Brother Scott may have told you
this, but he told me this during the break, that that picture
on the cover of our bulletin, they took that at the key in
Florida where the eye of the hurricane is right now. And he
said there was a house on that little island right in the middle
of that picture. And pray for whoever lives in that house.
Let's turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 6. Paul, when stating the fact that
God had reconciled His people in Christ committed, put in Him,
in us, the word of reconciliation. He said back in chapter 5 and
verse 20, Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you
by us. That's not the best translation.
It's really God does beseech you by us. We pray you, in Christ's
stead, be ye reconciled to God. Then he says in verse 1, We then, as workers together
with Him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God
in vain. Now the grace of God that's spoken
of here It's not God's sovereign grace by which He chooses whom
He will. It's impossible for that grace
to be in vain. God chooses whom He will. Nor
is it the grace of God by which we're justified freely through
the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. It's impossible for that
grace to be in vain. God's redeeming grace. And nor
is it the effectual regenerating grace of God worked in His people
by which He brings us to repent from our vain works and believe
on Christ. God never bestows grace in vain. Never. By grace He is sure to
save all His elect. Grace reigns. Romans 4.16 says,
We are made an heir of God of faith. It is a faith that it
might be by grace to this end that the promise might be sure
to all to see. Grace makes it so the promise
of God is certain. It's sure to all His elect. He
said in Romans 5.21, as sin has reigned unto death, did you and
I make sin vain? Did we receive sin? and make
it vain? No, sin reigned, didn't it? And
it reigned unto death. And he says, even so shall grace
reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ
our Lord. The grace of God spoken of here
is to have the gospel of the grace of God preached to you.
is to have the gospel of the grace of God preached to you
and not believe on Christ. That's to receive the gospel
of God's grace in vain. That's to receive this grace
in vain. It does not mean God's gospel
is ever preached in vain. It doesn't mean that. It's the
sinner who received it in vain. God said, My word that goeth
forth out of my mouth, it shall not return unto me void. It shall
accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing
whereunto I sent it. God's word is never vain. So it means you don't, the sinner
doesn't receive it. So that gospels come into his
presence and for that sinner, It's been vain to him. He didn't
receive it. But also to receive the grace
of God in vain is to profess to believe on Christ only to
turn back and fall away. To profess that you believe Christ
but then turn back and fall away. That's to prove that you never
had truly been regenerated and saved by God's grace. He said
in Hebrews 10.38, the just shall live by faith. It means all our
life, those that are truly justified are going to live by faith. But
if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
But we're not of them who draw back unto perdition. We don't
draw back unto damnation, but of them that believe to the saving
of the soul. And also, One proves that he
received the grace of God in vain if his life is so offensive
that he only causes men to reproach the gospel rather than giving
no offense and proving himself to be a true witness of God. Did you hear me now? He proves
that he received the grace of God in vain. He proved his profession
was false. When he is so offensive in his
walk that all men do is reproach the gospel rather than him in
his life giving no offense to men and proving he is a true
witness, true servant, true minister of God. Look here in verse 1.
We then as workers together with him beseech you also that you
receive not the grace of God in vain, look at verse 3, giving
no offense in anything, that the ministry be not blamed, but
in all things approving or proving ourselves as the ministers, the
servants, the witnesses of God. You see there? So if I don't
prove myself to be a true witness of God, I'm going around bringing
reproach on the gospel by the way I live, then I'm proving
my profession, professing to have received God's grace is
vain. I didn't really do it. Now our focus is going to be
the reason that He gives us not to receive the grace of God in
vain. He says there in verse 1, And we then, as workers together
with him, beseech you also that you receive not the grace of
God in vain, because, verse 2, because he saith, I have heard
thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have
I succored thee, comforted thee, helped thee. Behold, now is the
accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. Turn with me to Isaiah 49. Hold
your place right here. And you want to mark Isaiah 49. The Lord gave Paul a heart to
quote this verse in Isaiah 49 and verse 8. And this is Christ
declaring what the Lord said to him. That's important. This is Christ declaring what
the Lord said to him. Verse 8, Thus saith the Lord,
In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in the day of salvation
have I helped thee. Now that's what Paul quoted to
us the first part of our verse. He said, this is the reason because
Christ said, in an acceptable time, God has said that in an
acceptable time have I heard thee, and in the day of salvation
have I helped thee. The Lord said in an acceptable
time He heard Christ. And in the day of salvation He
helped Christ. And go back to our text now.
