Good evening. Let's all stand
together. We'll sing hymn number 126. Hymn number 126. Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let
me hide myself in thee. Let the water and the blood from
thy wounded side which flowed Be of sin the double cure. Save from wrath and make me pure. Could my tears forever flow? Could my zeal no languor know? These four sins could not atone. Thou must save, and thou alone. In my hand, no price I bring. Simply to thy cross I cling,
while I draw this fleeting breath. When my eyes shall close in death,
when I rise to worlds unknown and behold thee on thy throne,
rock of ages, left for me. Let me hide myself in thee. Be seated. We'll sing hymn number
511. 511. Face to face with Christ my Savior
Face to face what will it be When with rapture I behold Him
Jesus Christ who died for me Face to face I shall behold him,
far beyond the starry sky. Face to face in all his glory,
I shall see him by and by. Only faintly now I see him With
the darkling veil between But a blessed day is coming When
his glory shall be seen Face to face I shall behold Him Far
beyond the starry sky Face to face in all His glory I shall
see him by and by What rejoicing in his presence When our banished
grief and pain When the crooked ways are straightened and the
dark things shall be plain. Face to face I shall behold Him,
far beyond the starry sky. Face to face in all his glory,
I shall see him by and by. Face to face, oh blissful moment,
Face to face to see and know Face to face with my Redeemer
Jesus Christ who loves me so Face to face I shall behold Him
Far beyond the starry sky. Face to face in all his glory,
I shall see him by and by. If you would, turn with me again
to the Gospel of John, chapter 4. We'll pick up where we left off
this morning. John, chapter 4, we'll begin.
We ended with verse 26, so we'll start again with verse 26. If you missed it this morning,
we read The Woman at the Well, John 4, 26, Jesus saith unto
her, I that speak unto thee am, the great I am speaking. And
upon this came his disciples and marveled that he talked with
the woman, yet no man said, what seekest thou or why talkest thou
with her? The woman then left her water
pot and went her way into the city and saith to the men, come
see a man which told me all things that ever I did. Is not this
the Christ? Then they went out of the city
and came unto him. In the meanwhile, his disciples
prayed him, saying, Master, eat. But he said unto them, I have
meat to eat that ye know not of. Therefore said the disciples
one to another, hath any man brought him ought to eat? Jesus
saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent
me, and to finish his work. Say not ye there are yet four
months, and cometh harvest? Behold, I say unto you, Lift
up your eyes, and look on the fields, for they are white already
to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth
wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal, that both he that
soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. And herein is that saying true,
one soweth and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereon
you bestowed no labor. Other men labored and you are
entered into their labors. And many of the Samaritans of
that city believed on him for the saying of the woman which
testified, he told me all that I ever did. All that ever I did. So when the Samaritans were coming
to him, they besought him that he would tarry with them and
he abode there two days. and many more believed because
of his own word. And said unto the woman, now
we believe not because of thy saying, for we have heard him
ourselves and know that this is indeed the Christ, the savior
of the world. Now after two days he departed
thence and went unto Galilee. For Jesus himself testified that
a prophet hath no honor in his own country. Then when he was
come into Galilee, the Galileans received him, having seen all
the things that he did at Jerusalem at the feast, for they also went
unto the feast. So Jesus came again into Cana
of Galilee, where he made the water wine, and there was a certain
nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum. When he heard that
Jesus was come out of Judea into Galilee, he went unto him, and
he besought him that he would come down and heal his son, for
he was at the point of death. Then said Jesus unto him, except
ye see signs and wonders ye will not believe, the nobleman saith
unto him, sir, come down ere my child die. Jesus saith unto
him, go thy way, thy son liveth. And the man believed the word
that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way. And as he was now going down,
his servants met him and told him, saying, Thy son liveth.
Then inquired he of them the hour when he began to amend.
