Now if you take your Bibles and
turn back with me to Psalm 110. Psalm 110, we'll look at the
first three verses here. I've entitled this message, Salvation,
the Work of God. Salvation, the Work of God. The Scripture says, The Lord
said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand until I make thine
enemies thy footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of
thy strength out of Zion. Rule thou in the midst of thine
enemies. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power in the beauties of holiness. From the womb of
the morning thou hast to do of thy youth salvation, the work
of God. The first thing I want to bring
to our attention is this, the person of God. If we believe
that salvation is of the Lord, as Jonah has said, Jonah confessed
this, salvation is of the Lord. If we are to know that salvation
is of the Lord, we must first see the beauty of God's person. We know this, that God is Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit. There is one God, yet we know
that He has three distinct persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. John says this in 1 John 5, 7,
there are three. that bear record in heaven, the
Father, the Word, and the Spirit, and these three are one, one
God, yet three persons. And I want you to see this in
your text this morning, that all three persons of the blessed
Trinity are represented here in our text that show us salvation
is completely of God. Notice this in your text. It
says the Lord. This is Jehovah. The Father here
is intended. The Lord said unto my Lord. We're going to see that that
is the Son that is spoken of here. This One who has the dew
of His youth. The One, in verse 4, who is the
priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. The One who is
to drink of the brook in the way. Verse 7. This is speaking
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you'll see this, the salvation
here is this. Sit thou, the Lord the Father
said unto the Son, sit thou at My right hand. till I make thine
enemies thy footstool. And notice this in verse 2. The
Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion. We're going
to see that the rod of His strength, the arm of the Lord that affects,
that comes out of Zion is the Spirit of God. The Spirit of
God, the rod of the Lord's strength is the Spirit of the Lord, and
he preaches the gospel, and as he affects, he rules in the midst
of his enemies. And this is the effect of that
ruling power, thy people shall be willing in the day of thy
power. So I wanted to see this morning,
behold the glory of God. He had three distinct persons,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And I want you to see that each
person of the Blessed Trinity has a work in the salvation of
His people. God the Father has a work that
He must perform. The Son has a work that He must
perform. And the Spirit has a work that
He performs. And so, therefore, we may say
this, salvation is of the Lord, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Now see this, the work of the
Father. Notice our text. The scripture says this, the
Lord said, the Lord said, this is the work of the Father. And
I want you to know this, the work of the Father is the election
of grace. The election of grace is the
work of the Father. And we know that the election
of the Father, that God chose a people. God chose a people. It was a Father that ordained
the salvation of spiritual Israel before the world began. And we
know this simply by this. The Lord said. That's it. The Lord said. Had not the Lord
said, we could have known none of this. The Lord said, thus
saith the Lord. Well, how do you know the work
of the Father Go over to 1 Corinthians. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter
2. 1 Corinthians chapter 2. This is
the Word of God here. Look at verse 7. Paul said this. You see verse 6. He said, Howbeit we speak wisdom
among them that are perfect, yet not the wisdom of this world,
nor the princes of this world, that cometh to nothing. But we
speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, a mystery, even the hidden wisdom,
which God ordained before the world unto our glory, which none
of the princes of the world knew, for had they known it, they would
not have crucified the Lord of glory, as it is written, I hath
not seen, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things
that God hath prepared for them that love Him. But God hath revealed
them unto us by His Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things of God. What is this mystery?
What is this hidden wisdom of God that no one knew, eyeth not
seen, nor ear heard, nor entered into the heart of man? What is
it that God has revealed to us? He said He revealed to us by
His Spirit what the deep things of God, those that are freely
given unto us, Paul said. What is this? Simply it is this,
it is the election of grace. That is the hidden wisdom of
God, the hidden mystery of God. We had not known of the election
of God had God revealed it to us, by His Spirit through the
Word. Go to Ephesians and you can see
it clearly. This is the mystery that Paul
is speaking of in Ephesians chapter 1. In Ephesians chapter 1, Paul plainly
reveals this. He said this, Blessed be the
God and Father. Now what are we talking about?
We're talking about the work of the Father, right? Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. What did He do? He had blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.
According as who? Who did this? The Father. According
as the Father had chosen us in who? Christ. Before the foundation
of the world. And this is the Father's purpose
of choosing, of election. that His elect should be holy
and without blame before Him. What is His motivation? In love. In love. This is the work of
the Father, in love, predestinating us under the adoption of children.