Hold your place in Isaiah 49. And so He says, So then we are
beseeching you that you receive not the grace of God in vain,
because He said I have heard thee in a time accepted, When
was that time accepted? That was when Christ justified
His people from all our sins on the cross when He said, ìItís
finished.î That was the accepted time. And He said, ìAnd in the
day of salvation have I succored thee.î When did He help Christ? When He raised Him from the dead
because He had accomplished the salvation of His people. The
Spirit then gave Paul a word to take that Isaiah 48, 9, 8,
that little first part of that verse, and give us an exhortation
from it. And here's what he says to us
now. Verse 2, Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now
is the day of salvation. And this is why he says, don't
receive this gospel in vain. Don't hear this and just walk
out of here and not give it a second thought. Don't hear this and
profess you know God and prove that you really never were regenerated. He's saying, hear this word and
be ye reconciled to God. And he's saying then as workers
together with him, also prove yourselves to be indeed ministers
servants, witnesses of Christ. Why? Because now is the accepted
time. Now is the day of salvation. Here is what he is saying. Due
to the fact that God heard Christ when He justified His people
and saved us when He raised Him from the dead, behold, now is
the accepted time when God will hear us and behold, now is the
day of salvation when He will make His lost sheep hear us preach
His gospel. So He's saying here, two different
things. He's saying you believe on Him,
you that have never believed on Him, now is the day to believe
on Him. And He's saying, and also, you who do believe on Him,
who are His servants, His witnesses, this is the day to serve Him
and labor more abundantly than anybody. Because this is the
day of salvation. This is the day and the time
in which God has put us to serve Him. Now first of all, to you
who have yet to believe on Christ, hear this word now. God heard
Christ in the acceptable time. Here is the reason why you should
heed this word and you should take heed to what you are hearing
preached right now and you should meet this with a with a diligent
reading of His Word and diligently seeking the Lord and asking God
to give an understanding because God heard Christ when the accepted
time came. And it was the day of salvation
when God helped him. When God raised him from the
dead, Christ had justified His people, saved His people from
our sins. And that's the proof of it. God
heard him and raised him. God heard him and helped him.
And so now He says to you and me, now is the time for you to
call on Christ. Now is the time for you to believe
on Christ because He will hear you. This is the day of salvation. Now is the accepted time for
you to call on Him. Now, before the world was made,
in the everlasting covenant of grace, God the Father promised,
God who cannot lie, promised that He would hear Christ when
Christ called upon Him and He would hear Him in the acceptable
time. When it was acceptable, He would
hear him. Now to show us that, go to John chapter 12. To show
us that God actually heard Christ. When the hour came for Christ
to present Himself to God as the spotless Lamb to be made
sin for His people, He's going to the Garden of Gethsemane.
The hour had come. And in John 12, 27, he said,
Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? Father,
save me from this hour. But for this cause came I unto
this hour. He says, here's what I'll say.
Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from
heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and I will glorify it again. Now look down at verse 30. Jesus
answered and He said, This voice came not because of Me, but for
your sakes. Now. See that next word? Now. Now is the judgment of this
world. Now shall the prince of this
world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from
the earth, if I be crucified, if I be lifted
up on that cross, I will draw all men, He's talking about all
men whom I represent, I'll draw all men whom I represent unto
me. And this He said signifying what
death He should die. signifying that by the death
of the cross, he was signifying he's going to the cross, he's
going to be lifted up on the cross, and on that cross, the
death he would be dying would be the second death that his
people owed to divine justice. And by dying that death, he would
condemn that death to death for his people. so that death has
no more dominion over us. Death had dominion over him.
That second death had dominion over him according to Romans
6. But it doesn't have dominion over him now. He died under sin
once, but now he lives under God. And he said, if I be lifted
up, if I satisfy justice for God, That same justice that I've
satisfied shall demand that all who I represented shall be drawn
to me. They shall be brought to me,
every one of them. So that's what He was declaring.
So He showed us there. He said, I did this for you to
see. God did hear me. And now is the acceptable time.
