The Bible Provocateur
The Bible Provocateur
Lamb Slain From The Foundation of the World (Rev. 13:8)
Was Christ the Lamb slain before or from the foundation of the world? This seemingly simple translation question carries profound theological implications. Join us as we challenge conventional wisdom and dive deep into the intricate debates surrounding Revelation 13:8. We dissect the views of the Wadester, a gospel sharer who opposes the pre-creation sacrifice of Christ, and offer a robust critique grounded in scriptural references, including Paul's teachings in Ephesians. We'll reaffirm that God's choice of His followers predates the world's creation, solidifying the doctrines of election, predestination, and determinism.
Ever wondered about the timing of the Lamb's sacrifice and its significance for the Lamb's Book of Life? We explore Revelation 17:8 and 1 Peter 1:18-20 to uncover the divine foreordination of salvation. By analyzing these passages, we highlight God's sovereign role in salvation and refute the Arminian view of equal opportunity without divine intervention. Our discussion provides clarity on the predestination of the elect, ensuring that those destined for salvation were known to God long before creation, offering believers a foundation in theological certainty.
In a world swayed by human logic and celebrity, we underscore the necessity of divine intervention for true salvation. Through biblical references like Matthew 7 and the conversion of Paul, we emphasize that salvation is a divine initiative, not a result of human choice. We'll critique modern Christianity's tendency to prioritize human reasoning over God's sovereignty and discuss the urgency and authenticity required in preaching the gospel. Finally, we delve into the profound assurance found in the Lamb's Book of Life, while acknowledging the bittersweet reality that not everyone will come to faith. This episode is a call to engage deeply with the eternal truths of God.
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Ask Me Anything | EP. 4 "Faith + Politics"The podcast where we answer IT ALL! Watch or Stream
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Christians, I hope you're having a good evening. I want to talk about, or I should say respond to, a gross error on the part of one of our fellow gospel sharers on this platform, and he goes by the name of the Wadester, and this is a guy who rarely says anything that makes any sense, and he does speak the gospel at times, but when he digs into the more deeper elements of the scriptures I find him to be grossly in error, a hearty gloss, bringing no real awareness to what the passages are really trying to convey, and so it is sort of tiring to listen to this guy talk. And the latest passage that I heard him respond to or speak about without a revelation chapter 13 and verse 8. And it says this and all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, meaning the beast, all that shall dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Now let me lay out for you his faulty premise. He points out that the translations that interpret from the foundation of the world is being falsely translated, as before the foundation of the world, and he gives you this, like I said, this hearty gloss as to how this doesn't mean the same thing.
Speaker 1:But the reason that he has a problem with before the foundation of the world is that he doesn't like what it implies. And what it implies he doesn't like Because the implication is the truth. Here's what I mean. Is the truth? Here's what I mean. Christ was the lamb slain before the foundation of the world. He doesn't like it because he doesn't like people like me who make the connection that if Christ was the lamb slain before the foundation of the world, then all of those who are in Christ in time, as right now, for instance, were slain, I mean were saved in Christ before the foundation of the world as well. And because he does not like the doctrine of election or the doctrine of predestination, or determinism, as he might put it. He doesn't like the term before the foundation of the world. So he says that the proper translation is from the foundation of the world and, by the way, I don't have any argument with that. And he suggests in his video that I would have a problem with that because he says that every Calvinist uses an ESV version of the Bible that they use to support the idea that before the foundation of the world is a wrong interpretation. Before the foundation of the world is a wrong interpretation, and that from the foundation of the world is a proper interpretation. Well, I believe the truth and, without me being or referring to myself as a Calvinist, I do know that I hold to those doctrines that the Calvinists held to, because they are true. The issue is not whether or not someone is a Calvinist or not. The issue is whether or not what someone is saying is true, and I side wholeheartedly with the legacy of Calvinistic preachers. I'd rather side with them than side with him when it comes to biblical interpretation.
