deserves our songs of praise
to him. But we do not deserve to sing
to him. I don't even deserve to stand
behind this podium. And as I was driving up here,
I thought, who am I? Who am I? And yet, God, by his
free will, and to mention his name and his
wondrous works. A couple things I want to give
you. This is a song that my brother
Joe Golosik sent me. It's John Newton. Romans 15, 33 is the text he
had for this song. It's just three stanzas. Now,
may he who from the dead brought the shepherd of the sheep. Jesus
Christ, our king and head, all our souls in safety keep. May he touch us to fulfill what
is pleasing in his sight, perfect us in all his will, and preserve
us day and night. To that dear Redeemer's praise,
who the covenant sealed of blood I wish I could read that in the
cadence of the psalm like I'm not a psalm man, so. A couple
of other things before I begin. Happy Father's Day to every father
here. Now, I don't know, it's not just
a Father's Day thing for me, but I miss my daddy. He passed away sitting in his
recliner because he went to sleep and didn't wake up. of us most glorious is God saved
his soul. Now, let's give you this little
story. A lot of years ago, when I was brought up, raised in religion,
and God sent somebody along with the gospel, and God opened my
eyes by and to that gospel. Things began to get a little
lively, if you know what I mean. It was my home church, grandparents,
aunts, uncles, cousins. Things began to get very scary.
I was 23 years old, scared to death, trying to preach the gospel
of grace. And one day, I don't remember
what day it was, my mom and I were sitting in their living room,
and she and I were talking about the scripture. I was the young
preacher, of course, so I was chosen to do the men's Sunday
school class. chapter one. That was not my
discipline. That's where the men had gotten
to at the time they elected me to be the teacher. My mom was
elected to be the teacher of the women's class. That's where
they were starting. Now she was doing it from a lesson
book, Romans chapter nine. So as we were sitting in their
living room talking, Dave, I felt him hovering over
me, behind me. And the first words out of his
mouth, and I remember, I may forget this one, Dave, he said,
boy, and long story short, when Roy Pendleton Jr. said boy to
this boy, usually it was not good. I was in trouble. And when
he said that, he said, were preaching now was not right,
I would tell you. He said, but what you're preaching
is the truth, and you keep at it. By God's grace, when I am constantly
reminded of that, who cares what people think? And I just elated at the grace
of God. And having said that, I bring
you my wife, my sister's love, Penny. Her sister is being baptized
today at Central Grace Church by Paul Mayhem, so she wanted
to go there to support her. Another long story short, that
sister in Christ, I wish to God I could express
that better than my words are able. verse 23. I want us to have a
little bit of the context. We'll read a few verses and just
make some comments about those verses and we'll actually get
to the two verses that are my text this morning. But in John
12 and verse 23, and Jesus that this is in specific light
of the context. He is heading to the cross, and
there is where the Son of God was truly glorified. For there in that person who
hung on that cross, God stooped down to save man. that the sun may be glorified,
should be glorified. Truly, truly, and verily, verily,
I say unto you, he's illustrating something now, except the corn
of wheat fall into the ground and die. It abides alone. But if it die, do you see this? But if it die, it bringeth forth
much more. He that loveth his life shall
lose it. And he that hateth his life in this world shall keep
it unto eternal life. When God opens your eyes, it's
kind of hard to love yourself. We still do. But God makes it
difficult once he saves you. Because the longer I live, the
more of my corruption I feel. Let me move on. If any man serve
me, let him follow me. And where I am, there shall also
my servant be. If any man serve me, him will
my father honor. What a statement. Now is my soul troubled. And
what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour.
But for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy
name. Now look at this. Then came there
a voice from heaven I have both glorified it and will glorify
it again. The people, therefore, that stood
by and heard it said that it thundered. Others said an angel
spoke to him. Jesus answered and said, this
voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. Now is the
judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this
world be cast out. And here is my text for this
morning. And I, if I be lifted up from
the earth, will draw all men unto me. And then John gives
us a summary of what Christ was saying when he made that statement. John wrote, this he said, and
this is my subject, this is my title, if you will, signifying
what And Jason had contacted me and
asked me to come back. We just got a date. This passage just stuck in my
throat, as we say. And I thought, well, I've preached
on that passage so many times. I'm not here, I don't think.