And notice the Father planned how we should be holy, how we
should be sons by Jesus Christ unto Himself. Can you not see the love of the
Father for His people? The work of the Father in love
is choosing His people, purposing that they should be holy. None
of us could have ever dreamed of such a thing. With all the
carnal wisdom of this world, none of us would have done this
or planned it this way. None of us. We could not have
known this or believed this because the natural mind is enmity. Back
over in 2 Corinthians 2, 1 Corinthians 2, he said this, the natural
man receiveth not the things of God. We talk about election,
why do people not believe that? Is Ephesians 1 not the plainest
text that you ever read? People say, well, election is
complicated. No, you just don't want to believe it. It's not
that it's complicated. God chose a people. Is there
any complication in that? God chose them not according
to merit, but according to grace. Any problem with that? No. Well,
if you do, it's because the natural man receiveth not the things
of God. He receiveth not the things of
God, neither can he know them. Don't get mad at them because
they won't believe. They can't know them. Why? They're spiritually judged.
They're spiritually condemned. They're dead. That's why they
don't know these things. We know these things only because
the Spirit has revealed them unto us. That's it. The only
distinction, the only difference is the grace of God. When Adam
and Sandy died, and we were all born sinners, but behold, the
hope is this. Listen, if there were no election,
there'd be no hope. If God left it to man, there
would be no hope. Had God not made choice among
us, there would have been no hope for anyone but God. I think those are my two favorite
words in all of Scripture. But God, who is rich in mercy,
for His great love wherewith He had loved us. How do you know
He chose you? The work of the Father is the
election of grace. Before there was any sin, before
there was any fall of man, before anyone was born, God made choice. God chose a people. He chose
to save sinners. He purposed to save sinners. I always like that illustration.
Someone came to Ralph Barner and said, I'm confused about
election. And he said, well, simple. Did God save you on accident
or on purpose? On purpose. Well, you understand
election then, don't you? Purpose. According to His purpose,
He saved us. God's purpose. It is the Father's
purpose and work. This is not how we would have
chosen, is it? How would you have chosen? You
and I would have chosen based on merit, wouldn't we? We would
have looked at what someone had done and said, well, not you.
No. Well, that person's pretty good. I think I'll pick that
one. We, by nature, would have picked
the best and brightest. We would have judged by earthly
sense and reason, and salvation would have been based upon the
merits and works of men. But God the Father purposed to
save He chose a people, a royal priesthood,
a peculiar people, and He chose them not of righteous men. He did not choose good men. In fact, He chose the base and
most vilest of men to be His people. He chose sinners. Isn't that what Christ said?
He said, I came not to call the righteous. Now, why did he do
that? Well, I didn't come to call the righteous because none
of the elect are righteous. I came to call sinners to repentance. Why? Because the elect are made
up of sinners, sinners. God had chosen the poor in spirit,
the captive sinner with no hope of escape. The father chose to
give spiritual sight only to the blind. He chose to raise
only the dead. You know, people don't like that
doctrine of of of total depravity, that man is dead. You know, if
you're not dead, if you were never dead, God never chose you.
You see, he chose dead sinners. to give them life. Over in Ezekiel. Look at this,
Ezekiel 37. I know, I've got to move on.
Ezekiel 37. You have here the Word of the
Lord given to this prophet. In verse 1, the hand of the Lord
was upon me and He carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord
and sent me down in the midst of the valley They're just full
of bones. A dead people in it. You got
a valley full of bones. How many are living? They're
dead. The bones and he calls me to
pass by around about he wanted me to see he made me inspect
them. And there were many. There were
many. In an open valley and low, they
were, what was their condition? Very dry. Very dry. You ever hear about those scientists
looking at Mars trying to find one drop of water? You know why
they're so excited they find water? Because water's life.
If you have water, it's possible to have life. But inspecting
these bones, what does he find? He finds no water. He finds no
life. They're dry, not just dry, they're
very dry. They're not fresh dead. They've
been dead long, a long time in an open valley. And he said to
him, son of man, can these bones live? I imagine they got a chuckle,
don't you? Lord, you know, if you want to
give them life, you can do it, but there ain't no way we could
do it. Lord, you know. And he said to me, preach to
these bones. Preach to them. You know what
happened to these bones? They come together. And he prophesied
to the wind and the wind gave them life. What is this? Well,
he tells you what it is in verse 11. He said unto me, Son of man,
these bones are the whole house of Israel. Just in case you don't
know what they are. I like when the Lord explains
His prophecies, because we would be just guessing. He doesn't
leave you to guess. They're the whole house of Israel.
