What a day to look forward to
when all of the trials and pain and the sufferings of this life
are over and we get a brand new glorified body and be with our
Savior where we will see Him in all of His glory. I know that the sufferings of
this life are part of God's purpose to make us long for heaven and
home. And my wife is going through
some difficult, painful trials. She sends her love. She just
been pretty sick the last couple of days and a lot of pain, but
she's feeling better. I talked with her this morning
and she said, please give you her love. Now the sovereign Lordship of
Jesus Christ And I've said this before, but it's so true and
bears repeating. His lordship is the heart of
the gospel. Jesus Christ is on his sovereign
throne of power, ruling over this whole universe and everything
in it. Now all unregenerate false religionists
hate the Lordship of Jesus Christ. They don't hate their Jesus that
they've conjured up in their own mind, but they hate the Christ
of Holy Scripture. And we were right there with
them. Is that true? In our unregenerate state, we
had the same deceitful, hateful heart that all of those who will
go to hell getting what they deserve, had the same heart. And we as God's enlightened children,
we do not put ourselves above anybody. We know it's by God's
grace that he makes us to differ. He's given us a new heart, a
heart to love him. And we bow before his lordship
and recognize his hand in everything. Let me, before we turn to 2 Kings
2, let me quote an excerpt from an article our dear brother and
pastor friend Don Fortner wrote. He wrote these words. He said,
God is for us in His sovereign providence. Romans 8.28. All who are born of God know
by the Word of God, the inner witness of the Spirit and the
experience of faith, that all things good and evil, prosperous
and adverse, pleasant and painful, work together for good to God's
elect. There shall no evil happen to
the just. Proverbs 12, 21. Everything that
comes to pass, comes to pass by the hand of God, for the glory
of God, and for the eternal good of all the people of God, there
are no exceptions. Now, I've titled this message,
Mockers of God's Sovereign Power. Brother David's message last
week from Hannah's prayer, God kills and God makes alive, was
an excellent introduction to this morning's message, and I
thank God for him. And Wednesday night as well,
just set the stage for what I wanna bring before you. Now we read
this in Psalm 713, we don't have to turn there, but Psalm 713
also tells us that God ordains the instruments of death. In
other words, We have an appointed time when we're gonna go through
that door marked death, and God ordains that instrument which
he uses. Now I'm here to tell you on the
authority of God's word that there is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus, no judgment. That doesn't mean
we haven't sinned. That means that God has taken
our sins and removed them out of His sight forever through
the supreme sacrifice of Jesus Christ, our Lord and our Savior. So, we know this body will lay
down, go back to the dust from whence it came. but absent from
the body is present with the Lord. And just as soon as that
ordained time for us to leave this earth comes upon us through
whatever instrument God is pleased to use, we're gonna be there. I think about this a lot, but
I'm up in age. But I thought about it a lot
throughout the time that I've walked with Christ. I know it's
kind of weird. And so do you. You don't know
what that guy that's coming toward you 70 mile an hour is going
to do. You don't know that. You don't know if you'll die
of an incurable disease or heart attack or go to sleep and not
wake up except in glory. We don't know that. And God has
ordained it that way to keep us looking to Christ, the author
and the finisher of our faith. With that in mind, let me bring
you up to date to our text. Elisha, one of God's prophets,
witnessed the power of God in taking Elijah to glory in a whirlwind. And he, Elisha, was the prophet
that took Elijah's place. He had asked for a double portion
of Elijah's spirit And Elisha cast his mantle, Elijah did,
and Elisha picked it up, and the other prophets were watching
him. They didn't see Elijah go up in the whirlwind, but they
were watching Elisha, and he smote the river, and the waters
parted just like Elijah had done when he was God's ordained prophet
on this earth. So Elisha is walking now as God's
prophet. And here, in 2 Kings 2, verses
23 and 24, we read these words. And he, that is, Elisha, went
up from thence unto Bethel. And as he was going up by the
way, there came forth little children out of the city, and
mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head, Go up,
thou bald head! And he turned back, and looked
on them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. And there came
forth two she-bears out of the wood, and tear forty and two
children of them. And then he, Elisha, went on. Now I know that's disturbing
when we say that these children were cursed of God, but they
were. And it was God who sent those two she bears to tear 42
children apart. I know most people, especially
people that don't know Christ, are disturbed by that. I know
that. And in my heart, I mourn for the parents of those
children because I lost a son. I know the pain. But we're not
talking about our emotions or our human reasoning or logic.
