I think for every child of God,
there are certain portions in God's Word that serve like spiritual
landmarks. As pilgrims and strangers that
we spoke of this morning, as strangers making their journey
through this world, They have times somewhat like Jacob experienced
at Bethel. Do you remember that? Turn back
there for just a moment, then we'll come back to John chapter
6, Genesis chapter 28. This spiritual landmark, so to
speak, in Jacob's journey in serving God, at this time he's
fleeing from his brother Esau. from whom he had stolen the birthright. But in verse 10 of Genesis 28,
we read this, And Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward
Haran. And he lighted upon a certain
place and tarried there all night, because the sun was set. and
he took up the stones of that place and put them for his pillows
and laid down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed, and behold,
a ladder set up on the earth and the top of it reached to
heaven. And behold, the angels of God ascending and descending
on it. And behold, the Lord stood above
it and said, is it any wonder that this had to be a highlight
in Jacob's pilgrimage? 20 years later, he would come
back to Bethel and set up an altar to the honor of God in
remembrance of what happened here. And behold, the Lord God
stood above it and said, verse 13, I am the Lord God of Abraham,
thy father, and the God of Isaac. The land wherein thou liest,
to thee will I give in unto thy seed, and thy seed shall be as
the dust of the earth. and thou shalt spread abroad
to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south.
And in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth
be blessed. And behold, what a promise this
is. And this is God's promise to
every believer. And behold, I am with thee and
will keep thee in all places whither thou goest and will bring
thee again into this land for I will not leave thee until I
have done that which I have spoken to thee And Jacob awaked out
of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place, and
I knew it not. And he was afraid and said, How
dreadful is this place! This is none other but the house
of God, and this is the gate of heaven. And Jacob rose up
early in the morning and took the stone he had put for his
pillows and set it up for a pillar and poured oil up on the top
of it, and he called the name of that place Bethel. That word
means house of God. Verse 21. So that I come again
to my Father's house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God. And this stone, this was Jacob's
pledge, and this stone which I have set for a pillar shall
be God's house. And of all that thou shalt give
me, I will surely give the tenth unto thee. I think we all have
such moments. such times, I should say, in
our Christian life that serve as landmarks when God so evidently,
obviously met with us and brought us out of a severe trial or difficulty. A promise from God's word, and
perhaps you're thinking of such an incident right now in your
history. of serving God. A promise from
God's Word has come to you with such sweet assurance you just
couldn't doubt it. You couldn't doubt it. Like Jacob,
God is here. This is God's presence that I'm
in. And you couldn't ever forget
what he did for you. When we were at our worst, at
our lowest, we found that God was at his best. Perhaps during
a particularly severe trial, God the Holy Spirit brought a
word, a promise, a portion of Holy Scripture to your heart
with such a clarity and with such power you knew all things. You knew at that moment. that
all things including that present trial will work together for
your good and God's eternal glory. I have many, many of Mr. Spurgeon's works. I think just
about everything he wrote. I have one book at home by him
entitled, Lectures to My Students. These were lectures put in print
that he gave to young men who felt called of God to preach
the gospel and asked him for instruction. And Mr. Spurgeon did that in one of the
rooms of the tabernacle. But in one of the chapters of
that book, it's entitled this, The Minister's Fainting Fits. The Minister's Fainting Fits. And he said, a preacher will
have those, but I don't think it's confined to just preachers. He'll have times like Elijah. Remember Elijah? Remember when
he challenged all the prophets of Baal to meet him on Mount
Carmel and told Israel, you be there too. You be there too. And we're going to settle this
issue. about who God is. If Baal is God, then serve him. But if God is God, then let's
serve him. And you know the outcome of that.
