When I was 18 or 19 years old,
probably 19, I'd just been married a little while, my pastor, Brother
J. Tamley Davis, was already an
old man. He was about 60 or 61. I thought you'd like that. He asked me if I'd like to go
with him to a meeting up in Mount Airy, North Carolina. I said, I'd be
glad to, Brother Tamley. And we're driving up, you know,
talking a little bit. About the time we got close to
Mount Airy, he said, Don, son, did you ever hear my sermon on
hands full of honey? I said, I don't think so, Brother
Townley. He said, would you like to hear it? I said, well, that'd
be great. So we went to service, big crowd
of people, I guess 400 people or better. I'm sitting right
down there where Jim is, and Townley got up, and he said,
now tonight, by popular request, I'm going to preach my sermon
on hands full of honey. That's a true story. I thought about trying it a few
times, but never got up the nerve. While you're turning to Exodus
chapter 34, let me give you Shelby's greetings. And I know sometimes
you wonder why she's not with me. Frankly, I kind of have to
force her to stay at home when I have shorter trips. She goes
with me everywhere I go and works with me in the office all day.
every day and then works when she gets home and sometimes she
needs to stay at home and do something else. She's taking care of things that
need to be taken care of and she sends her greetings to you. Exodus
chapter 34. I want to talk to you about a
lamb and an ass. You're the ass. Now for you folks
who are genteel people and never been in the country and maybe
raised up in that other part of the world where you don't
know such things, I'm not talking about what you're sitting on.
That's an animal. A lamb and an ass. X is 34. Throughout the
Mosaic economy, every day, every single day, this is how the day
began. They offered a lamb at the altar
at God's tabernacle every day. When the day was done, this is
how every day ended. They offered a lamb at the door
of the tabernacle on God's altar. God said, I will meet you to
speak there unto thee. The only way God Almighty would
meet with man was by a lamb offered at the place he ordained. The
only way any man could approach to God was by a lamb offered
in a place He ordained. And God fixed it so that every
day, every man, woman, and child in Israel understood, we begin
with the lamb. And we end with the Lamb. And
God will only deal with us in the Lamb. Now it is my prayer,
if you came in here this morning, the glittering sword of divine
justice hanging over your head, terrifying, you'll go out of
this place today rejoicing in the free, full forgiveness end
by the Lamb. If it happens, it'll only be
in the Lamb. The Lord God Almighty took this
lamb and gave it to the children of Israel, a sacrifice for a
token, a sign. It was a sign upon the hand of
the one who offered it and a sign in the eyes of the one who beheld
it. And this is what is promised
by that token. The Lord God said, this is how
you shall be sanctified by my glory. This is how you, The people
I have chosen, the people I have called, this is how you shall
be made holy, sanctified by my glory. Through the sacrifice
of a lamb at the door of my house, before my throne. What does he
mean for us to understand by that? Does God mean for us to
understand that the law given by Moses, everything required
by God, the sacrifice and the sanctifying of the people in
the tabernacle by this lamb was all by God's glory and for God's
glory. That's exactly what it means
for us to understand. Everything portrayed in that
tabernacle, everything, everything about it, everything portrayed
in that tabernacle portrayed that which would come to pass
in time, in whom and by whom God would reveal his glory to
all. His glory, what's that? His glory,
the saving of our soul by his. The glory of God is the saving
of sinners by the sacrifice of his son. Now look at Exodus 34,
verses 19 and 20. In the second verse of Exodus
chapter 13, God commands, sanctify unto me all the firstborn. Whatsoever openeth the womb among
the children of Israel, both of man and of beast, it is mine. But what about the unclean animal?
God gave a very specific commandment forbidding that any unclean beast
be offered to him. He makes two commandments that
seem to contradict each other. If one's fulfilled, the other
one cannot be. He demands that all the firstborn
of every man and every beast in Israel be sanctified to him. Lord, I command it. And yet he
forbids offering anything to him that's unclean. That's a
problem. That's a problem. How can such
a law be fulfilled? How can all the firstborn be
sanctified to the Lord and no unclean thing be offered to him?
