The Gospel Is Confrontational

The following is a pre-recorded program. The Gospel itself is confrontational.

We'll open it up today. It's time for The Line of Fire with your host, biblical scholar and cultural commentator, Dr. Michael Brown, your voice for moral sanity and spiritual clarity. Call 866-34-TRUTH to get on The Line of Fire. And now, here's your host, Dr. Michael Brown. Friends, for years now, I have said that there will be a gospel-based moral and cultural revolution in America that will push back against the worldliness, against the secularism, against the ungodly trends in our nation that will take back much of the ground that was taken in the counterculture revolution of the 60s and everything that unfolded from there. I've said I don't know how far it will go, how far the pushback will get, but certainly clearly there will be a pushback. But it must be gospel-based.

If it is simply people gathering together in the world based on conservative principles, it will not bring about the change that we desire. It must be gospel-based. But what, pray tell, is the gospel?

Welcome to the broadcast. This is Michael Brown, delighted to be with you here, my friends, to infuse you with faith and truth and courage to see you healthy and striving, healthy and thriving as you strive in obedience for the Lord, as you stand up in obedience, healthy, thriving on the front lines, bearing fruit, making a difference rather than being overcome by darkness, shining the light into darkness. I'm here to help you do what God has called you to do, to be a resource for you, to be a voice for you, to equip, to strengthen. And I want to do that today as we talk about the gospel. Now, I'm also going to take calls on any subject under the sun, as we do on Fridays, and we're never able to get to all the calls on Friday. So if you'd like to call in any subject under the sun you want to talk to me about, it can be completely off topic.

That's fine. 866-344-TRUTH. That's 866-348-7884. And as always, if you've got a bone to pick with me, if you differ with me on something, please give me a call.

866-348-7884. Before I talk about the confrontational nature of the gospel, I just want to bring you in on a conversation I was having with Nancy today. She was watching some of the funeral ceremony, the state funeral for Queen Elizabeth of England. And just as I walked in the room, it was a reading of a cleric in clerical robes.

I wasn't familiar with his name, but I'm sure well known in the UK. And he was reading from Revelation 21, the new heavens and new earth, and it was in this majestic cathedral. So you call it high church, right, as opposed to low church.

Not that kind of building, not that kind of liturgy and things like that. But just hearing it read, I mean, Revelation 21 is such an extraordinarily powerful passage and such a gloriously beautiful passage in terms of the new heavens and the new earth and the fearful fate of the lost. That part was not read, which was not appropriate to read that part at that moment. But hearing it read and with the British accent in that setting, it was majestic, it was powerful.

We were we were deeply moved by it. And, you know, we've talked about as Americans how far in the whole thing of monarchy is. You know, we speak of Jesus as the King of Kings and the King of Jews and things like that, but the idea of earthly royalty is very foreign to us. The pomp, the circumstance, we didn't grow up with that in America. And for many, excuse me, many of us who do not come from high church settings. So these beautiful cathedrals and ministers and robes and a lot of liturgy, that can be very foreign as well. Now, a lot of that is dead, a lot of that is human tradition, a lot of that is just outward religious formality. But you can do the same in a house group with everyone wearing shorts and T-shirts. It can be just as traditional and just as formal and just as dead. Right.

You can become traditionalistic in a dead way anywhere. But watching this setting was a reminder to me of the good side of what would be called high church, meaning that you go into a beautiful building, majestic cathedral, and you think about the glory of God and the wonders of God and the majesty of God. And you hear a choir singing with a pipe organ and it brings you thoughts of adoration and again, majesty and the idea of an earthly royalty that that is just a shadow of God's royalty.

I had heard the story, haven't verified it myself, but that Queen Elizabeth had told Billy Graham that she hoped that she would be alive when the Lord returned when he asked why specifically, she said, because I want to cast my crown at his feet, lay my crown at his feet. There's something about that. And I was just reminded of it. So I grew up in a synagogue, but we didn't go to synagogue that much. And, you know, I had stained glass windows and the rabbi would wear these robes and the the cantor who would do the chanting would wear the robes and things like that.

