We praise thee, O God, for the
Son of my love, Lord Jesus, who died and is now gone above. Alleluia, thine the glory. Alleluia, all hail. Alleluia, thine the glory. ? We praise thee, O God ? For thy
spirit of light ? Who has shown us our savior ? And scattered
our night ? Hallelujah, thine the glory ? Hallelujah, all hail
? Hallelujah, thine the glory ? Revive us again ? All glory and praise to the Lamb
that was slain ? Who has borne all our sins and has cleansed
every stain ? Alleluia, thine the glory ? Alleluia, Amen ?
Alleluia, thine the glory ? Revive us again ? ? Revive us again ? ? Fill each
heart with Thy love ? ? May each soul be rekindled with fire from
above ? ? Alleluia, Lamb of God ? ? Alleluia, Amen ? Hallelujah,
find the glory, revive us again. Please be seated. We'll sing
hymn number 294. Can you hear me in the back? ? Savior, like a shepherd lead
us ? Much we need thy tender care ? In thy pleasant pastures
feed us ? For our use thy folds prepare ? Blessed Jesus, blessed
Jesus ? ? Thou hast bought us, Thine we are ? ? Blessed Jesus,
blessed Jesus ? ? Thou hast bought us, Thine we are ? ? We are Thine,
do Thou befriend us ? the guardian of our way. Keep thy flock from sin, defend
us. Seek us when we go astray. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus,
hear, oh hear us when we pray. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus,
hear, oh hear us when we pray. ? Thou hast promised to receive
us ? ? Poor and sinful though we be ? ? Thou hast mercy to
relieve us ? ? Grace to cleanse and power to free ? ? Blessed
Jesus, blessed Jesus ? ? Early let us turn to Thee ? Blessed
Jesus, blessed Jesus, early let us turn to Thee. Early let us seek Thy favor,
early let us do Thy will. Blessed Lord and only Savior,
with Thy love our bosoms fill. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus,
Thou hast loved us, loved us still. Blessed Jesus, blessed
Jesus, Thou hast loved us, loved us still. I've asked Brother Angus, he
pastors a church in Shoal Haven, Australia. And I've asked him
to come read scriptures and lead us in prayer. Brother Angus Uka. It's lovely to be here with you
all. I appreciate your pastor. It's wonderful. I was with Paul
Wormsley yesterday. I don't know if you know Paul
from over... He was telling me how he had Todd Nybert do a Bible
study when he was in religion and he was in England and Todd
Nybert did a Bible study on a psalm And Paul realized the huge difference
between the religion of works and the religion of grace. And
the psalm was 103. So it was a psalm that the Lord
used to open Paul's eyes to the glory of our Savior. He might
do the same to us again. We all need it regularly. It's
the Psalm of David, Psalm 103. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and
all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord,
O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgiveth all
thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases, who redeemeth
thy life from destruction, who crowneth thee with lovingkindness
and tender mercies. who satisfieth thy mouth with
good things, so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles. The
Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are
oppressed. He made known his ways under
Moses, his acts under the children of Israel. The Lord is merciful
and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will
not always chide, neither will he keep his anger forever. He
hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according
to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above
the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As
far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions
from us. Like as a father pitieth his
children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame, he
remembereth that we are dust. As for man, his days are as grass
as the flower of the field so he flourisheth. For the wind
passes over it and it is gone and the place thereof shall know
it no more. But the mercy of the Lord is
from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him and his
righteousness unto children's children. to such as keep his
covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.
