We welcome you to the service
this morning. We invite you to take your hymnal. Turn to hymn
number 588. Mighty fortress is our God and
let's stand as we sing. ? Be of good comfort to those in
need ? ? Whose good heart it shall show ? ? As we look on
the sky ? ? This travesty on our way and on the road ahead
? Hail ye in our own strength unborn,
Our shining hope in you we see. All angels will sing. All angels will sing. O'er the ramparts we watched,
were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the
bombs bursting in air, Thank you, may we be seated as
we turn to hymn number 510, He Giveth More Grace. In the orange grove greater,
He saved the slain, And the lovers of grace. To heaven shall we
add His mercy, To love and righteousness all decline. His grace has no limit. His heart has no boundary for
no one to find. No one is his equal. It is in Jesus. He giveth and giveth and giveth
not. We have a choice to watch over
and to rise. When our strength has failed,
the heroes have come. When we wish the end of our hard
resources, His power has no boundary, no
bond to me. Oh, I am His enemy, and He sent
Jesus. He giveth and giveth and giveth
again. Good morning, good morning. We
welcome you this morning. We thank the Lord for his providence
and grace that has brought us into this place this morning.
He only knows where we would be if he had not brought us here. This morning, I want you to turn
in your Bibles to the book of Ecclesiastes. Now, just in case
you were not in Ecclesiastes yesterday, if you will turn to
the Psalms, and then next to the Proverbs, then next to Ecclesiastes,
where the son of David, Solomon, who is Identified as the preacher
here. Writes these words by. Inspiration of God spirit. We want to pray this morning
for those that are sick. Continue to pray for staff and
for Joe. Paul's family. Others that are
sick. That we may not even know about
all cares and troubles personally. Ecclesiastes chapter nine. Now when you read in this book,
you have to do a lot of rereading. And you have to do a lot of thinking
and praying that God will reveal the meaning of these verses to
you, but they say so much when you think about them that we
need to understand. For all this I considered in
my heart, even to declare all this, that the righteous and
the wise and their works are in the hand of God. No man knoweth either love or
hatred by all that is before them. You can't tell by all that's
going on around you, the love of God or the hatred of God. All things come alike to all. There is one event to the righteous
and to the wicked, to the good and to the clean and to the unclean,
to him that sacrifices and to him that sacrifices not. As is the good, so is the sinner,
and he that sweareth as he that feareth an oath. This is an evil
among all things that are done under the sun, so that there
is one event unto all. Yea, also the heart of the sons
of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they
live, and after that they go to the dead. For to him that
is joined to all the living, there is hope. For a living dog
is better than a dead lion. For the living know that they
shall die, but the dead know not anything, neither have they
any more of reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. Also, their
love and their hatred and their envy is now perished. Neither have they any more portion,
a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun. May the Lord give us understanding. Our father, We come before you in our usual unworthiness. We come before you as undeserving
of the least of your mercies. And we dare not lift up our voice
or seek to speak before your throne. were it not for that
one great Mediator, the Mediator, single Mediator, one Mediator
between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. We pray that we
might be received into your presence, Lord, in welcome and blessing
in his name. in his person, in his imputed
righteousness, that we might stand before you and be blessed
joyfully and wisely and justly because of who he is and what
he's done. Lord, we ask you this morning
to help us to receive us unto yourself, and to bless us according
to your wisdom and grace as it is in Christ. We know, Lord,
that you know all things, and that is because you have ordained
all things. And we pray above all things
that thy will would be done on earth. as it is in heaven. May we, because we know something
about you and about your grace and mercy in Christ, be resolved
to trust that will, to rest in that will, to be comforted in
that will, and even to rejoice in that will, to rejoice in all
things as The writer of this book has said this morning in
our reading, all things come to all men, and we neither know
love or hatred from you by the things that come and appear. But we know by your word, and
we know by your son, that all things work together for good,
for them that are called according to your purpose, for them that
love you in Christ Jesus and have experienced your love as
it is in him. We pray in our weakness that
you would help these that we have mentioned. that you would
be pleased to work in every life and heart as it pleases you,
that you would remember mercy to all these that our hearts
go out to of our family and friends and coworkers and the people
all around us in this world. We know that your people are
not of this world. And we know that you pray not
and intercede not for the world. but for those that were given
you out of this world. We pray for them. We pray that
you would sustain us and keep us, that you would cause us,
