All right, if you take your Bibles
and turn with me to Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy chapter 32. We'll
be looking at verses 1 through 14, and I've entitled this message
God's Doctrine. God's Doctrine. The scripture here begins, Give
ear, O you heavens, and I will speak and hear, O earth, the
words of my mouth. Here Moses gives a song. He was commanded of God to write
to Israel a song. They were about to cross over
into the promised land. He had given Joshua command of
the people and they were ready to go and take victory over the
land of Canaan as God had promised. And God knew that once they had
crossed over that they themselves would again wax fat. They would again turn from Him.
And He gave this song. to be against them, to rebuke
them for their wickedness. And he gives it by Moses. And
Moses gives it from the lips of God. He says, Give ear, all
you heavens. I will speak the words of My mouth. And Moses was a prophet of God
who was given to speak the Word of God. That's the purpose of
a prophet. mouthpiece for God. To give the Word of God. Listen, this is also the purpose
of every preacher called by God. Every preacher is to speak the
Word of God to man. Paul says that this Word of reconciliation,
the Gospel, Now what is an ambassador? He doesn't speak for himself.
He speaks for the king of the nation he speaks for. So as preachers
of the Gospel, we don't speak for ourselves. We speak for God. We speak in His stead as ambassadors
for Christ. Paul said, as though God did
beseech you. Listen, I'm beseeching you. But
I tell you this, I am an ambassador for God. I speak to you in the
voice of God, the Word of God. Be ye reconciled. Be ye reconciled. We pray in
Christ's name, be ye reconciled. The Holy Spirit is the same message
we give. It's the same message. So in
our text, What Moses is to preach, what Moses is to sing, is what
we preach. What did he preach? Look at verse
2. This is it. My doctrine. This is what Moses was commanded
to preach. It's what preachers are commanded
to preach. My doctrine. Remember, this is God speaking.
The doctrine of God. Now this word doctrine, I'll
tell you, many hate this word today in most religious circles. They despise it. They say this,
let's not preach doctrine. Let's just evangelize. They say,
let's not preach doctrine. Let's just worship God together.
Let's not be divided by doctrine. Let's just all get along. This type of philosophy is not
of God, but of men and shows the ignorance of man. Anybody
says that they're ignorant. They're ignorant. Why? Because
doctrine simply means teaching. That's what it means, teaching.
So man is saying, let's not teach, let's witness. But without the doctrine of God,
no man can be saved. Therefore, we understand, then,
the necessity. God says, Hear, O you earth. He said, Hear, O you heavens,
as I will speak, and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. What does
He speak? My doctrine. It's necessary. The doctrine
of God is necessary. In order to be saved, you must
know His doctrine. You must hear it. So what then
is the source of God's doctrine? Where do we learn the doctrine
of God? There is only one place you will
learn the doctrine of God and you have it in your hands right
here, the Bible. This is the only book by which
we may know the doctrine of God. Now our doctrine is teaching. Our doctrine then is not based
on our opinions. My doctrine is not based on philosophy
or traditions of men. Otherwise, our doctrine would
never be sure. Why? Because philosophy is changing,
isn't it? Men's opinion change. Traditions
change. And if that's the foundation
of our doctrine, then it is never sure. will never have a sure
foundation. But the source of true doctrine
by which sinners may be saved, the doctrine by which the saved
may be comforted, is one, the Word of God. The Word of God. The world is in constant flux.
It's constantly changing and is chaotic. But one thing is
consistent. One thing never changes. The
Word of God. The Word of God never changes. Listen to what Peter said. Peter
said this in 1 Peter 1, 23. He said, you being born again,
not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible. What is the
incorruptible seed? It is the Word of God, which
liveth and abideth forever. And he quotes Isaiah, all flesh
is grass and the glory of man is a flower of grass. The grass
withered, the flower faded away, but the word of the Lord endureth
forever. Now, what is this word of the
Lord? Peter doesn't leave us in the dark. He says, and this
is the word. by which the gospel is preached
unto you. What is the word of God? It is
the gospel of Jesus Christ. Behold then the necessity of
God's word in the new birth. Jesus said, you must be born
again, but how should one be born again except by the word
of God? That's what Paul Peter said.
