You don't have to look this up.
I'll just read it Ecclesiastes chapter 5 verse 1 keep thy foot
when thou goest into the house of God and Be more ready to hear
than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they consider not
that they do evil." Faith comes by hearing. Hearing comes by
the word of God. Be swift to hear, James said,
and slow to speak. And God give us ears to hear
and speak effectually to our hearts this morning. That's why
we're here, to hear from here, from Him. Let's stand together. Brother Tom's going to come and
lead us in the hymn on the back of your bulletin. Praise the Lord, ye heavens,
adore Him. Praise Him, angels in the height. Sun and moon rejoice before Him. Praise Him, O ye stars of light. Praise the Lord, for He hath
spoken, worlds His mighty voice obeyed, words that never shall
be broken, for our guide as He hath made. Praise the Lord for
he is glorious, never shall his promise fail. God hath made his
sheep victorious, sin and death shall Please be seated. Good morning. Let us open a word
of God for our scripture reading this morning in 2 Peter. And
we're going to read the first 12 verses of 2 Peter. Simon Peter, servant and an apostle
of Jesus Christ. to them that have obtained like
precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and
our Savior Jesus Christ. Grace and peace be multiplied
unto you and through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. according to his divine power,
he has given us all things that pertain unto life and godliness,
through the knowledge of him that has called us, and to glory
and virtue. We see that the Lord always provides
what he requires. He has provided all. Whereas,
I've given unto us exceeding great precious promises, That
by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having
escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And
besides this, giving all diligence add to your faith virtue, and
to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge temperance. and to temper his
patience, and to patience, godliness, and to godliness, brotherly kindness,
and to brotherly kindness, charity. For if these things be in you
and abound, they make that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful
in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh
these things is blind, and cannot see afar, and have forgotten
that he has purchased from old sins. Wherefore, the rather burden
give diligence to make your calling and election sure. For if ye
do these things, ye shall never fail. Four. For so an entrance
shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting
kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Father God, we
praise you. We thank you, Father, that you
have allowed us to be here. We thank you, Father, that Christ
is preached, and we are able to listen, Father. We now come
before you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we pray
for your Holy Spirit. To be upon us, Father, be upon
the speaker, Greg. Bless the preaching, Father,
may it be a clear gospel message of the Lord Jesus Christ and
his glory. Please, Father, we pray for fullness
of the Holy Spirit in us. that we might be able to see,
that you might be able to take all distractions from us this
morning. We pray for Brother Robert and
Bert that are recuperating. We ask you to bless them, Father,
that and that they may be with us again soon. We pray for all
the churches that preach Christ, Father. We pray that Christ may
be magnified and glorified in all these churches that preach
Him, Father. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let's stand together once again.
We'll sing hymn number eight from the Spiral Gospel Hymns
hymn book, number eight. O Lord, our hearts and souls
aspire to lift up from this earthly mire. O may we think of heavenly
things and know the joy Thy presence brings. ? Lord, let us see the
Savior's face ? And let us taste of thy sweet grace ? May opened
ears thy glories hear ? And may we smell thy fragrance ? Be pleased to open heaven's door
? ? And on our heads thy blessings pour ? ? All wretched, poor,
and needy we ? ? Where can we go if not to thee? ? O may this day be blessed the
most, that Jesus Christ becomes the host, to feed our souls with
living bread, and with our souls in joy to wed. Please be seated. Lauren Culver
is going to come now and bring some special music. In shady green pastures, so rich
and so sweet, God leads his dear children along. Where the water's cool flow bathes
the weary one's feet, God leads His dear children along. Some through the water, some
through the flood, some through the fire, but all through His
blood. Some through great sorrow, but
God gives a song in the night season and all the day long. Sometimes on the mount where
the sun shines so bright, God leads his dear children along. Sometimes in the valley, in darkest
of night, God leads his dear children along. Some through the water, some
through the flood, some through the fire, but all through His
blood. ? Some through great sorrow, but
God gives a song ? ? In the night season and all the day long ?
