It is so good to be here. I enjoy watching your services
as you live stream. Glenda and I sit and Sunday nights
is times that we're able to be with you. And it's so good to
be here in person with you. Believe me, this is a blessing.
I'm gonna ask you to take your Bibles and turn back to Ecclesiastes
chapter eight. I'm not gonna read, reread what
Gabe read, but I wanna tell you what Solomon said in what he
read. But before I do that, I would
like to say that tonight I would like to preach, talk
to all of us. And I want to assume tonight
that we've never heard the gospel before, that this is the first
time that we've ever heard the truth preached. There was a time
when truly for myself I had never heard it and I'd never heard
it. And tonight I want to assume
that no one here has ever heard the truth. Solomon speaking under the inspiration
of God's spirit, had diligently searched out and studied wherein
man's wisdom lies. He had observed the restlessness
of men and he observed their employments. He was watching
what they were doing and all of their tireless worldly endeavors. He said that, for there is that
neither day nor night seeth sleep. Just worried and concerned and
watching what was going on in the world and just things that
were happening on the news and this that and the other and oh
no this is it doomsday and what he said I watched and I beheld
and then he considered the ways of God as the Lord revealed himself
in his word and the various methods of providence, how the Lord who
works all things after the counsel of his own will. And we know
that, that the Lord, the Lord orders all these things. And
Solomon watched and he saw the regenerate, he saw the unregenerate,
and he came to this conclusion, just watching people, watching
what they were doing. He said that no man, ever so
wise as he seems to be, is able to fully come and understand
the things that God is doing. He just, we think we know and
we don't. And he said it's best for man
not to be perplexed And to bring himself to just fruitless inquiries
about the matters that he really doesn't understand the things
that's going on in this world. It's best to quietly submit to
the Lord's will and to recognize that the Lord's providence. is
what's going to be done. God's pleasure is what's going
to be done. His counsel is going to stand. And to live in the reverence
or the fear of the Lord. Just bow and be thankful that
Almighty God has been pleased to show compassion unto a people. Solomon said, he said, concerning
all this, he said, all this I considered in my heart. the truth that's
revealed in God's Word concerning man and God's methods, providence
toward man. He said that he knew that all
men were in God's hand and that the course of the Lord's providence
is going to be according to the Lord's purpose and that all events
are before them, and there's some common things that happens
then, though we don't understand the reasons that Almighty God
is pleased to do that which He does, we are assured that what
the Lord does is right, and that no man He said, knoweth either
love or hatred. What does that mean? It means
that no man can judge merely by God's providential dealings
with men, whether or not the love of God is upon that man
or no. David said, I've seen the wicked
prosper. Man, by nature, we look at prosperity
and we say, oh, what God's blessings on him. But then we turn around
and the Lord says, whom I love, I chase them. There was a Lazarus
that sat and scraped his sores, you know, with a piece of broken
pottery. And the rich man fared sumptuously
every day. And they both died. Lazarus goes
to the bosom of Abraham and the rich man lifted up his eyes out
of hell. So all of this Solomon considered
and he realized he was never able to come to the conclusion
of the fullness of God's ways. But though Solomon realized there's
some things that we will never in this life know, there's some
things that we do need to consider. Solomon said, I considered. In
the book of Haggai, I'll read this to you. Haggai, the scripture
says that the prophet Haggai, speaking to Zerubbabel, and Haggai
said, thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, this people,
he didn't say my people, this people say, The time is not come,
the time that the Lord's house should be built. Then came the
word of the Lord by Haggai, the prophet saying, is it time for
you, O ye, to dwell in your sealed or your paneled houses, and this
house lie waste? Now therefore, thus saith the
Lord of hosts, consider your ways. Now, I wanna just read
this. He's talking about the rebuilding
of God's house, but spiritually speaking, listen to what he's
saying to these people that are finding fault to the neglect
of the things of God, and they're more concerned with themselves.
He says, you've sown much, you bring in little. Think how man
by nature sows much, in his own heart, but he brings in little. Lord, Lord, we prophesied in
your name. We cast out devils in your name.