The Lord has prepared his throne in the heaven, and his kingdom
ruleth over all. Bless the Lord, ye his angels
that excel in strength, and that do his commandments, harking
unto the voice of his word. Bless ye the Lord, All ye his
hosts, ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure. Bless the Lord,
all his works, in all places of his dominion. Bless the Lord,
O my soul. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father,
we thank you that you are a God of mercy, and that that mercy
is revealed in your dear and precious Son, the Lord Jesus
Christ, and we Praise you Heavenly Father for yet again hearing
your declaration that the sins of all of those that you entrusted
into your sons' hands are surety from before the foundation of
the world. are cast away as far as east is from west. We pray,
Heavenly Father, that you would be merciful to us again this
evening as your servant opens your word that we might be those
who are blessed simply to hear you speaking to us words of comfort
and words of grace and words especially that extol and honour
the glory of your dear and precious son. We thank you, Heavenly Father,
for the extraordinary privilege of being here to hear those things
and to hear from you. We pray your mercy on us. As David prayed, our Father,
do as you have promised. Amen. In our course books, we'll sing
Living by Faith on page 30. H30 in the course book. I care not today what the morrow
may bring. It's shadow or sunshine or rain. The Lord I know For everything
and all of my worry is vain. Living by faith in Jesus above. Trusting and hiding in His great
love. Safe from all harm, in His sheltering
arm. I'm living by faith in funeral
home. Though tempests may blow and
the storm clouds arise, obscuring the brightness of light, ? I'm
never alarmed at the overcast skies ? ? The master looks on
at the sky ? ? Living by faith ? ? In Jesus above ? ? Trusting,
confiding ? I'm living by faith, I'm living by faith. I know that He safely will carry
me through, no matter what evils be done. Why should I then care, though
the tempest may blow, if Jesus walks close to my side? By faith in Jesus above, trusting
and hiding in His great love. I'm safe from all harm, and it's
sheltering all. I'm living by faith, and fear
no more. Our Lord will return to this
earth some sweet day. Our troubles will then all be
over. The Master so gently will lead
us away beyond that blessed heavenly shore. ? Living by faith ? ? Living by
faith ? ? In Jesus above ? ? In Jesus above ? ? Trusting and
confiding ? ? Trusting and confiding ? ? In his great love ? ? In
his great love ? ? Safe from all harm ? ? From all harm ?
? In his sheltering arms ? I'm living a dream. Romans chapter 9. Romans chapter
9. We dealt last week with God's
justice. We said the children not being
yet born in Romans chapter 9 in verse 11 and 12 and 13 and 14,
it says, you know, the children not being yet born neither have
done any good or evil This is what I like about that, the purpose
of God. God does things on purpose, according
to election. Not of works, but of him that
calleth. And as it is written, Jacob have
I loved, and Esau have I hated. This is what he asked, and what
shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? That's the first thing people think. That's not fair. That's
not right for God to do that. Not right for God to do that.
And then he says to Moses in verse 15, I'll have mercy on
whom I'll have mercy. I'll have compassion on whom
I will have compassion, so that it is not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. For
the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have
I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that
my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Now this is where
I'm gonna pick up at here just in a moment. Therefore hath he
mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will, he hardeneth.
But then Paul says, you're gonna ask me another question. I know
right now you're gonna ask me another question. Thou wilt say
then, because God does what he wants to, hardens whom he will
and whom he won't. Thou wilt say then, why doeth he yet find
fault? For who hath resisted his will?
No, nay, but, O man, who art thou that replies against God?
Shall the thing form, say to him that formed it, why hast
thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over
the clay of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour and
another unto dishonour? If God, willing to show His wrath
and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering
the vessels of wrath fitted to description, and that He might
make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy
which He had aforeprepared unto glory, even us whom He hath called,
not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles, As he saith
also in Osi, and that word there means Hosea, I will call them
my people, which were not my people, and her beloved, which
was not beloved. And it shall come to pass that
in that place where it was said unto them, ye are not my people,
therefore they shall be called the children of the living God. Isaiah also crieth concerning
Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as
the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved. For he shall
finish the work and cut it short in righteousness, because a short
work will the Lord make upon the earth. And Isaiah saith before,
Except the Lord of Sabbath had left us a seed, we had been as
Sodom and had been made like unto Gomorrah. So what we're dealing with tonight,
God's right, God's power, God's authority to do what He will
with His own, and that's what He's dealing with, objections
to God's sovereign rights, God's sovereign power, God's sovereign
right to do as He will. But it's the nature of man, man
by nature, they try to work out in their own mind and in their
own way the so-called PROBLEMS OF GOD'S JUSTICE. THEY TRY TO
WORK IT OUT, THE PROBLEM OF GOD'S JUSTICE. PEOPLE TRY TO DO IT.
AND WHEN DOING IT, JUST LIKE YOU SAY GOD LOVED JACOB AND AIDED
ESAU, THE FIRST THING THEY SAY, THAT'S NOT RIGHT. THAT'S NOT
RIGHT. THAT'S NOT FAIR. AND SO AS THEY
TRY TO WORK OUT THESE PROBLEMS IN THEIR OWN MIND, THEY WANT
GOD TO BE LIKE THEM. THEY WANT GOD TO BE LIKE THEM.
