Well, good morning, everyone.
I think we'll get started. And we, of course, want to put
out a warm welcome to Obi and Stacia and the kids. It's been
very nice having you. And we're very excited you're
here. So thank you. Let's begin our
service this morning by singing 326 from your heart back. More about Jesus. And we'll do
that standing, please. more about Jesus 326. More of his grace to others show. More of his saving fullness see. More of his love who died for
me. More, more of Jesus. Let me learn. Christ to me. More, more about
Jesus. More, more about Jesus. More His saving, promising. More His love, who died for me. in his word. Oh, communion with
my Lord, hearing his voice in every line, making each faithful
saying mine. More, more about Jesus, for me. more about Jesus The Bible reading this morning
will be from Exodus 15. Actually, I'd like to start in
verse 30 of 14, and then we'll read to verse
21. So Exodus 14 verse 30, Thus the
Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians.
And Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the seashore. And Israel
saw that great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians.
And the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord and his
servant Moses. Then sang Moses, and the children
of Israel this song unto the Lord, and spake, saying, I will
sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously. The horse
and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. The Lord is my
strength and song, and he is become my salvation. He is my
God, and I will prepare him in habitation, my Father's God,
and I will exalt him. The Lord is a man of war. The
Lord is his name. Pharaoh's chariots and his hosts
hath he cast into the sea. His chosen captains also are
drowned in the Red Sea. The depths have covered them.
They sank into the bottom as a stone. Thy right hand, O Lord,
has become glorious in power. Thy right hand, O Lord, hath
dashed in pieces the enemy. And in the greatness of thine
excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee.
Thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble.
And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together.
The flood stood upon as an heap, and the depths were congealed
in the heart of the sea. The enemy said, I will pursue,
I will overtake, I will divide the spoil. My lust shall be satisfied
upon them. I will draw my sword, my hand
shall destroy them. Thou didst blow with thy wind,
the sea covered them, they sank as lead in the mighty waters.
Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like thee,
glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? Thou
stretchest out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them. Thou
in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed.
Thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation.
The people shall hear and be afraid. Sorrow shall take hold
on the inhabitants of Palestina. Then the dukes of Edom shall
be amazed, and the mighty men of Moab, trembling, shall take
hold upon them. All the inhabitants of Canaan
shall melt away. Fear and dread shall fall upon
them. By the greatness of thine arm they shall be as still as
a stone. till thy people pass over, O
Lord, till the people pass over, which thou hast purchased. Thou
shalt bring them in and plant them in the mountain of thine
inheritance, in the place, O Lord, which thou hast made for thee
to dwell in, in the sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have
established. The Lord shall reign for ever
and ever. For the horse of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and
with his horsemen into the sea, and the Lord brought again the
waters of the sea upon them. But the children of Israel went
on dry land in the midst of the sea. And Mariam the prophetess,
the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women
went out after her with timbrel and with dances. And Mariam answered
them, Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously.
The horse and the rider hath he thrown into the sea. Our Heavenly and Merciful Father,
we do thank you once again. You have allowed us and permitted
us to assemble together this morning. You have given us a
place and you have given a desire in our hearts. Father, will you
please also pour out your Holy Spirit and your mercy upon us
this morning. For without your presence and
blessing, we shall have met in vain. Father, remember Scott
also and his parents. Remember those that have not
been able to attend. Father, remember Obi also as
he hopes to bring another message. Give him, Lord, the unction of
your spirit, that he may be enabled to lift up your great and glorious
name, that he may be able to spread out that glorious gospel
before us, that he may lift up that only name given among men
whereby we must be saved. Father, will you remember us
as a small assembly? And if it pleases you, and it
is in my will and favor that you may send a pastor, an under-shepherd
to us, have mercy. Remember all your preachers wherever
they labor. Give them what they stand in
need of for Jesus' sake alone. Amen. Good morning. Thank y'all so much for having
me. Enjoyed visiting with everyone and getting to know y'all. It's been a blessing to me and
I hope it has been to you as well. Are we on? Turn with me to 2 Peter chapter
3. Can everybody hear me okay? I'm soft spoken and I rely on
microphones so I want to make sure it's going well. 2 Peter chapter 3, we'll read this
chapter together. This second epistle, beloved,
I now write unto you, in both which I stir up your pure minds
by way of remembrance, that ye may be mindful of the words which
were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment
of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour, knowing this first,
that there shall come in the last days scoffers walking after
their own lust, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming?
