Acts 19 verse 11, we read, And
God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul, so that
from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons,
and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went
out of them. Now, the first thing we see is
the work God must work. We read here, that God wrought
special miracles. I made the point to you early
on in one of the messages when we began to go through the book
of Acts, that the acts of the apostles are the acts of our
King. It says here, God wrought special
miracles by the hands of Paul. The apostles acted Because God
our Savior, in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son
of God, they were worked in and effectually made to work the
works of God. Because it was by Christ, the
power and wisdom of God that worked in them, they had one
mind and one purpose in everything they did, and that was that the
works of God would receive all the glory. That was their purpose
in what they went about to do. Now we read here that God wrought
special miracles. You know the miracles which God
worked by the hands of his messengers that we've seen throughout the
book of Acts and throughout this transitional period of time from
the day of Pentecost on. These are miracles that men,
carnal men, consider to be great miracles. Religious folks consider
these to be great miracles. Miracles like when Peter healed
that lame man at the gate called Beautiful. And indeed, that was
a miracle. He healed a lame man. God used
Peter to heal so many people that it got to the point where
folks would just come out and lay there sick in the street
hoping that the shadow of Peter would be enough to heal them. And through Philip, God cast
out unclean spirits. By the laying on of the apostles'
hands, God, He showed a visible, extraordinary sign of the Holy
Ghost to show the work of the Spirit in the hearts of His people.
But in reality, those miracles are altogether lesser miracles. Those miracles are not nearly
as miraculous as what God has done for and in sinners through
the Lord Jesus Christ and the Spirit of His grace. Miracles
such as the regeneration, the life coming into spiritually
dead, God-hating sinners. growing the growth and the maturity
of that new man in the graces and knowledge of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the bringing into captivity of every thought to the obedience
of Christ. That's a miracle of God's grace.
The boldness with which frail sinners Paul was a sickly man. Paul was a man who stumbled and
stammered when he talked and was a frail man. And yet God
used men like that to stand in the face of great opposition
and preach this gospel with boldness. Those are the special miracles
which God works that bear witness of his great name. Those are
the great miracles. They're infinitely above and
beyond anything that any man can do or is capable of producing. But here in verse 11, when we
read that God wrought special miracles, by the hands of Paul,
this is another case of some of those lesser miracles, but
this miracle was even greater than what those other lesser
miracles were that he had done. This was a place in Ephesus where
there was a great, it's a great picture, it's a great example
of the world, of the world of religion, of all lost men who
think they have some kind of hope. It's a great picture. These
were folks who had a great shrine to a God that was an idol God
that they thought could give life and sustenance to every
living creature on this earth. The statue they had over there
had multiple breasts on her to symbolize her being able to give
life to every living thing. We call her in our day, the superstitious,
carnal idolaters in our day call her Mother Nature. And so here God works a special
miracle, even an outward miracle, even greater than some of those
other miracles such as healing of the lame man at the gate called
Beautiful. Up until now, at least these
other miracles, God's messenger had to be present. He was there
when the miracle was done. But Paul didn't even have to
be present here. Look at verse 12. "...so that
from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons,
and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went
out of them." Now here's the point of the whole message, brethren.
Merely witnessing these lesser miracles never freed any sinner
from the captivity of their own evil sin and hatred against God. It never did that. These special
miracles are wrought because as they saw these miracles, you
know what their attitude became? I've seen somebody healed, the
lame healed. What else you got? Show me something
else. The very message God's conveying
in these lesser miracles is that only the gospel of Christ can
raise the dead, cast down the evil imaginations, clothe us
in the garments of Christ's righteousness, and forever make sinners whole
in Christ Jesus, because that's the gospel. that declares God
the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. It declares
the works of the triune God manifest in the fullness of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And that message, and that message
alone, which gives God all the glory, is the only message God
is pleased to bless. Now God is bearing witness of
the glory of Christ by these miracles. We've seen this, but
now you turn to Luke 10. Luke chapter 10. And while you're
working your way there, let me make a few points to you. Do you remember when the Lord
was on this earth, the Lord Jesus Christ, and He told the man to
take up his bed and walk? that lame man. Do you remember
the question he asked? That's not what he said first.