And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the feeder
left him. So the father knew that it was
the same hour in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth,
and himself believed, and his whole house. This is again the
second miracle Jesus did when he was come out of Judea into
Galilee. Our Heavenly Holy Father, we
come to you once more through your blessed Son, the Lord Jesus
Christ, whom we just read. Father, we thank you for the
privilege to be able to enter into prayer. We thank you that you hear our
hearts cry. We thank you Lord that you intercede
for us. You can take our feeble cries and our feeble words, make them known unto the Father. Lord, we thank you for your perfect
will. Thank you for all of your wonderful
attributes. Lord, we especially thank you
for our salvation found in our dear Savior. Lord, we thank you that you have
revealed yourself unto us. Thank you for keeping us. Lord, as we meet tonight, we
ask that you would cause us to worship you. Ask that you would
meet with us. Ask that you would bless your
word upon our hearts. Lord, that you would teach us
thy way. Lord, we ask that you would be
with Brother Larry as he stands tonight. Call him to proclaim
the wonderful gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Allow him to speak freely. Ask
that you bless him as he stands. Bless us through him. If it would
be thy will. Lord, we continue to remember
Mike and Dottie and the family, that you would continue to be
with them. Lord, we pray for Rick and Helen and many others, Lord, that you
know their great needs. Most of all, Lord, we need you. We ask for mercy and grace upon
them. We ask for mercy for our lost
loved ones. Lord, we ask that you would send
your word where it is to go, sow it where it is to be sown,
cause it to bring forth fruit and prosper according to thy
holy will. Lord, please forgive us for all
things unlike thee, Continue to keep us and uphold
us in the blessed gospel. Lord, hold us in thy hand. Keep us as we go our ways this
week and ask for traveling mercies as those traveling will be traveling. Lord, we ask thy will be done
in all things for Christ's sake. Amen. Page 32 in our course books. 32 in the course book. Jesus Christ is made to me. All I need, all I need. He alone is all I plead. He is all I need. Wisdom, righteousness, and power. Holiness forevermore. My redemption full and sure He
is all I need Jesus is my all in all All I need, all I need
While He keeps I cannot fall He is all I need. Wisdom, righteousness, and power. Holiness forevermore. My redemption full and sure. He is all I need. He redeemed me when he died. All I need, all I need. I with him was crucified. He is all I need. Wisdom, righteousness and power,
holiness forevermore. My redemption full and sure,
He is all I need. Glory, glory to the Lamb All
I need, all I need By His Spirit sealed I am He is all I need
Wisdom, righteousness and power Holiness forevermore. My redemption full and sure. He is all I need. Got Brother Larry Chris with
us again this evening. Brother, you come on when you're
ready. Good evening. Good to be back
with you. Let me say again on behalf of
my wife, Robert, and myself, what a pleasure it is. It always
is to be with you. We look forward to it since your
pastor invited me to come. Pray that God will be pleased
to make his word effectual. Bless it to our hearts. Will
you turn with me back to Galatians? Back to Galatians, not chapter
one this time, but chapter two. Galatians chapter 2. We're going to be reading three
verses, 13, 14, and 15. Not just yet. We're going to
work our way to them. But the subject is this, our
triumphant savior. How do you like that? It's got
a nice ring to it, doesn't it? Our triumphant savior. I'm sure
you're like me. I don't get tired of hearing
about that, to be reminded of that. Because my eternal salvation
depends on him. It depends on him. My soul, my
immortal soul is in his hands. Whether I enter glory depends
on him. So when I hear he triumphed in
all that he undertook, that's good news, isn't it? Brother
Daniel Parks Moose, most of us know him by Moose, he wrote a hymn, and I think,
if I'm not mistaken, It was for the Bible conference in Danville,
the annual Bible conference in Danville, Kentucky, when Brother
Don was pastor. And this was 1996. But let me read a few verses
of this hymn to you. Moose wrote, we have gathered
in this chapel, having come from far and near. We are weary from
our travel. Some good news we long to hear.