He said, you were born not of corruptible, but of incorruptible
seed, the word of God. is the doctrine of God from the
Word of God by which the Holy Spirit takes and gives life. This doctrine of God is the doctrine
of Jesus Christ. And the truths of God's Word
are not denominational, are they? They're not in some church creed
or confession. They're not doctrinal debates
or theses. But true doctrine, The true doctrine
is the very Word of God. Now listen, I'm gonna tell you
this, many people today are basing their salvation on the traditions
of men and the Word of God. There are many today who believe,
they say, well, I believe the Bible is the Word of God, but
I also believe the traditions of the church are just as important. You know what the Lord Jesus
said about the traditions of man? He said this in Mark chapter
seven. He said that of those Pharisees
and their traditions, he said in Mark seven and verse seven,
he said, how be it in vain you do worship me teaching for doctrines,
what? The commandments of man. And Jesus said in verse 13 of
that chapter that they made the word of God a none effect through
their tradition. You see, when men have traditions
and the Word of God, when these two oppose one another, guess
what they're gonna take? They're gonna take the traditions
over the Word of God. Now, other people, they believe
in the Word of God plus the creeds of the church. The creeds of
the church. Creeds of the church, I tell
you, I know that they've been useful. They've been useful,
but they're not infallible, are they? The Word of God is infallible,
not the creeds of man. And so when these two, you find
these people who believe and trust the doctrines of Scripture
plus the doctrines of their creeds, when these two oppose each other,
guess which way they go? They go toward the creed. I'll
give you an illustration, that's infant baptism. Nowhere in this
book is one infant been baptized, not once. But yet it states it
in their creed, so then they deny the word of God and hold
to the creed. You see, they go to the creed
for their doctrine, not the word of God. Others, they don't trust in creeds,
and they don't trust in tradition, but they trust in their own feelings,
their own experiences. I know you've met some of these
people. They say, well, you know, well, this is my experience.
Well, what if your experience is against the Word of God? Then
you're holding your experience as your doctrine. As the doctrine,
you say, well, this is my doctrine, my experience. Well, you know,
Saul had an experience, didn't he? Saul, the king of Israel,
he actually went to that witch of Endor and he had himself an
experience, didn't he? He saw the dead standing before
him, a ghost. Well, there's no doctrine in
that. You can't base a doctrine off of that man's experience.
What if we were to base our experience off of Paul? What if we said
Paul is the model of a true believer? Which one of us has had that
experience of being knocked off our horse by Christ himself? Huh? We can't do that. What we
go to is the word of God. That's not experience, not our
feelings. Not traditions, not creeds. If
that's the source of your doctrine, you're lost, friends. Behold, the source of all true
saving doctrine is what? The work of God. The Word of
God. The doctrine that we receive
is from this book. All Scripture is given by inspiration
of God and is profitable for what? What's the first thing? For doctrine. Paul charged Timothy in 1 Timothy
4, he said, I charge you, I charge you, preach the word. Preach
the word. Be instant, in season, out of
season, reprove, rebuke with all longsuffering and what? Why? Because a time will come when
men will not endure what? Sound doctrine, but heap to themselves
teachers having itching ears. They shall turn away from the
truth and be turned to what? Fables. What are fables? Traditions,
creeds, opinions, feelings, what grandma said, what dad said,
what mom said. They turn to fables. God says,
give ear you heavens and I'll speak. What am I gonna speak?
I'm going to speak my doctrine. And what is the doctrine then?
Okay, so we've seen that God is gonna tell us his doctrine.
The doctrine is the source of the doctrine is the word of God.