We've done many wonderful works in your name. You're so much,
you bring in little. You eat, but you have not enough. You don't feast on the manna
of heaven. You don't feast on the bread
of heaven. You feast on yourselves, your will, your work, your drink.
but you're not filled with drink. You clothe you, but there's none
warm. Why? Because you're robed in
the filthy rags of your own righteousness. And he that earneth wages, spiritually,
before God in his mind, he that earneth wages, earneth wages
to put it into a bag of holes. Stuffing all of his spiritual
riches right in his bag, and they've just fallen out. Thus
saith the Lord of hosts, consider your ways. Now Solomon said,
I considered all the ways of God. And he said, I realize things
happen to the righteous and the unrighteous. Who knows what God's
doing? But then he exhorts men to consider
your ways. There are some things that we
do need to consider. Now, I want us to look for just
a few minutes at a few things that I'd like for us to consider.
Consider your ways. We're exhorted. You consider,
this is what man by nature does. earns his wages, he puts them
all in a bag, they're gone. He reaches in there to find something
that he can have some sustenance with and he's got nothing. I want us to consider for just
a few minutes some things that I think need to be considered. And I pray that if the Lord be
pleased to bless this to my heart, I need to hear this. and I pray
that it be a blessing to you. I want us to consider first,
now consider your ways. Consider first the state of all
men born into this world. Consider the state of all men.
Now listen, if you've never heard the gospel before, consider how
we're born into this world. Romans 3.23 says this. Listen. All have sinned. All have violated God's law. Sin is a transgression of God's
law. Sin is disobedience. In the day
that you eat thereof, you're gonna die. All have sinned and
come short That is, they've come short of God's commandments,
God's requirements for holiness. This is how we are. All have come short of the glory,
the praise, the honor of God. Now listen. Consider this. We're all guilty. We're all cut out of the same
pit There's none that have escaped the filthiness of sin's pollution. None left to themselves will
seek after God. None can or will do any good. So listen, here's where we're
all on the same level. It doesn't matter that I'm standing
up here. This is how we are by nature. Here's how all of us
are. When it comes to being born in
this world, we're born dead, spiritually dead sinners. The scripture says in Isaiah
64 verse 6, but we are all as an unclean thing and all our
righteousness is. I've heard men say there's a
little good in all men. Well, let me tell you what the
Lord says. All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, and we do all fade as a leaf, and all of our iniquities, like
the wind, is taking us away. We're all filthy. We're all sinners,
we're all rebels, we're dead spiritually. And let me ask you
this, what can we do about it? Now, what can we do about it?
Job asked this question, who can bring a clean thing out of
an unclean? And then he answered it, not
one. Nobody. No one can change his
position or his state of filthiness by himself. Now, this is how
we are. I know what men say, but if they're
truthful to these scriptures, this is the way we are. Here's
my second consideration. Consider the one with whom all
men have to deal. Isaiah six, verse one to three
said, in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting
upon a throne, high and lifted up. His train filled the temple
and above it stood the seraphims and each one had six wings with
twain he covered his face, with twain he covered his feet and
with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another and
said, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth
is full of his glory. Now here's the way we are. We're filthy. Here's the way
he is. He's holy. This is the one that
spoke to Moses. At the burning bush, when Moses
was tending the sheep of his father Jethro, father-in-law
Jethro. And when Moses came to this burning
bush that wasn't consumed, the Lord spoke to him out of the
bush. And he said, Moses, take your
shoes off because the place that you're standing is holy ground. God was there. This is the one,
turn if you will to Exodus 19. I want you to look at this. Exodus
19 verse 10. This is the one that when the
Lord was gonna give Moses the 10 commandments, he gave Moses
a warning. Exodus chapter 19 verses 10 to
13, the Lord said, unto Moses, go unto the people
and sanctify them today and tomorrow and let them wash their clothes
and be ready against the third day. For the third day, the Lord
will come down in the sight of all the people upon Mount Sinai
and thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about saying,
take heed to yourselves that you go not up into the Mount
or touch the border of it. Whosoever touches the mount shall
be surely put to death. There shall not be a hand touching,
but he shall surely be stoned or shot through. Whether it be
beast or man, it shall not live. When the trumpet soundeth long,
they shall come up to the mount. Now, God is holy. And I've tried to search out
and find out what holy, find out the meaning of holy. And
I was so thankful that I did read some men who were honest
enough to say, to come to the conclusion of the pure definition
of holy. They admitted. It's a hard word
for a man to define. But the word that I kept coming
across as I would find men trying to explain holiness, you know
what it was? Separation. Separation. The word separation kept coming
up. The complete other. Psalm 71 19 says, Thy righteousness
also, O God, is very high. Thou who has done great things,
O God, who is like unto thee? So here's where we are. We're
sinners, we're dead, we're filthy, and God is holy, separate So
consider this thirdly, our state of separation from God because
of our sins. Isaiah 59, one and two says,
behold, the Lord's hands not shortened that it cannot save. neither his ear heavy that it
cannot hear, but your iniquities have separated between you and
your God, and your sins have hid his face from you that he
will not hear." It's not that the Lord's unable
to save. He's God. He's omnipotent. It's
not that He cannot hear. He's not dumb as an idol, not
able to hear, deaf, but he's holy. And sin separates. Isaiah 64 7 says, and there is
none that calleth upon thy name that stirreth up himself to take
hold of thee, for thou has hid thy face from us and has consumed
us because of our iniquities. Because of sin, there is a wall
of separation between man and God and the only hope of salvation
is that God would do something for man that man cannot do for
himself. Now, the thing is, we are spiritually
impotent. That means we have no power.
