All right, so our first speaker is
Pastor Darwin Pruitt from Louisville, Arkansas. And I'm very thankful
for Darwin. He's been a pastor to every member
here. He was the interim pastor when
they were first starting. And he looked over this young
flock when they called me to be their pastor. And he's been
a faithful friend to me. And I thank him for just calling
me and taking my phone calls when I call him. And I know everybody
here, every member here, is thankful for what you've done for us.
And we're thankful to your congregation. And we love the fellowship between
you both. Brother Darwin, you're up first.
And when you get up here, let me just make sure your mic is
on. And then I'll let you go at it. Just make sure that thing
is up. You know where that thing is,
or are you used to it? There it is. That way. Bam. Well, at least I'll have evidence
if there's a problem. I tried to talk them into letting
me preach both of mine first, and they wouldn't go for it. I invite you to turn with me
this afternoon to Acts chapter 13. Acts chapter 13. And while you're turning, I wanna
say what a pleasure it is. Goes without saying that I'm
thankful to be here, thankful that God has given me an opportunity
to speak here. That he's given me an opportunity
to know the difference between what I preach and what others
preach. There was a time when I didn't.
I didn't know. But I've known this group from
the concept, and I preach the ordination of your pastor, and what a pleasure it is to
preach in your first Bible conference. And I think I can say for myself
as well as our church down in Lewisville, we love you. We love
you. We care for you. And we're always willing to do
anything we can to help this congregation. All right, Acts
chapter 13. I want to talk to you this afternoon
about preaching a person. A person. There are many things
that mark differences in what we preach and what others preach. People ask me all the time, well,
what do you all preach over there? Are you preaching something different
than they preach down here? I think so. And there's many
things that mark those differences. We preach an eternal election
of God. What's that mean? That means
God chose a people before He even created them. That's what
that is. It's an eternal election of God. Everything that God did, He did
for His elect and for His own glory. We preach an eternal predestination
of these chosen sinners, these elect sinners, to the adoption
of children. God said, not only am I going
to put them in my son, I'm going to make them sons. And nothing's going to hinder
it. Huh? That's predestination. Brother
Henry came down to preach for me years ago down in Louisiana,
and I had two Trailways bus drivers. And he went out to where they
worked, and they were showing him what all they did. And he
said, what's that up there on top of the bus? He said, that's
where we're going. And he said, so that bus is going
to New Orleans. And he said, yeah. Later on that
night, and he talked to him. And he said, well, sometimes
it goes almost back north. But he said, we're headed to
New Orleans. That's predestination. He had predestinated us to the
adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to
the good pleasure of his will. You know anybody around here
preaching that? I can't find anybody around me. We're preaching
the absolute sovereignty of God. What's that mean? That means
God does whatever he wants, whenever he wants, however he wants. He's
sovereign, he's God. The only thing that controls
God is God himself, his own character. That's the only thing. Nothing
else affects him. This whole generation believes
that what they accept or reject or what they do and don't do
and all these things, all that stuff affects God. It don't affect
him one iota. He knows what you're gonna say
and what you're gonna do way before you do it. Nothing takes
God by surprise. And who's going to stay his hand?
None. That's what the scripture says.
None shall stay his hand. None. You can't even ask him
what he's doing. He does what he will. And we
preach the irresistible, sovereign grace of God in salvation. Where
would you be without the grace of God? I'll tell you, I was runnin'
just as fast as I could into hell. That's where I was headed. Just as fast as I could. All
the while, thinkin' I was saved. All the while, runnin' around
playin' music in churches and swayin' with the music and amenin'
things. So, we breached the total and
complete ruin of man in the garden. Dead in trespasses and sins. Ezekiel, can them bones live? Oh, my soul. You know, Lord,
you know. We preach a particular redemption.
Christ died for his elect. That's who he died for, his elect.
