O Lamb of God, still keep me
near to thy wounded side. It is only there in safety and
peace I can abide. The grace that sought and found
me alone can keep me clean. His only in the hiding, I know
my life secure. Thine arm the victory gaineth,
O'er every hurtful foe, Thy love, my heart, sustaineth In all its
care and woe. Soon shall my eyes behold thee
with rapture face to face. The half has not been told me
of all thy power and might. Thy beauty, Lord, and glory,
the wonders of thy love, shall be the endless glory of all thy
saints above. Thank you. Be seated. Turn now to page 93 in our Red
Book, 93. This song has great message,
great words. Listen carefully. Hark the herald angels sing,
Glory to the newborn King! Peace on earth and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled. Joyful, all ye nation tribes,
Join the triumph of the skies, With the angelic host proclaim,
Christ is born in Bethlehem. O'er carol angels sing, Glory
to the newborn King. Christ by highest heaven adored,
Christ the Late in time, behold him come,
offspring of the virgin's womb. Hailed in flesh, the Godhead
see, Hail the incarnate Deity. Pleased as man with men to dwell,
Jesus our Emmanuel. Our peril angels sing, Glory
to the newborn King! Hail the heaven-born Prince of
Peace! Hail the sun of righteousness,
Light and life to all he brings, Risen with healing in his wings. Mild He lays His glory by, Born
that man no more may die, Born to raise the sons of earth, Born
to give them second birth, Hark! the herald angels sing, Glory
to the newborn King! Come, desire of nations, come,
Fix in us thy humble home. Rise, the woman's conquering
seed, bruising us the serpent's head. Adam's likeness now effaced,
stamped thine image in its place. Second Adam from above, reinstate
us in thy love. Let's turn over to 232. 232. Christ our Redeemer died on the
cross, died for the sinner, paid all his due. Sprinkle your soul
with the blood of the Lamb, and I will pass, will pass over you. When I see the blood, When I
see the blood, When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass
over you. Chiefest of sinners, Jesus will
save, All He has promised that He will do. Wash in the fountain,
open for sin, And I will pass, will pass over you. When I see the blood, When I
see the blood, When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass
over you. Judgment is coming, all will
be there, each one receiving justly his due. Hide in the saving, sin-cleansing
blood, and I will pass, will pass over you. When I see the blood, When I
see the blood, When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass
over you. O great compassion, O boundless
love, O loving kindness, faithful and true. Find peace and shelter
under the blood, And I will pass, will pass over you. When I see the blood, When I
see the blood, When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass
over you. Thank you, good singing. If you would please open your
Bible to Psalm 29 this morning. Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty. Give unto the Lord glory and
strength. Give unto the Lord the glory
due unto his name. Worship the Lord in the beauty
of his holiness. The voice of the Lord is upon
the waters. The God of glory thundereth. The Lord is upon
many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful.
The voice of the Lord is full of majesty. The voice of the
Lord breaketh the cedars. Yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars
of Lebanon. He maketh them also to skip like
a calf. Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn. The voice of
the Lord divides the flames of fire. The voice of the Lord shaketh
the wilderness. The Lord shaketh the wilderness
of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord maketh
the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forest, and in his temple
doth every one speak of his glory. The Lord sitteth upon the flood,
yea, the Lord sitteth king forever. The Lord will give strength unto
his people. The Lord will bless his people
with peace. Bow in prayer, please. Our great God and Heavenly Father,
we thank you for bringing us to this place this morning. Thankfully,
this is a place where you've kept your gospel. We can come
here and preach Father, we pray for that this morning that you
uphold Frank for this task of opening your word. Speak through
him to us what you laid on his heart. Teach us out of your scriptures.
Pray this for many years to come that you keep this place here
in our area where we can travel and come each week to worship
our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Stand in awe of your grace and
mercy towards sinners. Thankful for the sacrifice our
Lord Jesus Christ made, the blood he poured out, and pray that
we be washed in his blood and that you pass over us. Standing
in his righteousness, Father, we're thankful that you've seen
fit to call your people, save them for your grace and mercy
through Christ's blood. for those of our children and
family members, Father, that know not Thee. You know Your
people, Father. We pray that You would call them
by Your grace, uphold them to You. And that's all we can do,
Father, is wait and see what Your will is. Father, we pray
for those that are sick and going through difficult times, those
that can't be here this morning, those that have upcoming surgeries,
Father, we pray for for them to have successful surgeries
and that the bodies are healed. Again, Father, we ask for a true
worship, our worship this morning. Let the name and work of our
Lord Jesus Christ be exalted. And as we go out into the world,
to our jobs, to our homes, to our children in school, we ask
for peace in those places. Give us peace each day, knowing
that you're in control of all things. These things we ask and
pray in Christ's name. Amen. When this passing world is done The wind has set the unglaring
sun. When I stand with Christ in glory,
Looking o'er life's finished story, ? Shall I fully know ? But not
till then ? How much I owe ? When I hear the wicked call On the rocks and hills to fall
? I see them start and shrink ?