So I was used to that. And then when I got saved, it was in a little Italian Pentecostal church and building was was more plain. And I remember the the pastor just wearing a jacket and tie. It seemed so secular. I had seen, you know, Catholic services and seen those buildings. I wasn't Catholic. I didn't go to the church services, but I'd seen those and the priests and the robes and all that and the pope and so it seemed very secular. Why is the pastor not wearing some special garment? That's the environment I got saved in. And then those are the church settings have been in over the years. So non liturgical and non clerical in terms of outward garments and things like that, even a priest's collar.

None of that. So I've been in very, very different circles. And when I'm, say, over in Italy, I remember being in Milano and seeing a cathedral there or seeing the Vatican in Rome or some other countries. These majestic cathedrals. It's it's amazing.

It's it's architecturally extraordinary. But then you think of, well, how many of the people actually knew the Lord and how much real Christianity was taught there? You know, those are the questions I ask. But then there's something about it, friends. The reminder of all majesty, the reminder of the spectacular nature of what heaven will be in the new heavens and the new earth and the reality of the glory of God, something about that. So that is your worshipping in a little hut in India, as I've done, or you're out ministering to people praying in an open field. There's still the recognition of who God is. So there are different sides to this. And there is a beauty in power that can be found in in those high church settings and in the majesty of liturgy and the recitation of scripture and hymns and things like that, there is something to it that can be life giving. Again, it's not everyone's background or culture. All right.

Going to go to the phones in a little while. Eight, six, six, three, four, eight, seven, eight, eight, four. But when we talk about the gospel many times in America, it's pretty much similar to kind of a self-help formula or God help formula. Your life's messed up. You need God.

God will make things better. You're depressed. God will make you happy. You're poor. God will make you rich.

You're insecure. God will make you feel loved. You're aimless. God will help you fulfill your destiny. Oh, and then you get eternal life thrown in and go to hell and all that. It's a good deal, huh? Yeah.

Just ask Jesus said, Lord, take away the guilt and make me feel good. I mean, that's maybe slightly exaggerated. But I remember watching Christian TV one night and I really liked the guy. There was a panel or a couple, I forget, two, three people. But I really liked the guy. I, I liked his accent. I liked the smile. I liked the energy. I mean, he was very engaging. And then he talked about the need for the Lord and so on. And I thought, OK, all right, let's see what he says next. And he says, what do you have to give him?

Just the junk. Give him your guilt. Give me your bad feelings and he'll forgive you.

Oh, that's not the gospel. Just give him your guilt and bad feelings and he'll forgive you. No, recognize your sin. Recognize your guilt before God, not just that you feel guilty, but recognize you are guilty before God, recognize you deserve judgment. Recognize that Jesus died to take your place so that you can be forgiven, that the judgment you and I deserve would fall on him. And now ask him to forgive you and confess to his Lord, which means you give him everything means you now belong to him.

Means you have no independent life outside of him. As as as Paul writes in Colossians three, that that your your life is hidden in God, you have died and your life is now hidden in God, Jesus said, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. So it's not salvation by works, but it's salvation. It's saved from sin to obedience to God, saved from being a slave of the devil to now being a slave of righteousness. It's a transformation. It's a transference out of one place into another place.

So it's from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God. It's not, hey, man, you're feeling down. Life is hard. Marital problems come to Jesus to help. He does help.

He helps in amazing ways. That's part of him being God and part of him being good. But the gospel is not just some life coach giving you a pep talk and encourage you to inject a little Jesus in your life and things go better. That's that's the American version that is to see so many people and produce so many false converts.

And in some cases, people have cried out for help. But the conversion has been very shallow because of the shallowness of the preaching. I want to read something to you from the opening chapter of my 1993 book, The Confrontational Gospel. All right.

It is a book came out in 1993. It's time to rock the boat, a call to God's people to rise up and preach a confrontational gospel. God's people are called to rock the boat. We're not called to coexist with the sinful society.

We're called to confront it. We're not called to a life of comfort. We're called to a life of conflict. Following Jesus does not mean catering to our selfish desires. It means crucifying them.

Are we ready to walk in the Savior's footsteps? Remember, the world hated Jesus. He made people uncomfortable. He exposed sin. He rebuked unrighteousness. He would not compromise.

He would not hold back. And he was nailed to a cross by a godless world. Why should it be any different for us? He was rejected. We want to be respected. He was regarded as radical. We want to be recognized as reasonable. He was accused of having demons. We're acclaimed for having degrees.