He didn't die for the world. If he died for the world, the
world would be saved. Nothing wrong with the efficacy
of his death, but it's not the purpose of God to do that. He
died for his elect. And we preach the perseverance
of the saint. The Lord said, if any man draw
back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But he said, I love it
when he says but, don't you? But, he said, we're not of them
that draw back unto perdition. We draw back, but we don't draw
back to perdition. But we believe to the saving
of the soul. But what separates our preaching
from the preaching of this world more than anything else is the
preaching of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. I learned
Calvinism a long time before I knew who Christ was. And I was just as sure I knew
the gospel as anything. But I learned it the same way
I learned religion. Read some books, listened to
some men. I don't know who he is now. My soul, I went up like one of
my deacons. Came to me, and he said, you
know, there's a guy on Sunday morning preaching exactly what
you're asking all these questions about. I said, there's nobody
on TV on Sunday morning preaching those things? Oh, yes, he said,
there is. Name's Henry Mayhem. So I stayed home that next Sunday,
and I turned the TV on. I couldn't believe my ear. I
told my wife, I said, you know where we're going tonight, don't
you? We're going to Ashland. And I went up. Introduced myself
and met him and sat down there. And I'll tell you what the Lord
taught me. Salvation's in a person. Person. Well, how do you square
that up with election? God chose us in him. In that person. God secured us
in that person. He made preparation for us in
that person. Made provision for me in that
person. Chose us in Christ that we might
be holy. I'm so sick of hearing about
men's holiness, it makes me wanna throw up. Put on a long dress
and call that holiness. Put on a certain hairdo and call
that holiness. Open that little change purse
and shake out some change in the offering plate and call that
holiness. My soul. Holiness has to do with
the wholeness of God. That's what holiness is. The
wholeness of God. God ain't gonna change nothing
about him. His character absolutely perfect
and nobody's gonna do anything contrary to that. God not. He ain't gonna forgive one sinner
until that sinner can be in harmony with his character. All of it.
Not just his grace, not just his mercy. All of his character. Think about it. My soul. And this is the heart of my text
today in Acts 13, 38, after a brief history of Old Testament prophecy. Who's he talking to? He's talking
to men who had memorized the Old Testament. And he was one
of them at one time. He knew how they thought. He
knew what they was thinking that night when he preached. And after a brief history of
the Old Testament prophecy, Paul said, be it known unto you, therefore,
that through this man. That's pretty plain, ain't it? Through this man is preached
unto you the forgiveness of sins. And by him, you're not done yet. By him, all that believe are
justified from all things from which you could not be justified
by the law of Moses. I'm saved. Well, why do you think
that? Well, I tithe. You better come up with something
better than that. I attend church every week. You
better come up with something better than that. Paul said,
it's touching the righteousness which is of the law. He said,
I was blameless. And then I found out what it
meant to be saved. And he said, I took all that
dung, is what he called it. I took it out, threw it on the
dung heap. Got rid of all of it. Our text this afternoon tells
us five things about preaching salvation in Christ. And the
very first thing that I see here is an implication that the Gospels preach to sinners. To sinners. The whole need not
a physician. Why won't people listen to you?
Why won't they come hear you? Why won't they believe what you're
saying when you're reading it right out of the Word of God?
Why won't they do that? They got no need of a physician,
that's why. I have no need. What need do
I got with that? You mean to tell me God gonna
shut me up to hear that man? I don't have to hear him. I can
think twice as good as he can. I'm gonna go home and read the
Bible. And one fella told me he'd gone home that weekend,
read the Bible, and he said, we'll come back and I'll talk
to you Monday morning. I said, I think you're gonna
need a little more study than that, but we can talk if you want to. Oh, my soul. My soul. Sinners, they will not submit. They will not be taught. They
will not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ because they have
no need of him. That's the awful truth of unbelief. What they do want is to debate over answerless
questions. They want to quiz the preacher
over what school he attended. Where's your diploma? That's
what one lady asked me years ago when I first come down there.
She said, where's your diploma? What school did you graduate
from? I said, well, I've been to school. She said, you have? What school?