The false prophets of Baal built an altar and they began to pray
to their God. Nothing happened. They prayed
louder, nothing happened. Elijah said, maybe he's asleep. Maybe he can't hear you. Maybe
you need to speak louder. And these Pentecostals, it seems
to me they were, cut themselves to try to get their God's attention
all day long and nothing happened because they were praying to
a false God, a God that could not answer, could not hear, a
God that could not say. Then Elijah, he prepared his
altar and his sacrifice, and he commanded him three times
to bring four barrels, buckets of water and pour on his sacrifice. And then he prayed, Lord, show
these people that thou art God. and the fire fell from heaven,
we're told, and consumed the sacrifice and the wood and the
stones and all the water in the trench around the altar. And
the people said, God, he is God. Wasn't that something? Can you
imagine how Elijah must have felt? Oh, how blessed he must
have been to have God prove himself as he promised he would. That
same day, Jezebel, the queen, whose prophets of Baal were hers,
sent word to Elijah, what you did to them because they were
all slaughtered, those false prophets. She said, what you
did to them, I'll do to you. Before the sun goes down today,
you'll be dead just like they are. And this man, this man,
who just a few hours before that stood and prayed that prayer
and seen the fire of God fall from heaven, took off running,
scared, scared. And God speaks to him, what doest
thou hear Elijah? I'm the only one left. This is
what Mr. Spurgeon referred to as the minister's
feigning fits, and it proves that the very best men are only
men at their best, does it not? Turn, if you will, to Romans
chapter 11. Paul refers to this very thing, this time in the
life of Elijah that's recorded in 1 Kings chapter 18, but Paul
refers to it here in Romans chapter 11. In verse 1 he says, I say then,
hath God cast away his people? God forbid, God forbid. For I
also am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham of the tribe of Benjamin.
God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew? Know ye not
what the scripture saith of Elias or Elijah, how he maketh intercession
to God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets,
and dig down thine altars, and I am left alone, and they seek
my life." But, but, what saith the answer
of God unto him? It's not like you think, Elijah. Your perception of things are
wrong. I have reserved to myself 7,000
men who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal." And Paul
makes application of that blessed truth of God's election of grace
to the day that he lived in, and oh, how often he found it
to be a source of encouragement to himself. Remember when he
was in Corinth? I read somewhere that if you
wanted to insult someone in that day, you would say, you act like
a Corinthian. That was an insult because they
were infamous for their debauchery, their idolatry, but Paul was
in that city, and I don't know what was going through his mind,
but it was necessary for God to speak to him and say, don't
be afraid, Paul. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid
to preach my word even here. Speak. Don't hold your peace. And you know what reason God
gave Paul to do so? He said, because, just as he
told Elijah in his day, I have much people in this city. I have
much people, so speak the word. My word cannot return void. Preach the gospel. Verse 5 here
in Romans 11. Even so then, at this present
time, there is a remnant according to what? That which cannot fail. That which must succeed. That which guarantees the salvation
of sinners. A remnant according to God's
election of grace. God has purposed, has determined,
has ordained to save sinners. It must come to pass. And Paul
says, and if by grace, then it is no more of works. In other
words, grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it
is no more grace. Otherwise, work is no more work. And what God told Elijah in his
day about that remnant, Paul applied it to his day. It's so
in your day and my day. God has used, certain passages
in his word, two of them here in John 6, to comfort and strengthen
me during difficult times. Both serve as spiritual landmarks,
my Bethel, if you will, and my pilgrimage since God saved me
by his grace. And the source, the foundation
of both these promises are the same. It has one foundation,
Lord. one sure and certain foundation,
and that is Jesus Christ himself. Jesus knew what he would do. That's the first one, verse 6.
In the first miracle, the feeding of the multitude, and then the
second miracle, him come walking to them on the stormy sea with
this word, it is I. It is I. Be not afraid. Jesus Christ himself
is the source, the reason, the very essence of the hope of those
promises. As Peter, writing in his first
epistle, he said, under you that believe, he is precious. Literally, the rendering is,
under you that believe, he is the preciousness. He's preciousness
itself. So considering verse 6 and verse
20, one took place on the land, the other took place on the troubled
sea, but it was all the same to him, wasn't it? It didn't
matter. It wasn't any difficulty to him,
not to that one who has his way all the time and everywhere. on the land, on the sea, in heaven,
in earth, in hell. None can stay his hand or say
unto him, what doest thou? He is that one of whom the clouds
are the dust of his feet and has his way in the whirlwind. These things Jesus knew that
he would do. Verse 6, by these two miracles,
he still does. He still does. He was about to
show the apostles their utter insufficiency, was to prove it
to them. That was a very needful lesson,
was it not? Oh, what an antidote against
pride when he brings us down and effectually teaches us that
without him we can't do anything at all. Without Christ, we can't
think a good thought, speak a right word. Without Christ, we can
do nothing at all. This is the lesson the feeding
of the 5,000 men taught the disciples, and it was a necessary lesson.
