Okay, if you wish to follow along
Galatians chapter 1 again This will be a little different
this morning I'm going to Kind of go back
a couple verses start reading. I'll start reading in verse 11
I'll read all the way all the way to the end of the chapter
for context sake I'm going to mention some things about the
context, but I will not per se preach from the context itself.
I hope this will become a little clearer here in a moment. Galatians
chapter one, for the sake of the context, let's begin in verse
11. But I certify you, brethren. In other words, he's saying I'm
giving you my word on this. But I certify you, brethren,
that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I
neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation
of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my conversation
in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted
the church of God and wasted it, and profited in the Jews'
religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more
exceeding zealous of the traditions of my fathers. But when it pleased
God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by
His grace to reveal His Son in me that I might preach Him among
the heathen, immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood. Neither
went I up to Jerusalem to them that were apostles before me,
but I went into Arabia and returned again unto Damascus. Then after
three years, I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with
him 15 days. But other of the apostles saw
I none, save James the Lord's brother. Now the things which
I write unto you, behold, before God I lie not. Afterwards, I
came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia, and was unknown
by face unto the churches of Judea, which were in Christ. but they had heard only that
he which persecuted us in time past now preacheth the faith
which he once destroyed. Which once he destroyed. And
they glorified God in me. Now, Paul actually continues
this these words from all the way
through chapter two, but I'm not gonna take the time to read
that chapter, because in that chapter, we will slow down considerably
and look at different things in detail. Now, my title, again,
I'm gonna talk about the text, but I'm not gonna preach from
the text per se. But my title this morning is
this, Free Grace, Start to Finish. Now in our text, and as I have
mentioned just beyond, through chapter two all the way to the
end of the chapter, Paul defends his message and ministry. This
is what he's doing specifically in what I read verses 11 through
verse 21 of chapter one. He is defending his message and
ministry. And he does so with six arguments. Now this is the context. First
of all, in verses 11 and 12, Paul states it clearly. He was
converted and commissioned by Christ himself. He had heard
Stephen preach, but he was not converted under the preaching
of Stephen. He was converted directly and
personally by an actual encounter with Jesus Christ on the road
to Damascus. and was personally commissioned
by Jesus Christ himself into the apostleship. His second argument
for this, that is his defense of his message and ministry.
Secondly, in verses 13 through 14, his defense of this is this,
Paul's refusal to include Jewish law and tradition was not out
of ignorance to either. He was steeped in. He was steeped
in the law, but also steeped in the Jews' tradition about
the law. So his leaving out the law or
tradition for righteousness before God, again, was not because somehow
he didn't really understand those things. He was steeped in them.
Thirdly, his third defense of his message and ministry, Paul's
first years of conversion and instruction verses 15 through
17, was independent of other apostles and other men. This is not so of us, because
we are not apostles. His fourth defense of his ministry,
and that is in verses 18 through 24. Paul's first meeting with
apostles included only two. only two. And I'm not here to,
I'm not going to take time to deal with the fact that he calls
James the brother of our Lord and apostle. I'm not going to
even deal with that. I've read some of the commentaries
and all it does is will confound and confuse you. Don't overthink
some things. Paul's first meeting with apostles.