That was like this last weekend, wasn't it? Bible conference. So to him who is our preacher,
we would make this one request. Prove yourself to be the teacher
of the one who will give us rest. Tell us not of self-salvation. If you come here hoping to hear
that, you won't hear it from me. And that's not good news. Salvation, man's imaginary free
will, that's not good news. When I checked into the motel
last night and a girl was looking to see, look up the reservation
and so forth, she said, what brings you to Crossville? I said,
I'm preaching at a church here in Crossville. She said, oh,
here I found it, Free Will Baptist Church. I said, no, that's not
it. I don't think they made a reservation for me. But no, that's not good
news. But Moose wrote, tell us not
of self-salvation through an act of man's free will. It will
bring no consolation, no comfort, no hope. Having heard we're hungry
still. Oh, we long to see the glory
of our God in Jesus' face. Tell us now that blessed story
of his free and sovereign grace. Now that's good news. Tell us
of the Christ, Lord Jesus, who has died for God's elect, his
blood ransoms and releases them from sin and its effect. Everyone,
everyone for whom he suffered shall be saved and justified,
and at last they shall be ushered into heaven to be his bride. Again, don't you like the sound
of that? If Jesus Christ was really who
he claimed to be, he must succeed in whatever he came to do. If
he was who he claimed, then he must succeed in whatever he came
into this world to do. If he doesn't, if he didn't,
he must have been an imposter or a failure. In Acts chapter
1, you're familiar with that. In Acts chapter 1, our Lord,
for the last time, leads his disciples out to Mount Olivet.
They spent many times in Mount Olivet, didn't they? Gethsemane
was at the base of Mount Olivet. But this time, they travel to
the summit. They travel to the top of Mount
Olivet, and he gives his disciples instructions and commandments. And we read there in chapter
1, While they looked steadfastly toward heaven, as he went up,
behold, two men stood by them in white apparel. What a sight
this must have been. I mean, they're standing there,
they're watching him, and suddenly he just begins to ascend to glory,
back to the glory he had with the Father before the world began. And two men stood by in white
apparel and said, ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, This same Jesus,
not another, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so
come in like manner as you have seen Him grow into heaven. He's
coming again. He's coming again. Not another,
but this same Jesus, whoever He was, however He was, when
He ascended that day from Mount Olivet, that's who He is now. He ascended gloriously. He ascended
personally. He ascended visibly. They saw
Him. And the angel said, He's coming
in like manner. He's coming in like manner. He'll
come triumphantly. He'll come victoriously. He'll
come to gather the church that He redeemed when He came the
first time. I want them with me where I am. Now, who's going to stop that?
Who's going to... interfere with that? Who's going
to hinder that? If Christ wants his people with
him where he is, who's going to prevent it? Oh, thank God
for our triumphant Savior. He's coming again. Jesus Christ
entered heaven victoriously. Triumphant. The triumphant Savior
of his people. As that one who had, had, He
wouldn't have entered heaven if he hadn't. After he had by
himself, single-handedly, I looked and there was none to help. When
God's billows of wrath and fury rolled over my head, I looked
and there was none to help. Therefore, my own arm reached
out and brought salvation unto me. There was none with me. I've
trodden the winepress alone and of the people. There was none
with me when he had by himself purged our sins. After doing
so, he was exalted by God the Father and sat down at the right
hand of the majesty on high." If you'd hear a story of a prince
who was sent out by his father the king to face an enemy that
was a threat to his kingdom. You know, they did that in days
gone by. And after several days had gone by, and then weeks had
gone by, and perhaps months had gone by, the subject of the kingdom
would begin to think, rightfully so, he must have been defeated. That's why he's not returned.
He must have been overcome by his enemy. Our great God and
Savior, the captain of our salvation, He was raised up again on high
because He was not defeated. He returned to glory as the triumphant
Savior, Redeemer, Mediator, all that His people need, as we sang
just a moment ago. He is now risen. He's now risen. That means something. That means
something. That proves that he satisfied
all the claims of God's holy law. If he hadn't, that proves
that God must have been perfectly, completely, totally content,
satisfied, accepting of the sacrifice of his son, or he would not have
risen him from the dead. When God raised his son from
the dead, it was his eternal amen to his son's cry, it is
finished. and set him at his own right
hand. God's son was not defeated. He returned. He's risen now. He's exalted now. He's ascended
now on high. Now he appears in the presence
of God for us. We're well represented. These
lawyers, is it like here, I suppose it is. It's just about everywhere.
Every other commercial is some ambulance chaser wanting you
to call in. Let us represent you from everything
to drinking coffee too hot or getting hit by my truck. Just
call the man. Oh, Jesus Christ represents his
people before God Almighty, before the throne of God. That's this
same Jesus. He's exalted now in his intercession
for his people as is effectual now as the moment he entered
glory. Oh, dear dying lamb. Thy precious
blood shall never lose its power. Oh, it's just as fresh, just
as fragrant, just as effectual as the day he shed it and ascended
back to glory. Till all the ransomed church
of God be saved to sin no more. Whenever you hear of a savior
who wants to save sinners, but he's not able to because they
just won't let him, they won't allow him to do it, that's not
this same Jesus. You better not trust him. Better
not trust him. He's a fake. He's an imposter. He's a fraud. He's not the same
Jesus, and I'm afraid. I'm afraid. And I take no delight. I wish it wasn't so, because
I've got brothers and sisters that are in this shape, trusting
another Jesus. I think most professions today,
most professions or faith are made concerning that other Jesus. That one who can't have his way.