The first thing he said is, thy sins be forgiven thee. And the
people thought, he blasphemes. He can't do that. And the Lord
said, whether it is easier to say thy sins be forgiven thee
or to say arise and walk. And He said, But that ye may
know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins. He said to the sick of the palsy,
Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thy house. And that man
got up off that bed and picked up the bed and carried the bed
on. And when the Lord gave His disciples power to cast out evil
spirits, It says, he called his 12 disciples and he gave them
power against unclean spirits to cast them out, to heal all
manner of sickness and all manner of disease. And then he gave
them charge to do two things. He said, when you go forth, preach. Go forth preaching. The kingdom
of heaven is at hand. And as you go, this was the second
thing, heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast
out devils, freely you've received, freely give. Why did he tell
them to go and preach the gospel and heal as they went preaching
the gospel? Because by the lesser miracles,
he was declaring the greater spiritual miracle that he works
in sinners through that Gospel. Now look at Luke 10 with me.
What is this Gospel? What is this power of Christ
revealed in the Gospel? In Luke 10.17, He did the same
thing to 70 of His disciples. And He sent them forth. He gave
them power to preach and to heal as they went. And the 70 returned
again with joy. Verse 17, Luke 10.17, saying, Even the devils are subject unto
us through thy name. And he said unto them, I beheld
Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you
power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power
of the enemy. And he's talking about those
who hate God, men who hate God, scorpions and serpents, the power
of powers and principalities. He said, I've given you power
over them and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding,
in this rejoice not, it's not your ability to do something. Don't rejoice in that. Here's
what the rejoicing is. Here's what the power He gave
bears witness to. notwithstanding in this rejoice
not that the spirits are subject unto you, but rather rejoice
because your names are written in heaven." That's what he's
declaring. He's declaring the power of God's
sovereign grace to write the names of whomsoever he will in
heaven. and He's declaring the power
of God to reveal His glory to whomsoever He will. Look on here. In that hour, Jesus rejoiced
in spirit and He said, He's going to tell us what He means, what's
the fullness of knowing that your name's written in heaven.
In that hour, He said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven
and earth, that Thou hast hid these things from the wise and
prudent, and has revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father,
for so it seemed good in thy sight." Now listen, all things
are delivered to me of my Father. What does that leave out? all things are delivered to me
of my Father. And no man knoweth who the Son
is, but the Father. And who the Father is, but the
Son. And He to whom the Son will reveal
Him." And He turned unto them, to His
disciples, and He said privately to them, He told them that, rejoicing
this, that God in sovereign power wrote your name in heaven. Rejoicing
this, that God in His sovereign power hid these things from the
wise and prudent and revealed them unto babes. Rejoicing this,
that God the Father has given all things to His Son. And only
the Father knows the Son, and only the Son knows the Father,
and only those know the Son and the Father to whom the Son reveals
them. He does what He has to do in
order for you to experience this power and understand it. He turns
to them privately and by His Word, He speaks to them. And He says, Blessed are the
eyes which see the things that ye see, for I tell you that many
prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye
see and have not seen them, and to hear those things which ye
hear and have not heard them. Why didn't they? Because the
Son didn't reveal them. Now, when He walked this earth,
He said, that you may know that the Son of Man hath power on
earth to forgive sins. I say, arise and walk. But when
He ascended to heaven, He said, all power is given unto Me in
heaven and in earth. And He said, He gave them that
same charge. He said, now go forth and preach. Are they going to be healed?
Is He going to heal folks through that one weapon of preaching
the glorious works of His name? Is He going to heal folks through
that? What was the second thing He told them? And baptize them. You know how they're going to
come to the obedience of faith to where they desire to be baptized? Because He's going to turn and
speak to them privately and say, blessed are your eyes for they
see. and He's going to make them experience this power of His
grace in their heart. And He says, and teach them,
disciple them. How are they going to be made
disciples? He said, just teach them whatsoever I have commanded
you, and lo, I'll be with you always. I'll make them obedient
from the first hour to the last hour through this same Word of
My power. That's what God's declaring.
