Somebody asked me yesterday,
are you nervous? I said, no. I'll wait till Sunday
to get nervous. Am I nervous? You bet. But not because of you, but because
of who I represent. What do you say when everything's
been said. I can't think of a thing that
hasn't been talked about in these past three days. What do you
say when everything's been said? You say it again. You say it
again. I don't get tired of it, do you?
I don't get tired of hearing it. We had conferences up at
13th Street years ago, and Henry decided one year he's gonna have
three speakers in the morning and two in the evening. And I
invited some folks to come, and they said, well, Bible conference? I said, what do you do? And I
said, well, we have three speakers in the morning and two in the
afternoon. Five? Messages? Is that all you do? I said, that's
all we do. and I enjoyed every minute of
it. I invite you to turn with me to Psalm 124. While you're turning, let me
add my gratitude to that expressed by those who have already stood
here. Most of you, I know, And I think I can say with a
clear conscience that I love your pastor, his family, and
this congregation. I can say with the Apostle Paul,
you have become examples. That's what he told the Thessalonians.
You've become examples of all them that believe. That's what
we want to be. We want to be examples. And you
are examples. And in every place, your faith
to Godward is spread abroad. They know of this congregation. They know of your pastor. They
know what you believe. And I love coming here. And I'm
absolutely overwhelmed that you invited me here to speak. All right, I've stalled long
as I can. Psalm 124. There are 15 psalms beginning
with Psalm 120 and going through Psalm 134. And if you look above
the psalm, each one, it says a song of degrees. Now there are no degrees in salvation.
but there are degrees in your knowledge. There are degrees
in your faith. There are degrees in our walk. I don't walk like I did when
I was in my 20s. I do a lot of limping now. But in our Christian walk, there's
a difference. You grow in grace and knowledge
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And some of the men that I read,
some of the old writers, they call these songs of ascension. And the reason they do is because
these wonderful inspired songs were sung by Jewish pilgrims
who were making their way up to the typical feast at Jerusalem. If you read about Jerusalem and
under the law they were commanded to do certain things, they were
commanded to come up to Jerusalem. If you're going to Jerusalem,
I don't care where you live, you're going up. Because this
is where God meets. If you lived on top of the mountain
and had to come down, you're still going up to Jerusalem. And they sang these things on
their journey. They were going up to these typical
feasts, and as they ascended up to Jerusalem, they'd sing
these wonderfully inspired songs. most of which David wrote. And
they would recall, they'd bring to mind all the things that God
had done for them. Isn't that what we do when we
come to worship God? Why Jerusalem? Why go to Jerusalem? Because this was God's designated
place of worship. Because God said. God has always
had a designated place of worship. Sometimes it was at an altar. Sometimes in the tabernacle.
Sometimes the temple. And now in local assemblies where
his people meet and gather. That's God's designated place
of worship. And this is a wonderful building. I think I can say with David,
I want one. And you worked hard for it. I've
been here several times while it was under construction and
I know that you worked hard for it and I hope it lasts a long,
long time. I hope it lasts your lifetime
and beyond. but that's not what i'm talking
about i'm talking about the site to gather in a building is just
a building unless god's life made then it becomes more than
a bill this is where god's life gather together and as these
men and women and their families journey to god's place of worship
they signed the beautiful And in so doing, their hearts
and minds were turned from the everyday grind. We all have to
do it. I have to shop, I have to buy
groceries, I have to interact with the world. But now, now,
our minds and hearts are turned from those things, and we begin
to contemplate all the gracious gifts and promises of God to
us. Why me? You ever ask yourself,
why me? I saw there are people greater
than me. Why me? Don't you think Mr. Bibby
Schiff might have asked himself that question? Why me? Why am I sitting at the king's
table? God made a covenant on your behalf, that's why. That's
why. And tonight, or today, I want
us to sing with David the song of intervention. In the first
four Psalms, I brought messages about the song of the crier.
