Isaiah said, Behold, the Lord's
hand is not shortened that it cannot save, neither is His ear
heavy that it cannot hear. Oh, that's a great promise, isn't
it? The Lord's able to save to the
uttermost them that come to God by Him. And His ear. You know the cry of your children,
don't you, those of you that have children? You know when
it's desperate, don't you? Nothing would keep you from rescuing
your child if they cried out in desperation for help. And
if you, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your
children, how much more will you, Heavenly Father, give good gifts to them who ask? May God put it on our hearts
to cry out. Number 29, I was lost and did
not know it, rushing madly to my end, but my God, who's rich
in mercy, would not let me die in sin. Number 29, let's stand
together, Brother Tom. I was lost and did not know it,
rushing madly to my end. But my God, who's rich in mercy,
would not let me die in sin. Hallelujah, God has saved me,
Saved me by His sovereign grace. Jesus died, the Spirit called
me, I am saved by sovereign grace. Chosen by my Heavenly Father
and redeemed by Jesus' blood, I am justified, forgiven, and
accepted by my God. Hallelujah, God has saved me,
Saved me by His sovereign grace. Jesus died, the Spirit called
me, I am saved by sovereign grace. God the Spirit came in power,
Gave me life and set me free. He revealed my blessed Savior,
And created faith in me. Hallelujah! God has saved me, Saved me by
His sovereign grace. Jesus died, the Spirit called
me, I am saved by sovereign grace. ? God has saved me and will keep
me ? ? By the power of his grace ? ? He will guide, guard and
protect me ? ? Till I see my Savior's face ? ? Hallelujah,
God has saved me ? ? Saved me by his sovereign grace ? ? Jesus
died, the Spirit called me ? ? I am saved by sovereign grace ? Please
be seated. Would you turn with me please
in God's word to Psalm 5. Psalm 5. In order of things, this is the
call to worship. I've been studying and reading
on it. This is not our call to worship, it's God's call to worship.
And that's why we read his word. It's not man's call, it's God's
call. And it's not by, it's by God's purpose, that's a better
way to say it. The church is called the ecclesia, or the called
out ones. We have a I'm all of our God,
I guess how he puts all that together, he does. Let us read
his word and pray he will bless it. Give ear to my words, O Lord,
consider my meditation. Harken unto the voice of my cry,
my King and my God, for unto thee will I pray. My voice shalt
thou hear in the morning, O Lord. In the morning will I direct
my prayer unto thee, and I will look up. For thou art not a God
that hath pleasure in wickedness, neither shall evil dwell with
thee. The foolish, the foolish shall not stand in thy sight.
Thou hatest all workers of iniquity. Thou shalt destroy them that
speak leasing. The Lord will abhor the bloody
and deceitful man. That's the false gospel, preachers. Verse seven and eight. But as
for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy
mercy. And in fear will I worship toward
thy holy temple. Lead me, O Lord, in, see that
next word, in thy righteousness. Lord, lead me in your righteousness.
Because of mine enemies, make thy way straight before my face. There is no faithfulness in their
mouth. Their inward part is very wickedness. Their throat is an open sepulcher.
They flatter with their tongue. Destroy thou them, O God, Let
them fall by their own counsels, cast them out in the multitude
of their transgressions, for they have rebelled against thee.
Oh, but here's the Ekklesia, but let all those that put their
trust in thee rejoice. Let them ever shout for joy because
thou Christ defend us then. Let them also that love thy name
be joyful in thee. For thou, Lord, will bless the
righteous. With favor wilt thou compass
him. That's Christ, as with a shield.
I pray the Lord will enable us to pray. Please join me. Lord, we confess and agree with
you. When you tell us about ourselves,
that in us there is no good thing. And Lord, you have revealed to
us that our hearts and our minds are infinitely wicked. But yet, Lord, it has pleased
you to bring us here this very morning. And we've come, Lord,
pleading with you that you would speak to us through your chosen
servant, our brother, Brother Greg, and your other gospel preachers. Oh, Lord, we ask your blessing
upon them. Put your words in their hearts
and their mouths and your spirit upon them, Lord, that they may
declare Christ clearly. For we are a great need. Give
us the ability, Lord, by your spirit to hear and the faith
to believe it. And Lord, we would ask, let us
have no hope in ourselves. that you would strike that down
the moment those thoughts come to mind, that we can do something
to please you that cause us to fall at your feet and rejoice
in your righteousness and to give you all the glory. Amen. Let's stand together once again.
