Good morning. Let's all stand
together. We'll sing hymn number one. Hymn number one. Oh, worship
the King, all glorious above, and grateful is Tell of his might, O sing of
his grace, Whose brow is the light, whose canopy's face, His
chariots of repeding thunderclouds form, And dark is his path, I bow to fulfill what tongue
can recite. It breathes in the air. It shines in the light. It streams from the hills. It descends to the plain and
sweetly distills Frail children of dust, make
feeble as frail, Imply do we trust, nor find thee to fail. Thy mercies, how tender, how
firm to thee, Be seated, we'll sing hymn number
224. 224. ? By God's wondrous grace to me
he hath made known ? ? Nor why unworthy Christ in love ? ? Redeemed
me for his own ? ? But I know who I am, believe it not ? To keep that which I've committed,
I took Him against that day. I know not how this saving faith
to me He didn't hold. ? One peace within my heart ? ?
But I know whom I have believed ? ? In the crusade that he is
able ? ? To defend which I've committed ? ? Of the spirit words convincing
me of sin ? ? Revealing Jesus through the word
? ? Creating faith in Him ? ? But I know whom I have believed and
am persuaded ? that he is able to keep that which I've committed
unto him against that day. I know not what, if good or ill,
may be reserved for me, He waits for the golden days
before His face I see. But I know, I have believed and
am persuaded that He is Or if a log fell with him, He
laid him in the air. But in no room I have believed
it, And am persuaded that he is able If you have your Bibles with
you this morning, if you would open with me to two different
scriptures. If you'll open to Lamentations
chapter 3. Lamentations chapter 3. And stick
something over there to hold your place there. And then we're
going to turn to 2 Thessalonians 2. Lamentations 3 and 2 Thessalonians 2. We'll
begin in 2 Thessalonians. 2 Thessalonians 2, beginning in
verse 1. Now we beseech you, brethren,
by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering
together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be
troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as
from us, as the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive
you by any means, for that day shall not come except there come
a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son
of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that
is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he, as God, sitteth in
the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember ye not
that when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And
now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in
his time, for the mystery of iniquity doth already work. Only
he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the
way. And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall
consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with
the brightness of his coming. Even him whose coming is after
the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders
and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that
perish, because they received not the love of the truth, that
they might be saved. And for this cause God shall
send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie, that
they all might be damned who believe not the truth, but had
pleasure in unrighteousness. but we are bound to give thanks
all the way to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth, whereunto he called you
by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions
which ye have been taught, whether by word or our epistle, Now our
Lord Jesus Christ himself and God, even our Father, which hath
loved us and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through
grace, comfort your hearts, establish you in every good word and work. Finally, brethren, pray for us
that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified
even as it is with you. and that we may be delivered
from unreasonable and wicked men, for all men have not faith. But the Lord is faithful, who
shall establish you and keep you from evil. And we have confidence
in the Lord touching you, that you both do and will do the things
which we command you. And the Lord direct your hearts
into the love of God and into the patient waiting for Christ.
Now we'll turn over to Lamentations 3, Verses 22 through 24. It is of the Lord's mercies that
we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They
are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith
my soul. Therefore, while I hope in him.
Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Our most high and heavenly Father,
Lord God Almighty, all holy and all righteous one, we come to
you through your blessed son. Thank you for this day. We thank
you for this word, this blessed promise. Lord, we thank you for causing
us to be gathered here this morning. We thank you for the building
we're gathered in. Lord, we thank you that you've
put in our hearts to. Come here this morning with the
hopes of hearing your gospel proclaimed. Lord, we thank you for that gospel.
We thank you for. Such blessed peace. Found only in Christ. Lord, we pray that you would
reveal that peace to us today through through your word. I
ask that you would be with Brother Obi as he stands before us, cause
him to proclaim the gospel boldly and freely. Lord, we ask that you would establish
us, establish us in grace, establish us in yourself, teach us thy
way, Lord. I ask that you would increase our
faith, Lord, we ask that you would continue
to keep us, keep us coming back, keep us cleaving and believing
unto thy holy name. Lord, cause us to worship you
here this day if it be thy will. Let us not meet in vain. Lord,
we remember those who are traveling, that you would be with them.