He was put out. We long to be taken in. He put those stock in the praise of man. We thrive on it.

Is there any wonder we make so little impact here for him? Some of the words of the opening chapter of my book, It's Time to Rock the Boat, came out in 1993. Would you say those words are still relevant today?

Perhaps a little bit more so? We're called to be peacemakers, not troublemakers. But as we follow Jesus, there will be conflict. The Gospel is confrontational. Alright, I'm going to take some calls. We come back and then share more with you about the confrontational nature of the Gospel.

Let's stay right here. It's the line of fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown. Get on the line of fire by calling 866-34-TRUTH.

Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Welcome, welcome to the line of fire. 866-34-TRUTH, opening the phones to all questions of all kinds, and then intersperse that with sharing more thoughts about the confrontational nature of the Gospel. Hey, friends, it's what I'm here to do. Help stir things, help provoke us to follow the truth and be bold and be strong and be courageous.

Billy Graham said courage is contagious. So one man stands, others will stand. One woman stands, others will stand.

One young person stands, others will stand. Rather than wait for someone to do what's right, you do what's right. I'm the Lord.

Do what's right. Others will follow in your suit. All right, let's go to Little Rock, Arkansas. Steve, welcome to the line of fire. Hey, Dr. Brown, how you doing?

Doing very well, thanks. Good, good. We met when you were here. I'm the pastor of the Messianic Service here in Little Rock. I'm the guy that blew the shofar at the beginning of the service and preached and all of that. Oh, OK, got it.

All right. Yeah, I'm that guy. So, you know, I'm obviously very Messianic oriented. I pastor and lead a congregation from that aspect. I'm like you in the idea of divine invitation.

I find joy in keeping the Sabbath even without Jewish and remembering the feast and all of that. But I have a lot of friends who have gone close to the path to which you've always warned about. And with this whole thing with the red efforts that has come about, they are all very excited, but they're not excited because of potential end times implications like a rebuilt temple for the anti-Messiah. They're actually very excited about the restoration of the temple system, sacrifices and all of that. And that troubles me greatly. And I don't know, I don't know how to handle them.

And two, should I? And sometimes I think that borders on a heresy, because I'm not talking about what the millennial temple be like, what sacrifices may or may not be happening when Yeshua is back. Right.

You're talking about people who are really excited that the temple is going to be rebuilt and blood sacrifices will be offered again, as if that's something positive that we should be celebrating or even wanting to participate in. Right. So that's that's really dangerous.

That's really off base. So here's what has to happen. You know, the pendulum swings. So you get through church history, the complete separation from Jewish roots and foundations, anti-Semitism, replacement theology, even persecution of Jews in Jesus name. It swings all the way over there. Then it swings all the way the other way with this Jewish fixation, Jewish fascination, where Gentile Christians think the more Jewish I can be, the closer I get to God, and then they end up leaving Yeshua entirely.

So we've got to avoid those swings. So, of course, one thing is to really always in your services and your gatherings to make sure Yeshua is central, that when someone leaves that meeting, that the number one thing that they recognize is that that we have exalted Yeshua, that we have glorified Jesus, that that's that's always first and foremost, that there should be singing of his death, of his resurrection. There should be proclamation of those things so that that's always there. And then what I would do is is do a study through the Book of Hebrews and say, hey, we're just going to go through a chapter by chapter and and really open it up.

And, you know, you're part of a church congregation that's very much devoted to preaching the word, if I remember being there with the folks. So, you know, go through Hebrews and really demonstrate the once for all nature of the Messiah's death and the centrality of that. And that all of these other things at best were types and shadows that are now absorbed in that reality, even Colossians two says that the Sabbath is the shadow. The substance is found in the Messiah. So that's that's the antidote. And then with that, to warn against those soulless attachments, that that word that God spoke to me back in 1984, that the whole Jewish temptation, so people wanting to be Jewish or take on Jewish custom, et cetera, the whole Jewish temptation is in the soul realm.

It will fascinate, stimulate, complicate, suffocate. So be on your guard. So that's that's something that we need to always be careful of when we're doing this ministry, especially with many gentile Christians who are joined to it. So, Steve, that's what I'd recommend. Obviously, keeping Jesus Yeshua central in your services, being more careful to to bring in the theology of his messiah ship and his atoning death and resurrection so that worship is directed to him and and to the glory of the Father, do a teaching series through Hebrews and then look out for that soulless Jewish temptation that will fascinate, stimulate, complicate, suffocate.