Now is the day of salvation. Now is the judgment of this world. You know the judgment of this
world took place on Calvary's cross. When we enter into judgment
on the last day, it's not going to be to determine who's who
and what's what. It's going to be to separate
the sheep from the goats. That's what it's going to be for. Because
the judgment's settled. The judgment's settled. And the
prince of this world's head's already been crushed. He's on
a chain right now. He can't do anything but what
God permits him to do. never has been able to do anything,
but his power now is gone towards his people because Christ took
our sin away. And that was his weapon. He was
the accuser of the brethren, accusing us of our sin. And now
Christ stands at God's right hand and the devil's got nothing
to accuse us with. He's cast out. And so then again in the Garden
of Gethsemane, he goes to the Garden of Gethsemane and he presented
himself there as that spotless Lamb of God to be made sin for
His people. And when He got there, He said
to His disciples, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto
death. This death was progressing. He
was sorrowful at first, and it's so nice that He's exceedingly
sorrowful unto death. And He said, tarry ye here and
watch with Me. Remember what we saw? He was
telling them, pray that you fall not in temptation. Pray. that
the devil be not able to tempt me, pray. This is a tempting
hour right here, being tempted more than any other time up to
that point. And then it says, he went forward
a little and he fell on the ground and he prayed that if it were
possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, Abba, Father, all
things are possible unto Thee. Take away this cup from me. Nevertheless, not what I will,
but what thou wilt." And Luke 22, 43 says, God heard him. God heard him. There appeared
an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. So two times
God, He showed us, God heard me. And both of those were leading
to the acceptable time. Go to Psalm 69. As Christ bore the sins of his
people in his own body on the tree, as he drank that cup of
God's fury, as He drank the justice poured out upon Him in place
of His people. Christ said this in Psalm 69.1,
Save me, O God. Our Scripture talks about a day
of salvation. It talks about Him being heard
of the Father. Here He is praying to the Father.
What's He saying? Save me, O God. For the waters
have come in unto my soul. Look at verse 2. I sink in deep
mire, the mire of depth where there's no standing. I've come
into deep waters, the depth of waters where the floods overflow
me. Look down at verse 5. O God,
Thou knowest my foolishness, and my guiltiness is not hid
from Thee, my sins are not hid from Thee. And He says, Let not
them that wait on Thee Look at this gracious prayer right here.
Let not them that wait on thee, let not your believing people,
O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed for my sake. He wouldn't say that unless he
was bearing shame. And he was. Verse 7, Because
for thy sake I have borne reproach. I'm bearing it. carrying it right
now in my body. Shame hath covered my face. And then he says in verse 9,
For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up, and the reproaches
of them that reproach thee are fallen on me. The reproaches of you and me
who He died for, our sin, our reproaches fell on Christ. He bore the sin, the guiltiness
of our reproaches. And look at this, verse 13, But
as for me, My prayer is unto Thee, O Lord, in an acceptable
time. O God, in the multitude of Thy
mercy, hear me in the truth of Thy salvation. What's he saying? Don't hear me until justice is
satisfied. Don't hear me and don't have
mercy on me until Your justice is satisfied. your righteousness
is honored, your law is upheld, you've been magnified and honored
and glorified, and all your people have been saved. Have we ever
prayed anything like that? Has that prayer ever even entered
into your heart to pray? Lord, don't have mercy on me.
Don't take me out of this shame and this awful reproach I'm bearing. Don't take me out of this. Till
you're magnified and honored. and all your people are saved."
He said that with no sin, in perfect fidelity to God, while
He was justifying us by bearing our sin and being made a curse
for us and separated from God. Do you see how that's the positive
and the negative of the law? That's why He's the righteousness
of His people. That's the love That is the righteousness
of the law and that's our justification that justifies us from all our
sin. Right there, in one act on the cross, that's the positive
and negative of God's law being fulfilled by Christ our righteousness. And John 19, if you want to get
there with me, John 19 verse 30, When all was fulfilled, when
justice was satisfied, when He had condemned the second death
to death, Christ said in verse 30, it is finished. And He bowed His head and He
gave up the ghost. And that's when we come to Isaiah
49.8. If you want to go back there.
Isaiah 49.8. Thus saith the Lord, in an acceptable
time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped
thee. Let's read the rest of it there.