He cried unto the Lord. And the song of the keeper. God
keeps us. The song of God's house. I was
glad when they said unto me, let us go up to the house of
the Lord. And then last week I preached on this, the song
of heavenly eyes. i was given to you know how to
save what nobody else can see him and then i are today i want to
sing with david the song of the intervention these eight verses
at three times that i want to say hopefully god will enable
us to rejoicing and the first is just the intervention or what in the world is that?
Button in. Intervention. Intervention. Listen to this, verse one. If
it had not been the Lord who was on our side. Now what do you make? Is there a
controversy? Is there a threat? Is there some
kind of danger out there that we're not aware of? Oh my. How far short these pitiful terms
describe it. So what you talking about? Turn
with me to Ephesians chapter two. In Ephesians chapter two, Paul
describes our predicament. What I'm talking about, I'm talking
about the days we live in, I'm talking about our lives, our
everyday lives, I'm talking about this world. I'm talking about
our interaction with society. And he describes our predicament
with three things. In Ephesians 2.1, he said, you
had the quickened who were dead. Dead, what do you mean? Dead
in trespasses and sins. I'm not dead, I can see, I can
think. No, but you're dead in trespasses and sins. When you're
convicted under law and you're judged to death, they take that prisoner down
and they put him in a cell. And when his time of execution
comes, several guards come down and they get on each side of
him and they walk him up to the electric chair, the gas chamber,
whatever mode of penalty there is. And when he comes out of
that cell, those guards cry out, dead man walking. Do you know
that's where you are? before god quickens you, that's
what you were doing. Dead man walking. What is the cry of the preacher?
Dead man walking. Take heed. Beware. Dead man walking. You hath he
quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. Already convicted. Already locked up in chains of
darkness. Oh man, there's a free will.
Yep, he can move around that cell anywhere he wants to go. You're chained in chains of darkness. You're chained by nature. We
were by nature children of wrath, even as others. Oh my soul. You hath equated
who were dead. And that's the story of every
son of Adam who's born into this world. And then secondly, Paul
tells us this. What about this dead man? He talks about the world. Wherein
in time past you walked according to the course of this world.
What's that mean? That's talking about the direction
it's headed. The world. the way of their mind
and heart. You walked according to the course
of their, you thought just like they thought. I preached a message one time
and a guy came to me, he said, now, that just don't seem right
to me. So I went over to Proverbs and
read him that scripture. There's a way that seemeth right
unto a man, but the end there is a destruction. We think with
the same thoughts as the world. We can't think anything else
because we don't know anything else. What the scripture says, it talks
about the world and it says they walk in the vanity of their mind,
having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life
of God. What is the life of God? Eternal
life is to know God. But they can't reason like that
because they don't know God. They're alienated from the life
of God through the ignorance that's in them because of the
blindness of their heart. And being left to themselves,
they form their own opinions and concepts of God and of death
and of judgment and of all these things. they are of the world
john said therefore speak they have the world and the world
here at the end they all thank the same way and then thirdly
paul described our situation is walking according to the prince
of the power of the air satan's realm is the realm of
religion i don't know if you know that are not all satan's
got him down in the bar now that you don't make sure that that
so i didn't have to do that we're natural born rebels are
so you don't have to get involved in my career where you're going
to read satan's realm is the realm of religion it's the realm
of deception it's that it's the realm of Our Lord looked at those Pharisees.
Boy, there wasn't, I'm telling you, Pharisees were just, how
do I say that, straight as a pipe and just as a holler. And our Lord looked at them and
they said, we have God to our, we wasn't born of fornication,
we have God to our father. He said, if God was your father,
you'd love me. He that's seen me has seen the
father. You're of your father, the devil. The devil, all my
soul. If it had not been the Lord,
where would you be? Huh? Where would I be? And then listen to this. He was
on our side. I didn't even know I had a side. He was on my side. If God be for us, who can be
against us? We're talking about intervention,
intervention. If it had not been the Lord who
was on our side, now watch this, verse two. When men rose up against
us, They had swallowed us up quick
when their wrath was kindled against us. What men? Condemned men. By the offense of one, judgment
came upon all men to condemnation. They were condemned men. Deceive
me, beware. Lest any man spoil you through
philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the
basic principles of the world, and not after Christ. Anti-Christ religion, they're
anti-grace and anti-substitution and anti-union and anti-preaching
and anti-righteousness. They're anti-Christ. And here he says they would have
swallowed us up quick. So why didn't they? Why didn't they? Why? Why are
you here this morning and not down there at the Methodist Church?