Well, God answers the question. Look here in Exodus 34 verse
19. All that openeth the matrix is mine, and every firstling
among the cattle, whether ox or sheep, that is male. But the firstling of an ass thou
shalt redeem with the lamb. And if thou redeem him not, then
shalt thou break his neck. All the firstborn of thy sons
thou shalt redeem, and none shall appear before me. Obviously,
that which is spoken of here is a picture, a type. The reason
God gave us all the laws, ceremonies, and rituals of the Old Testament
scriptures were to point to Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who
would accomplish everything portrayed in those types and pictures in
the Old Testament. Now, you don't have to look at
something, read a text and say, now, there's that little word,
thee. What does that mean? Wonder what
deep thing that is. You don't take the types and
tear them apart and get all kinds of stuff out of them. You can
take the types and get them for what they're for. Do you know
I carry in my wallet a picture of my grandchildren. If you look
carefully, you'll see some scratches on the picture. I've had it a
long time. And you'll see some stuff in the background. I don't
know what it is. I've never looked at them. But it's stuff in the background.
And you can look at the picture and just get, oh, what's that? What's that? If you do that,
you're going to miss the picture. You're going to miss the picture.
The types and the events of Old Testament scripture, like the
parables of our Lord, are intended to show something. And that something
is Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. That's what we're looking for.
That's what the scriptures are all about. A few weeks ago, one
of the newer men in our congregation, he's my age, but he's new to
us. He was with me driving over to preach for Brother Todd a
few weeks ago. And on the way home, he said, I've been reading
Joel 2 about the young men seeing heavy dreams, young women having
visions, sons and daughters prophesying. So I've been wondering about
that. And I said to him, Jimmy, let me help you. Don't be too
much concerned about what all that's talking about. Don't be
too much concerned about it. If you want to know what Joel was
talking about, go over to Acts chapter 2 and read what Peter
said. He said, boys, this is it. What was Joel talking about?
Christ is king. He's poured out his spirit by
virtue of his shed blood upon all flesh. And that's what it's
about. Who cares about the philistine
dreams and visions and talking and such as that? But those things,
you'll understand a little later. Oh, this is the fulfilling of
the new covenant and all our sons and daughters shall be taught
of. That's what it's talking about. It's talking about Christ.
The whole book of God is about Jesus Christ and him crucified. And let me show you four things
with regard to this lamb and this ass spoken of in Exodus
34. Number one, the ass Being an unclean thing could not be
accepted of God. And you and me, fallen men, being
unclean can never be accepted of God. Never. According to the
law of God, no animal was considered clean except that which both
divided the hoof and chewed the cud. And by that standard of
the ceremonial law, every man is unclean. But the Lord God
sacrificed a lamb His own darling Son, the Lamb of God, for chosen
sinners, and made them all together clean. Now, I got to get that
out first. This is the great wonder of grace,
being redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, God's
darling Son. Every redeemed sinner, every
sinner believing on the Son of God is clean. without spot, without
blemish. They washed their garments white
and made them clean in the blood of the Lamb. God Almighty, by
His superabundant grace, has made us utterly clean by the
sin atoning blood of His Son, the Lord Jesus. Like the unclean
ass, fallen man, is incapable of acceptance with God, because
we are all as, and our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. We're unclean. This is not something that I
have to convince you of. Unclean. You may pretend otherwise,
but you're unclean. And you know, you have a tough
time living with yourself. You're unclean in your heart,
in your heart. People flippantly say, the Lord
knows my heart. You best understand he sure does.
You're unclean in your heart. And my dear friend Claudia Howard,
sweet lady, I've never seen her do anything wrong. And I've known
her for 110 years. Now Milton may have, I doubt
it, but I never saw her do anything wrong. And she's as unclean as
the vilest harlot. Did you hear me? Unclean at heart.