His will is subject to my will, Brad. My soul. He's not trusting. He's not worth trusting, is he?
Huh? If he needs my help, I'm in trouble. And so is he. So is he. Oh, but our great God and Savior,
he ascended on high. And God gave him a name above
all other names. Jesus, oh, there's something
about that name. That means the savior. That means
the salvation of the Lord. I think I can trust him, don't
you? He's trustworthy. The same deadly, deadly misconception
of God exists today as in the Israel of old. When God laid
this accusation, this condemnation against him, he said, here's
your problem. Here's your problem. Here's the
root of the matter. Doesn't this sound familiar? This could have
been written this morning about our day. You thought that I was
altogether such a one as yourself. You thought I was like you. I'm
God. There's none like me. Before
there was anything, there was God. He had no beginning. Time began with Him in the beginning. But before the beginning, there
was God. There was never a starting place
for Him. From everlasting to everlasting,
the psalmist said, Thou art God. Not only existed as God, but
reigned and ruled as God. God over all and blessed forever. And that same glorious God, that
majestic being, was made flesh. and dwelt among us. Imagine that. I saw Houston and Aubrey's little
baby girl. Trying to think of her name.
Reese, Reese. Beautiful, just beautiful. What is she, a few
weeks old? Almost too much, not very old.
Can you imagine if someone had put you aside that night of our
Lord's birth and pointed you into that manger. It was not
no pretty little manger scene. It was a stable with all the
stanchions and everything associated with the stable. And they pointed
and said, you see that little baby, that little dark-skinned
baby boy and that newborn infant in the arms of that young maiden
there, Mary? That's God Almighty. Wow! That's God Almighty. He never
ceased the Word that everything was made by. Nothing that was
made was not made by Him. That Word, John said, was made
flesh and tabernacled amongst us for a while. The Word was
made flesh. Isn't that something? Why did
He do that? Because His children were flesh
and blood. He likewise took part of the
same. He was made like unto his brethren. That's the Savior I need. Real
sinners, real sinners. What did old brother Scott used
to call them? Dead dog sinners. Helpless, hopeless. Real sinners,
they need a real Savior. They need a real Savior. Great
sinners need a great Savior. There is no question about the
greatness of Jesus Christ, that he's a great Savior. The question
is, are you a great sinner? Do you need a great Savior? Well,
here's good news. Jesus Christ is that, a great
Savior. You remember when the angel Gabriel
was sent by God to Mary with the news. Tell her. Tell her
that she shall conceive in her womb and bring forth a son and
tell her that call his name Jesus. He shall be great. He shall be great. And he shall
be called the son of the highest. And the Lord God shall give unto
him the throne of his father David. And he shall reign. He shall reign. A friend of Robin's,
they went out to lunch the other day. She took Robin out, a good
neighbor. Not that Robin knew her long
before I did, but took her out for lunch for her birthday. My
wife had a birthday. And she was talking to her and
asked her a question. And Robin said, well, does your
pastor preach that God is sovereign? The lady said, I've never heard
that word. I don't even know what that means. That's sad. I said, Robin Tiller, it means,
it's the definition of sovereign, the meaning is within the word
itself. R-E-I-G-N. He shall reign over the house
of Jacob and his kingdom shall be forever. There shall be no
end. Mary, give him this name. Jesus, he shall be great. Great as the one made like unto
his brethren. He shall be great as the one
who shall save his people from their sins. That will take a
great God and Savior. He shall be great as the only
mediator between God and man, Jesus Christ. Oh, he shall be
great when he's wounded for our transgressions and the chastisement
of our peace is upon him and he's bruised for our iniquities.