We're talking about what the Word of God says. And I can give
you several illustrations of our Lord Jesus being in control
of everything that moves. Everything, animate or inanimate
for that matter. Remember when Noah was commanded
to take all animals aboard his ark, the Lord's Ark? That was hundreds and hundreds
of years after Adam fell. Those animals were wild. They
ate one another. But our Lord on His throne made
all of those animals willing to go aboard the ark. That's what He does with us.
We're all wild, ungodly, sinful men and women until God brings
us under the preaching of His gospel. raises us from a state
of spiritual death, giving us faith to believe the gospel message
of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That's what Elisha witnessed.
He witnessed the power of God in raising up Elisha. He witnessed
the power of God in giving him the wisdom and the understanding
that he had given to Elijah and that falling on him. Brethren,
we need Christ. And here we are dead in trespasses
and sins. We need to be raised from a state
of spiritual death. And by God's power, he does that.
And we see that it was God's power that raised up Jesus Christ
from the grave. and he was delivered for our
offenses and raised again for our justification. So those things
that Elisha saw point to what we by faith see for the glory
of the one who loved us and gave himself for us. Our Lord Jesus
not only made those animals willing on the day of his power to go
aboard the ark, we read where when The plagues fell on Egypt. He was in control of the locusts,
the frogs, the flies, everything that had life. Those plagues
came upon Egypt by the sovereign power of God. Only God could
have done that. And then, after he moved in the heart of Pharaoh
to let his people go, our Lord Jesus wouldn't even let a dog
bark. Don't tell me he doesn't have
power over all animals. A little puppy, a little puppy,
hungry for its mama's milk, couldn't even whine. Our Lord shut the
mouth of all of those dogs. There's been times when I woke
up in the middle of the night wishing he would shut the mouth
of the neighbor's dog. And not only that, as his people wandered
in the wilderness and they complained of not having food to eat, Our
Lord Jesus sent thousands, thousands, and thousands of quail into their
camp. And they didn't give God thanks.
They just started preparing the quail, started eating them, and
God killed thousands of his people because they didn't thank him. It's a good thing to give thanks
unto the Lord, isn't it? In everything, give thanks, for
this is the will of God and Christ Jesus concerning all of us. I'll
probably share this story with you, but let me share it again.
A little boy was given permission to spend the night with one of
his school friends, and as they sat down to dinner, the daddy
just started digging in, started eating. He said, well, don't
you folks thank God for the food before you eat? And the daddy
said, nah, we just dig in around here. He said, that's exactly
what my dog does. I know that sounds a little humorous
to us, but it illustrates a very important point. We're thankful
people. Everything we have comes from
God. He's the one who makes us to give. He's the one who gives
us the things that we have. And we're not to glory in that,
but just to give Him all the praise and all the thanks. There
was fiery snakes that came into the camp of God's chosen people,
and people were dying. God sent those fiery snakes into
the camp of his people. It was God doing that. He's in
control of everything. It was a picture of our need
of Christ, because we've been bitten by that serpent, and the
poison of sin is going through all of us. And as Moses lifted
up the serpent in the wilderness, so must Christ be lifted up,
and we must see Him on His cross, taking our sufferings and my
sins and His body on a tree. granting us a full pardon because
of his supreme sacrifice for his people. God's in control
of everything. When our Lord was walking with
his disciples through the country, they needed some tribute money.