These are My elect people. They are many and they are dead. These are My people. Can they
have life? If you give them life, they will.
You give them life. God has chosen dead sinners. There is not one drop of goodness
in us. There is no hope of self-salvation
by works. What if He gave one thing for
these bones to do? Just one. Could they do it? What if God gave His elect people
one thing to do? Couldn't do it. Couldn't do it. We cannot save ourselves by any
works of obedience. But these ones who are called to preach,
like Ezekiel, he was called to preach. You don't call to preach
to dead men. Can you imagine Ezekiel standing
over these bones preaching? I'm sure that he would be mocked.
If men were there to see him, they would be mocking at that.
They mock at this, too. We preach to dead sinners. To dead sinners. Why? Because
I was a dead sinner. I was a dead sinner. This world
says preaching is foolishness. Preaching that same old worn-out
message. These bones won't live. You need
to glue them together. That's what religion does. They
glue bones together. The glue of entertainment. Without entertainment, you can't
keep these people. Sure. You need to get people under
some kind of law. You need to bind those bones
together by law. Keep them together. No, we preach the gospel to the
dead, and it's God that raises the dead. It was the Father that
chose them. It's God that saves them. It's
God that quickens them. And He quickens all that He has
chosen. But how will God do this? How
can God be just and still justify sinners? Friends, when God killed
us in Adam, we deserved it. When Adam died, he got exactly
what he deserved. And we too, being born sons of
Adam, born dead, we're only getting what we deserve. So how then
could God be just and still justify the ungodly? These people that
He chose were ungodly. How is this possible? Well, this
is the work of the Son. The work of the Father was to
choose a people, to purpose their salvation. to plan their salvation. How is He going to do this? Well,
go back to your text and see the work of the Son. The Father
said, the Lord said. The Lord said unto my Lord. This is speaking of the work
of the Son of God. How can God be just and justify
the ungodly? The ancient answer is always
the best. The Father chose His people and
gave them to Christ. Isn't that what it said in Ephesians? It said this, that we were chosen
in Christ. That we should be holy and without
blame before Him. In love He predestinates to be
the sons of God. How? By Jesus Christ. The Father chose and the Father
chose Christ to be our Savior. And so therefore the Father is
speaking to who? The Son. the Son. The Lord said unto my Lord, the
Father having loved his people with an everlasting love, gave
them to Christ so that he should be their surety. The Son of God
was chosen of the Father to be the King and Savior of the elect. And therefore he said this to
Christ, Sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies
thy footstool." Now, this was spoken, this prophecy
was written of David. Now, how do I know that that's
speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, Jesus Christ Himself said
this. He said to those Pharisees, He
said, what think you of Christ? Whose son is it? They've been
asking Him questions, foolish questions, for a long time. He
just, He turned it on them. He said, I'm going to ask you
a question. Well, think of Christ. Whose son is he? And they immediately,
he's David's son. He's David's son. They got that
answer and they knew it. You know, they're that smart
kid in the room raising their hand real fast. I got that answer.
He's son of David. Let me ask you another question
then. How then did David's son in prophecy call him Lord? And they didn't understand this.
These Jews knew that Christ would be David's son, but because of
their depravity, they could not and would not see that Christ
was also David's Lord, that Christ should be both God and man, David's
son and David's Lord. They would not believe his deity,
and Christ confessed his deity in John 8. He said before Abraham
was, what did he say? I am. I am. And they picked up stones they
wanted to kill him. They knew exactly what he was saying. Jesus is
both Lord and Christ. He is David's Lord, David's Savior,
even because he is the eternal Son of God. Jesus was the Son
of David after the flesh, when the Son of God became the Son
of Man. Therefore, all that the Father
had chosen to save, He gave to Christ. He gave to Christ. We were given to Him that He
should be our representative, our Savior, our Redeemer. And
look at this, in verse 4 of our text, He says what He's going
to be. He's going to be an eternal High
Priest. Thou art a priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek. really dig into that. Paul handles
that in Hebrews very well. He deals with several chapters
concerning Christ's priesthood. Christ was set to be our high
priest. Now, what is a high priest? A
high priest is a representative of the people to God. He offers
gifts and sacrifices unto God. Jesus Christ was ordained forever
to be our high priest, our representative. He was appointed of the Father.