This great power of salvation began to be spoken to us by the
Lord. And it was confirmed unto us
that heard Him. And God also bear witness by
signs and wonders and with different miracles and gifts of the Holy
Ghost according to His own will. And that's what's taking place
in our text. But the signs and the wonders that are the greatest
signs and wonders of all is a believer. A believer. That's the greatest
miracle of all. Now, the second thing I want
you to see is the gospel in the garments. Look here in verse
11, Acts 19, 11. And God wrought special miracles
by the hands of Paul, so that from his body were brought unto
the sick handkerchiefs, or aprons. And the diseases departed from
them, and the evil spirits went out of them. What a beautiful,
beautiful declaration of the robe, of the garment of the righteousness
of the Lord our Righteousness, of Christ Jesus our Righteousness,
who makes us every whit whole and makes the evil spirit depart
by robing us in His garments. Isn't that a beautiful picture?
Paul wasn't present in body. But from His body these garments
were brought, and these garments were applied to folks who were
diseased, who couldn't cure themselves, who had no cure, to folks who
were full of an evil spirit. And they were cured, and the
evil spirit left them. There's no mention here of who
brought it. There's no mention here of who
applied it. It's just that it was brought from Paul and it
was applied to him. And they were healed and the
evil spirit left. The Lord Jesus Christ described
the Holy Spirit like the wind. Can you see the wind? He said,
Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again. The wind
bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof,
but you can't tell when it's coming and where it's going.
And you can't stop it either, can you? So is everyone that's
born of the Spirit. You don't see it, but He comes
and applies the blood. The earthly vessel that God uses
to deliver the gospel through which God's going to work this
miracle of grace and clothe us in this garment of righteousness
is not mentioned here. Why? Paul said, we have this
treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be
of God, not of us. You see, it's not the Spirit
here that's named. The Lord said when He comes,
He won't speak of anybody but me. It's not the preacher that's
named here that the power of God may be manifested. But what's
the focus? What's important? The garments. The garments and what they accomplish. You see, the garment of our Lord's
righteousness. is a garment that was designed
by God's pattern that He made in the eternal counsel and covenant
of grace. And from before the world was
founded in the eternal eye of God, each particular chosen child
of God, was robed in this garment in God the Father's eternal purpose
when He blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ, according as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
Him in love. You know what God saw the day
He saw you Polluted in your own blood when you came forth from
your mother's womb and you weren't Swallowed and your navel wasn't
cut you were polluted in your own blood and you know what you
know how God saw you The way he saw his people from everlasting
Robed in the righteousness of his dear son to the praise of the glory of
His grace wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved."
Accepted where? In the Beloved. Accepted where?
In Christ, our righteousness, where we've been the righteousness
of God from the beginning. His garment of righteousness
is one solid piece. It's not divided. You know the
robe that the priest wore wasn't divided? It didn't have any seams
in it. You know why? Because his faithfulness
is undivided. the faithfulness of our Lord,
our righteousness, the Son of God who was made under the law.
Last night we talked about this. 600 plus precepts were given
in that earthly covenant given through Moses to manifest the
great magnitude of the offense of that one transgression in
the garden. And Christ came forth made under
that law. both the law in the garden and
that Mosaic law. And he fulfilled all 600 plus
precepts of that law in every jot and tittle. And just as that
law magnified the great transgression of that one offense in the garden,
his righteousness in obeying every precept of that holy law
that he gave to Israel magnifies the faithfulness and righteousness
of our Redeemer. He honored it in thought, word,
and deed from conception to the cross. And this garment, brethren, this
garment was dyed red in the precious blood when He tread the winepress
of God's fury alone. But it was made white in the
declaration of God's propitiation when God raised Him from the
dead and set Him at His own right hand above all principality and
power and everything that's named in heaven and in earth. And though He's not present bodily,
Though he's not present bodily, as Paul wasn't here in our text,
he who has all power in heaven and earth sends forth his messengers
to preach this marvelous work of redemption which he's accomplished
and by the gospel he's sent which declares what he's done. He comes
to each of those he has loved from everlasting and he heals
them of their diseases and causes the evil spirit to be brought
down and robes them in the righteous garment of his own righteousness. and He disciples them. He makes
them obedient through this Gospel. He keeps them through this Gospel. He grows them in that inner righteousness
and holiness which they've been created after His image to behold
Him more and more and more and more and look away from this
outward corruption that hinders us more and more and more and
more until that day when finally He raises us and we put off this
mortality and we put on immortality and we're brought into His presence
and then the king's daughter is perfectly all together made
the righteousness of God inside and out with no flaw whatsoever
made the righteousness of God by Him and in Him. God wrought special miracles
by the hands of Paul so that from his body were brought unto
the sick handkerchiefs or aprons and the diseases departed from
them and the evil spirits went out of them." Who are these that
are arrayed in these white robes? These are they which came out
of great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them
white in the blood of the Lamb. Now, here's the third thing.