We have no ability. We're born in sin, dead spiritually,
God is holy, and we're separate. And because of sin, he will not
hear in ourselves. Well, fourthly, consider this,
the consequences of dying in our sins, of dying like that. what will happen to a man, a
woman, if he dies in his sins? Dies without Christ. Turn to
Matthew 22. The Lord gave a parable. The Lord taught. His disciples,
you know, they asked him one day, said, why do you teach in
parables? Why do you teach these earthly
stories with heavenly meanings? Why do you do that? And he told
them, he said, it's because it's given unto you to know the mysteries
of the kingdom of God. And unto them, it's not given.
So when the Lord taught in these parables, he was teaching something. And we would do well to listen.
Listen, Matthew 22, verses two through seven. He said, the kingdom
of heaven, is likened to a certain king which made a marriage for
his son and sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden
to the wedding and they would not come. Now let me ask you
this, what by nature Leave a man or a woman to themselves by nature.
Now you live in this area, you have neighbors and you work with
people and you know, you invite somebody, you invite them to
come. So why don't you come out and hear my pastor? We have services
and they start at this time. We meet on Sundays, we meet on
Wednesdays. Why don't you come? By and large, you know what the
response is. Man by nature, he's not interested.
sent forth his servants to call them, he sends preachers to call
them, preach the gospel, them that were bidden to the wedding
and they would not come. Again, he sent forth other servants
saying, tell them what you're bidden. Behold, I prepared my
dinner, my oxen, my fatlings are killed and all things are
ready coming to the marriage, but they made light of it. went
their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise. And
the remnant took his servants and treated them spitefully,
slew them. But when the king heard it, he
was wroth. He sent forth his armies and
destroyed those murderers and burnt up their cities." Now,
let me ask you this. According to this scripture,
that parable that the Lord was teaching, Almighty God, in this
day of grace, if I could say it that way, you know what I'm
talking about. In this day, the day of judgment
has yet to come. The Lord has not returned the
second time. And men called of God are standing
in pulpits and preaching the gospel. It's going out. It's going out. This church here,
it's live streamed. There's people that's watching
this right now. they're telling men. Every preacher that God's
called they know they don't have the ability to make a woman put
a desire in a man or a woman's heart to come. They know that. But what they're doing is they're
being obedient. The Lord told His disciples,
He said, you go into all the world and preach the Gospel to
every creature. So what do we do? We bid men,
women, come, come to Christ. Cast yourself upon the mercy
of God who are gonna come. all that the father has given
the son, they're gonna come. I know they're gonna come, but
we don't know who they are. So what we do is we preach the
gospel to them and we wait on the Lord and pray that God be
pleased to bless the service, but they preach and he said they
made light of it. And what's gonna happen? Well,
there's coming a day in which there'll be no more days. And
the scriptures declare that we're all gonna stand before God and
he's gonna separate the sheep from the goats. And there's gonna
be men, he says in Matthew 7, 22, 23, many will say unto me
in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name,
and done in thy name, and in thy name cast out devils, and
in thy name done many wonderful works? And he will say, I profess
unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that were
iniquity. Men are born into this world
sinners. God Almighty is holy. And because of sins, we're separated. and standing before God without
a substitute, the accepted substitute, God's priest, we're going to
be cast out. So here's my conclusion concerning
man without Christ. We're in a mess. But fifthly, I want us to consider
the miracle, the wonder of God's grace. This is the only hope for sinners. I've got some good news. The
other news is hard, but it's true. God revealed a blessed
truth to a man named Moses. I know you've read this before,
turn with me to Exodus 33. Exodus 33. In Exodus 33 verse
18, Moses asked the Lord, he said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. Let me tell you what he asked
the Lord. Would you reveal to me your relationship according to
your mercy to man? Would you tell me your name?