Lord, to cling to you. We know we are, as the songwriter
wrote, so prone to wander, so prone to leave the God we love. But help us bind our wandering
hearts to thee. and keep us by your grace. Give
us strength that we might do your will, that we might obey
that which you've commanded us, not that we might be saved by
the doing thereof, but that we might do them because you have
saved us all by your grace. We pray for your people. They
are a scattered and persecuted people on this earth. We pray
for every one of them that you would strengthen them and those
who truly preach the gospel to them, the gospel of your glory
and grace. And we pray that you would help
us, watch over us and guide us as we walk through this world
as sojourners and pilgrims, that we might find in every place
you cause us to encamp, Lord, your presence and your blessing. We ask, Lord, now that you will
bless in the service that we might rightly divide the word
of truth, that we might speak right things concerning the Lord
Jesus Christ, and right things concerning men, and right things
concerning how you save your people. We pray and ask you and
thank you for all your multiplied blessings to us. Above that,
which you're able to think and ask of all that's good and especially
all that's eternal, that eternal inheritance that you have reserved
in heaven, incorruptible and undefiled, that fadeth not away. And we look to that prospect
and hope that one with being joint heirs with he who is the
heir, the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray in his name, amen. Once again, in your hymnal 451,
O thou in whose presence, and then Brother Tim, if you'll wait
on the congregation. Okay. I know I'll burn like you and
my soul in the fire of my salvation, my own. of of My road of angels and my song
I sing. And I will smile at the tears
I have shed. We know what I've been through. for his word. He speaks and we heard what he
willed with his voice. He endures the praise of the
Lord. And with thee I will never rejoice. so so so you do do Come Thou Fount of every blessing
To my heart to sing Thy grace Streams of mercy never ceasing
Call for souls about as brave Teach me some melodious sonnet
sung by flaming tongues above. Praise the mountain fixed upon
it, mount of God's redeeming love. And here I raise my Ebenezer
Hither by thy help I'm come And I hope by thy good pleasure Safely
to arrive at home Jesus saw me when a stranger Wandering from
the fold of God He to rescue me from danger Interposed His
precious blood Oh to grace how Great a debtor, daily I'm constrained
to be Let Thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart
to Thee Bound to wander, Lord, I feel it Bound to leave the
God I love Here's my heart, Lord, take and seal it Seal it for
Thy courts above And Jesus saw me when a stranger Wandering
from the fold of God He to rescue me from danger interposes precious
blood I want you to turn with me this
morning to the Book of John. Originally, the words that I'm going to read
to you first, they were spoken to men and women who thought they knew God. They were spoken to religious
people. The first one, in John chapter
five, he spoke to these people. In verse 39 he says, you search
the scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life and
they are they which testify of me and you will not come to me that
you might have life. The second is found in the sixth
chapter spoken to these same people. And it's found in the 44th verse. 44th verse. After he said, murmur not among
yourselves, he says, no man can come to me except the father
which hath sent me draw him, and I will raise him up at the
last day. In our day, there is many who have emphasized
the commands of God. Commands to believe, commands
to repent, commands to come to Christ, and many more. But most fail to understand the
condition that the scriptures say that we are in. You see, the commands of God,
the requirements of God, the things men are told to do, do not mean that men have the
will to do so or the ability to do so. And that's what is stated in
these texts. You will not come to me that
you might have life. And no man can come to me except
the Father draw him. So man is by nature unwilling
and unable to fulfill these commands. Men foolishly use the logic,
well, God would not have commanded us to do it if we were not able
to. Wrong. Absolutely wrong. Even when he was giving Moses
the Ten Commandments, the people at the bottom of that mount were
making a golden calf at that time. Responsibility to do. has no ability to do. You will not come to me and no
man can come, the Bible says. And they are not able and they
are not willing to do so because they're dead. That is the condition of every
person born in this world apart from Christ dead spiritually. And their unwillingness and their
inability is in this realm. They're spiritually dead. The Bible describes us as dead
in trespasses and sins. So when these commands are given,
it does not mean that we have the ability in ourselves to do
them. I thought about yesterday hearing
of St. Dennis, one of the Catholic saints. And the legend of St. Dennis
is that When he had his head decapitated, he picked up his
head and he walked four miles to a certain place, preaching
all the way. You say, that's foolishness. That's utter foolishness. Oh, maybe not. If he could take
the first step, The rest would have been easy. And that's what preachers say
for us to do. Take that first step, and God
will bring you. Believe, and God will enable
you to do this or that. All you have to do is believe.