So you've got to make sure that that is avoided. May the Lord give you wisdom as you go forward. Thank you, sir, for the call. I appreciate it.

Let us go to our friend Fail in Greensboro, North Carolina. Welcome to the line of fire. Yes, hi, Dr. Brown.

Glad to talk with you. Hey, I have I have a brother in Christ who's very, very, very in the Bible. And yesterday he made the statement that he doesn't believe that we are born in sin because of Adam. He believes that we are born innocent. So I'd like to have your comment on that.

Yeah, so. It's clear that we are born fallen, right? In other words, every human being that's born is going to die. There's a death sentence over us. And that's because of Adam's sin.

Right. So we didn't do anything at the moment we were born. We were still under a death sentence. We're not going to live forever as a direct result of Adam's sin. Sin entered the world through Adam and death by sin. Romans five.

That's number one. Number two, we are clearly sinful from birth. Psalm fifty one, David says, And sin did my mother conceive me.

Some believe that means that he was born out of wedlock, but there's no evidence for that. In Genesis eight, it mentions how the thoughts of human beings are sinful continually, even from their youth. So everyone that's ever raised a child knows you don't have to teach the child to say no, you don't have to teach the child to rebel.

It's just part of human nature. So we're all born under the sentence of death. We're all born with sinful nature and we will inevitably sin and fall short of God. Are we counted as guilty at birth?

No, I don't believe we're counted as guilty, meaning that we haven't consciously violated God's laws. So Deuteronomy one thirty one excuse me, one thirty nine mentions the the children of the children of Israel that they were basically innocent. They didn't know the difference between right and wrong because they were just little children. Jesus in Matthew 18 says you have to become like a little child to enter the kingdom.

So there's a certain innocence and a certain trust and belief that little children will have. Isaiah seven and Isaiah eight mention before a child is old enough to distinguish between good and evil. So we are born sinful. We are born under a death sentence. And in that sense, we're guilty human beings. But we are not accounted as being guilty because we haven't consciously violated God's laws. When a when a two year old child says no to a parent, it is not consciously defying God and sinning against God or even fully understanding what it means to defy the parent.

These are things that that child has to learn. And that's why some refer to an age of accountability. We don't find that concept spelled out in the Bible, but it seems at a certain point you're now accountable for what you've done.

So in your in my mind, your brother's not entirely wrong in what he says. But we have to recognize we're born sinful. We're born under a sentence of death. We share in the guilt of the human race, but we're not specifically individually accounted as guilty, which is why I believe if a baby died, it was born, died a month later, that that baby goes directly into the presence of God. I don't believe that that baby goes to hell if it wasn't predestined or something like that, because it hasn't consciously sinned against God.

OK, thank you. I had said, well, you're either born a believer or not a believer and you cannot be born a believer because you have not said in your heart that you believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins, buried and rose again, so you you can't do that as a baby. So you have to be born a nonbeliever. Right, so so right, you are born in that sense, lost. But God does not hold that against an infant and then damn that infant to hell as he would hold it against a 20 year old who says, I don't want your God.

I don't want the gospel. I'm going to live the way I want to live. So there's the accountability issue.

That's the thing that would that would come up. So so again, like I said, he's not entirely wrong, but we are born sinful. We are born children of Adam and under death sentence. And by Nate, by our very nature, objects of judgment, Ephesians two, by our nature, objects of judgment. But that is not held against us as infants or children before we understand the difference between good and evil that my view is widely held among Christians. There are others who have a different view, you know, some Christian circles. That's why you have to baptize babies. I don't believe that others would say that whoever is predestined to life goes to life and whoever is not doesn't so that, you know, John Calvin said that certain children are, you know, from the womb, doomed to destruction. I reject that teaching, but I understand the logic behind it. Hey, thank you very much for the question.

Eight, six, six, three, four, eight, seven, eight, eight, four. And some would say, well, if you only get to heaven through the blood of Jesus, then is there a special provision for babies and children? There are all kinds of questions that can come up.