for since the fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were
from the beginning of creation. For this they willingly are ignorant
of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the
earth standing out of the water and in the water, whereby the
world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished. But the
heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are
kept in store. reserved unto fire against the
day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved,
be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord
as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is
not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness,
but is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish,
but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will
come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall
pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat. The earth also, and the works
that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these
things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to
be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hastening
unto the coming of the day of God? wherein the heavens being
on fire shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat. Nevertheless we, according to
his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth
righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that
ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in
peace. without spot and blameless, and
account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation, even
as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given
unto him hath written unto you, as also in all his epistles,
speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard
to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable
rest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. Ye therefore, beloved, seeing
ye know these things before, beware, lest ye also, being led
away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness.
But grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ. To Him be glory, both now and
forever. Amen. A couple of months ago
I was listening to a message and the speaker brought attention
to the Tower of Babel. And I'd never heard this before,
but he sent that message that the Tower of Babel they had built
to escape another flood. First time I'd ever heard it
presented in that light. So I thought about it a little
bit and he had some merit in what he was saying. He gave better
reasoning than I can remember. So the next Sunday school, or
a couple of Sunday schools after, I was teaching the kids and we
came to the part of the Tower of Babel. And so we discussed
this possibility of them building the tower to escape another flood
as being a possible, knowing human nature hasn't changed since
Adam fell. there was some merit in what
the speaker brought out and so we talked about that and in our
discussion we went back to Noah and reviewed the promise that
God had given to Noah that he would never again flood the world
with water and during that discussion one of the kids said something
along the lines of unbelief just doesn't make sense And that became
the basis of my subject today, the folly of unbelief. We're
going to look at two examples from the past and then in their
light we'll consider our condition today. The two instances I want
us to consider are the flood and the fall of Jericho. Both
have much in common. There is a clear danger declared. A way of escape is made readily
available. And yet, in both instances, many
perished due to their unbelief. So let's first consider the salvation
of Noah and his family. If you'd like, turn to Genesis
chapter 6. Genesis chapter 6 verse 5. Genesis 6 verse 5, And God saw
that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that
every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that
he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from
the face of the earth, both man and beast, and the creeping thing,
and the fowls of the air. For it repenteth me that I have
made him. But Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord." Because Noah found grace in the
eyes of the Lord, God spoke to him and made a covenant with
him in verse 13. And God said unto Noah, The end
of all flesh is come before me, for the earth is filled with
violence through them. And, behold, I will destroy them
with the earth. Then skip over to verse 17. And,
behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy
all flesh wherein is the breath of life from under heaven, and
everything that is in the earth shall die. But with thee will
I establish my covenant, and thou shalt come into the ark,
thou and thy sons and thy wife and thy sons' wives with thee." It's not recorded in Scripture.
Everything that happened from the beginning of the world is
not written in Scripture. What we need to know is written.
But I don't imagine building that ark was a light task. light undertaking. It was huge.
Somebody built a supposed replica of it in Kentucky and it took
them a long time with machinery to build that supposed replica. And I doubt very seriously that
it was only Noah and his boys that worked on that ark. Life
at the time of Noah was very similar to our life today. Our
Lord said in Luke 17, And as it was in the days of Noah, so
shall it be in the days of the Son of Man. They did eat, they
drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until
the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came and
destroyed them all. Imagine Noah called for help.
I imagine he hired some laborers to come and help him with this
wood that he was putting together. I imagine friends and family
might from time to time stop by. Can I give you a hand? Men coming and going, working
and playing, traveling and staying, just as today. Think of the stir
that it caused when Noah started building this Think of the men
that came up and Noah said, hey, I need some men to work for me.
I'll give you $20 to help me today or whatever, you know,
whatever it was. And these workmen come up, OK,
yeah, I'm willing to do some work. What are you building,
Noah? Well, I'm building an ark, as
the Lord commanded me, because the end of the world is coming.