He says, And I will preserve thee, and I will give thee for
a covenant of the people to establish the earth to cause to inherit
the desolate heritages that thou mayest say to the prisoners,
go forth to them that are in darkness, show yourselves. He
raised him from the dead. He raised him from the grave
and set him down at his own right hand. Go with me to Hebrews chapter
5 and verse 7. Hebrews 5 and verse 7. And look
at this. Let's go back to Hebrews chapter
2 verse 17. It says here, I'll tell you what,
let's read Hebrews 2.10. Look here, Hebrews 2.10, "...it
became Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things,
in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their
salvation perfect through sufferings." That is, to consecrate Him as
our consecrated captain, our great high priest. It behooved
God to do that through sufferings. Now look at Hebrews 2.17, Wherefore,
in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren."
Now here's what it behooved him for, that he might be a merciful
and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God. That's what
it meant by that he might be the perfect captain of our salvation.
to make Him the faithful and merciful high priest in things
pertaining to God. How is He going to be faithful
and merciful high priest for us to God? First of all, to make
reconciliation for the sins of the people. That's what our text
has been talking about. That's what He's done. He's made
reconciliation for the sins of His people. And look at this,
verse 18, and this is the second thing, "...for in that he himself
has suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are
tempted." Now go to Hebrews 5.7. It says, "...who in the days
of his flesh when he had offered up prayers
and supplication with strong crying and tears unto Him that
was able to save him from death. And he was heard, he was heard
in that he feared, in that he was faithful and holy in his
heart and trusted God. And look at verse 8. Though he
was a son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered.
What does it mean he learned obedience? Well, one, he learned
what it was to be obedient to God as a man like His people. And he learned what it was to
wait on God to comfort him. To pray to God and wait on God
to comfort him. And to have God hear him and
comfort him. And also this, being made perfect. That is, having perfected obedience
for His people. and being perfectly consecrated
as our merciful and faithful high priest. That's why it was
necessary, to make reconciliation for the sins of His people. And
that being accomplished, now it says, He became the author
of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him. Now sinner,
did you hear that? You that have never believed
on Christ. Now listen to what He just said. He obeyed God. He came down and was made in
all points like His brethren, because He had to, to be our
faithful and merciful high priest, to be consecrated as our captain
and author of eternal salvation, to know what it is to suffer
sin, to know what it is to be ashamed, to know what it is to
be tempted, to know what it is to wait on God in faith and fidelity
to God as a man, while at the same time He reconciled His people
from our sin. And so, He did all that obeying
the Father, obeying God, and because He did, He is now the
author of eternal salvation to only one kind of people, to those
who obey Him. To those who obey Him. What word
does He bring to His people to obey? What word does He bring
to you to obey? What does the Scripture mean
when it speaks of doing righteousness? What does the Scripture mean
when it speaks of He that doeth truth? The word He gives you
to obey is what Paul was declaring in 2 Corinthians 5. Behold, now
is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. Be ye reconciled to God now. That's the word Christ calls
His people to obey. Be reconciled now. Surrender
now. Believe on Christ now. Cast all
your care on Christ now. Because in that He heard, in
that God heard Him, and in that God helped Him when He had justified
His people in that acceptable time, and when He had saved all
His people in that day of salvation, that tells you and me now is
the acceptable time when Christ will hear you who obey Him. If He called on the Father and
the Father heard Him and the Father comforted Him, I guarantee
you right now, you call on Him, He'll hear you and He'll comfort
you. Now is the time to do it. He doesn't say tomorrow is the
time to do it. Well, we justify ourselves for not believing now
by saying we'll do it tomorrow or the next day or when I'm done
kicking up my heels and sinning all I want to, then I'll do it.
And every day when now comes, you'll say I'll do it tomorrow.
until you have no more nows. Now is the time. Now is the day
of salvation. And I guarantee you this, there's
many who He shall bring to obey Him. And everybody that He brings
to obey Him, they're going to hear this Word. And they're going
to obey Him by grace. And just as He obeyed the Father
and was heard, if you obey Him, you'll be heard. He will hear
you. It's the acceptable time. His people are justified. His
people are saved. There's nothing else to be done.
