It's my honor, privilege, and
delight to be here. Be back with you. Take your Bible
and find Isaiah 42. Isaiah chapter 42. Let's read the first four verses. Isaiah 42, verse 1. Behold, behold. Now whenever
I read that word in Holy Scripture, I view it and look at it as a
stop sign. God said you just stop. You just
stop and you think and you meditate upon what I'm about to say. God
here says, behold, my servant. Talking about the righteous one,
the servant of God, our blessed Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And God says of this servant,
he's the one that I uphold. I uphold him. All power, all
glory. He's my elect. You see, the Lord
Jesus Christ is the elect. We're chosen in him. Did you
know that's the first time that word elect is found in scripture?
Right there. And it's used in reference to
Christ himself. He is the elect. We are elected
in him, in Christ. And God said, this is my beloved
son in whom I'm well pleased and whom my soul delights. I put my spirit upon him." John,
the forerunner of the Lord Jesus Christ, said of the Lord Jesus
Christ, he had the spirit of God upon him as the God-man mediator
to accomplish all of God's purpose without measure. And then it
says of him, he shall bring, he shall bring forth judgment. And here he's talking about salvation
to sinners, salvation, God's salvation to Gentiles. Gentiles. Isn't that a miracle
of God's grace? God has an elect among all people. We read about that in the Revelation,
don't we? A kindred, a tribe out of every
kindred, tribe, people, and nation. He has a blood-bought people. And then it says that the ministry
of the Lord Jesus Christ, that he shall not cry or lift up nor
cause his voice to be heard in the street. He doesn't go about
with a campaign like earthly kings would do and raise up a
banner and walk through the streets and say, hey, everybody, look
at me. No, he came, son of God. In the fullness of time, God
sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the law to redeem
us. Oh, his voice was heard. Who
heard his voice? Remember the Lord said in John
10, my sheep, They hear my voice and I know them and they follow
me. Then it said in John chapter
eight, those who are of God, they hear God's word. They'll hear his voice. They'll
hear his voice. Notice our Lord is long suffering,
kind and compassion, compassionate unto his people, a bruised reed. A bruised reed, he'll not snap
it, he'll heal it. He came to heal the brokenhearted,
aren't you thankful? A bruised reed, shall he not
break? A smoking flax, a dimly lit burning candle, he doesn't
blow it out, he brightens it with Christ who is the light,
Christ who is the light. And then he shall, he shall bring
salvation to sinners. He shall bring forth judgment
unto truth. It says there in Matthew 12,
victory. He shall bring judgment unto
victory. And again, he's talking about
salvation. He's a just God and Savior. And then we get down
to my text, verse four. He shall not fail. He shall not,
how can he? He's sin of God. He is God. How can he fail? Failure is not
even a possibility. Failure is certainly not an option. He shall not fail. He can't. Nor be defeated, discouraged. till he has accomplished all
God's purpose. He shall set judgment, righteousness
in the earth. And you know what? Somebody's
waiting for that. The Isles, the far off, I think
he's talking about us. We're far off from Jerusalem,
distant geographically speaking. and the isle shall wait for his
word, wait for his gospel. The Lord Jesus Christ, that's
who we're talking about here. See, all scripture's about him,
about him. The Lord Jesus Christ cannot
fail in any aspect of his redeeming work or his salvation because
he's called God our Savior. And we know that God cannot fail. He said, I've spoken it, I've
purposed, I bring it to pass, I will do it. Everything that
the Lord our God undertakes for us, write these words over everything
that he undertakes for us in bold letters, successful, successful. How about victorious? How about
complete? How about when the Lord said,
it is finished? It's done. In all aspects of
his eternal purpose, his decrees, his determination, his declarations,
they shall be accomplished. Mission, we can say, the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ declares mission accomplished. He prayed
in John 17. Oh, he said, Lord, I finished
the work you gave me to do. I finished the work. Aren't you
glad? I'm not trusting, now listen carefully, I'm not trusting the
finished work of Christ. I'm trusting the Lord Jesus Christ
who finished the work. I think there's a difference.
