So in verse 6 there of Isaiah
62, God says, I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem. He's still speaking to his people. It's called Zion in the first
verse, I believe, of chapter 62. For Zion's sake, for the
church's sake, for God's city, God's people. So all through this the church
the people of God the elect are pictured as a city And upon the
walls of that city are watchmen guards sentinels And as we've seen already the
beginning of this chapter is full of promises from God to
his church and The rest of it we've seen verses 1 through 5
verses 6 through 12 are no different. It's all the whole chapter is
beautiful Promises one after another here. God promises protection
Think of everything that a guard upon a city wall provides Protection
peace of mind security Warning early warning So this word watchman is important
and it's it's again as I said a great Promise from God and
this This may seem like a weak illustration, but the more I
thought about it, you know, God's watchmen are really a lot like
this. I have a good watchdog at home.
My dog will sound off if you bend a blade of grass in my front
yard, I'm gonna know about it. If a rabbit bends a blade of
grass, I'm gonna know about it. And it gives me peace because
a lot of times I'm laying in bed at night and I'll hear something
and I'll think, is that, Is that a problem? And then I realized,
if it was a problem, Clark would let me know. There's no doubt
about it. I mean, there's just no doubt,
is there? You can trust him on that. And that gives me a lot
of peace of mind. So I lay back down, and I go
to sleep. And nobody's going to try to,
and it's not only that, it's not only peace of mind, but it
says something does happen. You know, my house is also well
armed. And as long as I've got a little
early warning and give me about eight seconds to get ready, you
don't want to come in my house at night unannounced. And Clark
gives me that eight seconds. He gives me more than that. You
see what I'm saying? Early warning. The gospel is
a warning. God said, if you don't warn them,
then I'll require their blood at your hand. It's a warning,
isn't it? It's a warning beforehand that there's danger, there's
a problem you need to know about. There's a situation that you
need to be aware of. But you see what I mean? It means
a lot. It means a lot. God's preachers are like watchdogs,
or as here, watchmen on the walls of a fortified city. They serve
a single purpose. Safety security, but but there
are several things to that purpose and like I said security the
safety is the purpose but there are Several things in under that
consideration. They're the eyes of those that
aren't watching Everybody can't always be watching, but the watchman
are that's that's their name Watch is in their name They're
your eyes when you're not watching And so many more things. They're
the sound of warning, as I said, which is important. They're constant
and steadfast. A watchman, that's what he's
there for. That's his job. That's his occupation.
And so he's not on again, off again. A true watchman is always
constant and steadfast. They give time to prepare. Early
warning provides time to prepare. Right now, there's time. The
scripture says, prepare to meet thy God. Now would be a good
time to do that. Now is the time to do that. They're alert and they're vigilant. And our Lord talks about that,
doesn't he? Be vigilant for your adversary,
the devil, be sober and vigilant because you have adversaries.
The devil's one of them. So this is a great lesson for
me and for you, for someone who is a watchman and for someone
for whom the Lord has provided a watchman. It teaches me what
this business is, what this is about, the importance of it,
the necessity of it. And this is one illustration
among others, but this is a vital part. There are other ways that
that the preacher, the Lord's spokesman are described in the
scripture, candlesticks and things like that. But this is a very
important one. This is a vital part of what
the business is, warning and watching. And it should teach all of us
not to take lightly what is said. because of the nature in which
it is spoken. This is not casual, just, you
know, let's go to church so we can just, you know, hear some
pleasant things and feel warm and fuzzy. That's not what this
is. This is a position of great importance. It's not to be taken lightly
either by the watchman or those who benefit from that. And this
is not bragging on the watchman, You don't have to have a college
degree to keep your eyes open and your ears open. God just
gives you eyes and ears and perception. You don't have to be real brilliant.
