Good evening and welcome to our
continuing study of the gospel according to Zechariah. Zechariah
chapter 8 and I would like to look at verse 12 again. Last
week we looked at part of this verse of scripture. We would
like to continue in this verse because it has so much for the
church. It's the possessions of the remnant. And so let's
read this verse again and we'll make some comments and then we're
going to spend our time on the last phrase for the seed shall
be prosperous and we mentioned last week that the seed is the
word and we have a promise from God that when the seed goes out
the word goes out it will not return unto him void now from
our standpoint many times it looks like it does but from God's
standpoint it absolutely will not it will do exactly what it's
intended to do he will save exactly who he intends to save So the
seed shall be prosperous and this is that the word shall here
is supplied but the rest of the verse it's in the original and
it just means that God's going to do it. The vine shall give
her fruit and we find that the Lord is called the vine and we
are the branches. and the branches are the fruit
of the vine and we cannot accomplish anything. In fact the Lord said
without me you can do nothing. So we have that the vine shall
give her fruit. It's going to be a successful
fruit giving. The ground shall give her increase.
Now in the parable of the sower we find that there were four
types of ground and the seed was the same for every type of
ground. There was a seed that was scattered,
but it was all scattered on purpose and it landed exactly where it
was intended to land. and yet we find that there is
only one soil that produced and that was the good ground that
was the prepared ground and we could add this that probably
there were not very many people in the days of Saul of Tarsus
that felt he would ever be good ground he was stony ground he
was thorny ground he was a mean guy and yet the Lord in his purpose
had purpose to save him from before the foundation of the
world and he did and we notice that The ground that we look
at and the ground that God looks at is so different and then it
says And the heaven shall give their due now tonight. We wish
to look at this this phrase of this verse of scripture But before
we do, we would like to look at a passage of Scripture over
in the small book of Habakkuk. In the book of Habakkuk, there
is a verse of Scripture here that appears to be almost exactly
opposite of what we just read here. In the book of Habakkuk,
in the third chapter, the last chapter of the book of Habakkuk,
in almost the last verses of the book of Habakkuk, we find
that Habakkuk was a Preacher of righteousness a prophet during
some very difficult times and he shares with us as he looked
out and Job might have felt the same way Things are look really
bad. And in fact, he was encouraged
to curse God and die, but he never charged God foolishly So
it tells us here in the book of Habakkuk chapters 3 verse
17 although the fig tree shall not blossom Now, this is a metaphoric
language for some troublous times, difficult times, difficult times
in the person's lives, difficult times in Israel's life. It says
here, although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit
be in the vines. There's no harvest. It's a very
difficult time. It's a time in a valley maybe
that you're having right now. It's a time that we are tested
and tried, and neither shall the fruit be in the vines, the
labor of the olive oil shall fail, and the field shall yield
no meat." There's no grain, there's no food, it just looks like things
have gone really bad. The labor of the olive oil shall
fail, the field shall yield no meat, the flock shall be cut
off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls.
Every type of production has stopped, it's ceased, it's bleak,
it's a terrible time, and yet we find, in verse 18, we find
this in the life of Joseph. He could have said these words.
uh... when he was sold by his brothers
and went down to egypt and became a slave for those many years
these words could have been used by david when saul was hunting
him or when absalom uh... rose up against him uh... these
words could have been used by elijah or elisha and yet we find
him right here for you and i tonight yet i will rejoice in the lord
i will join the god of my salvation he will never leave us he will
never depart from us He'll never sever his relationship with his
sheep. The Lord says, I change not,
therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. So we have that
wonderful promise. Difficult times. Now over here
in the book of Zechariah, it's wonderful. It's just wonderful
as Zechariah brings this out, how these things are going to
be done and how they shall be produced. And we might say that
they're for a season, no doubt things look good in Israel. But
national Israel never meant salvation. Being related to Abraham never
meant salvation. So we find that our salvation,
our hope, is based in God, based in his word, based upon the promises
he's made, based upon the covenant of grace. And so we find these
words here that are recorded in chapter 8 and verse 12. We see in this Zechariah chapter
8 and verse 12 a theme that is brought out throughout the scriptures
and that is that God never allows merit our works to enter into
His salvation. He is not influenced by works. He's not influenced by the keeping
of the law. In fact, we can't work positively. We cannot do good works before
God, and we will never merit salvation. It is a gift of God.
