Rather than read this morning,
I've got so many texts for my message, I think I'll just talk
to you for a second before we have our prayer about something
that Moses said to the Lord. He said, Lord, show me thy glory. Show me your glory. I know you're God. I worship
you as God. I know that I found grace in
your sight. Would you show me your glory? And the Lord said, you can't
look on God and live. But there's a place by me. And it's a rock. And I'm going
to put you on the rock, but you still can't see me and live.
So I'm going to put you in the cleft of the rock. And the part
that you can't see, you won't see. But when I pass by, I'll
allow you to see my hundred parts. I'm going to allow you to see
my finished work. You couldn't look into the exact
injustice of God even if you wanted to. I just know that it exists and
we talk about it all the time, how he did this and he did that,
but I don't know what it is. My flesh, I've never sweat great
drops of blood concerning my sin or concerning the horror
of facing God in my sin. a holy God. But he said, I'm
going to put you in the cleft of the rock and I'll let you
see what glory you're able to see. And maybe it might be this
morning. God may put us in that cleft
and show us the glory that we're able to see. That's my prayer
this morning. Fathers, we come to you today looking into things all so grand
in glory, so far above anything that man could ever imagine.
And looking there with eyes of faith, through the revelation
of your spirit, through the person and work of your son, would you
be pleased this morning to again show us your glory? Be with us. Be with us as we
sing these hymns that our hearts are being prepared to worship.
Be with us. Allow us to enter into them.
Allow us to sing them from our hearts. We ask it for Christ's
sake. Amen. Let's turn to hymn number 78
for our hymn this morning. We'll sing this to the doxology,
My Soul Consider. Hymn number 78. My soul, consider this great
thought The wondrous works which God has wrought His works from
all eternity My God has done them all for me God's special
love for me for all his own, directs the power of his throne. Elect and precious to my God,
all things predestined for my good. Redeemed by blood, preserved
by power, unto that great appointed hour when God in mercy came to
me he gave me life and set me free my God has never His grace and power have prevailed
My heart, my soul, my life He holds By sovereign grace within
His fold And so, my God, I'll praise Your name Exalt your grace
and spread your fame. Eternal sovereign love and grace,
compel my heart to sing your praise. Thank you. Sometime during the 1800s, I'm
not familiar with all the dates, but during the 1800s there was
two traveling shows. The one was owned by five siblings
called the Ringling Brothers. It was a circus of sorts in its
early days. And another by Barnum and Bailey. Phineas T. Barnum, and Mr. Bailey. And they had a show.
And it's my understanding that their show went way back toward
the beginning of the 1800s. So they more than likely were
a little older than the Ringling brothers. But for whatever cause,
Bailey died. And after his death, these two
shows merged together. and made what stayed under that
same title even when I was a little boy, the Ringling Brothers Barnum
and Bailey Circus. Now, P.T. Barnum was probably
the most renowned promoter of the age. It's hard to find his
equal. when it comes to promoting shows.
And no doubt that's why the Ringling Brothers accepted them as a merge. But he billed that circus as
the greatest show on earth. I remember as a child when that
circus would come somewhere near our home, how they would advertise
that circus as the greatest show on earth. There was even a series
on television called The Greatest Show on Earth and they followed
the Ringling Brothers and presented their shows. And I'd have to say, truly, in
that day, they were at the top of any entertainers, you know,
the entertainment industry as a whole. But there is a show
much greater, more widely known, and more profoundly effective
than that. And truly, it is. the greatest
show on earth. At a loss for words, Paul's talking
about just certain things, just certain things that God was,
how he chose a nation and set that nation aside typically to
represent all of the elect of God. And talking about how through
their rejection of Christ that this salvation has come over
to the Gentiles. And yet God is not going to destroy
everyone who's a Jew, but he has spiritual Jews. And some
of them are Gentiles and some of them are Jews. And he's talking
about these things to the Roman church. He's writing a letter
to them. And he finally, he can't contain himself anymore, he's
just at a total loss, and he said, oh, he said, the depth
of the riches, both of wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable
are his judgments and his ways past finding out. For who hath
known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been his counselor?
For of him And through Him and to Him are all things, to whom
be glory forever. The greatest show on earth. If
you will, I invite you to turn to one of my four texts that
I want to read to you this morning that has to do with this subject.