All you have to do is step out by faith. All you have to do
is repent. Yet this is what the scripture
says. You will not come to Christ that
you might have life. You will not believe. You will not repent because you
cannot repent. You're dead. You're absolutely
spiritually dead. And we're dead in Adam. Adam represented us. God said
to Adam, in the day that you eat of the tree in the midst
of the garden, you'll die. It wasn't a question. God stated
that when you do it, you'll die. And then the scripture says that
when Adam died, we all died in him. Adam didn't die physically
when he ate, he died spiritually, and he went and was cast out
from God, even hid himself in the garden because he was dead. Spiritually dead. Dead to God. Dead to truth. Dread to all that
was good. So we're described as those who
are enemies in our mind. Paul tells us in Romans 8, because
the carnal mind, that's the mind we're born with. The carnal mind
is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of
God, neither indeed can be. That's the condition of men,
born dead in trespasses and sin. That's why we come forth from
the womb speaking lies, believing lies, delighting in lies. And here in the gospel of John,
John sets forth so many cases of sickness and what have you.
There's a sick child. There's a sick man. There's an impotent man. There's
a blind man. There's a dead man. All of these
are used to show our spiritual condition. They're used to describe how
we are. blind spiritually, dead spiritually,
sick spiritually. And yet Christ came to all these. And while it says all these things,
we have to notice also that not every sick person was healed
by Christ. There wasn't a blanket healing,
a blanket of miracles wherein every sick person was healed.
Every paralyzed person was not healed. Every blind person in
his day, he didn't open their eyes and give them sight. Every
dead person that was on the earth, they weren't raised from the
dead. Why? Because God does what he will
sovereignly. He gave us a picture in that,
that it was not universal, in that his grace is not universal. It's particular. He went to this
sick person, and that sick person, and this blind person, and this
dead person, and he did his miracle. It not only shows our spiritual
condition, it shows God's sovereignty. He can heal who he wants. He
can raise up who he wants. He can open the eyes of whom
he want. But some were. Some were. Some were healed. Some were raised
up and enabled to walk. Some were raised up from the
dead. Why? Because Christ came to where
they were. They were not able to come to
Him, especially as in the case of Lazarus. He was dead. And the only way that any body
is ever healed of this spiritual death and spiritual blindness
is as if it was if Christ come into this world and if the Spirit
of Christ come to them where they are and do something for
them, that's the only hope they have. Because they're already dead. And I thought about it. Paul, the only way that a man or woman
ever know that they're dead, that they've been dead, is when
God makes them alive. Paul was just like, he was Saul
of Tarshish. He was just like these that Christ
was speaking to, these Pharisees. And he was telling them these
things, and it was rolling off them like water on a duck's back. And that's why he says these
things. You will not come. I do all these
miracles. I'm sent from the Father. I speak
the words of truth and the words of life. And you search the scriptures
and everything. And you think you have life,
but you're dead. You can give every reason why
you know God. You can give every reason why
you're alive. You're satisfied with it. You
think you know God. You think you're a child of God.
You think everything, all these things, but they're all based
on something you did. They're not based on something
that Christ did. They're based on something you
did. Your decision or your exception or your taking the first step
or something You claim it because you can go back and call back
an experience and not because of the Lord Jesus Christ. If that man, if Christ had not
come to the man with his sick child, she would have died. If he hadn't have come to where
the paralytic was, that man would have died. unable to walk all
his life. If he hadn't come to the blind
man, surely we know he had to come to a blind man. If he hadn't come to Lazarus, he'd still be dead. But here's the glorious thing.