? Though sorrows befall us and evil oppose ? ? God leads his
dear children along the way ? Through grace we can conquer, defeat
all our foes. God leads his dear children along. Some through the water, some
through the flood. Some through the fire, but all
through his blood. Some through great sorrow. but God gives a song in the night
season and all the day long away from the mire and away from the
clay God leads his dear children along A way up in glory, eternity's
day, God leads his dear children along. Some through the water,
some through the flood. Some through the fire, but all
through his blood. Some through great sorrow, but
God gives us song. In the night season and all the
day long. Thank you, Lauren. Lauren's been up in Kentucky
this week, or Ohio. I'm not sure where your dad had
his surgery. Dan, Lauren's dad, pastors in Wheelersburg, Ohio
and had triple bypass on Tuesday and he's still in the hospital
recovering and hopes to go home soon. So Lauren, glad everything
went well and thank you for that song. We open your Bibles with
me to Isaiah chapter 53. Isaiah chapter 53. Those of you
that have been with us know that we've been in and around this
chapter for a few weeks. But there's a verse of scripture
that I wanted to look at this morning that reveals to us what
it is that God is pleased with. Now I'm interested in knowing
what God's pleased with, aren't you? In a sense this whole book
is written in order to reveal to us what God's pleased with
and what he's not pleased with and if you love somebody You
know what they're pleased with and what they're not pleased
with That's true in a marriage. That's true in a friendship.
You know what people like and what they don't like if you love
them and And if you really love them, you're pleased when they're
pleased. Isn't that true? And so, the
Lord has given us many places in His Word where He has spoken
clearly to us about what it is He's pleased with and what it
is He's not pleased with. And my hope is that the Lord
will give us as He gave David heart after God And that just
simply means that we'll be pleased with what he's pleased with And
that that we will Hate the things that he hates and love the things
that he hates that he loves So you have your Bibles open Isaiah
chapter 53 will begin in verse 10 yet It pleased the Lord to bruise
Him. Now, when the Lord Jesus Christ
hung on Calvary's cross, God made Him who knew no sin to be
sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
The Scripture says that He bore in His body the sins of his people,
and when a holy God, his loving Heavenly Father, looked down
from heaven and saw sin on his son. He had no choice but to
sheathe the sword of his justice into the very heart of his own
darling son. And the scripture makes it clear
here that it pleased God to bruise him. It was God Almighty that
put the Lord Jesus Christ to death. Now, it was for the sins
of his people, not for his own. The scripture says that when
the spirit of grace and the spirit of supplication is poured out
on the house of Israel and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
they will mourn after him whom they have pierced as one mourneth
after his only son. Now what that means is that it
was my sins that God saw on Christ that forced the hands of God
to put his own son to death. Now, did the Lord Jesus Christ
bear in his body all the sins of all men? If he did, now that's
what you'll hear from the world, if he did, then we've got an
unjust God. Because if He caused the Lord
Jesus Christ to die the death of His holy justice for all the
sins of all men, then you must conclude that everybody's going
to heaven. And nothing else really matters.
In other words, you cannot accept a universal atonement without
accepting universal salvation. Everybody I hear talk about a
universal atonement, that Christ died for everybody, but most
of the folks that he died for are not going to go to heaven,
because his death was not effectual in and of itself. You've got
to do your part to make what He did work for you. Now that's
what the world says. That's what free will works religion
says. It is a lie. It is the lie that
men have believed to the destruction of their own souls. It pleased
God to bruise Him. He hath put him to grief. When he shall make his soul an
offering for sin, he shall see his seed and prolong his days,
and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Now, what is the pleasure of
God? Our God is a prosperous God.
Our God succeeds in everything He does. He's not a failure. He's not trying to get folks
saved. He's not doing his best, waiting on man to let him have
his way or make Jesus Lord of his life. No. The scripture says that God made
his soul an offering for the sins of his people, and God saw
the travail of his soul, and God was satisfied, and God makes
his seed to prosper. To prosper. What is the prospering
that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished when he laid down his life for
his people, for the sheep? Philippians chapter 2. Turn with
me there, please. Philippians chapter 2 answers
that question. What is the prosperity of the
sacrifice that the Lord Jesus Christ made on Calvary's cross? Look at verse 7 in Philippians
chapter 2. God, he thought it not robbery
to be equal with God. He is God. He is God. The fullness of the Godhead bodily,
the scripture says. God became flesh and dwelt among
us and we beheld his glory as the only begotten of the Father.