We pray for your brethren wherever they are gathered together this
morning and for those who are unable to gather or that you
would be with them. Be with your sheep wherever they
may be. Cause thy word to go forth. Cause it to go to ears
who have never heard you before, Lord. That you'd reveal yourself
unto them as it would please you. Have mercy on whom you will. Lord, there are many who are
weak and weary and those who are sick. trialed, those who are going
through tribulation, brokenhearted. Lord, be their comfort, be their
grace, give them grace to go each day. As we just read, you
give grace in you each morning. Be their strength in their stay,
cause them to lean on the only one who has comfort, the only
true comfort there is in this world. Lord, we ask that that
will be done for Christ's sake. Amen. Hymn number 40. Hymn number 40. Great is thy faithfulness, O
Lord, There is no shadow of turning
with thee. Thou changest not thy compassions,
they fail not. Great is thy faithfulness, great
is thy faithfulness. Morning by morning new mercies
I see. All I have needed thy hand hath
provided. ? Great is thy faithfulness,
Lord unto me ? ? Summer and winter and springtime and harvest ?
? Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above ? to the great
faithfulness, mercy, and love. Great is thy faithfulness, mercy,
and love. All I have needed, Thy hand hath
delivered me. ? Thine own dear presence to cheer
and to guide ? ? Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow
? ? Blessings all mine with 10,000 beside ? ? Great is thy faithfulness We'll stand together as we sing
the hymn of the day in the Bulletin. It is not that I did choose thee
for Lord, that could not be. This heart would still refuse
thee, ? And set me free ? And to this
end ordain me ? That I should live for thee ? T'was sovereign
mercy called me ? And taught my hope me Be seated. We are delighted to have Brother
O.B. Williams with us today. He'll
be preaching this morning and this afternoon for us. It's been
a while since you've been here. I think everybody here knows
him, but if anybody doesn't, he used to sit right over there
where I sit now. I kind of took his spot when he left on the
media, but it's sure good to have you and you come and bring
whatever the Lord's put on your heart. Old habits die very hard. We drove into the parking lot. It's been a while since I've
been here. And immediately, the vehicle wanted to go. This vehicle's
never been here. But immediately, it wanted to
go to my parking spot. We're pulling in, and I go, are
we going in the front door or the back door? It's like, we
always go at the back door. Abraham said, yeah, we only go
in the front door for weddings and funerals. We go in the back
door. It's good to be here this morning. Some things change, some things
don't. I'm still a quiet speaker, and I rely on the microphone.
So it sounds like it's working pretty good. All right, I'll
turn this thing on. Well, you can open to Galatians
1 if you'd like to. And I want to be sure to bring
the greetings I was given from Kingsport and from Gabe. Everyone
there sends their greetings and thankful for Donny's invitation
to come. I know that it is a A burden,
it's a heavy weight on him to have someone come and fill this
pulpit. I'm thankful for the confidence
he's laid upon me and I pray the Lord will enable me to preach
the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ this morning. That we're
not here meeting in vain and that he'll bless us with his
spirit that we might worship this morning. I don't know, some of y'all have
been to Kingsport, some of you haven't, but Kingsport, there's
a lot of history between us there. Many of us have roots that go
back to Franklin, Tennessee. That's where I grew up with Gabe
for quite a while. And as I was thinking on it,
preparing for this message, started thinking about the folks there
that have strong ties here. Like Houston said, I used to
sit right over there. Eddie and Karen Baker used to
be, I don't remember where they sat, they used to be here. Eric
and Jessica Freeman were here. Cody, Rachel come from here. Several others. And Tony Moody has a very special
love for this congregation and this place. The first conference
he came to was here. And he just often remembers coming
here. And all of them that have been
able to travel to the conference here. And as I was thinking through
all this, I remembered when Gabe was called as pastor over there.
This congregation sent support to that congregation to help
them get started, to support Gabe and that congregation there.