But to me, there's certain broad categories that I look at. All right, we're going to take some more calls. And I got some stirring stuff for you about the confrontation of the nature of the gospel. Would you want to hear it or would you rather hear some ear tickling drivel? You're not going to get ear tickling drivel on the line of fire, friends. Be right back. It's the line of fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown, get on the line of fire by calling eight, six, six, three, four. Truth here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Thanks, friends, for joining us on the line of fire.

Let me be as clear as I can. We should be known for our love. We should be known for our kindness. We should be known for our compassion. We should be known for our service.

We should be known as people who really care, not mean spirited, not angry, not in your face, screaming at people all the time. No, but the gospel message is confrontational. The gospel message does rock the boat. It ultimately tells people they are guilty in God's sight. They are in need of salvation. They are displeased in God and will come under judgment. But in his infinite love, he has made a way to be forgiven and to come to know him and be in right relationship with him forever. That is a gospel message. It's not meant to make people feel comfortable.

It's meant to save them from sin and bring them into new life. All right. If you've got a question about the gospel, but any Bible related question or it could be politically culturally, this also ties in with our subject matter here in the line of fire. Any question of any kind that relates 866-348-7884. So we'll come back to your questions shortly.

I want to take you back into my 1993 book. It's Time to Rock the Boat and make a deposit of biblical truths into your heart, into your mind, into your soul today to further charge you and encourage you and strengthen you. Pastors, leaders, a lot of opposition you face and then balancing out when to stand on a certain issue, when to put a stake in the ground.

This is a hill you die on and when to step back. And, you know, for example, if you're in a multi-ethnic, multicultural church and it's time for elections or we have race riots in America or there's some kind of major disruption, you need the wisdom of God to have to navigate that. Because you can't do it by way of secular news.

You can't do it just by the information of the world. And yet there are right stands to take and there are wrong stands. And what does God want you to do and how do you do it? And then there are things you say, hey, look, I may lose my supporters, but I have to do what's right. And other times you say, you know, this is not the big fight. Right now, it's better that I keep people united because we agree on the big things. So we need wisdom. But a lot of times what we call wisdom is really cowardice, compromise. Let's be honest. Often it's fear of man and not fear of God.

Here's what I wrote in 93. Why was John the Baptist beheaded? Why was Stephen stoned? Why was Paul persecuted? Was it because they shared the four spiritual laws with their friends? Was it because they told those friends that they could have a better life if they'd only ask Jesus in? Was it because they promised prosperity and plenty to those who would tie to their ministries? No, it was because they preached the confrontational gospel. That's the only gospel there is.

I mean, just think of this for a minute, friends. If you tell someone, hey, I've got a great message for you. I want to tell you about Jesus and he loves you so much.

He wants to see you succeed and prosper and have a good life and a happy life. Why are you going to get persecuted for that? Who's going to get mad at that? Who's going to get offended by that?

It's like, cool, I like this. Jesus, tell me more. That's why the Jesus that we preach that just builds people up is not the Jesus of the Bible. Well, you better believe he will build you up in your new identity and him when you die to the old and come alive in him, but this Jesus who just empowers us to see our dreams fulfilled, that's a carnal life coach. Jesus, not the Jesus of the Bible. Look at John sixteen, five through eleven. Jesus was speaking of the ministry of the Spirit. Soon Jesus would be leaving his disciples, but not as orphans. He would send the Holy Spirit and the Spirit would take over the work. In fact, Jesus clearly said that it was better for him to leave so the Spirit of God could come.

What exactly would the Spirit do? John sixteen, eight through eleven. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me, in regard to righteousness, because I'm going to the Father, you can see me no more. And in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

Those are amazing words, friends. The Holy Spirit came to bring glory to the Son, and he begins by convicting the world in of its guilt in regard to sin and righteousness, righteousness and judgment. So the question is, how often do we hear about this? How often do we ask God to send the Spirit to bring conviction and to expose sin? If that's the very thing that points people to Jesus, since without conviction, there's no conversion and without conviction, the cross makes no sense. As Andrew Bonar observed in bringing a soul to the Savior, the Holy Spirit invariably leads it to very deep consciousness of sin.