He's the one that's full of grace and full of truth. The Lord Jesus
Christ is God. And as God, he can do nothing
but succeed in everything he does. And so the Lord prospered,
who being in the form of God, verse six, thought it not robbery
to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation. Now that means he emptied himself. The Lord Jesus Christ emptied
himself to the Father. He was making an offering to
God and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in
the likeness of men, born of a woman, born under the law to
redeem them who are cursed by the law. He was in the likeness
of sinful flesh, but was without sin, wholly separate from sinners. Undefiled and being found in
fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death
even the death of the cross Wherefore God also hath highly exalted
him and given him a name that is above every name He's given
him preeminence among all Everything, everything in heaven, everything
on the earth, everything under the earth, the Lord Jesus Christ
has preeminence. That's the prospering of his
seed that Isaiah talks about in Isaiah chapter 53 verse 10. that at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow of things in heaven, things on the earth,
and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. So what is the prosperity of
the sacrifice that the Lord Jesus Christ made on Calvary's cross? What is it that God's pleased
with him? He brought glory to God. He glorified God in everything
he did. And there's going to come a day,
why do the heathen rage? Why do the kings of the earth
say vain things against the one that God has set upon his throne?
Why? Because they've believed the
lie. They've believed the lie. They
don't believe our God is God. They've imagined a God that is
altogether as themselves. But one day, one day, everyone
will know. Everyone will know. in heaven
and in hell that Jesus is the Christ to the glory of God the
Father. Now the Lord says this is what
I'm pleased with. I'm pleased in upholding my justice. I'm pleased in upholding my uncompromised
righteousness for when I saw the sins of my people on my son
My holiness demanded that my pleasure be satisfied in putting
my own sin to grief, to death. And I saw God speaking now. Go back with me to our text.
Verse 11. And he shall see, that's God
the Father, shall see the travail of the soul of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Jonathan Edwards said once that
the tears of repentance have to be washed in the blood of
Jesus Christ in order to be acceptable to God, and that's true. But
the truth is that no amount of sorrow, no amount of repentance,
no amount of grief on our part will satisfy the holy justice
of God. You and I are so accustomed to
sin. We're so used to it. It doesn't bother us much. Or
we do something really bad, we might feel bad about it for a
little while, but we get over it pretty quick, and we move
on. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
only one who felt the full burden and full fury of sin. God saw the travail of His soul
and God was satisfied. God's not satisfied with the
travail of your soul or with my soul. He's satisfied with
what the Lord Jesus Christ experienced when the full burden of sin was
pressed upon Him. And God was pleased with what
he did. That's what God, are you pleased
with what God's pleased with? Are you pleased with your sorrow?
Are you pleased with your faith? Are you pleased with your repentance?
Are you pleased with your works? Are you pleased with your decision?
God's not. God's not. But God's pleased
with him. And faith is being pleased with
what God's pleased with. Faith is being satisfied with
what God's satisfied with. God is satisfied with the Lord
Jesus Christ. And if I love Him, if you love
the Lord Jesus Christ, you'll be satisfied with what He did. and you'll hang all the hopes
of your immortal soul on his glorious person and his successful
work and your knee will bow and you will confess that Jesus is
the Christ to the glory of God the Father. That's where God's
pleased. go back with me Isaiah chapter
53 verse 11 God shall see the travail of his soul and shall
be satisfied for by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify
many for he shall bear their iniquities doesn't say all doesn't
Michael says many Christ didn't die for everybody He died for
his people, he laid his life down for his sheep, and God was
satisfied with what he did. Therefore will I divide him a
portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoiled with
the strong, because he hath poured out his soul unto death. He was numbered with the transgressors,
and he bare the sin of many." He bore them away. He bore them
away. He separated them from us as
far as the east is from the west. God says, I remember them no
more. I made this statement last Sunday. I'll make it again this
morning. Nothing can be in two places at the same time. So if
God's bore our sins away through the sacrifice that the Lord Jesus
Christ made on Calvary's cross, There is now therefore no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. Those sins aren't on you. They're
not on you. The only way we're going to be
pleasing in the sight of God is to be as holy and righteous
and perfect and sinless as is the Lord Jesus Christ. How are
you going to do that? You can't. That's what he did. That's the work he accomplished.