I'm trusting Him. You see, salvation is all relative
to Him. No wonder the Apostle said, oh,
that I may win Christ and be found in Him. I want to be found
in Him. He is the Savior. He is the Christ. But in everything that God has
undertaken on our behalf, as a surety, as a mediator, as a
representative, mark it down successful, victorious, complete
matter of fact it says over here in Isaiah 46 in Isaiah 46 if
you want to turn over there verse 9 remember the former things
of old I am God there is none else I am God there is none like
me declaring the end from beginning Isaiah 46 9 Declaring the end from the beginning
from ancient time to things that are not yet done, saying, my
counsel shall stand. I'll do all my pleasure. He worketh all things after the
counsel of his own will. Calling a ravenous bird from
the east, the man that executes my counsel from a far country,
I've spoken it. I will also bring it to pass.
I've purposed it. Therefore, maybe it'll happen.
Maybe if some sinner lets it happen. Maybe if you let God
have his way, it'll happen. Oh no, we're talking about God,
who is God, the God of the scripture. He said, I've spoken it, I'll
bring it to pass, I've purposed it, I'm gonna do it. Oh, that
gives me confidence. My God and Savior, God our Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ, is not a defeated, frustrated reformer. Brother Henry said for many years,
He's a victorious, conquering king. In Revelation chapter six,
verse two, it describes this king. He went forth conquering
and to conquer. He's never lost a battle. He's
won every victory. He's the captain of our salvation
and he cannot, he cannot, he cannot fail. He cannot fail. That puts me clear over here.
I just passed through all those notes. Aren't you happy? I mean,
I just zipped right through all them notes. Now we get right
down to the nitty gritty. I want to camp right here on
this statement. Verse 4, Isaiah 42, he shall
not fail. Now think about it. He had a lot of work to do. Our
Lord said in John 4, remember, my meat is to do the will of
him that sent me and to finish his work, his work. He had a lot put on him. All
that he put on him, all that God laid upon the Lord Jesus
Christ, his redemptive will to accomplish, mark it down, done,
done is the done deal. He shall not fail. He, the Lord Jesus Christ, knows
nothing of defeat. Nothing of defeat. Now, I want
to consider this under three headings. What he has done that
did not fail, what he is doing that cannot fail, and what he
will yet do in which he shall not fail. I love to think about
this. This is one of my favorite verses
in all the scripture. Our God cannot fail. You see in him we are more than
conquerors to him that loved us. Thanks be unto God who has
given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now what
has he done? Isaiah here writing 700 years
before the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Isaiah is looking
future about the coming of the Messiah and God tells him that
Isaiah, your Messiah, is not going to fail. You reckon he
was happy? You know he was. This is the
man who said, woe is me, I'm undone. I'm a man of unclean
lips. Thank God I have a successful Savior. He shall not fail. And
we, looking back to the past, according to the word of the
Lord, we can say that the Lord Jesus Christ has not failed to
accomplish all our salvation, to accomplish all the redemptive
will and purpose of God. Now, several things here I want
to consider what he had done. The Lord Jesus Christ as the
God-man mediator, as the surety of the covenant, did not fail
to fulfill all scripture, every type and picture found in the
Old Testament. The Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled
every type and picture. We talk about providential types. The Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled
all those providential types. We talk about instituted types,
the Passover lamb, the day of atonement, those instituted types,
those providential types. The Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled
all those types and pictures. Everything in the Old Testament
speaks of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, of the Lamb of
God. So he fulfilled all the providential types. Can you think
of a providential time? How about the exodus out of Egypt? How about the serpent that was
lifted up? The Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled
all those things that were pictured. And then we have personal times. I love the personal times we
read in the Old Testament of the Lord Jesus Christ. such as
the Lord Jesus is the fulfillment of that prophet that God told
Moses that he would raise up the Lord Jesus Christ. He is
that prophet that does speak the exact will and word of God. The Lord Jesus Christ is not
only that prophet to represent God to us, but he's that priest. He's the priest, like Aaron of
old, or Melchizedek is a better type and picture of the Lord
Jesus Christ. What's the difference between
a prophet and a priest? A prophet represents God to us to tell
us the truth. The priest represents us to God. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
both prophet and priest. He's the fulfillment of those
things. And then with those three offices that the Lord Jesus Christ
was anointed in all of his offices, prophet, priest, and King, right?