There's nothing but uncleanness in you. Unclean. in everything
unclean, in every thought of your mind. Full of sin. That's
what we are by nature. That means that it's impossible
for any man or any woman ever to do anything acceptable to
God. Who can bring a clean thing out
of an unclean? You just can't do it. You just
can't do it. You can fish around in that garbage can all you want
to, and you just can't pull anything clean out of that. You just can't
do it. Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? That
means you can't obey God's law. You can't do good. You cannot justify yourself. You cannot atone for your sin. You cannot redeem yourself. People these days like to talk
about, I believe in redemption. I believe man can redeem himself.
Most folks think that nonsense, but it's just not so. You can't
atone for your sin. Many years ago, my parents were
visiting with us in Danville. They're both gone now. And right
before they left, Dad started to leave the door, walk out the
kitchen door into the garage, and he said, he was still living
over in Junction City then, he said with tears running down
his cheeks, he said, son, I hope somehow before I die I'll be
able to make up with God for all I've done. And I said to
him with tears bursting from my heart, Dad, would to God you'd
learn to quit trying. You can't make up when you're
unclear, you're unclear. Stay with the image given in
our text. A man could take his filthy jackass and wash him in
Tide and put some cologne on him and make him smell real good. but he's still a jackass. He
could put him in the field with his sheep, and the jackass leaves
those sheep, but he's still a jackass. That doesn't change him at all.
You can change all kinds of things outwardly. If you wanted to,
by some monstrous deed, I guess you could even make his feet
to be cloven, just cut them, just cut them apart there, so
the hoof is cloven. And he'd look clean, by standing,
but he's still a jackass, and he's still unclean. Man cannot
be made clean by religion and by reformation and by works and
even by good training, not even by raising them in great discipline. Man cannot be made clean by anything
a man does, not himself, or anyone else. Job said, if I justify
myself, my own mouth is the second thing. Just because the jackass
is unclean, God won't relinquish his plan. He's still God. The
firstborn of every creature, male or female, is mine! Mine,
sanctifying to me the firstborn. Whatsoever openeth the womb among
the children of Israel, both the man and beast is mine. The
Lord God would not receive the jackass. He refused to accept
the ass because it was unclean, but he said it's mine. I won't
give it up. God claimed all. as his own. Nothing has changed.
God still claims his right. You're here in his hand. He can
and will do with you whatever he pleases. The sinner can't
be accepted by God. and he can't serve God, still
God's claims upon us. He still demands that we, unclean
though we are, be sanctified. That word means made holy. God
demands the same thing of you as he demanded of Abraham. He
demands the same thing of me as he demanded of his servants
in the past. Sanctify yourselves, therefore,
and be ye holy. For I am the Lord your God, as
he which hath called you is holy. Be ye holy in all manner of conversation. Pastor, that takes in everything.
Be ye holy in every part of your lives, because it is written,
be ye holy, for I am holy. Now, I know what preachers and
churches and religious nonsense do with that. Be as holy as you
can. That's not what it said, because that's unclean. He said,
be ye holy, for I'm holy. There are many who tell us that
God does not require more of a man than he can perform, and
that man is not responsible for what he's not able to do. But
that's simply not true. God commanded Abraham, and he
commands us, I am the almighty God. Walk before me and be thou
perfect. That's all it requires. In our
text, the law demands that the ass either be redeemed or his
neck be broken. And the same is true in this
gospel day. The gift of God is eternal life
and the wages of sin is death. Your inability to pay your debt
doesn't relinquish the debt. Your inability to obey God doesn't
relieve you of your responsibility. Can you imagine a fellow standing
in a court of law? Well, these days I can almost
imagine it, but it's laughable. Standing in a court of law and
he looks at the judge and he says, Your Honor, I have such
a terrible propensity to steal that I find it irresistible.