But I just couldn't get the words out of my mind. This, he said,
signified what death He should die. But as I thought about it,
I began to read that. I've read the passage, as I said
many times, and probably preached on it more than once, of course.
I thought this, why does God not speak from heaven today like
he did back then? Maybe you all are not as perverted
in your thoughts as I am. Why is God gonna do that today? Who says he doesn't? Who says
he doesn't? Two thoughts, this is not even
a message, this is introductory. Is it just a thought? Why does
God not talk like that today? Who says he doesn't? But here's
the problem. You see, the unregenerate are
the same now as they were back then. God verbally spoke from
heaven. And what did some people that
heard it, what'd they say? It thundered. An angel spoke to him. You see,
the unregenerate mind cannot grasp God's word even when God
physically talks to them from above. But the unregenerate have
had. They know where to assuredly
hear God's voice. And Peter illustrated that voice.
I'm not gonna turn to it. But in 2 Peter, chapter 1, verses
16 through 21, if anybody wants to look at it later, the apostle
Peter said, I was in the mount, and I seen our Lord transfigured. Forgive me if I may not say this
exactly the right way, but his deity come out, visible, radiant
deity. Even one of the writers, says
that his clothes shined as the sun. And Moses and Elijah appeared. And God Almighty spoke from heaven. This is my beloved son. Hear
ye him. And Peter, I'll paraphrase you,
Peter in 2 Peter 1, 16 through 21 is the specific text. Peter
said, I was an eyewitness of that. But here's the amazing
thing. He said, we have a more sure
word of prophecy. We have a more sure word of prophecy. Go check it sometime. What's
that more sure word of prophecy? This right here. And again, I may not say this
the best way, but this is more of a miracle to fallen humanity. because God opens our eyes to
see his word, not our ears to hear voices from heaven. Now my summary to that is this.
All who seek to hear God outside of scripture, they are devoid
of an ear to hear God, period. God enables us to believe, to
trust, to rest in this word, because this word speaks of Jesus
Christ. My flesh still says, but I'd
like to just hear that one day. We will one day. One day we will be gathered unto
him, and Dave, he's gonna talk to us. I'll be able to just maybe bow
down before him and kiss his feet. For one that would save such
a wretch like me, he has taken me unto himself
and has promised that I will be with him where he is. I believe his promises, don't
you? He will take you there, too. It'll come soon enough,
soon enough. And that's my summary. Again,
all who seek to hear God outside of the scripture, they are devoid
of any ear to hear God, period. But let's go back to the summary
that's in our text. This he said, this he said signified
what death he should die. So think about this. This summary
is God-breathed. Now what I just said to you,
that's just kind of my thoughts about different things, about
voices. Oh, that's my thoughts. Think
about this. This summary by John is God-breathed. It is absolute, and thus it is
binding. John is describing, he's summarizing
what our Lord meant when he said, Note John's summary is not, this
he said signified how he should die. Right? It's not what he
says. Though how he should die was
already ordained of God from all eternity. But John did not
even say, at this he said signifying when he should die. Right? That's not what he said. When he died was ordained of
God at the precise moment in time that God Almighty purposed
before the foundation of the world. But John does not even
say this, he says, signifying where he should die. Am I being too picky? I don't
think so. No, this, he said, signifying
W-H-A-T, what death he should die. That, when it hit home to
me, just floored me. I mean, it floored me. That simple
word, what, signifies the extent And I, if I be lifted up from
the earth, will draw all men. Do you see it? Will draw all
men unto me. Christ's death would secure exactly
what Christ intended for his death to do. You see it? This, he said, signified what? Death, he should die. Now, three
points on this. And the names will be real brief.