Turn with me to John chapter 5. In John chapter 5, our Lord came
down to the pool of Bethesda. And there he saw a man in his
misery. There was many that day. There
were five porches that led out into this pool beside the sheep
market. But he saw one with eyes of mercy
and grace. He saw a man in his misery. He
was paralyzed. He'd been that way for 38 years. And he approached this man and
he said, will thou be made whole? What a question to ask a man
who'd been paralyzed 38 years. Would you like to walk? Would you like to get up off
that bed? And he said, sir, I have no one
to help me in the water. When the waters would be in trouble
by the angel, I had nobody to help me in. And the Lord said, arise, take
up your bed, and walk. Now you think about what I just
said. You ever seen anything like that in your lifetime? Have
you ever read a book about anything like that? I've never read a fiction book
with anything like that in it. 38 years paralyzed and
the Lord said, arise. This man had to be just skin
and bones. He had to be. He just lay in
there paralyzed all these years. And immediately it said he was
made whole and took up his bed and walked. And all these things,
he said, took place on the Sabbath day. And the Jews ran an uproar because
this man was carrying his bed on Sabbath day. They knew who
this was. He'd been coming down there for
38 years. They knew who he was. And when they found out it was
Jesus that healed him and told him to take up his bed and walk,
it says they persecuted him. And to them he said these words. Verse 17. My Father worketh hitherto,
and I work. Therefore the Jews sought the
Moor to kill him, because he not only had broken the Sabbath
there, but he said also that God was his Father, making himself
equal with God. And after a few more words concerning
the charges that they had against him, the Lord said to them in
verse 20, this is the first of my tapes. For the Father loveth the Son,
and showeth him all things that he himself doeth. And he will
show him greater works than these. that ye may marvel." What a statement! God has something
He intends to show. It's been within Him for no telling,
for all eternity, contained in Him, purposed in Him, But He intends to show these
things, and this earth is where He intends to show it. And Jesus
of Nazareth, the Son of God, is the medium, He's the means,
He's the method, He's the agency, the channel, the instrument,
whatever you want to call it, through which He's going to show
it. The Father loveth the Son, and
He showeth to Him. When? From the beginning. Read John chapter 3 when John
the Baptist is talking about it. He said the things which
he's seen. He's seen these. I'm just down
here with the bridegroom. I'm just happy to stand here
at his wedding. I'm just beside myself with the
privilege of being able to stand here while he works and to call
him my friend. Oh, the Father loveth the Son.
And He showeth him everything that he does. Everything God
is purposed to do, He showed to His Son. What did He show
Him? He showed Him everything that
He Himself doeth. All revelation is purposed to
be revealed in God's Son. I hear people talk all the all
the time about the revelation. God revealed something to me.
God said something to me. God told me to go do this. That's
a bunch of malarkey, what that is. You may be convinced of it,
and I have no doubt that some of them heard some words, but
they didn't hear them from God. Everything God intends to show
to this world, He shows through His Son. And beware of anybody
who talks about having received a revelation from God apart from
Christ. Scripture said, No man knoweth
the Father save the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal
him. Back in the council halls of
eternity, back before angels or men even had a being, back
before there was a universe to gaze at or an earth to live in,
back when there was none but God. None but God. the father's purpose to manifest,
to show his glory through the salvation of a people, through
the person and work of his son. And he showed it to him. And
the son said, I'll do it. To accomplish this, there must
be a world in which to do it. Ringling Brothers had the first
of what they called the Big Top. Boy, the big talk was it. I mean,
if you wanted to see something, you had to buy a ticket and go
inside the tent. Everything God has chosen to
reveal to men, he reveals inside the tent. That's the body. That's
the tabernacle. That's the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's all in there. Would you know God? Oh, John
said, we know that the Son of God has come and given to us
an understanding. Where did you learn that? In the tent. In the tent. To accomplish this purpose, there
must be a world in which to do it, a situation arranged, provision
made, and so on. Jesus Christ, Paul said, is the
image of the invisible God. Now listen to this. The firstborn
of every creature, that is, every created thing. That was Christ
first, and then creation. Then creation. For by Him were
all things created that are in heaven, that are in earth, visible
and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities
or powers. All things were created by Him
and for Him, and He's before all things, and by Him all things
consist. He's the head of the body of
the church who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead.