I wonder how often after this, how often after they, for that
last time, went up to the summit of Mount Olivet and saw Jesus
ascend back to glory after he said, go into all the world and
preach the gospel to every creature and start at Jerusalem. Oh, that's
the last place. That's the place where they hated
you the most. Start there. How often, I wonder,
do they think of this miracle? Remember, Philip would say to
Andrew, what he did. Remember when we counted our
pennies and it wasn't enough, but he showed us our insufficiency,
but then he showed us something else, his all-sufficiency. As he said to Paul, my grace
is sufficient for thee, Paul, because my strength is made perfect
in weakness. These words in verse 6, for he
himself knew what he would do, Apply them to both miracles. Apply those words to your present
circumstance. If not today, tomorrow. The next time the billows of
adversity sweep over your soul, apply these words to your circumstance. Jesus knows what he does. will do. Oh, what a source of
comfort that is. Jesus knows how often I've said,
how often I've said concerning a difficulty, I just don't know
what I'm going to do. Just don't know what I'm going
to do. Well, it's no wonder I didn't find comfort. The comfort doesn't
lie in what I will do. The comfort lies in knowing that
Jesus knows what he shall do, as we read in verse 6. One old
hymn writer, I think, expressed it very well, better than I can
do. Let me share it with you. He
wrote this. He knows, let this my comfort
be. He knows the path designed for
me. A healing balm for all my woes,
O blessed thought. My Savior knows. The thorns that
pierce my weary feet, the darkening clouds, the storms that beat,
and then with bliss of calm repose, O blessed thought, my Savior
knows. He knows that this suffice for
me. He knows the end I cannot see.
Then let my anxious heart be still and patient wait, my Savior's
will. My prayer for strength to him
is known. Though breathed in secret and
alone, the weary heart, the tear that flows, O blessed thought,
my Savior knows." And that is indeed a blessed thought in this
first miracle of the feeding. Or rather, we want to consider
the second one and apply these words that Jesus knew in verse
6 what he would do to this miracle on the stormy sea of Galilee. Look at verse 16 again. And when
the evening was now come, his disciples went down into the
sea and entered into a ship and went over the sea toward Capernaum,
and it was now dark. Matthew, in his account, tells
us that the Lord constrained the disciples to get into the
ship while he sent away the multitude. They didn't go at their own bidding. being obedient to his command. And now they're in the midst
of that sea. A storm arises suddenly and he's
not with them. Every boat that went by, they
looked for him. Where is he? Where is he? He told us to get in this boat. He told us to pass over to the
other side. This storm, and these, several
of these fellows, James, John, his brother, Peter, Andrew, they
were seasoned fishermen, but this storm, oh, they were concerned. This is a great one. We're in
danger, but look at the last sentence of verse 17. And it
was now dark, ever been there? It was now dark and Jesus was
not come to them. Can you identify with that? It's
dark. Man, it's dark. And Jesus is
not come. I recall when the storms in my
life were raging at a particularly severe time and I was being tossed
to and fro. As the hymn writer said, in sorrow
sometimes how they sweep like tempest down over the soul. Have
you ever been there? And it was now dark. Too dark
to see. Too dark to understand. But more
than that, Jesus was not come to them. Or me. had not manifested himself. But he knew what he would do,
teaching us a lesson that we couldn't learn otherwise, bringing
us to a place of appreciation of him and his glory and his
providence and his purpose that we could never understand without
the storm. And to his honor, the honor of
his faithfulness, his promise, his truth, his word, as was true
of these disciples, so it is true of you and I. He will come. He will come. He came on the
water. They'd seen him on land. Oh,
but now they see him, creator of heaven and earth, walking
supreme. supreme on that creation that
he himself created. He was in the world and the world
was made by him. He comes to them through the
storm. The psalmist said the Lord has
his way in the storm. He also said in Psalms 29, the
Lord saitheth upon the flood above it. The Lord said it's
king forever in supreme majestic sovereignty, undisturbed, ruling
everything. He's king always. And he went
on to say in Psalm 29, he said it's king forever and the Lord
shall bless his people with peace. He walks upon the sea to get
to them and to me and to you. Nothing can separate us from
the love of God that's in Christ Jesus. I remember at that time
I referred to, that difficult time, that dark time in my life,
reading these words, and it's like they jumped off the page
and leaped into my heart and gave me peace. These words, it
is I. Be not afraid. It is I. This circumstance is not out
of my control. It's not taken me by surprise. It took me by surprise. Oh, but not my great shepherd. The Lord knoweth the way that
I shall take. Turn, if you will, to Isaiah
chapter 41. I've read this to you before,
and I'm sure you've read it many times yourself. but it is indeed
a blessed portion, a blessed promise of God's Word in chapter
41, verse 13. For I, the Lord thy God, will
hold thy right hand. Isn't that a precious picture?