Included only two and I did check this out as I read through some
of the some of the commentaries This was a casual not an official
visit Okay, he spent 15 days with Peter and then he met James,
the Lord's brother, and that was it, that was all. Here's
his fifth defense of his message and ministry. Fifthly, Paul's
first official visit to Jerusalem, and remember, at that time, Jerusalem
was considered the home church, the central hub of Christianity
or the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul's first
official visit to Jerusalem with Barnabas, Not alone, but with
Barnabas. Paul's message and ministry,
according to chapter two, verses one through 10, was received
by them all. And then sixly, his sixth defense
of his message and ministry, it was this. Anything contrary
to Paul's message, Paul rebuked. You hear me? You'll see this
in chapter two, verses 11 through 21. Anything contrary to Paul's
message was rebuked, no matter who the source was. Because he
even rebuked Peter to his face. Now we'll, God willing, deal
with some of this later, but he rebuked Peter to his face. He made it a public thing because
Peter's problem happened publicly. Things that happen privately
should be dealt with how? privately, and yet their religion
today, that which calls itself Christianity, they're kind of
like a lot of jobs I know of. One person messes up, then everybody
gets a chewing for it. You ever seen that happen? One
person really fouls up, so the whole group has to have this
big meeting. No, if something's done individually and privately,
then that person is to be dealt with individually and privately,
but we'll talk about that later. Now, as I was reading this, And
of course, I'd read it before, and I had pondered to some degree
about it. I thought, how am I gonna preach
for that? Because the fact is, these are
just historical facts proving the message and ministry of the
Apostle Paul. But all they are are just Christ
taught me and nobody else. And even after, what, 14 years,
you see that in verse two? After 14 years, he still was
not seeking, is everybody like me? It's my message to you. Paul's message he had received
directly from Jesus Christ. There was no backing up on that
message. But this thought filled my mind
when I was pondering these, what I'm going to term historical
proofs. Paul expressed in verses 11 through 24. Think of it. Saul of Tarsus could have never
conceived the free grace that was poised to invade his heart,
his mind, his life, and his soul. Here he is going about his merry
way in his family religion, and at the top of his game, was very
well known by his peers and those above him, just very well known
and respected and loved And he did not see this coming. And I thought about this. I read
what he went through for 14 years. And yet today, a man gets a call
from the Lord, and he's ready for seminary, and after four
or five years of seminary, where's my pastor at? You know? Aren't
they? That's not even the message.
That's not even the message. Again, this thought filled my
mind when I was pondering these historical proofs that Paul used
to express the reality, the certainty of his message and his ministry.
Just three things. I won't say brief, but just three
things. Think about it. Saul of Tarsus,
when all of this began to happen, Saul of Tarsus was not contemplating
a give your heart to Jesus decision. He wasn't doing as many who come
and hear preaching from the Bible over and over and have invitations
and they're implored upon it. Beg, come forward, make a decision
for Jesus. Look at the apostle, no, strike
that. Look at Saul of Tarsus' demeanor,
his character, his state of being, his mind and his heart when this
took place. I'm just gonna read it. It'll
be familiar to you. And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings
and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high
priest. This was after he heard Stephen
preach. Now granted, as you read the
context, he was being pricked, but he was not converted. He
was so, as a matter of fact, this just kind of stirred the
fire, if you will. And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings. Compare that to the way so-called
Christian religion conducts itself in our day and age. They're trying
to ease people into the kingdom. They're trying to educate people
into the kingdom. They do not see this as merely
preaching. Proclaiming, remember, I was
called to preach him. They do not see this as merely
God's ordained means, is this, proclaim the person and work
of Jesus Christ, then let the chips fall where they may. Stephen
was dead. And Saul of Tarsus was glad. He had held the coats. And I
take it that there was no law. There's no law I could find that,
Ellen, that you had to take off your coat before you stoned someone
to death. I think it's so they could just
get a good swing. And they were taking their coats
off, and Saul of Tarsus, a young man, stood by and said, here,
I'll hold it for you. And they stoned him. They battered
him to death. Now, one might think, well, oh,
not a conscience. Scream with guilt. No. No. But yet, this is what religion,
they use philosophical and psychological tactics to get men to feel guilty. And so, yet, breathing out threatenings. Our God saves rebels. We don't ease people into the
kingdom. They are assaulted by the king
of the kingdom, either directly, as Saul of Tarsus was, or through
the preaching of the gospel and the power of the spirit of God. And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings
and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, since he couldn't
get to Jesus of Nazareth, he considered him dead. Right? He wasn't believing he was raised
from the dead. Dead, but I'll go after these
people who follow him. Look, went to the high priest
