It's been my privilege to preach
the gospel of God's free grace since I was 17 years old. And
I give myself to the work earnestly, ardently studying and preparing. And as Sherry sang that song
just a little bit ago, I kept saying to myself and to my God,
I need thee. Oh, I need thee. I'm more keenly
aware today than I have ever been that except God is pleased
to speak by his spirit through this worthless, dirty, broken,
empty pipe, All the labor, all the work,
all the toil will be vanity. I believe I have a message for
you, and I pray God will give me the grace to deliver it. Listen
carefully. God's elect are saved, accepted
of God, and shall be judged worthy of heaven in the last day. God's elect are saved, accepted
of God, and shall be judged worthy of heaven in the last day because
of our union with Jesus Christ our Lord. Because of his righteousness
that is ours, his obedience that is ours, his sacrifice that is
ours, his atonement that is ours, We shall be accepted of God and
judged worthy of heaven's glory in the last day only because
of our union with Christ. Yet the scriptures plainly declare
that we shall be judged according to our works. Is that or is it not the plain
declaration of scripture? We shall be judged worthy of
hell worthy of heaven according to our works. Now let's look
at a little bit of scripture and I'll get to our text in a
minute. Turn to John chapter 5, the gospel of John chapter
5. This is exactly what our Lord
declares in John 5 29. Verily, verily, he said in verse
25, I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is when the
dead shall hear the voice of the son of God, and they that
hear shall live. For as the father hath life in
himself, so hath he given to the son to have life in himself,
and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because
he's the son of man. Christ has the authority as the
Son of Man, Jehovah's righteous, obedient servant. He earned the
right to execute all judgment over all things. Marvel not at
this, for the hour is coming into which all that are in the
grave shall hear his voice and shall come forth. Everybody's
going to be raised in the last day, raised from the dead, both
the righteous and the wicked. They that have done good unto
the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto
the resurrection of damnation. They that have done good shall
be raised in the last day to the resurrection of life. They
that have done evil shall be raised in the last day to the
resurrection of damnation. Without question, without question,
you know this, salvation is by grace alone. We are saved by
God's free, sovereign, eternal, unalterable, unconditional grace
without works, without works. And yet the scriptures declare
plainly and repeatedly that all men shall be judged and either
accepted or rejected according to their works. It is written,
shall not he render to every man according to his works? God says, I will recompense them
according to their deeds and according to their works, the
works of their own hands. He shall reward every man according
to his works. Turn to the last book of the
Bible, Revelation. Revelation chapter 20. On your
way there, listen to what our Savior said in chapter two. I'm
he that searcheth the reins and hearts and I will give to every
one of you according to his works. Revelation 20 verse 12. John says, I saw the dead small
and great stand before God and the books were opened and another
book was opened which is the book of life. And the dead were
judged out of those things which were written in the books according
to their works. And the sea gave up the dead
which were in it. And death and hell delivered
up the dead which were in them. And they were judged every man
according to their works. We shall be judged according
to our works. Is that or is it not what the
book of God says? Now I ask you a question. Who
in this house is ready to meet God in judgment with his works? Yet we shall be judged according
to our works. The very thought of being judged
According to my works is terrifying on its own. Until we read what God says to
his people about their works. I want you to open your Bibles
to Ecclesiastes chapter 9. Ecclesiastes chapter 9. Hear what God says. Hear what God says. Now, this
book of Ecclesiastes is written by Solomon, the wise, wise, wise
king of Israel. The man who wrote the Proverbs
wrote the book of Ecclesiastes. The man who wrote the Song of
Solomon wrote the book of Ecclesiastes. I try to read commentaries and
most folks have the idea that Solomon here writes as one who
was terribly depressed and in a terrible frame of mind. He
wrote by divine inspiration to give us clear instruction with
divine wisdom. And he speaks of things as they
really are. When he says vanity of vanities,