In fact, the Lord doesn't typically choose people like that. But it is nevertheless a position
of great importance. Listen to Hebrews 13, 17. Obey
them that have the rule over you and submit yourselves for
they watch for your souls. Obey them that have the rule
over you, not so they can feel important. It's for your benefit,
not theirs. You see that? They're watching
for your souls. As they that must give account,
that they may do it with joy and not with grief. for that is unprofitable for
you. I want you to look at that. Turn to Hebrews 13, 17 with me
and let's look at that together. You know, I know that I always
have and want to have a lot of scripture. We're comparing scripture
with scripture. We're rightly dividing the word
of truth, not quoting one verse of scripture and then going off
on all whatever I want to feel like saying that night. This
is a comparison of the word of God with the word of God. It's
God's word shining light on God's word. And so there's a lot of
scripture. I don't always have you turn to every one because
there's a lot of it. And I don't want us to take all
of our time turning pages, but at the same time, I understand
this. If you look at it and you see the order of the words and
key words, you're sitting there looking at those key words, it'll
sink in better. And so I want you to look at
this. Obey them that have the rule. That's your pastors, your
teachers, anybody that has authority, your parents. If the Lord has
given you godly parents, obey them. Children, obey your parents
and the Lord, for this is right. Not because it's pleasant, not
because they're right, but because this is right for you to do that. So obey them that have the rule
over you. And he's specifically in the context, you're talking
about pastors, those that speak for God, and submit yourself,
for they watch for your soul. It's your benefit. It's not about
pumping them up. They watch for your souls as
they that must give account. And let me just say about that,
that's not as enviable a position as worldly false religious people
might think. You know, false preachers usually
promote themselves and they find somebody that will help them
promote themselves. And that's a pretty cushy situation
a lot of times for the flesh. It ain't that way in God's church.
And being having to give an account to God for some people, I wouldn't
wish that on you. That's something that God just
does. He just works it that way. And it is what it is. It's a
great privilege. It's a great honor. It ain't
a bed of roses. That they may do it with joy
and not with grief, for that's unprofitable for you. You see,
again, it goes back to what's profitable for you. That's what
it is. He said, feed my sheep, Simon,
feed my sheep. That's what it's all about. He said, be true to God's church. Feed the church of God, the flock
of God, which he purchased with his own blood. That's the reason
God gives watchmen, because he loves his sheep. And so that's why it's important
to heed this now. And notice the parallel between
verse one and verse six. you'll see a consistency in between
those two verses. The spirit of the Lord God is
upon me because, I'm sorry, that's 61. 62, one, for Zion's sake,
will I not hold my peace? And then of course, verse six,
his watchmen aren't gonna shut up either. You see that? They're
not gonna shut up. I'm gonna give you watchmen that
are always gonna be Speaking, they're always gonna be saying
what needs to be said. You see, this is spiritual language,
as all of the scripture. You think of an actual watchman
on a castle wall or something, he may not say something for
years. If nothing happens, then he's
not gonna sound the alarm. The problem is, the alarm in
spiritual matters always needs to be sounded. It needs to be
sounded tonight, next time we get up here, it'll need to be
sounded again. that's always, that's why they
don't ever, these are watchmen that don't ever keep silent. And the reason for the parallel
between verses one and six is the way that God speaks is through
his watchman. You're not gonna get a vision
from God in the middle of the night. God spoke from heaven
a couple of times to people. Just straight out his voice was
heard on earth, right from the throne of heaven. You remember
what he said? That's my son hearing, that's
my son, I'm pleased with him, not you, him. And so what are we gonna say?
If we're speaking for the God, we're gonna point to Christ and
say, there's God's lamb. He takes away sin, you got any
of that? So God speaks through his watchman. If you get a vision in the night,
don't trust it. If some preacher says something that's not according
to scripture, don't listen to it. Paul said, if we or an angel
from heaven preach any other gospel to you than that we have
preached, let him be accursed. Doesn't matter who he is. God
said they shall never hold their peace. God's preachers are steadfast
now, and that's one of the ways you can identify them. They're
not going to be on again, off again. They're not going to,
the message is always going to be the same and it's not going
to be on again, off again. They're going to be steadfast.
Second Timothy four two, preach the word. This is old apostle
Paul speaking to young Timothy, the preacher, preach the word,
be instant in season and out of season. I don't know what
that season is, but it doesn't matter. in or out of it, whatever
it is. In other words, all the time. You see what I'm saying? Whatever
that season is, in and out of it pretty much includes everything,
doesn't it? All the time. There is no off season for preaching
the word. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with
all long suffering and doctrine. You're not preaching down to
people. You're exhorting with all long suffering. And doctrine,
not opinion. Doctrine. And you know what most
people call doctrine? Their opinions. This is doctrine. People say, well, what's your
doctrine? That's a stupid question. God wrote a book. What do you
mean, what's my doctrine? God just wrote one book. You don't want to know what my
opinion about it is. That doesn't matter. It's what
God said that matters. I don't want to know your opinion
about it. But what most people call doctrine is their opinion.