We'll sing the hymn that's on the back of your bulletin. We'll
sing this hymn a cappella, the back of your bulletin, to the
tune of How Tedious and Tasteless. ? Poor sinner dejected with fear
? ? Unbosom thy mind to the Lamb ? ? No wrath on his brow he does
wear ? ? Nor will he poor mourners condemn ? His arm of omnipotent
grace Is able and willing to save A sweet and a permanent
peace He'll freely and faithfully give Come just as thou art with
thy woe Fall down at the feet of the Lamb He will not, he cannot
say go, but surely will take out thy stain. A fountain is
open for sin, and thousands its virtues have proved. He'll take
thee and plunge thee therein, and wash thee from filth in his
blood. The soul that on Jesus relies,
he'll never know, never deceive. He freely and faithfully gives
more blessings than we can conceive. Yea, down to old age he will
keep, nor will he forsake us at last. He knows and is known
by His sheep. They're His and He will hold
them fast. Amen. Please be seated. We're going to begin this message
in Psalm 115. Psalm 115. I preached a message from this
passage a year or so ago. I want to use it by way of introduction
on this message. Trisha and I were in one of these
little shops recently and there was a plaque on the wall and
the plaque read, everything happens for a reason. And I thought, you know, I guess
most folks believe that. And it's true. It's true. But for most people that would
make such a statement, to them it's nothing more than a pious
platitude that gives them some comfort and hope in believing
that something good is going to come back to me. There's a
silver lining around every cloud. It's all good and it's going
to be good for me. And so they just whistle through
the graveyard saying everything happens for a reason. But they
don't tell you what that reason is. I want to tell you by the authority
of God's Word right now what the reason for everything is. You have your Bibles open? to
Psalm 115. It's very clear. It's very clear. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us. It's not about you. It's not about me. It's not about
man. It's about God. The glory of God is the reason
for everything. Look. But unto thy name give
glory for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake. Wherefore should
the heathens say where is now their God? How do you explain
the the tragedies and the horrors that take place in this world
that are perpetrated by man. What's the reason for it? What's
the reason for it? Verse 3, our God is in the heavens. That means that you're not going
to see everything that He's doing. The only way you're gonna see
God in the heavens is through the eye of faith. Our God is in the heavens. He hath done, past tense, whatsoever
he hath pleased. Now I'm telling you right now
what the reason for everything is. The reason for everything
is God's glory. Now, if you could read the end
of the story, you might be able to make sense of what's happening
in the story, right? Turn with me in your Bibles to
Revelation chapter 7, and we're going to read briefly the end
of the story. Revelation chapter 7 verse 1, And after these things I saw
four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding
the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow
on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree." John is getting a vision of heaven. Now skip down with me to verse
9. And after this, I beheld, and
lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations,
and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne
and before the Lord, clothed with white robes and palms in
their hands, and cried with a loud voice saying, salvation to our
God, which sitteth upon the throne and unto the lamb. And all the
angels stood round about the throne and about the, and about
the elders and the four beasts and fell before the throne on
their faces and worshiped God saying, Amen. Amen. Blessing and glory. Amen means so be it. So be it. That's what faith says. When
God speaks, faith just says, Amen. Amen, blessed and glory
and wisdom, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and
honor and power and might be unto our God forever and ever. And one of the elders answered
saying unto me, what are these which are arrayed in white robes?
And whence came they? And he said unto him, sir, thou
knowest. And he said to me, these are
they which came out of the great tribulation. Now that's where
you live and that's where I live right now. This is the great
tribulation that we're living in. The tribulation that the
believer experiences between the war that exists between the
spirit and the flesh, that war that he experiences every day
in his own body and that experience that he has in living in a world
that's contrary to everything that he believes, this is the
great tribulation And the Lord says, these which stand in white
robes came out of the great tribulation and have washed their robes and
made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, are they
before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his
temple. And he that sitteth on the throne
shall dwell among them, and they shall hunger no more, and they
shall neither thirst anymore. Neither shall the sun light on
them nor any heat for the lamb, for the lamb which is in the
midst of the throne shall feed them and shall lead them into
living fountains of waters and God shall wipe away all their
tears. That's the end of the story. The whole church, those saved,
in the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Lord Jesus Christ are
in His presence joining their voices together in singing praise
and glory and honor to the Lamb. And He is providing for them. That's the end of the story.