First we saw the work God must work. Then we saw the gospel
in the garments. Now we're going to see the folly
of fakers. I just decided to stay with some
alliteration tonight. Acts 13, Acts 19, 13. Then certain
of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them
which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We
adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth. And there were seven
sons of Siva, a Jew. He was a chief of the priests
which did this. Now these men saw what was happening. And these men, to the natural
eye, would appear to be one with Paul. They were Jews. They were sons of a chief priest.
They were men that appeared as religious men, with religious
authority, with some level of credibility. And these men claimed
to have the power to cast out evil spirits. They claimed to
do so in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ who Paul preached. But here's the folly of all such
men in our day. They were vagabond Jews. You
know what that means? They didn't have any permanent
dwelling place. Those in whom Christ dwells,
dwell in Christ. They abide in Christ because
Christ abides in them. They have a permanent, everlasting
dwelling place. These fellows didn't. And they
manifest they didn't by just traveling around from place to
place and whatever anybody wanted to hear, that's what they preached.
We had an old saying, back home that if somebody sometimes he's
you get you get at a boat landing early in the morning when you're
going duck hunting and somebody lets out a Labrador retriever
and some of them I mean they got one master and they they
they get out of that truck and they're waiting on that master
to give them the command and they go straight to the boat
get right in the boat and they're ready to go with the master.
Some of them get out and they run around and they sniff around
and they'll come up try to get in your boat And if you'll take
them, they'll go with you. And they'll run over to this
other boat, and they'll try to get in that boat. And if you'll take
them, they'll go with you. And that kind of dog is anybody's
dog that'll take him on a hunt. That's what these vagabond Jews
were. And that's what they are in our day. They're anybody's
preacher. When they're with you, they'll
tell you what you want to hear. When they're with Smassa, tell
them what they want to hear. Well, here was the second thing. They
were exorcists. You know what that means? That
means they had a formula by which they claimed they could cast
out evil spirits. They spoke as if they had the
power to do it. They said, we adjure you by Jesus
whom Paul preached. But they didn't dwell in Christ
by faith, and they didn't preach Christ whom Paul preached. They
just claimed to be doing what they did in the name of the Jesus
whom Paul preached. That's the difference. And the
power they depended upon was all their own power, their own
formula, what they came up with. The majority in our day, as it
has been from the beginning, are attempting to turn sinners
from evil not by preaching Jesus Christ, but by merely calling
out the name of this Jesus whom we preach and denying in the
power they exert in an attempt to make men holy. They don't use the only sword,
the only weapon, the gospel of Christ, but like these vagabond
rebukers who needed rebuking, they have a form of godliness
but deny the power of God. In claiming to have the power
to affect what only Christ can do, they manifest the worst of
all evil. They're given over to lasciviousness."
That's an ugly word, lasciviousness. I thought that meant those adulterers,
fornicators, base people. The kind of people that these
fellas rebuked. Paul told Titus, there are many
unruly vain talkers and deceivers, especially they of the circumcision.
Those who are trying to rule over people by a yoke that's
not really going to accomplish anything. Their mouths must be
stopped. They subvert whole houses, teaching
things which they ought not, and they do it for filthy lucre's
sake, for self-gain. And he said, Wherefore, rebuke
them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, not giving
heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men that turn from the truth.
They profess that they know God, Sounds like they do. And let
me say something. In our day and time, we're not
up against folks who are saying, let God do things. We're not
up against the Billy Graham's and the Shuler's who said, if
you'll just take the first step, God will take the next step.
We're not up against that. We're up against folks who appear
to know God. who appear to be talking about
the sovereign power of God, who appear to be talking about free,
sovereign, electing grace, who appear to be talking about limited
atonement, particular redemption, the blood of Christ effectually
accomplishing the redemption of His people, who are talking
about the irresistible sovereign grace of the Holy Spirit, the
preserving grace of God, the keeping grace of God, the grace
which saves a sinner beginning to end. They appear to be saying
that. Paul says they profess that they
know God, but in works they deny Him. Being abominable and disobedient. But their whole aim and goal
is discipline. When the discipline becomes the
focus, instead of being in the background, needed only in those
rare cases when someone, some sinner begins to distract from
the gospel. When the discipline comes into
the foreground and is the mark of the day and becomes the focus
and the rallying point, then the discipline has become the
distraction from the gospel and the gospel is no longer preached.