He will be great when all we like sheep have gone astray and
turned everyone to his own way and the Lord lays upon him the
iniquity of us all. He shall be great because he'll
bear it. He shall be great when it pleases
the Lord to bruise him. and put him to grief, when thou
shalt make his soul an offering for sin. And he was great. Oh,
was he not great when he cried from that cross after doing what
God sent him into this world to do? Knowing all things, he
said, I thirst. One thing must be fulfilled. I thirst. And he cried, cried
with a loud voice. It is finished. Oh, my soul. The angels are still standing
in holy wonder of that proclamation in glory at this very hour. It
is finished. They can't get over it. It is
finished. It's done. The hymn writer said,
the great transaction's done. God had made him to be sin for
us who knew no sin, that we might be made the very righteousness
of God Almighty in him. Yes, he shall be great. When
he shall see of the travail of his soul, and the pleasure of
the Lord shall prosper in his hand, he shall be great. My righteous servant shall justify
many. Why? Because he shall bear their
iniquities. Sin put away demands justification
of the sinner whose sins were put away. It demands forgiveness. Unless God ceases to be just,
which is an impossibility. God is faithful and just to forgive
us of our sins. And when that glorious time that's
coming soon, when he, our triumphant savior, presents his church back
to God the Father without a spot or a blemish or a wrinkle, No
trace of sin whatsoever. Back to God who entrusted them
to Him in the first place. Put the church into His hands. Chose His people and committed
them into the hands of Christ. And Christ said, I accept. I'll
be responsible for them. I'll do whatever's necessary. I'll live for them. I'll die
for them. I'll intercede for them. And
one day he'll bring them back to the Father without a spot,
without a blemish, without any such thing. And oh, my soul,
won't there be some hallelujah shouts then when we hear him
say, Father, I and the children that you gave to me, I lost none. Our triumphant Savior, I lost
none. Oh, how great thy art. Old Spurgeon
said, I have a great need for Christ. and I have a great Christ
for my need. Now we're gonna read these three
verses in Colossians 2, verses 13, 14, and 15. Our triumphant
Savior, and you being dead in your sins and uncircumcision
of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven
you all trespasses, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances
that was against you, which was contrary to you, and took it
out of the way, nailing it to his cross. And having spoiled,
the word is disarmed." Having disarmed, disarmed principalities
and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over
them. None but Christ could put away
that handwriting because none but Christ was able to satisfy
what it required. It required a perfect life. of
obedience before God Almighty. It demanded every precept of
His holy law be kept, be honored to perfection. It must be perfect. And then His sacrificial death.
Our Lord in Hebrews 10 and 9 The writer says, then said he, that
is Christ. This is Christ responding to
his father who sent him into this world. Lo, I come to do
thy will, O God. And only he could, and only he
did, and he did it perfectly. From the first breath he drew. when he entered this world, flesh
of our flesh and bone of our bones, until that last breath
that expired on Calvary, when he said, Father, into thy hands
I commend my spirit, he did every breath he took, every thought
he had, every action, everything was perfect in the sight of God. And he did that, obeying the
precept of God's holy law as the representative of his people. That's what we read in the text.
That was the handwriting of ordinances that was against us. He fulfilled
the law's precept in his life, and he satisfied its penalty
when he died under its curse. Jesus paid it all. Well, it's
nice. It's nice to lay down the night
and know Jesus paid it all. I don't owe anything. That debt I owe has been paid
in full. Honda Pilot sitting out there. What, honey, a month, two months
ago, I made the last payment on it. The last payment. That's a nice feeling. That's
nice. It's paid in full, Gary. Paid
in full. They better not take out any
more payments. Automatically, they snatched
it out of a checking account, then sent me to say, thank you
for your payment. Well, what am I going to do? You're taking
it. I agreed to let you do so. But now it's paid in full. Better
not take any more payments out of there. Oh, that debt that
I owed to God's justice, God's law, my triumphant savior paid
it in full. Paid in full, in heaven, under
the name Larry Criss, paid in full. Jesus Christ paid it all. When a Roman emperor won a victory
and conquered his foes, he would ride through the streets in an
open chariot, and the captive kings and warriors would be marching
in front of him in chains. No armor, no more weapons. They were defeated. They were
stripped of their armor, their hands tied behind their backs
as they walked before him in shame and disgrace. This text
tells us that Christ disarmed all the principalities and powers
which were against us. He's defeated Satan. I heard
someone, someone told me just a couple of weeks ago that Satan
and God are rivals. They're in a con- don't know
which way it's going to go. Sometimes the devil's got the
upper hand, sometimes God. What a bunch of nonsense. He's
God's devil. He's God's devil. He's on God's
leash. And sometimes it seems like a
mighty long leash, but he's God's devil. He's not God's rival,
or he defeated sin, Satan, the devil, hell, death, And he has
made a bold display in public example of them by the cross. We are completing Christ. He
set the captive free. And we're not in bondage to any
law, any ceremony, or any curse. It sounds like Christ was victorious
to me. Doesn't it you? Is he not sovereign
over all? He's either sovereign over all,
or he's not sovereign at all. Brother David Edmondson, Had
a brief article in his bulletin, oh, several years ago, perhaps
you remember it. He said, if there was a square
foot, a square foot on this planet that God wasn't sovereign over,
I would be scared to death all the time that that's where I
was standing. Oh, but he's sovereign over all. This is what God the
Father said concerning his son. God said, behold, my servant.
