The Bible Baptist Church located
at 2015 Beulah Road in Madisonville, Kentucky would like to invite
you to listen to a message of the sovereign grace of God in
the Lord Jesus Christ by their pastor David Edmondson. Last week we looked at this story
in Mark chapter 9, where a poor father sought deliverance for
his son who was possessed and afflicted by a dumb and deaf
spirit. And he sought this help first
from the Lord's disciples, but they could not help. Man cannot
help us. Only Christ can. The Spirit had
often thrown this young man into the fire to burn him and into
the water to drown him. And the Spirit's intention was
to destroy him, as we see in verse 22 of Mark chapter nine. And the father of this boy had
said, Lord, if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help
us. And the Lord took that if and
he turned it right back around on this man and he said, the
if is not in my ability to help, the if is in your ability to
believe. What a great lesson that is for
us. Christ said, if you can believe,
All things are possible to him that believes. And the man said,
Lord, I believe. Help thou mine unbelief. And the Lord helped him. Now,
if any sinners to be helped, it'll be the Lord that helps
them. And that's what I want to talk to you about this morning.
What the Lord Jesus Christ does for sinners who believe in Him. I have four points found in verses
26 and 27. Four things that teach us something
of our salvation. So let's pick up this story again
in verse 25. Mark chapter 9 verse 25. When Jesus saw that the people
came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto
him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him,
and enter no more into him. You see, friends, deliverance
in Christ is not only effectual, but the delivering power of God
is effectual forever. Christ said, enter no more into
him. When Christ saves us, when Christ
saves a sinner, when Christ delivers a sinner, it's forever. Verse
26, and the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of
him, and he was as one dead, that being the young man. He
was as one dead, insomuch that many said he is dead. But Jesus
took him by the hand, and lifted him up, And he arose. Now what a great outline of the
gospel these two verses give us. And my first point is found
in verse 25. We are spiritually dead. We're dead in trespasses and
sin. Now we're told that after the Lord rebuked this foul spirit,
this young man was as one dead, insomuch that many said he is
dead. And what a picture of all men and women by nature. We are
as one dead, because we are spiritually dead. We're born physically,
we're alive, but we're spiritually dead. Paul wrote in Romans 5
verse 12, Wherefore, as by one man, Adam, sin entered into the
world, and death by sin, And so death passed upon all men,
for that all have sinned." Adam being our representative, our
federal head, he sold us all under sin. And death being the
wages of sin passed upon all of us. We're dead in sin. The
Lord told Adam that if he disobeyed and ate up the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil, that he would die. And die he did. And being
our representative by our union with Adam, we are guilty and
death passed upon all of us. When Adam died, so did we. But
until Christ does a work of righteousness in us, we are as one dead. We
can do nothing for ourselves. We cannot make ourselves alive.
That's what a believer is, they're dead. But with a touch from Christ,
they're only as one dead. With a touch from the Lord Jesus,
we'll be restored to life. Like this young man, many say
that we're dead. God's word says that we're dead.
The law says that we're dead. God's justice declares us to
be dead. But if Christ is our Savior,
we are only as one dead. And that brings us to the second
point, verse 27, but Jesus took him by the hand. My second point
is just that, salvations of the Lord. Christ, the just one, died
for the unjust. He died for those who were unjust,
those that he chose before the foundation of the world, and
he takes them by the hand and he brings them to God, 1 Peter
3.18. Now that word salvation means
just that, deliverance. It means a lifeline. To redeem
means to gain or regain possession of something in exchange for
payment. The only acceptable payment that
God will accept is death, for the wages of sin is just that,
death. The only acceptable payment for
sin is a perfect death, a perfect offering, a perfect sacrifice. Perfection is the only offering
God will accept. It must be perfect for God to
accept it. A sacrifice not having spot or
wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without
blemish, Ephesians 5, 27. It has to be perfect. And that
is what the word led here means. It means to go with one, being
led by their hand. The Lord took this young man
whom everyone thought was dead. He took him by the hand. Where
did he lead him? He led him unto life. He led
him unto life. That's where God takes his people
when he takes them by the hand. He takes them into everlasting
life. Where did he lead him? To life.
He takes us by the hand and leads us to life everlasting. So we
know that we're dead. We know that salvation is of
the Lord. How does God save us? Well, that
brings me to my third point. He lifts us up. But Lord God is sovereign in
all things, especially in the salvation of his people. He alone
lifts the mercy beggar out of the dust and the dunghill. That's
what Hannah said. She said, the Lord killeth and
maketh alive. He bringeth down to the grave
and bringeth up. Friends, God is sovereign. The
Lord maketh poor and maketh rich. He bringeth low and lifteth up.