What does the King do? Well, a king, he reigns. The
Lord Jesus Christ is the king of righteousness. The Lord Jesus
Christ is the king of peace. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
king of kings and Lord of Lord. And as such, he reigns over all
things. He reigns in creation. He reigns
in providence. And he reigns in salvation. He
will have mercy on whom he will have mercy. He's king. He's king. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ
has fulfilled all those Old Testament types and pictures. Aren't you
glad? We read in 1 Corinthians 15 how the Lord Jesus Christ
died for our sins according... I love that word, according.
Look it up sometime. It's very interesting. According. He died for our sins according
to the scriptures. It wasn't some kind of accidental
thing. Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken with wicked
hand and crucified the Lord of glory. Never think of Calvary as an accident. The Lord Jesus
Christ died on purpose. God's purpose. He said, no man
takes my life from me. I have power to lay it down.
I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
in my father. He died for our sin according
to God's purpose. God has a purpose. In the fullness
of time, he came and fulfilled that purpose. So the Lord Jesus
Christ did not fail to fulfill all scripture, every promise,
type, picture, pattern, however you want to call it, every shadow,
Something else, the Lord Jesus Christ did not fail to satisfy
God's holy law and justice. Right here in Isaiah 42, look
at verse 21. Isaiah 42, verse 21. It says
here, the Lord is well pleased for his righteousness sake. The Lord Jesus Christ is one
who had no sin, knew no sin, and did no sin. And then it says
here in Isaiah 42, 21, he shall magnify the law and make it honorable. Now the Lord Jesus Christ as
a God-man mediator, he's already righteous. He didn't need to
work out a righteousness for himself, but he needed to work
out a righteousness for his people, and that's exactly what he did.
The Lord Jesus Christ did not fail to satisfy God's holy law
and justice, magnify. He just didn't meet the minimum
standard. He magnified the law. He honored the law in every precept. In every penalty, the Lord Jesus
as a real man honored God and every thought was pure, every
motive was pure, every action was right and just. Our Lord
said in Matthew 5, I didn't come to destroy the law, I came to
fulfill it. And he's doing that for his people
in his life. In his life, he obeyed every
precept of that law. We read about in Hebrews 7, such
a high priest became us, who was holy, who was harmless, who
is undefiled, separated from sin. He obeyed every precept
of God's law. Now there's, we think about the
10, but you know there's 800 precepts of that law. The Lord
Jesus Christ honored every one of them, perfectly, always. So in his life, he obeyed every
precept of God's holy law, and in his death he satisfied the
penalty of that law. What is the penalty of that law?
The guilty must die. You see, that law in its penalty
had to be satisfied, and that's what the Lord Jesus Christ did
in his death. He redeemed us from the curse
of the law, being made a curse for us. Cursed is everyone that
hangeth on the tree. Aren't you glad that the Lord
Jesus Christ worked out a perfect, everlasting righteousness for
his people as a surety, as a mediator? There's one God and only one
mediator between God and men, and that's the God-man, the Lord
Jesus Christ, and then he freely gives that to us. God made him
to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the
righteousness of God, the righteousness of God in him, the righteousness
of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. He didn't fail to honor God's
law, did he? He magnified it. He exalted God's law and he did
that for his people, for his bride, for his church. Something
else we see in which the Lord Jesus Christ has not failed and
did not fail. He did not fail to make complete,
perfect, definite atonement for the sin of his people, for the
sin of his people. Now, sometimes people will ask
you, well, what is your theory on the atonement? of my soul. I don't have a theory. I have
an atonement. The Lord Jesus Christ actually
made full, complete atonement for the sins of His people. And
it's not an attemptment either. It's a full, complete atonement
for all the sin of God's people that were given to the Lord.
He said, all that the Father giveth me, those people given
to the Lord Jesus Christ in that eternal covenant of grace, He
made complete, full atonement for all of their sin. That's right. He obtained, we
read about the great high priest in Hebrews chapter nine, about
the great high priest who entered in once in the holy place, not
with the blood of bulls and goats, but with his own blood, having
obtained for us, having obtained for us eternal redemption. And
then it says later on in that Hebrews nine, verse 26, that
the Lord Jesus Christ appeared once in the end of the age to
put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Now, did he get the
job done? The scriptures declare that he shall not fail. He shall
not fail to put away all the sins of God's covenant people
given to him. We read about that again in Hebrews
chapter 10. I love the book of Hebrews. It's
all about the priestly work of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's so
successful, isn't it? Seeing we have such a great high
priest that has sat down on the right hand of God when he by
himself purged our sin. He didn't stay dead, did he?