Why are you here this morning and not over yonder in the First
Baptist Church? Why are you here today? They're
swallowing them up by the millions. Swallowing them up, it's like
a flood. And they're just swallowing them
up, David. Here they come. Broad is the
way that leadeth destruction and many there be. So why didn't they swallow us
up? Why are we here and not out there?
Why are we on our way to the heavenly Jerusalem singing this
song this morning and not on the Broadway that lead it to
destruction? Because the Lord intervened. There's many words that I've
come to be fond of in my heart. Grace, mercy, Christ, many words. But there's two that I grow fonder
of every day. One is union. The other is intervention. Way back yonder in eternity past,
God intervened for us. We say I wasn't even created
yet. Yeah, I know. But he already intervened. Had
he not intervened, when Adam sinned, he would have destroyed
this universe. There'd be no earth, there'd
be no today, there'd be no people, there'd be no anything. The only
reason God didn't destroy all things is because he intervened
for us in eternity. He said his unchangeable love
upon a people. And he put them in a covenant
union with his son. How can that be? Because He's
God. He's God. They weren't even created. They
were one with Him. Read it over in Proverbs. Before
anything was created, He rejoiced with the sons of men. How can
that be? Because He's God. He said his unchangeable love
upon a people and put them in a covenant union with his son
and made provision for them, full provision, no whatabouts,
no what-ifs, no buts. Paul told Timothy, he said, God
hath saved us. Well, you can't tell a young
preacher that. Paul did. God hath saved us. and then he
called us. Not according to our works, he
called us with a holy calling. Not according to our works, but
according to his own purpose and grace. Now listen, which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Is that
intervention? All of my soul. These two, before they'd ever
been born, before either one of them did any good or evil. He said, I'm gonna establish
my election. Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated. He intervened for us. putting
us in a divine union with his son and made full provision for
us in him. And then secondly, he intervened
for us in a glorious condescension. You talk about intervention by
union. The eternal God took upon himself
the form of a man permanently. Marriage is not temporary, marriage
is permanent. And when he took his bride to
himself, it was permanent, David. He robed himself in human flesh,
and one of the greatest messages I ever heard, there's a man in
glory. Oh, I'd like to hear it again.
I've got it on cassette, but I can barely hear it. There's
a man in glory. And if there's one, there might
be two. Might be two. A glorious condescension, the
God-man, one mediator between God and men, the man, the man,
Christ Jesus. Being in the form of God, he
thought it not robbery to be equal to God, but made himself
of no reputation and took on him the form of a servant and
was made in the likeness of human flesh, sinful flesh. There's a man seated at the right
hand of God and seated there. What's he doing? He's arranging
all things, all things together for your good and his glory.
A man. Oh, I just, I can't pray. God wouldn't want to hear me
talk about, yeah, he can be touched with the feelings of your infirmity.
because he's truly managed you can't separate him why in the world would the living
god subject himself to such a thing here's what policy he said this
is a faithful saying and worthy of all the expectation that christ
jesus came into the world that's what we're talking about condescending
to save seniors of whom I'm chief. I'd like to argue with him about
that. I think every believer would. Thirdly, he intervened by representative
obedience. I heard a man about three years
ago who said his obedience had nothing to do with our righteousness
that's a lie he intervened for us by representative obedience
it says being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and
become obedient now this is the god man he's perfect god in a
man does god require obedience out of god No. Then why did he
require it out of Christ? Because he's a representative
man. He's standing there in my room
and in my stead before this law. And God demands a perfect obedience
and I can't produce it. But he intervened for me and
appointed for me a representative, a substitute. And that representative
man, when the fullness of time was come, was born of a woman
made under the law to redeem them that were under the law.