? On the fiery deluge brink ? ? Then, Lord, shall I fully know ? ?
But not till then ? ? How much I owe ? When I stand before the throne
Dressed in beauty not my own When I see thee as thou art,
Love thee with unsinning heart, Then, Lord, shall I fully know,
But not till then How much I owe Chosen not for good in me, Wakened
up from wrath to flee, ? In the Savior's sight ? ? By
the Spirit sanctified ? ? Teach me, Lord, on earth to know ?
? By thy love how much I owe ? How much I owe How much I owe Wow, I wish I could tell you
how much I love that song. Thank you, Leah. Well, if you
would, open your Bibles now to Hebrews chapter 12. I titled the message this morning,
Refuse Not Him Who Speaks. I texted Wayne yesterday and
asked him if he would select the passage for us to read and
lead in prayer this morning. I did not tell him what I intended
subject I intended to preach on. And he selected Psalm 29,
which told us so much about the voice of the Lord. That made
me kind of excited to preach this message. I think the spirit
might be leading. He led us both in the same direction,
the voice of the Lord. God help us not to refuse him
who speaks. Hebrews 12, verse 25 says, see
that you refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escape
not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not
we escape if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven.
It's very easy for us to understand what this verse is teaching.
The children of Israel who heard God speak on earth, they heard
Moses speak for God to them. They refused to listen. They
refused to believe God and they could not escape God's wrath. They all died. in the wilderness
under the wrath of God because they refused to believe God.
They entered not in the promised land because of unbelief. Now,
the one that speaks to us today from heaven is the same one who
spoke to them. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. Look
back at the beginning of this book, Hebrews chapter one. Verse one. God who at sundry
times and in diverse, different manners, spake in time past unto
the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken
unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things,
by whom also he made the worlds. Now the writer here is telling
us that people who hear Christ speak today, hear him speak in
his word. And those people who hear Christ
speak in the word, they hear him speak in the gospel. And
they refuse to believe on Christ, They won't escape the wrath of
God either, any more than the children of Israel did in the
wilderness. As a matter of fact, they will die under greater condemnation
than those who only heard the law and refused to obey it. I'll
show you that look at Hebrews chapter two, verse one. Therefore, we ought to give the
more earnest heed to the things which we've heard. Less than
any time we should let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels
was steadfast and every transgression and disobedience received a just
recompense of reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great
salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord
and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him? Now, this
is what, uh, what the apostle here or the writer is telling
us. is there is there is a greater condemnation to those who hear
the gospel, who neglect so great a salvation. There's a greater
condemnation to those people. Now, I don't like to talk about
hell. It's not a subject I'm very comfortable
with, but it's in the word of God. We have to deal with it
from time to time. And hell is a real place. And
there are degrees of hell. There are no degrees of glory,
but there are degrees of hell. There are greater suffering in
hell for some than others. Our Lord said it'll be more tolerable
for the people of Sodom in the day of judgment than for the
people of Capernaum. The people of Sodom had some
warning, I reckon, you know, from God. A lot was there. They
had some warning, but they would not repent. But the people of
Capernaum, they saw Christ himself. I mean, they heard the Son of
God preach. They saw Christ work these miracles
that only God could do, and they still wouldn't believe him. So
the Lord says the people of Capernaum will have greater suffering in
the day of judgment because they've sinned against a greater light.
And that's a warning to you and me, to Hurricane Road Grace Church,
who have heard the gospel clearly and powerfully preached for years
and years and years. What if we refuse to believe?
What if we refuse to believe? And I'm not trying to scare anyone. I'm not trying to scare you.
I'm not trying to scare you into making some sort of profession.