The inner unwillingness and the inability of you and I does not
affect the willingness and the ability of God. We have to face the condition
as God says that He is, as God says that we are. We are unwilling
and we are unable to believe, to repent, to come to Christ,
all these things. But our inability and our unwillingness
does not affect His willingness. It has no bearing on His willingness
and it has no bearing on His ability. He works all His will. And he is able to do that which
he desires to do. And this is what he says. Although
man is like this, although it's universal, the condition, he
says, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. I'll be gracious to whom I will
be gracious. glorious sovereignty. And in God's purpose, he has
been willing and therefore also he's been able to save a people
that he desired to save and chose in Christ before the world began,
our only hope. is in the will and the power
and the grace of God in Christ. Sovereign grace. It's not just a slogan with me. It's not just a doctrine that
we preach. It's not just a position that
we take. It's the real and only hope of
every sinner that will ever be saved. I will is the covenant
language. I will and you shall. That's the language of scripture.
Such as we find issued concerning Israel in the book of Exodus. When God says, I will take you
to me for a people, and I will be to you a God, and ye shall
know that I am the Lord your God, which bringeth you out from
under the burden of the Egyptians. I will be your God, and you will
be my people. Not because of your will, not
because of your ability, you're not willing, and you have no
ability, but because of my will and my ability. And God does
not send his messengers to proclaim the gospel dependent upon the
sinner's willingness or ability. Oh, I hope I can convince them
this morning, no. I hope they'll decide for Christ
this morning, no. I hope they'll make a decision
for the Lord this morning, no. None of that Billy Graham type
stuff. Our hope is not in man's ability
or willingness, or neither is it in the messenger's willingness
and ability. There's never been probably a
preacher any more unwilling than Jonah. And surely, maybe not a preacher
of any less ability than Jonah. But God's dealing with the Ninevites
did not depend on Jonah's willingness or his ability. when he said,
I won't preach to him and got on a ship to go to another place
all the time when he got into, fell into the sea, was cast in
the sea and into the belly of the whale, all the time God's
bringing him right back to make sure that he gets to Nineveh
to preach this message because of his will and his ability. That's all that's gonna count.
God's will, and God's ability. And it doesn't depend on the
will and ability of men. It doesn't depend on the will
and ability of the preacher. It depends on His will and ability. That takes the load off a preacher. I can't convince you of one thing.
I'm not going to beg you. I'm not going to browbeat you.
I'm not going to pressure you. I'm not going to try to scare
you into heaven. I'm not going to do the things
that men do every day, and especially on Sunday, everywhere in this
world. I'm not going to do it. Why?
Because if I could convince you of something, someone else like
me could convince you otherwise. But if God convinces you, if
God brings you, if God gives you life, then nobody can undo
that. Nobody. They say, well, so-and-so
stopped coming. I tell you what, every one of
us will stop coming if the Lord wouldn't bring this. Well, it doesn't seem like he's
got any interest in the gospel. Nobody would have any interest
in the gospel if it wasn't for God himself. You wouldn't be here. I wouldn't
be here. We'd have no interest. We'd never
believe. We'd never live spiritually. We'd never do anything pertaining
to God if it were not for God himself. I tell you, men, come under the
hearing of the gospel. Listen to what God says to Ezekiel,
over in Ezekiel 33. Turn over there and look at what
God says. In one of the prophecies, he
says, he said, I'm gonna send you this people, but they're
not gonna hear you. What an incentive to preach. We preach because God does send
us. We preach because God commands
us to preach His gospel. We preach for His glory. We preach for the pleasure of
God. We preach for the salvation of
His people. Not how many? Ezekiel 33 in verse
30. Also thou son of man, The children of thy people still
are talking against thee by the walls and in the doors of the
houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying,
Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth
from the Lord." I think there's a little contradiction there,
isn't there? All the time they're speaking
against the prophet, and yet they're saying, come, let us
hear what the word of the Lord is. Listen. And they come unto thee as a
people coming, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear
thy word, but they will not do them. For with their mouth they
show much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness,
and lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that
hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument, for
they hear thy words, but they do not do them. And when this comes to pass,
he doesn't say it will, He said, and when. And when this
cometh to pass, lo, it will come, then shall they know that a prophet
hath been among them. They're going to know you told
them the truth one day. They're going to know that God
sent you. They're going to know that this is a message of God. But they didn't believe it. Well, why preach? Turn over to Ezekiel 37. You see, prophets and preachers,
they have to be recommissioned often. Like about every Monday
morning. I'm not going to preach anymore.