You see, it's all about the glory of God. Not unto us, O Lord,
not unto us, but unto thy name be all glory for thy truth, for
thy truth and for thy mercy's sake. Turn with me now to John
chapter 17. Everything happens for a reason?
Yes. The reason is the glory of God. The reason is the glory of God.
God is most glorified in the saving of sinners. Where is the glory of God most
manifest? Where do we see God's glory most
clearly? John chapter 17 Look at verse
1, and these words spake Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven
and said, Father, the hour is come. Glorify thy son, that thy
son also may glorify thee, as thou hast given him power over
all flesh. He has the power over all flesh. He's the potter, we're the clay. He has the sovereign right to
make out of the same lump of clay some vessels of honor, some
of dishonor. I listened to a man this week.
He said he was asked a question. He's a very well-known theologian
in religion. And they asked him, they said,
why would an omnipotent, loving God make a person that he knows
is going to go to hell? And the answer was free will. Well, you know, God gave everybody
free will and, you know, the Lord wouldn't send them to hell
if it was up to him. And he actually concluded his
answer by saying that God can only do that which is possible. He made that statement. God can
only do that which is possible and it's impossible for God to
violate the free will that he's given to man. If God doesn't violate your free
will, you'll not be saved. If God doesn't do the impossible
for you and me, we won't be saved. With man it is impossible, but
with God it's possible. God has to make us willing, doesn't
He? He has to give us a desire for Christ. That's what He's
saying here. He's saying you've given Him
power over all flesh. In that passage in in 2nd Thessalonians
chapter 2, those who know in Romans chapter 9, vessels fitted
for destruction. So yes, you see it's a faulty
presupposition to say that God loves everybody. If you believe that, then nothing
else makes sense. Everything God's doing is for
God's glory. Jacob I've loved, Esau I've hated. God loves righteousness, he hates
iniquity. God shows his mercy towards vessels
of his grace. Thou has given him power over
all flesh that he should give eternal life to as many as thou
has given him. So God has given, God the Father
gave to the Lord Jesus Christ an elect people in the covenant
of grace established by God before time ever began. And the Lord's
praying now to the Father and he's saying, Father, glorify
me. I've glorified you on the earth. It's time now for me to
go to the cross. This is where the greatest glory
of God is going to be shown. And this is life eternal, that
they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
thou hast sent, I have glorified thee on the earth. How did I
glorify thee? I have finished the work which
thou gavest me to do. That's how the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's all about the glory of God. Everything in your life and in
my life and in this world is about the glory of God. And the
glory of God is most greatly manifest in the death of the
Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary's cross. And the Lord's saying, Lord,
glorify me. Look at verse five. And now,
O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory
which I had with thee before the world was. Glorify me. Everything happens for a reason?
Yeah. God is sovereignly ordaining everything ultimately for His
glory. For His glory. And His glory
is seen most gloriously, if we could say it like that, in the death of the Lord Jesus
Christ on Calvary's cross. You see, Everything's for the
cross. Creation was for the cross. The cross wasn't to fix what
Adam did in the garden. The fall was for the cross. Everything
in history is for the cross. Every person that's ever been
born is for the cross. It's all points to the glory
of God. Everything that God's doing and
everything happens for a reason, yes. Yes. The reason is the glory
of God and the cross is where we see God's glory. That's why Paul said in 1 Corinthians
chapter 2, determined not to know anything among you save
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. The crucifixion of the Lord Jesus
Christ is what it's all about. The glory of God in the saving
of sinners is what everything is for. Everything. Now if that be true, and I'm
sure it is, there's four things I want you to see very briefly
about the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I've alliterated
these four points so that I can remember them and so that you
can remember them. I don't often do that, but I
heard these these words and I thought, that's the Lord Jesus Christ,
that's the cross. The cross was violent, the cross
was voluntary, the cross was vicarious, and the cross was
victorious. And if the Lord reveals to us
how those words relate to what the Lord Jesus Christ did, then
we'll be able to rejoice now as we will in heaven with the
glory of God. Just rejoicing in his glory.
The first thing we see about the cross is that it was violent. It was violent. And we've seen
a lot of violence in this world, but no violence compares to the
violence that was perpetrated by man at the cross of the Lord
Jesus Christ. You say, well now wait a minute.