They've written them all out. This is how, what we think God
meant by what he said. Oh, well, that's special. What
about what he just said? Can God mean what he says? Can
he say what he means without your help? The scripture is of
no private interpretation. It's the word of God that we
preach. With all doctrine, not opinion, the doctrine of Christ,
the teaching of Christ. Instant means there, be instant. Preach the word, be instant.
It means to be at hand, to be present. And the Lord, you know, the Lord
enables you to do that. And he gives you, the Lord, he doesn't call people that are
qualified to preach. He qualifies people to preach. He doesn't find them qualified. There is nobody like that. Paul
said, who's sufficient for these things? but down to the very mundane
and everyday things. Just for example, I don't know
if I've ever not preached because I was sick. Can you remember
that ever? In 16, well, I've been preaching for 22 years probably,
and not one time have I been too sick to preach. You think
that just happens that way? I've been sick for weeks at a
time before, but not when it's time to preach. Isn't that amazing? The Lord does that now. Be instant,
show up. That's what it's saying, show
up. And I'll tell you what, preachers
talk about quitting all the time. I've got a lot of preacher friend,
not a lot, but because there ain't a lot of preachers, to
be honest with you. You know that. There ain't a lot of gospel
preachers, but most of them are my friend. And the flesh is very
weak in all of us. But I don't want to ever think
about it again. I don't want to. I don't ever
want to think about it. May God make us instant, steadfast,
constant, establish us. And that word instant there again,
to be at hand, to be present. I don't want to be wishy-washy.
I don't want to be up in the air. May God plant my feet on
the rock and give me something to say until I die. That's how
God's preachers are gonna be now. Listen to what Peter said
in 2 Peter 1, 12. Wherefore, I will not be negligent. I will not be negligent. Can we, as witnesses of Christ, be that dogmatic about it? I will not be negligent. My children
are gonna hear about Christ. They're gonna know who Christ
is if they don't know add two and two together. They're going
to know who Christ is. Can you be that way as a parent? I don't care what this world
or their little friends think about it. They're going to know
who God is one way or the other. I will not be negligent to put
you always You see how the language, it goes right back to our text.
This is how God's watchmen are. Our text was written thousands
and thousands and thousands of years before Simon said this.
But he was a watchman, and that don't change. I will not be negligent to put
you always in remembrance of these things, though you know
them. The fact that you know the gospel doesn't mean you don't
need to hear it over and over again and meet it and be established in the present
truth. You're established in the truth. You're steadfast.
The members of this church, God's blessed you and I'm thankful
for you, but you know, He said there, I'll always put you in
remembrance. I'm not going to be negligent
about that. I'm going to always put you in
remembrance of these things. We're not going to come start
something new. You're not going to learn anything
new. You're going to learn something old if you're going to learn anything
at all. The old gospel of God's Christ and what he did for sinners. But listen. That word in our
text, it's one word that's translated, ye that make mention. In verse
six, ye that make mention of the Lord. That's what, ye that
make mention is what, you know what it is? To cause to remember. And here Simon is thousands of
years later saying, I'm gonna keep reminding you, I'm gonna
keep reminding you. God was talking about Simon and
those like him way back then. I'm gonna remind you that your
works are done. I'm gonna keep reminding you
that everything you do, the best thing you ever did or ever will
do is enough to put you straight in hell. I'm gonna keep reminding
you of that. I'm gonna remind you over and
over that Christ is your only righteousness. He's the only
sin offering that God will accept. He's the sovereign son of God
that saves whom he will now. He's to be bowed to. He's to
be believed on. He's to be trusted. He's to be
owned as our only righteousness before God. He's to be submitted
to, Paul said in Romans, as the righteousness of God for sinners
like us. There's one other thing in the
text about these watchmen. You know how else you can tell
who they are? They make mention of the Lord. That's it, that's
it. Those that make mention of the
Lord. You see, it's a different kind
of watchman. It's a good illustration. A watchman on a city wall. Warning,
time to prepare. Steadfast, the eyes of those
that are not looking. Boy, this is a spiritual now. How am I gonna warn you against
the dangers that your enemies pose to your eternal safety. Talking about the enemy? No.