That's what God's pleased with. And so the Lord tells us in Hebrews
chapter 11 that without faith it is impossible to please God. So how am I going to please God?
I'm going to have to hang all my hopes on Christ. I'm going
to have to look to Him. I'm going to have to rest in
His finished work and look to His glorious person seated at
the right hand of God making intercession on my behalf. I'm going to have to look at
Him on Calvary's cross as my sin bearer and as my substitute
and as the one with whom God is satisfied. How am I going
to please God? You can't get that unless God
gives it to you. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourself, it's a gift of God. You see,
God's going to get all the glory in our salvation, isn't he? Salvation's
of the Lord. He's going to get all the glory.
He's going to get all the glory from election. Let me show you
another verse of scripture. Turn with me to 1 Samuel chapter
12. First Samuel chapter 12, we're asking the question, what
is it that God's pleased with? He's pleased with the sacrifice
that Christ made and the pleasure of the Lord, which is His glory,
was successful in the sacrifice that Christ made on Calvary's
cross. He's pleased with those who look to Christ and rest all
their hopes in the Lord Jesus Christ for their salvation. He's
pleased with them. That passage in Hebrews chapter
11 that I just quoted, the verse before that says that Enoch walked
with God and was translated and it is written that he pleased
God. How did he please God? And the next verse says, for
it is impossible to please God without faith. Enoch just believed
God. Enoch wasn't walking a holier
life than most believers and just caught up into heaven. Every
child of God is going to be translated. Enoch just believed God and that's
what every believer does. Look at Hebrews 1 Samuel chapter
12 and look with me if you will for verse Verse 22, for the Lord
will not forsake his people for his great namesake, because it
hath pleased the Lord to make you his people. You can't just wake up one morning
and decide I'm going to be a child of God. God's got to make you
a child of God. It pleased the Lord to make you
His people. Election was by the pleasure
of God. According to God's own will,
according to His own purpose, according to that which was pleasing
to Him, He established a covenant of grace and chose a particular
people before time ever began. That's the pleasure of the Lord.
That makes all my salvation dependent upon Him. How do I know if He's
chosen me? How do I know if it pleased Him
to elect me? Because I believe. That's the
evidence. Faith is the evidence of things
hoped for. I believe God. I believe what He says. It's
the substance of things not seen. That's what the Scripture says.
I've got no place else to go. You say with Peter, when the
Lord invites you to go, Lord, where should we go? I've got
no place else to go. You've shut me up to Christ.
You alone have the words of eternal life, and I know and I'm sure
that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. You've got no place to go but
Christ. If it's Christ plus, Then there's
no reason to have any hope. But if the Lord Jesus Christ
is all my salvation, if he's all my desire, isn't that what
David said? David said, although my house be not so with God.
He's talking about the tabernacle of his flesh. My life isn't as
it ought to be. And he was also talking about
his household, his children. Oh, he had a messed up family,
didn't he? David said, although my house
be not so with God, yet he has made with me an everlasting covenant,
and that everlasting covenant is ordered in all things and
sure. The sure mercies of David were
accomplished when God thrust his sword into the heart of his
own son, Made his soul an offering for my sin Everything necessary
for my salvation was accomplished in Christ It's ordered in all
things and sure and David went on to say this is all my salvation
This is all my desire It's all that's all of God Can't go anywhere
else So God says it pleased me to make you my people. Now what is the means by which
God makes us his people? Turn with me to First Corinthians
chapter one. How does God make, other than election, I mean in
our regeneration, how does he reveal to us, I guess I should
say, how does God reveal to us that I am one of his? First Corinthians chapter 1, verse 19, for it is written,
I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will bring to
nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is
the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the
wisdom of the world? God has made in the hearts of
his people foolishness out of the things that men say are necessary
for salvation. He's made in the hearts of his
people foolishness out of free will. He's made in the hearts
of his people foolishness out of good works. He's made in the
hearts of his people foolishness out of anything that depends
upon them for their salvation. Now look at verse 21. For after
that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. Let the world pursue their wisdom
and their religions all they want. The world by wisdom knew
not God. It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save
them which believe." This is the means, isn't it? Faith comes
by hearing, and hearing comes by the Word of God. The means
that God uses is the preaching of Christ. That's why Paul said,
I profess to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him
crucified. We preach the Lord Jesus Christ
in every, why? Because this is the means by
which God opens the eyes of his people and takes out their heart
of stone and puts in a heart of flesh. This is the means.