That's why he did it. His representative obedience
is the basis of our free justification before God. If that obedience
wasn't accepted, he'd still be in the tomb. Here's representative obedience
is what constitutes our righteousness. Now the crowning act of that
obedience was his death. His death, even the death of
the cross. And then fourthly, he intervened
for us by accomplishing the eternal will of God. Oh, my son. When he cometh into the world,
this is what he didn't say anything is as a tiny baby but it's talking
about what god saying when he brought his son into this world
and this is what it says over in hebrews 10 when he cometh
into the world he saith sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not
but a body hast thou prepared me to do what? are you listening? Hebrews 107, Lo, I come. In the volume of
the book it's written of me, to do thy will, O God. What will? There's only one will that God
makes known, and he makes that known to his sons. to errors
and salvation only one way that you've read did you mean that's
all the time and here were you talking about the will of god when you know about that we are
not a whole lot but i know that he not willing for you to bear you mean anybody now i mean you
think us work that's what it's a little
bit they're not willing for you to pay you might want to pay
you might try to pay but he ain't willing for you to pay and though
you believe not yet here by the fight for he cannot deny himself
that's good news to me that intervention i've come to do that we'll go
his redemptive where i come down from heaven crash it not to do
my own will but the will of him that sent me and this is the
father's will which has sent me that of all which he had given
me i should lose nothing and this is the father's will anybody
out there can see the song and believe on him he has everlasting
life and i will raise him up at the last day that's god's
redemptive will well and here's what he goes on to
say that he moved up to ten he said by the way to wear what
you don't need to know about the accomplishing of the redeemed
by the way to where we are sanctified through the offering of the body
of jesus christ one well i'm just getting more and more
holy everyday boy not me how do you work more but he sanctified me once for
all in Christ. Intervention. And then being
raised from the dead, he ascended into glory and he intervened
again. He gave gifts to men. He gave us his word. He established
his church through the apostles and prophets. And then he gave
to us evangelist and pastor teachers. And to ensure their success,
because we're all men, to ensure their success, he poured out
his Holy Spirit on his church. Is that intervention? Oh my,
oh my. Paul said, I'm not sufficient
of myself to thank anything of myself. you just think you're
the only one in the world that knows these things john said we know this we are
of god and the whole world of life and wickedness why do you know these things?
the holy spirit of god The Holy Ghost was poured out
upon his church to do three things, to work in conjunction with the
preaching of the gospel. Paul said, we're not sufficient
of ourselves to thank anything of ourselves. Our sufficiency
is of God, who had made us able ministers of the New Testament,
not of the letter, but of the spirit. The Holy Ghost does not work,
contrary to what religion says, through private revelations and
individual visions. If that were so, if he was giving
somebody a new revelation, you wouldn't need this book. This
book would be worthless. When he got done with his revelations,
he told John, put your pen up. There was still things going
on. And John wanted to write about them. He said, no, John,
you're done. Put your pen up. It's complete. And if they speak
not according to this word, because there ain't any light in them.
No light in them. He works through such things
as 1 Corinthians 2.14 calls the things of the Spirit of God. The natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God. What thing? The Word of God. I was saying something, and I
just use in general terms. I go overboard sometimes. And
I said, I don't care if your gray-haired grandmother believes
it. Uh-oh. He had a gray-haired grandmother
and he loved her. And one of the fellas from the
church told him, he said, he said, let me show you what
he's talking about in the Word of God. He took him back to the
same passage that I was reading. He said, I don't care what it
says in the Word of God. That's because you're a natural
man. That's why, that's why. well
i don't fear those things that's because you're a natural man
natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of god foolishness
under him the word of god the providence
of god the preaching of the gospel paul said we receive not the
spirit of the world but the spirit which is of god that we might
know the things freely given to us of God, which things we
preach. We preach not in words which
man's wisdom teaches, but with things the Holy Ghost teaches.