Now listen, that in all things, what things? All things, He might
have the preeminence. Oh, what a wonder. by Him, all that God has revealed
by way of Him, is how this showing is going to take place. It says
in Ephesians 1a, He hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence,
having made known unto us the mystery of His will according
to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Himself, that in
the dispensation, the economy, the stewardship of time, He might
gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in
heaven, which are on earth, even in him, in whom also we have
obtained an inheritance being predestinated according to the
purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his
own will. In the beginning, John said,
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld
His glory. Where did you see it? In the
Son. What Son? That Eternal Son. That
One who was in the beginning with God and was God. The Father
loveth the Son, and shall with Him all things that He Himself
doeth. He showed him creation and salvation,
and men and women chosen to life eternal. He showed him the means,
the way, the eternal destinies of men. John 5.22, For the Father judgeth
no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son. The Father
worketh hitherto, he said, and I work, and I work. You won't see a show, it's all
in him. It's all in Him. Why? Verse 23, that all men should
honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth
not the Son, honoreth not the Father, which is sin. And if
you see the greatest show on earth, you'll see it in His Son,
or you won't see it at all. And if you see it, it'll be an
act of God's mercy and grace. He says over in John 16, 13,
people talk about the revelation of the Spirit. He said, Howbeit
when the Spirit of truth is come, he'll guide you into all truth,
for he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear,
that shall he speak, and he'll show you things to come. He'll
glorify me, for he shall receive of mine and show it unto you. You're going to see something
about the Spirit of God, you're still going to see it in the
Son. You're going to see it in his song. Greatest show on earth. Where
can you see it? In his song. There's nothing
else worth preaching. That's why I preach Christ to
you, to the best of my ability. There's nothing else to preach.
I tell you, I've had friends who went. Now this is long after
the heyday of Ringling Brothers. This was up in the 60s. And I
had friends who went to that circus. And boy, after that,
everything else was just nothing. It was just nothing. I felt so
bad, because I never got to go. All these things are in Christ.
You're going to see them. You're going to see them in Him.
When are you going to see them? When He's pleased to show. Well,
what if I can't make it? You won't see it. It's that simple. You won't see
it. All right, here's the second
text I want you to see concerning this great show. God's going
to show something. He's purposed it from all eternity.
He's going to do it. How's He going to do it? In His
Son. He's going to do it in His Son. All right, here's the second
text, Ephesians chapter 2. As our Lord begins to manifest
the glory of God, He sends out 12 apostles. These are the forerunners
of every gospel preacher from that day to the end of time.
God is going to reveal His glory manifested in the person and
work of His Son through gospel preaching. He establishes it
in the apostles. If He weren't going to do it,
He wouldn't have sent them out into the world and made them
suffer the things they suffered. The whole book of Acts is the
Acts of the apostles. He gives it to us line upon line. He gives it to us in great detail,
how these men went at the cost of their own lives, at the cost
of great pain and suffering and persecution. They went and preached
the gospel to men. In Ephesians 2, Paul begins by
telling us the sad story of man and the present condition of
all men. They're dead in trespasses and
sins. They're not dead physically,
they still have a mind, they have ears, they have eyes, but
they're dead spiritually. Isn't it something that the Lord
came in amongst these people and here's a man paralyzed for
38 years and he walks up to the man and never touches him. Just
tells him, get up off that bed, pick it up and go your way. Arise! take up your bed and walk. And
he does it. He couldn't possibly do it, but
he did it. And everybody saw it. And the
very men who persecuted him were there and saw it. They saw him call Lazarus out
of the tomb. Didn't keep him from persecuting
him. Didn't keep him from crucifying him. Oh, here's the sad story about
man. He's dead spiritually. There's amazing things going
on, miraculous things going on all around him, and he sees them,
but he don't see them. All my relatives saw me stop
the direction I was going and turn. They saw me make a profession
of faith. They saw me baptize, but they
didn't see anything. They didn't see anything. We're
not dead physically, we're dead spiritually. We're dying physically,
but we're already dead spiritually. Walking according to the course
of this world. Walking just like every other
son of Adam walked. And then it says, we're walking
also according to the prince of the power of the air, the
spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. We're
affected by religion whether we know it or not. You're a small child, you grow
up in a family, everybody in that family is not a believer,
even if some are. And your children's affected
by it. They go to school, there's others there. They weren't raised
in a godly religion, they were raised in worldly religion. They're
affected by it. You're affected by it. You go
to the store, you buy things, you see things, you hear things,
you hear people talk. You're affected by it whether
you know it or not. They walk according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit which now worketh in the
children of disobedience. That's why they're disobedient.