And when the building was being built, this congregation faithfully
sent financial support for that building. The pews that we sit in, that
my family particularly sits in, came from this building. I've
wondered from time to time if I'm not sitting in the same seat
I sat in all these years. Gifts of love, gifts of support,
gifts of remembrance, When, if you haven't met folks from Kingsport
and you meet them and they find out you come from Crossville,
those that know the history will have an immediate relationship
established there. They know the love that you've
shown to them, and meeting strangers that generosity will stand out
and give them a relationship that's not readily apparent,
but it will be there. Generosity, gifts, showing of love. Have you ever sat down and really
thought about the generosity of our God. We know that God gives all things. But as I started reading over
the things that God has recorded that he has given, my soul found
yet another reason to glorify his name. Just listen to a few
things that are recorded in Job and the Psalms that God gives. The Spirit of God hath made me,
and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life. He giveth
songs in the night, and by the breath of God frost is given. I will bless the Lord, who hath
given me counsel. Delight thyself also in the Lord,
and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Thou hast given
me the heritage of those that fear thy name. He giveth strength
and power unto his people. He gave ear unto me. The Lord
will give grace and glory. The Lord shall give that which
is good. The heaven, even the heavens
are the Lord's, but the earth hath he given to the children
of men. He giveth food to the hungry. And this one, this one's special. The Lord gave the word. The Lord gave us the written
word. and he gave us the living word. In the beginning was the word,
and the word was with God, and the word was God. Galatians 1,
let's read the first five verses together and our text will be
verses four and five. Paul, an apostle, not of men,
neither by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who
raised him from the dead. And all the brethren which are
with me unto the churches of Galatia, grace be to you and
peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ, who
gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this
present evil world according to the will of God and our Father,
to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. The Lord is not like us. He gives in abundance. Even when we give, our giving
is so restrained. Can't give too much. might be
abused. Can't give too much, I gotta
have a little. He gives in abundance. Lord willing, this morning we
will look at his giving of himself in regards to his manner, the
manner in which he gave himself. His gift, what he gave, and his
purpose in giving. First, let's look at the manner
in which He gave Himself. In Matthew 5, 17, our Lord said,
The way in which He gave Himself is revealed throughout Scripture.
You can put a bookmark here in Galatians if you want to. We'll
come back later. But for right now, let's turn
over to 2 Corinthians 9, just a few pages back. 2 Corinthians
9. The way in which our Lord gave
Himself is recorded throughout scripture, and here in 2 Corinthians
9 says, 9 verse 7, I'm sorry, I don't know if I said that,
2 Corinthians 9 verse 7, Every man, according as he purposeth
in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly or of necessity,
for God loveth a cheerful From this text we see that our Lord
gave himself with purpose, willingly, and cheerfully. Our Lord gave himself with a
purpose. He didn't give himself with a
general, I'm going to try to make salvation possible. He gave
himself on and with purpose. What was that purpose? Thou shalt
call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people. That's his purpose, to save his
people. That which he set out to do,
he finished it. He gave himself willingly, not
grudgingly or of necessity. You know, as children or on the
job, there are times we are forced to do something. There's something
unpleasant that has to be done, and the boss comes to you and
says, you're going to do this. You don't go about it willingly.
You are forced. That is, your responsibility,
your duty has to be done. As a child, and I imagine every
one of us in here can still hear this phrase, your mother walks
in and says, clean your room. Oh, the horror. Have you seen my
room? Clean your room. That's not something you do willingly.
You are forced to do it. Our Lord undertook for us our
salvation willingly. His hand wasn't forced. He wasn't
under a law that said you must do this. He gave himself willingly. And he gave himself cheerfully. As I looked up that word, one
of the definitions of cheerful is prompt to do anything. When I read that definition,
My thoughts went to Isaiah. When Isaiah saw the Lord sitting
upon a throne and when he heard the message, holy, holy, holy
is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his
glory. Full of his glory, excuse me.