I can stand up here and talk about the ark, and I can tell
you that's Christ. Huh? It's a boat. No, it's Christ. It's Christ. And I can take you
over to Peter and show you that. I can show you that. I can show
you where everybody in that boat was baptized. They were buried under the wrath
of God and raised to a newness of life. Spiritual things were
spiritual. We've been told that by several
of the men this week. And in old Romans 10, Paul said,
you can't call on God, you can't believe on God without preaching.
Who said that? The Holy Ghost said that. And he said it through a man
called Paul. And he wrote it down. And God
put his stamp of approval on it. how you don't call on him and
who you have not believed how you don't believe on him of whom
you have not heard and how you going to hear without a preacher
and how on earth is he going to preach if I don't send him don't despise preachers young
people here today if you don't know don't despise preachers
preachers are God's means of intervention in your life in
your life. Oh, I don't even want to think
about where I was until God in his providence led me to his
preacher. So what are we going to sing?
We're on a pilgrimage. We're on our way to our Father's
house in glory. We're looking for the new Jerusalem.
And we came here to worship. and we're doing that by recalling
what god's done for us and all his gracious promises yet to
come so what we're going to sing, we're going to sing about god's
intervention all right here's the second thing
this is the second verse of that song look at our text in verses
six and seven a grateful heart Blessed be the Lord who hath
not given us a prey to their teeth. Our soul is escaped as
a bird out of the snare of fowlers. The snare is broken and we're
escaped. A grateful heart. Ain't you grateful? I'm telling you, I'm grateful. What snare is he talking about?
He's talking about deception. Bird's deceived, he sees something
there, he flies down there and pow. Snare got him, he's trapped,
he's trapped. Men bring in, the scripture said
quietly, damnable heresies. Many shall follow their pernicious
ways, and cause the truth to be evil spoken of. And beware,
Paul said, lest any man spoil you. He's not talking about like
an apple gets spoiled. He's talking about the spoils
of war. All these treasures, all these heavenly treasures,
you beware lest they take them away. They'll spoil you. How they gonna do it? Vain deceit, philosophy. according to the tradition of
man he's talking about man's traditional understanding and
the basic principles by which this world operates oh how easy it would have been
to have gotten caught in a snare but God intervened and we're
grateful Paul said I thank God for you have you ever read 2
Thessalonians chapter 2? talking about the spirit of Antichrist
and how it's just sweeping millions, sweeping them away, sweeping
them away, taking them under that wing. And he said,
for this cause, because they received not the love of the
truth that they might be saved, for this cause God gave them
all. He said, all right, is that what you want? There it is, there
it is. He sent them strong delusion
to believe a lie and be damned for believing it. But Paul said,
oh, I thank God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord. Because he hath chosen you, now
listen, to salvation through sanctification of the spirit
and belief of the truth. And that's why he called you
by my gospel. That's why you heard when I spoke. Huh? God's intervention. I thank God
for you, brother. Giving thanks to the Father,
he told the Colossians, which hath made us meet to be partakers
of the inheritance of enlightened saints. And the more you know
about God's intervention, the more thankful you are. the more
thankful you are. Oh, just look back there at God's
wrath. It's rising and rising in each
generation. And now comes Noah. And God's,
oh, it's reached the end. It's reached its highest tempo.
And he said, it repents me that I even made man. I'm going to
destroy him off the face of the earth. But, Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. Is that your story? Boy, it's
mine. But, Darpen found grace in the
eyes of the Lord. And he made full provision. Something I never heard of. I'm gonna give you direction,
Noah. You're gonna send your sons out. You know that ark made
of gopher wood, right? But you ain't got a clue what
gopher wood is, do you? That's not the species of trees
that it was made from. Gopher wood is wood shaped into
a specific design. God gave his pattern to Noah,
and he told his sons, you go get me a piece of wood, and here's
what I want. Drawing my picture. We preach
the gospel to men exactly as God gives it to us in our studies.
We preach it to men, and man puts it together, don't he? The
Holy Spirit shapes it, and it fits perfectly. That's intervention. That's intervention. Giving thanks unto the Father.
Oh, Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. God intervening
on his behalf. David said, enter into his gates
with thanksgiving. And into his courts with praise.