Speaker 1:But now, what I want to point out is this Whether you say Christ was the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world, or whether you say that Christ was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, or whether you say that Christ was the lamb slain from the foundation of the world, it doesn't matter which one you say, the meaning is the same From the foundation of the world or before the foundation of the world are exactly the same, and I intend to prove it are exactly the same, and I intend to prove it so again, in Revelation 13, verse 8, it says that those who worship the beast. Those are they whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Now I must lay out another point that the enemies of the truth like to say, which is that the foundation of the world, since Christ is slain from the foundation of the world in their mind and that it is not prior to the foundation of the world. World in their mind and that it is not prior to the foundation of the world. They will say that the foundation of the world doesn't begin until the ministry of Christ began or ended somewhere in that time frame, in other words, during the life of Christ. And they are wrong. They are absolutely wrong.
Speaker 1:Christ was the lamb slain from the foundation of the world or before the foundation of the world, which both mean the same. And if he was the sacrificial lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world, then all those who are saved were contemplated in his sacrifice. That was also before the foundation of the world, which supports the doctrine of election or the doctrine of predestination. And this is why he hates and people like him hate the word of God when it talks about that. They don't like the idea that God chooses those who belong to him. They don't like the idea that we strip away from the souls of men the ability to exercise the freedom of will to choose Christ. The fact of the matter is, and every Christian is going to face this fact, god chooses those who belong to him and all of those who belong to God, who are given to Christ, were contemplated in Christ as the lamb who was slain before the foundation of the world, in Christ as the lamb who was slain before the foundation of the world.
Speaker 1:Whether you use from the foundation or before the foundation, it is exactly the same thing. Now my friend says that the foundation of the world spoken of here in Revelation 13, 13, 8 didn't take place until Christ came to earth, sometime at or at the end of his ministry, is when the foundation of the lamb was was laid. That can't be true. It can't be true because Paul tells us in Ephesians that the foundation, that the foundation that was laid was a foundation of the prophets and the apostles. The foundation of the church was laid. According to Paul in Ephesians, the foundation of the church was laid upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. Let me say that again, because I know I jumbled up a little bit here. The church of Christ was built upon the foundation of the prophets and the apostles. So if he is saying that Christ was the lamb slain before the foundation of the world and that that did not take place until the ministry of Christ, then how could the foundation of the church be built upon the prophets and the apostles? Because the prophets preceded Christ. I hope that makes sense Now. That being said, that should be all that needs to be said. What I just laid out should be enough to circumvent this silly argument that the lamb being slain from the foundation of the world is only talking about the beginning of Christ's ministry on earth in human flesh.
Speaker 1:Now let me move on to make the point. In Revelation 17, verse 8, it says the following the beast that you saw was and is not and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit and go into perdition. And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world. And they be. And when they behold the beast that was and is not and yet is now Christians. Follow with me here To prove, to continue to make my case, that from the foundation of the world means exactly the same as before the foundation of the world, meaning before the earth was even created, in eternity past from the foundation of the world, before the foundation of the world. Both mean the same thing and both mean before creation, in eternity past in the mind of God. There is no progression in the mind of God, there is no starting point in the man of God, in the mind of God, and there is no end in the mind of God. Everything and there is no end in the mind of God, everything with God is now, everything with God is everlasting. So whatever it is that God has ordained or whatever it is that God has ordered was in the divine mind from eternity past.
Speaker 1:I know this may be a bit much to chew for a lot of people, but bear with me and you will see that I will make the point. Now, this guy, the wadester look him up on TikTok. If you want to hear some silly gospels, some silly gospel projections or silly gospel interpretations that he has, go look him up. I challenge you to go look him up. It doesn't scare me for somebody to go look. I think it is a good idea to go and examine those who are enemies of the truth. But notice, in Revelation 17, verse 8, because I don't want to pick on him too much he's wrong and this is the point I want to make.
Speaker 1:The Bible here in Revelation 17, verse 8. It says they that dwell on the earth shall wonder whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world. If the foundation of the world, if the foundation of the world Is when the lamb was slain, according to these enemies of the truth, if the foundation Of the world Did not, is not, if it started when Christ came here on earth in the flesh, then how could the book of life be written from the foundation of the world? If men and women who lived before Christ came, if their names were written in the book of life, in other words, if the foundation of the world was not laid until Christ came to earth in human flesh and he was the lamb slain before the foundation of the world and that didn't take place until he was actually sacrificed, then how could the book of life also be written from the foundation of the world and have it be started when Christ came? That can't be true, because follow me now, because those who lived and died, who were saved before Christ came, their names were written in the Lamb's book of life. And that book had to be established before creation. Because how could they be written in the book of life only when Christ came if they lived and died before Christ came to earth?