Not at all. My desire is to compel you to
come to Christ. See, I don't want you running
from hell. I want you running to Christ. That's my heart's
desire. I want to compel you this morning
to come to Christ. by telling you some of the gracious
words that he has spoken to us. I want to compel you to believe
on Christ, to believe the things that we hear this morning. Christ
still speaks to us from heaven today. But what does he say? Are you interested in what does
he say? Let's listen and pray the Lord enable us to believe.
Number one, hear Christ speak in eternity. in eternity. I hate
to say eternity passed because there's no time in eternity,
but the part of eternity I reckon happened before us. Before human
time began, before creation, hear Christ speak as the surety
of his people. Before God created anything,
when God alone existed, God chose a people to say. He knew he would
create the world. He knew he would create Adam
and put Adam in the garden. He knew that Adam would sin,
but his race would multiply and cover God's creation. And before
any of that happened, God chose a people to save. He knew that
they would be a sinful people, but God loved them anyway, and
he chose to save them. But something has to be done
about the sin of those people. Something's got to be done. Their
sin must be paid for. The holy God demands his justice
be satisfied against that sin. God cannot and will not accept
them as they are in their sin, because that's what the holy
God requires. Now, what's to be done with this problem of
sin? And there was silence in heaven,
complete, utter silence until God the Son spoke. And he said,
Father, I will be surety for those people. I will do everything
it takes to save your elect from their sin. I will be made flesh
for them so I can be their representative and do for them what they cannot
do for themselves. I will obey the law for them.
I will be their righteousness and I will take their sin away
from them and I will suffer and die for that sin. I will shed
my blood to pay for the sin of those people. I'll ratify your
covenant of grace in my blood. And the father smiled. And he
said, son, I trust you to do what you promised. I trust you
to save my people from their sin. That's what the apostle
Paul meant about the one who first trusted in Christ. It was
the father first trusted in Christ. Just like Judah, remember, they
had to go back down to Israel. Jacob's sons had to go back down
to Israel. That take Benjamin with them. That mean man down
there, not throwing said, I won't give you more food. Let's bring
Benjamin with me. And Jacob said, I'm not sending my beloved son
with you boys. I know what happens to my sons
when I send my sons with you. I'm not doing it. And Judah spoke
up. I imagine after Jacob said their
silence, don't you reckon? Judah spoke up and said, Father,
sit in the lab with me. I'll be surety for him. You can
require him at my hand. And just like Benjamin returned
safely to Jacob, everyone for whom Christ spoke as their surety
is going to be brought safely to the Father in glory. Because
Christ spoke as their surety. Don't you love to hear Christ
speak as your surety? Saying it's not up to you. It's
in me. I'll do it for you. Oh, I love
to hang my eternal soul on the promise of Christ my surety.
Then look over a few pages here at Hebrews chapter 10. Hear Christ
speak as the righteousness of his people. Hebrews chapter 10,
verse 6. In burnt offerings and sacrifices
for sin, thou hast had no pleasure. There's no satisfaction in those
things, in those animal sacrifices. Then said I, lo, I come. In the volume of the book, it
is written of me. The whole Old Testament is written of me. I
come to do thy will, O God. Above, when he said sacrifice
and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin, thou wouldest
not Neither has pleasure therein which are offered by the law.
Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away
the first that he may establish the second by the which will
we're sanctified to the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once
for all. Christ in eternity spoke as the
surety of his people. And in the fullness of time,
he came, he promised he was a surety of his people, he promised He
would come in the flesh and obey the law for his people. He promised
he would come and offer a sacrifice that would satisfy the father.
And in the fullness of time, Christ came and he kept his promise. He fulfilled everything he promised
to do. He says, as a man, here I am. I've come to do thy will,
O God. What's the father's will that
Christ came to do? The father's will is that his
people be saved. It's the father's will his people
be made righteous. And Christ came to satisfy the
father. He came to make his people righteous
by his obedience to the law for them. That's what he came to
do. And that's exactly what he did. He came to offer a sacrifice
for sin that would wash away the sin of God's elect. That's
why he came. And that's exactly what he did. So now God's elect
are not under the law in any way. If you're a believer, don't
you ever look to the law to find out what you're supposed to do
or not do. No, you're not under the law in any way. The believer
has no relationship with the law. Christ severed our relationship
with the law by keeping it for us. If you want to know the way
to walk, what to do, what not to do, you look to Christ. Christ
has severed our relationship with the law. And it's by that
will, the will of the Father. God's elect are saved. They're
saved from their sins. They're saved from God's wrath.