God raised him from the dead, but even more than that, he ascended
to glory and he set out, having accomplished the work. You see,
he cannot fail. But how complete and how successful
is the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ? There in Hebrews
10, it talks about God said their sin and their iniquity. You know,
I just don't remember it anymore. Well, how can that be? God knows
all things. Our sin is gone. It does not
even exist. It is gone. And so complete and
purging and final is the blood atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ
that God said their sin, gone. That's success, isn't it? To
take a worm like you and to make you holy, man, that's success. And that's what we have in Christ.
We don't have any failed atonement. We don't have any failed savior.
I've got enough failure. That's all I am is a failure.
But the Lord Jesus Christ is not a failure. He's glorious
in His redeeming work. He accomplished salvation for
us, and salvation is of the Lord. Now listen to this. To say or
imply that the Lord Jesus Christ died for all the sins of all
men, and yet some end up in hell anyway, what does that say of
His atonement? Well, come on now. If He died
for all the sins of all men, and yet some of those wind up
in hell anyway, what does that say of his blood atonement? It
really doesn't cleanse from all sin, does it? It says that his
atonement to failure, if you go that route, then we can't
go that route because it's contrary to the teaching of scripture.
Call his name Jesus, he shall save his people from their sin. Now, did he do it? God said he
did. How do we know? Being he was
delivered for our offenses, raised again because he justified us. There he sits right now. Right
now. I point to that chair, but seated
in glory. There's a God-man in glory. There's
a man in glory right now, seated at God's right hand. What does
his presence there mean to me? Victory. I have victory in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Something else on this first
point, the Lord Jesus Christ did not fail to crush, defeat
Satan's dominion and the reign and the power of sin. He put
it away. He crushed Satan's power, his
dominion. And it says there in Colossians
chapter 2 that he did it by himself and he did it with himself. With
himself, he crushed the head, the dominion of Satan, the one
who introduced sin. Lord Jesus Christ crushed his
power. Satan had no power. He's not
all powerful. God is almighty. God is in charge. And Satan can't bat an eye without
God's direct command. He's under Satan's rule and dominion. He has all authority and power
over every demon spirit. That's why he could speak to
those demon spirits, come out of the man. And it happened. Oh, no man spake like that man
because that man's God. You got the first point? He had
not failed, has he? I tell you, I love to talk about
this. I could talk about it all night. Here's the second point. The Lord Jesus Christ shall not
fail in what he's doing right now. I mean, what he's doing
right now, he's successful. He's successful. He shall not
fail to irresistibly and powerfully call out his elect from the four
corners of the earth and to make them just like Christ. to make them just like the Lord
Jesus Christ. We read something about it right
across the page over there in Isaiah 43. Look at verse 5. Fear not, fear not. Isaiah uses
this a lot. Fear not, fear not, thou worm
Jacob. Fear not, I am with thee. I'll
bring thy seed from the east. Who's gonna bring them? I will
bring them. Christ suffered once for our
sin, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us unto God.
from the east and gather thee from the west, I'll say to the
north, you give them up." Who can speak like that? Nobody but
God. To the south, keep not back,
bring my sons, bring them. From the far, and my daughters
from the ends of the earth, everyone that is called by my name, we
have union with him. for I've created him for my glory. I've made him. I've formed him. He's mine. He's mine. Thinking of this scripture here
just came to mind. Look over at Isaiah 44. I have blotted out, verse 22,
as a thick cloud thy transgression, as a cloud thy sins. Now, I've
blotted them out. Your transgression, your sin.
Come to me. Come to me upon that basis. Come!