I'm just resigning, isn't it? So here the commissioned prophet
comes again, the word of the Lord. Verse chapter 37, and the
hand of the Lord was upon me and carried me out in the spirit
of the Lord and set me down in the midst of the valley which
was full of bones. That's dead people. Dead people. Valley full of dead
people. That's what this world is, a
valley full of dead people. And cause me to pass by them
round about and behold there were Very many in the open valley,
and lo, they were very dry. They'd been dead a long time. And he said unto me, Son of man,
can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou
knowest. I've always thought that Ezekiel
was saying, Lord, if it's up to me, they can. Only you know. And again, he said unto me, prophesy
or preach upon these bones and say unto them, O ye dry bones,
hear the word of the Lord. That's just impossible, isn't
it? Thus saith the Lord God unto
these bones, behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and
ye shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and
bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put
breath in you, and ye shall live. What's gonna be the sign of life? Ye shall know that I am the Lord. People who have been made alive by God,
they know the Lord. They know from the Scriptures
and by the Spirit who the true God is. They believe what God
says about Himself. You'll know that I am the Lord. So I prophesied as I was commanded,
and as I prophesied, there was a noise And, behold, a shaking,
and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when I
beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and
the skin covered them above, but there was no breath in them.
Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son
of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God. Come
from the four winds of breath and breathe upon these slain
that they may live. That's the wind of God's Spirit. That song, that hymn is true.
All is vain unless the Spirit of the Holy One come down. We
preach the Word. We preach the truth. And it is
God who must come down and breathe life into them. So I prophesied
as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived
and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army." An army. Why? Because God came where they're
at. The Word was proclaimed to them,
but they were unwilling. They were dead. They were unable.
They were dead. But they rose up. They came to
life. Why? Because God gave them life. He raised them up. I mentioned Paul. Paul, he didn't
know he was dead. He didn't know what characterized
spiritual death. It was what he called life. He
thought being a good person, he thought knowing something
about the Bible, he thought being a member of a certain people,
he thought all of these things were life. But he says, When
God gave me life, I knew then I was dead. Because he confessed I was before. What's that before? Before you
change denominations? No. I was before when I was dead. I was before until God gave me
life. I was before a blasphemer. injuries. And like he says in Philippians
3, all those things that I counted, I counted as life. Pharisee of
the Pharisees, tribe of Benjamin, blameless before the law, I counted them dead. I counted
all those things that I did for God, in the name of God. I counted
them dead works. When men stand before Christ
in the judgment, they'll have many works. We've done many wonderful
works in your name, but He'll say they're dead works. They're deserving of death because
they came from a dead sinner who had no ability and no willingness
to believe God. Turn back to John's gospel, John
chapter six. Glance back over at verse 21
of John 5. And listen to what Christ says.
For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickens them,
makes them alive, even so the Son quickeneth whom He will. Hadn't got anything to do with
my ability. Hadn't got anything to do with
what you are in the flesh, what you've done, what you've not
done. All dead have to have the same thing, life. And the Son quickens or makes
alive whom He will. All right? Look back at that 40th verse
in John 6. Back up to verse... Back up to verse 37, John 6. He just got through. He's saying,
you've seen me, and you believe not. He didn't say, I'm so sad that
you haven't, or that makes me a failure, or if you only would. He said, you've seen me, but
you believe not. You've seen the miracles. You've
heard my words. You've looked at God in the flesh. you believe not. But all that the Father giveth me
shall come to me." How in the world can those who
cannot come, how will they ever come? He brings them. They have no ability in themselves,
no will in themselves, no light in themselves. But through a
maze of religion like Saul of Tarshish, or a maze of immorality,
or a maze of confused religion, he'll bring them. He'll bring them. He'll make
them alive. This building was on fire this
morning and you were all sitting there as dead people. And God
was to make one of you alive. What would you do? You'd run
out of this building for sure. You run to safety. Why? Because you're alive. But the
rest wouldn't. If he raised one to life here,
there, they'd all run outside. Not to get life, but because
they had it. That's the way it was with those
serpents. He said, everyone that looks
to that brazen serpent that's been bitten, he'll live. Well, how did he look if he weren't
alive? If God didn't give him the desire
to look, eyes to see. All that the Father giveth me,
that people God's elect in Christ. shall come to me, and him that
comes to me I will in no wise cast out. 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 everyone that seeth the sun, how can he
see the sun? He can see him if he's made alive. God gives him eyes. I was a lost preacher, dead. God gave me eyes to see. He gave
me life. He gave me faith. He gave me
repentance. All of which are the evidences
of life. We don't do them to get life.