They profess to know Him, but in works they deny Him. They're disobedient and unto
every good work reprobate. Who do you think the Lord Jesus
Christ is talking about when He said there's going to be some
come to Him and they're going to say, Lord, didn't we cast
out devils? You think He's just talking about
people who sit around over a crystal ball? Folks who read your palm? Folks who make up horoscopes. He's talking about folks in pulpits. Preachers. But this is glorious right here.
Here's the fourth thing. Even these self-promoters only
serve the glory of Christ. Watch this. Let me ask you this
question first. As powerful as those evil spirits
were that had possession of those people, who had power over those
evil spirits? Who could remove them? Who could
hedge them about? Who could prevent the evil spirits
from causing any further injury with just a word? The Lord Jesus
Christ who has all power in heaven and earth. The one to whom all power is
given. Remember that demoniac? That
Gadarene demoniac? Men had tried everything in the
world. They had chained him. They had bound him. They had
done everything in the world to that man to try to make him obedient.
And Christ came and said, get out of him. And they came and found him seated
and clothed and in his right mind. Who had power over these
evil spirits? Why then didn't these men just
come and preach Christ instead of saying, we're going to do
this in the name of that Christ who Paul preaches? You know why
they didn't? Because vagabonds don't preach
Christ because they don't think Christ is the power and wisdom
of God who can do this. Religious wolves in sheep's clothing
have a form of godliness, but they really think they can bring
men into obedience of faith by their own commands. We adjure
thee to do thee. Compare that with what Peter
said to that lame man. I don't have anything to give
you. I can't do anything for you. In the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ, rise up and walk. That's a great difference in
what these folks were saying. But look what the Lord allowed
the evil spirit to do to these fakers who were using his name
in vain. Look at verse 15. And the evil
spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know. Who
are you? Who are you? The Lord used the
evil spirit to rebuke the vagabond exorcist. You know the devils
which were cast out of that Gadarenean demoniac, they besought Christ. The devils besought Him saying,
if thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into that herd of
swine. We can't go anywhere but where you let us go, but please
let us go to that herd of swine. They had more sense than these
fellows who came there trying to do this by their own power.
The evil spirits did. The devils did. Thou believest
there's one God. You claim to believe God. You
claim to be coming in the name of Christ. Thou doest well. The devils also believe and they
tremble. You think it's some big deal
because somebody comes in the name of the Christ that we preach? When it's something, it's when
they preach to Christ we preach. Then He brings them to their
end. And this is the end of all religious impostors. Verse 16.
And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them. The man did. If you would have
just been sitting there looking at this, all you would have seen
is what you see in most everyday religious circles. You would
have seen some men saying, now we're telling you this is what
you need to be doing. And what you would have seen
was that man turn around and say, I know Jesus and I know
Paul. Who are you? And then that man
turned around and just jumped on them and wore them out. Gave
them a spanking. And he overcame them and he prevailed
against them so that they fled out of the house naked and wounded. How often have we seen this in
our lifetime? And this will be the end of all
who seek preeminence in the last day. This will be the end of
all. But how many times have we seen this in our lifetime? A
man will spend years lording over God's heritage. adjuring parents how they ought
to be raising their children, making them feel guilty, making
them feel ashamed, making them do all manner of things to try
to live up to what he tells them they ought to be doing if they're
going to have the power to make their children be honorable children,
as if he has the power to do it. Only some years later, for
his own children to grow up, and prove he don't have any power
at all. How many times have you seen
a man meddle in the affairs of men and women in the church so
minutely, scrutinizing their every move so much as if he has
the power to prevent others from immorality, and then one day
he proves he didn't have the power to keep himself from it. The very evil spirit that he
claimed to have power over said, who are you? I know Jesus. You don't know Him. I know His messengers. You don't
know Him. And all you see is that man overcome
by the flesh of another. But we see here what it is. It's
God showing, Christ showing, unleashing the power of the evil
and showing no man has power over that. Only Christ does. That logger who cries for justice
will wish he had pleaded for mercy when the judge lands him
in the same jail cell with those that he condemned. The truth is, unless Christ exercises
this power, the next person will crawl up and he'll take their
place. When that preacher's gone, he'll take their place and he'll
take the whip and the folks will go right on in their religious
rebellion, unless God does so. That's what Jeremiah said, the
prophets prophesy falsely and the priests bear rule by their
means and my people love to have it so. What will you do in the
end, Nero? But look at here what Christ
Jesus, the power and wisdom of God, was doing all the while
that He was using their rebellion. He was accomplishing His purpose.