We just saw on television just a few days ago about all these
people that were slaughtered by this Man, that was violent. That was a violent act. We know
from history things like Adolf Hitler and the violence that
he committed. How can you say the cross is
the most violent thing that's ever happened? Well, let me ask
you a question. If a guard in a prison abused
an inmate, Would he be subject to punishment for that? Certainly. But we wouldn't take much notice
of it, would we? Now, if that same guard went
home and abused his child and did to his child the same thing
he did for that prisoner, that'd be a different story, wouldn't
it? You see, the person that the crime is perpetrated against
and their innocence elevates the horror of the crime. That's
just a simple illustration, isn't it? When God said, the wrath of man
shall praise me, never was man so wrathful than when God allowed
him to put his son to death. You see, what makes the violence
of the cross so unique is the subject of the one to whom the
violence was executed against. This is not an innocent child.
This is the son of God. This is the holy, undefiled,
sinless Son of God, who for the one and only time in the history
of the world gave man an opportunity to do whatever he wanted to do
and he took the Son of God in his hands and he violently, as
Paul says, Peter said when he preached on the day of Pentecost,
by your wicked hands you have taken the Son of God and you've
crucified him. You crucified the Son of God. No act of violence can compare
to that. When that mob raised their voices
to Pilate and said, crucify him, crucify him. It was the most
blood curdling cry that the angels in heaven ever heard. No acts of war ever compared
to what they heard in heaven when man took the son of God
and put him on Calvary's cross. It's a testimony of our hatred
for God. You say, well, I wouldn't have
done that. Well, I'm here to say to you this morning, I did
do that. Turn with me to the next to the
last book of the Old Testament, Zechariah chapter 12. Zechariah chapter 12 verse 9,
and it shall come to pass in that day, Zechariah is writing
500 years before the cross and he's speaking of what's going
to happen on Calvary's cross and it shall come to pass in
that day that I will seek to destroy all nations that come
against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house
of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace
and supplication." Now, here's God's promise. I'm going to pour
out all my... I'm going to destroy the world. and the world's going to be destroyed
for my glory. The nations are a drop in the
bucket. They're a speck on the balance scale to me. It's not
about the nations. It's not about the people. It's
about me and my glory, and I'm going to destroy all the unbelievers
of the world. But upon my house, my children,
I'm going to pour out a spirit of grace I'm gonna pour out a
spirit of supplication and they shall look upon me whom they
have pierced and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his
only son and shall be in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness
for his firstborn." The death of his firstborn is what's being
said there. And in that day There shall be
a great morning in Jerusalem as the morning of Heda and Riman
in the valley of Megiddo. And the land shall mourn every
family apart, the family of the house of David apart from their
wives apart and the family of the house of Nathan apart and
their wives apart and the family of the house of Levi apart and
their wives apart and the family of Shemai apart and their wives
apart and all the families that remain, every family apart and
their wives apart. And what God's saying is, that
this bearing of responsibility for the violent death of the
Son of God is experienced by every single one for whom the
Lord Jesus died. How do I know that Christ died
for me? Because I bear the responsibility
of what He did. It was my sin that put him on
Calvary's cross. The spirit of grace and supplication
has been poured out upon me and I look upon him whom I have pierced. In verse 1 of chapter 13, and
in that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David
and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. You see, we don't remain in this
downcast mourning of grief for what we've done. We understand
that what the Lord Jesus Christ bore for us on Calvary's cross,
what he suffered in the most violent act that's ever been
done in the world resulted in our salvation. And so we rejoice and it shall
come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will
cut off the names of idols out of the land and they shall no
more be remembered. I can't go anywhere else. I can't
look anywhere else other than the Lord Jesus Christ. God has
exposed my idolatry. He has revealed to me the error,
the lie that I once believed. Trusting in my free will, trusting
in my good works, trusting in something other than the accomplished
work of the Lord Jesus Christ, trusting in something other than
Him. A violent act. And yet, the violence that we
participated in, in putting the son of God to death, does not
compare to the violence that he suffered from his own father. Go back with me to that illustration
of the man abusing a child. What would go through the thought,
the mind in a child who's being abused or who's being tortured
and the parent is standing by and not doing anything? I'll
tell you what would go in that child's mind. My God, my God,
why hast thou forsaken me? The cup of God's bitter wrath
is what the Lord Jesus Christ drank dry on Calvary's cross. When he cried out to the Father
in the garden and said, Father, if there be any way this cup
can pass from me, let it be. Nevertheless, not my will, but
thy will be done. It was the bitter cup of sin.