I've just got three points. hear the words, hear what Christ
said. And if, he said, and if I be
lifted up, of course, from the context, it's clear he's talking
about crucifixion. That's what he's talking about.
The context bears that out, the whole book of God bears that
out. And if I be lifted up, But oh God, remind us that this is
not someone like me saying if. I can say if I do this, then
that will happen, but I have no power to back it up. All right? How many times have you said,
if I do this, then this will happen, and it happened exactly
opposite of what you thought was gonna break the fast, huh?
But this is God the Son making a declaration. And I, if I be
lifted up, unto me. It's not an if of possibility. It's an if based upon absolute
certainty. Did he die? Was he lifted up? Huh? Of course he was. Of course he was. John chapter
12, look at it again, verse 27. Now is my soul troubled, and
what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour,
but for this cause came I unto this hour. Look at 1 Peter. And this is
all, nothing new here. Look at what Peter wrote in 1
Peter 1, verse 18. For as much as you know that
you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from
your vain or empty conversation or way of life received by tradition
from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as of
a lamb without blemish and without spot, who verily was for ordained
before the foundation of the world. Christ is not suggesting
he may not die. He is letting us know of cause
and effect. And I, if I be lifted up from
the earth, will draw all men unto me. Of course, we know Chapter
4, verses 26, 27, and 28, where two of the disciples had been
released from jail, and when they came back to the company
of believers, they make this astonishing statement that Herod,
Pilate, the Jews, and the Gentiles all raised up against God's Christ.
They crucified him, hung him on a tree, but they were only
doing what God had before ordained to come to pass. Again, it is
an absolute. It is, this if is an absolute
enlightenment. It's cause, because it's cause
is Jesus Christ himself. He is making a declaration. When
I am crucified, because he would be, That's the whole reason he
came into this world. If he could have saved, if God
could have saved us any other way, why would God put his son
through what he put you through? Why? Why? Why would God turn
his back upon, we just read this. My God, my God, by his self forsaken
me. Because this is the only way
you and I can be saved. The only way. This is not the
best way. It's the only way a righteous,
holy God could look down in mercy and compassion toward things
like us. It's an absolute. It's absolute
in light of its cause. It is what we would call cause
and effect. Let's see the second phrase.
That's number one. And I, if I be lifted up, that's
crucified. But look at the second phrase.
And I, if I be lifted up from, the earth. Think about it. Against crucifixion. It wasn't
an accidental death. It wasn't even a natural death.
It wasn't even a normal death. It was a crucifixion. And I mean they, and this is
just the physical side from the human standpoint, they tortured
the Lord Jesus Christ. And were it not for him having
his life in his own hands, they would have killed him on that
cross. But he held his life in his own
hands. Now they were guilty of his death, but they still didn't
kill him. He what? Gave up the ghost. My ghost will be taken from me
one day. Your ghost will be taken from
you one day. He gave his up. if I be lifted up from the earth. What did Paul write to our brothers
and sisters, to the churches of Galatia? Let me read that
to you. Galatians chapter three, look
at what it says, verse 13, Christ,
what's that next word, H-A-T-H. See that, not he is, H-A-T-H,
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, be made
a curse for us. That's not a normal death, is
it? It certainly wasn't a laxative death. It wasn't even a regular
death. He died in my place. I should
have been the one that was nailed to that truth, and I should have
been father turned his back on him, never to turn back again. But he hung there. Christ hath
redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for
us, for his written cursive is everyone that hangeth on a tree.
That the blessing of Abraham might come. You see, had he not
died on that tree, we'd be lost. This is where the love of God
is exemplified, is shown, is manifested above everything else
that he would put his son through what he went through. Again,
for me, for a worm like me. And don't try to read into this. Even as we gathered here to worship
our God together, And we are gathered here to worship our
God together. Foul, stupid thoughts run through
my mind. Hmm? What about you? And I don't
have to be ill. I'm thinking about something
else other than Jesus Christ. Why would I do that? Why is not
he the sum and substance of even all my thoughts? Because the
thoughts of our old heart All it is, is just by the grace
of God, every now and then, He just allows the Spirit of God
to overpower our own thoughts, and we can think of Jesus Christ.