all is vanity, he's talking about the whole of life in this world. It's just vanity. And when he
speaks about spiritual things, he speaks about spiritual things
with just as much dogmatism. Now listen to what he says with
regard to our works. Ecclesiastes chapter nine, verse
seven. Go thy way. Eat thy bread with
joy. and drink thy wine with a merry
heart. What a word. Go your way, eat your bread with
joy, drink your wine with a merry heart, for God now accepteth
thy works. What a word from God. God now
accepteth thy works. That's my subject. These words
are not addressed to everybody. They are specifically addressed
to the righteous and wise. Those whose works are in God's
hands. Those who, being the objects
of God's mercy, love, and grace, have been made righteous and
wise in Christ the Lord. Look at chapter 9, verse 1 of
the Ecclesiastes. For all this I considered in
my heart, even to declare all this, that the righteous and
wise in their works are in the hand of God. No man knoweth either
love or hatred by all that is before them, but the righteous
and wise and their works, they're in the hands of God. to those
people whose works are in the hand of God, the Spirit of God
says in Ecclesiastes 8.15, then I commended mirth. I commended
mirth because a man hath no better thing under the sun than to eat
and to drink and to be merry. for that shall abide with him
of his labor the days of his life, which God giveth him under
the sun. Now, remember, I just read to
you Ecclesiastes 8, 15, the word of God, the Holy Spirit. He says
that for the righteous and the wise whose works are in the hand
of God, there's nothing better under the sun for him to do than
eat, drink, and be merry. That seems strange to me. You're
familiar with another place where those same words are found. Our
Lord describes a rich man in Luke chapter 12, who looked at
his wealth and his riches, and he thought himself just magnificently
wealthy, building his great barns. And he says to his soul, soul
thou hast much goods laid up for many years. Take thine ease,
eat, drink, and be merry. Now God called that man a fool.
He called that man a fool. But here in Ecclesiastes, the
Spirit of God speaks by Solomon and says to the righteous and
the wise who are in his hand, a man hath no better thing under
the sun than to eat and to drink and to be merry. For that, this
life, eating and drinking and being merry here on this earth
for now, that shall abide with him of his labor the days of
his life. which God giveth him under the
sun. If God accepts my works then,
Solomon here declares, I have every reason to eat, drink, and
be merry. If God accepts your works while
you walk on this earth in the midst of this veil of tears,
in the midst of this valley of darkness, in the midst of this
time of trouble, if God accepts your works, you have every reason
while you live here to eat, drink, and be merry. I have no better
thing under the sun than to do so. because my works shall abide
with me all the days of my life, and they shall follow me to glory. Now let's look at our text in
its context. Our text is Ecclesiastes 9, 7.
But let's read the context beginning back at verse 18, or verse 15
again of chapter 8. Then I commended mirth. I commended
happiness, merriment. Because a man hath no better
thing under the sun than to eat and to drink and to be merry,
to go about his life with a merry heart, to go about his life cheerfully,
merrily, rejoicing in the Lord. For that shall abide with him
of his labor the days of his life, which God giveth him under
the sun. Whatever the number of the days
of our lives under the sun are, they are by divine appointment
given to us by God. This is true both of the elect
and the reprobate. Look at verse 60. When I applied
mine heart to know wisdom and to see the business that is done
upon the earth, for also there is that neither day nor night
seeth sleep with his eyes. Now here's something no man can
discover, no matter how diligently he searches it out. This defines
everything in the context. Look at verse 17. Then I beheld
all the work of God, all the work of God, that a man cannot
find out the work that is done under the sun. A man cannot find
out all the work of God that is done under the sun. If you
drive up the road here a little ways, you will find a reproduction
of various things with regard to the Old Testament scriptures,
a creation museum, and they, I understand, have done a great
work displaying clear evidence of creation. You can find that
out. If you're not blind, you can see that God made this world.
If you're not just deliberately willfully ignorant. So he's not
talking about creation. He's not talking about creation.
You can see the providence of God in the changing seasons.