It pleased Isaiah 53. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. God drew his sword of justice
and buried it in the heart of his own darling son in order
to put away the sins of God's people. What greater act of violence
could ever take place. And yet, the Lord Jesus Christ,
in being the recipient of all that violence, all that contradiction
from sinners, and all that violence from the Father, in His dying
breath, Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit. I'm trusting
You, Father, to take what I've suffered and reward me Reward
me with the ones for whom I suffered it. Reward me for those who are
going to be with me in glory, singing my praises and giving
glory to the Father for all eternity. It's all about the glory of God.
The glory of God is seen at the cross, and the cross is the most
violent thing that's ever happened. Secondly, the cross of the Lord
Jesus Christ was voluntary. It was voluntary. No man took
his life from him. He laid down his life for the
sheep, and greater love hath no man than this, that he lay
down his life for his brethren." John chapter 10 verse 17, I lay
my life down for the sheep, and other sheep I have which are
not of this fold, them I must bring. Them I must bring. The Lord Jesus Christ said I'm
gonna This death that I'm suffering for my people is for all my people.
And everyone for whom I'm dying, every single one of them are
gonna come in faith and believe on me. They shall hear my voice
and there shall be one shepherd and there shall be one sheep
fold. Therefore doth my father love
me because I lay down my life that I might take it up again. The Lord Jesus Christ voluntarily
laid down his life for his sheep. Verse 18, no man take it from
me. I lay it down to myself. I have power to lay it down.
I have power to take it up again. When did the Lord Jesus Christ
become a voluntary participant in his death on Calvary's cross? When? In the covenant of grace. A covenant is a promise. God
the Father, before Adam was ever created, promised to give to
his son a people. God the Son entered into that
covenant promise and committed himself voluntarily to the father
to lay down his life for his sheep. The death of Christ was
violent, but it was voluntary. It was voluntary. Something about being voluntary isn't it? I was thinking about this this
week. I served in the military. towards the end of the Vietnam
War when the draft was in place. And most of the guys that I was
in the service with were either drafted or they were joining
the Navy to avoid the draft so they didn't have to take a gun
over there. In other words, most of the guys in the service didn't
want to be there. They didn't want to be there. It wasn't a
voluntary force. Not like we have today. And we
had a lot of problems in the military back then as a result
of the draft. Men forced to take up arms who
didn't want to be there. The Lord Jesus Christ was not
forced. He volunteered. He volunteered
to the Father to make the ultimate sacrifice for his people. Thirdly, the death of the Lord
Jesus Christ was vicarious. He stood in our room and in our
stead. Let the Catholic call that guy
over there in Rome the vicar of Rome all they want. You know
what a vicar is? A vicar is a vicarious person. That's where that word comes
from. And they said, well, he's the vicar. He stands in the stead
of God and represents God on the earth. No, he does not. He doesn't represent anything
about God. He represents something spiritual,
but it's not holy. There's one vicar. There's one
who stands in our stead vicariously before God and bears the full
burden of responsibility for all our sin. It's the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's our surety. He's our surety. God made him, 2 Corinthians 5,
verse 11. God made him sin. who knew no sin, that we might
become the righteousness of God in him. The Lord Jesus Christ
was vicarious in that he bore our sins in his body upon the
tree. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
vicarious in that he stands in our stead before God and presents
himself as our righteousness before God. It all happens for a reason.
The glory of God is the reason and the cross is the glory of
God. It was violent. It was voluntary. It was vicarious. He has borne our griefs and carried
our sorrows. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep
have gone astray, but God has laid on Him the iniquity of us
all. What a vicarious Savior. You
see, when God Almighty looks at the Lord Jesus Christ, He
sees Him and everyone for whom He lived and died in Him. That's why the Bible says, as
He is, so are we. And someone says, well, that's
how God sees it. How God sees something is the way it is. It
doesn't matter how you see it. It doesn't matter how I see it.