Don't stay away. Come, the Lord said. I have redeemed
thee. Sing, O heavens, for the Lord
hath done it. You see that? Shout, ye lower
parts of the earth. Break forth into singing, you
mountains, O forth, and every tree therein, for the Lord hath
redeemed Jacob and glorified himself. in Israel. He redeemed us in such a way
that he gets all the honor and glory for all that he has done. He shall not fail to irresistibly
and powerfully call out his elect, raise them from the dead, make
them new creatures in Christ Jesus. As a matter of fact, we
read about That Psalm over there in Psalm 110 it is, isn't it? Where it says, thy people shall
be willing in the day of thy power. I sit at my right hand
till I make all your enemies your footstool. And thy people
shall be willing in the day of his power. He's successful. He's going to successfully call
out his elect. He'll cross your path one way
or the other. And he'll put you under the sound
of the gospel and cause you to hear the voice, the effectual,
irresistible, powerful voice of God, and he'll call you out
of darkness into his marvelous light. Now you tell me how a
little boy that was raised way out in the West, in the Rocky
Mountains of Idaho and Utah, raised in heathen Mormonism,
And then one day, by the good providence of God, moved all
the way from the Rocky Mountains to Ashland, Kentucky. What is
this boy doing in Ashland, Kentucky? God had a prophet there. And
God was determined to cross my path with a gospel preacher and
use that message to teach me the gospel and to raise this
dead sinner and make him a new creature in Christ. That wasn't
accidental. That was by God's purpose. God's
purpose. God's purpose. I'll tell you,
you talk about irresistible grace and effectual call, that's every
believer's, and we don't trust in experience, but salvation
certainly is something you experience, isn't it? It is. It's Christ
working in your heart, in your life. Here's another thought. The Lord Jesus Christ shall not
fail to meet the need and supply the need of every sinner redeemed
by his grace. This is a faithful saying. This
is worthy of all acceptation, that the Lord Jesus Christ came
to save sinners. I'm the chief one that he came
to save. Now, you probably think that
of your own self, that you're the chief of sinner, but I got
news for you. Ain't nobody as sinful as I am.
But the Lord Jesus Christ said His heart, His love on me. And
like King David, when he sat on the throne, we read about
in 2 Samuel 9, when he's anointed of all Israel and he sat on the
throne, and the first business that he had was to fetch out
because of that covenant relationship with Jonathan. Jonathan, go down
there and fetch out my fellowship. And we call that fetching grace,
don't we? Fetched him out, and you know
what? David didn't invite Mephibosheth,
did he? You go back and read it, 2 Samuel 9. He told old Ziba,
go down there and get him, bring him! And David came, fell down
before the king, said, what is thy servant? I'm a dead dog. You know, Mephibosheth, you know
what he's thinking about? Saul, my grandfather's dead, my daddy's
dead, David now is on the throne, he gonna kill me. You know what
David did? He said, I'm going to have mercy
on you for Jonathan's sake. And that's a picture of God showing
mercy to sinners for that covenant's sake, for Christ's sake, for
Christ's sake. The Lord Jesus Christ shall not
fail to meet a need, fail to meet the need and supply the
need of those to whom he redeems. I brought a message from Philippians
4 verse 19 this morning where it said, my God shall supply
all your need according to his, that's that word according. according
to His riches in glory by the Lord Jesus Christ. According.
You see, it's according to His mercy, not according to our merit.
It's according to His righteousness, not according to our work. It's
not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according
to His mercy. He saved us. He saved us. The Lord Jesus Christ shall not
fail to supply our every need according to his riches in glory
and he supplies richly that he might be glorified. We've been
made heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ
also shall not fail to sustain our soul and to keep us by his
grace. God's going to keep that which
is his. He's going to take home that
which he's bought. I've used this illustration before.
Some of you ladies make out a grocery list and you go to the store
and you purchase certain items that you desire to purchase. And what do you do when they
bag them up? And what do you do with them?
You don't leave them in the store, do you? No, you bought them.
And what are you going to do with them? You're going to take
them home. The Lord Jesus Christ is going to have what he bought,
and he bought us with his own blood, and he's going to take
us home, and he's going to enjoy us forever. You see, we're kept
by the power of God. We're kept by the power of God
through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He gives them, and these
folks that talk about being saved and lost again, they're just
stupid. I mean, let's just be honest
about it. They're just stupid. They're
ignorant of the Scripture. They're ignorant of the power
of God. We're kept by the power of God. He said, My sheep hear
My voice. I know them. And then He said,
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. The
Father which gave to Me is greater than all, and no man can pluck
Him out of My Father's hand. I and My Father are one. And
then Paul comes along in Colossians chapter 3. He said, Our life
is hid with Christ in God. I used to use this illustration
with my boys. I take my keys out. When I talk
about our life is hid with Christ in God, there's us right here. In Christ, God. Now, come and take them keys
out of my hand. You can't do it. You've got to
overpower me to do it. You see, our life is hid with Christ in
God. I call that security. I call
that victory. He cannot fail to keep us by
his grace. Matter of fact, it says over
in that scripture over there in, I think it's Jude, isn't
it? Where it says that he's able to keep us from falling. He's
able, I like that scripture. He's able to save to the uttermost
all that come to God by Him. He's able to change our vile
body and make it like unto His glorious body. All that He's
promised, He's able to do, but He's able to save to the uttermost.