And so, you know, and they find fault in their natural mind with
his rightness, his rightness with dealing with men, just like
Pharaoh. He told Pharaoh, I raised you
up for one reason. The only reason you're Pharaoh
and was over my people was because I put you there and I put you
there and I raised you up for one reason, to destroy you and
let everybody know that I'm God and I do what I will with my
own. And oh, they find OBJECTION to it! And the objection is,
if God is Sovereign, and God is Supreme, and God is Righteous,
and that's why He says there in verse 19, Why then does He
find fault with sinners who cannot resist such power as His will? That's what He asked. And look
here where God is right in verse 19, through 21, Thou wilt say
then, unto me, why doeth he yet find
fault for who hath resisted his will?" You know, the question was raised
whether God is just or not. And this question here, it's
not whether God is just or unjust. What he's saying is, if Pharaoh
did what was God's will, why was he punished? You know, why
did God raise him up and then punish him and destroy him? Why
did He do that? And they'll say, well God made
me what I am, therefore why should He find fault with me? Why would
He find fault with me now? Who hath resisted His will? Now
let me tell you something. Every human being that's ever
been born has always resisted God's will. Everybody has. THE ONLY WAY IN THE WORLD YOU'LL
QUIT RESISTING GOD'S WILL IN THE DAY OF HIS POWER, HE MAKES
YOU WILL IT. AND UNTIL HE MAKES YOU WILL IT,
YOU'LL RESIST HIS WILL. THAT'S WHAT EVERYBODY DOES. OUR
LORD SAID, YOU WILL NOT COME TO ME THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE LIFE.
AND OH, LISTEN, THAT'S WHAT HE SAYS. HE SAID, WHO HATH RESISTED
HIS WILL? HOW CAN ANYBODY RESIST HIS WILL?
WELL, PEOPLE DO IT ALL THE TIME. AND OH, BUT HE SAID, BUT LISTEN
TO WHAT HE SAYS. Verse 20, No, O man, that's not
the question here, whether who hath resisted his will, but O
man, who art thou that replies against God? Shall the thing
form, say to him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus?
The issue here is a REVERENCE to God Almighty Himself. That's
the issue, the irreverence that this man has against God. A man
wants to stand up, puny man, wants to stand up and argue with
God. Pharaoh disresists the will of
God. You know what? When God told
Moses, you go down and tell Pharaoh to let my people go. You know
what the first thing Pharaoh said to Moses? He said, who is
the Lord that I should obey him? That's the first word out of
his mouth. Who is the Lord that I should obey him? Let my people
go. I ain't gonna do it. I'm not
gonna let nobody go. Well, I'll let the children go.
I'll let the mothers go. I'll let the fathers go. And
God said there's not nobody leaving here. Every hoof is coming out
of here. And he resisted him and resisted
him. And you can look in Exodus chapter
9. Verse 34 and 5, and you'll see exactly how Pharaoh hardened
his heart against God. So God, he said, I want a hard
heart against God. God said, well, if you want to
have a hard heart, I'll just make it that much harder. I'll
just make it that much harder. And oh, my. And I tell you what
he did to Pharaoh is he gave him full reign. He let him go. Here, take the reins. You go ahead and do what you
want to do. And you know what? And I tell you, if God does not
give a man light, he's going to live in darkness all the days
of his life if God don't give us light. And that's the way
it was. Now, God dealt with Israel down in Egypt. He dealt in mercy
and grace to them, and sent all of those plagues upon them. And I tell you what, God was
doing something special for Israel, but in Egypt, and all the Egyptians
done, everything God done for them, it just made the Egyptians
that much madder, and that much harder. Made them worse, made
them worse. Now look down here in verse 12.
but that's what he said. There's three answers that he
gives here in verse 20 through 23. The apostle gives three distinct
answers to this objection in verse 19. Why doth he yet find
fault if he who hath resisted his will? How can he fault us
if we can't resist his will? And that's what the first thing
he says, oh man, look what it says in the margin. Then verse,
it says there, answer us again or dispute us with God. Somebody disputing with God? You reckon it's going to bother
God? It's going to upset God if somebody gets upset with Him?