I mean, do we even see that commonly? That's a shattering experience for proud, independent flesh. Samuel Logan Brangle, Fervent Salvation Army soul winner, this is many decades ago, said this. Men used to fall as though cut down in battle under the preaching of Wesley Whitfield, Finney and others, and while there may not be the same physical manifestations at all times, there will surely be the same opening of eyes to spiritual things, breaking of hearts and piercing of consciences. The Spirit, under the preaching of a man filled with the Holy Ghost, will often come upon a congregation like a wind.

This is Samuel Logan Brangle, the Salvation Army, and heads will droop. Eyes will brim with tears and hearts will break under convicting power. This ought to be a common sight under the preaching of all servants of God. For what are we sent for but to convict men of their sin and their need, and by the power of the Spirit to lead them to the Savior? And not only will there be conviction under such preaching, but generally, if not always, there will be conversion and sanctification. So Brangle saying, when you when you really preach the gospel, when you preach the truth and the Holy Spirit is working, that people will come under conviction of sin and there will be deep repentance. And as a result of that real conversion and real change of life. Oh, there can be emotionalism. I understand that. Just like there's one extreme where people fall asleep in church and the other extreme where they just act crazy in church and neither has anything to do with God.

Right. You're asleep because you're bored. You're acting crazy because you're in the flesh. But when the Holy Spirit comes, what happens in Acts two? The people are cut to the heart and cry out to Peter and the others. Men and brothers, what do we do? What do we do? We crucify the Messiah. What do we do? We're guilty in God's sight.

What do we do? Repent, be immersed, be baptized. Every one of you in the name of Jesus, the Messiah, for forgiveness of sins. And you'll receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. So we have often watered down the gospel to the point that it doesn't save anybody. It doesn't transform lives, doesn't bring conviction, doesn't make people understand their guilt before God.

And as a result, does not help them to understand the beauty and the power of the blood of Jesus, the depth of grace, the amazing nature of grace. Hey, if if I'm a Navy SEAL level swimmer and I'm in some difficult waters, 500 feet from the shore and someone says, hey, I'll come out rescues like, no, man, I got this. I got this. I'll make it in. I'm a Navy SEAL level swimmer.

I've been a lot worse waters that I've been miles out from from shore. I got this. All right. Maybe it's a little harder. Oh, that was harder than I expected. That's different from I'm drowning. Not only am I drowning, I'm surrounded by sharks.

Help. When people come under real conviction, the cries of help can go up like that. And when they're delivered, when they're free, boy, are they grateful. Boy, they change. That's why I've often seen people who got saved as real heavy drug addicts went through teen challenge or they got saved in jail at the end of themselves, they recognized grace. Like, yeah, I really was a wretch. God really had mercy on me. Let's go back to the confrontational gospel. Look, examine the scriptures, study the scriptures and see if what I'm saying is true.

Right. We go back to the phones. Robert in Mount Home, Texas. Welcome to the line of fire.

Hi, Dr. Brown. About 25 years ago, I started reading a chapter in Revelation every day corresponding to the day of the month. And about three months ago, Revelation 5 13 just exploded.

And I came away. I was actually reading in the New American Standard and I can't get it seems to be a little bit different, but I came away believing that all animals were going to be resurrected somehow. You know, and I spent some time at Bible Hub with their tools and anyway, like the last two or three weeks on the line of fire or the YouTube Q&A, the, you know, Pets in Heaven has come up.

Questions come up a couple of times. Yeah. And anyway, is there any, can you can you actually revelation 5 13 and come up with anything that says pets, that they may in fact be resurrected and I don't know that, you know, the same heaven as everybody else. But is there any way that that scripture could? Yeah, I mean, see it.

I see where you're going. Let me just read it for everyone. I'm going to start at verse 11. Then I looked and heard around the throne and the living creatures of the elders, the voice of many angels, the many myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands singing with a loud voice, worthy is the lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing. And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea and all that is in them saying, Tim, who sits on the throne and to the lamb, be blessing and honoring glory and might forever and ever. And the four living creatures said, Amen. And the elders fell down and worshiped. So is that actually saying that all of creation will worship God and acknowledge Jesus, every creature, heaven, earth, under the earth, in the sea and all that is in them saying that so that even fish of the sea and moles under the ground and birds flying in the air will somehow make this confession?

Is it is it rather poetic language? And in that sense, speaking of all creation, or is it just speaking of of every human being within those who have died? And and if so, just taking this one step further, with the speak of resurrected, maybe this is only all these animals resurrected and in a new form. It's a stretch, Robert. But I could see how you could get there saying, well, the only ones that could do this would be if they were resurrected and now empowered to be able to speak.