He, God, raiseth up the poor out of the dust and lifted up
the beggar from the dunghill to set them among princes. God is sovereign. It's the Lord
that makes poor beggars to inherit the throne of glory. How can
he do that? Because the pillars of the earth
are the Lord's and he had set the world upon them. God is sovereign. He will keep the feet of his
saints, and he keeps the wicked silent in darkness, for by his
strength shall no man prevail. God is sovereign. The adversaries
of the Lord shall be broken to pieces. Out of heaven shall he,
God, thunder upon them. And the Lord shall judge the
ends of the earth, and he shall give strength unto his king,
and exalt the horn of his anointed. It's God who does all these things. It's God who does whatever He
pleases. What the Lord pleased, that did
He. He has mercy on whom He'll have
mercy. He hardens whom He'll harden.
None can stay His hand. None can question Him. As he
thinks, so shall it come to pass. As he purposes, so shall it stand. For the Lord of hosts hath purposed,
and who shall disannul it? And his hand is stretched out,
and who shall turn it back? Isaiah 14, 27. The Lord lifteth
up the meek, he casteth the wicked down to the ground. Psalm 148,
6. David said, have mercy upon me, O Lord. Consider my trouble,
which I suffer of them that hate me. Thou that liftest me up from
the gates of death, Psalm 913. Paul wrote in Romans 8, verse
11, but if the spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the
dead dwell in you, he that raised up, lifted up Christ from the
dead shall also quicken, make alive your mortal bodies by his
spirit that dwelleth in you. Why, even when we were dead in
sins, he quickened us together. By grace are you saved. He quickened us together with
Christ. and he hath raised us up together and made us sit together
in heavenly places." Where? In Christ Jesus, Ephesians 2,
5, and 6. He who lifted us up was lifted
up for us. He must be lifted up in order
for us to be saved. And as Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must, must the Son of Man be lifted
up, John 3, 14. Friends, we must not only be
made alive, but we have to be lifted up. You know, a man can
be alive and yet completely disabled. Christ came and lifted us up
to have life and to have it more abundantly. Christ is the good
shepherd and the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
John chapter 10 verses 10 and 11. We are as one dead, but Christ
takes us by the hand and he lifts us up. And lastly, Because of
these things, we have the certainty of life everlasting. Look at
verse 27 one more time. But Jesus took him by the hand
and lifted him up, and he arose. He didn't try to get up. He didn't
lend a helping hand to arise. He didn't get up by himself.
He didn't pick himself up by his bootstraps. No, Christ took
him by the hand. Christ lifted him up and he arose. Do you see the certainty of salvation
in Christ? And this is the record that God
had given to us eternal life. And this life is in his son. And he that hath the Son hath
life. And he that hath not the Son
of God hath not life. 1 John 5 verses 11 and 12. Now unto him. Now listen to this.
This is in your Bible. Now unto him that is able to
keep you from falling and to present you faultless before
the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, Jude 1.24. Wherefore
he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto
God by him, seeing that he ever liveth to make intercession for
them, Hebrews 7.25. and nothing, nothing shall be
able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord. Romans 8 39. The one who takes
you by the hand, the one that saves you by his grace, the one
that lifts you up, the one that saves, keeps, and preserves you,
I'm speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. We're kept by the power
of God through faith, by believing Christ and his word unto salvation.
And Christ never makes salvation possible. He makes it certain. So today, dear friends, Let's
praise God and say, hallelujah, what a savior. May God be pleased
to make it so, for God's glory, our good, and for Christ's sake,
amen. You have been listening to a
message by David Edmondson, the pastor of Bible Baptist Church
in Madisonville, Kentucky. If you would like a copy of this
message or to hear other messages of God's free, sovereign grace
in Christ, you can write to our mailing address at P.O. Box 652
Madisonville, Kentucky 42431 or log on to our website at FreeGraceRadio.com. If you would like to come and
worship with us, we meet at 2015 Beulah Road, Madisonville, Kentucky. And our service times are Sunday
morning Bible study at 10 o'clock a.m. Worship services begin at
11 o'clock a.m. Wednesday evening services at
7 o'clock p.m. Please tune in again next Sunday
morning at 10 o'clock a.m. for another message of God's
free and sovereign grace in the Lord Jesus Christ.