They're the evidence of life. And this is the will of him that
sent me, that every one which seeth the sun and believeth on
him may have everlasting life, and I'll raise him up at the
last day. What did the dead do? The Jews then murmured at him,
because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven.
They showed their deadness immediately. And they said, is not this Jesus,
the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it
then that he said, I came down from heaven? There is blind to
who Christ really is. There is blind to why he came. There is blind to where he was
headed. Dead. And Jesus answered and said unto
them, murmur not among yourselves. No man can come to me except
the Father which hath sent me draw him. and I'll raise him
up at the last day. Preachers stand up in their invitation. They say, God's drawing you. Well, if God's drawing you, you'd
be coming. But you wouldn't be coming to the front. You'd be coming to Christ. But they're liars. They're liars
because they have not preached the true Christ. And so men come
to idols. They, on their own, come to idols.
And they always will, because they're dead. It's a natural, innate thing
in us as sinners. Doesn't matter whether you were
born in the Catholic Church or born out in the deepest part
of Africa. If we don't have an idol, then
we'll, as they do, carve us an idol, make us an idol. But when God gives us life, we
come to Christ as He's revealed in the Scriptures. And that's
why He says in verse 45, it is written in the prophets, this
is no new thing, it's written in the prophets, and they shall
all They shall be all taught of God. You can't teach people that know
it all, anything. But God can. He'll show you just
exactly what you don't know, what an ignorant wretch you are. Every man, therefore, that hath
heard God given him spiritual ears, and hath learned of the
Father, God teaching by Spirit, comes to me. He can't, but he
will. That's pretty good, isn't it? Because of the ability and the
will of the God of grace. He's gonna bring, the shepherd's
gonna bring All his sheep. He's gonna bring them. Because
Christ's commands are joined to his ability. His ability. You can fight it. And all sinners do. You can reject
it. Paul, Saul, you're just kicking against
the pricks. Sharp sticks like the ox goads
were prodded with. You're just kicking them against
the pricks. All you do is hurt yourself. But you're headed in one direction. To my son. Turn over to John 11. Look at verse 11. Jesus has received news that
Lazarus has died. And he's headed in that direction,
people in a company with him. Verse 11 says, these things said
he After he saith unto them, our friend Lazarus sleepeth,
but I go that I may wake him out of sleep. Then said his disciples,
Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. That's what most preachers say,
that sinners are just asleep, we need to wake them up. Look
at what Christ said. How be it Jesus spake of his
death. He's already dead. But they thought
that he should have spoken of taking a rest and sleep. Then
said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. He don't have
just a bad cold. He's not just in a coma. He's
not just... He's not sleeping. He's dead. D-E-A-D. I brought a message one time.
What don't we understand about dead? Dead. Look at verse 25. The words to
Martha. Jesus said unto her, I am the
resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. Believest thou this?" You see
the order there? Whoever lives and believes. Believing on Christ is evidence
of him giving spiritual life. Believing on Him as He is and
for what He's done. Then look at verse 43. When the stone had been rolled
away and all the deadness of Lazarus smelled and exposed,
I'm sure. Verse 43, and said, when he had
thus spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. Now you know, he couldn't do that. And he that was dead came forth. He couldn't, but he did. Not because of his will, not
because of his ability, not because he had a spark of life anymore.
As they say, a spark of divinity. He was dead. Stinking. But he that was dead He leaves no question about it.