I just cannot help stealing, robbing, thieving every time
I have the opportunity. And since that's my nature, and
I can't help it, then I can't be charged with any crime before
the law. Yeah, what stupidity. Oh yes. Your inability doesn't
excuse you. Your inability doesn't relieve
you of your responsibility. The sinner's inability to trust
Christ as his Savior and Lord doesn't relieve him of responsibility. I'm fully aware that there are
folks who say, well, you can't preach man's responsibility,
God's absolute sovereignty. I reckon I can. God does. God
does. Turn to Proverbs 1. Let me show
you. Man's inability is not his misfortune. It is his sin. His
inability is not his misfortune. It's his sin. Listen to how God
speaks in the opening of the Book of Wisdom, Proverbs 1.23.
Turn you at my reproof. Behold, I will pour out my spirit
unto you. What a word. What a word. God
says, you turn at my reproof. I'll pour out my spirit unto
you. He didn't say this will be my response. It'll just look
like it. You turn, and you've already
been turned. Turn at my rebuke. I'll pour
out my spirit into you. I will make known my words unto
you, because I have called, and ye refused. Watch this. I stretched
out my hand, and no man regarded. Is that what it reads? Is that
what it reads? I stretched out my hand, and no man regarded.
But you said it not, all my counsel. And wouldn't none of my reproof.
Some of you have been hearing the gospel all your life. You've
been blessed of God with parents who brought you to sit under
his word all your life. And you sit and stick your fingers
in your ears. Don't you think God doesn't hear
you? Here's the result. I also will
laugh at your calamity. I'll mock when your fear cometh.
When your fear cometh as a desolation and your destruction cometh as
a whirlwind, when distress and anguish cometh upon you, then
shall they call upon me, but I will not answer. They shall
seek me early. But they shall not find me, for
that they hated knowledge, and did not chew the fear of the
Lord. They would none of my counsel. They despised all my reproof.
Therefore shall they eat the fruit of their own way, and be
filled with their own. If you go to hell, you're just
going to hell, because that's what you chose. Nobody goes to
hell accidentally. Eat the fruit of their own way,
destroyed by their own devices. For the turning away of the simple
shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
But whoso hearkeneth, I stretched out my hand. Come unto me all
you that I'll give you rest. I won't have that! Oh, but whoso
hearkeneth, shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from the fear
of evil. The ass could not be accepted,
but the ass still belonged to God. And fallen man cannot be
received as he is, sinful, guilty, and unclean. But God says, I
won't relinquish my claim. Redeem the ass, sanctify it to
me, or break its neck. If you will not be sanctified
to God, he'll condemn you. If you refuse to believe on the
Son of God, he'll send you to hell. I know we live in this
generation, everybody does everything they can to run away from Scripture.
There's some folks today, I have folks call me right to me every
now and then, about every week anymore, How can you believe
in hell and judgment, damnation, because Christ died? That's how
I believe. To deny eternal punishment is to deny the need of satisfaction. To deny the justice of God and
to declare that Christ died for nothing. What stupidity. All
right, here's the third thing. I want you to see in our text.
That the Lord God met the difficulty. God says the firstborn is mine. Man or beast is mine. I won't
relinquish my claim even if it's an unclean animal. I'll still
say this is mine. Redeem it or kill it. And the
Lord God met the difficulty by providing a substitute for the
ass. God met the difficulty by providing
a substitute for the ass. met the difficulty by providing
a substitute for the end. The most wondrous thing in the
world is substitutionary redemption. Redemption by the blood of Jesus
Christ, God's darling son. Anything will fail. Oh, glory. I can't think of anything comparably
wondrous. God sent his own son into the
world to suffer and die in the room instead of sinners such
as we are. that we might be made the righteousness
of God and embraced by God. Embraced by God. Forever. Perfect. Holy. God. Holy as God him. Man, we're told, is like a wild
ass's coat. He snuffs it. That's our nature.
Now, we get the idea when we see, what was that, two mules,
Sarah and that, what do you call it, Nun, riding on that donkey.
They're such nice, gentle animals. Well, you see the result of a
lot of things. But that's not exactly the kind
of animals they are. Some of you may have gotten some.