Speaker 1:I hope this makes sense. I hope this makes sense, but it's crazy and baffling and it boggles the mind that we look at an expression like from the foundation of the world and we don't understand what that means. You have these dispensational people with their Arminian theology. They can't handle what the truth of the Bible actually says because they don't like God to be sovereign. And this whole argument comes up only because Christian people, christian people, people who claim to be Christian people refuse to believe that God chooses his people who are saved. And this is what this argument is all about.
Speaker 1:Christ was the lamb slain before the foundation of the world. He was the lamb slain before the foundation of the world. He was the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. These two expressions, from or before, refer to the same thing Before the beginning or from the beginning. If you are a believer, you can be blessed in this fact, knowing that you were in God's mind when he sent Christ to die. When Christ came to earth, he knew exactly who it is he would be saving and he knew exactly who it is who he would not be saving. And he tells us in John 6, 44, that that God would draw those unto Christ whom he, the father, had given Christ to save and redeem and reconcile to him.
Speaker 1:But the enemies of the truth, they don't like this. They want to believe that all mankind are on equal footing when it comes to coming to Christ. We all know that no man desires Christ, no man comes to Christ, no man desires Christ. Men love their sin and they love the deeds that they commit in the darkness. This is what Paul establishes for us in the first three chapters of the book of Romans. Men love sin. Men love the darkness because their deeds are evil. They will never come to Christ unless there is a sovereign work done on their behalf within them by God first and as the first cause.
Speaker 1:Let's take a look at 1 Peter, chapter 1. 1 Peter, chapter 1, verse 18. Knowing that you are not redeemed of corruptible things like silver or gold from your aimless conduct, received by tradition from your fathers, verse 19,. But with the precious blood of Christ follow me here but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish or spot. He meaning Christ, the Lamb of God. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world. Christ was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was made manifest in these last times for you Once again. This should be all I need to say this session, if it is necessary for me or one of my brothers and sisters in Christ to make this case that the term from the foundation of the world means before creation. What I just read to you should be enough to suffice that the argument is over. It is very plain that Christ being the lamb slain before the foundation of the world Means that he was slain in the mind of God, in the divine eternal counsels of God, christ was slain before the decision for him to be sent here took place, obviously before he actually came here, unless you want to say that he came here simultaneously when it was ordained for him to come here. That can't be true, because we just read here in 1 Peter 1, verse 20, that Christ was slain or he was a lamb without blemish and without spot. He was foreordained before the foundation of the world and was made manifest in these last times for us, to me, to me.
Speaker 1:I don't have the misfortune that so many people have of having to rely on a particular minister in order to know what I should believe. Now, don't get me wrong. God's ministers are great people of God. We need them and sometimes they get it wrong, just like sometimes I get it wrong, but this one is a no brainer.
Speaker 1:The Lamb's book of life, the Lamb's book of life, was drafted before the foundation of the world, in eternity, past from everlasting. It was laid down and set in the divine council of the triune God. Who exactly would be saved, whose names exactly and specifically would be lifted in the Lamb's book of life. You don't get put into the Lamb's book of life when you believe. You believe because you were put in the Lamb's book of life. Let me repeat that again you do not get put into the Lamb's book of life because you came to believe. Believe, you believe and come to believe because your names were written in the Lamb's book of life. And when was that book of life drafted? Before the foundation of the world.
Speaker 1:Christ was the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. Christ was the lamb slain before the foundation of the world. The Bible tells us plainly that Christ was sent, and so for Christ to be sent, that means that the decision for him to be sent was established before he got here, before he put on human flesh, before he committed himself to us and to our salvation through his death, burial and resurrection. Christ was a lamb slain before the foundation of the world. The world and he was, and all of those who were to be in Christ in this life were in him before the foundation of the world. And he was manifested in this present age, which began 2,000 years ago. He was manifested to us in order that those who were in him as the lamb slain before the foundation of the world would come to faith by and through his death and resurrection.