And have our hearts and minds set on Him. Don't you wish you
could think about Him every moment of the day? Huh? We don't, though,
do we? We don't. Well, I guess we're
the same. We didn't become Christians.
We didn't decide to be Christians. He was lifted up to the earth.
Therefore, he drew me unto him. He drew me unto him. And you
know what? Once he starts to draw, he don't ever quit. He don't ever quit. He just keeps
drawing, drawing, drawing. So that's the second thought.
But the thing about this, let me give you this. He, that is
God the Father, made him to be sin for us, that's the sinners,
that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. And I'll be lifted
up from the earth. But now, let's see, remember
this, this is a death that is a cause that will have an effect. Even as we look, illustrated,
verse 24, truly, truly, And they, I'm told, I don't know
because I'm told that the writers in Greek, when they meant to
strongly, strongly emphasize something, they would say very,
very. You would think one would be
enough, but one is never enough for me. If it's all I ever got,
Jason's was one, I'd be in a world of hurt. Truly, truly, I say
it to you, asset the corn of wheat, fall into the ground and
die and abides alone. Had Christ not died, he'd have
been alone. But God had a purpose for him
to be alone. He purposed him to have a bride. See it? It abides alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth
much fruit. So in the whole context of this,
at least what our Lord is saying about his crucifixion, that I,
if I be lifted up from the earth, how much of this did we do? How
much of this was God dependent upon us to accomplish? He did the dying, and bless God,
since he did the dying, he gonna do the what? The dry. You see
that? Now some people say, I don't
like that. I understand that. There was a time I didn't like
it either. And there's a part of me that still doesn't like
it. So I was just talking before the service of how something's
happening and you just, you work and you mull it over in your
mind, okay, I gotta do this, I gotta do that. And usually
it falls apart for me. But when God does something,
it is, as the writer said, forever. Forever. So that's the two, that's
two, here's number three. And I, if I be lifted up from
the earth, will draw all men unto me. As you can see in the
KJV, if that's what you're reading, the men is in italics. They supplied
it because it just helps the English flow better. We will
draw all unto me. As I thought about that, I thought,
wow, that gives me hope. That gives me hope. Notice he did not say, and I'm
not saying it's not true, but it's not what he says here. He
didn't say if I be lifted up from the earth, all men will
come to me. He didn't say that, did he? But
this all he's talking about, we'll come to him. And if he's lifted up from the
earth, he's gonna do what? Draw on the eye. And you can
actually, if you look that word draw, look that word up in the
Greek, it actually means to drag. Or like a sword in a sheath that's
designed to hold it in. And there's some resistance,
but the resistance is overcome when you pull the sword out.
I preached on that many years ago in that church I was telling
you about. That's why I started one of the witnesses. I said,
the book talks about going to a well and drawing up water.
Right? That's the same Greek word, going
to a well and drawing up water. And I walked over to the edge
of the podium that was there. The piano sat right off to the
side, and I walked over, and I said, let's suppose this is
a well. What does God do? Come on, water. Come up out of
there, water. water and you draw. It's coming
up. I mean, bless God. It's coming
up because remember who's doing this drawing. It's not me or
you. It's not dependent upon me or
you. It's dependent upon the son of God himself. This now, I want us to see something.
God help us. I want us to see the inclusiveness
of this crucifixion cause and effect. I did not say universality.