You can see lots of things in that way and find out what God's
doing in judgment and in mercy as far as life in this world's
concerned. So what's he talking about when he talks about all
the work of God? A man can't find that out. Because
though a man labor to seek it out, yet he shall not find it. Yea, father, though a wise man
think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it. Do you
see that? The thing that God calls for
us to, in which he calls for us to eat and drink and be merry
is his work. His work that cannot be discovered
by human wisdom. He calls for us while we walk
in this world in the work of God, the work that no man can
discover, but the work that's revealed in the experience of
His grace, redemption. This is the work of God. This
is all the work of God. God created this world, and God
brings to pass everything that has been in time, is now, and
shall be tomorrow for the work of redemption, saving his people
by his grace to the praise of his glory. Now look at verse
1 of chapter 9. For all this I considered in
my heart, even to declare all this, that the righteous and
the wise and their works are in the hand of God. No man knoweth
either love or hatred by all that is before him. Neither love
nor hatred can be known and measured except by God's work. I chose my words deliberately.
Neither love nor hatred can be known except by God's work. Here is both love and hatred. Jacob have I loved, but Esau
have I hated. The only way you'll ever understand
love and hatred is by the work of God. Yet in this world, right
here now, look at verse two, all things come alike to all. There is one event to the righteous
and to the wicked, to the good and to the clean, and to the
unclean, to him that sacrifices, and to him that sacrifices not.
As is the good, so is the sinner, and he that sweareth, as he that
feareth an oath. This is an evil among all things
that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto
all. Yea, also the heart of the sons
of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they
live. And after that, they go to the
dead. For to him that is joined to
all the living, there's hope. For a living dog is better than
a dead lion. For the living know that they
shall die, but the dead know not anything. Neither have they
any more a reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their
love and their hatred and their envy is now perished. Neither have they any more portion
forever in anything that is done under the sun. Look at our text. In the light of all this, the
wise man says, now this is what I've learned from all the vanity
that's under the sun, from all that men experience in this world
as they're moving toward the grave and they experience a like. pain and sorrow, sickness and
bereavement, affliction and toil, tears and happiness. They experience
all these things alike as they make their way to that long home
of man in the earth where he's buried and is no more. Go thy
way. Eat thy bread with joy, and drink
thy wine with a merry heart. Don't allow anything of this
vanity greatly to vex you, for God now accepteth thy works. Remember, Solomon is talking
about God's work of redemption, God's grace, God's salvation,
that which is hidden from men of the world. He hath made everything
beautiful in his time. Also, he has set the world in
their hearts so that no man can find out the work that God maketh
from the beginning to the end. He set the world in their hearts.
Ecclesiastes 311. He set the world in their hearts so that
man can't find out his work. I keep begging of God for those
two grandchildren so precious to me. And I keep begging of
God for your children and your grandchildren. God, don't set
the world in their hearts. Oh, God, don't set the world
in their hearts. For if God sets the world in
your heart, you can't find God's work. It won't happen. All right, let's look at our
text line by line. Go thy way. How often we're brought
low and made downcast by distressing circumstances, dark providences,
outward temptations, and inward sins. How often, looking at those
outward things, we begin to think like brute beasts, as David did
in the 73rd Psalm. He looked out and thought, I've
washed my hands in innocence. My neighbor doesn't know God,
and he has everything that he wants, everything's happiness
and peace with him. I seek to serve God, and I have
constant turmoil in my house. I've washed my hands in innocence.