And that's how it's going to happen. So it's a stretch. But I see how you could get there. If you say literally it's going to happen one day and obviously fish under the sea and I'm going to confess Jesus now and and not the salvation way, but just proclaim him unless they're doing it just by being nature and proclaiming God. But if it's articulate, then they'd have to be resurrected. That that would be your argument to get there.

Wouldn't have occurred to me, but that would be your your pathway. All right. Thank you for the call, sir. It's the line of fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown, get on the line of fire by calling 866-34-TRUTH.

Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Thanks, friends, for joining us on the line of fire. 866-34-TRUTH. I've mentioned in the past that before we would we would tell sinners, we tell the lost, you're a sinner in God's sight, but God's grace is amazing. You can be forgiven. I've done really bad stuff.

You can be forgiven. You don't know how bad God knows. And it's even worse than you realize because he's God and he sees in those things we don't even know and based on his light and his perspective, our guilt is overwhelming when you see it.

It's too much. You know, people in revival have been known to cry out. Hell is too good for me because they see the depth of their guilt before God. But it's out of that that you see what amazing grace what he died. He he died for me so I could be so I could be saved so I could be forgiven. What does it tell you about the depth of God's love? Today we tell the lost, hey, you're an amazing sinner.

You are so we call it we don't call it an amazing sinner, but we tell a lost person, God just wants you to know how amazing you are. No, he wants you to know how lost you are so you can experience his amazing grace and then have an amazing forever with him. First Peter, chapter one in verse 10. Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what what person of or time the spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. In other words, they delivered prophecies initially thinking that this applied to their day. This may have even applied to suffering that they were living through or that they thought a leader would go through, maybe the king and and that God's glory was about to be revealed. The return from Babylonian exile and the glory of God will be revealed. And God said, no, no, no, no. This great salvation that's being spoken of.

It's it's not for you. It's for future generations. And the the prophecies you're giving about the sufferings of the Messiah, that it's not for your generation, that's for future generations. And then it says this, verse 12, it was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves, but you and the things that have now been announced to you through those who preach the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look. So why do angels long to look into these things?

A few reasons. From everything we understand, they do not experience grace and redemption. The fallen angels fell and are consigned to darkness and gloom and punishment forever. The obedient angels obeyed.

So angels never experienced grace like we did. Charles Spurgeon, I remember reading decades ago. I try to locate the quote before the show today. But I didn't know where to start looking. And I couldn't find it when I was searching for it. But and if you if you know it, shoot us a note.

Tell us, post it on social media or better still, shoot us a note through the website through sdrbrown.org. So he he said that forever he wanted to preach to the angels about grace because they never experienced it. They didn't understand it. And I would picture it in my mind that Spurgeon preaches and the angels are listening intently. It's like, we still don't get it. Could you try again next week?

Yeah, we'll bring you the message again next week. I mean, it's obviously just a fun picture in my head. Here's the other part of it. Why angels would want to look into this? Because they knew the Son of God in his glory in heaven. They were created through him. They bowed down and worshiped him. And now they see the drama of the Son of God leaving his heavenly home and to come into our world, what? This world and to humble himself and take on human form, what? And then to be rejected and killed, remember what Jesus says in Matthew 26, he said, I could call for tens of thousands of angels, you know, Peter, put your sword, Peter, put your sword back. Come on.

What are you doing? You just simply needed swords. You misunderstood me.

It's what I'm saying. Put the sword back. I could call for for thousands of angels now and they come and deliver.

But that's that's not what they're fighting for now. Think of the angels watching. Then he's killed. And then they're there to witness his resurrection from the dead.

I mean, it's mind boggling. And that was going to work through these human beings, forgive them and give them new life, and his death is going to pay for their sins and they don't have to pay for what they did. And I was going to work through them miraculously. Whoa.

Talk about us angels long to look into this. That's how I understand it. That's how many would understand the passage. All right. Let me let me go back here to my 1993 book.

It's time to rock the boat. Consider the ministry of John, the forerunner of Jesus. His baptism as repentant of repentance was not an abstract spiritual mission. His preaching dealt with everyday life and delved into everyday sins to repentance tax collectors, John said, don't collect any more than you're required to Luke 313 to the contrite soldiers who said, don't extort money, don't accuse people falsely.