He that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave
clothes. That's the way we come forth
sometimes. We got a lot of the rags of Rome. We got a lot of the rags of the
Baptists. We got a lot of rags of the Methodists. We got a lot
of rags of the Pentecostals. We got a lot of rags on us. and his face bound about with
a napkin. Jesus said unto them, loose him
and let him go. Let him go. You don't have to dictate to
him, you don't have to, I've made him alive. I've made him
alive. Turn to 1 Corinthians, I'll hurry
this, 1 Corinthians chapter one, I mean 1 Corinthians chapter
two. Verse nine, but as it is written,
I hath not seen nor e'er heard neither have entered into the
heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that
love him." It ain't us. We can't see it,
we can't hear it, we can't understand it, we can't believe it, we can't
repent, not anything. But God hath revealed them unto
us by His Spirit. the Spirit of Life, the Spirit
of Christ, the Spirit of Truth. For the Spirit searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth
the things of a man, save the Spirit of man which is in him?
Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the
Spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that
we might know the things that are freely given unto us. The living know the things to do. Well, many of the dead still
know things to do, but they know the things that are freely given
to us of God. Which things also we speak, not
in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy
Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the
natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God,
for they are foolishness unto him. Neither can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned." And he's spiritually dead. 2 Corinthians. Second Corinthians, chapter two. Verse 12, Paul tells us that
he went to Troas to preach Christ's gospel. And the sad thing was he wanted
to see his friend and brother Titus, but he couldn't find him
anywhere. He had a discouraging thing happen. He went there to
preach, but he couldn't find Titus anywhere. And he says, I had no rest in
my spirit. Because I found not Titus my
brother, but taking my leave of them, I went from thence into
Macedonia." And he went on preaching anyway with this result. Now thanks be unto God, which
always causes us to triumph in Christ, and makes manifest the
savor of his knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto
God a sweet saver of Christ in them that are saved and in them
that perish. To the one we are the saver of
death unto death and to the other the saver of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these
things? We preach it, we preach it. God's sovereign grace. We preach
salvation in Christ. We preach the finished work of
Christ. We preach the redemption that's
in Christ. We preach His imputed righteousness.
We declare what He's done and what He's finished and how salvation
is of the Lord. And it comes to the living as
a sweet savor. But it's a stench to the dead. like these Pharisees were. But
he said, we're not as the many, which corrupt the word of God.
But as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God, speak
we in Christ. If they don't live, they don't
believe, we're not changing the message. We're not gonna corrupt the word.
Because there's only one message through which the Spirit of God
gives life to these dead sinners that belong
to Christ. And they're gonna believe. Let me read you in Psalm 110. This is the Father's words to
Christ. The Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou at my right hand. When
Christ lay down his life, finished the work the Father had given,
which was dying for his elect people, redeeming them, paying
the price of their salvation. He ascended up on the right hand
of the majesty on high. And the father said, sit down
on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
The Lord send the rod of thy strength, the gospel, the rod
of thy strength out of Zion. Rule thou in the midst of thine
enemies. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power. When
they gonna be willing? In the day of his power. God's appointed a time. They'll
be born, they'll live, Do whatever, who knows whatever what. But all the time, He's bringing
them to this point. They're on a collision course
with the gospel. They're on a collision course
with the Holy Spirit. He's bringing them. And in the
day of His power, not their will, not their decision, but in the
day of His power, they're gonna be willing. willing to believe His truth,
willing to follow Him, willing to cast off all their dead works
and all their religious connections and all their ill experiences. They're going to be willing.
They're going to come to Christ. Only Christ. And they're going to be glad
they did. They're going to be glad they did. When His will
and power are brought to bear on His sheep, they're going to
believe. They're going to hear His voice.
The seeing eye, the hearing ear, where is it? From the Lord. He that hath an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. That's what he's
saying to the church is the gospel. We're pitiful, helpless, unwilling,
unable. Our hope's in God, grace, Christ. Our Father, we thank you this
morning for your dear son, for your mercy, for your will, for
your power, for your grace. Call out your people that we
might rejoice in Christ together with them. Call them by their
name, like you did, Zach E. Raise them from the dead like
you did Lazarus. Teach them, cause them to learn
that they might come to Christ. All that the Father gives him, they'll come. They'll give him all the glory.
We thank you and pray in Christ's name, amen. Thank you.