Let me get back to that scripture there in Jude 1, 24, where it
talks about He's able to keep us from falling and to present
us faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. I call that victory, don't you?
I call that a salvation that cannot fail to save His people. Aren't you glad? Oh, I tell you,
that just makes me happy to think about it. Because I'm such a
miserable failure, but my Lord Jesus Christ is absolutely victorious
in every aspect, in every way. His mercy, victorious. His love? What about His love? You know,
we read over there in 1 Corinthians 13. I remember Brother Bob read
that one time. And every time he read that word love, he put
in, you remember, Christ. Now, that's been 25 years ago. I've not forgotten it yet. But
it says in that one verse that Christ, love shall not fail.
Christ cannot fail. He cannot fail. Something else, the Lord Jesus
Christ shall not fail to give us grace for every trial. Our
Lord said, these words have I spoken unto you that in me you might
have peace. In this world you shall have, you shall have tribulation. Ah, but you know the rest of
it? Be of good cheer. Why? I've overcome. That sounds
like he's victorious, doesn't it? In him, we're winners. Everybody wants to be on the
winning team. Nobody wants to be on the losing side. In Adam,
man, we're lost. In Adam, we're dead. But one
man's disobedience, many, many, thee many, sinners. By the obedience
of another shall many be made righteous, Romans 5, 19. Okay,
let's get to the last point here. The Lord Jesus Christ shall not
fail in what he will yet do. What he will yet do. What he
will yet do. What are you talking about? Well,
a couple of things here. He will not fail to come again
and to receive us unto himself. And there we shall ever, shall
we ever be with the Lord. He shall not fail to come back. Did you read the revelation?
The revelation, you know, the revelation of Christ, what it
says over there in chapter one about verse seven, long in there
somewhere, it said, behold, behold, there's that word again, behold,
he coming. He coming. What does that mean?
It means he's on his way. The Lord's coming. He's on his
way. He shall not fail to come back.
We read about that in John 14. You remember? He said, I go away
to prepare a place for you. If I go away, I'll come again
and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may
be also." Oh, I tell you, he's coming back. He's coming back. And there the Lord shall descend
from heaven with a shout. There's no secret rapture. That's
a myth. The Lord shall come back with
a shout, with the voice of an archangel and the dead in Christ. shall rise again, thank God,
he cannot fail. He's gonna raise his vile body
out of the dust and make it like unto his glorious body. On the
way down here this evening, this afternoon, one of our dear brothers,
older man of our congregation, been with me almost 20 years,
Brother Raymond Davis, Lionel Davis, graduated about four o'clock
this afternoon. The Lord took him to glory. promoted
him. You see, death to a believer
is not punishment, it's promotion. It's promotion. We give thanks for these dear
ones the Lord's been pleased to give us. And I'm gonna miss
my dear friend, but I know he won't miss me. To be absent from
this body is to be present with the Lord. The second point here on this
last thought The Lord Jesus Christ shall not fail to make a new
heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. Now, I'm going to shock you here.
I'm going to shock you here. These people on TV, I call them
environmental wackos, the environmental crowd. The environmental wackos,
they talk about global warming, right? The tree huggers, you
know, the ones that Okay, they talk about, I don't believe in
global warming, I believe in global burning. The elements
shall melt with the fervent heat, and he's gonna make a new heaven
and a new earth. I believe next time someone talks
about global warming, say, uh-uh, warming, uh-uh, no, no, no, no,
you're wrong. Turn over to 2 Peter chapter
3 and say, global burning. You're gonna burn this outfit
up. And you're going to make a new
heaven and a new earth. And we're going to have a new
body to enjoy our blessed Lord and to worship him without sin. He shall not fail. He shall not
fail. See why I like this so much?
I could preach this every sermon, every service, every sermon,
and not get tired of it. Something else we see, the Lord
Jesus Christ shall not fail to make us just like himself. That's what predestination is
all about. Folks get all upset and all uptight about predestination.
Predestination is used the word four times in scripture and every
time it's used it's in reference to what he's going to make us.