They're saved from death. Oh, don't you love to hear the
Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, speak to your heart and
say, I'm your righteousness. Lord, I've come to fulfill the
law for you. I'm your savior. I love to hear
him say that from his word. That lets me rest in him. That
lets my soul rest, because that's what my soul needs to hear. And
thirdly, hear Christ speak in creation. Look over at the Gospel
of John chapter 1. You know well the story of creation
told us in Genesis chapter 1. Well, you know when God spoke
and created the heavens and the earth, do you know that was the
Lord Jesus Christ speaking? The Apostle John tells us that.
John 1 verse 1. In the beginning was the Word.
That's the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the Word of God. In the
beginning was the Word. The word was with God and the
word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things
were made by him. And without him was not anything
made that was made. In him was life and the life
was the light of men. Every time Christ speaks in creation,
you just go read Genesis chapter one. Every time he speaks in
creation, you know what he's doing? I mean, besides creating
the world. He's giving us a picture of salvation
that's coming in Him. I'm going to give you just a
couple of examples. When God said, let there be light,
do you know what was revealed at that time? The Lord Jesus
Christ, the light of the world. That was Christ. That wasn't
the sun, wasn't the moon, wasn't the stars. They weren't created
until the fourth day. On that first day, Christ was revealed.
Christ is both the light of the world and he's the life of the
world. On the third day, God created the grass and the herbs
and the trees of the field. On the third day, before the
sun was created, you think of that, before the sun was created,
God created plants and trees and herbs and those, that grass
and those trees, they grew, they brought forth after their kind
when no sun was shining in the sky. Where'd they get their light? Where'd they get their life?
From Christ, the light of the world. And if you and I have
spiritual life, you know why we have it? Because God spoke
by the same power that he used to create the world. He spoke
in our heart and said, let there be light. And he created light
and life. Salvation does not come from
natural light, from natural understanding, it's spiritual. I want to preach
the gospel to you as clearly as I know how to do so you'll
understand it. But salvation is not understanding.
It's not natural light, it's spiritual light. And that's the
light that God creates in the hearts of His people when He
says, let there be light. When He says that, Christ is
formed in the heart. That's what the Apostle Paul
longed for. He said, oh, I've labored and travailed in birth
again till Christ be what? Formed in you. How is Christ,
how is he formed in you? When God says, let there be light,
let there be light. Here's a second example. When
God created the plants and the animals, scripture says every
plant, every animal had their seed in themselves and they produced
after their kind. All plants and animals produce
offsprings that are just like them. Oranges have seeds in them. My grandmother had in her yard,
they weren't orange trees, they were tangelo trees and a grapefruit
tree. And we'd go down there and visit.
And man, I'd climb up in that tree and I'd eat those oranges,
those tangelos. I mean, I'd eat them until I
had sores around my mouth. And I'd still eat them anyway.
I mean, oh, I loved it. I'd just sit in that tree and
read a book and peel those. And all them seeds I threw on
the ground, I want or spit them out. I wonder how come no trees
ever, more trees ever grew? You know, I don't know. But if
you're going to get an orange tree, you know how you're going
to get it? You have to take a seed from an orange and plant it in
the ground. If you take an orange seed and you plant it in the
ground, never in a million years will you get a beanstalk, ever.
Because the life of the plant is in the seed. When you plant
an orange tree, you're going to get, or an orange seed, you're
going to get an orange tree. A reptile will never produce
a mammal. Never. Like the theory of evolution
tells us that, that's foolish. Because the nature of a reptile
is in its seed. The only thing an alligator is
capable of producing is another alligator. It can't produce a
mammal because it's life, the nature of life is in its seed.
Well sinful man, As much as we want to be saved, as much as
we want to be holy, as much as we want God to accept us, sinful
man can only ever produce another sinful man because the nature
of our life is in the seed. The only thing we have to pass
on to our children is a dead sin nature. And the good news
of the gospel, and you see a picture of it in creation, the good news
of the gospel is the Lord Jesus Christ is coming with a different
seed, a holy seed. a holy nature, a sinless seed. And God uses that seed to produce
spiritual life in the new birth in the hearts of his people.
And that new nature that's produced is a sinless nature. It's a righteous
nature. It can't be anything else because
that's the nature of life it received from the seed. Let me
show you that in the book of First John. First John. Chapter three. The seed of Christ that produces
life in the new birth can only produce a holy nature that cannot
sin. 1 John 3 verse 9. Whosoever is
born of God doth not commit sin for his seed remaineth in him
and he cannot sin because he's born of God. Now this is not
saying a believer does not sin. What this is saying is a believer
has two natures. We still have that first nature
we received from our Father. It's a nature of Adam, a nature
that can't do anything but sin. The believer has a second nature. There's been a second nature
born in us from the seed of Christ. And that nature can never sin.