and desired of him, they didn't even have to ask him, Saul, would
you do this for us? He volunteered. Do you see his state? Do you
see his heart? He's not a seeker. He's not contemplating,
should I make a decision for Jesus? Should I walk an aisle? Should I pray a prayer? Should
I give my heart to the Lord? And desired of him, that is the
high priest, and desired of him letters to Damascus, to the synagogues,
that if he find any of this way, whether they were men or women,
no quarter, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. But here it is. And as he journeyed,
the same spirit of defiance hatred, rebellion. And as he journeyed,
he came near Damascus, and suddenly, you see it? And suddenly, there
shined round about him a light from heaven, and he fell to the
earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest
thou me? Now I want you to think about
what's in that word. Christ is saying he has so joined
himself to us. And he has so joined us to him
that when people persecute us for his namesake, they are actually
persecuting him. Gives new meaning to bone of
his bone and flesh of his flesh. You remember the prophet of old
prophesied, he that toucheth the apple or he that toucheth you toucheth
what? The apple of God's eye. Again, this man Saul of Tarsus
was not contemplating a give your heart to Jesus decision. Today, it's just everybody's
about decision. They want man to make some move
for God, and I'm saying it takes a move from God upon a man or
a woman. Now I realize this is contrary
to all they teach and say because they teach and say God's trying
his best to do this for everybody. And he's kind of dependent upon
men like Joe and Paul and myself and others to kind of get out
there and get it going. If the stones, if these be silent,
the stones will cry out. Now I mentioned this to Penny
this morning. If God gives us a means, we must stick to it. You hear it? If God gives us a means, we must
stick to it. But God is not bound by it. You see what I'm saying? We must
stick to it. But God is not bound by it. Now somebody said, what's all
that mean? God does what he wants. That's what it means. Look where
I was. I was not in the midst of a free grace conference. I
was not looking for free sovereign grace to be preached. I was in
the midst of a place that despised this gospel. The only thing they
ever said about it was in derision and they never said much because
I think they were so afraid of it. And yet God sent someone
to me. and I was still full of hatred
and envy and spite. And yet God Almighty turned the
light on. Just like, it's very similar
to what he did here. He turned the light on to Saul.
What happened, it blinded him. It blinded him. It's kind of
a contradiction in terms, isn't it? Think about it, he wasn't
contemplating, now should I really believe what that fellow, he
was dead, he was glad he was dead. He was going to get more
people locked up because of this. He wasn't looking for that decision
for Jesus, and neither were we. Neither were we. What does the
book say? I'm not gonna have you turn to
it. You just listen to what the book says. Listen to what it
says. As it is written, there is none
righteous, no, not one, unless you've come to Jesus. Is that
what it says? No. There's none righteous, not one,
not one. Very few people in so-called
Christianity want to deal with what I'm about to read in and
of itself. They want to read it and then
say, but if you will, but if you do, but look at what it says.
As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one. That's
our state. There is none that understandeth. There is none that seeketh after
God. And someone here, maybe even
here, someone here said, but I did. At best, that's flesh. That's flesh. Because it's to
take away the glory and the honor from God. Thy people, it's prophesied,
thy people shall be willing. Yes, they shall be willing, but
when and only when? In the day of thy power, not
their power. Outside of the work of God, I'm
still right here. I'm still what I'm reading to
you today. There is none righteous, no,
not one. There is none that understandeth.
There's none that seeketh after God. They're all gone out of
the way. Think about, they are together.
If you lumped us all together, they are what? Unprofitable. But, you know, God sees the good
in everybody. There ain't none. There ain't
none. God don't see what ain't there. There's none that seeketh after
God. They're all going out of the way there. Together become
unprofitable. Remember I said there's none
righteous. That's our state. Now look at our action. There
is none that doeth good. That's still righteous. There's
none that doeth good. No, not one. So it's not I have no good, but
if I could just get it going. Isn't that what they're basically
saying today? Now, yeah, you're really a sinner, and yeah, you're
really bad, but if you just... There's none that doeth good,
no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulcher. I've never been to one, but you
ever went over to it? I'm gonna talk about these open
graves before we put somebody in it. I'm talking about one
where they put somebody in it and we don't have them all cascified
in a big concrete box. You just, there's an open grave
with a carcass laying in it. Ellen, I figure that's pretty
nasty. To go over there. Their throat is an open sepulcher
with their tongues they've used to see the poison of ashes under
their lips whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness and
most people there think about swearing. swearing, now that
certainly would be included, but you know what is also cursing
and bitterness? I will not have this man reign
over me. That's cursing. As you said,
if that's who God is, I don't want him. Whose mouth is full
of cursing and bitterness, their feet are swift to shed blood. Paul's already mentioned it.