I said, Hard Knocks. Hard Knocks. Seem to me like I remember reading
over in John chapter six, I think it is, they shall all be taught
of God. I'll tell you what you're gonna
learn down there in seminary. Whosever seminary it is, that's
what you're gonna learn. You're gonna learn to be a Methodist,
you're gonna learn to be a Baptist, you're gonna learn to be a Catholic,
you're gonna learn to be something, but you're not gonna learn anything
about God. What is a sinner? Henry told
me one time, he said, I asked him that very question. He's
always talking about the sinner. Sinner, if I could just find
me a sinner. I said, what is a sinner? How do you define sinner? He said, that's a man that the
Holy Spirit has brought to the end of himself. He's a worthless, hopeless, helpless,
naked sinner standing before God. That's a sinner. When I'm
talking about sinners, I ain't talking about somebody that stole
the watermelon. I'm talking about a man who hates God. And he don't
just hate him with his mouth and with his head. We are by
nature children of wrath, even as others. My whole nature is
contrary to God. How can I live for God? How can
I reform? Sin entered, death passed, that's
what the scripture says. That's the story of man. By one
man, sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death
passed upon all men. What's the evidence? They've
all sinned. You know who sins? Sinners. Oh,
wait a minute, preacher. I'm a believer and I still sin.
That's because you're a sinner. That's right. Christ came into
this world to save who? Sinners. Sinners. Now listen to this. This is an
apostle. He wrote half the New Testament of whom I am chief. He didn't say he used to be. I'm chief. And I tell you, the
more light you get, the more dirt you see. Now, I'm three
times the sinner I used to be. My prayers are full of sin. My preaching's full of sin. Everything's
full of sin. I'm a sinner. When I would do
good, evil's praising. Isn't that what Paul said? Here's
a man who'd been writing the New Testament, inspired by the
Holy Ghost to pen words. Hear what he said. Oh, wretched
man that I am. Can you say that? Oh, I can. Who shall deliver me from the
body of this sinner? Preaching is to sinners. Now,
I preach to anybody that comes. But I'll tell you who you sent
to preach to, sinners. And I'm like Henry, I'm anxious
to see one, ain't you? Oh, to find me a sinner. Guy
called me. He'd been gone for about three
years. He came, listened to two messages, and went home. Two years later, I get a phone
call. He said, you probably don't know who this is. I said, I know
who it is. Well, he said, I judged you without really listening
to you. That's what he told me. He said, if you had me, I'd like
to come back. I said, well, come on. Came back. I don't know how long
he was there, probably six months. Wasn't there one Sunday, and
I called to see if he's sick. He said, no, we ain't coming
back. Huh? I'll tell you one thing,
sinners come back, don't they? Will you go also? And then when
he sold the 12, what'd they tell him? Where we gonna go? Where
we gonna go? I ain't got nowhere to go, do
you? Oh, listen to me. There's nothing
in this world And there's nothing in fallen man, and there's nothing
in religion for the sinner to find hope in. Nothing. It's a
black hole. Oh, you better look within. You
don't want to look there. Oh, man, that's a bottomless
pit. You don't want to look there.
You're going to come away depressed if you look in here. That's not
where you want to look. You want to look up here. Look
unto me. Ain't that what he said? Reformation, nothing but a cruel
joke to a dead sinner. Start talking to him about it.
You need to clean up your act. Oh, my son. Walking the aisles, signing cards,
joining churches. These are all activities that
deal with the symptoms, and they leave the disease untreated,
don't they? When God calls a man into the ministry, he shuts him
up to a message, and that message is through a man, and he'll follow
him. Listen to this, 1 Thessalonians
1. Paul said, I know your election
of God. How do you know that, Paul? My
gospel come not unto you in word only. but it come in power and
it come in the Holy Ghost. Now listen to this, and you become
followers of us. What? You become followers of us and
the Lord. You gonna follow him, you gonna
have to follow a preacher. I'm telling you. I'm telling
you, you gonna have to follow him and God will shut you up
to him. And once you see yourself as a sinner, that guy that used
to be the joke of the neighborhood, used to be the object of your
hatred, you're gonna cry big alligator tears and you're gonna
say, how beautiful are the feet. How beautiful are the feet of
God's ministers. Oh my soul, what would I have
done without hearing the gospel? And that's where this word of
that. Our text plainly implies that all true preaching is to
sinners. And then secondly, our text declares
a full, free, and gracious justification and, there's more, and an accomplished
redemption in Christ. As in religion, We all decided
I'd read some things and heard some things, and I was tore up
with religion, but I still in it. And we needed to replace
some windows in the church, and I said, we're going to have a
car wash. I hate to even tell folks I used
to think that way. Well, we was expecting eight
or 10 cars. It was a little old church, you
know? We started washing cars at 8 o'clock in the morning,
and we quit at dawn. And we went in the house, and
my brother-in-law, Hap, you know him. Hap and I were sitting there
talking about these things. Not by works, not by works, you
know, and we'd go back and forth. And my wife was sitting there.