I'm going to make mention of the Lord. That's how you prepare. That's how you're ready. Make those that make mention
of the Lord. This is the simplicity of their message. They make mention
of the Lord. We preach Christ and him crucify. Also, this is the scope and entirety
of their message. Turn with me to Acts chapter
20, verse 25. Acts 20, 25. They make all mention of the
Lord. That's all they, listen, and now, behold, I know that
ye all among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God
shall see my face no more. Wherefore, I take you to record
this day that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have
not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. We make mention of the Lord. We make all mention of the Lord. If it's concerning the Lord,
I'm gonna make mention of it if God gives me grace to do it.
It doesn't matter what it is. If it's Him, then it's our message. All the counsel of God. Take
heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over the
which The Holy Ghost hath made you overseers to feed the church
of God which he hath purchased with his own blood. You see,
we quoted that a while ago. This is the importance, the vital
nature of this now. Overseers, watchmen, bishops,
those that are given the charge for somebody else. You look up
that word bishop in the scripture and I hate what religion has
done with that word. Those who call themselves bishops
in this world, they don't know, they wouldn't know how to oversee
a turtle, much less the people of God. But the bishop, that means that
God has given you the oversight over somebody, the responsibility
to see that people that do something do it right. You look that up,
that's what it means. that he hath purchased with his
own blood. And for I know this, that after my departing shall
grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also
of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things
to draw away disciples after them. Therefore, watch. Watch and remember that by the
space of three years, I ceased not to warn everyone night and
day with tears. And now, brethren, I commend
you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build
you up and to give you inheritance among all them which are sanctified. We make all mention of him, only
mention of him. Philippians 3.1. Finally, my
brethren, Philippians 3.1. Turn over there
with me if you would. We won't be long tonight, but
I want you to see this Philippians 3 1 Finally my brethren Rejoice in
the Lord We make mention of the Lord can
you rejoice in that? Everybody gonna rejoice in something
aren't they people rejoicing in all kinds of hullabaloo in
places called churches tonight But you're not going to rejoice
here unless you rejoice in the Lord. May God ever make it that
way. Because we make mention of Him
now. Rejoice in the Lord. To write
the same things to you, to me indeed, is not grievous. The
same thing. We make mention, what has been
our message for 16 years here? The Lord. What's it gonna be
for the next 16 if the Lord gives us that many? May it be the Lord. If not, then may the Lord shut
all of us up and shut us down. The same things, the same things,
the same thing. I'm gonna put you in remembrance,
Simon said a while ago where we read. of these things, there's
just one truth. God's been saying the same thing
from the start. He's been revealing his son,
who he is, what he did, why he did it. To write the same things to you,
to me indeed is not grievous. It's always new, isn't it? It's
new every morning. It's always fresh. It never gets
old, does it? You ever get tired of hearing,
Precious blood that redeemed you. But for you, it's safe. You see our text in there? It's
safe. It's safe. There's a watchman
on the wall by God's grace. And we're gonna be safe in him,
aren't we? If we're in his city, if we're in Zion, if we're one
of his elect, it's safe. God has arranged things
in such a way you're gonna be safe if it were possible the
very elect would be deceived, but it's not possible Safe though
the worlds may crumble under his precious blood It's safe
Beware though beware of dogs beware of evil workers beware
of the concision for we are are the circumcision, the covenant
people of God. Circumcision was the sign of
the covenant. We're God's covenant people which
worship God in the spirit. We don't worship him in trinkets
and outward show. The Lord said to the Pharisees,
you're like beautiful coffins, ornate and pretty on the outside,
but you're full of corruption on the inside. We don't worship God like that.
We worship him in spirit. And here's how you do that. You
rejoice in Christ only. The only thing that can make
you happy as a sinner is the Lord Jesus. And have no confidence. Not in your flesh, not in my
flesh, not in any flesh. none the flesh profiteth nothing
it's the spirit that quickeneth and he said my word is spirit and it is life and then in the
rest of philippians 3 he elaborates very beautifully and we won't
look at it tonight because this may be the only message i've
preached in A decade that I haven't quoted that part of the scripture,
but read it later if you'd like to. He elaborates on having no
confidence in the flesh and rejoicing in Christ alone. Does he not?