It pleased the Lord through the foolishness of preaching to save
them which believe. He's not going to save you by
any other means. He's not going to save you by your works. He's
not going to save you by your decisions. He's not going to
save you by your free will. He's going to save you through
the hearing of the gospel. Why would God use hearing to
save a people? Because it's passive. You don't
participate in hearing, do you? We're not asking anybody for
their opinion. I'm not asking somebody to stand up and tell
me what they think about things. I'm telling you what God says
and what God's pleased with and God's people just hear. They
hear. Turn with me to Jeremiah chapter
9. Verse 24. Well, verse 23 says, Thus saith
the Lord, and that's all preaching is. Preaching is not a man standing
up and saying, well, you know, it seems to me, or our church
doctrine says, or our confession says, or our creed says, or some
dead theologian said. No, gospel preaching is when
God's preacher stands up and just says, thus saith the Lord.
That's what God says. And I know that God will cause
His Word to accomplish the purpose for which He sends it. The pleasure
of the Lord will be accomplished through the preaching of his
word. So thus saith the Lord, let not the wise man glory in
his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not
the rich man glory in his riches. That's all vain glory, isn't
it? People glory in their intellect. They glory in their accomplishments.
They glory in their good works. They glory in their righteousness.
And God says it's all vain glory, it's empty glory. And when men are glorying in
themselves, there's always strife involved, isn't there? Why? Because one man's trying to glory
more than the next man. And so strife and vain glory
always go together, don't they? That's true in your home and
in my home as well. Anytime there's strife, you can
trace it back to somebody trying to get glory for themselves.
It's vain glory. Let not, don't glory in your
riches, don't glory in your wisdom, don't glory in your accomplishments.
Look at verse 24, but let him that glorieth glory in this,
that he understandeth and knoweth me. There's the thing to glory
in. Oh, that I might know Him, the
power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering,
the Lord said in John chapter 17, and this is life eternal,
that they might know Thee, the only true God in Jesus Christ
whom Thou hast sent. How am I going to know God? He's
going to have to give me faith to believe what He has said about
what He's pleased with and what He's not pleased with and make
me to be pleased with what He's pleased with. The preaching of
the gospel is the means by which he's going to accomplish that
Lord make me make me to be a man after your own heart Make me
to desire the things you desire make me to hate the things you
hate Make me to be satisfied with what God satisfied with
I And so let him that gloryeth glory in this that he understandeth
and knoweth me that I am the Lord which exercise loving kindness. Now that word loving kindness
in the Old Testament is the Old Testament word for grace. Grace. Favor that cannot be earned.
Favor that cannot be deserved. Favor that is contrary to everything
that we've ever done. It's the favor of God. It's free. It's free. It's called
grace. Let him glory, glory in that
he is a recipient of God's free grace. And that I am the Lord which
exercise loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness. Glory in this,
that when God sheathed the sword of his justice into the heart
of his own son, that he was pleased to do it, and he was pleased
to prosper that work of redemption. That's justice. Justice is when
the crime's paid for. We don't we don't have justice
in this world We don't we we try to try to recover injuries
as much as we can but true justice God says Justice to God is the
death penalty In the day in which you sin you shall surely die
and And it pleased God to bruise him. Glory in this, that you
know God, that you understand His justice, and His loving kindness,
and righteousness. Righteousness. If I have any hope of being right,
that's all righteousness means, is to stand in a right standing
in the presence of a holy God. How's it going to be? To be found
in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that
righteousness which is by the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I've got to be found in Christ. I've got to be found in Christ.