She had real long hair, and it was sopping wet. She'd been washing
these cars all day. And she looked at me, and she
looked at him, and she looked back. She said, you mean we did
all this for nothing? Yeah, that's what I mean. That's what I mean, we get all
those things. Been in our wills. He's already
accomplished our redemption. It's accomplished. Listen to
this. He told about the Old Testament
figures over there in Hebrews chapter nine, and then he said,
but this man, that's what I'm talking to, I'm trying to preach
to you a person. This man, Paul said, Not with the blood of bulls and
goats, but by his own blood. He didn't enter into the tabernacle,
that old flat tent built by hand. He entered into heaven itself
and obtained, got it in his hand, he obtained eternal redemption
for us. Accomplished redemption, Larry. I'm not trying to be redeemed. I'm redeemed if I believe on
him. Through this man is preached
unto you the forgiveness of sins. Well, what in the world does
this man have to do with God forgiving sin? Everything. Everything. God appointed him as the Savior.
Did you know that? Thou shalt call his name Jesus.
Why in the world would you call him Jesus? For he shall save
his people from their sin. You mean he was appointed to
be saved? That's exactly what God said.
Paul said to Timothy over in 2 Timothy 1, 9, he said, God
saved us. He didn't say he was going to,
although that's true too, but he didn't say God was gonna save
us, he said God hath saved us. And then he called us. Oh, now
wait a minute. You're getting that backwards.
No. No, I got it exactly the way it is. He hath saved us and called us
with a holy calling, something in perfect harmony with his character,
a holy calling. Think about it. Not according
to our words. but according to his own purpose
and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus. Huh? Before the world began. How did he save us? He chose
us and put us in an eternal covenant union with his son. What's that
mean? He just sees one man. Huh? How in the world could God love
me? In Christ. In Christ. You know, that scripture
I quoted out of Ephesians one while ago, he said, according
as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame. That's our accomplished
redemption justification. But there's one more thing he
said, before him in love. You mean God's looking down there
and looking at my love for him? No. No, here would be a better,
I'm not gonna improve on the word of God, I'm just gonna tell
you what it means. Before him, being loved. Yeah, but what if
you do this? Nothing shall be able to separate
us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus. And he names
everything there is. I told that to one preacher,
Read the whole thing to him when I got done. He said, yeah, but
you can separate yourself. Listen to this. How does man get in Christ? Don't you hate to hear that?
I got saved. So it sounded like it was a donut or something.