And he told Peter to go throw a hook into the water. And he
had moved a fish to pick up a coin. And then he moved that fish to
go over and pick up Peter's hook. And Peter took the coin out of
the fish's mouth. And they had the money they needed
to pay the treatment that was due. You see, this is God's doings. His disciples were fishing. And he said, after they'd fished
all night, throw the net on the other side of the boat. Lord, this is our occupation,
we're fishermen, we know what we're doing. Well, they didn't
say that, but that's what they felt. Peter said, nevertheless,
I'll throw the net where you say, we'll throw the net where
you say. And he loaded up that net with so many fish, they couldn't
hardly get it into the boat. It was just amazing what God
was doing. And this is the God we serve. God commanded the ravens to feed
Elijah. Do we worry about what we're
gonna have to eat tomorrow? We're concerned, I know we're
concerned. We want the necessary foods and
clothing and the housing and all of that, but it's God who
gives it to us. God doesn't even let a sparrow
fall from the tree without his permission. And our Lord Jesus
said, be of good cheer, you're more valuable than the sparrows. So, we're serving a God who delights
in His people who know that He's in control of everything. A people
who puts their complete trust in Him. Now if you will turn
to Galatians chapter 3, God's preachers boldly declare God's
power in the miracle of the new birth. Our hope is in Christ
and God's enlightened children believe that salvation is of
the Lord. Now why do we believe that? Because God's Word tells
us that. God Himself tells us that salvation
is of the Lord. Jonah had to learn that by being thrown into the water
and God had prepared a big fish to swallow Jonah. And by the
way, Jonah was dead in that fish's belly. And I know there are people
who debate that. That's okay. There are people
who don't believe that. Some so-called preachers, which
God didn't send, portrayed Jonah as in that fish's belly with
a table and a lantern and his notes, preparing to preach to
the needy. But our Lord Jesus said this,
He said, as Jonah was three days and three nights in the fish's
belly, so must the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth.
Was our Lord dead? Yes, sir. He laid down His life
for us. In that fish's belly, Jonah was
dead and when the Lord gave him his life back, he had a message, God kills and God makes alive. Now tell you the truth, we were
just as dead spiritually as Lazarus was physically when the Lord
said, Lazarus, come forth. Life precedes our coming to Christ. That's the reason we are made
willing on a day of His power. And we heard it in Sunday school
this morning. God sends the Spirit of His Son
into our heart, revealing Christ to us, giving us an understanding
of the mystery of the gospel. This is God's doings, and it's
marvelous in our eyes. Now here in Galatians chapter
three, Now let me share this with you before I read our text.
The righteousness of Jesus Christ is the only righteousness that
he, God, will accept. We have no righteousness of our
own, none. And trying to establish our own
righteousness is mockery. It's mockery of God and his revealed
word. And those who believe in Jesus
Christ believe that he, the Lord Jesus, redeemed us. He didn't
try to redeem us. He got the job done. God doesn't
try to do anything. We believe that our Lord is in
the heavens doing whatsoever He pleases to do. And it pleased
God who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by
His grace to reveal His Son in me is what the Apostle Paul wrote
under divine inspiration. So Jesus Christ redeemed us,
and we believe that Jesus Christ is our resurrection. He is. He was delivered for our offenses. He was raised again for our justification. We believe God justified us.
He's not waiting to try and justify us. He's not watching the people
of this earth, waiting for them to give him permission to do
something. God doesn't wait for permission from anybody. He does
what pleases Him. He rebuked Job. With these words, where were
you when I laid the foundation of the earth? God didn't get
any permission from anybody to do what he did in creation, and
he doesn't get any permission from anybody to create us anew. It's Christ in us, the hope of
glory that he has created. That's the new man, and that's
God's doings. We believe Jesus Christ is the
reason The reason God shows mercy on us, God has a reason, and
that reason is for the glory of Jesus Christ. And we believe
that. Why do we believe these blessed
truths? God says so in His Holy Word. Now here in Galatians chapter
3, starting at verse 1, I want to read down through verse 3.