And he said, why, oh man, who are you to dispute with God? Who are you to question God? Who are you to question God's
providence? And who are you to hope to understand
God's ways? His ways are past finding out. But you know, he said, his judgments
are past finding out. Oh, his depth of his wisdom and
knowledge, who can know it? And oh my, and I tell you, God
does not, and this man needs to understand this, God does
not, does not, does not give reasons for what he does in this
world to a puny, weak, miserable, wretched man. He never has and
he never will. He'll do what he will. You know,
when he killed Eli's sons, you know what Eli said? God said,
he had Samuel tell him, God's gonna kill both your sons, Phineas
and Eli. Gonna kill them. You know what
old Eli said? He said, it's the Lord. Let him
do what seemeth good. It's the Lord. And I tell you
what, and that's what this man said. How blasphemous it is to
set in judgment on God. You imagine a man sitting in
judgment on God. Oh my, how blasphemous to judge
him. And Paul, listen, I'll tell you
what, he rebukes this. He doesn't try to reason with
somebody. He exposes the wickedness and
questioning of God's ways. And that's what he says in there
in the last part of the verse. Shall the thing formed say to
him that formed it. Why did you make me like this?
You know, you make a hammer. Can you imagine a hammer handle
telling you back, why did you make me a hammer handle? You carve, you know, Tim James
carves all kinds of stuff. He carves owls and he carves
chains, you know, that links all together, you know. He's
a real carver, real very good at it. And you know, can you
imagine that wood, when he gets a piece of wood and starts working
on it, what are you doing to me? What are you doing to me?
What are you doing to me? And that's what he's saying to him.
What in the world, what's the matter with you? Why did you
make me like this? And that's what he says. So the famed forum said, why
did you make me like this? I read a story, and as far as
I know, it's true. that a boy, God saved this young
man, and he had been saved, and his father was a Catholic. And
he went in one day and took a hammer and smashed his crucifix, got
it off the wall, smashed it with a hammer. And his father come
in and said, what in the world have you done? What have you done? You've destroyed,
you've destroyed my crucifix. You destroyed my hope. You destroyed
my life. He said, if it can be destroyed,
what good could it do you? If I can tear it up, what good
will it do you? Tried to show his dad that that
crucifix could be tore all to pieces. And that's the way it
is with any kind of religion outside of Christ. It's not worth
that. Just go ahead and get destroyed. And here's the second answer
in verse 21. First answer was, shall the thing,
no, but old man, who you dare reply against God, dispute with
God. And then look what he says, here's
the second, the word power, hath not the potter power. That word
power means the right, the authority. The right, the privilege, the
right to do what he wants. God has the right to do what
he will with his own. And hath not the potter power
over the clay. You know, Jeremiah 18, I believe
that's where it's at, where the potter, he said, go down to the
potter's house and I'm gonna tell you something, I'm gonna
show you something. And that's what he said, hath
not the potter power over the clay? Ah, my. And listen to this right here,
of the same lump, the same lump. Everybody come out of the same
lump. But there's different vessels made out of the same lump. different
dealings with us. The potter takes the clay, and
he makes what he wants to make. That's what he's saying. Don't
he have the power? Don't he have the right to do what he will?
And that's what he goes on to say. And out of the same lump,
we all come out of the same lump. I'm telling you, who made thee
to differ? What have you got that you didn't receive? Has
not the potter power over the clay? The same lump. Now listen
to this. There's two different vessels he makes here. He makes
one vessel under honor. I'm going to make me one that
I'm telling you what I'll be able to sit up here and look
at and enjoy it. And it'll be coming from my hand.
It'll be beautiful. It'll be made of, be made of
grace. I'll fill it with grace. Clay,
and then look what the next one said, and another under dishonor. But it all comes out of the same
love. It does not God have the right to do that. Huh? I told you last week as far,
As far as I know, there's not anybody on my family, either
side, my mother's or my father's side, as far back as I can remember,
that ever, ever, God's ever done anything for. I've talked to
several of them and they got upset. They got angry. They got
angry. My own father talked to him right
after he had a heart surgery. Open heart surgery, 58 years
old, talked to him. He said, D.B., don't you worry
about it. Me and Jesus got this thing worked
out. And I told him then and there,
what a reverence there is for God. I said, I call you my father
and I call your dad and show you respect, but you won't even
show respect for God. And that's what he's saying here.