But what is the substance of his doctrine? What is his doctrine? It's an amazing book. What you
have in your hand is, it's a one-of-a-kind book. There's no book ever like
this one. I don't care which religion you
go to, none are like this book. I'm gonna give you just a few
things, both Old and Testament were written by 35 or more different
men over thousands of years. on three different continents
in three different languages. And yet they all have one message,
one subject, one savior, Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I can
go anywhere in this book and preach Christ. Why? That's the
doctrine of God. It's not multiple things. It's
one person. Everything God does, He points
you to His Son. Everything in this book points
to the person and work of Christ. Isn't that what Christ said after
He rose from the dead? Beginning at Moses and all the
prophets and Psalms, He expounded to them in all the scriptures. What? What? My doctrine. the things concerning himself. This book is about Jesus Christ
and him crucified. When you go to the New Testament
and the book of Acts, the book of Acts spans about 30 years
of preaching. If you were to look at every
one of those sermons, what are the sum and substance of every
one of those sermons? Jesus Christ, him crucified,
Jesus Christ, him risen from the dead and ascended to the
throne of God. Every message the apostles preach is Christ.
They didn't preach discipleship. They didn't preach community
outreach. They didn't preach how to be
a good husband or how to be a good wife. They preached Christ in
every message. Why? That's God's doctrine about
His Son. Behold this mystery of the Word
of God that it centers on on and reveals the accomplishment
of redemption by the death of Jesus Christ and the proof of
God's acceptance by his resurrection. That's what it proves, the whole
thing. The whole thing. And I'm gonna tell you this,
this is the next thing I want you to see. This doctrine is
living. It is a vitally effectual doctrine. Now listen, if this doctrine
has no effect on you, it's because God didn't intend it to. If this
doctrine has an effect on you, I promise, God purposed it to
have an effect. It's effectual. It's living. It's vital. It does something
to everyone that hears it. It may harden you. It may make
you colder, but it does something. It may make you humble. It may
give you faith in life, but it does something. Paul said, we
are a saver of life unto life to some and a saver of death
unto death to others. What does that us? No, our doctrine,
our doctrine. This doctrine is living. Look
at verse two. He says, my doctrine shall, listen,
drop as the rain. My speech shall distill as the
dew, as the small rain. upon the tender herb as the showers
upon the grass. God likens his doctrine to rain. Not heavy rain. Not a thunderstorm,
but a gentle rain. A mist, if you will. A dew that
appears on the tender herb, not to beat it, not to kill it, but
to give it life. Now, he does this because God's
doctrine always comes from above. God's doctrine always comes from
above. Now, when Adam, he was made holy. He was made perfect
in that first estate. And he would have remained that
way had he not eaten what he was forbidden to eat. But the
day he ate that fruit, he sinned against God. He lost that first
estate. He failed and died, and so did
all of his race die in him. Therefore, we like Adam have
ever since tried to cover our nakedness with the fig leaves
of our religion. The fig leaves of our work. Religion, vain philosophy, traditions
of men, whatever it is, we try to cover ourselves. Now listen,
if God had not come to Adam, Had God not in grace descended
in sweet grace to give His gospel of Christ, then we would have
had no hope. Isn't that right? Had God not
come down to Adam, Adam would have never gone to God. He would
have died in His fake leaves. We would have been like the fallen
angels having no hope in chains of darkness. But God what? Descended. Like what? Did he
descend like the thunderstorm? Did he descend when he came to
Adam? How did he come to Adam? Did
he come to Adam in vengeance and anger? Did he come in threatening? No. The scripture says he came
in the cool of the day. What a picture. God came walking
in the cool of the day. How did he ask for Adam? He said,
Adam, get over here. That little dog, when that little
dog does something wrong, boy, I get really upset quickly. It's
in us to just, you know. It wasn't in God to do that.
Why? Justice had already been done. He had already died. Vengeance had already been taken.