And when this body of flesh dies, that old nature of Adam is going
to die. And it will never be resurrected.
But at that moment, that this flesh dies, that new nature of
the believer leaves this clay prison finally and goes directly
to be with the Lord. It goes directly to be with the
Lord because it's a sinless, righteous nature. Oh, I love
to hear that. I love to hear Christ speak that
to my soul. He is my life. It's in Him. It's from Him. It's
all of Him. That's my only hope of eternal
life. I think about dying on a daily
basis. On a daily basis, I think about
dying. I think about preaching to you. And it weighs on my heart that
I preach the truth to you, that God will enable me to preach
the truth to you. Because I've lost track of how
many funerals I've preached. the people I preach to. I see
that body in that casket. And I think, oh, I hope I told
them the truth. Hope I told them the truth. Be the same way for
you and me one day. If Christ doesn't return first.
And I think about me. I'm going to die one day. Someday,
somebody else is going to stand in this pulpit because old Frank
is going to be with the Lord. I'm going to die. This flesh
is going to die. It probably won't be pleasant.
And my hope is the Lord Jesus Christ, that I close my eyes
in this life and open them in glory. That's the only thing
that keeps me going every day. All right, fourthly, hear Christ
speak the law. And you know, when the law was
given at Mount Sinai to Moses, the people trembled and feared.
The law revealed something of God's holiness and God's justice,
didn't it? God cannot accept one sin. That law reveals the holiness
of God. And you know what else it reveals?
The total depravity of man, that we're the opposite of God. We
can't keep one commandment of God for even one second. What the law does for you and
me is a mirror. It holds it up and it shows us our dead, hopeless,
sinless condition before God, it removes all hope in us, doesn't
it? That's what the law does. But
the law also reveals something of the glory of the one who was
coming. When that law was given, there's
one who would come and he is going to keep that law in every
jot, in every pill, in every minute detail. There's one coming
who's going to keep this law so well, he's going to honor
it. He's going to magnify it. He's
going to make this law look glorious because of the one who's going
to keep it. And the same law that demands my death in Adam
also demands my eternal life in Christ because of Christ's
obedience to the law for me. I love to hear Christ speak that
to my heart. That's assurance to my heart. I am your righteousness. I know you can't keep the law,
but I kept it for you. Then fifth, hear Christ speak
as that prophet. Now Moses, I feel sorry for Moses. You know, God called him back
to Egypt to lead his people out of Egypt. And Moses had to deal
with such a rebellious people The rest of his days, people
who would not listen to him, who would not believe him, who
did not, would not do what he told them to do. And you know,
Moses was frustrated by this. And the Lord spoke in Deuteronomy
18 verse 15. The Lord thy God will raise up
unto thee a prophet, capital P, a prophet from the midst of
thee, of thy brethren, like unto me. And Moses telling the people,
unto him you'll hearken. You're not listening to me. But
when he comes, you'll listen to him. That's what John the
Baptist was looking for, wasn't it? Are you that prophet? That's
who we're looking for. Are you that prophet who will
hear? For God's people, they're going to listen to the Lord Jesus
Christ. They're going to believe him
when he speaks. Because of what I talked about
in our lesson this morning, the irresistible call of the Spirit.
I want to give you just a few things. When that prophet came
in the flesh, I want to give you a few things that he spoke
during his earthly ministry. He said, blessed are the poor
in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are
those who are poor in spirit, who know that they're nothing
but sin. I've come to make them rich in my mercy. He said, blessed
are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Those who
mourn over their sin Christ said, I've come to comfort them by
taking their sin away from him. He said, Son, be of good cheer. Thy sins be forgiven thee. And
he said to that poor woman taken in adultery, Woman, where are
those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee? Neither
do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more. He cried,
Come unto me. Now that's all we ought to ever
have to hear. He said, come unto me. I ask you this morning, you
have not come to Christ. Why not? He said, come. Are you tired? Are you? Are you
tired of trying to figure it out? Are you tired of trying
to keep the law? Are you tired? You think, I'm
going to start acting better and then I'll come. And you find
you can't. Are you tired? Are you tired of that? Are you tired of trying to do
something you're incapable of doing? He said, come unto me, all ye
that labor and are heavy laden, I'll give you rest. I'll give
you rest from your sin. I'll give you rest from the burden
of the law. I'll give you peace in your heart. He said, take
my yoke upon you and learn of me. I'm meek and lowly in heart. You'll find rest for your souls.