It's a gift of grace. Each of these actions is completely
out of the hand of mankind, that we read here in verse 12 of chapter
8 of the book of Zechariah. And only the hands of God, the
Creator, can do these things. It's a shell, it's a shell. We
may plant peas in the spring and hope we get a crop. We may
plant corn in the spring and hope we get a crop, but when
God plants his planting, it shall produce. That's his promise.
This passage of scripture and a passage of scripture over in
the book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel chapter 36. Would you
look there with me as we look at the theme of this verse of
scripture in the book of Zechariah chapter 8 and verse 12 and a
theme throughout all the scriptures as that there is no mixing works
in grace. There is no mixing law in grace. And here in the book of Ezekiel
chapter 36 we find some wonderful passages of scripture That's
so often read in the pulpit here at the dowels. The scripture
reading, the Bible class, I and the messages have brought this
passage of scripture up so much because it lends itself, it shares
itself with the promise that God is going to save by grace.
And there's nothing in this passage of scripture that you and I do
to merit salvation. In fact, in the last verse that
we're going to read, it shares our part. and this part only
comes as a result of God doing his part the book of Ezekiel
chapter 36 and there in verse 23 Ezekiel chapter 36 in verse
23 and we could read this whole book there's so much in this
whole book this whole chapter but for time we're just going
to start in verse 23 and I will sanctify my great name now that's
the purpose God saves his people I'll sanctify my great name it's
because of God He never sees anything in us that's worthy
of salvation, but it is His great name that shall be honored. His
great name shall be praised. It'll be praised by the church,
but it'll also be praised by the lost. every knee shall bow,
and every tongue shall confess to the glory of God the Father,
the Lord Jesus Christ. All right? Which was profaned
among the heathen. God's name was profaned. It was
profaned by Israel. It was profaned among the heathen,
which ye have profaned in the midst of them. And before the
Lord saves us, there's not a whit of difference between us and
the world. We're just like, Servants mentioned
over there in the book of Galatians. There's no difference But when
God calls us when God brings us out of that we find out that
we've been children of God And here it goes on to say Profaned in the midst of them
and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord saith the Lord
God when I shall sanctify in you before their eyes so the
Lord's going to do a work of grace and it's only going to
be by grace and And he tells us here, for I will take you
from among the heathen. Now, we're reminded of Abraham. He didn't move out by himself.
He was taken out of the heathen. And Saul of Tarsus. He didn't come out by himself,
but he was taken out of the heathen. And Matthew, and Mark, and Luke,
and John, and Peter, and all of the apostles, and everyone
that was saved, they were among the heathen. And it is God that
takes us out, and gather you out of all countries. It's his
promise to bring all of his people out of every kindred, nation,
people, and tongue. And I'll bring you to into your
own land. I'll settle you in Christ. That
is the land that God gives us, is the Lord Jesus Christ and
all that he means to the church. Then will I sprinkle clean water
upon you. You notice here as he uses the
term clean water, there's lots of water in the world, but there's
only one place where clean water comes from and that's the word
of God. and that's the word that must be used. It's the pure word
of God, no mixture of human thought, no mixture of human will, and
it's just treating the word of God as it is plainly taught,
and it says, and ye shall be clean from all your filthiness
and from all your idols, will I cleanse you? Now this reminds
me of that passage over in First Thessalonians, chapter one, where
truly we have a picture of repentance, and that's turning to God. And
he said, turn me and I shall be turned. That's what we find
in the scripture. So he turns us from our dumb
idols to the living God. A new heart also will I give
you. What a blessing that God would give to us the new birth,
a new heart, and a new spirit will I put within you. and I
will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and give you
a heart of flesh." Notice this is all God's activity. There
is no merit in any of this. There's no law in any of this.
There's no works on our part. in any of this. This is God's
activity, just as we found over there in the book of Zechariah
chapter 8 and verse 12. All of those things come from
God. They are a shell, and the conclusion is God alone can do
these things. I'll put my spirit within you
and cause you to walk in my statutes. We never could do that before,
but we have one now that has kept the law of God And he has
imputed that, his righteousness, to his people. And it is just
as if we have kept it. And ye shall keep my judgments,
and do them. We still have the old flesh,
but God has given us his Spirit, and that Spirit is what rules.
That Spirit is what is in us. His Holy Spirit. And ye shall
dwell in the land. that I gave to your fathers,
and ye shall be my people, and I'll be your God." This is God's
word concerning His people. You shall be my people. Now,
we wouldn't choose that. We wouldn't vote in that direction.