It's infected him and he had already been dead. So then how
did God come to him? If God wanted him to die, he
would have just left him there. But instead, God comes, Adam,
where art thou? Where art thou? He descends in
the cool of the day, speaking words of sweet grace, calling. What a tender call. Should not
you think that would have broken Adam's heart to hear the sweet
voice of his God, Adam? What have you done? What have
you done? It didn't, did it? No. God came to him. And Adam did
what? He fled. And God pursued him. God found
him in his sin. Behold, the soul of man is barren
and dead and devoid of life. You see that little withered
old dead plant in the middle of the desert? What does it need? What could it do for itself if
the rain should not descend on it and give it life? Imagine
if it was a heavy downpour, what would happen? It would be uprooted,
a flood would take it away. But God says, my doctrine comes
to the dead, not as a flood, but as a tender rain, a mist,
dew that appears on the ground. Behold, our soul is so barren
and devoid of life, our sin has separated us from our God, yet
God comes to man. He comes not in condemnation
of judgment that had already taken place. God descends not
as a storm, not as the flood of the law. Why? The law could
not save. The law could do nothing but
condemn. The law can only expose sin. Paul said, for by the law is
the knowledge of sin. No flesh shall be justified in
God's sight by the deeds of the law. Allah has that purpose to
expose sin, but not save. Therefore, behold man before
the presence of God, whom he has offended, whose fig leaves
of religion have failed him, standing in his nakedness. See
how God in his doctrine comes from his lips. See the drops
of rain gently come down from God. and he gives his doctrine. What was his doctrine he gave
Adam? What was the doctrine? What's the first message? The seed of the woman shall crush
the head of the serpent. How? He shall bruise his Jesus Christ is the seed of the
woman. He's the only virgin-born Son
of God. The eternal Son of God. He condescended
and came down. Didn't He? He came down from
heaven to be made a man. How tender is this! How gentle
is this! That God of His own sovereign
will and volition came to man. He became a man. The dearest of the Father's love
and grace condescended to save the unworthy, the unwilling,
and the unrepentant. What was his mission? His mission
was, he shall crush the head of the serpent. His work, he
came that He might represent and save sinners and crush the
head of the serpent, that He should do away with sin, that
He should put away the sin of His people. That's the message
that distills like the small rain. He came to save sinners,
not to crush them. Listen to me. If God wants to
crush you, listen to what He's going to do. He's going to leave
you alone. but he came to save sinners. How shall he accomplish it? One
way, by the bruising of his heel. How shall he remove guilt and
sin from us? So as to satisfy the justice
of God by the one offering and crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
That's the only way. Do you see how I'm explaining
the doctrine of God even from the beginning? Even from the
very initial point of sin? God brings His doctrine in. And
that doctrine is what? It's Christ. It's always Christ
and Him crucified. Is this not a tender doctrine?
what manner of love God had bestowed upon us. That we, who is the
we? The most vile, the most corrupt,
the most unworthy sinners, that we, behold what manner of love
this is, that we should be called the sons of God. Paul says this
in Romans 5, he says, when we were yet without strength, in
due time Christ died for the ungodly. Do you qualify? Is that speaking of you? It is
if you're ungodly. Christ came to die for the ungodly,
those who have no strength. You have strength? If you have
strength, He didn't come for you. He came for those without
strength. Ungodly, He came to die. For
scarcely will a righteous man die for one, yet perventure for
a good man some would dare to die. But God commendeth his love
toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died. While
we were yet sinners, Christ died. This is the doctrine of God,
isn't it? And let me ask you this. We know
the doctrine of God is Jesus Christ, Him crucified. We know
that's the only way He saves the ungodly. That's the only
way guilt is removed. That's the only way that Adam
was saved. That's the only way we're saved. Let me ask you this. Was He successful?
Was He successful? What does the doctrine of God
say about the success rate of redemption? Simply put, 100%. 100% success
rate. Did he actually redeem his people
from their sins? Did Jesus really successfully
obtain righteousness by his own obedience? Was his victory over
all the sin accomplished by his blood and satisfied the justice
of God? Look back at your text. Behold
the doctrine of God. Look at verse four. He is the
rock. What I tell you the doctrine
is, Christ. Always in scripture, Christ is
pictured as the rock. That rock that Paul said, that
rock which followed them in the wilderness, that rock was Christ. Behold, I lay in Zion a stone,
a foundation stone, a tried stone, a sure foundation. Who is that but Christ? He is
the rock, the perfect rock, Christ. He is the doctrine of God. And
listen, his work is what? Perfect. For all His ways are
judgment, a God of truth, and without iniquity, just and right
is He." Oh, friends, how can God, whose ways are judgment
and without iniquity, who is just and right, how can He pardon
sins? How can He pardon the guilty?