Be content with your pay. Luke 314 to the religious hypocrites, he said, you brew the vipers produce fruit worthy of repentance. In other words, put no trust in your illustrious spiritual heritage. Matthew three, Matthew three, seven to ten.

Don't say make it contemporary. I'm assembly of God or I'm Baptist or I'm Messianic Jewish from this group or that God's unimpressed with titles. He's looking for the fruit of changed lives. People who say repent in the New Testament just means change your mind. Just think differently.

That's false. It's not what met's on the O the verb and met's annoy the the noun mean in certain contexts, it can refer to a change of mind. But in spiritual context, in gospel context and sin context, it's not. It's referring to a change of life. It's referring to a turnaround and about faith. It's referring to a recognition of guilt and a turning from sin to receive mercy and forgiveness from God. I've heard people today say, well, repentance for a believer just means change your thinking.

You change your thinking by listening to my teaching. No, that's not New Testament repentance. The same word Jesus used for convict in John 16, if the spirit will convict us of sin is used repeatedly. Alenko in Greek is used repeatedly in the New Testament to talk about rebuke of sin. Revelation three, 19, Jesus says, as many as I love, I rebuke and discipline. That word rebuke is the same word for convict in John 16. Therefore, be zealous and repent. Paul writes about it in second Corinthians seven, that that the sorrow of the world leads to death, this gloom and hopelessness and guilt. But Godly sorrow leads to repentance, which leads to life not to be repented of. Let's recover biblical repentance. Well, I I'm I left my wife and I'm living with another woman if I follow Jesus, do I have to give her up? Yes, of course.

Yes, of course. That's repentance. No, you're not saved by that work. You can give up that woman and you're still not saved. You're saved by the blood of Jesus. But coming to Jesus means you must follow him.

Here, picture this, you're you're a drug dealer, you're about to make the biggest score of your life and you're now going to be distributing that for for the next six months. And you hear the gospel and you say, well, OK, look, I want to follow Jesus, but I got this deal I got to do, so that's OK, right? Because I'm not saved by work. No, it's not OK because you need to repent in order to follow him, you need to repent. That's that is not the essence of what saves you, what saves you is your faith in Jesus to save you. But he is saving you from sin, not to sin.

How about this? I'm a Hindu. I have many gods.

I believe in Jesus. Can I add him in? No, you can't add him in. You have to turn away from the other gods. Would anyone think for a minute that you can be saved by adding Jesus into all the other gods?

No. What about an atheist? Do I have to give up my atheist? Yes, you have to believe in God. So, as Norman Geister said, the great theologian with the Lord now, but he had said that when Jesus says, come, you have to leave.

I mean, that's my paraphrase. You got to go from somewhere to somewhere. Follow me.

You got to leave where you were. And what did John tell Herod? Tell the king only believe. Did he say, hey, you're the king.

I'll change my message for you. No, John rebuked Herod for all his evils, especially for his adulterous marriage. Luke 3 19.

Well, you should have stayed out of it. No, he was a prophet. He was calling for repentance. Herod was a Jewish converted line.

Therefore, the message of repentance to the Jewish people is for him as well. In God's eyes, it was no marriage at all. As I ask in the book, how many of today's marriages blessed by the church and sanctioned by the clergy are also adulterous in his eyes?

And I wrote that long before same sex, quote, marriage. Herod the king was a sinner. The big shot leader needed to repent. John called them to account. That is part of the preaching of the gospel. But John was not just a preacher of judgment. His purpose in coming into the world was absolutely clear.

He said, I myself did not know him, but look at this. But the reason I came baptizing with water was so that he might be revealed to Israel. John 131, John the Baptist came to make Jesus known to Israel like the Holy Spirit.

John's whole goal was to point people to the sun. And like the Holy Spirit, he began by exposing sin. Then naked, exposed and guilty, the people cried out in repentance. Then they were ready for the Savior. Like the Israelites of old, they cried out only when they found themselves snake bitten and dying. Numbers 21, heal us. Oh, Lord. My friends, we'll be back with you tomorrow. By God's grace, strengthening you so you can run your race and glorify the mass. Another program powered by the Truth Network.