You went down there and got a sack full of it. You don't. How did he save us? He chose
us in his Son. And then listen to this. How
do we get in Christ? Of God are you in Christ Jesus? When did that happen? Long before
you was ever born. Of God are you in Christ Jesus? Now watch this. Who of God? is made unto us wisdom. What
do you know about God? I don't know. I've been studying
this book for a long time. I quote verses, but I tell you,
when I think about how little I know about God, oh, my soul. Christ is my wisdom. Christ is
my wisdom. He made unto us wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification. Ain't you tired of hearing folks
talk about being sanctified? Nazarene, that's a church I come
out of. They believe in a sanctification. What they mean by that, you get
up this plateau, you work your way up, you finally get up to
this plateau, and then God does a second definite work of grace,
and you sanctified forever. So, no, my sanctification's in
Christ. Sanctified, what'd he say? Once
for all. I love that. And redemption. According as
is written, he that gloryeth, let him glory in the Lord. There's
nothing else to glory in, is there? Let him glory in the Lord. There's nothing outside of Christ
for fallen sinners. He that hath the Son, the scripture
says, hath life. But it don't quit there, it said,
he that hath not the Son hath not life. Whatever else he's
got. Paul said, in him dwelleth all
the fullness of the Godhead body. Yeah, but Richard, we have a
walk to walk. Listen to this, in him. As you have received Christ Jesus
the Lord, so walk you in him. In him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and you're complete in him. He's the head
of all principality and power. What else you haven't in need
of? Can you even think of anything that you might need that's outside
of Christ? Nothing. Nothing out there but
darkness. In him, perfect light. And then thirdly, our text declares
boldly that the preaching of Christ is the means of faith
Well, I just sat in my closet, got this vision, and then I believed. Mm, you better be careful. Through
this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins. It's
preached unto you. The Holy Ghost asks four questions
that every chosen sinner's gonna come to see. He starts out in
Romans 10, 14. In 13, he said, whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord gonna be saved. But there's some
problem. There's some problem. How shall
you call on him in whom you have not believed? Well, I believed on Jesus since
I was a little boy. Yeah, another Jesus. That's what
Paul said. By another spirit, by another
gospel. Salvation in Christ is a mystery
to fallen man. He doesn't know God, he only
knows what man has told him about God. And then secondly, he said,
how they gonna believe in him of whom they have not heard? Master, they was offended by you. How
come they don't believe? How come they don't follow you?
It's given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God
is not given to them. You believe that? It's the gift
of God. Why do I believe? And men way
better than me stumble around in darkness. Why is that? Given
unto you. Just given to you. Poor, helpless
sinner couldn't do anything. God said, here it is. Here it
is. I'm gonna show you. I have not
seen or ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of mankind
the things that God hath prepared for them that love him. But he
hath revealed them unto us, made us to know them. It's given unto
you to know. Blessed are your ears, for they
hear. How many times in the book of
Revelations does it say this? He that hath ears to hear. Let
him hear. Let him hear. The Jews had the
word of God, the prophets of God, and of whom after the flesh
Christ came, who God over all blessed forever, and he looked
at them and he said, you search the scriptures, for in them you
think you have eternal life. And they are they that testify
of me. But there's a problem. What was
the problem? You won't come unto me. You see what I'm saying? I'm preaching a person, and God's
elect come to him. All that the Father hath given
me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me, I'll know
I is Christ. Those Jews hoped for a coming
Messiah, and he was standing right before them, and they said,
if thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. He said, I told you,
plainly. But you believe not. You're not
my sheep. There must be a hearing. Faith
cometh by hearing. And then thirdly, how shall they
preach except they be sent? I've got firsthand experience
in this. Don't call yourself in the ministry. Don't do it.
How are you going to preach if God don't send you? I hear some
of these young preachers, and they're just promoting themselves.
They send me articles, here, put this in your bulletin. Well,
if you'd have took time to search it out, I don't even print a
bulletin. Let me tell you something about
promoting yourself. I hope you already know this,
but if you don't, let me tell you. If a preacher promotes himself,
how in the world is he ever gonna have any confidence that God
sent him? Huh? Every time you look at something,
you'll say, oh, oh, did I do that? Or did God do that? And you look back over your past,
oh, I'm here because I did this. I did that. I had this. I figured
this out. It's all about I. How are they
going to preach if God don't send them? How does he know where
to send them? How would that preacher know
where to go? If God don't open that door,
I'm here tonight because God sent me. I've got no doubt in
my mind. God sent me. Why? Because he
come to pass. That's why. I didn't send the
promotionals up here. Hey, remember me? Call me now
when you have a conference. I didn't do that. He called me. He called me. A preacher, you
ain't one of them men who believe God sends preachers to individuals,
are you? Oh, yes, I am. Oh, yes, I am. Feel it? Phillip's down here
in a revival. I mean, they're people being
saved by the thousands. They're meeting every day, breaking
bread house to house. I mean, they're having a revival.