Be thankful and bless his name. listen to paul all richard man
that i a m not that he used to be we're talking about possible
all richard man that i a m who shall deliver me from the body
of this day who's gonna deliver me from me i thank god through our lord
jesus christ So, with the mind. What mind? The mind of Christ. I serve the
law of God. The hymn writer said, oh to grace,
how great a debtor. Daily I'm constrained to be. Let thy goodness tie me up like
a fetter. Bind my wandering heart to thee. I'm so thankful that God led
me to hear his preacher. When I was about 10 years old,
I'm just trying to recall, I'm too old to remember things anymore,
but I was about nine or 10, and we rode the school bus to school. I had some friends on there about
my age, and this little boy's sitting about two seats up from
me, and you didn't wear a seatbelt back then. We'd get up and walk
around on the bus. And he come back and he slid in the seat
beside me and he looked all around and he said, hey, he said, we're
rich. And I said, what? We're rich. Pulled out a little sack, he
said, look, there's a bunch of money in it. And I said, where'd
you get that? He said, I found it. I said,
okay. But we went to school and after
school, You don't think when you're nine years old. We went
down to the Western Auto Store. He bought him a radio and I bought
me a whole complete cowboy suit. I looked like Roy Rogers when
I come. I had the six guns on and the vest and the hat. And
here I come walking in the house and I walk right past my mother
and she said, whoa. I'm back here. Where'd you get all that? Well,
my birthday's in December, you know, and this is early in the
late spring, you know. I said, well, my friend gave
that to me for my birthday. Uh-uh, that don't wash. So after a little while, a little
threatening and whatever, I finally confessed. And she said, well, I'm going
to call the school. So she did. And when dad got
home that evening, I had to go back up to the Western Auto Store
and tell him, give all the stuff back. He refunded the money,
and then worst of all, we had to go over to that little girl. She was a cheerleader or something
that had money for school, and I had to go over to her house
and take the money back. And man, I was shaking like a
leaf. And I went in there, and I don't know to this day if they
had it made up or if this didn't really happen this way. But I
went in the house, and I had to take it over and give it to
her, and then I had to apologize to her dad, and her dad's a big
old guy. And he's standing there, man,
he's got this big, deep voice, and he just railing on me. I
got a good mind to take you up to the police department and
have your little butt locked up in jail. And man, my lips
out and the tears is rolling, I'm shaking like a leaf. And he goes on and on and pretty
soon I feel this hand. And my dad pushes me behind him.
And he said, whatever he owes, you tell me and I'll pay it. That's intervention. And that's
what God does in everything that he does for you. In the gospel,
when you hear it and you got ears, blessed are your ears,
blessed are your eyes, they see. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect, he takes his hand, puts you behind him. You charge it to me. You bring
that accusation to me. His debt's paid for. Your little
girl's got that sack of money. You leave him alone. You leave
him alone. Oh, my soul. And then I'll try
to hurry. This is the last point. The full
assurance of faith. Have you got assurance? I got a man been going to church
in our church for 30 some years. And he said, pastor, I don't
have any assurance. And I said, brother, I said,
assurance is not confidence in your confidence. Assurance is
confidence in Christ. Do you not believe that Christ
condescended into this world? Oh, I believe that. Do you believe
he left some part of that debt unpaid? Oh, he paid it in full.
I said, that's assurance. That's assurance. there are no
way under the sun that the Thessalonians, when they heard the gospel in
power, could have had assurance if it took years to get it. Paul
said, here's the evidence of your election. My gospel came
not in word only, but it came in power. It came in the Holy
Ghost. Are you listening? With much
assurance. You mean they thought they was?
No. they heard what he said about crash and they were sure he was
right all that the father giveth may
crash they have come to me you believe not going on and him
to come to me he said i wouldn't know why cast so what you hope
for it one more If he hadn't done it all, I'm
gone. I don't have any hope apart from
Christ. He's all my hope. May the Lord
allow every one of us throughout the rest of our journey to sing
the song of intervention.