Follow me home this evening, see somebody cut me off, you'll
probably see that. swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in
their ways. The way of peace have they not
known. There is no fear of God before
their eyes. So how's a person get from that
to something that's not that? See, this is not man's pretty
bad off, but if he, this is who man is. This is who man is. And yet, we read this. Again,
I may have you turn here in a moment. Most of you are gonna know these
passages once I read them. Listen to this. Nope, hold on. I'll get there. All right, listen. But Esaias,
that is Isaiah, but Esaias is very bold, you see. Very, even in Isaiah's time. This is not new. As we will see,
God willing, later, if we, I lived that long, you lived that long,
the Lord doesn't return. This is not a new gospel. This
is not Paul's gospel as opposed to Peter's gospel. This is God's
gospel. But Esaias is very bold and saith,
I was found of them that sought me not. Now when you feel pretty good
about yourself, that doesn't make much sense to you, does
it? When you feel like you've got a free will, and you can
exercise it if you just will, that doesn't really compute. But when God turns the light
on, and you realize that the only light is in here, and there's
no light in here, hmm. Let me read it. But Esaias is
very bold and saith, I was found of them that sought me not. I
was made manifest unto them that asked not after me. That's how God does it. A rebel's
just going along, going along, going along his or her everyday
life of whatever it is. It might be right in the midst
of the preaching of free grace, but they're still just doing
their own thing. Oh, they may bring in a little free grace
here and a verse here and a verse there that kind of comforts them
in times of trouble, but all of a sudden, God Almighty stops
them in their tracks. Arrested by grace, overthrown
by grace, conquered by grace, and all of it is centralized
in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Hmm. I was not seeking him. But I found him. How does that
work? It's called grace. It's called
an act of God. Christ was made manifest to me.
I wasn't even looking for him. As a matter of fact, I, like
Saul, said, I don't want that one. That ain't the one I want.
I know there might be one, but that ain't the one I want. But
Jesus of Nazareth is God's Christ. But here's another thought. Saul,
Saul of Tarsus, had no, let me turn to my passage first. Now
you can turn to the, well, you can turn to the others as well.
Turn to Acts chapter nine now. Think about it. Saul of Tarsus
had no idea, up to a certain point, he had no idea that God
had determined all his life. Here in this letter, he said,
God determined that even when I was in my mother's womb. He
didn't recognize that till much later. God had determined all of his
life. Look at chapter nine, Acts nine.
Let's go on. And as he journeyed, he came
near Damascus, and suddenly there shined right about him a light
from heaven. And he fell to the earth and
heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou
me? And he said, who art thou, Lord?