Speaker 1:I don't know why this is so difficult for people to embrace To the wicked and unbelieving. I know they can't believe anything. Those who don't know Christ are ignorant folks. They don't know any better. They don't know, and so, because they don't know, they can't believe, such as we were. The condition that they have now is a condition that we have had in the past, prior to coming to Christ. But make no mistake about it, god has ordained, preordained every one of us who is saved to be saved, just as he foreordained Christ as the Lamb of God to come here in the future from the standpoint of eternity and from the standpoint of the creation of time. And from the standpoint of the creation of time Again, I don't want to go off into the metaphysical world or the land.
Speaker 1:I want to keep it simple. God has a divine mind and in his divine mind all knowledge resides. Hence we use the expression omniscient. He is all knowing. But when you ask yourself, how is it that he is all knowing? It is because he is omnipotent, all-powerful, so he can know what he knows, because he knows what he intends to do. So what he intends to do he knows because he has determined to do what he intends to do. The divine mind prescribes all those things which take place in time your salvation, my salvation, and the neglect of the salvation of those who never come to faith.
Speaker 1:Somebody wrote to me earlier and said I can't believe that God foreordained anyone to go to hell. God did not foreordain sinners to go to hell, but what he did do is foreordain to. What he did do is foreordain or predestined to restrain his hand from their salvation, allowing them to succumb to their own wills without frustrating their wills to change toward him. In other words, all of mankind died in Adam and, from God's perspective, the whole world lies in sin and is dead. Just because you are born spiritually, you are dead. All of us are born dead.
Speaker 1:So God is under no obligation to impart grace, to impart mercy, to grant a pardon. God is under no obligation to grant any of these things to anyone. God can choose to save one, or he can choose to save a billion, save a billion, or he can choose to save everyone. But he did not. He chose to save all those whom we know are his when they come to him by faith. That is how salvation works and no part of that involves man. Man is more or less a passive recipient in his own salvation, even though he must respond with the will. But it is God who responds in man's heart, changes his heart, man. That therefore allows him the desire to know Christ, to love Christ, to seek forgiveness, to recognize the need for repentance.
Speaker 1:God is the first cause of salvation in all of those who come to faith in Christ. Man is not the first cause. All of the verses that speak to the sovereignty of God in our salvation are not put on hold until man moves and functions in a way that he believes is desirable or acceptable to God. And yet this is what so many Christians teach. They will say yes, the Bible teaches that God chooses those who are saved, but God only chooses you.
Speaker 1:Some say God only chooses you when you come to faith in Christ. When you believe in Christ, then he chooses you. Then what is the purpose of being chosen? What is the hope? That doesn't make any sense. And chosen is a word that means that you are chosen from among a wider, broader group. If all are chosen, you wouldn't refer to that as being chosen. Salvation would be universal. There would be no choice. But men today, they worship their wills and they believe that nothing, god can do nothing for their salvation. God can do nothing for their salvation unless they choose him first.
Speaker 1:Then the motions for salvations begin. That, my friend, is a lie. That is a lie. And the final conclusion that all these people that believe this way is always going to come to the same conclusion, no matter how many machinations they go through to try to find a different one. It will always come down to salvation being the result of the actions of man. Come down to salvation being the result of the actions of man. Men think and believe because Christians are teaching them that it is up to you to be saved. It is up to you. You need to make a decision for Christ, you need to accept Christ, then need to accept Christ, then the motion, the operation of salvation begins. Then you are the ignition, you put in the key. You turn the ignition, you start the engine, but until then, god's hands are tied.
Speaker 1:Is that what you want to teach as the gospel to people? Exercise your will. I talk about this a lot and I'm going to talk about it continually until God takes my last breath. And I'm going to tell you why. Because in these modern times, just like in times past, the God that we are fighting against, the God that Christianity is fighting against right now, is self-will. Man has made an idol out of his own will and Christians are the ones teaching it, or, as you say, people who don the moniker of Christian. There is absolutely nothing in or about you that can be enabled for you to lay hold upon Christ. No way you can worship your will all you want to, but it will never get you what you need. It rarely gets you what you want. But one thing that you cannot do you cannot use your will to usurp authority over the creator of the universe, because that is what you are saying must happen now.