and a covenant of grace, so that we may be his people. Look at that in verse 3. Notice
this. God tells him, thy people. What's
a king without a people? If Christ has been our king from
eternity, then truly we were his people from eternity. Thy
people. God gave him a people. And He
has come so that we may be truly His people. I've got them written
down here, but I believe there's nine times. Nine times in the
book of Jeremiah and in the book of Ezekiel, God swears this. I will be your God and you shall
be My people. My people. Why? Because He gave
them to Christ. Jesus was appointed of the Father
to be the God-man mediator. There is one mediator between
God and men. Who? The man, Christ Jesus. This was for the salvation of
our souls. The salvation, this salvation
plan was purposed long before there was sin. So when sin did
come and man did fall into a state of spiritual deadness and depravity,
then began God to reveal the Savior. It wasn't until after
Adam and Eve's sin that God began to reveal the Savior, the seed
of the woman. Who is that? That's the Savior. God says, I prepared a Savior
for you. He shall be the seed of the woman. And notice this, His work. He
shall crush the head of the serpent. He began to reveal this. And
then later you read this, that He should be the Passover Lamb.
All those types and pictures in the Old Testament were vivid,
weren't they? They're vivid pictures. That Lamb was chosen. and sacrifice
for the congregation of Israel in the midst of the congregation.
He had to be a perfect lamb. And he was sacrificed and he
his blood was applied to the door. And those who had the blood,
he said this, I will pass over you. Jesus Christ is that Passover
lamb. He is the manna that came down
from heaven. He is our high priest and our
offering, and He that was to come has come. Jesus has come, according as
the Father had purposed, to accomplish our salvation. He has come to
accomplish, and what does He say? To Him that is victorious,
to Him that has accomplished the redemption of His people.
God said, the Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou. Now when you're
sitting, what does that indicate? Indicates your work is finished.
Your work is finished. Those high priests never sat
down. But Paul says in Hebrews chapter
10, but this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sin,
he did what? What did he do? He sat down.
Henceforth expecting his enemies. to be made His footstool. Isn't that the fulfillment of
this text? Our Lord Jesus Christ came into this world as a man,
dwelt among us, the Son of God, King of glory, was born in the
virgin's womb. The wise men of old, they came
seeking one who was born king, wasn't he? This one was born
king. The King of Glory came into this
world for the sake of His elect. He became a poor servant of God. He said in Isaiah chapter 42,
God said, Behold My servant, whom I have chosen Mine elect in whom my soul delighteth,
I have put my spirit upon him, and he shall bring forth judgment
unto the Gentiles. He shall cry, not cry, nor lift
up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised
reed shall he not break, and smoking flax he shall not quench.
He shall bring forth judgment unto truth. What is this? This
is speaking of his fulfillment of the law. This is speaking
of his satisfaction concerning the judgment and justice of God
for the sins of His people. And listen, He shall not fail. Now you listen to me, any Christ
that is trying to save His people is not Christ. Any Christ that's hoping to save
His people and has no clue whether they'll come or not is not Christ. Christ shall not fail. That's
why God said, Sit thou at my right hand, because of his victory,
because of his success. How do you know he was successful?
How do you know that he actually died for the sins of the people
and God was satisfied? What's in the tomb? What's in
there? Nothing. He's risen. because there is no more sin
to pay for. You got that? There is no more
sin to pay for. Jesus paid it all. All to Him I owe. Do you not
see that salvation is the work of God? Scripture says, by His
one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified,
all that the Father chose Christ died for, and they are perfect. They are perfect. In the eyes
of God, their sins are gone, all of them. He bear our sins
in His own body on the tree. We by nature were covered in
the filth of our sins and drinking iniquity like water. This is our state in nature.