My yoke is easy and my burden is light. Who doesn't want to
hear Christ say that to them? Come, come. He cried one day
at the end of a great festival. All it was was a show of religion.
There's nothing there. There's no blessing. There's
no life there. People are left leaving just like they came,
dead and thirsting dry. And he stood in that last day
and said, if he meant thirst, then come unto me and drink. Out of his belly shall flow rivers
of living water. Oh, if you drink this water,
you're thirst again. But if you drink the water I give, you'll
never thirst again. And sometimes do you think, oh,
I'm not going to I can't come to Christ, I'm. I'm nobody, I'm
just some nobody ever noticed me. The master said, suffer the
little children to come unto me and forbid them not for such
as the kingdom of heaven. Dear friend of mine, Dearly beloved
friend. So I grew up as a Scraggle kid.
I mean, we we know those kids, but she says sometimes some kids,
you never even know the Scraggle kid. You know, the Lord says
a Scraggle kids. They're just ruffians living out there. Orphans
living out on the street got to provide for themselves. Dirty
and smelly and hair, not brush teeth, not brush. Just the Lord
says suffering to come with me. Let him come. I'll embrace him
in my heart. Let him come. When the Lord says,
come, who will come? Well, He told us, all that the
Father giveth me, they shall come to me. And them that come
unto me, I'll in no wise cast them out. He's the successful
Savior. He says, come, all the Father
giveth me, they shall come to me. This is the will of Him that
sent me, that everyone would seeth the Son and believeth on
Him shall have everlasting life. They shall, that's the Father's
will. I'm going to make that happen. Who will come to the
Savior? His sheep. He said, My sheep,
hear My voice. I know them and they follow Me. And I give unto them eternal
life and they'll never perish, neither shall any man pluck them
out of My hand. They're secure in Me. Isn't that
glorious? Don't you want the Savior to say that to you? My
sheep, hear My voice. Now come! I'll give you eternal
life. You'll never perish. You'll never
be lost. And then He cried, is finished. It's finished. Oh, the gospel
is so simple. It's finished. There's nothing
left for you to do. Just quit. Just stack your arms
and surrender and quit. Salvation is finished in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now you come and cast your soul
upon him. Now, after all that, we ought
never doubt We ought never fear. We ought never be depressed.
We ought never be like we are. But we are. To our shame, we
are. And you know what he said to
his fearful disciples? They were so fearful. Oh, Lord,
don't you care we perish? He said, be not afraid. Be of
good cheer. It is I. Look, look and live. Look and have your fears removed.
Wherefore, if God so clothed the grass of the field, which
today is and tomorrow is cast in the oven, shall He not so
much more clothe you, O you little babe? He'll clothe you in eternal
garment, His righteousness. He'll make you beautiful in Him.
You'll never be naked in Adam again. Oh, I love to hear Christ
speak those words. Don't you? Hear Him speak those
words in the hearts of His people. Then sixthly, hear Christ speak
in His word. Now you know, I hope you know
that, that in this life, you're never going to hear Christ speak
audibly. Christ speaks through his word. If God's going to speak
to you, he's going to do it through his word. This book is everything
God has been pleased to reveal to me in this book. Everything
you need to know about God, yourself and salvation, everything is
in this book. If you have a question that's not answered in this book,
it's a question you ought not be asking. Really, everything
you need to know about God and salvation, spiritual life, is
in this book. This book is the most excellent
book. This is the Word of God. Not
the words of men, this is the Word of God. Men wrote it as
the Spirit inspired them to write it. This book is life-giving. This book, the words of this
book, is the seed God uses to give life to the hearts of His
people. Why are we so insistent on preaching the Word and teaching
the Word? We start with our littlest class, three-year-olds, teaching
them the Word. Janet's been subbing in Sabrina's
class the last couple of weeks, and you know what she told them
two weeks ago? Same thing I told you about creation,
Christ is the light of the world. We start with the Word. We go
through the Word, verse by verse by verse. You know why? This
is the seed God uses to give life. This book is truth. It doesn't just tell you the
truth, it is truth. It'll set you free. If the sun
will make you free, you'll be free indeed. This book is the
green grass that feeds the hearts of God's people. It's the bread
for our souls. It's the still waters for our
soul. And if you're going to hear from
God, you're going to hear from God by one of his servants, through
one of his servants, preaching this book, preaching this word
saying, thus saith the Lord. I love to hear God speak through
his word. I love to read God's word. I get up in the morning and I
have my coffee. And you know what I do? I mean,
for you working people, I'm sorry, but you know what I do? I get
to pray and I get to open this and read it. Just read it for
enjoyment. I love to read God's word. I'd
love to hear it read. When Wayne was reading, I'd love
to hear God's Word read. But I especially love to hear
God's Word preached. Because it's pleased God by the
foolishness of preaching. What men think is foolish. The
preaching of God's Word to save them that believe. And when you refuse to hear God's
servant preach this Word, better be careful. Better be careful.