I talked about universalism, but there is inclusiveness here. And I, if I be lifted up from
the earth, will draw all unto me. That includes me. Come on now, what if he said,
if I be lifted up from the earth, What if he said, if I be lifted
up from the earth, I'll draw all naturally born Jews into
me? I'd have been left out. But he said, I, if I, if I be
lifted up from the earth, we'll draw all men unto me. And you remember our Lord's own
words when he was here in the days of his humiliation on the
face of this earth, he said these words, you don't have to turn
to it. Unto me, now it's not universal, but it is inclusive. Come unto me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden. Now if you're not laboring, if
you're not weighted down with the guilt and the shame of your
sin, he's not talking to you. This is not an invitation, it's
a command. It's a command. Come unto me,
all ye that labor and are heavy laden, I, and I will give you
rest. But he's not gonna do this to
set you free to feast upon yourself and to feed your own flesh. Uh-uh,
no. Take my yoke upon you. Put it
on. Take the reins. Put you up. my yoke upon you, and learn of
me, for I am meek and lowly at heart, and ye shall find rest
unto your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
Let me say this, when God first began to draw me, I didn't know
nothing about easy and light, and neither were you. And if
you're here this morning and he has drawn you, it's nothing
in the beginning that was easy and light. You fall under spirit
conviction and you can't escape it no matter what. The spirit
of God lays hold upon you, opens your eyes, spiritually, not physically,
but your eyes and your ears, your mind, your heart, your soul.
You begin to see what you really are. It'll scare you half out of your
wits. just knowing that me, this, this,
what you see here this morning, has to one day stand before a
thrice holy God. That even the angels who were
not sent for in any way, shape, or form, those angels specific
to his throne, flying around it day and night, day and night,
have to cover their eyes with a pair of their wings. Jason,
how can I stand before that God? Hmm? Terror. will grip your soul. Now I'm not saying it's all exactly
the same for everybody, but God's gonna bring you down before he
ever will shut. He gonna put you in the dust
before you ever kiss the sun's feet. But here's a passage, turn
to this one. What'd he say? And I, if I be
lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. And when it's wound up, he will
be able to say, I have drawn all men unto me. Look at it,
Revelation chapter five. All right, if I have my spot,
Revelation chapter five, just one verse, verse nine. And they
sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy. They're talking to
who? The Lamb. They're crying out to the Lamb.
Thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof,
for thou was slain. Lift it up, see? The Lamb of
God, lift it up. Thou was slain and has redeemed
us under God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and
people and nation. God will have saved. some of
all kinds. When it's said and done, God
can say, I'll save the world, though millions of others may
perish. Because he's saving some out of everybody. That's all
men. That's all men. Now anyone says,
well, I believe Jesus just tried to, so that everyone could be
saved. That's not what he said. This, he said, signifying what
death he should die. That if I be lifted up from the
earth, I will draw all men unto me. Now either he's a liar or they are. When they say he's
made possible, he made an option. God don't work on options. He's an absolute sovereign God
that does according to his will among the armies of heaven and
among the inhabitants of the earth, and that includes me and
you. And I will say this morning with
all the confidence of God's holy word, the promise of his son,
if he died for you, he will draw you all the way unto himself. He didn't just say, I'll draw,
but we can just leave that. He said, I'm going to draw it
how far? Unto me. Do you see it? Yes, he said. Signifying what death and shadow,
it's going to get the job done. And I fought against that, and
I fought against that, and I fought against that. But all of a sudden,
he started drawing. Dragging. Oh, yeah. He made me willing in the day
of his power. Oh yeah, I resisted, but it's not just, listen to
me, it's not just irresistible grace, it is invincible grace,
because we resist all the time. He's still drawing me, and there
are times when I resist, even today. What about you? And he's going to draw it all
the way to where? Unto me. You see it? I'm glad he don't
just draw. He draws all the way. He draws