Get them from the federal government. My brother-in-law keeps them
with his cattle all the time. They keep coyotes away. They keep coyotes away. How come? Because they're mean. They're
mean, and they're stubborn, and they bite, and they kick, and
they're dirty. That pretty well describes a
jackass. That pretty well describes. And the only way the jackass
can be accepted of God is by blood atonement. And the only
way a sinner can be accepted of God is by the precious blood
of God's Son. By the doing and dying of the
Lamb of God. The jackass is spoken of as a
wild ass's coat because he's wild. And the redeemed sinner
comes to believe on the Son of God. If today you believe him,
it will be the result of his work of grace for you and in
you, called a work of almighty, omnipotent, irresistible grace. When I first moved to Danville,
we had a couple in the congregation who raised thoroughbred show
horses. They had a five-time world champion
Palomino drop dead one day. I hadn't been pastured very long,
and I told Shelby, I said, I'm just dead sure she's going to
want me to go over there and preach a funeral for that horse,
and I'm not going to do it. But they dropped dead. And they explained
to me how they trained their horses. You know, when I was
a boy, I was bigger than all my cousins. I lived in the city,
but they lived in the mountains of North Carolina. And they always
had ponies. And they weren't big enough to ride them. They'd
throw them off. Most of the time, they were Shetland ponies. Man,
when I was 12 years old, I'd get on a Shetland pony and my
feet would drag to the ground. And I could break them. I could break
them. If it had been a big horse, I would have handled it. I had
nothing to do with it. I could break those Shetland ponies. Before
I was gone, they could all ride them. How'd you do it? You ride
them till you ride them down. You just ride them down till
they got no strength left. You just ride them down. Brother
Bob Lips told me, he said, so no, you don't want to do that
with a horse. You want to break his spirit. Not when it's your horse. We
gentle. We gentle. That's not how God deals with a horse. Or
with a wild ass's cone. He throws on you the saddle of
his omnipotent grace and rides you down to the dust. Until at
last you can't fist and you believe on the Son of God. You came in
here this morning, you fist shoved in God's face. I will not believe! And now all of a sudden you,
what happened? What happened? Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest and calls to approach him. Who do not believe, they
are the wild asses called. in whom God hath blinded the
minds of them, lest the light of the gospel, the glory of God,
should shine in their heart in the face of Jesus God, who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness, shined in our heart to give the
light of the knowledge of the Son of God. of the glory of God. Oh may God do. I urge you then,
believe on the Son of God. He died that we might never die. He was cursed that we might be
forever blessed. He was rejected that we might
be forever accepted. He was despised that we might
forever be approved. He was forsaken, that we might
never be... He was made sin, that we might
forever be the righteousness of God. Wonder why anybody would... Wonder why anybody would rebel
against their cause they're unclean. A wild ass. bucking and snarling
at the wind, rebelling against God. That's called un. It's called un. If you refuse
to believe, you will not have God's redemption. You will not
have God's savior. There's another thing. There's
another thing. If thou redeem him not, then shalt thou break
the neck. There's no alternative. It's
salvation or damnation. Heaven or hell. Faith in Christ
or everlasting in separation. What is hell? I don't, I don't,
I don't want to know. It's a pit, a pit with no bottom.
It's darkness, darkness, no light. It's overwhelming despair, despair
with its hatred, utter hatred. Hatred with no love, no mercy,
no goodness. Death. Separation from God. Full consciousness that is so.
Isolation! Utter isolation. Isolation. All alone forever. Amid untold
tears. For the worry of a man's guilty
conscience. Fully aware. Gnaw all that. And the fire. The fire of that
fully awakened guilt. burn and cannot be because the
breaking of the neck will never make you. The breaking of the
neck! will never make the ass clean. That can only be done
by the oppression. God give you faith. Oh, God,
to believe on his of hell. Preacher, I haven't heard any
of you sovereign grace folks talk like that in a long time. Time
you did. Time you did. Believe or be damned. Come to
Christ or go to hell. And I want you to come to Christ. Oh, I want you to know. Oh, I
want you to know. The most wondrous, glorious,
blessed, happiest thing in the world. Forgiveness by the blood
of the Lord.