That's refusing to hear God speak. because this is how he speaks
through his word. Then hear Christ speak to the hearts of his people. Now, I plan to preach Christ
to you as long as the Lord will enable me. But you'll never be
saved if all you hear is the voice of this preacher. You'll
never be saved. I can reach your head. I can, if you listen at
all, believe I can teach your head and tell you, at least in
that natural understanding, the ABCs of the gospel. I can do
that. But I can't reach your heart.
But if God ever speaks to your heart, you'll be saved. You'll
have eternal life. I've watched it happen. I've
watched people I've preached to for a long time. And suddenly,
something's different. There's a light on there now.
Something's different. And for long. They come and say, I want
to confess Christ. What happened? They quit hearing
Frank and the Lord spoke to their heart. That's what happened.
When he speaks, there's life, there's light. I love it when
God speaks to your heart and says, you're saved, you're mine,
you're mine. I love it when God says that
to me. That's what I pray for every day. Then hear Christ speak. as He
makes intercession for His people. We can't go up to the third heaven
like the Apostle Paul and see and hear the things that are
going on there. If we did, we'd be like Paul. I can't tell you
what I saw. I can't tell you where it is.
Human language can't tell it. But if we were there, we'd hear
Christ making intercession for His people. We'd see Him making
intercession for His people. But I don't need to go into the
third heaven to hear Him make intercession for His people.
Christ came just like He promised. He did what He came to do. He
saved His people from their sin. Lock, stock and barrel. But His
people on this earth are still in their flesh. Sinful flesh.
All they do is sin. So we need forgiveness every
day. That's why our Lord taught us to pray. Forgive us our trespasses. And the believer is greatly troubled
by his own sin. Doesn't it trouble you? I wish I didn't do that. I wish
I wouldn't like that. I wish I wouldn't think that. When we're
so troubled by our sin, what's our comfort? If any man sin, we have an advocate
with the Father. Jesus Christ the righteous. He
makes intercession for you. He ever lives to make intercession
for His people. And when Christ pleads for His
people, He makes intercession for them. All He does is sit
beside His Father upon the throne of glory with those scars still
in his body. This man, Jesus of Nazareth,
was nailed to a tree. He suffered and died. He had
nail prints in his hands, his feet. He had that mark, the scar,
that spear thrust in his side. When he rose, those scars were
still there. He rose to glory with those scars still in his
body. And with those scars in full view of the Father, he says,
And those, he didn't have to say a word. Those scars are the
evidence of his sacrifice for his people. And the father smiles,
just like he smiled in eternity when the son said, father, I'll
be surety for them. The father sees those scars,
the evidence of the sacrifice of Christ for his people. And
he smiles. He said, that's enough. I'm satisfied
with that. I'm well pleased with my people
in my son. Oh, I love to hear Christ. making
intercession for me. If he intercedes for me, I'm
saved. I'm accepted of the Father. Now
that is some of what Christ speaks from heaven. Have you heard it?