Would you explain to me your name? That's what he was saying.
Would you show me your glory, your name? And I know that because
of the Lord's answer. I wouldn't have known it without
the Lord's answer, but I can tell you what he asked him. Would
you show me your glory, the glory of your character, your name,
would you show me that? In verse 19, he said, I will
make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the
name of the Lord before thee. He told Moses, I'm gonna tell
you what my pleasure is and what my name reveals. The capital
O, capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D. Jehovah, Jehovah,
the Father who chose, the Son who redeemed, the Spirit who
regenerates. I will make all my goodness pass
before thee and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee.
And here it is. And we'll be gracious to whom
I will be gracious and we'll show mercy on whom I will show
mercy. Now, let me tell you what mercy
is. Mercy is the Lord not giving
me what I deserve. When we see the word mercy, that
means we're guilty. We're guilty. When you see mercy,
just make the assumption that we are guilty. Grace, giving
us what we did not deserve. We don't deserve the least of
his mercies, but listen, we're in a mess. We're in a mess and
I need for God to be merciful to me. I need the Lord to be
gracious and merciful to me, electing grace. If the Lord had
not left us a remnant. If Lord had not left us a small
remnant, if there wouldn't have been a remnant of God's electing
grace, we'd all been like Sodom and Gomorrah. I need adopting
grace. I need for the Lord to set upon
me His affection. He said, I've loved thee with
an everlasting love. Lord, love me. Lord, show mercy
to me. Predestinating grace to determine
my end and my end when the Lord said, Father, I will that those
that thou has given me be with me where I am. that they may
behold my glory, that glory that I had with you before the world
was. I truly need, for me to have
any hope, I need for God to determine my end to be with him. The Lord
has to determine that. Redeeming grace. I will be gracious,
I will show mercy. The Lord said in John 10, 15,
I lay down my life for the sheep I think about that high priest
in the wilderness, when Aaron, sons of Aaron, and he had an
onyx stone on this shoulder, and he had an onyx stone on this
shoulder, and it had six names, six tribes on this shoulder,
and six tribes on this shoulder, and I think about those two onyx
stones that had the names of the tribes of Israel, And the
government, the government, the government of the redemption
and salvation of his people shall be upon his shoulders. I used to ride Gabe on my shoulders. I could pick him up at one time
and put him on my shoulders and ride around. And I had him, I
had both, you know, I had his ankles right here. I had his
hands too, both hands around me. And I was pretending like
I was gonna stumble and I was gonna fall and stuff like that.
And we were both having fun and stuff like this. But I think
about how he trusted me. And I think the government of
the salvation of people is on his shoulder, he bearing us up.
And those stones on that breastplate of that priest, and he had a
tribe, I mean, he bore that word on his heart. And then when the
Lord said, I lay down my life for the sheep, I think to myself,
Lord, die for me. Lord, when you lay
down your life, The thought that he had Marvin Stoniker on his
heart gives me some hope, pardoning grace. If we say we have no sins, we
make God a liar. I can't do anything but sin. I have no way of But Lord, forgive
me if we confess our sins. He's faithful and just to forgive
our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness and preserving
grace. I will have mercy, I will be
gracious. Lord, you keep your people through
faith by the power of God. We're kept by the power of God
through faith, ready to be revealed in the last time. Lord, keep
me, keep me. Lord, save me. I know that the
Lord has a people that he's chosen out, and he's going to save them. He put them in his son, the son
whom he trusted. And I think, Lord, you said concerning
Moses' question to you, I will be gracious. I will be gracious. I know where a man and a woman
is when they're born in Adam. I know something about that separation
because the word of God has revealed that. I know something of the
holiness, the separateness of almighty God. But he said, I
will have mercy. That means that for those that
almighty God has everlastingly loved in Christ, Paul the Apostle
was moved by the Spirit of God, says, my God shall supply all
your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. I need
for the Lord to save me. I need for him to save me by
his grace. And here's what he did. The surety himself, the one who
in covenant agreement, God in covenant mercy, had a people. loved and He gave them, the Father
gave them to the Lord Jesus Christ. And here's what it's going to
take to save them. He's going to have to come into this world
and He's going to have to live for them because they can't live
for themselves. And He's going to have to die
for them in order that they might live because the wages of sin
is death. And God doesn't sweep sin under
the rug. He's a just God. And I know that. And it's gonna take more than
me just saying, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. God's gonna have to be