And we said, oh, God, I was as a beast before you. We often
think like brute beasts with regard to things of this world
and our time in this world. We get to feeling sorry for ourselves
and our experiences. Blush my soul with shame before
God. Here we are urged to set our
hearts on God our Savior. to set our hearts on God's free
grace that's ours in Christ Jesus, to set our hearts upon Christ
in heaven as we make our pilgrimage through this world of woe, to
set our hearts upon Christ and heavenly glory, his redemption,
his grace, his salvation, as we march through this hostile
enemy territory, so that we go our way with our hearts fixed
upon our Redeemer. The words, go thy way, are words
with shades of meaning that can't quite be given with just one
way of translating them. They might read, pursue your
way. They might read, march on in
your way. They might even be read, vanish
in your way. Children of God, pursue your
way through this world. Your way, walking with Christ
the Redeemer. March through this world as a
man marching through hostile enemy territory. And be vanished
in your way. everything around you. The admonition
carries with it a sense of joy and victory. That's how God's
people ought to live in this world. That's how we ought to
walk through this earth, joyful, triumphant, confident in faith. Christ is our way. If Christ
is my way, I have no reason to live in fear. Christ is our way
of acquaintance with God the Father. Christ is our way of
access to the triune God. Christ is our way of acceptance
with God. Christ is our way of atonement.
Christ is our way, the old way, the narrow way, the only way.
God's people are people of the way. Now though our way is the
way of the cross, you can't walk through this world
except you take up your cross and follow the Savior. You can't
follow Christ through this world except you willfully, deliberately
walk knowing that obedience to the Redeemer involves suffering
in this world. That's just part of life in this
world for God's people. Take up your cross and follow
me, the Savior said. but the way of the cross, bless
God, leads home. So let us walk with joy. The
way of the righteous is made plain. The Lord knoweth the way
of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
As Claire read earlier, God turns it upside down. Our way is the
way appointed by our blessed God and Savior. He is with us
in the way. He holds us in the way. He carries
us through the way. Our way, turn to Isaiah. Hold
your hands here and turn over to Isaiah 35. Isaiah 35. Our way is the highway of holiness
by which the ransomed of the Lord returned to Zion with songs
and everlasting joy on their heads. Look at Isaiah 35 verse
eight. and a highway shall be there,
and a way, and it shall be called the way of holiness. The unclean
shall not pass over it, but it shall be for those the wayfaring
men, though fools shall not err therein. No lion shall be there,
nothing to harm." Isn't that wonderful? He's not talking about
after we get to glory, he's talking about on the way. No lion shall
be there, nothing to harm you. But Satan's a roaring lion, seeking
whom he may devour, but he can't hurt. He can do nothing to harm
you, Dwayne, nor your gods, nothing. No lion shall be there, read
on. Nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon. It shall not be
found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. shall walk
there. They that wait on the Lord shall
renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings
as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. The person who walks in the midst
of darkness, in the midst of trouble, in the midst of perceived
danger, understands there's nothing to fear and nothing to fear. When I was a boy, I used to go
visit my grandparents and aunts and uncles in the mountains of
North Carolina, and they lived up a dirt road, and it was a
dark, dark, dark place. Well, my great aunt lived down
here at the foot of the mountain, and they would send me after
dark up to my grandmother's house to fetch something. And they
had a little old light on the back porch. It might have been
five watts. And I was raised in those days
when boys didn't show fear. You just didn't dare let anybody
know you were scared of anything. And I'd get outside and by the
time I got 15 feet from the house where I couldn't hardly see that
light, I was scared to death. I mean scared to death. I ran
as fast as I could run, all the way up that part of the mountain
where they lived until I got to my grandmother's house and
I'd get inside of the light there and I'd stop and wipe my brown
hood. They couldn't see I was sweating and I'd walk in just
like I was calm as I could be. And then when I got older, I
still made the same trip, but it took a lot longer to make
it, because I realized there wasn't anything to be afraid
of. I'd get out and walk up the mountain, not big enough, I knew
wasn't much going to whip me, so I just, I'd walk just as peacefully
as I could be. There wasn't anything to be afraid
of. God's people ought to walk in the way. They that wait on
the Lord shall mount up with wings as eagles, and they shall
run and not be weary. Oh, blessed are they who can
walk. through the valley of the shadow
of death and fear no evil, who can walk and not faint. Read
on here in Isaiah 35. The ransom to the Lord shall
return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon
their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness
and sorrow and shine shall flee away. All right, back at our