when we should have sought after God and for His righteousness,
we only sought after our sins, wallowed in our filth. Therefore,
the sinless Son of God must have come to do what we could not
do for ourselves. He honored the law of God. He satisfied the justice of God. For the elect to be saved, He
must have been made sin for us. Consider. Set in view the cross
for a moment. Look at Him as He hung upon the
tree. And what do you see? What do you see? John said this, Behold the Lamb
of God that beareth away the sins of the world. What do you
see? You see a spotless Lamb, don't
you? You see a sinless Son of God
as he hung upon that tree, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me?" You know, he's the only one who could ever say that and
mean it. If you said it, you could find a lot of reasons why
God would forsake you. But what reason was there that
God forsook simply because he was made sin. A transaction between God the
Father and the Son, he was made to bear our sin in his own body
on the tree. And all the sin of God's elect
people were justly punished in Christ. God who chose us is just,
and to save us, He must do it justly. Therefore, the Lord God
and Father of Christ justly imputed our sins to His Son, and Christ
bore them and suffered the wrath of God for our sins. Christ says in prophecy, He calls
these sins His own. It's Psalm 69 and verse 5. He
said, My sin. His words were righteous. My God, My God, why hast Thou
forsaken Me? Yet He was forsaken and smitten,
afflicted, wounded, and crushed for our sins. The Father had
imputed upon Him. Awake, O sword, against My shepherd,
against the man that is My fellow. Sayeth the Lord of hosts, smite
the shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered. Now why would he
do that? That I may turn my hands upon
the little ones, so that he might save his elect. Now the salvation
of the elect, Jesus Christ our Lord, is now risen from the dead. So therefore now where is Christ?
This morning where is Christ? You saw Him crucified, you see
Him in the tomb, but where is He now? He is seated on the right
hand of God the Father. And what is His purpose? Go back
to your text now, look and see this. who chose a people for Christ,
gave them to Christ, says this to the victorious Christ, Sit
thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of
thy strength out of Zion. The salvation planned is the
work of the Father. Salvation accomplished is the
work of the Son. Salvation applied is the work
of the Holy Spirit. Listen, He said He shall send
the rod of His strength. What is the rod of His strength?
The rod is the extension of the person yielding the rod, isn't
it? It is Christ that has sent the
Spirit of God into the world so that He should save His people. When His people come into this
world, they are not saved. None of us could have confessed
to be saved. Until when? Until the Spirit
of God gave us life. Until He quickened us and gave
us faith. This is the extension of God.
And notice where the Spirit comes from. It is out of Zion. Zion here is the church. This
is the purpose of the church in the world, is to preach the
gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the sword of the Spirit, the
tool of the Spirit that He uses to save His people. And in this
world and to the flesh, there's nothing weaker than the church.
How do you suppose the world views us? If they were to just
come in and look, what would they see? Is there anything that
would signal that we're strong or that we're mighty? No, the
world considers us weak. They consider the church to be
a weak faith. But we're not here to please
men, are we? I'm not here to please men. I'm not here to compromise
the gospel so that men like it. That's not our purpose. Our message is simply this. Salvation
is of the Lord by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ
alone. And the means by which the Spirit uses is the preaching
of the gospel of Christ. And it's by the application of
this gospel through the power of the Holy Spirit that sinners
are saved. God had chosen preaching. He
said in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, Paul said this, Christ sent
me not to baptize. Well, is baptism important? Sure
it is. That's not my purpose. But to preach the gospel, not
with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ be made none
effect. I'm not here to try to please and tickle the minds of
men. That's not my purpose. For the preaching of the cross
is them that perish foolishness. But to us which are saved, what
is it? It is the power of God. It is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy
the wisdom of the wise, will bring to nothing the understanding
of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where
is the disputer of the world? Has God not made foolish the
wisdom of this world? Have you not seen the foolishness
of man's wisdom yet? If you want to see it, I don't
know, look at our government. There's the wisest men that we
have to offer. Look at religion. Running around
in costumes. They got costumes on. They got
big robes and things like that. Waving smoke in a place thinking
it makes them holier or something. Got a wooden cross that they
hold up in front of them like that makes them closer to God.
Because they've got a wooden stick in front of them. Foolishness. Hasn't God made foolish that
to you? That's foolishness to us. For after that and the wisdom
of God, the world by wisdom... No, not God. They don't know
God. It pleased God. By the foolishness of what? Preaching
to save them that believe. What's the means of the Holy
Spirit in the application of this great salvation? This salvation
the Father planned? This salvation the Son accomplished?