The Lord is going to destroy everything and everyone, and
only those that are inside this ark will be saved. You're doing what? Building an
ark? What's an ark? Well, it's going
to be a boat. It's going to float on the water. That water's never
come over the bank. And I don't know if he knew what
rain was at that time. Let's just say that rain's going
to fall from the sky. No way. You're nuts, but hey,
you're giving good money. I'll help you out. And those workmen that came and
went, they would have carried this story with them as they
traveled. There's a man over that way. He's building an ark. He's paying
good money. If you want a job, go over there. And there would be questions
presented to these storytellers that took this story around.
He says, the world's going to be destroyed when? I don't know. How long has he been building
this ark? A while now, most of my life I guess. We don't know
how long exactly he spent building the ark. The last verse in chapter
5 says that Noah was 500 years old and he had his three sons.
And then the flood came in Noah's 600th year. So if we go with
the assumption that we're told his age when he started building
the ark, he's building the ark for 100 years. Hundred years
of declaring to all that would listen, the end of the world
is coming. And salvation is going to be
only in this ark. Hundred years of men and women
ridiculing him. And particularly the longer he
built that ark, and the closer it got to completion, people became bored with his
story. That nutcase Noah still building
that boat? He's been building it all my
life. That water still had never risen
above the bank over there. I've never seen anything fall
from heaven. Then the day arrived. Genesis
chapter 7 verse 1. And the Lord said unto Noah,
Come thou and all thy house into the ark, for thee have I seen
righteous before me in this generation. Of every clean beast thou shalt
take to thee by sevens, the male and his female, and of beasts
that are not clean by two, the male and his female. Of fowls
also of the air by sevens, the male and the female, to keep
seed alive upon the face of all the earth. for yet seven days,
and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty
nights, and every living substance that I have made will I destroy
from off the face of the earth." And Noah did according unto all
that the Lord commanded him. Notice here that Noah entered
that ark seven days before a single drop of rain fell. by faith,
Noah went into the ark. He had no evidence that there
was a flood coming, no evidence of rain falling, but he believed
God's word. He went into the ark, he and
his family. Those people outside the ark
for seven days, I guess six days, they stood out there and they
ridiculed Noah. He's gone into that smelly, animal-infested
ark. And he's sitting in there. What's
he doing? The man's lost his mind, and
his family wouldn't. But Noah believed God that the
flood would come, and he remained steadfastly in that ark. And
all too late, the world learned that Noah spoke the truth. Verse
23 declares, They were destroyed from the earth, and Noah only
remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark. Now let's turn over to Joshua
chapter 2. Joshua chapter 2, less than 800
years after the flood, a man called Abram was born. And his
grandson Jacob had a son by the name of Joseph. Joseph God raised
up in Egypt to the saving of Israel, saving of Jacob and his
family. And it was through Joseph that
God's promise to Abram was fulfilled. which declared that Abram's children
would serve in Egypt for 400 years. At the end of that time,
God raised up Moses, who led the nation of Israel through
the wilderness for 40 years because of their unbelief. At last, the
children of Israel are set to enter into the land of Canaan,
and the first walled city that they're going to encounter is
Jericho. Joshua, who is now leaving Israel,
for Moses had died right before they entered into Canaan. Joshua
sent two men to spy upon the land, to spy upon Jericho, and
they have been hidden by Rahab the harlot. Joshua 2, verse 9. And Rahab said unto the men,
I know that the Lord hath given you the land, and that your terror
is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint
because of you. For we have heard how the Lord
dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out
of Egypt, and what you did unto the kings of the Amorites that
were on the other side of Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly
destroyed. And as soon as we heard these
things, Our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any
more courage in any man because of you. For the Lord your God,
He is God in heaven above and in earth beneath. Now therefore
I pray you, swear unto me by the Lord, since I have showed
you kindness, that ye will also show kindness unto my father's
house, and give me a true token. and that ye will save alive my
father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and
all that they have, and deliver our lives from death." And the
man answered her, Our life for yours, if ye utter not this our
business, and it shall be when the Lord hath given us the land,
that we will deal kindly and truly with thee. Then she let
them down by a cord through the window, for her house was upon
the town wall. And she dwelt upon the wall.