There's nothing else for you to do. There's nothing else for
you to prepare for, to try to get ready to come to Him. You
won't be any more ready tomorrow than you are right now. In yourself. You think, I'm going to try to
straighten up a little bit. You won't be any more straight
tomorrow than you are now. Guarantee it. We have to come to Him when
He says come. Now this is a general call going
out and nobody, many won't heed this call. But I tell you when
you will heed it, when He speaks this word in our hearts and says,
now's the time. You'll obey Him. I guarantee
you'll obey Him. Now there's a word here for you
and I who profess faith in Christ. Let's go back now to our text.
2 Corinthians 6.1, For you that have professed that you have
been saved by the grace of God, we then, as workers together
with Him, beseech you also that you receive not the grace of
God in vain. And for truly Christ, and we're
His ministers, we're His servants, we're His witnesses. And by Christ
and in Christ, God's made us what He made Christ. Go back
there to Isaiah 49. God's made us what He made Christ. Look here, Isaiah 49.1. Now this
is Christ speaking. Listen. Listen, O Isles, unto
me, and hearken, ye people from far. The Lord hath called me
from the womb. From the bowels of my mother
hath he made mention of my name, and he hath made my mouth like
a sharp sword. In the shadow of his hand hath
he hid me, and he has made me a polished shaft. In his quiver
hath he hid me, and he said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel,
in whom I will be glorified." See, God called us who are truly
His. He called us from our mother's
womb. from eternity. He chose us, He
called us in Christ, and He ordained us to be His ministers. He ordained
us to be witnesses of Christ. That's what He said to Jeremiah.
For I formed you in the belly, I knew you, and I ordained you
a prophet. That's what He's done to every one of the people He
saves. He knew us from eternity, from the womb of eternity He
knew us, and He ordained us to be His witnesses. And right now,
there's no better day for you and me to be his witnesses. That's
what Paul's saying. He's saying, here's the reason
there's no better day. God's heard him. He's justified
his people. God has raised him in the day
of salvation, and he's seated at God's right hand, and he's
sending this gospel forth, and he's made us able ministers of
the New Testament. He's made us, he's given us,
put into us this ministry of reconciliation. So now's the
accepted time. Now is the day of salvation when
we ought to be laboring fervently to spread His gospel far and
wide. That's what He's telling us.
Now is the accepted time. And the Spirit gave that word
to Paul to strengthen his people to tell us tomorrow is not the
time. The days gone by weren't the
time when it was the good old days. Right now in this time
in which we live, this is the time. This is the time. This
is the time for us, right here. This is our time. And as God's
witnesses, we prove that we've not received His grace in vain.
Verse 3, by giving no offense in anything, that the ministry
be not blamed, but in all things approving ourselves as the ministers
of God. Now how do we do that? How do
we prove we're the ministers of God? How do we give no offense
and prove that we truly are the ministers of God, that we truly
have not received God's grace in vain? How do we prove that?
First of all, we do it in much patience when times are much
difficult. Now the patience he is talking
about here is not just you losing your patience like I did with
my son this morning. It's not that. It's patiently
enduring every hardship that comes. Look at this, verse 4. In much patience, in afflictions,
in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments,
in tumults, in labors, in watchings, and in doing without daily food. Brethren, when I read that right
there, I think, that don't even apply to my day. And when I read
that, I think, we have absolutely no excuse whatsoever for not
patiently enduring whatever comes our way and spreading this gospel
because we got it easy compared to brother Paul. We got it easy,
brethren. That was Paul's now. That was
his day of salvation. And he promoted the gospel with
great patience in the greatest time of suffering. How did he
do that? He tells us how he did that.