text. Let's go to the next words. Go thy way. Eat thy bread. Solomon, this wise instructor,
says, eat thy bread. The admonition certainly may
refer to the daily bread of providence. I remind you again what we read
in verse 15 of chapter 8. I commend mirth because a man
hath no better thing under the sun than to eat and drink and
be merry. Believing men and women, ought
to live in this world as the happiest, most cheerful, most
care-less, care-free people in the world. Every believer, every
believer ought to live in this world as happy, cheerful, care-less. I mean without care. Care-free. We are God's people. I'm not
talking about a pretentious, fake, giddy thing. You see these religious folks
around you on television, they learn it from the preachers,
you know, they all the time pretend everything's fine when they're
full of pain. They just smile like apostles meeting briars
and it's all fake, you know that. I'm not talking about that. I'm
talking about believers ought to be a happy, cheerful, careless,
carefree people. God is mine. Christ is mine. Redemption is mine. Righteousness
is mine. Heaven is mine. All that Christ
is is mine. All that he has is mine. Now
you tell me what is it I ought to be concerned about? You tell
me what is it I ought to be careful of? Be careful for nothing. But in everything with prayer
and thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. You see,
everything we possess is blessed to us by Christ. And God has
promised that we shall be blessed. We won't take time tonight to
read it. I encourage you, sometime before you forget, most of what
I preach to you tonight. Read the 28th chapter of Deuteronomy.
Take time to read it. God promised, I'll bless you
in your basket, and I'll bless you in your store. I'll bless
you in the morning, and I'll bless you in the evening. I'll
bless you in the fruit of your wife's womb, and I'll bless you
in the fruit of your cattle, and in the flocks and herds of
your sheep. He said, I'll bless you when you go out, and I'll
bless you when you come in. God has given us all things in
this life of our vanity to use for our happiness and his glory. To use for his glory and our
happiness for the service of his kingdom as his people in
this world. And he promised to bless us in
all these things. Blessed in rising up and blessed
in lying down. That's with regard to providence.
Eat your bread. Eat your bread with a merry heart.
Eat your bread with happiness. And you sit down at the table,
eat your bread with thanksgiving. Bless God for it. Bless God for
it. But we have other bread to eat. And wherever to eat that
bread with joy, Christ is our bread. He's the manna from heaven
for our souls. So that we ought always to feast
upon him. Feast upon him, his obedience,
his life, his sacrifice, his atonement, his righteousness,
his goodness, his mercy, his might, his greatness. Feast upon
him with joy. Let us go our way and eat our
bread with joy, for Christ is our way and he's our bread. And
look at the text again. And drink thy wine with a merry
heart. Drink thy wine with a merry heart. I just got to say it. I know
we live here in Lexington, Kentucky, where everybody either likes
their alcohol or folks are teetotalers. When God said, drink your wine
with a merry heart, he said wine. He didn't mean grape juice. That's
perfectly all right. That's just perfectly all right.
Don't let anybody put you in bondage with those things. But
there's more here than that. How kind, how gracious, how good
our God must be. He commands his children to be
merry. Bob, can you get a hold of that?
God commands you to be merry. How many times is it written?
Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice. Like bread,
wine is here set before us as a part of our daily diet. Bread
represents that which is necessary. Wine represents that which is
pleasurable. Both are to be used freely and
enjoyed by us so that while we live in this world, we take those
things that are necessary and those things that are enjoyable
and use them for the glory of God and our own benefit. As the
bread represents the body of Christ and wine represents his
sin atoning, redeeming blood, let us ever drink this wine with
a merry heart. Solomon is urging us He's urging
us to enjoy the bounty of God's grace and God's providence in
this world. Enjoy the bounty of God's providence
and God's grace in this world. Christ is our way. So let us
go our way. Christ is our bread. Let us eat
our bread with joy. Christ's love is better than
wine. Let us drink our wine with a merry heart. A preacher, how
can that be? How can that be? How can that be expected? Don't
you know we live in a world of real pain and sorrow? Joe, I
worked on this message this morning. I thought specifically of you,
specifically of you. Like many folks here, I hurt
for you. Oh, a man loses his wife and
his constant companion all those years, and you hurt. But God
says, go your way, eat your bed with joy, drink your wine with
a merry heart. How can that be? How can that
be expected? Read the next line and you'll
find out. For, for, see that word? Here's the reason, for. God now
accepteth thy works. God now accepteth thy works. As we make our pilgrimage through
this world of woe, we ought to eat our bread with joy and drink
our wine with merry heart because God accepts our works. He accepted
us in his dear Son before the worlds were made. And here the
Spirit of God assures us that he accepts our works. Imagine that. Imagine that. Paul Wamsley, you've never had
a thought fit for God to accept, let alone a deed. Anybody here differ with that?