Has the Lord enabled you to believe it? I hope so. Because it is possible to refuse
to hear him that speaketh. That's what the writer of the
Hebrews says, be careful you don't do it. It's possible to refuse
to hear Christ speak in all these different ways. I'll give you
a few ways we can. We refuse to hear Christ by rejecting
him, by rejecting what he says and just say, I don't believe
that. I can't believe that. I won't believe that. That's
rejecting him that speaketh from heaven. The word refuse, this
is very interesting. It means to reject, but you know
what it also means? Refuse. It means to make an excuse. If you're making an excuse, that's
refusing to hear, that's rejecting Christ. I want you to listen
to some of the excuses people make. I know people make these
excuses because I've made them. They say, well, I would come
to Christ, but what if I'm not one of the elect? What if you are? What if you
are? You come to Christ right now
because you're a sinner who needs a Savior. Nobody yet has ever
come to Christ because they knew they were one of the elect. You
come to Christ because you're a sinner who needs a Savior,
and He's the Savior of sinners. You come to Christ. You'll find
out right quick, oh, I came because He's drawn me all along. Oh,
I came because He loved me for eternity. Oh, I came because
He chose me. But you're not going to know any of that until you
come to Christ because you're a sinner. Then someone says,
well, I would come to Christ, but I just don't understand enough.
I don't understand enough of the gospel. I don't understand
how all this can be. My friend, nowhere in this book
are we commanded to understand enough. Nowhere. We're commanded
to believe. We're commanded to come to Christ.
If you wait till you understand enough, you'll never come. Come
because you're a sinner. Do you understand that? Can you
understand you're a sinner and you can't save yourself? Can
you understand what this book says that Christ is the savior
of sinners? Don't those two go hand in hand?
You're a sinner. Christ is the savior of sinners.
Then come to Him. That's all you need to know.
Well, here's another excuse. How do I know Christ died for
me? Well, I'll tell you. If you want to know, I can tell
you. You want to know if Christ died for you? The only evidence is
faith. Come to Christ in faith, believing
all it takes to save you is Christ. Faith is the only evidence you'll
ever have that Christ died for you. Now, do you believe? Do you believe? That Christ is
all it takes? Do you think you need something
else besides Christ? Do you believe that Christ is all it takes? That He's all you need? Then
come to Him. See, there's no valid excuses
for not coming to Christ. The only reason we don't come
to Christ is we're rejecting Him. And the writer says, be
mighty careful. Be mighty careful. We can also
refuse what Christ says when He speaks from heaven by being
indifferent. to the gospel, just being indifferent,
you know, only, only coming to hear when I'm in trouble or only
coming, you know, when I don't have something better to do,
you know, be mighty careful, mighty careful. Indifference
to the gospel is refusal to hear Christ. We also listen indifferently
when we just come because we're going through the motions and
we don't listen to the message. We don't listen for God's message
from me. When I don't listen to the gospel
as a needy sinner who needs Christ, I never get a blessing, ever.
If I listen as a needy sinner, a needy sinner is never indifferent.
If I listen as a needy sinner who needs the Savior, I bet you
I hear God's message from me and I won't if I don't. So I
would compel all of us, we've heard Christ speak. Now you come
to him in faith, believing he's all it takes to save a poor sinner
like you. Listen to Christ's gracious words. Listen to him speak. And come
to him, come to him. By God's grace, we will. By God's
grace, God will enable us to continue to keep hearing him
speak through his word. All right, let's bow together.
Our Father, We bow before you in awe, in awe of who you are,
in awe of your majesty, in awe of your mercy and your grace
and your love to your people and your son, our Lord Jesus
Christ. And Father, I beg of thee that this morning that you
would speak to our hearts, that you speak to the hearts of your
people and cause us to come to Christ, cause us to close with
Christ. Father, speak to the hearts of
your dear children and comfort our hearts. Give us assurance
and rest and peace by revealing Christ to us again. Give us peace
of heart by enabling us by faith to hear Christ, the Savior, speak
and say, you're mine. I put your sin away. You're mine.
Every step you take, I'm with you. I'll never leave you nor
forsake you to the end. Let us hear him speak to our
hearts. And let us be thrilled, thrilled that Almighty God would condescend
to speak to such wretches as we are. Father, we thank you. Bless your word, we pray. Bless
your word for your glory and for the good of your people.
It's in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ we pray
and give thanks. Let's stand and sing 235, 235,
and sing the chorus after the even verses, number two and four,
please. Pass me not, O gentle Savior,
Hear my humble cry, While on others Thou art calling, Do not
pass me by. Let me at a throne of mercy Healing there in deep contrition,
Help my unbelief. Savior, Savior, Hear my humble
cry, While on others Thou art calling, not pass me by. Trusting only in thy merit, would
I seek thy face, heal my wounded, broken spirit, safely hide thy Thou the spring of all my comfort,
more than life to me. Whom have I on earth beside Thee? Whom in heaven but Thee? Savior, Savior, hear my humble
cry, While on others Thou art calling, do not pass me by.