And she said unto them, Get ye to the mountain, lest the pursuers
meet you. The king of Jericho had sent
pursuers out after the two spies, because Rahab had told him that
they had come into her house and she had sent them away. So
lest the pursuers meet you, and hide yourselves there three days,
until the pursuers be returned. May ye go your way. And the men
said unto her, We will be blameless of this thine oath which thou
hast made us swear. Behold, when we come into the
land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window
which thou didst let us down by, and thou shalt bring thy
father and thy mother and thy brethren and all thy father's
household home unto thee. And it shall be that whosoever
shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his
blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless. And
whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall
be on our head, if any hand be upon him. And if thou utter this
our business, then we will be quit of thine oath which thou
hast made us to swear. And she said, According unto
your word, so be it. And she sent them away, and they
departed, and she bound the scarlet thread in the window. And they
went and came unto the mountain, and abode there three days, until
the pursuers were returned. And the pursuers sought them
throughout all the way, but found them not." Based on Rahab telling these
men to go into the mountain for three days, we can figure that
Israel was probably at least a day and a half journey. from
Jericho at that point. Those men hid for three days.
Then they had a day and a half journey back to Joshua in Israel. So they arrived back to Joshua
maybe five days after they left Rahab. What do you think Rahab was doing
during those five days? Did she sit back comfortably
in her home, proper feet up? and say, well, I'm safe. Israel
is not going to harm me as long as I stay in this house. I doubt
it. Could you have? Could you have,
knowing that Israel was going to come and destroy your friends,
your family? Could you have sat in your house
safe and not gone to them and say, when Israel comes, get to
my house? There's safety there. I have
their promise. No one in my house will be harmed. She told them what they already
knew. They knew this from before the spies arrived. They knew
Israel was coming to Jericho, and they were certain it was
going to follow. Their hearts had fell. They were certain they
were doomed. Then the day came, and Israel
arrived at Jericho. And I just imagined that Rahab's
house was packed full. Everybody she had spoken to came
to her house. As soon as the alarm crowd went
up, Israel's here. She opened her door and people
just flooded in. And they wait. They wait for
the sound of attack. They wait for the siege of the
walls. It doesn't come. They hear some trumpets blowing,
and Israel goes and walks, marches around those walls, blowing their
trumpet, and they left. That's not the way to fight a
war. That's not the way to take a city. Don't blow trumpets and
leave. You come and you bombard the
place. You attack it. I'm going home. My house is just as safe as this
harlot's house. Five more days, Israel came. All five days, they did the same
thing. And I just imagine, with each
passing day, Israel's coming. Whoop-dee-doo. They all march
around again, blow their trumpets. I'm not going to Rahab's house.
There's no danger. Israel's not taking this city. Her house is as good as mine.
In fact, hers is on the wall, but mine's not even on the wall.
If they're going to go anywhere, they've got to break through
that wall first. Same wall. And just as in Noah's day, so
it is in Jericho's. The hour finally came, Joshua
chapter 6, Joshua 6 verse 5. And it shall come to pass, that
when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and ye hear the
sound of the trumpet, all the people of Israel shall shout
with a great shout, And the wall of the city shall fall down flat,
and the people shall ascend up, every man straight before him.
And Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and said unto them,
Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven
trumpets of ram's horns before the ark of the Lord. So the people shouted when the
priest blew with the trumpets, and it came to pass when the
people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted
with a great shout that the wall fell down flat, so that the people
went up into the city. Every man straight before him,
and they took the city, and they utterly destroyed all that was
in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox and sheep
and ass with the edge of the sword. But Joshua had said unto
the two men that had spied out the country, Go into the harlot's
house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath,
as ye swear unto her. And the young men that were spies
went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother,
and her brethren, and all that she hath, and they brought out
all her kindred, and left them without the camp of Israel. The walls of Jericho fell on
that seventh day, and all the inhabitants were destroyed, save
for those found in Rahab's house. We've seen two instances that
any man standing on this side of history can conclude that
those who were perished, those who were destroyed, did so by
their own fault. They were warned and they didn't
heed. Those who perished did so because
they did not believe the danger to exist. And since they didn't
believe the danger existed, they sought no refuge. What does that have to do with
us today? That was thousands of years ago.