What is the means of the Spirit in the application of this? Out of Zion shall come the rod
of His strength. Through the preaching of the
Gospel. Believers, we are the body of Christ, we are His church,
and it is only out of Zion does the rod of His strength come,
which is the Holy Spirit. Therefore, Paul says in that
next chapter in 1 Corinthians, I determine not to know anything
among you except what? Jesus Christ, Him crucified.
I don't take a poll as to what to preach. I don't come around
asking you, what do you want to hear? Now you believers, I know what
you want to hear. You got to have Him. Don't preach me, preach
Him. We determined not to know anything
among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified and I was in weakness. And in much fear and in much
trembling my spirit and my speech and my preaching was not with
enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit
and of power." Don't you know you're a demonstration
of the power of God, you who believe? People want to see signs. There's
one. There's one. You want to see
a miracle? Here's one. God saved me. I am as holy as His Son. That's just true. I don't care what men say about
it. It's a demonstration of His power. Faith in Christ is not an act
of the will. Faith doesn't come by an act
of will. Notice what the Spirit says.
Go back to your text. Notice the effect of the rod
of His strength that comes out of Zion. He's going to rule in
the midst of His enemies. And this is the result. Listen,
we were what? Before we were believers, we
were what? Enemies. When He came into your heart,
He ruled. He set up his throne and he ruled
in the midst of this enemy. And when he set up his rule,
immediately I was willing. Thy people shall be willing. In the day they decide to That
just sounds silly, that's just stupid. In the day of thy power. Salvation takes power, friends. Power that you and I do not have. Power we cannot generate. Listen, I want my children to
be safe. I have no power. Couldn't save myself. But the rod of his strength has
power. And the day he decides to wield
it, immediately we were willing. For by grace you are saved through
faith, and that not of yourself. It is a gift of God. Why not of works? Lest any man
should boast. And I want to give you this last
thing. The work of the Spirit is not only the application of
the blood of Christ in the heart, the new creation of a new nature,
a holy nature, that by which we now believe on the Son of
God, but this, the Holy Spirit's work is this, to keep you in the faith until faith is no
longer necessary. You realize that one day faith
is not going to be necessary? Right now it is. And why do you
still believe? Peter said it very plainly that
we are kept. Kept by the power of God. You know why you're here? The
power of God. I'm doing pretty good. No. No,
you're kept. If you're here till you die,
it will be simply this. This is... He had kept me. Let's read this for your comfort
and we'll close. Go to Isaiah chapter 46. What's the difference between
a false God and a true God? Simply this, a false god has
to be carried. A false god needs you. The true god carries you. Look
at this. Bel Nibo astute. Their idols were upon the beasts
and upon the cattle. Their carriages were heavy laden. They were burdened and too weary
for the beasts. They stoop. They bow down together. They could not deliver the burden,
but themselves are gone into captivity. Hearken unto me, you
house of Jacob, you remnant of the house of Israel, which are
born by me. Carried by me from when? The womb. The belly, which are carried
from the womb and even to your old age. I am He. And even to whore hairs will
I carry you. I have made you. I will bear
you. Even I will carry and will deliver
you. All right, simple question. Who does the work of salvation
belong to? Who accomplished salvation? Who
planned salvation? Who applies salvation? And who
keeps salvation? Now listen, the only part in
this of God's people is this. I'm the one He chose. I'm the
one He redeemed. I'm the one he called, and I'm
the one he carries. Who gets the glory? Salvation is of the Lord. The Lord said to my Lord, sit
down. You've won the victory. The rod
of your strength is going to go out and rule in the midst
of your enemies, and thy people shall be willing in the day of
thy power. is 100% the work of God. And we praise Him. Hope God will give you comfort
with this. Strength. If you've not believed, I pray
you'd sue God. Ask God. It's His work, isn't
it? Let's go. Stand, be dismissed,
be in prayer. Father, I thank you for this
great work of salvation that you have planned, that you've
accomplished. Father, you've applied to your
people and kept by the power of your spirit. Thank you for
keeping us. Help us, Father, to live for
the glory of Christ, to constantly preach the gospel of Christ.
And I know this, you will call your people, you will save them.
I pray, Father, even this day that you would save the lost.
And Father, I pray that you would keep the saved. According to
your mercies, forgive us our sins, in Christ's name, amen.