We voted in Adam, and we voted against all of this, but God
is pleased by His grace to save His people from their sins, and
I'll be your God. And I will also save you from
all uncleanness. And I will call for the corn
and will increase it. The ground is gonna be good.
It's gonna produce fruit and lay no famine upon you. Even
though in the difficult times we find that the heart is able
to cry out like we read there in Habakkuk or we read during
the times of the prophet. I think of that prophet that
cried out and said, I'm the last one and they're hunting me. And
God said to him, Unbeknownst to him, that prophet, unbeknownst
to that prophet, God had preserved, reserved 7,000. So we just don't
know where they are. And I will multiply the fruit
tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive
no more reproach of famine among the heathen. Now this is our
part. You know, everybody wants to
get involved in the parts that's going on here, but this is our
part. This is the only part that we
have in this, and we will not recognize this unless the Lord
reveals Himself to us. Flesh and blood hath not revealed
this unto you, but my father's, which is in heaven, is what he
told Peter when Peter made that great confession. Thou art the
Christ, the Son of the living God. Here's our part. And then shall ye remember your
own evil ways and your doings that were not good, and shall
loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and
for your abominations. So we have here, the Lord says
that this is when, After he gives us the new bird, now we can't
get people lost enough. to get them saved. We can't get
them to that point. Only God can get them to that
point. And we find truly that he raises us from the spiritual
dead, and then we get to see what we actually were. We don't
have any cognizance of it. We don't have, oh, we've been
bad, we've done things terrible, but most of the reason that we
say that is we got caught in it, and we either spent time,
or we had great regret, or we hurt somebody, but that's not
repentance. That's not godly repentance.
This is truly, He gives this to us. So we see here that the
Bible teaches from beginning to end that there is no mixture
of works and grace. It's all of God. No mixture of
merit. Now turn with me to the New Testament,
to the book of Romans if you would. The book of Romans chapter
4. Oh We do well to read this chapters 1 2 3 & 4 But for time,
we're just going to read a couple of verses out of Romans chapter
4 Romans chapter 4 verses 1 through 12 It's what I have in my notes,
but we're just going to look at verses 4 & 5 right now Verses
4 & 5 now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of
grace If it is our intention Religious intention is to work
for God to get righteousness. If we intend to work to God to
get righteousness, he said, it's not reckoned of grace, but of
debt. We want God indebted to us. We want God. I had a man tell
me one time, and he wanted to meet with me. We had a cup of
coffee, and he'd attended our church for a couple of times,
and he says, you just don't know what a blessing we would be to
your church. Well, it went downhill from there,
because I started talking about the free and sovereign grace
of God, and it's not based upon righteous acts that we perform,
but it's based upon the work that God performs, and then the
work that He performs in us, and that is to realize what we
actually are before God. We are His workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which He hath before ordained
that we should walk in them. But here, it tells us, Now in
verse five now of Romans chapter four, but to him that worketh
not, but believeth on him that sanctifies the ungodly, his faith
is counted for righteousness. God does a work. Now he creates
this faith in us. He creates this trust that we
have in Christ and he deals with the ungodly. How will God be
just and justifier? He says, believing on him that
justifieth the ungodly. How does that happen? Our sin
must be imputed to the righteous son of God. And as a result of
that, he imputes his righteousness to us. In the book of Romans
again, in chapter 9. Chapter 9, we have a lot of experiences
in our lives, don't we? Well, one of the experiences
I have with regard to Romans chapter 9, 10, and 11 was when
I attended a Bible school for a short time in 1971. I was told
that 9, 10, and 11 were parenthetical and they were put in parenthesis
and it wasn't necessary to read them. In fact, it was better
to skip over them. Well, we find the rich treasure
of God's grace in these passages of scripture. Paul is writing
to believers and Paul is writing to people that don't believe
and he wants them to know exactly that it is grace that gives us
life. It's God's grace. It's not merit.