You want to be encouraged. You want peace. You want calmness
in the midst of this crazy world. Behold my servant whom I uphold,
mine elect. He's speaking of his son and
whom my soul delighted. I put my spirit upon him. He
shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry
nor lift up. nor cause his voice to be heard
in the street. A bruised wreath shall he not
break, and smoking flax shall he not quince. He shall bring
forth judgment unto the earth. He shall not fail." I like that. As I said at the
beginning, my eternal salvation depends on Him. Whether I spend
eternity in heaven or hell depends upon his success, him being victorious,
him being triumphant. And God says, well, look at him.
Look at him. Take a good look. Don't take your eyes off of him.
He shall not fail. That's my savior. That's the
captain of my salvation. He shall not fail to open blind
eyes. He shall not fail to bring the
prisoners out of the prison house and set the captives free. He
shall not fail to raise dead sinners to life. He shall not
fail to keep them from falling and present them fall to us before
the throne of God. Everything else will fail. You
fail, I fail. Ask my wife. No, don't ask her. Oh, but Christ, he shall not
fail. When it came nearer time for
him to go up to Jerusalem and lay down his life for his sheep,
Although his disciples didn't understand it, he told them.
Luke 18, he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold,
behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things, all things that
are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man shall be attempted. I hope you know that's not how
it reads. Shall be accomplished. Accomplished. For he shall be
delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully
entreated, and spitted on. And they shall scourge him, and
put him to death. And the third day he shall rise
again." Oh, thank God that my eternal salvation isn't dependent
upon me in any way. It depends upon Him. He has to
answer for me. He's responsible for me. He promised
His Father for all of His people. When God entrusted him into his
hands, he became responsible for them. He has to answer for
them, and he won't fail. He won't fail. Everything written
of him shall be accomplished. So don't tell me how things should
be done by me. Tell me how it is with him. If it's well with him, Darryl,
I'm okay. If it's well with him, then it's
well with my soul. If the great shepherd is well,
then the sheep must be too. If the Lord is my shepherd, I
don't like anything. Do we believe what we just sang?
Wisdom, righteousness, all of that? I have all I need if I
have the Son of God. Got it all. Have the best that
heaven can give. You know, Revelation 5. John said he saw a throne set,
and one set upon the throne, and there was a book there written,
a sealed book, and no man was found worthy enough to open it.
Worthy enough. And John began to weep. That
book represents God's eternal decrees and purposes. How will
they come to fruition? How will they be fulfilled? And
John wept much, because no one was found able to open that book.
