserable when I preach. I know some of you are. Why? Because I insist that privilege is not enough.

46:11 That external religion is not enough. If you're a stranger to deep repentance and sorrow for sin and delightful embrace of Christ, a stranger to holiness, a stranger to what it is to seek the Lord, and every time you hear me say that and plead with you and entreat you and exhort you,

46:36 some of you have been shutting them for a month, a year, two, three, five, for the six years I've been here.

46:44 And I tremble to think that God may have already sold your eyes shut.

46:51 Oh, young men, if anything would drive you from the ministry this way, to think that you might be the instrument that causes God to bring that power and that needle and thread and to sew the eyes of men shut. Frightful doctrine, but it's there in Scripture, beloved. It's there.

47:10 Experimental preaching that presses in where you live and seeks to lay bare your heart. You want no part of it. You want external religion that's nice and proper and leaves you alone where? In your sin.

The Danger of Preferring Polite Religion Over Truth

47:23 In your sin. You see, the prophet wouldn't do what the false prophet would do. Jeremiah's biggest conflict was with the false prophet who came by and said, look, you're the people of God. You're the covenant people of God.

47:34 You're all right. Nothing to get upset about. You're all right. You're the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

47:41 Jeremiah came by and said, look, they've healed slightly the herd of the daughter of my people. You've patched the wall up with untempered mortar. Within, there is a cancerous sore, a seething fountain of iniquity. You need to repent.

47:54 You need to return to the Lord. The false prophet said, no, that's all stuff for fanatics. That's for people that have just gone overboard. That's for people that are radical.

48:02 We just want nice, polite Judaism. Jeremiah said, you'll go into judgment with it. Beloved, if you just want nice, polite religion, I say it with a broken heart. If you want a church where a man will so preach as to make you feel comfortable in your sin, then there are dozens of them.

48:21 Some on every street corner.

48:25 You may not quite run the same risk you're running to keep coming here.

48:30 Because it's only the Jews that were given up to this judicial harness. Because they had the prophets and the apostles and the Lord Jesus.

Principles of Blessing, Curse, and Generational Impact

48:40 Which brings me in closing to the principle that I want to focus on. The greatest blessing any person can have is exposure to God's saving truth. What was the greatest privilege of Israel? Was it to have a king like David?

48:55 A king like Solomon? No, you know what the greatest blessing Israel had? Here it is. They were the ones who received the saving truth of God through apostles.

49:05 The Lord Jesus and the prophets. That was the greatest blessing Israel had. To them were committed the oracles of God. Oh, beloved, the greatest blessing any of us, the greatest privilege any of us could have is that we have the truth of God committed to us.

49:21 Through the home, in the church, in the pulpit. And many of you have that privilege. But the second thing I want you to understand is that the greatest blessing can be your greatest curse.

49:31 The Jews' greatest blessing, they had the prophets, the Lord Jesus, the apostles were to go to the Jews first. Their greatest blessing became the source of their greatest curse.

49:47 It could be that to you. That's a frightful doctrine, but there it is in Scripture.

49:53 And the third principle is if you don't improve your blessing, you may not only curse yourself, but unborn generations. I never saw this thing so clearly. When the Jews stood there that day, when they connived that little puppet court to get the Lord Jesus, killed, and Pilate said, look, I wash my hands of his blood. He's innocent.

50:15 What was their cry? His blood be upon us. Period. No.

50:19 And upon what? Upon our children. And God took them at their word. And the blood of the Lord Jesus has been upon that generation and their children.

50:31 We're going to see next week that there's no explanation for the almost insane opposition to the Jews as a people. to the Jews as a people. to the Jews as a people. But that they have been under the judgment of God.

50:44 That generation cursed unborn generations.

50:48 Some of you teenagers who are shutting your eyes to the light. You know what you're doing? You're cursing unborn children who are going to come out of your womb and out of your loins.

51:01 Isn't that a terrible thought? By your refusal to comply with that life and say, oh God, have mercy upon me. Give me reality at any cost. You're going to rear little children who if they go to church, that's all they'll be as little Pharisees just like you are.

51:16 With external religion and privilege like you have. But no inner reality. And in turn, their children. And in turn, their children.

51:24 And God may here and there sovereignly and wonderfully reach one or another. But for the most part, the sins of the fathers are passed on to the third and to the fourth generation. That's the law of Scripture. And it's confirmed by history.

51:40 Oh, may God have mercy upon any who are closing their eyes to light.

51:50 His blood be upon us and upon our children. And the Lord took them at their word.

Warning to Gentiles: Do Not Boast

52:01 You see, Paul did not write these words to the people at Thessalonica to stir up an anti-Semitic feeling. No, beloved, he wrote those words as a sober declaration of the fact that would have tremendous meaning. And I want you to turn to Romans 9 and I shall simply read and make a comment and then we're done.

52:23 When Paul thought of how the Lord came with that needle and thread of judicial hardening and shut the eyes of the apostate Jews. And he'd been speaking about it here in the book of Romans. I mean Romans 11, I'm sorry. Romans 11.

52:40 Notice what he says to us Gentiles in verse 18.

52:46 Boast not thyself against the branches for if thou boast thou bearest not the root but the root thee. But thou wilt say the branches were broken off that I might be broken off. Be grafted in well because of unbelief. That is the Jews they were broken off.

53:00 But thou standest by faith. Be not high-minded but fear. For if God spared not the natural branches take heed lest he also spare not thee. Behold therefore make as the fixed object of your gaze the goodness and the severity of God on them which fell severity but toward thee be goodness if thou continue in his goodness otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

53:35 When we read the account of the Jews killing the Lord Jesus and the prophets and casting out the apostles it should have the effect upon us of holy fear lest the privilege which led to their judgment should be privilege which in our case leads to judgment. Oh may God grant that the privilege shall not lead to judgment but to the privilege but to its intended goal of finding us prostrate in brokenness before the feet of our Savior loving his truth and his word and then pleading with God for the Jew for the Gentile for all who know not our Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord willing we should pick up the indictment of Paul in our next study where he lays these other four accusations and then gives the two-fold result of these things that they did. They filled up their sins always the picture of a cup that gets fuller and fuller until it reaches the brim and then he says the result will be wrath comes upon them to the uttermost. May God grant that escaping the causes we shall also escape the results. Let us pray.