It's God gives the good ground. God gives the fruit of the vine. God gives all of these things. And Romans chapter 9 and verse
11, But the children, being not yet born, neither having done
any good or evil, Jacob and Esau, as is brought out here, that
the purpose of God, according to election, might stand. And
now notice the last phrase, not of works. It's not of works. Jacob or Esau did nothing they
did nothing before they were born and yet they were sinners
by nature They're already sinners already descendants of Adam and
it says That the purpose of God according to election might stand
not of works, but him that call it that's the real reason It's
not of works, but it's him that call it God gives that effectual
call. He calls us out of darkness to
his marvelous light. And then, if you would turn with
me to the 11th chapter of the book of Romans. Romans chapter
11. Romans chapter 11, verses 5, 6, and 7. In Romans chapter
11, verse 5, it says, even so then at this present time also
there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And
if by grace, then it is no more of works. Grace and works do
not mix. You can't get grace out of works. He goes on to say, otherwise
grace is no more grace. And that is what he's teaching
these Romans and he's teaching us. But if it be of works, then
it is no more grace. Otherwise work is no more work.
What then? Israel hath not obtained that
which he seeketh for But the election hath obtained it, and
the rest was blinded." What does that mean? Grace has obtained
it. God's grace in electing a people. He has accomplished what he said
he would do. And it is not by merit. It was
not by the merit of Jacob. It was not by the merit of Samuel. It was not by the merit of David.
It was not by the merit of Joseph. It was not by their merit. It
was not by Abel's merit. He didn't do good works and then
God showed mercy upon him. God shows mercy upon us and then
he creates a worshipful heart. That's what God does. In the
book of Galatians chapter 5, Paul is writing again and he
has so much to say. God has given him so much to
say about where we are by nature and how we get to be spiritual. That's how God dealt with him.
He thought he was doing God a service. He thought he was meriting. If
my good works, that way my bad works, God must do something
for me, must be positive. Well, here in the book of Galatians
chapter 5, Galatians chapter 5 and verse 4, It says these
words, Galatians chapter five and verse four, Christ has become
of none effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law.
If we're justified by the law, there is no reason to have Christ.
Well, we know the converse of that is, we cannot be justified
by the law, therefore we must have Christ. He must be that. And as he promised there in the
book of Zechariah chapter eight and verse 12, we find that all
of those benefits that he gave the remnant all of those possessions
he gave to the remnant he gave out of grace and not because
of good works and finally if you look with me to the book
of Ephesians chapter two we cannot benefit and enjoy Ephesians chapter
2. If we don't have any enjoyment
in Ephesians chapter 1, all of those spiritual blessings that
we have in Christ Jesus, we cannot enjoy chapter 2. It's not ours
to enjoy unless we can enjoy chapter 1. And in chapter 2,
the Apostle Paul leads us to the fact that by grace are you
saved. Chapter 2 verse 8. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast. And that's what works always
produce, is boasting. Phariseeism, elitism, I'm better
than you. I thank God that I'm not like
other people, like other men, and especially not like this
Republican over here. I thank God just it just promotes
that kind of thing critical attitude Criticism of people you're not
doing enough. Well here in the book of Ephesians
chapter 2 and verse 10 it says for we are his workmanship That's
the putty in the hands of a potter. That's the that's the clay in
the hands of a potter and Created created in Christ Jesus a new
creation in Christ Jesus Created in Christ Jesus God must create
we have no ability of creating ourselves Unto good works which
God hath before ordained that he should walk in them I have
a cartoon that I keep in my office most of the time and it shows
a man that is sculpting he is cutting out a Sculpture he has
a hammer in his hand and a chisel and he's cutting it out and the
next thing you notice is that the sculpture? Itself has taken
over has knocked the guy out and has taken over the hammer
chisel and doing his own thing to himself Well, we laugh and
giggle at that, but that's truly what religion tries to produce
Take the chisel out of the hands of God and do it yourself. That's
what it produces. It just produces Pharisee ism
Well, if we go back here to the book of Zechariah chapter 8,
now we'd like to look at that last phrase about that dew. Zechariah
chapter 8 and verse 12, the last possession of the remnant is
this, and the heavens shall give their dew. This dew is night
mist. This cannot be produced humanly. Now we can set up sprinklers
in our grass and sprinkle them at night and the grass will be
wet in the morning. But when we get dew, it is there
without our help. It is there without us doing
a thing. And we can walk through the same
grass and get our feet wet. There's dew. I remember my dad
baling hay. He wanted to catch it with just
a little dew on it so he didn't lose all the leaves. And he didn't
go out there and sprinkle. It just came by nature. God's work of grace to the farmer
is that dew. And we find this word mentioned
many, many times in the Old Testament. This is the dew that God sends. The heaven shall give their dew.
D-E-W. Moisture. The heaven shall give
this moisture. Now this reminds me of a passage
of scripture way back in the book of Deuteronomy. Right in
the middle of the law we have this wonderful statement made
by Moses to the children of Israel. It is a comparison between where
they were and where they are and what they're going to be.