They're convinced they're doing right. Dead men walking, that's men
and women who are religious and lost, assembling in churches,
baptized, professing to know God, but living out their days
in the lust of their flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and
of the mind, and are by nature children of wrath, even as others. Oh, he paints a dark image of
man, spiritual zombies walking talking but totally oblivious
to the work and glory of God, spiritually unconscious, unmindful,
unsensible to what's going on around them. It's like a catastrophic plague. It's blinded men and women in
such a way that they even saw the Son of God who worked and
lived among them, and what He did was virtually unknown. And surely this would have been
the end of mankind. But the apostle goes on, he said,
But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith
He loved us even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened
us together with Christ. By grace ye are saved. When did God save me? When He
put me in His Son. Long before I was ever created.
Long before the earth ever was set into motion. long before
there was a universe or light to lighten it. He chose me and
put me in His Son and He saved me by His grace. And not only that, but in the
fullness of time He sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made
under the law to redeem them that were under the law. And
when He died, I died. But when God raised Him, He raised
me too. And when God sent those angels
down and the Son of God stepped on that cloud and ascended into
glory, was escorted into glory, I was escorted with him. And
the Father said, well done, thy good and faithful servant. Sit
here at my right hand. And I sat down with him. That's
what Paul said. Who do you do that for? These
spiritual zombies. These dead men walking. Oh, by
way of an eternal quickening, choosing us in Christ, appointing
Him as our surety and guarantor, ordaining Him as our head and
representative, accomplishing our redemption, making us accepted
in the blood, and literally carrying us up into glory with Him. Now here's my second text in
verse 7, Ephesians chapter 2. Here's why He did all that. That
in the ages to come, He might show the exceeding riches of
His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. Oh, what a show. Because of His glorious person
and work, our Lord now sits victorious with all power in heaven and
earth in His hands. And in perfect harmony with the
will of God, He opens the hearts of dead sinners and shows them
the exceeding riches of His grace, shows them His kindness, shows
them the Father's kindness. What the Father does, He shows
to His Son. What's the Father doing? He's
opening the heart of dead sinners. What's He showing them? He's
showing them His Son. And He's showing His kindness
toward us through His Son. For, He said, by grace are you
saved through faith. What's that? That's the show.
That's the show. He takes this black void, this
cesspool of iniquity, this mind, this enmity against God, this
sinner. And he opens his heart and he
shines the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. He shines it into that heart. Oh, does it affect him? My soul. I don't care what else happens
to him after that. It plays second fiddle to that. What a show it is when a helpless,
hopeless sinner seeing himself standing before a holy God, guilty
as charged, without defense, without excuse, shut up to the
justice and righteousness of God, and then he unveils his
mercy and grace in his Son. You think it has an impact on
him? Oh, my soul. I promise you, it's a show worth
seeing. It's a show I hope to see every
time I come in this place. I never tire of it. And I love
to talk about it. Don't you? All right, thirdly, turn with
me to 1 Peter chapter 2. We're talking about the greatest
show on earth. A life-changing show. A show
that when seen, it so captures the heart But nothing else will
do but to see it again. I want to see it again. In 1 Peter chapter 2, the apostle
is telling us about the character of those who were born again
by gospel seed. They as never before had a desire
for the sincere milk of the Word. Yeah, I used to be I don't know the word to use. I'd look at the Word of God and
it was a mysterious thing. It was a superstitious thing.
My dad talked about it that way and that's how I kind of looked
at it. And I'd look into it, but I couldn't get anywhere in
it. I just couldn't get anywhere. It didn't make any sense to me
at all. It was talking about things, and it looked to me like
it was talking about things way back yonder, and then it talked
about things way out there. But it never seemed to talk about
what was going on right now. He's telling us about the character
of those born again by gospel seed, and they as never before
have a desire for the sincere milk of the Word. These are they
that have tasted of the grace of God, and they know He's gracious. They've experienced His grace
and experienced His mercy. They have and are coming to Him
constantly as a living stone, disallowed indeed among men,
but chosen of God in prayer. They're coming to Him being built
up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. The love they offer is the love
they were given in Christ. Your love has to be made acceptable,
don't it? And boy, if it's not the offshoot
of that love wherewith he loved you, it's just infatuation. It ain't love. The support they
offer is the support God supplied them with in Christ. Spiritual
sacrifices, love, faith, repentance, joy, peace, happiness, all the
gifts of God. And even them are made acceptable
through Jesus Christ. And then Peter tells us of the
fate of this unbelieving world. He said, unto you Christ is precious. But unto them which be disobedient,
the stone which the builders disallowed is made the head of
the corner, and a stone of stumbling, even to them which stumble at
the word, being disobedient, whereunto also They were appointed. But, and here's my third text,
but. You are a chosen generation. You seen that yet? You talk about being astounded.