How can He show such tender mercies to those of us who deserve hail? One way, because his work was
perfect. Perfect. The work of Jesus Christ
in redemption was perfect. This is the doctrine that exalts
God, isn't it? Isn't that what he said in verse
three? Behold, I will publish the name
of the Lord, ascribe greatness unto our God. You pay attention,
any Christ whose work was not perfect does not ascribe greatness
unto God. My doctrine is this, behold my
rock, his work is perfect. Behold Christ, his work is perfect. It's above board, it is done
in righteousness and without iniquity. It's done in judgment. Oh, are you barren this morning?
Are you without Christ? Are you dead? Are you as that
tender plant? Are you broken because of the
law, shut up to self-righteousness and self-salvation? Then behold,
the doctrine of God descends like the rain and the small plant
to the lifeless. He comes as a tender rain, as
a small rain on the tender herb, Behold, this is the work that's
perfect, the work of Christ. The work of Christ is finished
and does not need our help. Isn't that what perfect means?
What does perfect mean? Nothing we have or do is perfect.
You know, Cheryl's getting ready, and I say, your hair is perfect.
Well, she knows that can't be. She's always trying to fix it.
She says, my hair is perfect. There's no way. It's impossible.
Nothing we have is perfect. It can always use a little more,
right? We can always use a little more. We're not perfect. There's one perfect. Jesus Christ
is perfect. In every way, in his humanity,
he was a perfect human. Perfect man. Chiefest among 10,000,
God says. One of a kind. Behold my beloved,
what is thy beloved above another? Oh, he's ruddy and white. He's
God and man, one of a kind. Behold his perfection in righteousness. Behold his perfection in death.
Behold his perfect resurrection. Behold his perfect ascension.
Behold his perfect deity and humanity. Behold him. This is the doctrine of God.
It's perfect in every way, that there is nothing left to do.
Isn't this the tender rain that descends from God upon the brow-beaten
herb? There's nothing left to do. My
work is done. My righteousness is perfect.
Here God sings now to the broken and wounded sinner, come unto
me. and I will give you rest. You
that are heavy laden, I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon
you and learn of me. Well, how do we learn? His doctrine.
We learn of him by his doctrine, Christ. What do we learn? All's done. All's finished. Oh, how this gentle rain descends
and it opposes all false gospel, free will, works, religion, doesn't
it? Why? They're always trying to beat
their people into submission. Well, there's just another thing
you have to do. You've got to do this. And when you do that,
guess what? They're going to have another
thing for you to do. I have something else for you to do. No, that's
not my doctrine, God says. That's not my doctrine. My doctrine
is this. It's finished. Come unto me and find rest. Not more work, rest. My doctrine speaks of rest. Their doctrine speaks of labor. Those Pharisees, you know, Jesus
said, you bind men with heavy burdens, too grievous to bear.
That's what false religion does. Oh sinner, may God in the doctrine
of Jesus Christ drop down like the mist and dew of heaven upon
your broken heart. I like what my brother Jack Shank
said. I got this, heard this a long time ago. He said, you
say you're unworthy of the least of God's mercies. Aren't you
glad Christ came Christ is worthy and that his redemption is accomplished
for the unworthy. You say, I have no goodness or
merits to claim. Well, aren't you thankful God
accepts sinners based upon the goodness and merits of his son?
You say the law affords me no hope. Right, you are. but the
gospel declares that mercy and the grace of God are freely given
to sinners because of the doing and dying of his dear son. This
is the only salvation worth having and the only one worthy to be
proclaimed. Jesus Christ came into the world
to save sinners. To the tender plant, who needs
mercy. There's mercy in Christ. There's mercy. Now to the dead
sinner, the unfeeling sinner, not born again, what does rain
do to that which is dead? Nothing. Scott, rain's on your
house here. Does your house feel it? No. Today, this gospel goes out as
a gentle mist and it falls over all His creation. Yet, it has
only effect on those who are living. Those who are living. This is nothing to those who do not need
Christ, but those who are living plants, we need and want this
tender rain. We want to hear the doctrine
of God that speaks to us of the rock of Jesus Christ, upon whom
we cast the full weight of our souls. His work is the work of
grace unmixed by the hands of men. This is the doctrine of
God that drops like the rain upon the sinner. Look back at
your text. See this next part of his doctrine
is this, the depravity of man. Look at verse five. They that
have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children. They are perverse and crooked
generation. This is the doctrine of God as
well. The depravity of man. Though God's doctrine of Christ
is perfect, a work that should be received and trusted, yet
we read here of Israel, the ones to whom this doctrine was preached,
they corrupted themselves. This doctrine is true. Christ
is perfect. His work is accomplished. But
this is also true that man by nature is totally depraved. We
have all corrupted ourselves. We've all corrupted ourselves
in Adam. The scripture says we all are
as an unclean thing and all our righteousnesses are as filthy
rags. It says, wherefore as by one man's sin entered into the
world and death by sin, so death path upon all men. For all have sinned. Though God
has spoken such a message of grace, of perfect redemption,
why does not every man believe it? I've just given you, I've
told you about free salvation. Something that costs you nothing.