Had not God the power to take a lump of clay Take clay, oh,
I'm gonna make me a beautiful vase out of this, and I'm gonna
make this thing, I'm gonna make it, and I'm gonna make it just
the way I wanna make it, and I can enjoy it. And I'm gonna
take another one over here, and I'm gonna just, ah, it's just
gonna make no difference what it looks like. We'll use it over
here. It ain't even fit to put flowers
in. And oh, he goes on to say, oh my, oh, the same love, God
in his dealings, always exercises his power in a consistent way
with his own righteousness and his own glory. I'll tell you,
beloved God, we know this. We understand this. We believe
this. This is our hope. This is, I'm so thankful. I'm
so thankful that God, God has a mercy that he has. He makes
vessels of honor and he makes vessels of dishonor. And whatever
he does with anybody, that's his business, it's not ours.
Our business is to preach the gospel and honor God. And then
look what he goes on to say in verse 22. The third answer is
this. God has determined to make known
in this universe two things, his wrath against sin and the
riches of his grace and glory. Look what he says now down here
in verse 22. If God, willing to show His wrath,
if He's willing to show His wrath and to make His power known,
endeared with much longsuffering, the vessels of wrath fitted to
destruction. God is so patient and so longsuffering. just like before the flood. Do
you know how long, you know how long God endured with man after
the flood, before the flood? He looked down on earth and said,
there's not a man on this earth and nobody on here whose thoughts
and mind is only evil continually. Then he lived with them and put
up with them and put up with them and put up with them. And
then he had a preacher. One, he said, I'm going to show
grace to one man, one man. and I'm going to cause him to
do something that'll save him and his family. And I tell you
what, and that preacher preached Rises for 120 years, and God
would patient for generation after generation after generation
after generation until the flood came, and there was only eight
people saved. God patiently, and I tell you
what, one of my, one of the Chief attributes to God for me, one
of the most blessed attributes for me, to my personal heart
and soul, is God's patience and long-suffering with me. I know
He's long-suffering with vessels of wrath. They've already been
fit, fitted for destruction. God said, I'm going to destroy
you. Pharaoh, I'm going to destroy you. I'm going to destroy you. I'm
going to destroy you, Rome. I'm going to destroy you, Nebuchadnezzar. I'm going to destroy you, Belteshazzar.
I'm going to destroy you. I'm going to bring you down.
I'm going to let you know who has got the power and right in
this world. I'm going to let you know. And
also, he's going to show his wrath against sin. And listen
to this now. Not only that, but that he might
make known riches of His glory. On who? Listen to this. On the
vessels of mercy. The vessels of mercy. Oh, what
a thing for God to call us vessels of mercy. Vessels of mercy. And oh, listen to this. He had
a four, a four prepared. unto glory. He already had them
fixed up to be vessels of mercy before, prepared before the foundation
of the world, prepared, prepared to be what? Vessels of mercy. That's like the sheep. I lay
down my life for the sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and that's
what he said. I determined before, before,
that I prepared them, and you know what I prepared them for?
To be vessels of mercy. Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and
all that's within me. Oh, vessels of mercy. And oh,
God. God shows us, you know, he had
much patience before the flood. He had much patience with Pharaoh
before he sent him up. He had, you know, in Sodom and
Gomorrah, Abraham, God came to Abraham and he talked with him
before he went down to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham said,
if there's 50 righteous men down there, will you spare it? Yes,
I will. He said, oh boy. Can I ask you
another question? Yes. If there's 40 righteous,
would you spare it? Yes, I would. Forgive me, Lord, but I want
to say, if there's 30, would you spare them? Yes. The first 15, would you spare
them? Yes. The first 10, would you spare
them? Yes. The first five, would you spare
them? Yes. But you know why he didn't spare
it? There was only one righteous man in that whole city. And you
know what God had to do? Just like he has to do us. He
got to get a hold of us and bring us out. That's what he had to do. And
all these unbelievers, Solomon, he destroyed it. And these unbelievers,
which have life, they hate it, and the means of grace, which
they despise. And all the vessels of mercy,
the difference was made by the potter out of the same lump,
out of the same lump, out of the same lump. And oh, look what
he says here. In verse 24. Verse 24, oh, he said he might
make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy,
which he had prepared unto glory. Even us, I like that, even us,
even us, whom he hath called, not just of Jews only, but also
of Gentiles. And that's what we are, we're
Gentiles by nature. And look what he says now. Oh
my, called us Gentiles. And I tell you what he goes on
to say. And also in, in Osi, you know, the promise of eternal
life was not just made to natural seed of Abraham, but one seed,
the seed of Abraham, which is Christ. And we're chosen in him. And he saith in verse 25, he
said in Hosea, that word Osi means Hosea. Hosea is the first
book after the book of Daniel. And in chapter two, this is what
he's talking about. I'll call them my people, which
were not my people. There's a people out here that
never was my people. This is what the Jews could not
never get. They could not understand that God would call a Gentile
and save a Gentile, people like us. And he said, they were never
my people, but you know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna call
them my people. They were never beloved by anybody.