all unto me. But that calls me to think. If
he's drawing me, or he's drawing you, and it's a continual thing,
it's not a one-time thing like a lot of religions talk about,
the day you come forward, pray the prayer, get fixed up, and
you're fine. This is continually, continually, if you ever quit
being drawn, you never was really drawn. Now is that good English
or not, I don't know, but it's the truth. Because if he died
for you, and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, we don't draw,
all men unto me, I trust him. But I thought if he's drawing
me unto him, then that means he must be drawing me away from
something else. Right? Huh? Yeah. We'll draw all men unto me. So
we're leaving someplace and going to another person. Aren't you glad that God even
draws us away from ourselves? My biggest problem in this world
is not power over me now. You know that? I used to not know what I was
being lied to about God. I know what I'm being lied to
about God now. And any of you who've been in the way for a
while, you know when somebody, you know when they try to put
the wool over your eyes, as we say, don't you? But you know
what really still deceives me? It's that man I see in the mirror
every morning when I get up to shave. He is so deceptive. He'll lie to me, you know, swallowed,
hooked, lying in secret, as we say. Because it's me, right? None of us lies to ourselves,
or do we? Or do we? But here's the question
I've asked myself. Have I ever been drawn unto Christ? It's that simple and yet that
profound. I'm not asking you, do you believe
what everybody else believes? I'm not asking you or me that
question. Has God drawn you in the person
of his son to the person of his son? Does the person and work
of Jesus Christ captivate you? As forgetful of him as you are,
yet you cannot escape him. God sweetly, lovingly forces
me to be drawn all the way to Christ. And when I feel those
sweet influences of the Spirit of God, hearing the gospel preached,
it's like God just saves me over and over and over and over. When I was in religion, I made
my professions and I never had any peace whatsoever. You know
why? Because I was dependent upon that man. Had I done enough? Had I believed
enough? Have I come enough? Have I prayed enough? Have I
asked for enough forgiveness? No. So I didn't want to face
up to the problem. The problem's not with the devil. It's not the false religion.
It's with me. You ever been drawn to Christ?
But as I said, remember, once this man here starts drawing,
bless God, you're coming. And you're going to come all
the way to him, and he ain't there to let you go. He owns
you. He bought you with a price. You're
his. You're not your own boss. You're
not your own pastor. You're not your own friend. That's
one thing you're not is your own friend. I have my own worst
enemy. If I were like my Lord in all
that he is, Jason Messer, I don't even know where I am. But he
took all of that on himself. What I'm asking, I'm not asking if
you're an immoral person. If you're immoral, okay, you're
immoral. What I'm saying is God ever taught
you what you are down in here, no matter how moral you are. How my problem is me, It's not
somebody, it's never somebody else. I blame somebody else almost
all the time. But my problem is me. And when you begin to realize
this, God opens your eyes. And when I was young, I first
began But remember, if I've really
been drawn to him, I have a yoke on me. That yoke is easy. That burdens
life, but I'm still me. I still have to deal with me
every blessed day I wake up. I can't even dream right. What
about you? I dream about aliens attacking
the Earth. Isn't that the stupidest thing you ever heard in your
life? Wake up in a cold sweat. Somebody says, that's all that
stuff on TV. It would mean nothing to me if it were not how corrupt
I am in here. Ever been brought to that place
by the preaching of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ where
you're just shut up into the mercy of God? begin to cry out, at least in
your soul, maybe not verbally like Jacob did, but say, I will
not let you go to your blessing. Folks, there ain't nothing wrong
with that. That's not works religion. That's God Almighty laying a
hold of it. And you say, they were wrestling. And Jacob said,
all right, let me go. You know what God did? Touched his hip. And every time he took a step, He was reminded he had done battle
with someone who could have just left him alone. He didn't, Jacob
didn't go looking for this one. This one came to him and laid
hold of him first. And when he lays hold of you
first, I'm not going to let you go. Even when you feel your arms,
I'm illustrating, you understand, I'm not going to let you go.