I put all of it, all of my fleshly credentials. It's dumb. I don't
want nothing to do with it. Why? That I may win Christ and
be found in him. Well, I'm quoting it anyway. And then verse seven, as you
might have imagined already, we're only gonna look at verse
seven, I think, tonight, six and seven. And give him no rest. This would sneak by you if you
weren't careful now, wouldn't it? It would sneak by you. But
the closer you look at that, there ain't but one way just
to hear that. Give him no rest. Who is it that establishes his
church and makes Jerusalem a prison? Whoever that is, give him no
rest. You see, this is the flip side
of this matter of God speaking to you. You see how clear this
is now in the context of our deal. Verse one, God said, I'm
not gonna shut up for your sake. And as we read, it's for your
sake that his preacher doesn't shut up either. About these things,
about the gospel, about your hope before God as a sinner in
Christ only and his precious blood. So God's gonna speak and
speak and speak. It's what we're doing tonight.
But there's a flip side to this. God's never going to leave you
alone when it comes to his gospel. He's going to relentlessly bombard
you with it. And here, this is saying, you better be speaking to, to
him. He's speaking to you. If he is
speaking to you, you're going to speak to him. And he says,
don't you shut up either. Don't you ever quit calling on
him, begging him You have anything to cry out to God to for tonight? Is there anybody you love that
you don't want to see without the Lord? Is there anything at
all that you need from God? Is there anything you don't need
from God? That's the question. Is there
anything you don't need from him? We need our next breath
from him. We need his saving mercy for
our children. Now it's not the same thing,
God speaking to us and us speaking to him, but it is both speaking.
And listen now, what he does is he exhorts, he rebukes, he
instructs, he teaches, he reminds as we read, he reproves, he reveals. What do you say to him? You beg,
that's what you do. You plead, you cry out. Oh, this is a big word right
here, this is a big word. Ask. Ask. And here's the similarity though.
What's being said is different. It all amounts to, it all redounds
to his glory now. But here's the real similarity
that we see in our text. Do so without ceasing. Don't give him any rest. Don't
give him any rest. You ever think, you think of
a scripture with regard to that? First Thessalonians 5, 17, pray
without ceasing. Don't give him any rest. Well,
boy, what's the rest of that verse? That's it. That's it. First Thessalonians 5, 17, pray
without ceasing. Don't ever quit. Don't ever stop
calling upon the name of the Lord. To whom coming? Here's the verses that come before
and after it. And please turn there too. As
I said, I won't keep you long tonight, but I want you to look
at these. 1 Thessalonians 5, 16. 1 Thessalonians 5, 16. Rejoice evermore. Would we read
well ago? Who do we rejoice in? Christ
Jesus. Pray without ceasing and in everything. Now, your prayer is between you
and God. We pray publicly as an assembly,
and that's good, that's right. But you're to go in your closet
and pray too, right? and that's between you and God,
and it can be, we're to pray for the sick, we're
to pray for our needs, we're to pray for just about everything
and everything. But listen, whatever it is, in
all of it, in everything, in every prayer, give thanks, give
thanks. Don't just always be asking without
giving thanks, because look what he's already given us. Look what
he's already done for. Look at what he's already blessed
us with. Would you keep giving your children
any stuff if they never said thank you? Never? And showed
that they were ungrateful for what you've given them? Might
be time for a lesson, wouldn't it? Might be time to cut it off. And that's just an earthly illustration,
We're to thank God in everything. For this is the will of God in
Christ Jesus concerning you. All right, now think about that. Let that sink in for a second.
In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ
Jesus concerning you. Now you're looking at that verse,
right? Look at that verse and you tell me, is he saying that
it's God's will for you to always give thanks? That would make sense, wouldn't
it? In everything give thanks for that's God's will that you
do that. Okay, or is he saying give thanks
for everything because everything is God's will for you. I see that there too. And more
importantly, I see it everywhere in this book. There's no question that both
are true. Isn't that right? If it wasn't his will for you
to give thanks and everything, then he wouldn't say and everything
give thanks, you reckon? And I'll tell you this now, didn't
he teach us to pray, thy will be done on earth as it is in
heaven. You know how it's done in heaven?
All the time, perfectly. That's how we'd like to see it
done down here, all the time. And I'll tell you this, His revealed will is not perfectly
done down here. It's not gonna be. That's why
this place has gotta burn, because his will is gonna be done perfectly
throughout eternity. And this don't cut it, so he's
gonna burn it up. But his will is always done.
He worketh how many things after the counsel of his own will?