Speaker 1:Some of you will try, under the auspices of this feigned or false humility, will try to establish a reasoning that God has made it this way, that God has set up the institution or the modus operandi of salvation to be subject to the condition that you choose him first. But that is not what the Bible teaches us. The Bible teaches us that we love Christ because he first loved us. We choose him because he first chose us. That is salvation, not that you choose Christ and then he chooses you because you chose him. Christ was the lamb slain before the foundation of the world and every one of us who was saved, we were in him then. Not in the actual sense, in terms of what we are now as having come to faith, but the fact that Christ was the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. It means that he was slain for a reason, and the reason was also known when he was considered to be the Savior who would come and put on human flesh to redeem mankind. That's why the Lamb's book of life Was established and the Lamb's book of life had our names in it Before the foundation of the world, when, christ being the Lamb that was slain, before the foundation of the world, when this whole model For redemption Was Drafted by God, by the triune, god, god, the Father, god, the Son, god, the Holy Spirit, they were in absolute agreement with this process and it was the perfect process for redemption. And this great mystery was revealed to us in this New Testament age, when Christ came here and shed light on these truths, and then his following disciples, the apostles.
Speaker 1:They continue to push this very crucial narrative necessary for the salvation of man, of men who would be saved, narrative necessary for the salvation of man, of men who would be safe. They push this to emphasize one important thing that so many christians fail to recognize god does whatever it is he pleases. He does not move based on the actions of men. He is not simply responding to men. He has to get involved with you if you're going to be saved, and every door that needs to be knocked on if they're going to get salvation. Christ will stand there and he will knock and you will. If you are, his will open the door and he will come in and suck with you. And if you never, if you never come to Christ is because he never came to you.
Speaker 1:Now here's what I mean, because this is from the divine perspective, because we all know, every, every Christian knows clearly what we read about Matthew 7 and Luke 7. When Christ says depart from me, you workers of iniquity, because what he says next is astounding to me. It's one of the most shocking expressions that we can ever hear Christ say. When he tells those at the judgment depart from me, you workers of iniquity, because I never knew you, I never knew you. He said in the scriptures that he knew what was in all men. And yet at the same time he says, on the day of judgment, to those unbelievers, he says to them I never knew you, depart from me, I have no idea, I don't know you, you are not one of mine. I know this is a bitter pill to swallow for humanity.
Speaker 1:The carnal mind is an enmity against God. In fact, the carnal mind is itself enmity against God. The natural man cannot receive the things of God. This is why so many claiming professing Christians, this is why they have such a hard time with these truths, because they still have this carnal mentality. They think like men and not like spiritual people. They think like carnal men and not like spiritual men, and this is the problem that plagues the church today. It's all up to man. Man does it all. Man chooses what he wants. Man is this. Man is that God can't do anything unless God does this. And if God doesn't let man do it his way, then he's not loving.
Speaker 1:Let me tell you something. Let me tell you something. I know that every true Christian and if you're listening and you disagree with everything I'm saying, if you disagree with everything I'm saying, this is something I know you'll agree with. This thing I'm about to say right now.
Speaker 1:When I came to Christ, before I came to Christ, I should say I was in active rebellion against him, active rebellion like all of us. A sinner, just like all of us. And I know, when I came to faith in Christ, I was shocked into coming to faith, christ, I was shot into coming to faith. I was arrested by God. I was seized by God. You remember Paul on the road to Damascus, he was arrested.
Speaker 1:That was a perfect depiction of how God comes to his people. He has to arrest them. He has to make a show of force. Yes, I use the word force. God must use a show of force to bring us to him, because we will never ever come to him if he doesn't. And so I am glad. I am glad that he did so.