You talking about sitting there in a seat full of wonder. Has
God ever revealed to you your election of God? When you were
absolutely convinced you were going to hell, that you were
an object of His wrath, has God ever revealed to you your election
of God? Elect and precious? You're a
chosen generation, Peter writes. You're a holy nation, a peculiar
people. Why? Why? Why has God separated the
people in this world from Himself? Why has God chosen some and chosen
them in Christ and come to them and convinced them of sin and
convinced them of righteousness and of judgment? Why does He
do all this? Listen to the rest of the Scripture.
That you should show forth all this great show. He's going to
make you a part of it. that ye should show forth the
praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his
marvelous light, which in time past were not a people." Huh? You're just another member of
Adam's race. But you're now the people of
God, which had not obtained mercy, but now you've obtained mercy. I tell you, the people of God
are a wonder in themselves. Cursed in Adam, but blessed in
Christ. Oh, dead in sin, but alive in
Christ. Living in the nature of sin,
but grace reigning in their hearts unto life eternal. Chosen of
God by divine decree, put into union with His Son, and made
full provision for Him. A royal priesthood. set apart for spiritual things,
servants of the church, helpers together with God. A holy nation, everything about
us is in perfect harmony with the character of God. And you're
a peculiar people. Oh my, how the people of God,
what a peculiar bunch they are. They're one of a kind. One of
a kind. Singled out. made that way of
God. And as such, we're designed to
show forth the praises of Him that have called us out of darkness
into His marvelous light. Old P.T. Barnum, back in the
early 1800s, he heard about this little feller, and he went to
see him. His name was Tom Thumb. When he was born, he was nine
pounds, eight ounces. That's a big baby. In six months,
he didn't gain one ounce. I'm sorry. In six months, he
weighed 15 pounds. He was 25 inches long. He's six months old now. He's
still just a baby. But he only grew an inch, one
inch. And now he's 25 inches long. When Tom was five years old,
five years later, he didn't gain one inch. He still weighed 15
pounds. And he grew an inch. He was 26
inches long, five years old. It shows a picture of him. If
you look him up on the internet, it shows a picture of him standing
on the chair, on the kitchen chair. And his head barely is
above the table, standing on the chair. And P.T. Barnum went to his house,
met his father and mother, met Tom, and adopted him into
his shell. And he taught that, I mean, he
was a curiosity to say the least. He was peculiar, wasn't he? He is, this little fella, he
wasn't that big. When he died, he was three foot
four, when he died. But P.T. Barnum, that wasn't
enough just to be a curiosity. P.T. Barnum taught this boy how
to entertain. Taught him how to capture people's
hearts. He taught him how to communicate
a story to men. And he was a performer. World
renowned. And here's his little failure,
he was a nothing. And P.T. Barnum got him, and
when he died, he died a rich man. He owned houses everywhere.
He was a rich man. Y'all see his monument. It's
taller than this church. Got a life-size statue of himself
on top of it. He was world-renowned. Just a little old nothing. Oh,
I tell you, when I think about myself, When I think about how God found
me and where he found me, and what he's done for me. Oh, Tom
Thumb's nothing compared to what God does to a sinner. He just
makes this unwanted freak of nature. He takes it and he makes
somebody out of it. He makes a jewel out of Him.
He makes a trophy of His grace out of Him. And He'll preserve
Him for all eternity. And He'll cause men to hear Him. Hear Him, He's nothing. Oh, He'll
be something when you hear Him. Because God works in you. And He teaches him how to communicate
to me. And He gives him the ability
to talk to your heart, not just your head. greatest show on earth. Peter
said, we're part of that. We're part of that. He's done
all these things that we might show forth the praises of Him
who called us out of darkness.