Didn't know, didn't understand, did he? Well, you think all of
a sudden, well, isn't this him? You see, even after God saves
you, he's still got to reveal everything to you in his good
time, at his good time. He don't save us and make us
smart, then we start learning. He saves us and we're still stupid,
ignorant, and dumb. And he just teaches us as he's
pleased. Where he knows we need it, as we need it, when we need
it. And it's seeing, even then, Jack,
it's seeing through a glass darkly. But thank God now we see. We didn't even recognize the
dark glass before. Look, let's go on. Who art thou,
Lord? The Lord said, I am. Now notice
he didn't say God. He would have been correctly
right in that. But Saul of Tarsus believed in
a God in heaven. I am Jesus, do you see it? Whom thou persecutest. It is hard for thee to kick against
the pricks. And he trembling and astonished
said, Lord, here's what I'll do for you. Now is that the way religion,
even so-called Christian religion? Come tell God what you'll do
for him. Come tell him what you'll give him. Come tell him, he said,
Lord, what would you have me to do, you see? And the Lord said unto him, arise,
go into the city, and it shall be told thee, now look, and it
shall be told thee what thou, do you see that next four letter
word? M-U-S-T. What thou must do. And then you still, you still,
even with all of this testimony of God's word, even with an example
of God Almighty arresting a rebel on the road to Damascus, people
will then turn around and say, well, I fought the Lord for years
and years and years. No, you fought the Lord since
you was conceived and born until the day he conquered you by his
grace. Now, either he conquered you
by his grace or he didn't, and you're still under the flesh
and under self, and under self will, or he came and invaded
your life. Saul had no idea. Turn to Psalm,
the 31st Psalm. I know, I figure this Psalm's
gonna be familiar as well, but I got a couple things I wanna
say about Psalm 31. There's one verse I wanna read
there. Now the verse I'm about to read is often used at funerals
and the such like, and don't get me wrong, no one get me wrong,
I'm not doubting that. I'm not doubting that, but look
at the 31st Psalm, verse 15, and I want to read the first
part of it. My times are in thy hand. Do you see that? Now notice,
though, what it says. It don't say my time is in thy
hand. Now, oftentimes that's preached,
as I said, like at a funeral, their time. That's true, but
this is not just my time. It's not just my end. My beginning
was in his hand. Everything about my life, my
times. Even when Saul was doing this,
if you will. Even when I was doing this, Jack. My times are in thy hand. Look at chapter 65, and you know,
Joe preached on this just a few Sundays ago. Think about it.
The 65th Psalm. Verse four, blessed is the man
whom thou choosest. That's where it comes down. And
that's where people say, well, but that just can't be it. But
that is it. The only way I can get from there's
none righteous, no not one, is if he chooses otherwise. And
he chooses me to be a recipient of the otherwise. Blessed is
the man whom thou chooseth. But look, it's not just some
open-ended choice. And causeth to approach unto
death. It's that simple and yet that
profound. And causeth to approach unto
thee that he may dwell in thy courts. Do you see it? That's
how you go from Romans chapter three, verses nine, all the way
down to about verse 20. None righteous, none seek after
God, none understands. Right there, that one act of
God. Him choosing and causing you
to approach unto him. That he may dwell in thy courts,
we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of
thy house. Holy Temple. Now here's where,
here's how, here's how you know whether God's really done this
for you or not. Are you satisfied with what God
does? That's it. Are you satisfied
with it or this just can't be enough? Now listen to me. I'm
not meaning this to be mean. How often do we allow the flesh
to raise its ugly little head? So well, I just don't know if
I'm really one of God's and I don't know if I'll make it to the end
and I don't know blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Did God lay hold of you or not?
Now if he didn't, quit acting like he did and cry out for him. Oh God, do it. And if he does,
it won't be because you cried out. It'll be because he brought
you to that state. We'll look at that in a moment.
Beloved, but when, I think of that one blind man, and remember,
Christ gave him sight, but it wasn't full yet. I see men as
trees walking. But when those people ask him
about, well, this man's a sinner, he said, I don't know whether
he's a sinner or not. He didn't know much. Ellen, he
didn't know much. But what did he know? I once
was blind. Now I see. And my brothers and
sisters, I know this, not because of me, but because he chose me
and calls me to approach unto him. He brought me into his courts
and I'm satisfied with it. I used to not see it all. Now
I see some. Now I see some. But here's the
third thing, let me move along. Turn to 1 Timothy chapter one.
1 Timothy chapter one. Now, I just think, this is my
own mind. Now, I'm not saying this is what
our beloved brother thought as he wrote this letter to the gladiator,
but as he started writing about that, he said, but God called
me by His grace. But when it pleased God, I can
just see him, his memory going back. Here he is, yet breathing
out slaughter. And all of a sudden, Christ said,
no, that's enough. You're not going any further.
Now listen to what he wrote to Timothy, our brother Timothy.
Verse 12 of 1 Timothy 1. And I thank Christ Jesus our
Lord, who hath, now here's the, enabled me. How many times does religion
read from this right here? They don't even mind verse 15.