They were not my people. They've never been loved by anybody.
But he said, they're going to be my people. And you know what? They weren't beloved. But they're
going to be my beloved. They're going to be my beloved.
Ain't that what he says? Oh, my. And her beloved, which
was not beloved. I'm going to call her my people.
They were my people. But they're going to be my people now. They
never was beloved. But now they're going to be beloved.
They're going to be beloved. Oh my. And you know, this is,
that was all through. It said about our Lord Jesus
Christ that he'd be a light to lighten the Gentiles. To him
would the nations come. The Gentile nations would come
unto him. And oh my, the Jews didn't want
him. They rejected him. They despised
him. They hated him. They hated God. They hated everything. Only thing
they enjoyed was the law. The only thing the Jews had any
comfort in was the law, the Sabbath-keeping, and the phylacteries. That's
the only thing they was interested in. They wasn't interested in
God, wasn't interested in grace, wasn't interested in mercy, wasn't
interested in the Messiah. And then verse 26, And it shall
come to pass that in the place where it was said unto them,
Ye are not my people, There, there, where it says, They were
not my people, THERE, it says at the same place, THEY SHALL
BE CALLED THE CHILDREN OF WHO? THE LIVING GOD. Child of God. Children of the Living God. Oh,
my. Children of the Living God. And
oh, my. You know how the covenant runs?
I'll be their God. They shall be my people. That's
exactly how it goes. I'll be their God, they shall
be my people. I will and they shall. It's always
been, or I shall and they will. Take it any way you want to,
but that's the way it is. That's the way it is. And oh
my, and Isaiah, Isaiah. Oh, he said down here in verse
27, Isaiah concerning Israel, cries out concerning Israel. That's in Isaiah 10. Though the
number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, now
watch this, a remnant shall be saved. Just a remnant shall be
saved. You know, Israel had a great,
great number of people. Great, great number of people.
And I tell you what, the descendants of Abraham numbered in the millions.
Only a small number of the true Israel of God would be saved. I've been trying to read through
Numbers and Deuteronomy both, but here's the thing. When they come out of Egypt,
you know why they spent so much time in the desert? They could
have been where they wanted to go in 11 days. You know why they
did? Because they murmured against
God so much that God said, I'm gonna kill everybody that come
out of Egypt under 20 years of age. And he wandered them around
until they all died. And you know, there was only
two people that come out of Egypt. That was over 40. Caleb and Joshua. All the rest of them destroyed.
And everybody from 20 years old and under died in the wilderness.
And so while there's in the wilderness, if a baby is born, he's 40 years
old when they come out of the wilderness. But listen, you fight against
God, you're fighting a losing battle. You're fighting a losing
battle. And oh, and look what he said
here now in verse 28. Talking about what God will do
now. He'll finish the work. Cut it short in righteousness
because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth. And
you look at there when it talks about the work, he will finish
the work or the account. Settle the account. Finish the
account. When the Messiah come, when the
Lord Christ came, the Jesus Christ came into this world, they rejected
him. He came unto his own, and his
own received him not. He was light shining in darkness,
and the darkness comprehended it not. And they rejected him. And when they would talk to him,
they'd say, we're Moses' disciples. As far as this man goes, I have
no idea where he comes from. They bragged about being Abraham's
descendants. And our Lord said, if you was
Abraham's descendants, you'd believe me. You'd believe me. If you believe Moses, you'd believe
me. Because Moses wrote to me. But they would not have it. And
after century, after century, after century of long suffering
with their idolatry and their rebellion, God made a short work
of them and blinded them until this very day. We'll find that
out. He blinded them. There's people
that believe that God's gonna save every Jew on the face of
this earth. There won't be anybody Jew that
won't be saved. There's people that believe that.