His mighty, omnipotent hand in our hand. Hold thy right hand,
saying unto thee, Fear not, I will help thee. Fear not, thou worm
Jacob, and ye men of Israel, I will help thee, saith the Lord,
and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel." Turn a few pages
over in Isaiah to chapter 46. Chapter 46. And we all are swiftly, if we
haven't already arrived, we are swiftly coming to that place
that the prophet speaks of here. Verse 3, "'Hearken unto me,'
our God says. "'Hearken unto me, O house of
Jacob, "'and all the remnant of the house of Israel, "'which
are born by me from the belly, "'which are carried from the
womb. "'And even to your old age I
am he. "'I am the Lord, I change not. "'Even to your old age I am he. "'And even to whore hares will
I carry you. and I will bear even what I will
carry and will deliver you. Oh, God, give me grace to learn
it afresh and again and again. Nothing, nothing can separate
me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. Yes, it's
true. whether reason can see it or
not or agree with it or not, and it doesn't, but the promise
is his. This is his promise. It is I,
be not afraid. The fulfillment of every promise
depends on him. It's not dependent upon me, but
the one who made it. And this sweet word, it is I,
be not afraid. If that was spoken by anybody
else, anybody else, then we would have a right to be afraid. The disciples could look at one
another and say, well, every man to himself, but he who sent
the storm can calm the storm, calm the storm on the sea and
calm the storm in the hearts of the disciples simply by his
word. It is I. I am, I am the mighty
God. I, the everlasting Father. I,
the one who loved you and gave myself for you. It is I. All that, be not afraid. With so much mercy passed, will
he let me sink at last? If anyone else should say, be
not afraid, It just doesn't work, does it? Well-intentioned though
it may be and from a heart sincere and concerned for you though
it may be, it just doesn't have the same effect. Oh, but his
word, his word, the words of that one who they said no one
else ever spoke like, The word of that one who is himself God's
eternal word made flesh, the very expression of God, his word
relieves our fears. His word not only says, peace
be still, but it gives the peace that he speaks. Has he not proven
that to us time and time again already? When God in his mercy by his grace taught our hearts
to fear. Remember that. Remember that. When grace had taught my heart
to fear, man, what a fear that was. What a fear. Fearful for
the first time in my life of my sin, fearful of God's justice,
fearful of death, fearful of eternity, fearful of hell, fearful
that any moment God would command my soul to be in his presence
and I would hear him say, depart from me. Oh, he taught my heart
to fear. I was convinced. I was convinced
that a sinner like me was bound to perish. No one could give
me peace. People tried. They tried. Not knowing any better, I went
to man. Do this, do that. No peace. Jumped through our religious
hoops. No peace. It all fell. They spoke peace, but there was
no peace. They said, you have peace, and
I said, no, I'm lost. I'm lost. Still lost. Nothing
I did or anything else that was done on my behalf relieved my
fears but him. But him. That same one, who calls
my heart to fear. Relieve that fear. Oh, what fear? Of waking up,
like waking up from a dream. And for the first time in your
life, you're lost and you know it.
You know it. but then he comes. And in that
same grace that taught me the fear, that same grace relieved
my fears when he said, I say unto you, I say. The prince of peace says, not
the preacher, not the priest. Man, I can't take their word
for it. Too much at stake. Oh, but Christ
himself, because he's the only mediator between God and man.