We'll look at it in a moment. But they don't see that. They
don't talk about that. They don't dwell on that. That
hath what? Enabled me. for that he counted me faithful. He didn't see me faithful, he
didn't see I would be faithful, he counted me faithful. In other words, this in the Greeks,
he by his own deeming, by his own D-E-E-M-I-N-G, he commanded
me, there's a faithful one. There's a faithful one. Counted
me faithful, putting me, do you see that? not keep working on
me and working on me for years and years, I just kept fighting,
putting me in the ministry, who was before a blasphemer. Do you see that? A blasphemer. And I just kind of figured he
wouldn't, please, I will say this so you know what I'm talking
about, but I'm not gonna use the word, I'll just use the letters. He didn't go around saying GD
this, GD that, did he? No, mm-mm, mm-mm. He was a law
man. He was a law man. He wouldn't
go around GD this and GD that, but he was still what? A blasphemer. Why? Because he rejected the
Messiah when he came. He believed one was coming. No
doubt believed one was coming. But when he actually came, he
said, I'll wipe his name off the face of the earth. who was
before a blasphemer and a persecutor and injurious, but I obtained
mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief." And let me tell
you something, that's where we are. Unbelief is not a well-informed
opposite side. Unbelief is not a well-taught,
well, but see, I'm a Gnostic because nobody's ever really
proved anything to me. This ain't what it's about. Unbelief
is ignorance of the living God, but it is a willing ignorance. You see, most people think of
ignorance, they think that poor old fella out there ain't got
half a mind. I mean, no matter how many years
of school you put him through, his mind's just not capable.
Our minds are at enmity against God. Our ignorance is a willing
ignorance. But look, because I did it ignorantly
in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord was what? And here's
what it says, exceeding abundant with faith and love, which is
in Christ Jesus. So where does his faith and love
for Christ come from? The grace of God, the abundant
grace of God. Look, this is a faithful save,
and worthy of all the acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners, and I am one of the worst of them. One
of the worst of them. You see, again, think about Saul
became gratefully indebted to God's free grace. Because it
had really happened to him, he couldn't get away from it. It
was free grace, start to finish. If you've just kinda maybe tagged
along, well, that's interesting, it kinda seems like what the
book says, and that's what I believe. Well, maybe sooner or later,
you'll just finally filter off to the edge. But if God ever
gets ahold of you and arrests you, you'll never get away. He's never lost one person that
he ever arrested. Not one, not one. Turn to the 103rd Psalm. I'll
end with this because it's lengthy. The 103rd Psalm. See if this,
as I read this Psalm and make a statement or two, I ask you, I'm not asking you
to prove it to me or to anybody else. I'm asking you relate to
this. The 103rd Psalm. It is a Psalm
of David. Bless the Lord, O my soul. and
all that is within me, bless his holy name. Why? Because we
just gotta, it don't flow from us naturally. It does not, it
does not. Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and
forget not all his benefits. Why? Because we are so prone
to. who forgiveth all thine iniquities,
who healeth all thy diseases, maybe by giving you one and taking
you on to glory. He will, but our flesh is well
healed of my diseases. I get a disease, I get well in
this life. For what, another disease? Another
trouble? He does heal our diseases. One
day, Jack, every problem I got gonna be gone. Look, who redeemeth
thy life from destruction. Ever been on that road? Ever
been on that road? Who crowneth thee with loving
kindness and tender mercies. Ain't that good enough? Don't
have to be a new car, brand new house, does it? Ain't this loving
kindness and tender mercies? who satisfy thy mouth with good
things, so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles. What are we talking about? I
realize, and some here, others, you get older, your mind begins
to go. Things happen to you. But let me tell you something
what you've known Concerning the truth of the person and the
work of Christ since God Almighty saved you no matter what you
have forgotten today You know far more than most everybody
else out there have ever understood Look at it The Lord executeth
righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed. He made
known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of men.