satisfied. He's just, His law's been broken. So the scripture says in John
1,1, in the beginning was the word, The Word was with God and
the Word was God, verse 14, and the Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth, man by his sin, separate from
God. And it's gonna be a man that's
gonna reconcile God's people back to the Lord. And the God-man,
for a people of God's choosing, he came into this world and he
lived before God Almighty in perfect obedience. He said, I
do only those things that please the Father. And I'm thinking,
now there's, according to these scriptures, there's one, in whom
God's well-pleased. He's well-pleased in him. And
the God-man has satisfied God. And the scripture reveals that
all that believe on him, that his righteousness, his obedience,
that obedience that he obeyed God with, his obedience is charged
to their account that God charges his obedience to his people. Galatians 2.16 says, knowing
that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by
the faith of Jesus Christ. In ourselves, we possessed no
righteousness that God would accept. He lived before God and
earned that righteousness, and being found in Him, He is our
righteousness. Let me just read this for you,
Jeremiah 23, five and six. Jeremiah 23, five and six. Behold, the days
come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous
branch, and a king shall reign and prosper, and shall execute
judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved,
and Israel shall dwell safely. And this is his name whereby
he shall be called the Lord our righteousness. The scripture
declares in Romans 5, 6, and 8, for when we were yet without
strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly, for scarcely
for a righteous man will one die, yet peradventure for a good
man, some would even dare to die, but God commendeth his love
toward us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. 2 Corinthians 5, 21 says this,
For He, that is the Father, hath made Him sin for us. He who knew no sin, that
we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. The reason that
the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world was to save His people. Call His name Jesus. For he shall save his people. He's going to save his people.
He's going to save his people. He's going to save some filthy
sinners that Almighty God has been pleased to set his affection
on. And let me say this, for those that the Lord has shown
mercy and The Spirit of God comes and removes a heart of stone
and gives them a new heart. They're born from above. They're
born anew in regenerating grace. That's a miracle that I can only
believe by faith. It's what He says He does. And for those that He regenerates
and makes a new man, created in righteousness and true holiness,
that I'll be honest with you, I really can't see in myself.
I can see the old man, but almighty God says in regenerating grace,
there's a new man there that does not sin. And let me tell you what the conclusion
is. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which be
in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh, but after the
spirit. Ephesians 2.8 says, by grace are you saved, through
faith, and that not of yourself, it's the gift of God. And here's
the last consideration. Consider the reward of being
found in him. A reward that I never earned. A reward I couldn't earn. a reward
that I had no desire apart from him to earn. Matthew 25, 34 says, then shall
the king, this is in the day of judgment. Now without him,
I know what's gonna happen. But being found in him, then
shall the king say unto them on his right hand, come, not
depart, come. You blessed of my father, not
cursed. Inherit the kingdom, not outer
darkness, inherit the kingdom prepared for you by God from
the foundation of the world. Here's what the scripture says,
to those that almighty God shows mercy, he's always been pleased
to show mercy. I've loved you with an everlasting
love. Now, here's my question. Is there any way that I can know
that I've got a part in that? Now, that's some good news for
somebody. That's some good news. He that believeth on the Son Not himself, he that believeth
on the Son hath life. He that believeth not hath not
life. The scripture declares that if
God's pleased to do something for somebody, He's going to give
them faith to believe it. And they're gonna believe Him.
And they're gonna trust Him. And in their heart, they're going
to come to Him. They're going to come to Him. I said this before, I'd be off
somewhere and Glenda would be home and I'm hundreds of miles
away. But when I thought on her, I
came to her. A believer comes to the Lord
and he comes And he continues to go, he that cometh unto me. I've heard people say, I came
to the Lord a long time ago. I need to come right now, right
now. Today is the day of salvation.
Here's the evidence. If God Almighty has given anybody
in here a heart that desires to come to Christ and cast themselves
upon the mercy of God, it's only by the grace of God. But if he
gives that sinner a heart, I'm going to tell you right now,
he's already done something for you. Consider your ways. Marvin, you consider your ways.
I pray that God be pleased to bless this to our heart tonight
and give us an understanding, an inkling, somewhat of an inkling
of the marvelous grace that God's been pleased to show sinners.
us for His glory and our good. Amen.