That means nothing to me today. Oh, but it does. You and I, every
person born of man, is in danger this very day. Just as surely as those in Noah
and Rahab's day were in danger, so we are today. We have a death
sentence upon our hip. Do you believe that death is
at your door? The youngest among us today may
not make it to tomorrow. Death comes for all of us. We
shall surely die. The saddest part of that is that
death isn't the fearful thing that we have to dread. It's the event after that that
we must encounter. The writer of Hebrews declares,
As it is appointed unto men once to die, every one, should our
Lord not return, shall suffer bodily death. As it is appointed
unto men once to die, but after the death of the body, the judgment. And men shall be judged, but
not according to their own judgment. They will be judged according
to the judgment of the thrice holy God. And He has already
passed sentence upon us. God has declared there is none
righteous. No, not one. Mankind is guilty. We rebelled in Adam. Just as
surely as we were there, we rebelled in Adam. And we continue to rebel
to this very day. If God does not have mercy upon
us, we shall perish in the judgment and be condemned to eternal separation
from our God. Do you believe that? Do you believe
that you are guilty in the sight of God? Do you believe that I
am guilty in the sight of God? Outside of Christ, I am guilty. And I deserve the just wrath
of God. Or do you believe, well, I'm
just as good as this guy next to me. In fact, in this point,
I don't mow my yard on Sunday. I'm better than him. He mows
his. I don't mow mine at all. And because I don't mow my yard,
God's got to let me into heaven. That just seems so foolish. When did mowing yards become
a thing we do? On a weekday? My grandmother grew up, great
grandmother, she swept their yard. They kept it bare. Sorry, I got sidetracked. There
are two reactions to this question. Do we believe that death is at
our door? Do we believe that we are in
danger? Either you will believe what the scriptures declare that
man is sin and in and of himself, he has no hope that he is going
to die. He will perish. He will be separated
from God outside of Christ or You look at me and account me
as crazy as crazy old Noah building his ark. And if you don't believe the
danger, death is certain, the judgment is coming. If you don't
believe the danger, you're not going to seek a refuge. Man has sinned. Adam rebelled
and we died to all spiritual life. 1 Corinthians 15.22 declares,
in Adam all die. That word all there is defined
by in Adam. All in Adam. Is there anyone
here who can say I'm not in Adam? There's only been one man that
walked this earth that wasn't in Adam. And that was our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who came in the seed of woman,
having not Adam's sins and iniquities upon Him. But aren't you thankful that
Paul doesn't end with just, in Adam all die? But he continues
and he says, even so, in Christ all, in Christ shall all be made
alive." That word, all, in that instance is predicated, it's
defined. The definition of those included
in that all are those in Christ. Who you're in, God sees man in
one of two men. You're either in Adam or you're
in Christ. In Christ. Sounds a little familiar. Noah was called of God. Come
into the earth. Rahab pleading with her friends
and her family. Come in my house. There's safety here. I like you
like her. Call upon you. Seek Christ. Be
found in Him. That is where our safety lies,
in Christ. He alone. And seeking before
it's too late, He may come tomorrow. We're not given tomorrow. But I know, because I've been
there, I know this by experience, that those of us here that do
not see Him with eyes of faith, we can see no beauty about Him. From an earthly standpoint, he's
every bit the same as any other man. Oh, he was a great man that
walked this earth, this Jesus that walked the earth. He went
about doing good things, healed the sick, the lame, caused the
blind to see, the deaf to hear. But a triumphant king? A savior? No, that's not right. Look at him hanging on that cross,
bloody and bruised. That is not what saviors look
like. Saviors come and the sun shines down upon them and they're
dressed in gold apparel and they glitter and they're bright and
they're wonderful to look upon. That's a bloody mess hanging
on that cross. That's not what a savior looks like. looked just like any other section
of wall around that city. But on the outside of her house,
that could not be seen from within Jericho, which was shut up. The
king had declared, shut the walls. The law had declared, you're
safe in here. We'll close it up and that army
can't get in through these walls. On the outside of that wall was
a scarlet thread, home to the saving of Rahab's family. The
temple in the wilderness looked just like any other tent from
the outside. But inside that tent was the
mercy seat where God met with Moses. Jesus Christ walked this