I've never even thought about doing something that God could
accept. Never even thought about it,
let alone done it. But Solomon says, God now accepteth thy works. Not tomorrow he's going to, not
yesterday he did. God now accepteth thy works. This is an assurance from God
himself that he presently and perpetually accepts our works
just as he accepts our persons in his dear son. You remember
how Paul wrote to the Philippians about their generosity that he
received by the hand of their pastor Epaphroditus? He said,
this is an odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable and well-pleasing
to God. Somebody gives some money, God
says that's an odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable
and well-pleasing to God. He tells us in Hebrews 13 that
with such sacrifices, God is well-pleased. What works does
God accept? What are our works that God now
accepts for which we are accepted of God without question? He talks
plainly in the book about the redemption of our Lord Jesus,
his righteousness, his obedience, and his death. No question all
about that. Certainly the Lord accepts our works of worship,
devotion, and service to our Redeemer. No question about that.
But here is something else. There's not a word in our text
about those things. Our text is talking about The
ordinary common affairs of everyday life. The ordinary common affairs of
everyday life. The things so ordinary, so common,
so routine, so mundane as eating a piece of bread and drinking
a glass of wine. Is Solomon declaring that God
accepts our lives? Our lives? Is that what he's
saying? Does God accept our lives? The totality of our lives? Though
our lives we know are shot plumb through with sin, does God accept
them? Indeed he does. For God Almighty
has washed us in the blood of his darling son, made the righteousness
of his son ours, And so thoroughly has he forgiven us of all our
transgressions that he remembers not our sins against us forever. So thoroughly that he sees no
iniquity in Jacob and no perverseness in Israel. So thoroughly has
he washed away our sins that the Lord God refuses to impute
to us even the sin that so greatly grieves us. Oh, that'll cause you to eat
your bread with joy and drink your wine with a merry heart.
God so thoroughly forgives our sins through the sacrifice of
his son, indeed, as forgiven in the blood of the lamb, slain
from the foundation of the world, that God never imputes sin to
his own. Not even the sin that so greatly
vexes us. Let me put this in shoe letter.
God Almighty declares that the plowing of the wicked is an abomination
to him. The sacrifices of the wicked
are an abomination to him. The very life of the wicked is
an abomination to him. But God approves of the way of
the righteous. Who set this water up here? Raise
your hand. May I offer a cup of cold water
in the name of a disciple. You'll not lose his reward. Thank
you, honey. You mean God accepts that? As
thoroughly, as perfectly, as completely as he accepts the
obedience and sacrifice of his son. Yes, sir. As thoroughly, as completely,
as fully as if you were married to Lance Henderson for the rest
of your life in New Guinea. As thoroughly, as completely as
if you devoted your life to the preaching of the gospel. As thoroughly,
as completely as if you willingly sacrificed every ease and comfort
in this world for the benefit of God's people. God accepts
us in all the totality of our lives. He accepts our daily employment,
our daily lives, our daily existence in this world. He accepts your
works. Now, so that the believer who
conscientiously spends his life working as a janitor at the hospital,
Or the believer who conscientiously spends his life working as a
doctor in the surgery room? Or the believer who conscientiously
spends his life preaching the gospel? Or the believer who conscientiously
spends his life as a salesman? Doesn't matter. Or the believer
who conscientiously spends her life at home taking care of her
husband and children? Or the believer who lives in
this world for God's glory? God accepts everything about
your life. as a life unto God, as living
unto the Lord. The Lord, God Almighty, accepts
our works. Look back at our text. Go on
to verse eight. Let thy garments be always white,
and let thy head lack no ointment. Always walk in the garments of
God's salvation, in the spirit, the ocean God's given you. Live
joyfully with the wife of thy youth." Well, what's that got
to do with righteousness? Everything. Everything. Shelby travels with me most of
the time now, but used to be I'd come in, be gone for a long
time, and I'd flop down in that easy chair at the house. I'd
get my pipe, light it, and shovel, get my bedroom shoes and put
them on my feet. And she'd sit on my lap and I'd pat her thigh,
just sit and hug her. That's called worshipping God.