Speaker 1:I can totally willfully admit that he arrested me. He subdued my will and changed my mind. It wasn't that I had some kind of personal intellectual illumination. That would have just been philosophical, that would have just made me a philosopher. The reason why Aristotle and Plato and Sophocles and Huxley and all these people, they had all this knowledge, they had all this wisdom of men you have. Neil dyson thinks he's a genius about everything. He's a fool. Stephen hawking look how he died, look how he looked before he died, and then go back and read what these men say about god, much less Christ specifically. Look how they end up.
Speaker 1:There will be no exception for those who oppose Christ and refuse to submit to him and those who oppose and refuse to accept the fact that God is sovereign over all things, and so this ought to be a sobering session for those who refuse to acknowledge the real God of the Bible, because the God that most of you worship is not the God of the Bible. It may be the God that Joel Osteen has, it may be the God that Creflo Dollar has, it may be the God that TD Jakes has, but it's not the God of the Bible. It may be the God of Charles Stanley who passed. It might have been the God of so many of these men who never embraced the fact that God is sovereign and in control. These men opposed the word of God.
Speaker 1:I my feathers and if you're a Christian, your feathers should not get ruffled when people disagree with you on this issue. I don't care. I rather believe him and have the majority. Then believe the majority Of those who rest on this planet and try to Exercise Human logic To try to dethrone the sovereign God of the universe. With all of their foolish appeals to man's wisdom, most people today, all they do is that they glorify celebrities. They glorify the wealthy people. They glorify the wealthy people Do they glorify the famous people? And all these people are totally content with having their followers.
Speaker 1:I know that the gospel that I'm going to preach from this word of God is going to draw few people away from their drowsy, sinful state. This message is not the kind of message that is going to win over the world. I will probably never have 100,000 or 200,000, 300,000 followers. That's not my goal. What my goal is to bring as many people to their knees as possible by the word of God, the ministry of reconciliation, so that they become followers of Christ, not me. So that they become followers of Christ, not me. Our jobs are to plant seeds, like my sister says. Our job is to sow. My job is to try to inspire thought so that whatever can make sense here can now proceed down to the heart and take root in your soul, can now proceed down to the heart and take root In your soul, so that Fruit can be born. That is my goal.
Speaker 1:I don't care about TikTok credits and I don't care about you know advertising. I don't care about anyone sending me money for T-shirts and songs and hats and shoes and all that nonsense. I care about one thing Conveying to you the God's honest truth, a truth that every single one listening is going to have to reckon with. Every one of us, sinner and saved alike.
Speaker 1:Everyone is going to have to reckon with God's truth, because all of us are going to stand before the Lamb of God on the day he returns, when he's going to judge all men according to their sins and those of us who are saved. He's going to open up the Lamb's book of life. He's going to see our names there, because our names were there before the foundation of the world. Our names were there from the foundation of the world, and all he's going to say is well done thou. Good and faithful servants, enter into my rest. There will be no judgment for them. There will be no reading of their crimes against God prior to their salvation or after their crimes Against God, prior to their salvation or after their salvation. There is only going to be the, the Procession that will be formed and that those people, in their procession Of believers, are going to march right in Through the pearly gates of heaven To inhabit a mansion that exists within God's house. That is going to be the lot for the believer.
Speaker 1:Your sins are not going to be resounding in your ear. He's not going to be reminding you of your guilt. He's going to see you, and all he's going to see, when the father looks at you, is the robe of righteousness that was given to us by our Savior, whose blood cleanses away, cleansed away all of our sin as far as the east is from the west, and that is eternity. But to you, rebellious one, to you who refuse to listen to the truth that I am giving you right now, to you who rebels against those who love you, your friends, your mother, your father, your grandparents, your church pastor, you who continues to rebel against God and I don't care if you call yourself a Christian or not there are many of you who are Christians, who have no idea who Christ is, and I would venture a guess that the majority, the greater part of the Christian church is not Christian at all, only in name. They know nothing about Christ, they don't talk about Christ, they don't meditate upon the word of God. They don't meditate upon the word of God, they don't even read the word of God.