All of them, all of them, all things after the counsel. of
his own will. And don't miss those words in
Christ Jesus there. This is the will of God in Christ
Jesus concerning you. God's will for us is his will
in Christ. In other words, people may mean
things for a number of different things, but God means it for
good because his will for us is in Christ. So I don't worry that much about
everything else and everybody else. And look at the last part
of our text, until he establish, until he make Jerusalem a praise. Talking about his church, isn't
he? You remember when the Lord Jesus said, on this rock, I will build my church. And what had he just been talking
about? Who do you say I am? We believe and are sure that
thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. Upon this
rock will I build my church. That's why we're established.
That's why the gates of hell can't prevail against this right
here. Till he make Jerusalem a praise
in the earth. Till he establish, until he make
Jerusalem a praise in the earth. What do you mean till? Well,
it takes us back to the first part, right? What's gonna happen
until then? We're not gonna give him any rest. We're not gonna
shut up. We're gonna keep crying, aren't
we? Until he does establish us. That's, you know, somebody that
cries for that knows something about their own inability and
their own weakness. Lord, you establish us. You plant
us. You be our rock and our fortress. You protect us, keep us safe.
Don't let us go. We pray that all the time, don't
we? We're just gonna keep praying it. It's gonna keep hanging on.
I love that story of Jacob when the Lord wrestled with Jacob.
Man, I love that story because that's me, by God's grace. Jacob was left alone, and it
was not a good time in Jacob's life. Not a good time. He was not happy. He was not
comfortable. He wasn't getting any sleep that
night anyway, whether the Lord showed up or not. Not a good
time for him. And there wrestled a man with
him until the breaking of the day. I've never seen that before,
but you know, when the day breaks, then the fight is over, isn't
it? There's no more conflict. When the day star arises in your
heart, you're not wrestling with God anymore. You're at peace. When he saw that he prevailed
not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh, and the
hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joy as he wrestled with him.
And he said, let me go for the day breaketh. And he said, I
will not let thee go. except thou bless me. Now Jacob
is down, he's done, isn't he? The Lord touched him and dropped
him like a sack of rocks, but he could still hold on. That's
all he could do, is just hold on. Have you ever been there?
Just hold on. And he said, I can't let you
go except thou bless me. And he said unto him, What is
thy name? And he said, Jacob. And God said,
not anymore. Isn't that beautiful? Why did
he ask him his name? He knew his name, first of all,
and he's fixing to change it anyway. Because Jacob needed
to understand, I'm Jacob. I'm a supplanter. I'm no count,
no good, rotten. But God said, not anymore. Thou
shalt no more be called Jacob in Israel. For as a prince, thou
hast power with God and with men and hast prevailed. And Jacob asked him and said,
tell me, I pray thee thy name. And he said, wherefore is it
that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. Jacob
didn't let go until God blessed him. That's how sinners are saved.
It's so pathetic in that religion's begging people to come down and
out, begging people to make a decision for the Lord. If you ever see,
if you ever get a glimpse of the Lord Jesus Christ, I couldn't
keep you from coming to Him with a baseball bat. And this is not
coming to Him down here. That happens in here. Don't let
go until God does something for you. Lay hold of the Son of God
and cry for mercy. Don't give Him any rest. In Luke 11, 5, you're familiar
with this story. The importunity of prayer. The
Lord said unto His disciples, Which of you shall have a friend,
and shall go unto him at midnight, and say to him, Friend, lend
me three loaves. For a friend of mine in his journey is come
to me, and I have nothing to set before him. And he from within
shall answer and say, Trouble me not, the door is now shut.
That sounds like me, go away, it's late. And my children are with me in
bed. I cannot rise and give thee. I say unto you, though he will
not rise and give him because he is his friend, yet because
of his importunity, he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.
And I say unto you, ask and it shall be given unto you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock,
and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh, receive
it. And everyone that seeketh, he that seeketh findeth. And
to him that knocketh, it shall be opened. If a son shall ask
bread of any of you that's a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he
for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will
he offer him a scorpion? If you then being evil know how
to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall
your heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask
him? You see what's being taught here?
The Lord is not the one that's in bed already and is reluctant
to give anything to you. That's not the way to take that.
You've got to just keep begging him, you know, because he's reluctant
to give. I've heard it preached that way before. No, he says,
much more. How much more is your heavenly
father? Just ask. That's all that has to happen.
Just ask and I'll give it to you. But he did say this, don't quit,
don't quit asking. It's not because he's reluctant
to give it to us. He wants to bless you more than
you want to be blessed. You don't even know what it is
to be blessed, do you? Me neither. But he does. He does. He knows how to give good gifts.