In the book of Deuteronomy chapter 11, there's two verses of scripture
that gives us a comparison about what was going on with Israel
in Egypt and what Israel will do in the promised land. The
instructions here, now it's Deuteronomy chapter 11 and verse 10. These instructions, this statement
is made a comparison. Now, we could make that same
comparison between where we were in religion and where we are
in grace. What we were in religion, what we were in our own religion,
whether we said we were atheists, agnostics, or we were a member
of a respected church, or we were a member of a non-respected
church, there isn't a nickel's worth of difference in all of
religions. it's all based upon works it's
all based upon merit and there's only one place that grace and
grace alone is the rule and that is in the lord jesus christ so
notice here in the book of deuteronomy moses wrote of christ moses declared
christ and he does it right here in this passage of scripture
he says for the land whether thou goest in to possess it is
not as the land of egypt this in our mind there is going to
be such a difference there cannot be a mix of Egypt and The land
they're going to go into can't mix works and grace Because he
brings out when they lived in Egypt. It was not an easy life
it was the life of the taskmaster from which he came out where
thou sowest thy seed and waterest with thy foot as a garden of
herbs and Now what is being said here? That watering with the
foot. Now this could mean water wheels
or you're out there with your foot digging ditches. But there
is artificial irrigation and you are the means of it happening. And when it comes to our old
life without Christ, that is where we are. It's all our effort. There is no effort. Oh, he sent
the river Nile. Yes, he did. And then the rest
is up to us. Well, that's about like, well,
grace is great as far as it goes. Or we find that those Pharisees
followed the apostle Paul and said, except you be circumcised,
you cannot be saved. Well, everything that Paul said
is good up to this point. But now after that point, well,
listen to this. From whence thou came, whether
thou sowest thy seed and waterest it with thy foot. Now, this is
just a statement about what went on in Egypt, that it was not
an easy life. And you always had the taskmaster
after you. And your taskmaster always had
things to say. It's not enough. We want more. You can do better. You will answer
for that. A tyrant is natural man's religion. It was a tyrant that is pictured
here. You were not going to get a crop
of any kind unless you put effort into it. And we read over there
in the book of Zechariah chapter 8 and verse 12 that these are
the possessions of the elect. These are the possessions of
the remnant. He's going to go on and say all these things are
given to the remnant. These things are given to the
elect. These things are given to the
church and they don't work for it. It's a gift of grace and
grace alone. But here in Egypt, these people
had to work very hard They had to work very hard and they could
go home and they could get some rest. But the next day they came
back and they were right back at it. It didn't matter how many
times they rededicated their lives or said that they were
going to do better. They went to the taskmaster and
said, please give me a break. I'll be back tomorrow. He says,
you'll be back tomorrow and you'll be ready to go. And the calluses
on the feet, the calluses on the hand and the work was never
done. And then the work was always for someone else. All that brick
was for Egypt. And then it goes on to say, in
verse 11, but the land, whether you go to possess it, now they're
going to possess the land. It's gonna be a gift. It's gonna
be a gift to God. It's a picture of what God gives
us in Christ Jesus. It is a land of hills and valleys.
Now, God says, when he saves us, that there will be those
times when we're on the mountaintop, and there will be those times
that he brings us to the valley. There will be those times when
everything just looks so perfect, and there will be those times
when we can't understand what's going on around us. It will be
the time of the valleys. Though we walk through the valley
of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. So God has promised
that, even when we get into the promised land. We will do what
God intends for us to do, and we will have what God intends
for us to have. In the 11th chapter of the book
of Hebrews, there were those that were delivered and there
were those who were not delivered. There were those who were brought
out of great distress and there were those who passed into the
presence of God by some horrific acts of other men. Stephen was
presented before God because he was stoned to death. by those
pharisees and paul consenting to it these things they are brought
upon us and they're brought because of god we can look around us
today and we find this is not uh... we may lay blame where
this disease came from but it fell out as a result of almighty
god and he is going to get glory in this in the end and he'll
get glory in the salvation of his people presently the land
where thou goest to possess it is the land of hills and valleys
Now notice this, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven.
Now how much did we have to do with that rain? It's a gift of
God. It's of grace. It is not getting
water with a water wheel. It is not using our feet to produce
ditches to carry water out into the fields. It's not a water
wheel religion. It is grace, and grace alone. All these things are a possession
of God's people because of grace. He said, when I save my people
from their sins, they'll get the water of the rain of heaven.