He's the only one that has the right, the power, the ability
to speak peace to our hearts, to say words like this, thy sins
be forgiven thee. Go in peace. Thy sins be forgiven
thee. Go in peace." What happened? When he said that, what happened? I rose to walk in newness of
life. I rose to walk in peace with
God. Yes, indeed. Never a man spake
like this man. Peace with God. Oh, for months,
for months, if not longer, and it should be so even right now
after some years have gone by, but for months, rather, after
that wonder of grace, that amazing grace, the experience of his
grace to this worthless sinner was a matter of the greatest
wonder to me. I walked around. He forgave me. Is it true? Is it? Dare I believe it? It's too good
to be true. The God of heaven, the Lord of
glory had regards to me. He came to me. He forgave me
of all my sins. I know the Son of God. What a
wonder. What a miracle. Oh, amazing grace. His saying so makes it so. Does it not when he says? When he says so, so it is. Ask that poor diseased leper.
Man, when he said, What happened? I was clean. I was clean. Even the priest had to pronounce
me clean. Ask that poor blind beggar by
the wayside, what happened when he said, see? The scales fell
from my eyes and I saw and I followed Jesus in the way. What about that demoniac in Mark
chapter 5? We read that no man could tame
him. No man could tame him. It had
been tried. No man could bind him. Oh, but
when the great shepherd of the sheep who said, let us pass over
to the other side for one reason, one reason, one of my sheep is
over there. One of my sheep is possessed
by 2,000 devils. Let's pass over. Let's pass over. I've come to seek and to save
the lost. None that the Father giveth me
shall be lost. What happened to that man? When
Jesus said, come out of him, you unclean spirit, what happened? What happened? The next picture,
the very next picture, that fast, that fast. As soon as he spoke
it, it happened. There sits that man who before
was an absolute maniac, living out in the cemetery. There he
sits now at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind. My soul, what a Savior. What a Savior. Look at this second
landmark, this lighthouse of God's grace in the first miracle,
verses 5 and 6 of John 6. When Jesus then lifted up his
eyes and saw a great company come to him, he saith unto Philip,
When shall we buy bread that these may eat? Notice he says,
we. He didn't say, you, Philip. He
says, we. And this he said to prove him
for he himself knew what he would do. He knew what he would do. Before Satan rebelled, Jesus
knew what he would do. Before Adam ever fell and we
fell in him, Jesus knew what he would do. Before he ever created
the world, he knew what he would do, and when he says, time shall
be no more, Jesus knows what he will do. He doesn't need a
backup plan. No, no. Let me share this with
you. About, oh, 24 years ago at least now, I was
living in West Virginia, Trying to raise a family, a place that
I had worked for for about 18 years were working me about a
day a week, a day every two weeks. Wasn't enough with three children. Was about to lose my home. So
I went to Kentucky, looked for a job. I'm 40 years old, Lester. Who's going to hire a 40-year-old
man? Most of them considered me to be out of the job market
by then. Stayed with Don and Shelby, Sally
and Bob Ponce. And after beating the blacktop
for days and days and weeks, I worked hard looking for a job.
It was hard work. One day the phone rang, it dawns,
and this fellow said, hey, I see you're from West Virginia. I'm
so-and-so up here, up in Nicholasville. Why don't you come up here and
talk to me, because my foreman's from West Virginia, and he said
anybody from West Virginia ought to be a pretty good worker. So
I said, I'll be right there. So I got in the car and went
up there. Oh, he was so pleasant. Told me I could start the next
day, what he would pay me, Asked me about my family. I said, They're
back in West Virginia. He said, You know what? I've
got a house down the road that's empty. Be glad to let you move
in it. Why don't you go back and get
your family and bring them down? I'm glad I didn't. Three days
later, after being with him for about three days, I found out
he was a crook, and he wanted me to be a crook. So he and I
both agreed we needed to part company. I was pretty low, pretty
depressed. And one night, being low and
depressed, missing my family terribly and wondering what was
going to happen, I read these words. This he said to prove
him, for he himself knew what he would do. Oh, and how true that is. how true that is, just as he
did in this instance. Could this feeding of these 5,000,
15,000 people probably, men, women, children, could it have
been any better organized if it had been planned 6 months
in advance? How orderly it was. You remember
when our Lord and his disciples went to Bethany that day and
surprised Martha? and how distracted she became
just with a few. She became all distraught. Here
are thousands. No problem. Jesus knew what he
would do. That young boy leaving his house
that morning, his mother thought, better pack him a lunch. Five
loaves and a couple of fishes. She didn't know it. She had no
idea what they would be used for, but Jesus knew what he would
do. Philip says to Andrew, we better
start counting what's in the money bag. And they did. They started counting their pennies.