Something that's perfect. Something that's complete. Something
that's the doctrine of God. This is God's doctrine that descends
from heaven and condescends down to man. It rains gently. It comes gently on the soul.
It doesn't come in condemnation. It comes in mercy. Why do not
all men just receive it? You pay attention because they
will not and cannot. Paul said, the natural man receiveth
not the things of God. Why? First of all, they're foolishness. This thing that I'm talking about
is unneeded and unwanted by the natural man. He's depraved. He
says, foolishness, I don't want that. I don't need that. Now,
why does he not want it and need it? Because he can't. Not only are the things of the
Spirit of God foolishness, Him neither can He know them. He can't know the doctrine of
God because He's spiritually judged, condemned. Therefore, let us see the Gospel
in its work is a secret work, a work of God in the inner man. Religion says salvation takes
place from the outside in. Why do they think they spend
so much money on entertainment and excitement and music and
programs? Why? Because they think that
will excite men to believe. You see, they think that salvation
is an outward work. God says, no, it's like the dew.
You don't see the dew come down, do you? You don't know. It just
appears in the morning. It's just there. That's exactly
how God works in salvation. You take a man, he doesn't want
God, he doesn't love God, he doesn't, not seeking God. And then all of a sudden, the
do of this gospel descends on his heart. It's an inner work
of the spirit and he springs up with life. He springs up out
of nowhere. Life springs up and faith springs
up. It just appears like the do. And this is not by the work or
will of the man, nor by the eloquence of the preacher, but by the free
grace, the dew of life springs on his heart. He sees his need,
his sin. He sees that Christ's blood alone
can cleanse him. And in faith, he receives Christ
like the tender plant receives the dew. Oh. Are you such a tender plant? I like that song, let not conscience
make you linger, nor fitness fondly treat. All the fitness
he requires to feel your need of him. Who gave you that need? He did. As the dew descends on
the tender herb, so does the gospel of God's grace descend
upon the heart of man. And what does he discover? That
he's depraved. That he has not the spot of the
child of God. He doesn't have the mark of God's
children on his heart. And what does he do? He cries
out for mercy. He cries out for grace. But this
doesn't just teach depravity. It also teaches the believer,
the believer of our constant warfare with the corrupt nature.
Let's read that again with me. They have corrupted themselves.
Their spot is not the spot of the children. They are a perverse
and crooked generation. What believer does not identify
with that? Who? Who among us does not see
the old man has not the spot of the child of God? We see that
in ourselves. We are constantly at warfare
with the old flesh, the corrupt nature that did not change. Is
this so with you? Believer, is it not so with you?