This man who is chief of sinners tells us how he did it. This
man who said that when he came and preached to the Corinthians
that he was with them in much fear and weakness and trembling. This sinner, how did he do that? How did he labor so? Back in
1 Corinthians 15.10, he said this, By the grace of God, I
am what I am. And His grace which was bestowed
upon me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than
they all. yet not I, but the grace of God
which was with me. That's how He did it. He did
it by God's grace. And if we're going to do it,
that's how we're going to do it, by God's grace. And then secondly, how
are we to give no offense and to prove ourselves true witnesses
of Christ? It's by the fruit of the Spirit
in the new heart. Verse 6, by pureness, that's
pureness of heart and motive. If our heart's pure, been purified
by God, and that true motive's been put in our heart, our life
will be pure too. It will. By knowledge, that's
godly understanding. A zeal to labor in the cause
of Christ without knowledge is what you see going on in religion
all around us. That's not what he's talking
about. He's talking about by knowledge God gives. We have to have that. By longsuffering and by kindness. God, these are all fruit worked
in the heart by the Spirit of God. We have to remember when
we're dealing with sinners how longsuffering God was with us.
When we're preaching the gospel, bearing witness of Christ, sometimes
a person just can't, they can't believe it. They're sinners,
they can't believe it. What happens to us? We get frustrated.
They want to kick back at you and gnash at you and it's easy
to lose your patience and not be long-suffering with them.
But remember, we were there in that place and God was long-suffering
with us. And remember this, be kind one
to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another even as God for Christ's
sake hath forgiven you. Now look at the next thing, all
this is by the Holy Ghost. We're dependent on Him to work
in our own hearts as much as we're dependent on Him to work
in the hearts of those to whom we minister. By love unfeigned,
there's nothing worse than hypocritical love that betrays you. There's nothing more painful
than that. He says, That's not the love
the Spirit of God puts in the heart. It's love unfeigned. It's
not a fake love. That's the motive that constrains
us. Christ's love for us makes us
truly love one another. He says in verse 7, by the word
of truth, we don't have any other weapon. Well, we don't have this
but by the Spirit of God. We have no other weapon but the
word of truth. By the power of God, we have
no other power. By the armor of righteousness
on the right hand and on the left. By the Spirit of God and
our new man, we may trust Christ our righteousness alone. Now, He's our only righteousness,
Christ alone. And by His Spirit, we're made
to do what Christ tells us is right in all our dealings with
men. Scriptures like this right here.
Scriptures like what we saw Thursday night. If we do what Christ says
is right, trusting Christ, our only righteousness, that's the
armor of God. That'll be our defense on the
left and on the right. That'll be our defense before
God and men. And look at this now. Here's the next thing, we give
no offense and we prove ourselves as ministers by not being moved
from our steadfastness in Christ. Now listen to this, by what others
say about us or what they do to us, be it good or bad. Don't be moved from steadfastness
in Christ no matter what they do to you or say about you, whether
it's good or bad. By honor, some people are just,
well, they'll honor you and dishonor. By evil report and good report. As deceivers and yet true. Some people will say you're a
deceiver when in reality you're true. And some people say you're
true. As unknown and yet well-known. As dying And behold, we live,
as chastened and not killed, as sorrowful yet always rejoicing,
as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing and yet possessing
all things. These opposites right here, this
is the paradox of the believer's life right here. This is the
believer's life. But these opposites are used
by God to do what we need. On one hand, they keep us from
getting too puffed up. And on the other, they keep us
from being too dejected. When we get too puffed up, somebody
will come along by God's grace and tell you what a scoundrel
you are and how they hate you and can't stand you or the people
you hang out with. And when you get so dejected,
somebody will come along and tell you, thank you for preaching
the gospel to me. Thank you for standing steadfast with Christ.
And God keeps you right where you need to be. In case you get
too proud of that, Somebody comes back along and says, you're just
a scoundrel. He keeps you right where you need to be. That's
grace, brethren. And remember this, the servant
is not greater than his Lord. Christ received all these same
things. This same thing happened to Him.
But He gives His people the same spirit that He had when He bore
this and when He was rejected of men. And He makes this true
to Him. Go back to Isaiah 49 and look
at verse 4. God told him he'd be glorified
through him. Verse 4, Then I said, I've labored in vain, I've spent
my strength for naught and in vain. What's that talking about?