The Apostle Paul, riding on a divine inspiration, said, O foolish
Galatians, who hath bewitched you that ye should not obey the
truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set
forth crucified among you? This only would I learn of you.
Received you the spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing
of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun
in the spirit, are you now made perfect by the flesh? Now, brethren,
we are dead, like I said earlier, spiritually. And it's God who
brings us under the preaching of the gospel. It's God who begins
the work in us. It's God who saves us by his
own sovereign power, delivering us from the power of darkness
and translating us into his eternal kingdom. It's God who's doing
that. The flesh had nothing to do with
that. Now this gospel is the only gospel
there is. There's false gospels, but the
only true gospel is this gospel that gives our Lord all the glory.
I know men personally, who found fault with Henry Mahan
because our dear brother, Mr. Mahan, who's going on to be with
the Lord, taught and preached that the gospel is the power
of God unto salvation. That God does not start the work
until he brings us under the preaching of the gospel. And they separated themselves
from me because I believed what Henry Mahan preached. It's the
gospel that God uses. He sends his spirit when we're
under the preaching of the gospel. This is what this says, that
you should not obey the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ
had inevitably set forth among you, crucified among you. This
only would I learn of you, receive you the spirit by the works of
the law or by the hearing of faith. And so it's by the hearing
of faith that we receive the spirit. Now look here in Galatians
chapter three, starting at verse seven, we read these words. Know ye therefore that they which
are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the
scripture foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through
faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, in thee
shall all nations be blessed. So then, they which be of faith
are blessed with faithful Abraham. For as many as are of the works
of the law are under the curse. Now, remember, those children
were cursed by God. Elisha was the instrument, but
the curse came from God. And it says here, it is written,
cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them. If we don't keep the law
perfectly, from the time we're in our mother's womb to the time
we leave this world, then we're under God's wrath. Now I know that's something that
we can't do, but there are many religious people who still believe
that they're justified by the works of the law. And they're
professing Christians that think they can take the law and combine
the law with faith and become progressively better. Matter
of fact, John Reeves just got a letter from a preacher in New
York that evidently he picked up one of the bulletins from
the Rescued Baptist Church. And this man in New York wrote
John a letter And he said, babes in Christ are not without sin
until they progressively get better and better. God will not
accept them until they're without sin. Well, that man has no understanding
of the two natures. And if he thinks he's without
sin, he calls God a liar. Because Paul wrote these words,
O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body
of death? He didn't say, O wretched man
that I was, he said, O wretched man that I am. And as long as
we're in this body of death, sin is what we are and sin is
what we'll do. There's another nature, which
is the divine nature. God has made us partakers of
the divine nature. That's the new man. That's the
creation of God that's without sin. And we have that blessed
truth that Christ in us is our hope of glory. But we still sin. Now let me ask, is that true
of you? You can nod your head. You can
say, yeah. Or you can sit there and think, not me. I'm not a
sinner anymore. and you're making God a liar, that's mockery, and
that's what we're talking about, mockery of God's sovereign power.
And no man is justified by the law, and you could even put any
kind of work in there, by meeting on a Saturday, by getting baptized,
by making a decision for Jesus, anything that you put in there
destroys gospel preaching and justification by the blood of
Jesus Christ and living by faith. We have no one to give glory
to but to our wonderful God who has come to us. when we're dead
in trespasses and sins, moved upon us, brought us under the
preaching of the gospel, and sent his spirit into our hearts
so that we could understand, like Larry brought up in Sunday
School this morning, so we could understand this mystery of the
gospel. God does this, and he does it
for his glory. Now, here's some glorious good
news, and I trust that it'll be a blessing to you while you
turn to John chapter 5, which is a closing passage. John chapter 5, if you will,
please. Here's a blessing. It's the doctrine
of substitution. This is good news. for a sinner,
a sinner who deserves nothing but God's wrath. Substitution. Jesus Christ, when He hung there
on that cross, suffered the wrath of God. God the Father held nothing
back. He poured out His unmitigated
wrath on His darling Son, and we were in Christ when He did
that. God has already punished us.