The way God sees it is the way it is. That's pretty simple. God sees everything that's happening
for His glory. God sees the vicarious, voluntary,
violent death of the Lord Jesus Christ as that which glorifies Him the
most. When Joseph, you remember when
Joseph, Joseph is such a beautiful picture of Christ. You remember
when he was down in Egypt and he was falsely accused and put
into prison just like the Lord? And the scripture says, and the
prison keeper, the guy that was in charge of the prison took
notice of Joseph and put all the inmates under his charge. Now, Joseph was an inmate. But
the prison keeper thought, you know, this guy can do my job
for me. I can go home and relax. And so he turned the whole prison
over to Joseph. And here's what the scripture
says, and whatsoever was done there, he was the doer of it. And whatsoever was done there,
he was the doer of it. And whatsoever was done in our
salvation before God, the Lord Jesus Christ is the doer of it. Every bit of it. That's why Judah
was able to stand up before Jacob when representing Benjamin and
said, I'll be his surety. I'll be his surety. I will be
surety for him. And if I bring him not again
before thee and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame
forever." That's what Jacob said. That's what Judah said to his
father. If I don't bring Benjamin back
to you and put him before you, I'll bear the blame forever. Is it possible for the Lord Jesus
Christ to bear the blame of not bringing Benjamin back to his
father? No. He's our surety. Everything was done and our salvation
was vicarious. And my final point. Not only
was the death of Christ violent, not only was it voluntary, not
only was it vicarious, but fourthly, it was victorious. Contrary to
what you hear in this religious world, the Lord Jesus Christ
did not come into this world to make an offer of salvation,
to be made effectual by something you do. No, no. No, when he cried from the cross,
it is finished. He actually accomplished the
salvation of his people. When God calls you out of darkness
or calls a sinner out of darkness into his marvelous light, all
they're doing is discovering what's already been accomplished. They're discovering what's already
been accomplished. They're having the eyes of their
understanding opened so that they can see what the Lord Jesus
Christ actually did. He was victorious. You see, to
say that the Lord Jesus Christ is offering salvation to everyone
and actually not accomplishing anything is a denial of the resurrection. The whole purpose of the resurrection
was God the Father rewarding the Lord Jesus Christ for his
accomplished work. I have finished the work which
thou gavest me to do. What work did he come to do?
You shall call his name Jesus for he shall save his people. He shall say, he's not trying
to save anybody. He's not trying to work it out. He's not in the heavens wringing
His hands, wishing you'd let Him have His way. Oh, won't you
make Jesus Lord of your life? Won't you accept Jesus? No. No. He's going to invade your space
when He comes into your heart in the miracle of the new birth
and make you willing in the day of His power and cause you to
bow And to believe on Him. He didn't leave anything unfinished.
Oh no. He did it all. He did it all
by Himself. And He's in the heavens. Interceding. on behalf of his people. And
that doesn't just mean that he's interceding on behalf of those
who he has already called. He's interceding on behalf of
those who have not yet been called. those who are yet strangers of
His grace, those who are yet in their sins, those who are
yet dead and blind, the only hope that they have to remain
alive until God calls them is the intercession of the Lord
Jesus Christ. What do they say? It all happens
for a reason. Yes, it does. Yes, it does. And the reason is the glory of
God. And the cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ is God's greatest demonstration of glory. That cross was violent. It was
violent at the hands of man, but more at the hands of God.
That cross was voluntary. It was vicarious. And it was
victorious. To God be the glory. Our merciful Heavenly Father,
we thank you for the revelation of truth that you've given us
in your word about the reason for all things. And we rejoice
in knowing that not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto
thy name unto thy name be glory for thy truth and for thy mercy's
sake. Amen. Number 42, let's stand together,
number 42. Yeah. ? Let us praise the name of Jesus
? ? Prophet, priest, and sovereign king ? ? To him render adoration
? ? Laud and homage to him bring ? ? Let us praise the name of
Jesus ? God incarnate from above, came to save his chosen people,
sent by God in covenant love. ? Let us praise the name of Jesus
? ? Who upon Mount Calvary ? ? Shed his blood and sealed our pardon
? ? Died for sin to set us free ? ? Let us praise the name of
Jesus ? Prison conquering, gracious friend, Advocate and mediator,
All our hopes on Him depend. Let us praise the name of Jesus,
for he brought us to his fold. Come, exalt his name and worship
? May the Savior be extolled ? Let us praise the name of Jesus
? Till we see Him face to face ? Then throughout the endless
ages ? Praise Him for His love and grace th th