And the angel said, John, quit crying. Quit crying. You don't have to cry. You're
weeping for nothing. The lion of the tribe of Judah
has prevailed. He's triumphant. He's prevailed
to open the book and to loose the seven seals thereof. And
I beheld him low in the midst of the throne. And there the
four beasts and in the midst of the elders stood a lamb. Oh,
how glorious. There's none like him. There's
none like him. As it had been slain, having
seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God,
sent forth into all the earth. And he came. When the fullness
of the time was come, he came. God sent forth his son. And he
came and he took the book. It's his book. out of the right
hand of him that sat upon the throne. And when he had taken
the book, the four beasts and the four and twenty elders fell
down before the lamb, having every one of them hearts and
golden vows. And they sung a new song saying,
Oh, aren't you looking forward to this? Thou art worthy. to take the book and to open
the seals thereof, because you were slain, and you redeemed
us past tense, redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every
kindred, tongue, and people, and nation. Guilty thou, and
helpless we. Spotless Lamb of God was he,
full of atonement, can it be? Hallelujah, what a Savior. Lifted up was he to die, it is
finished was his cry, now in heaven exalted high. Hallelujah,
what a Savior. I read this in someone's bulletin
a while back, the incomparable Christ. It's anonymous, they
didn't know who wrote it, but it doesn't matter. The writer
said, all others have failed, Christ never. The names of the
past proud statesmen of Greece and Rome have come and gone.
The names of past scientists and philosophers and theologians
have come and gone, but the name of this man multiplies more and
more. As John said, he must increase
and I must decrease. Though time has spread over 2,000
years between the people of this generation and the mockers at
his crucifixion, he still is. His enemies could not destroy
him. and their grave could not hold him. He stands forth upon
the highest pinnacle of heavenly glory, proclaimed of God, acknowledged
by angels, adored by saints, and feared by devils as a risen
Christ, Lord and Savior, triumphant." Triumphant. I read a story many
years ago. A matter of fact, I had to Google
it a while back when I used it in a message, just to make sure
my memory wasn't failing me, and I found it. You can find
everything these days, can't you, on the internet. This is
a conversation that took place between a Marine pilot in the
air over Iran, Earth was accused of being over Iran, and a conversation
he had with an Iranian air defense member on the ground below. It
went like this, Iranian Defense Radar says to the pilot, unknown
aircraft, you are in Iranian space, identify yourself. U.S. pilot, this is United States
aircraft, I'm not in Iranian airspace, I'm in Iraqi airspace. Iranian air defense, you are
in Iranian airspace and if you do not depart our airspace, we
will launch interceptor aircraft. The U.S. pilot responded this
way. This is a United States Marine Corps F-A-18 fighter jet. Send them on up. I'll wait. And
you know what the response was from the ground? Nothing. Silence. Silence. Listen. The captain of our salvation
took our sins up to Mount Calvary, and he made an end of them. So
that now for every believing sinner, the Lord Jesus Christ
has answered every demand of God's justice, so that Christ
is the end of the law for righteousness. So the law no longer thunders
or threatens that sinner for whom Christ died. Much more,
being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath
through him. For if, when we were enemies,
we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more
being reconciled, we shall be saved by His light. It is God
that justifies. Ask, who shall lay anything to
the charge of God's elect? Listen. Silence. No charge against God's elect.
It is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again,
who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession
for us. Who is he that condemneth? Listen,
no one. There's no condemnation to those
who are in Christ Jesus. Mercy and truth, the psalmist
said, are met together. Righteous and peace have kissed
each other. I waited patiently for the Lord,
and he inclined unto me. Oh, what a wonder. What a wonder. Like that poor, diseased, outcast
leper. Lord, if you will, you don't
have to. Most people today think God owes
them mercy, owes them salvation. Oh, not fair if he doesn't save
everybody or try to save every poppycock. No, no, no. No, mercy's free. Mercy's free. Grace is free. Free. Free grace. Think about that. I waited patiently
for the Lord. Will he hear me? Will he hear
me? Will he? How do I know? If I cast myself
at his feet like that poor leopard, it's all up to him. He doesn't
have to do it. There's no reason in me that
he should. There's every reason that he shouldn't, but he delights
to show mercy. He inclined unto me, and he heard
my cry. Gary, isn't that something? You cried for mercy, and he heard
your cry. That's not all. He brought me
up out of a horrible pit, out of the murray clay, and set my
feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he put a new song
in my mouth. Even praising to our God, many
shall see it in fear and shall trust in the Lord. Do you know
that song? Can you name that tune? As he
put a new song in your heart, even praise to our God. Every
note of that song speaks of the glory of the King, the triumphant
Savior, not a single note about man's will or man's work or man's
worth. That will be one of the glorious
things of heaven. When that multitude which no
man can number stands and sings to the praise of the Lamb of
God, they'll all do it with an unsinning heart. All the glory
will be given to that one from whom we receive all the grace. Our piano player at church, Delilah
Breedlove, her father, whom I never met, he was gone years before
I came along, but he was the first pastor of the church there
that I pastor now. But she's our piano player. And
every now and then, I tell her, Delilah, I'll lead the singing. No one else to do it right now.