That's talking about when he was made flesh and he came into
his own and his own received him not. Israel after the flesh
wouldn't receive him. He was despised and rejected
of men. But now look what he says, "...yet
surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God. And now, saith the Lord that
formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again
to him, though Israel be not gathered, though they rejected
you, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and
my God shall be my strength." That was his spirit. And that's
the spirit he gives into the hearts of his people. And God
said, it's a like thing, verse 6, that thou should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved
of Israel. I'll also give thee for like to the Gentiles that
they must be my salvation to the end of the earth. Thus said
the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, His Holy One. to him whom man
despiseth, he's talking about himself, to him whom the nation
abhoreth, to a servant of rulers, that's what Christ became, a
servant of rulers, kings shall see and arise, and princes also
shall worship, because the Lord that is faithful and the Holy
One of Israel, and he shall choose thee. You see, even though we're
going to be rejected, God's going to see to it that you'll be You'll
be perfect in His eyes, in Christ. He'll be your strength. And He
says, even though those rejected you, I'm going to send you to
many more. I'm going to give you many more
besides them, so that you won't even miss them that rejected
you. That's what He did for Christ. And He says, you who are despised
of men, you who the nations abhor, you who have been servants of
kings, just like Christ was, He says, I'm going to make kings
come and bow down and worship and be thankful that you brought
them the gospel. Now that's what Christ did, God
did for Christ and that's what Christ is going to do for His
people as we go forth preaching this gospel. So now with that
in mind, I want you to stay there in Isaiah 49. Let me say this
to you. Whether we're hearing the gospel
for the first time or we profess that we believe God and we're
His witnesses, Listen to this word to us. God heard Christ
in the accepted time. God heard Him when He justified
His people and God raised Him in the day of salvation, saving
all His people in Him. And therefore, behold, now is
the accepted time when Christ will hear you. Be ye reconciled
to God. Call on Him. Now is the day of
salvation when He will save you. Cast all your care on Him. Now
is the time. Now is the time. Don't receive
this gospel of God's grace in vain. Don't sit here and ignore
it. Give yourself to know Christ.
If you do, it will be by God's grace. But I'm telling you something.
I'm telling you now, Christ clearly said in that parable of the four
kinds of seed, be careful how you hear. With what measure you
meet it, it shall be measured to you. He that hath not From
Him will be taken that which He has. You will end up away
from here, not ever hearing the Gospel and you won't care a thing
in the world about it. But to him that hath, that God has given
grace to, he is going to meet it. He is going to diligently
seek God's Word and God is going to give him more. Now that's
just so. And then for you that are His
ministers, Let us not receive this grace of God in vain. Right
now, look to Christ alone for all wisdom and strength. Don't
look to the world, don't look to the obstacles, don't look
to the troubles. Look to Christ and know that
this right now is the acceptable time for me and you. This is
the day of salvation when God is sending us forth with this
ministry of reconciliation to preach His name. So we're to
give no offense in anything, but by these things we just saw,
that's how we're to conduct ourselves in this world. And that's what
Christ's people want to do. They want to do that. Christ's
people are not somebody that wants to go out and sin. And
we're not somebody that wants to do these things to try to
be accepted of God by these things. We want to do these things because
God has saved us and reconciled us and called us and stooped
down to our level to even use worms like us when He don't even
have to if He didn't want to. Now go back to Isaiah 49.8. The
very thing God promised our Redeemer He would be and do as the head
of His church, the very thing He promised Him He would be and
do, our resurrected Redeemer shall be and shall do for us
as He uses us to minister this gospel to His people. Verse 8,
Thus saith the Lord. Now look at the second part.
I will preserve thee, give thee for a covenant of the people,
to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritage
that thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth to them that are in
darkness, show yourselves. You see, Christ has given that
glory. But you know how He's going to
do that? Through earthen vessels. That the excellency of power
may be of Him, not of us. This is one way he guaranteed
to bring all the glory to himself through using worms to preach
his gospel. Earthen, fragile, breakable clay
pots that he keeps and preaches through. That's how he brings
all the glory to himself. And he says, they shall feed
in the ways, their pasture shall be in all high places, they shall
not hunger nor thirst, neither heat nor sun smite them. For
he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs
of water shall he guide them. I'll make all my mountains away,
my highways shall be exalted. Behold, these shall come from
far, and, lo, these from the north and from the west, and
these from the land of Sinai. Sing, O heavens, be joyful, O
earth, and break forth into singing, O mountains. For the Lord hath
comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted."
That's God's promise to us, right there, that this is the time. Now's the day of salvation. Amen.