God's saving thousands. Feel it? I want you to go out
there in the desert. In the desert? Go out there in
the desert. He didn't tell him who he was
sending him to. He said, go. Bill said, OK. Bill went out
there and looked. Here's a big caravan. He's looking
up and down. All of a sudden, he's by that
Ethiopian eunuch. And he's got a scroll in his
hand. And he's reading Isaiah. And Philip ran up by the side
of the chariot and he said, you know what you're reading? Here,
old dumb eunuch, he done been down in Jerusalem, watched all
the feasts, was partaker and all that, came away knowing no
more than he did before he went. And here he is and he's reading
this passage in Isaiah and here comes this man and he said, you
know what you're reading? He said, how could I know what
I'm reading except some man declare it to me? You think he'd been
unsuccessful by trying to figure it out? I guarantee you. He was marveling at the mystery
of God. That's what he was doing. He said, coot over. I got some
good news for you. How shall you hear without a
preacher, and how shall he preach except he be sent? And I will
tell you this, ain't anybody gonna be saved until God sends
him a preacher. It ain't gonna happen. You can
get religious. You can make professions. You
can join church. You can join this church. Because
he can't see your heart, and I can't either. Nobody's gonna be saved till
God sends him a preacher. Listen to this. Who is Paul?
These Corinthians had all kind of problems just like me. Who
is Paul? Who is a Paulist but ministers,
now listen to this, by whom you believed. But that ain't the
end of it, listen to this. Even as the Lord gave to how
many? Every man. Every man. You think God has a preacher
for every one of his or that? He sure does. Henry Mayhem was
mine. He was my... My nephew asked
me one time, if these things be so, that you're telling me,
how can a sinner like me know if I'm hearing God's preacher
or Satan's preacher? How can I know? You might get
upset, but this is what I told him. You never will, apart from
the grace of God. You never will. You ain't gonna
know the difference. We are God, John said, and he
that knoweth God heareth us. God makes his people meet, Paul
said, to be partakers of the inheritance of saints in light. You know what that is? Enlightened
saints. That's what that's talking about.
Enlightened. They don't wander at the mystery
anymore. They understand the mystery. Through this man is preached
unto you the forgiveness of sins. Oh, I'll just figure it out for
myself. No, you won't. You'll read that
book till you turn blue in the face, and you'll come away as
stumped as you ever was. I'll tell you what's going to
happen. You're going to ask more questions than you did when you
started. Because you're going to discover things in there you
never heard. Nobody ever in the Nazarene church talked to me
about predestination. I didn't know the word was in
the Bible. Election, irresistible growth. I never heard anything
about any of that. And then fourthly, the objects
of this preaching, who is it? Who is it that we're
searching for? Who is it that our ministry is
ordained and designed for? God's elect. God's elect. All, now listen to this, all,
A-double-L, all that believe are justified from all things
from which they could not be justified by the law of Moses. God doesn't save His elect no
matter what, He saves them by the means He has ordained. God
hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth, whereunto, because of
that, he called you by our gospel. By faith that it might be by
grace to the end that the promise might be sure to all to see. God the lector, made known by
faith, Paul was talking to those Jews
in this very church at Antioch. And he said, beware. Beware. And I'll get to that in just
a minute. Beware, lest that come upon you as written by a prophet.
Beware. But they didn't beware. They
despised him and despised what he was preaching. And even the
wealthy women went around telling tales about Paul and tried Defame
him. Paul said, well, since you judge
yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, he said, I'm going to turn
to the Gentiles. And the very first thing he did, reached way
back in the Old Testament. He did that because there was
no New Testament at the time. And he reached back there and
got that scripture. And he said, huh? All of my soul. God's included
the Gentiles. Oh, I'll tell you, I'll never
forget the first time that went home to me. You know what he said? He said,
they were glad. I was too. Oh, I was so glad. I was so glad. But what's this? Acts 13, 47,
48. What'd he say? When he turned from the Jews
to the Gentiles and showed them the word of God, how they were
a part of God's purpose of grace, they were glad and they glorified
the word of the Lord and as many as were ordained to eternal life
believed. God has a people he's determined
to save in Christ and he's set in order the means and the power
to bring it to pass. And then lastly, He leaves them
with a strong warning. Beware, therefore, lest that
come upon you which is spoken of in the prophets. Behold, you
despisers. What did they despise? They despised
Christ. They despised this person that
he was preaching. Behold, you despisers, and wander
and perish, for I work a work in your days. A work which you
shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it to you. Our Lord was a preacher. Never a man spake like this man.