After these things, Isaiah heard the voice of the Lord, saying,
Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? The question hardly
being asked, Isaiah replied, Here am I. Send me. He didn't hesitate. He didn't
do a cost-benefit analysis to see if this was going to work
out in his favor or not. He didn't consider the difficulties
that he might endure. He immediately said, here am
I. Send me. When the great call
went out in eternity, How can God be just
and justify sinners? Our Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior,
gave himself purposefully, willingly, and cheerfully. Being fully aware
of the penalty that must be paid, he gave himself without hesitation. Here am I. Send me. In Matthew 6, our Lord gave instruction
for the giving of alms. Alms are separate from tithes.
Tithes were required under the law. Alms are, in our language,
they're donations. They're not legal requirements. They're gifts of mercy or gifts
of pity. In Matthew 6, he said, take heed
that you do not your alms before men. Do not sound a trumpet before
thee, but when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what
thy right hand doeth. God gave his only begotten son
as a mercy gift. And when he came into this world,
he didn't come with pomp and ceremony. He didn't come to be
set up on a temporal throne to be admired by our natural flesh. He came in the world despised
and rejected of men. The everlasting King of glory. He who all of heaven worships
and adores made himself of no reputation. He gave himself humbly. Turn with me, if you would, to
Deuteronomy 16. Deuteronomy 16. Deuteronomy 16, verse 16. Three times in a year shall all
thy males appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he
shall choose, in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the
feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles. And they shall
not appear before the Lord empty. Every man shall give as he is
able, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God, which he
has given thee. Excuse me. Every man, according
to this law, was to give as he is able. Jesus Christ, our Lord, our Savior,
the fulfiller of the law, did not stop at the legal requirement
of tithing of 10%. He didn't come to make salvation
possible by Him taking the first step and you doing the rest. He didn't come and give himself
so that he completed 99.99% of our salvation. And all you
have to do is let Jesus save you to be redeemed. He gave himself. God Almighty gave all of himself. I don't think we can ever fathom
the fullness of that statement. I imagine all of eternity will
be spent with us in absolute wonder and awe that God gave
himself according to his ability. He gave himself completely. He finished the work. Jesus Christ, our Lord, gave
himself with purpose, willingly, cheerfully, humbly, completely. What did he give himself to?
What is his gift? First he gave himself to the
Father's will. Turn over to John chapter 6. John chapter 6 verse 38. John 6, verse 38. Our Lord says, For I came down
from heaven not to do mine own will, but the will of him that
sent me. And this is the Father's will
which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should
lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which
seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life,
and I will raise him up at the last day." The Father's will
is to save those whom he had lovingly elected in Christ Jesus
and those that he gave himself for. All that was required for their
salvation, for those that the Father lovingly elected in Christ
Jesus, He gave Himself to. He gave Himself to the work.
Back a couple of pages, John 4 verse 34 says, Jesus saith
unto them, My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me and
to finish his work. He gave himself to the fulfillment
of the law as the substitute for those the father gave him. Then having accomplished that
work, he gave his back to the smiters. He gave his cheeks to
them that plucked off the hair. He hid not his face from shame
and spitting. He gave himself into Pilate's
judgment. He gave himself into our wicked
hands to be crucified and slain. He gave himself to be forsaken
of the Father, to endure the judgment and the wrath reserved
for sinners before God. He gave himself, and life himself
gave up the ghost. He gave himself into the tomb. The Lord Jesus Christ, God Almighty,
gave himself purposefully, willingly, cheerfully, humbly, and completely
as a sin offering. for this guilty, wretched sinner,
and for all those that the Father chose in Christ Jesus before
the foundation of the world. He gave himself the gift of God. Finally, what is the cause? What is the purpose for which
Christ came and gave himself? Let's go back to our text, Galatians
1. Galatians 1 verse 3, Grace be to you and peace from
God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself
for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world,
according to the will of God and our Father, to whom be glory
forever and ever. Amen. Lord Jesus Christ gave
himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present
evil world, according to the will of God and our Father, to
whom be glory forever and ever. Christ gave himself for our sins. It is our sins that have separated
us from God and our sins that have us condemned. In giving
himself, he did that which we cannot do. He kept his law perfectly. As a man, as a servant, he lived
under the law's rules. and he earned a righteousness
under it." God is righteous. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son
of God, is righteous. The man, Jesus, obtained righteousness,
not for himself. He is righteous, yet he obtained,
he worked for it, he earned it. He earned righteousness. He gave
himself completely as a man. Having earned righteousness,
he didn't stop there as if to say, it's been proven, a man
can obtain righteousness. A man can fulfill the law. He paid the penalty of our transgressions
in full. He who knew no sin was made He
bore the curse in his body. He shed his blood. He laid down
his life. He went into the tomb. He did
all of this as my substitute. Why did God give himself? First for our sins, and then
that he might deliver us. Who needs deliverance? Really, if you think about it,
who is in need of deliverance? You go into a jail. You go in
to where they keep prisoners bound and confined in their jail
cell. You're on the outside. You come
and go freely. That man in that cell is bound, he's confined, he's
contained. Do you need deliverance? No. The man that is held captive
needs deliverance. All of mankind is captive, but
few know it. We are held captive by our sin. We are bound in our debt and
in our rebellion against God. Until God is pleased to reveal
to us that we are by nature, what we are by nature, rebels,
bound and confined. We will remain in that condition. But our Lord Jesus Christ gave
himself that he might deliver us from this present evil world. What are we bound captive to?