One, two. They finally said, we've got
200. 200 penny worth. What is that
among so many? That won't buy enough bread.
That's not enough. Ouch, ouch. Have you been there? Have you not done the same thing?
Counting pennies, what I have, what I can do in the presence
of omnipotence, that's what they did. They're counting their pennies
and saying, this is not enough. We don't have enough. We can't
do this. In the presence of he who is
all-sufficient, in the presence of that one who is the mighty
God, I've done the same thing. Shame on them. Make them sit
down, the master said. And they sat down. There was
much grass, we read, in that place. Oh, what a tablecloth. They sat down in order, obedient
to his command. And look what it says in verse
11. And Jesus took the loaves. What a beautiful picture. and
when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples
and the disciples to them that were sat down. Likewise, the
fishes, as much as they would, they ate their fill. What an honor, what an honor.
He used them in this glorious miracle, and so it is with the
gospel. He is pleased by the foolishness
of preaching to save those that believe. and he is pleased to
call men to this glorious, glorious work, to witness, to pray, to
preach his word because Jesus knows what he will do. Oh, back
to that job hunt. Went back to beating the pavement
again to look for a job. Someone told me about a possibility
in Lexington. So I got the address and traveled
up there. I got lost, got lost. Stuck in traffic. I said, oh,
man. So I just whipped off into a
parking lot just to kind of calm down and compose myself. And
while I was there, I looked over and there was a building. UK,
not United Kingdom, but University of Kentucky Employment Services.
And about a month or two before I'd been there, and picked up
an application, been carrying it in my briefcase all that time,
and I thought, well, might as well turn it in so it won't be
at least a wasted trip up here, so I did. Then I went back and
told Don, I'm going back home. I feel like I've done about all
I can. It's in God's hands. I drove
home that night. The next morning, Don got in
touch with me and said, there's some fella at UK trying to get
a hold of you. And he gave me his number and
I called him. He said, I need you to come down here. I said,
man, I'm in West Virginia. I'm not in Danville. I'm in West
Virginia. And he said, well, and he told me about the job
and blah, blah. Will you accept it over the phone?
And I thought, man, what is this guy's rush? I said, yeah, I'll
accept it. He said, can you start Monday?
This was a Friday. I said, yeah, I can. I didn't know it at the
time, but that very day, that very Friday that he called me,
that afternoon a hiring freeze was going into effect. If they
hadn't hired me then, they wouldn't have been able to. I didn't know
anything about it. And that man who called me, he
had his reasons, but you know what it all boiled down to? Exactly
this, Jesus knew what he would do, did he not? This lad, look
at verse 12, and we'll wrap this up, that had brought these five
loaves and few fishes that our Lord used, look at verse 12,
and when they were filled, he said unto his disciples, gather
up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. I don't know, perhaps they gave
it back to that lad. Boy, he went home with a whole
lot more than he left the house with, didn't he? Or perhaps 12
baskets, one for each of the head waiters, the disciples,
I don't know. The apostle Paul said, I know
whom. When he sat in prison, he said,
Timothy, I'm not ashamed because of this. I know whom. That makes all the difference.
All the comfort is in knowing whom says, I know what I shall
do. The comfort lies in whom that
says, don't be afraid. It's I. It is I. And Paul said,
I know whom I have believed. And doesn't every child of God?
And then arising from that faith, that God-given gift of faith,
Paul also said this, knowing him, Knowing him, it's not hard
or difficult to understand why Paul would say this. I'm persuaded. Knowing him, who he is, how he
is, I'm persuaded that he's able to keep that which I've committed
unto him against that day. Now, I ask you, brothers and
sisters in Christ, what had he done for the apostle Paul that
he hasn't done for you and I? What did he do for Paul that
he's not done for you and I? Love with the same everlasting
love, chosen in eternal election, redeemed by the same precious
blood, regenerated by the same Holy Spirit of God, kept by the
same grace, going to the same place. He's done all things well,
has he not? Let me close the message by reading
the last two verses in the epistle of Jude. What blessed, blessed
words. Now unto him that is able to
keep you from falling and to present you faultless before
the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. To the only wise
God, our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power,
both now and ever. Amen. And until that blessed
day, may God help us to remember, on water, steel, or troubled
sea, Jesus knows what he will do. Amen.