And I said, Delilah, I think I'm ready to sing a solo. I've
been singing to myself. I sound pretty good. I'm going
to sing a solo. What you laughing at? You've
never heard me sing. I'm ready to sing a solo. And Delilah said,
go ahead. I won't play for you. Oh, Delilah, no, I won't play
for you. I won't play for you. One day, one day pretty soon,
pretty soon, getting closer all the time, I'm going to sing a
perfect song of praise from a heart of perfect love to my perfect
savior. Nobody's going to tell me I can't
sing. Worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive power and
riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory of blessing.
Be to our God that said it upon the throne and to the Lamb. Worthy
is the Lamb, dear Bobby Buckner." And I'll close this. She went
to be with the Lord. Some of you knew her. Last September,
September the 1st. When she was able to sing before
she got, her health wouldn't allow her to, but she would begin
to send me emails on Saturday afternoon. And she'd say, Larry,
where are your thoughts? What's your text? What's the
direction you feel led? What are you going to preach
from? Because I want to pick a song that will fit in with
the message. And I wouldn't answer right away,
but man, Emails kept coming. And I would say, well, Bobby,
just anything, anything. I've heard you sing anything.
It would be good. She said, no, no, I want to know. She said,
and I'd say, I'll tell you what, Bobby, just let me pick one.
And more often than not, I would pick that old hymn, old Irish
hymn, hundreds of years old, I understand, Be Thou My Vision. Be Thou, Be Thou My Vision. When I was a young boy, after
I graduated from high school, I went up to New Jersey to work
on a boardwalk in Wildwood, New Jersey. They said, the boys that
had been there before, said, oh, you had the time of your
life, the summer of your life. I just about starved to death.
But we'd all got jobs on boardwalks, and we people would walk by,
and we'd be trying to get their attention. Come on in here. Bring
that little girl in here. Win this bear. You know, trying
to get their attention. That's what this world does,
doesn't it, to a child of God. Look over here. Look over here.
Look what I found. Look what I discovered. Oh, but
one day, one day, I'm going to have perfect vision, perfect
ability. And with that perfect ability,
I'm going to have the opportunity to see the Lord Jesus Christ,
rich as I heed not the hymn writer wrote. Ridges I heed not, nor
man's empty praise. Thou mine inheritance, now and
always. Thou and thou only, first in
my heart. Oh, high king of heaven, my treasure thou art. High king of heaven, my victory
won. Oh, may I reach heaven's joys,
oh bright heaven's sun. Heart of my own heart, whatever
befall, still be my vision, O ruler of all. Thanks be unto God for
our triumphant Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. God bless you. Good to be with you. Thank you for that message, brother.
Let's have a word of prayer. Our most high and heavenly Father,
Lord God Almighty, once more we bow to you. Lord, thank you for that wonderful
message. I ask that you would keep it in our hearts. Lord, cause us to sing thy praises
continually. for our triumphant Savior. Lord, we ask that you would keep
us, keep us continually, keep us cleaving and believing unto
thee and thee alone. Put blinders on us, Lord, that
we only look to thee. Pray for traveling mercies once
more. Larry and Robin, go home as our pastor Mr. Shirley, make their way back
here. Lord, please keep us continually. Cause us to do thy will. Ask thy will be done in all things
for Christ's sake. Amen. Let's stand together and
sing, Be Thou My Vision, hymn number 334, 334. Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart. Not be all else to me, save that
thou art. Thou my best thought, by day
or by night, waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light. Be Thou my wisdom, and Thou my
true word, I ever with Thee, and Thou with me, Lord. Thou my great father, I thy true
son, Thou in me dwelling, and I with thee one. Riches I heed not, nor man's
empty praise, Thou mine inheritance now and always. Thou and Thou only, first in
my heart. I, King of Heaven, my treasure
Thou art. I, King of Heaven, My victory
won. May I reach heaven's joys, O
bright heaven's sun. Heart of my own heart, whatever
befall. Still be my vision, O ruler of
all. We'll meet again Wednesday evening,
Lord Willin. You're dismissed.