Do you not struggle against sin? How often are you so spiritually
dry and cold? You feel as though your soul
is withered up and dead. What do you need? In such a condition,
what do you need? I need the same thing I needed
when He first gave me life. I need the doctrine of God to
descend from heaven as the small rain. I need Him to continue this work,
this mysterious work of grace in my heart. As the dew appears
out of nowhere, I need Him to appear out of nowhere and rescue
me from myself. Save me from my sin. Oh, how
sweetly. Look at this. And when we do
sin, we hear this word from Him in verse 6. Do you requite the
Lord, O foolish people and unwise? Is this how you repay Him? Does that not strike your heart? Is not He thy Father that hath
bought thee? Hath He not made thee and established
thee? O friends, How sweet does this
rebuke come onto the believer's heart who has sinned against
God. How could you treat the Lord
such, seeing he hath bought thee with the precious blood of his
Son? Did not He in grace come down
to thee and make thee in the image of His Son and establish
peace and give you eternal life? What then is a remedy? The same
remedy that gave us life to begin with. It is this doctrine. And he begins to explain this
remedy. I'm going to be real quick through
this. Look at this. He says this. Here's the remedy
for the dry-hearted believer. Remember. Verse seven, remember
the days of old and consider the years of many generations.
Ask thy father, he will show thee thy elders and they will
tell thee. What is the remedy? Remember
and consider what? My doctrine. My doctrine. Remember and consider. If you
don't, where are you gonna remember from? He says thy fathers and
thy elders. Go to God's men. Go to God's preachers. Go to
God's saints if you don't remember. And they'll tell you. That's
why God calls us the remembrancers. We're only here to cause you
to remember this. Listen. Salvations of the Lord. Did God not choose you before
you sinned? Did Christ not redeem you before
you sinned? And when you sinned, did He not
come to you in grace and save you, call you? Did He not apply His work and
His doctrine to your heart? How then do you say that your
sin now has separated you from Him? He's already taken into
account your sin. You see how tender this is, how
gentle it falls on the heart of the humble, of the meek, the
lowly. God says, remember, remember
thy election. Verse 8, when the Most High gave
the nations their inheritance, when He spread the children of
men, He set the bounds of His people according to the number
of the children of Israel, for the Lord's portion is His people.
Jacob is His inheritance. Behold God and grace that chose
you. He chose you out of all the people
of the earth. And like Jacob, he set his love
upon you before the foundation of the world. Believers, see
how in the very teeth of our trouble, all the distress of
our heart, how this gentle rain falls upon our spirits and gives
us confidence. Consider my soul that God had
loved thee, not because of thy merits, not because of thy work,
but out of his own grace given you to Christ. Consider the truth
that the world and all its people have their bounds according to
the number of Israel. Don't you know that this world
spins for you? Why is it spinning today? For
Israel, for Israel. That's what that means, that
the world moves for the benefit of God's people. You remember what he said in
Isaiah? He said, I am the Lord thy God,
the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior. I gave Egypt for thy ransom,
Ethiopia and Saba for thee. That was precious in my sight. What do you think the things
are going on in this world? All the wars and famines and
pestilence and prosperity, whatever happens in time, don't you know
it's for you? Don't you know it's for your good? That God
is working all things together for the good of His elect, you
who He's called by His gentle reign, His doctrine. And remember where He found you. Look at this. He said in verse
10, He found him, Jacob. He found Jacob, where? In the
desert land, in the waste howling wilderness. He led him about.
He instructed him. He kept him as the apple of his
eye. Consider this doctrine. God found
you. How did he find you? He found you in a desert. a place
of no rain. And what did he do? He sent rain. He sent his gospel to you and
gave you life. He stirred you as the eagle in
her nest floodeth over her young and spreadeth abroad her wings
and taketh them and beareth them on her wings. Isn't that what
happening right now? Who's bearing who, friend? Who's upholding who? You upholding
God? Or is He holding you? Who's carrying who? I'm not carrying anybody. I can't
carry myself. He carries us. Is this not the gentle rain that
falls on the tender earth? Is this not the sweetest thing
you ever heard? That you are kept by the power
of God unto salvation, ready to be revealed? That nothing
can remove you from Him? Friends, this is not my doctrine.
This is God's doctrine. The source of this doctrine is
this book. The sum of this book is Jesus
Christ and His perfect work. Man is depraved, man is dead,
and only God could give life, and when God gives life, he finds
us in the desert, he gives us life, he keeps us, he washes
us, he carries us all the way to glory. And this is the true
doctrine of God, that none of his people shall be lost, none
of them, not even this one. It is my harsh desire and prayer
to God that doctrine should fall like the rain on my heart. Not in condemnation, but in justification
and righteousness and peace. This is God's doctrine.