Why? Not because I'm great. but because
I have so much need. Turn to Hebrews chapter six. The fear. And yes, fear of hell,
but also being afraid of God. God made me afraid of him. Well,
if I knew, if I stood before him, he's a consuming fire, I
went, whew, like ashes. Whew, gone. But thank God, David didn't just
bring me that far, now I'm gonna waddle around in misery. He sent
us the blessed gospel. for abiding in this over and
over and over again. His son did it all. His son's
even the one doing the drawing. If you come this morning to be
drawn into Christ, it's not this man that brought you there. If
you're drawn into Christ, it was him doing it himself, using
his word, not my word, but his word. Oh, see, I was born and raised
in religion. It was truly one of those places
God's done all he could do. Now it's up to you. I was steeped
in that. And this wasn't just for, that's
our brand of religion. They didn't even want a peep
of what I'm saying, said around anybody. They just flat out,
that's heresy. That's a weird folks. We never,
we never were even taught there was an alternative side. And
I'm just, humanly speaking, they wanted to keep all that under
the rug. But when God Almighty said it in my life, And I felt that shame and guilt
and fear, not because, and I'm not saying there was no immorality,
but not because of immorality, but because I'd been wrong about
who God was all my life. And you know what? I know of
people that's been brought up and raised under the sound of
the gospel and still don't get it. All of their lives, they
still don't really get it. Oh, they may say some of the
right words, but the very fact that they're not fleeing, running
to Jesus Christ, lets me know God ain't done nothing for them.
Now, I have to be careful with my condemnations of anybody.
But Christ said, this one said, and I, if I be lifted up from
the earth, we will draw all men unto me. And John said, yeah,
that's exactly like this. He said, signify what definition
of that. Look at Hebrews 6. Verse 13, for when God made promise
to Abraham, because he could swear not no greater, he swore
by himself. Now folks, you and I ought not
be swearing by ourself on anything. Because again, we don't have
the power to affirm what we say. But because he could swear not
no greater, he swore by himself, saying, and multiply, I will multiply
thee. So, do you think Abraham was
going to be blessed to multiply? Oh, he bet you about a dollar
he was. Huh? Good. And so, after he had patiently
endured, he obtained the promise. Abraham dealt with this every
day of his life once he met God. He couldn't get away from it.
God was always right there, even when he went down into Egypt.
He was mad about his wife. Kind of like old Jonah. You remember
Jonah running away from God? And he ran right into God. Right? Huh? That doesn't make me want
to go be Jonah. But don't you think, God, that
he's a God like that? That even when you try to run
from him, he'll just jump right over you and be right there.
You're going to hit him again. He won't let you go. He won't
let you go. For confirmation is today. Today
I'm an end of all strife. In other words, you got two men,
that's just two men, and they say, I swear on it. You know,
sometimes we'll shake hands. I wouldn't imagine Mr. Kennedy
should be doing a whole lot of that with people, but you should
be in a man's handshake. If words, a handshake's good. Don't trust men for that. But you can trust God for it.
When God swears on something, guess what? It's gonna be. For men, crudely, barely swearing
by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is to them an end
of all strife. They look at it. Where in God
will he more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the
immutability of his counsel? He confirmed it by swearing it. He confirmed it by what? An oath.
Saying, surely I will bless thee, and surely I will multiply thee.
that by two immutable things in which it was impossible for
God to lie, that is, his promise and his oath. He promised it
and swore upon it. Now he's gone. He will break the pass. Then
by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to
lie, we might have strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay
hold upon the hope set before us. So when he draws, you're
not just laying there. When he starts to draw, guess
what? You will be run. You flee. You flee. Which hope we have as an anchor
of the soul, both assured and steadfast. Why? Because God promised
it and swore on it. which hope we have hath anchored
the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that
within the veil. How do I know I'm gonna finally
get to the end? Because Christ is already there.
Is he not? This book says he's seated at
the right hand of God the Father, right? Well, if he's gonna draw
me unto himself, then guess what? One of these days, I'm gonna
be there too, right? He's gonna keep drawing me and
drawing me and draw me to where if I lay down this body, or if
he returns with that trumpet sound, I'm gonna be right there
with him. Because he is going to literally
draw us physically unto himself. You know what the best part about
that is? I'll be done with me. And can enjoy him as he ought
to be enjoyed. Mm-hmm. Isn't that something?
Heavenly Father,