And I'm not being facetious. That's called worshipping God.
Your life is His. And God accepts now the totality
of your life devoted to the Redeemer. God's pleased with you. He approves
of you. He's satisfied with you. He delights
in you. He's favorable toward you. He
receives with pardon all the totality of your life as He receives
you in His darling Son. Now, in the light of these things,
turn to Romans chapter 12. It is upon this basis of divine
approval that Paul urges us to devote ourselves to Christ. I beseech you, therefore, brethren,
by the mercies of God, all that he's been talking about in the
previous 11 chapters, by the mercies of God who made you vessels
of mercy, God who raised up nations and put down nations for you,
God who works all things together for you, by the mercies of God
I beseech you that you present your bodies That's talking about
all of us collectively. Present your bodies. Now watch
this. A singular living sacrifice. How on this earth can Luke Coffey
and Don Fortner present their bodies together as a living sacrifice? Read on. Holy, acceptable unto
God. I beseech you, children of God,
I beseech you. Oh, I beseech you by the mercies
of God, present your bodies, the totality of your lives, a
living sacrifice. You present yourself through
Christ the Lord, a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which
is your reasonable service. You mean the Lord God calls for
me. to present the totality of my
life to him. And he receives it through the
blood of his son as a holy, acceptable, living sacrifice. I believe that's
what he said. I believe that's what he said.
We are acceptable to God by Christ, living, perpetually efficacious
sacrifice. And by that same sacrifice, our
works are accepted of God as works of love and faith. He accepts
our lives and the totality of our lives through Christ the
Redeemer. You remember that woman in Mark
14 who came to the Lord Jesus and he's sitting at the Pharisees'
table eating. And she comes in behind him with
a box of ointment, spiked and very precious. And it's worth 300 pence. Delphus, that was a full year's
wages. Now, there are not many folks
I know who got as much money in the bank as they can earn
in a full year. She had been saving it. She had been saving
it probably in the beginning. She didn't save it for the same
purposes, but the Lord says she saved it for me. And when she
met the master and obtained forgiveness with him as he's about to go
to Calvary as her substitute, she comes in behind him and she
takes that box containing that rich perfume and she just breaks
it open. She breaks it open and anoints
him with the precious ointment. The fragrance fills the room.
And folks, following Judas's lead, said, why this waste? Why
this waste? This could have been taken and
sold and given to the poor. Oh, we could have done so much good
with this. And the Lord Jesus said something about her that
he never said about anyone else recorded in this book. He said,
leave her alone. She hath wrought a good work
on me." How's that? It was a work done
just for him. A work that involved the cost,
Rick, of all her living. Everything. A work that of necessity
arose from faith. only he could replenish the store
that was sacrificed for him. It was the work of a life for
Christ. And when God is done with us,
who are his. I just, I can't hardly imagine
it. It's, it's beyond the grasp of
my mind. But I stand here fully confident,
as I declare to you, he will look on Don Fortner and say,
well done, our good and faithful servant. Judgingly, according
to those things written in the books, for it's written, he'll
search for Don's iniquity and Don's transgressions. And there
shall be none. Amen.