earth as a man. fully man, but in that flesh
was veiled the God. For in Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily." Those of us who have seen this man
on the cross with eyes of faith, we see the burden of our sins
being owned fully by our great high priest. who is bearing the
wrath of God due to my sin. While he walked in the world
in the flesh, Jesus Christ kept God's law fully, perfectly, completely,
thought, word, and deed. As a son of God, he did not inherit
Adam's rebellious nature. As a son of man, he was bound
to keep God's law. A man, and I cannot get over
this, a man satisfied God with what he did. Nothing he
did before God or men was worthy of death. Pilate said at least
three times, I find nothing to condemn him with, let him go. Yet there he hangs, dying upon
that cross. The wages of sin is death. Sinners
are to be saved. Blood must be shed. God's justice
must be satisfied. Justice demands the soul that
sinneth, it shall die. Without death, there is no remission
of sin. Christ Jesus is on that tree,
held there because he has made sin for those he came to save,
for his elect, his redeemed sinners. The eternal wrath of God that
I deserve fell upon my Savior. Just as that ark with Noah inside
of it, the wrath of God fell on that ark and bore the wrath. that Ark endured the wrath of
God, and Noah was kept safe. So it is for all of us that are
in Christ Jesus. Our Lord endured the wrath of
God. And unlike all other sacrifices
before, sin sacrifice was placed on the altar and the fire consumed
the sacrifice. Our Lord was made our sacrifice,
and the wrath of God, the fire of God fell upon Him, and He
consumed the fire, and He held it within Himself, and it burned
and consumed every sin for all of His elect. And we went away
unharmed, unscathed, because our altar protected us. Our sacrifice was made for us,
and it was accepted. His perfect walk in this world
was not done for His own righteousness, but for ours. He represented
us in all that He did. Having borne our sin, satisfied
the law's demands, that he must die, he yielded up the ghost
and laid down his life. Justice was paid. The law satisfied,
but is his work accepted? On that third day, he, of his
own power, took up his life again, proving once for all that his
work was accepted of God and He ever lives to ensure that
those who He died for are going to be where He is. I can teach and preach about
Christ to you. I can, like John the Baptist
cry, behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.
I can declare unto you our lost condition outside of Christ and
the danger of unbelief. But I can't make you believe.
Oh, that I could. But I can't make anyone... I
can't believe for anyone. You can't believe for me. Salvation
is a very personal... Salvation is personal. It's only
to the person. And you won't believe being willingly
ignorance of the scriptures. We won't believe outside of Christ
coming. Salvation is of the Lord from
beginning to end. If he doesn't come in power and
cause us to know in our hearts that we are helpless, utterly
without strength, we will not believe. So why do we bother? Why am I standing up here today?
Why are men around this world preaching Christ knowing they
can't do anything to get you saved? Because I know the danger. I
know what's coming. I know that we are sinners and
we are in trouble. And I know that Christ Jesus
is a very present help in time of trouble. I know Him, and I
want you to know Him. I believe the promise of God.
For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness,
but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For after
that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God,
it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe. What about you? Do you believe? Do you believe this message?
Do you believe that we outside of Christ are in danger? Are
you lost and don't know Christ Jesus as the Lord of glory? I just said that you can't make
yourself believe. So are you going to hear the
warning cry and do like those men in Jericho Well, my house
is as good as that harlot's house. I'm going home. Condemn yourself? Oh, no, please don't. Come hear
the gospel proclaimed. This is a wonderful thing the
Lord is doing here. Raising up a work, causing you
to have a desire to come and hear Christ and Him crucified,
preached, The power of His resurrection? Oh, may God cause it to grow.
May He establish a work here that the light of the gospel
be put on a high hill and everyone come to hear. Come hear that gospel that says,
In Adam all die. Even so, In Christ shall all
be made alive. Listen to the Gospel declared.
Come to Christ as you are. You can't make yourself better.
We can't be holy. God is holy. When you go into
His presence, you must be holy. And we can't do that. But our
Lord Jesus Christ is holy and in Him we can approach to the
thrice holy God. Fall at his feet, ask for mercy,
for he is good and ready to forgive, and plenteous in mercy unto all
them who call upon him.