It is top-down. God is going to bless us top-down,
top-down. Over in the book of Proverbs,
Proverbs chapter 30, we have a comparison in the book of Proverbs
to what those people, the Israelites in Egypt, brought out here Proverbs
chapter 30. Now there is an item listed here
I've had just a very little experience with and I didn't like the experience
at all. My twin brother and I and my
brother, two older brothers and a cousin used to go swimming
in what was called Sucker Creek. Excuse me. Sucker Creek was a
creek that went through a culvert under a railroad track next to
our house and it produced a pool on the other side and in the
hot summer days we'd go down there swimming. Well, one day
we got in there and came out and we had leeches all over us.
Oh, it was horrific. And we got them off of us and
it prevented us from going swimming there for just a short time.
These leeches have one thing in mind. Well, listen to this
in the book of Proverbs chapter 30. Proverbs chapter 30 and verse
15. Let's look at verse 15. This reminds me of what was going
on in Egypt when those people were required to move their own
water. It wasn't from heaven. It was
their own effort. Proverbs chapter 30 and verse
15. The horse leech hath two daughters. A leech is a bloodsucker. Here in the Columbia River we
have lamprey eels. And I've seen them stuck to the
glass at Bonneville Dam. And you can look in there and
see that. And I've seen the marks on salmon. They'll attach to
salmon, and they will drink the blood of those salmon. They're
interested in one thing, blood. Well, the horse leech has two
daughters, crying, give, give. More, more. This isn't enough. You must have more. There are
three things that are never satisfied. Four things say not it is enough. Four things are going to be listed
here. Horse leeches brought out there, has two daughters, and
it's always more, more. And isn't that the true statement
about religion of the world? Natural man's religion is more,
more, more, more tithe, more time. Buses and busyness and
business and baptisms all the measure that the world uses here
are those four things the grave the barren womb the earth that
is not filled with water and The fire that saith not it is
enough. So as the Solomon writes the
Proverbs he brings out a statement with regard to natural religion
not enough more more and here we find in those words that the
Lord gave to us there in the book of Zachariah chapter 8 and
verse 12 about the dew from heaven gracious dew from heaven gracious
dew The land that you go to is Deuteronomy chapter 11 and there
in verse 11 it says, the land whether you go to possess it
is a land of hills and valleys and drinketh water of the rain
of heaven. Oh how precious that is and how
precious it is that it was brought out here in the book of Zechariah
chapter 8 and verse 12 as the possessions of the elect, the
possessions of the remnant. Now notice the last phrase of
that verse. the last phrase of that verse
chapter 8 and verse 12 and it says and I will cause the remnant
of this people to possess all these things I will cause that's
God speaking about his elect I will cause the remnant of this
people to possess all these things and so we find that the Apostle
Paul mentioned with regard to Christ he gives us all spiritual
blessings are in Christ Jesus first Corinthians chapter one
verse thirty you know that passage of scripture but let's just read
that verse thirty one more time first Corinthians chapter one
verse thirty as we think about all the rich blessings that come
from heaven the dew of heaven the rain of heaven the blessings
of heaven here it tells us but of him are ye in Christ Jesus. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification,
and redemption, that according as it is written, He that glorieth,
let him glory in the Lord. If it was us, we would glory
in ourselves. If it's Him, we glory in Him. And how precious that is to the
church that He has taken care of all the requirements that
God ever had. All that He holds against us,
He's taken care of it completely in the person Christ Jesus. He
is the Savior of His people. And He has promised to do exactly
that. And as a result, here's the blessings
He gives. Not because of merit, but because
of grace. So for by grace are you saved
through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is a gift of God,
not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which he hath before
ordained, that we should walk in them. He maketh us both to
will and to do of his good pleasure. That's God's work. We're resisted
to it. We are. We're resistant to it.
We're resistant to God. We're resistant to the acts of
God. But he has promised that he will do this on the behalf
of the church. And we will then say, Lord, O
wretched man that I am, how shall I be delivered from this? And
the Lord is the answer to it. Well, as we conclude our study
tonight, Nancy and I wish to say Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. We trust that the Lord will bless
you. We have a wonderful holiday, Thanksgiving, but every day is
a day of Thanksgiving, even in the valleys is a day of Thanksgiving.
So God bless you until we meet again through our services or
on sermon audio and may you have a blessed Thanksgiving.