This present evil world. What do we need deliverance from?
This present evil world. That's what by nature we love. this present evil world. What does that deliverance look
like? To be freed from this present evil world. What's that look
like? Is it health, wealth, and prosperity? Oh, the trouble. But to be delivered from this
present evil world is to be freed from its influence, to stop chasing
after the things of this world, to seek first the kingdom of
God and his righteousness. What is the kingdom of God? The Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, that I might have a heart
to seek after him. We still, even after the Lord
frees us, delivers us from this present evil world, we still
have to endure this life in the flesh. But our affections are
changed. They're not set upon things that
are fleeing of this world. But our affections are set on
the things of Christ. We seek him and his righteousness. He gave himself according to
the will of God and our Father. Why did Christ give himself? Purposefully, willingly, cheerfully,
humbly, and completely in fulfillment of the Father's will. God the
Father purposed to save sinners, sinners that He in loving kindness
chose in Christ Jesus. In order to do so, It is necessary
to fulfill the law, to fulfill justice, to fulfill holiness,
righteousness. It is necessary that the sin
of those he chose be completely paid. The wages of sin is death. God the Son gave himself according
to the will of God. And because of him, we, chosen,
lovingly elected, redeemed sinners, are blessed to call the God of
heaven and earth our Father, to whom be glory forever and
ever. He gave himself. He accomplished
salvation. He finished the work. He receives
all the glory. Amen. God gave himself. I started out by saying, strangers
you've not met in Kingsport. will immediately have a loving
relationship knowing you came from Crossville for the gifts
of love that you gave. Our God has given himself in
love, all that we could love him as he deserves. Amen. Thank you, brother. Let's have
a word of prayer. Our most high and heavenly Father,
Lord God Almighty. All righteous, all powerful.
All knowing. All merciful. All gracious. Father, thank you for the message
that we have just heard. We ask that you would bless it
to our hearts, cause us not to soon forget the love of God, the love Christ showed for his
sheep, the love that he continually
shows us. Lord, cause us to love you as
we should, as you have first loved us. We ask that you would Bless our
day, Lord, that you would cause us together again this evening
to hear your gospel once more. We ask most of all that that
will be done for Christ's sake. Amen. Let's stand together, and in
our little course book here, on page two, page two in our course book.
All for me Christ did surrender, all for me he freed. One made sin for sinners, by
His death my soul is saved. He surrendered all. He surrendered all, all to be
my Savior. thrown in heaven, Jesus laid
his glory by. Thus this sinner is forgiven
and shall soon be glorified. He said, Savior, He surrendered
all. He to death Christ did surrender,
even death upon a cross. All to save the worst offender,
mind the gain is all the loss. He surrendered all All to be
my blessed Savior He surrendered all That the cross, the Father's
pleasure, prospered well in Jesus' hands. Now He's honored without
measure, so the Father's will demands. We'll meet again this evening
Lord will and you're dismissed