Verse 17, And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also
dwelling at Ephesus, and fear fell on them, And the name of the Lord Jesus
was magnified. And many that believed came and
confessed and showed their deeds. Many of them also which used
curious arts, which were in the same religion as those deceivers
were, they renounced it. They burned their books together.
They burned them before all men. And they counted the price of
them and found it to be 50,000 pieces of silver. Now here's
the application. Our Lord has taught us to be
wise as serpents and harmless as doves. But know this, your
wisdom, your charisma, your political savvy will never work what only
Christ can work. Wiser men, far wiser men than
you or me have tried it and failed. If you could sway men, if you
could bridge opposing parties, if you could turn men from evil,
then someone better than you, more charismatic than you, more
politically savvy than you could come right along and sway them
back the other direction. Carnal men use those methods,
men who don't trust the power and wisdom of God, vagabonds,
formula men, men whose apparel changes to suit the fashion of
the day. That's what Isaiah called it,
changeable suits of apparel. Saying to God, how terrible art
thou in thy works. Through the greatness of thy
power shall thine enemies submit themselves unto thee. He ruleth
by his power forever. His eyes behold the nations.
Let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Have you been such a one? Have
you been under the power of such a one? Trusted in your power
and your wisdom? You know where our strength is? Our strength is to sit still,
to study, to be quiet. You know what that means? To
trust God, to believe Him. He giveth power to the faint.
And to them that have no might, He increaseth strength. Isn't it just something how that
God's way is totally opposite of man's way? The way to power
with God is not to have any strength at all in yourself. That's how He gives power to
His people. And He's merciful. I love this
verse 18. Many that believed came and confessed
and showed their deeds. You know what the Lord Jesus
told Nicodemus? He said, everyone that doeth
evil, hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his
deeds should be reproved. The man who thinks he has the
power to reprove and rebuke and accomplish and affect obedience
in others, whether it be the obedience of faith, whether it
be the obedience of morality, whether it be the obedience of
church attendance, whether it be the obedience of being gracious
to others, the obedience of children obeying their parents, of wives
submitting to their husbands, of fathers not provoking their
children to anger, of the submission of fathers raising their children
in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, the righteous obedience
of a master treating his employees with fairness, and the servant
giving him a full day's work without being a man-pleaser.
The man who thinks he can accomplish that by the power of his strength,
of his rebuking, of his disciplining, of his own strength, will not
bow to the Christ I'm teaching to you. Because if he did, he'd
have to be rebuked and he'd have to be disciplined. And discipline
is not what he's about. Rebuke is not what he's about.
Obedience is not what he's about. If it was, he wouldn't be using
the methods he's using. He'd be preaching Christ and
being obedient to God. But, the Lord said, He that doeth
truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be manifest, that
they are wrought in God. How did this begin? Verse 11.
God wrought special miracles. What happened? Verse 17. Fear
fell on them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.
And men came and confessed their sins and said, we are trusting
only in the work of this God. He looketh upon men, and if any
say, I have sinned and perverted that which was right, and it
profited me not, He will deliver his soul from going into the
pit, and his life shall see the light." That's what God promises. That's what God promises. You
know what happens when men experience the power of God's grace? I mean
really, truly experience the power of God's grace. They're done with the power of
men. They're done with the power of their own flesh. They're done
with the methods of their own, their own devising, the methods
of men, the formulas of men. Instead, they say this. All thy
works shall praise thee, O Lord, and thy saints shall bless thee,
and they shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom and talk of thy
power to make known to the sons of men his mighty acts and the
glorious majesty of his kingdom. And as God creates obedient sinners
who do that, you know what he does? Look at verse 20. And so
mightily grows the Word of God and prevailed. That's always
the result.