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. Listen, he hath not dealt with
us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
So the next time your flesh tells you, well, if I hadn't have done
this, God wouldn't have brought that on me. Be careful. You're getting nothing compared
to what you ought to get. I'm not saying you didn't do
what you did wrong. And they're not reaping what you've sown. I'm not saying that. We reap
what we sow, but we don't reap nothing what we are owed. 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 hath 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 what? Just what dust Anyone who would doubt that free
reigning grace unmerited grace unsalt grace Sovereign saving
grace is not absolutely Essential start to finish does not see
their utter ruin like Saul Tarsus did nor like all whom God calls
to They've never known their utter dependency upon Jesus Christ
and his cross work. One other Psalm, just over a
page possibly, Psalm 107. You see, those that are called
by God's grace, they know it, in their absolute need of it,
continually, continually, continually. He doesn't lift us off the dunghill
and seat us among princes and kings to the place to where,
let me state this, to the place to where we forget the dunghill.
Now he takes us off the dunghill and seats us with princes and
kings, but we never forget the dunghill. Now listen, Psalm 107,
oh give thanks unto the Lord for he is good. for his mercy
endureth forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord
say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy. And
where is that enemy? The first and most important
or difficult one is where? Right in here, right in here.
and gathered them out of the lands from the east, from the
west, from the north, from the south. They wandered in the wilderness
in a solitary way. They found no city to dwell in.
Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they cried
unto the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them out of
their distresses." Now look at it. and he led them forth by
the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation. Oh, that men would praise the
Lord for his goodness, for his wonderful works to the children
of men. For he satisfieth the longing
soul and filleth the hungry soul with goodness, such as sit in
darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction
and iron. Because why? Because they rebelled. God's people don't gloss over
that. Religion today, once they get saved, well, they're just
the greatest person ever walked. Sliced bread don't never mount
up what they are. They're great, no. Because they
rebelled against the words of God. They contend, Paul, that's
what you was talking about, the counsel of the Most High. Therefore,
he brought down their heart with labor. They fell down and there
was no help ever been there. Or do you decide just to believe
in Calvinism? Do you decide just to believe
what everybody else believes, hmm? Now look. Then they cried
unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them out of their
distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of
death and break their bands of sunder. Oh, that men would praise
the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the
children of men. But just think about it. Once
God saves you, then everything's great. Right? Just everything
gets to be better. Well, let's look. For he hath
broken the gates of brass, and hath cut the bars of iron asunder.
Fools, because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities,
are afflicted. Their soul abhorreth all manner
of meat, and they draw near unto the gates of death. Then they
cry. Well, I thought they already
cried. Yeah, they have. But you know what he does? He
lifts you up. but he still lets you remember the pit. You're
still gonna see it. You're still gonna know it. Look,
then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble and he saveth them
out of their distresses. He sent his word and healed them
and delivered them from their destructions. Oh, that men would
praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to
the children of men and let them sacrifice the sacrifices of what? Thanksgiving and declare his
works with rejoicing. Don't be embarrassed about what
God done for you. Don't be embarrassed by that. I think about it. Well, okay.
He brings me down, brings me up, brings me down. Somewhere
or another it's got to end. Yeah. But not yet. But not yet. They go down to
the sea in ships. that do business in great waters. This ain't all about just crossing
the creek down here. They do business in great waters.
They see the works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep,
for he commandeth, and raiseth what? The stormy wind, and lifteth
up the waves thereof. They mount up to heaven. That's
these waves, these troubles. They go down again, like this.
Ever been out on sea when it's pretty rough? Like that, up and down. They
mount up to the heaven. They go down again to the depths.
Their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and
fro and stagger like a drunken man and are at their wits end. This ain't the first throws of
conversion. This is the ongoing throws of
salvation. The ongoing throws of salvation.
Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble and he bringeth
them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so
that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad, because they
be quiet. So he bringeth them unto their
desired haven. Here is my question. What is
my desired haven? Is it to be done with me? Is
it to be done with self and to be with him? Or is it just for
him to bless me here? and everything be okay. Which,
Heavenly Father, Lord, these things are too lofty for us. Far beyond our puny, limited
at best, Lord, limited understanding. Lord, we see all that goes on
around us. We see those that you've taken
on before and that we miss so dearly. And yet, Lord, we know
there is that desired haven. Lord, keep us safe by your power,
and your might, and your promise, and by the blood of your Son.
Keep us safe until we actually finally reach that desired haven,
in Christ's name, amen.