And He's a just God. He cannot demand punishment twice. First at my Savior's hand, then
at mine. He can't do that. And so we're
free from the wrath to come. And who gets all the glory? God
Himself. God, our wonderful, great triune
God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They're of one mind. And what
we read in scripture earlier, in Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. We heard this in Sunday school.
In the body of Jesus Christ dwells all the fullness of God. Folks,
listen. If you don't come to Christ,
you don't come to God. We must see Him as Jehovah God Himself. His disciples cried out, Lord,
show us the Father and we'll be satisfied. He said to them,
have I been so a long time with you and you have not seen me?
He that has seen me has seen the Father. We are to acknowledge
Jesus Christ as Jehovah God, our Creator, equal with the Father,
equal with the Holy Spirit. I'm not denying the great three
in one, but I am saying this, Jesus Christ is God Almighty. He has been raised from that
dead state or that grave that he was in. And God has highly
exalted Him and put Him on the throne, ruling over this whole
universe and everything. And why did God the Father do
that? Because He was obedient unto death, even the death of
the cross. And here in John chapter 5, starting
at verse 18, We read, therefore the Jews sought the more to kill
him, because he not only had broken the Sabbath, but said
also that God was his father, making himself equal with God. Then answered Jesus and said
unto them, verily, verily, I say unto you, the son can do nothing
of himself, but what he seeth the father do. For what things
whoever he doeth, These also doeth the Son likewise. For the
Father loveth the Son, and showeth Him all things that Himself doeth,
and He will show Him greater works than these, that ye may
marvel. For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them,
even so the Son quickeneth whom He will. And that word quickeneth
just means made alive. For the Father judgeth no man,
but hath committed all judgment unto the Son. that all men, let
me read that again, that all men, and that's just a word,
men is just a word, that includes the women as well, that all men
and women should honor the Son even as they honor the Father.
He that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father which
hath sent him. Verily, verily. I say unto you,
he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting
life and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from
death unto life. Now I'm not a smart man and I'm
not an educated man, but I can read and I have a little understanding
that God has given me. He has put His Son, the Spirit
of His Son in my heart, has given me eternal life because of what
Christ has done for me. For no other reason, Jesus Christ
is to receive all the praise, all the honor, and all the glory.
We're to honor Him, even as we honor God the Father. And if
we don't, If we don't honor Him as we honor God the Father, we
don't honor God at all. We're just filled with nothing
but sinful mockery. Just as sinful as all those who'll
spend eternity in hell. So I beseech you, come to Christ. Come to the Christ of Holy Scripture.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Brethren,
if we deny the salvation of God's elect by the
perfect redeeming work of Christ Jesus, if we say that God loves everybody,
then we deny the love of God. If we say that Jesus Christ died
for everybody, We deny the death of Christ. If we deny the will
of God in our salvation, believing what false religions are saying
that God is not willing and you should perish, but that all should
come to repentance and you can resist God's will. If we believe
that, we've ruled out the will of God. If we deny the power
of God in salvation, then we've denied God. We've ruled out the
love of God, the death of Christ, the blood of Christ, the will
of God, the power of God. What's left? One lady told a preacher, don't
take away my free will. Well, I tell you here, I want
God to take away my so-called free will. and look to His sovereign
will, His sovereign power, His sovereign grace. We rule out
the grace of God in salvation. If we attribute anything of our
doings to the salvation of God's elect, it's nothing but sinful
mockery. Aren't you thankful? that our
Lord Jesus Christ paid the price in full for all of our sins,
and that he promises us he'll be with us throughout our journey
throughout this earth. And when we leave, we'll be caught
up to be with him where we'll see him in all of his glory.
And we'll get a brand new glorified body. What a day to look forward
to. What a God we have. What a wonderful God.