And if I am, I'm perfectly righteous, perfectly right. Let him that
glory, glory in this, that he understandeth God, that the Lord,
salvation is by free grace, that justice has been satisfied at
Calvary's cross and righteousness has been established. And I've
got a righteous advocate before God, Jesus Christ, the righteous
one. There's my glory and I'm gonna
glory in the Lord in other words in the earth for in these things
I You see that word delight. It's the same word pleasure in
Isaiah chapter 53 This is what I delight in Do you delight in what God delights
in Or are you like the ones that the Lord speaks about in Hosea
turn to me to the book of Hosea. I Oh, verse 4, chapter 6, I'm sorry,
Hosea chapter 6, beginning of verse 4. Oh, Ephraim, what shall
I do unto thee? Oh, Judah, what shall I do unto
thee? For your goodness is as a morning
cloud, and as the early dew, it goeth away. Is that true of
your goodness? Every time you commit yourself
to be better, Don't last very long, does it? Therefore, have I hewed them
by the prophets, I have slain them by the words of my mouth,
and their judgments are as the light that goeth forth. Paul said, when the law came,
sin revived, and I died. I died. When the gospel was preached,
how do I know I believe the gospel? Because I'm a dead man. I've
got nothing to offer. The only hope of life is the
knowledge of God. That's what the Lord said in
John 17. I already quoted it once. This is life eternal that
they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom
Thou hast sent. This is life eternal. Life eternal
is not based on anything we do. It's based on who He is and what
He's done. For I Delight that's the word desire
right there. I delight I am pleased with I
desire Mercy and not sacrifice and the knowledge of God More
than burnt offerings, but they like men have transgressed the
covenant There have they dwelt treacherously against me There's
only two covenants There's a covenant of grace and a covenant of works. You're either under the law or
you're under grace. You can't mix the two. Either
Christ is all the hope of your salvation or you're trying to
help him out. Trying to make some contribution
to his finished work. God's not pleased with our contribution.
He's pleased with the Lord Jesus Christ. Isaiah chapter 66. Turn with
me there, please. Isaiah 66. What is God pleased with? And here's a graphic description
of what takes place in man-made, works, free will religion. And God is speaking here and
He's using some very graphic language to describe what religion
looks like to Him. And God says in another place,
that which is highly esteemed by men is an abomination to Me. So religion is highly esteemed
by men. Men glory in what they're doing
in religion. And here's what God says about
it. Look at verse 3. He that killeth an ox, is as
if he slew a man. He that sacrificed a lamb, as
if he cut off a dog's neck. He that offered an oblation,
as if he offered swine's blood. He that burned incense, as if
he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own
ways. There is a way that seems right
unto man, but in the end, that way leads to death. God says,
you're not going to come to me based on something you're doing.
You think your sacrifices are going to make you pleasing in
my sight? You might as well commit murder and then see if you can
come based on that. You might as well offer a dog
on the altar and see if you can come by that. And they're so
delighted in their abomination. The natural man delights in his
religion. He loves it. I also will choose their delusion,
and will bring their fears upon them, because when I called,
none did answer, and when I spake, they did not hear, but they did
evil before my eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not. They chose their good works.
They chose their free will. They chose their good intentions.
They chose their outward appearances. They chose those things that
they gloried in with other men. And God says, I don't delight
in it. I delight in my son. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. and his seed shall prosper by
the pleasure of the Lord." God's pleased with Christ. Are you
pleased? Am I pleased with what God's
pleased with? Malachi chapter 2, please. Two more passages of scripture
I want us to look at quickly. Malachi chapter 2. I am... Well, we'll pass that verse,
because I've written down the wrong reference, and I apologize
for that. But there's a passage in Malachi
I desperately wanted to look at, but obviously the Lord would
not have us consider that verse. this morning. So, turn with me,
if you will, to Ezekiel chapter 18. Ezekiel chapter 18. All Scripture is given by inspiration
of God. It's not by man's private interpretation. And these are they, the Lord
said, which testify of me. So as I said in my introduction,
the Bible tells us about what God's pleased with and what God's
not pleased with, and reveals to us a fullness of His nature
and character. Now, if we're not careful, We'll
do like one of those artists who takes a predominant feature
of an individual and draws an unflattering caricature of that
person. No, we don't want to do that.