But Paul says right here only a remnant of them's gonna be
saved. Only just a... You know what a remnant is? That's
after they cut everything else away and there's just a little
piece left. You got any remnants around here? We got remnants.
We went out to a He said, you got any remnants here? Yeah,
they had remnants. And the remnants we got goes
up our steps. We got remnants. Steve put them
in for us. And we got remnants. They had
just little old pieces like that. I bind them up. We got remnants. That's what God's going to do.
He's going to take just a little bit and cut it out. I tell you
what. Oh, bless his holy name. Oh,
bless his name. And oh, he gonna make a short
work on it. I tell you what, we started this time last week,
I think was the first day of the month, is that right? First
day of the year, last week. Was today the eighth? How did
we get from the first to the eighth like that? But God made a short work of
the Jews. He's made a short work of them, and oh my, and he'll
do it in righteousness. He'll cut it short, in righteousness,
he'll be right when he does it. And then Isaiah, very, very bold,
and he says this, except the Lord, except the Lord of Sabaoth,
the Lord of Sabbath, had left us a seed, left us just a seed, We had been like Sodom and Gomorrah,
but if God had not saved us and left us Christ, we'd be like
Sodom and Gomorrah. And God, in mercy, done that. Now let me close with telling
you this about God's power, God's right, God's authority. Our Lord
Jesus Christ, in Matthew 20, He said, spoke his parable, said
a man went out to hire workers, went out at six o'clock in the
morning to hire some people to work in his vineyard. Hired some
people, went back out at nine o'clock, went out in town, found
some more, said, you go to work in my vineyard. Give you a penny. He went out at 12 o'clock, found
some more, put them to work. Went out at three o'clock, found
some more, and put them to work, and he went out at The 11th hour,
that means at 5 o'clock in the afternoon, from 6 to 6 was their
day. And he went out at 5 o'clock
in the afternoon, and he said, why ain't you out working? I
said, nobody's hired. I said, go to work in my building. When
he got through, that fellow that come in at the 11th hour, they
lined up to get their payday. Lined up to get paid. That fellow
that had worked one hour, walked up there, That fellow had been there since
six o'clock that morning, saw that and said, he got up there
and said, oh my goodness, that's not fair, that's not right. We
were born in the heat of the day. He said, did you not agree with
me? But we were born in the heat
of the day. That's what works religion does. Oh, we've done it all. We've
worked hard for Jesus. And that's why our Lord said,
you did agree with me. Are you going to be, is your
eye evil because I'm good? You're going to find fault with
me because I'm going to treat everybody the same? And that's where it means, he
said, that that's last, you'll be first. And the first is going
to be last. That's what it means. But here's
the thing that our Lord said. He said, is it not lawful, is
it not lawful for me to do what I will with my own? It was my
vineyard, my money, I called you, and then the next verse
says this, not many are called, but few are chosen. Our Father, in the blessed, blessed
name of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for your
abundant mercy and grace given to us. Thank that you made us
vessels of mercy, not vessels of wrath. Thank you for making
us vessels, Lord, that I hopefully, by your grace, you made us to
honor you and glorify you. Oh, Lord, we need you. Oh, we
need you. We want you. And Lord, we, I
thank you for those that came out this evening. I thank you
for my dear brother who comes from so far. Thank you for my
brothers and sisters in this congregation. God bless them. God strengthen them. God encourage
them. God give them grace. And Lord, meet their needs. Forgive
us of everything that's so unlike you. And please have mercy upon
our children, upon our grandchildren, and our great-grandchildren.
And do it for Christ's sake. Amen and amen. He's the Savior of my soul. Jesus, my Jesus. He's the Savior of my soul. He's the Savior of my soul. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. He's the Savior of my soul. He's the savior of my soul. Good night. God bless you. Hey,
Richard, I hope you're listening, buddy. There's a...