Speaker 1:This message was a response to another so-called believer who obviously doesn't read the word of God. The idea that he would put forth that the foundation of the world is when the lamb was slain didn't take place until, wasn't until, Christ came to earth. That's nonsense, because you would also have to say that the lamb's book of life wasn't written or drafted until Christ came to earth. That can't be true until Christ came to earth. That can't be true Because there were Christians, there were believers, who were saved before Christ came. So if the foundation of the world doesn't begin until the ministry of Christ began, then that means that all of those who were saved before Christ came, their names, weren't written in the Lamb's Book of Life, because it too was established before the foundation of the world.
Speaker 1:You can make and I know that all of you have heard this before, you can make up any religion you want. You can make up any truth you want from any one part of the scriptures, but the first rule of biblical hermeneutics is to interpret scripture by the scripture and so to dispense with this silly notion that the foundation of the world that is spoken about in Revelation 13 and Revelation 17 and elsewhere. To say that this foundation or this foundation of the world wasn't established until Christ came is just flat out foolish and it's a lie. Some of you may say it's not important. It sickens me, christians, whenever somebody tells me that anything in the Bible is not important. Everything in the Bible is true and equally important. No part of the Bible is less important than another part, and even if it were, none of us would have the right to determine what that is. None of us has the right to determine what is important in the word of God and what is not.
Speaker 1:The other thing that annoys me sometimes, but I understand it it is when people will say well, I don't believe that what you're reading right there, it means something different. Show me another verse. Then you show them another verse. Then they go show me another verse. Then you show them another verse. Then what do they say? Show me another verse. It never ends.
Speaker 1:People want to believe what they want to believe because it feels good to them. No one wants to believe that their salvation is solely in the hands of God, and our salvation is not only our salvation, our overall destiny, the destiny of every single person is in God's hands 100%. No part of it is in your hands, none of it. And this is something that the wicked don't like to believe either. The unbelievers, they don't like hearing this, see. They think that they're like mocking us by their rejection of the truth of the gospel. They're not. They're mocking themselves.
Speaker 1:All things that take place in this earth were determined by God before the foundation of the world or from the foundation of the world. Whichever expression you want to use, it is the same. Once again, I want to read 1 Peter 1, verse 20, 19 and 20. It says but the precious blood of Christ, the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, he indeed meaning Christ, he indeed. He indeed meaning Christ. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world. And I'm reading this in the King James Version, wade, in case you were listening to this Christ was the lamb slain before the foundation of the world, lamb slain before the foundation of the world. And those of us for whom he was slain were our names were written in his book at the very same time that he was the lamb slain which was before the foundation of the world. Or from the foundation of the world, or from the foundation of the world? Whichever word you choose, it means the same.
Speaker 1:So, christians, you should take refuge In the fact that your names Are written in the Lamb's book of life. Your names were written in the Lamb's book of life. Your names were written in the Lamb's book of life and that is why you came to Christ, and don't worry about those whom you love who haven't come yet. If they were elected by him before the foundation of the world, just like you were, they will come. Your prayers will be answered.
Speaker 1:But we need to be honest about something Everyone that we love is not going to come to faith. Everyone that we love is not going to come to faith. And if you connect the dots into what I'm saying here, you will also understand that if Christ was the lamb slain before the foundation of the world, which he was and is then you also have to understand that all of those for whom he died as a lamb he was a lamb for that all of us too, will be saved by his sacrifice. Then the last thing, which is the bitter pill to swallow this is the most bitter part to swallow that all of those whose names are written in the book of life, those are the ones that he died for. Christ gave his life a sacrifice for those people whose names were listed in the Lamb's book of life.
Speaker 1:Christ is the Lamb and the book of life is his. The names of the saints who come to faith. Their names are written in that book. There will be nobody in hell whose name is in that book and they're going to know that when they stand before the throne, the great, right throne of judgment, when Christ tells them depart from me, you workers of iniquity, because I never knew you. If he knew them, their names would have been in the Lamb's book. Does that make sense? I hope this makes sense, but again, I know it's a bitter pill to swallow for many people, but the fact of the matter is Christians, brothers and sisters, it is the truth. It is the truth and I welcome anyone who wants to oppose it or challenge it. I welcome the discussion, however it is done privately or publicly. But these are the things that must be understood if we're going to understand and know who our God is. Be provoked and be persuaded, and may God bless you all.