His person and his work, according to the word of God, was confirmed
by miracles and wonders and signs which God did by him in their
midst. They were standing there. The high council was standing
there, and the Lord walked up to a tomb that had been sealed
for four days, and he said, Lazarus, come forth. And that stone moved
aside, and that man wrapped head to toe in grave clothes. He must
have floated out. I don't know how he come out.
He was wrapped head to toe in grave clothes. He come out of
that tomb. They saw that, and immediately
went and had him moved. Called them a business meeting,
and they said, we got to get rid of this guy. I don't know if I'd be in that
big a hurry to get rid of somebody who can call the dead out of
a tomb. But they were. And that's how dead man is. That's
how dead he is. They saw lepers cleansed, the
blind see, deaf to hear, men and women raised from the dead.
And they heard the gospel plainly and simply. And they looked at
him and said, if that be the Christ, tell us plainly. So he
gave them every kind of a parable there was. Without a parable,
spake he nothing. And then finally, in frustration,
they said unto him, tell us plainly. Oh, he said, you're not my sheep.
That's why you don't see. Well, let me ask you something. I preached to you, and I told
you about election. I told you about predestination.
I told you that salvation is in him, period. Does that get
your dander up? Does that make you mad? Talk about these things, does
that make you want to get on your soapbox? There's folks on
the internet who do. When they hear it, get on that
soapbox, you know. Oh, God says to all such wonder
and perish. My friend, when God calls the
sinner, he shuts his mouth. You wanna know if somebody's
hungry? When they just sit there and look, their mouth's shut. They ain't gonna argue, they're
not gonna debate. I tell you, I used to, I'd go
back and pat him on the back. I'd do anything to try to get
him to stay. That don't do no good. Ain't no sense. When God does the work, he shuts
the mouth. And they stand there guilty before
God. In the hands of what? Sovereign
mercy. Whose hands? The sovereign. The
Lord Jesus Christ. Where's he seated? On the throne. on the throne, big toys. Oh,
religion got him pacing the floor. Oh, I hope God saved somebody.
I hope my death wasn't for nothing. That ain't the Christ of God.
He's sitting there with his legs crossed, expecting till his enemies
be made his footstool. Oh, may the Lord bless his gospel
to your heart. Thank you. One moment. So Brother Joe is
going to lead us in a couple of hymns during this time now.
It's a good time for you to use the restroom if you need to use
it. And then come right back. We're going to have the second
service. Brother Don will be preaching. And so we'll go right
into that. And then we'll have the meal
afterwards. And then, Brother, if you switch it now. So you
can use the restroom now. And then we'll have the hymns. If you would, let's turn to 258.
He hideth my soul, 258. A wonderful Savior is Jesus my
Lord, a wonderful Savior to me. He hideth my soul in the cleft
of the rock where rivers of pleasure I see. He hideth my soul in the
cleft of the rock that shadows a dry, thirsty land. He hideth my love in the depths
of His love, and covers me there with His hand, and covers me
there with His hand. A wonderful Savior is Jesus my
Lord. He taketh my burden away. He holdeth me up and I shall
not be moved. He giveth me strength as my day. He hideth my soul in the cleft
of the rock that shadows a dry, thirsty land. He hideth my life in the depths
of his love and covers me there with his hand. And covers me there with His
hand. With numberless blessings each
moment He crowns Man filled with His fullness divine. I sing in my rapture, O Glory
to God, For such a Redeemer as mine. Behind my soul, in the
cleft of the rock, That shadows a dry, thirsty land, He hideth
my life in the depths of His love, and covers me there with
His hand, and covers me there with His hand. Enclothed in His brightness,
transformed, I rise to meet Him in clouds of the sky. His perfect salvation, His wonderful
love, I'll shout with the millions on high. He hideth my soul in
the cleft of the rock that shadows a dry, thirsty land. He hideth my life in the depths
of his love and covers me there with his hand. He covers me there with his hand. You may be seated. Did you want
to sing a second one, or are you OK with that? Let's introduce. OK. Very good.