We ask for something that's not good. Is he gonna give you that? Is he gonna give you a serpent?
No. James said in 4.2 of James, you
have not because you ask not. You know, I know people that
would argue you out that door about that. But you don't have
because God didn't purpose it. That's not what God said. People aren't saved because,
you know, God didn't elect them. That's not what God said. That's
not what he said. Turn to Acts chapter 9 and I'll
be through. Acts chapter 9 and verse 10. And there was a certain disciple
at Damascus named Ananias, and to him said the Lord in a vision,
Ananias, and he said, behold, I'm here, Lord. And the Lord
said unto him, arise and go into the street which is called straight
and inquire in the house of Judas, for one called Saul of Tarsus,
for behold, he prayeth. and hath seen in a vision a man
named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him that he might
receive his sight. Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard
by many of this man how much evil he hath done to thy saints
at Jerusalem. And here he hath authority from
the chief priest to bind all that call on thy name. But the
Lord said unto him, Go thy way. For he is a chosen vessel unto
me to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children
of Israel. For I will show him how great
things he must suffer for my name's sake. And Ananias went
his way and entered into the house and putting his hands on
him, said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus that appeared
unto thee in the way as thou camest hath sent me, that thou
mightest receive thy side and be filled with the Holy Ghost. What a day that is when the Lord
puts his Holy Spirit in a sinner. Wow. Wow. And immediately there fell from
his eyes as it had been scales, and he received sight forthwith
and arose and was baptized. Now I've got a question for you.
I've read this passage many, many times in my life, but I
always missed one word in this passage. I've missed it every
time. and I don't wanna miss it tonight, in verse 11, it says,
for, for, behold, he's praying. We could argue, speculate about
how that, that there can possibly be reconciled with God's eternal
purposes. And God's eternal purpose is
in this very passage. He told Ananias, you go tell
him this, and you go do this, because I've chosen him. I chose
him before the foundation of the world, and I'm gonna use
him. I must. You're gonna tell him what he
must suffer for my name's sake. Why? Because God purposed it,
that's why. This is not contrary to God's eternal purpose, his
electing grace, not one bit. But I'll tell you this, you know
what that word for means there? For behold, he prayeth. I want
you to go do this because he's praying it. That's what he said.
And you know what that word means? In Strong's Concordance, it says
that it's a conjunction, which I don't even remember what that
is. It's a primary particle. Don't remember what that is,
but you know what it says it does? It's a primary particle
assigning a reason. Let that sink in for a second.
assigning a reason. In other words, God is telling
Ananias, here's the reason that I want you to go and lay your
hand on Saul, that he might receive his sight and that the Holy Spirit
of God might enter into him. Here's the reason, because he's
praying. God assigned it a reason. And
you may argue with that, you may have a problem with that,
but God assigned that as the reason. that he blessed him. Did God send Ananias to Paul
because he had chosen Paul? And because he had a purpose
for Paul, that he was gonna use Paul in order to fulfill? Or
did God do it because Saul was praying? God says both. And again, I know people that
would argue all day about that and tell you it can't be both,
it can't be both, it's gotta be one or the other, you know,
eternity, And this and that, but God says both. And you can
argue, you can speculate about that, or I'll tell you what else
you might do. You could pray. You could do what Saul did. You
might just do that. You reckon? You might just quit
trying to be smarter than God. And just do what God said in
this, pray unto God. Because he said the effectual
fervent prayer of a righteous man, his Zion, his Jerusalem,
his church, his sheep availeth much. God that ordained the end has
ordained the means. And Paul's praying was part of
God's purpose. It's not contrary to God's purpose.
That was included in God's purpose. Are there parts of God's purpose
that are less important than others? Is that what we're gonna
argue about? God that ordained the end, ordained
the means. He purposed to bless Paul, and
he did, and that's how he did it. He said, you go do this because
he's praying. listen to this simple verse Luke
18 1 he spake a parable unto them to this end that men are
always to pray and not to faint I'll let you read the parable
at your own leisure but isn't that a beautiful verse he spoke
a parable unto them to this end that men are always don't give
him any rest Men are always to pray and not
to faint. May God give us grace. May he
never stop speaking to us and may we never ever stop crying
out to him. It's his grace both ways, isn't
it? Let's pray.