We don't want to do that. We don't want to distort the
nature of God. We want to understand the full
counsel of His Word so that we can get a proper understanding
of who He is. So, in doing that, I want you
to look with me in Ezekiel chapter 18, because this is This is wonderful. In light of everything that we've
already looked at, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands
of an angry God. It is God Himself who sends the
strong delusion that men would believe a lie. And it is God,
it is God who will judge a man guilty of death outside of Christ. an eternal separation from God. All those things are true. But
listen what God says about what He's pleased with and what He's
not pleased with. In verse 23, Have I any pleasure
at all that the wicked should die, saith the Lord God, and
not that he should return from his ways and live? Look at verse 32 in that same
chapter. For I have no pleasure in the
death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God. Wherefore, turn
yourselves and live ye. Look at chapter 33, verse 11. Say unto them, As I live, saith
the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but
that the wicked turn from his ways and live. Turn ye, turn
ye from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel? If we leave this world and enter
into a devil's hell separated from God for all eternity, it'll
be all our fault. Every bit of it. You would not
come to me that you might have life. I take no pleasure in the
destruction of the wicked. If we depart this world and live
in eternal glory with the Lord Jesus Christ, it will be all
his fault. Now that's what God says. And if you say one without the
other, you're going to draw a caricature of our God. The Lord says it's
all your responsibility. It's all your fault if you don't
believe. And it's all my glory if you do." Come. Why will you die? I take no pleasure in the destruction
of the wicked. Come. The Spirit and the Bride
say, come. Come to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Take no pleasure in your works. Take no pleasure in your free
will. Have pleasure in what God's pleased
with and be satisfied with what He's satisfied with. Come to
Christ just like you are. Our Heavenly Father, we're so
very thankful for your word and we pray for your Holy Spirit
to give us understanding and to give us faith. Lord, that
we would find ourselves casting our souls on your lovingkindness,
on your judgment and on your righteousness, on the glorious
person of thy dear Son in whom you pierced and in whom you are
pleased. Lord, we're reminded of what
you said audibly from heaven. This is my beloved Son, in whom
I am well pleased. Lord, make us to be pleased with
what you're pleased with. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen. 190. Timothy, if you'll go ahead and
get ready. We bless the name of Christ the
Lord, we bless him for his holy word, who loved to do his Father's
will and all his righteousness fulfilled. We follow him with pure delight
To sanctify his sacred right And thus our faith with water
seal To prove obedience that we feel Baptized in God the Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit, three in one, with conscience free, we rest
in God, in love and peace through Jesus' blood. By grace we have a father cry,
by grace the comforter comes nigh, and for thy grace our love
shall be forever only, Lord, for thee. electrical cord out of there.
What a blessing it's been to have
the Murrays here for about a year and a half or so. And they drive
from Lake City, which is about three hours away. Timothy came
to me last Sunday morning and asked me if he could be baptized
and I said of course. delighted and blessed. It's a
testimony of God's grace for someone to want to publicly confess
their hope in the Lord Jesus Christ for all their salvation. And that's what's happening right
now. So, Timothy, we rejoice with you, brother, in Christ
and delight in baptizing you in the name of the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit. Married with Christ in baptism. Raised to walk a new life in
Christ Jesus. Let's pray together. Our merciful
Heavenly Father, we're so very thankful that you put it on the
hearts of your children to confess you and to follow after you.
Lord, we pray for our brother Timothy. We ask for your hand
of grace and mercy to be upon him. We pray that you would give
him ears to hear, that you would grow him in faith and abound
him in his love for Christ and for one another, for your people. We thank you for the fellowship
that we enjoy together as your children and as the family of
God. We pray for those bonds of love
to be strengthened in our church. We ask it in Christ's name. If you want to follow along in
the hymn book, it's number 236. We'll sing it without the music. Amazing grace, how sweet the
sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, But now am found,
was blind, but now I see. T'was grace that taught my heart
to fear, and grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear
the hour I first believed. Through many dangers, toils,
and snares, I have already Tis grace hath brought me safe
thus far, and grace will lead me home. When we've been there 10,000 years, bright shining as the
sun. We've no less years to sing God's
praise than when we first begun. Amen. Thank you.