He's going to make us and he's predetermined and decreed to
make us just like the Lord Jesus Christ. I love predestination. God determined to make me just
like the Lord Jesus Christ. There's another dear brother
that I was telling my wife coming down the road this evening when
we got the news about Raymond Davis passing away. There's another
dear brother that tended our ministry for a long time. His
name was Earl Blackburn. And I preached his funeral about
five years ago. And this man started watching
Brother Henry on TV. He lived over in Floyd County,
Kentucky. And started watching Brother
Mahan on TV. And when I moved to Pikeville
to minister there in 1994, that following spring, Brother Mahan
announced on his TV program that he's going to be in Zebulon,
Kentucky, to conduct a gospel meeting, preaching the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he announced it on his TV
program. Well, this dear brother, Earl Blackburn, had been listening
to Brother Henry for many years. He had a whole, he showed me
one time in his house, he had drawers full of tapes. That poor
old country boy, hard-working man, lumber man. And Brother Henry came. Sure
enough, he showed up. He's out there in the parking
lot before Henry and I got there. He was out there walking around.
I said, buddy, you need help. He said, I'm looking for a gospel
preacher. Is he going to be here tonight? And I said, yeah, he's
going to be here. He's going to preach the gospel,
too. He said, that's who I'm looking for, Mahan. Is that his
name, Mahan? Yeah. And he stayed there that service,
and he came back the next service, and the next service, and the
next service, and he stayed there until the Lord called him home.
But you know what he told me one day? I told this at his funeral.
His brother, Earl Blackburn's brother, Johnny, Johnny K. Blackburn, was the sheriff of
Floyd County for a number of years. And when I preached that
funeral for his brother, Brother Earl, that whole place was full
of deputy sheriffs. I mean, the funeral home was
packed. You sang that. You sang that day, Rock of Ages.
I remember what you sang. And the whole place was packed
out of deputy sheriffs. I mean, there were sheriffs from
all over. His brother was the president of the Sheriff's Association
of Kentucky. I mean, there was sheriffs, county
sheriffs from all over, all over the country. The counties, all
over the counties in Kentucky, that's what I meant to say. And
when we went to the cemetery, I tell you, we went in style.
I mean, there was 20 police cars in front of me with fire engines,
and bells going, and sirens going, whistles going. I said all that
to say this. Brother Earl loved the gospel
of God's grace. And he said to me one day, he
said, you know, Brother Tom, he said, the Lord's taught me
something about predestination. I said, what is that? And he
said, I tell you exactly, I tell you exactly who believes in predestination. I said, well, who does? He said, those who are predestinated.
I said, I mean, this is a man with
a third grade education. But he was taught of God. He
was taught of God, I love that dear brother. He's so sweet.
One day I'll see him again. One day I'll see him again. How
do we know that the Lord Jesus Christ shall not fail? He's promised
it in his word. He said it and that settles it. It's not he said it and I believe
it and that settles it. No, he said it and that settles
it. He said so, he said so. He's
enthroned to enforce all that he said. Of all the exceeding
great and precious promises of the gospel, How many of them
will fail? Not one word, not one jot, one
tittle. But all shall be fulfilled, accomplished
successfully to the eternal glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let
me give you the testimony of Joshua. I'm almost through. Joshua, Joshua. We all think about the last words
of David, don't we? Second Samuel 23, God had made
with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, sure,
this is all my hope, all my desire. But I bet there's not many of
you in here that know the last words of Joshua. You find it
over in Joshua chapter 23 verse 14. And these were his last words,
and here's what he said. Of all that God has promised
us, not one word shall fail. Mark it down. He's promised a
lot. You see, but he cannot fail to
fulfill all the exceeding great and precious promises. We read
in 1 Kings 8, blessed be the Lord, this is Solomon's prayer,
the dedication of the temple, that hath given rest unto his
people Israel according to all that he hath promised, there
hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised
by the hand of Moses his servant. And I'm persuaded, aren't you?
I'm persuaded like Abraham of old, that of all that God had
promised, He's able to perform. He cannot fail, the Lord Jesus
Christ. I pray that as you go out the
door this evening, and as you, Lord willing, get up and go to
work tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day, and that the
Lord will just kind of echo this thought over in your mind. God
our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, He cannot fail. In all aspects
of his redeeming work, his priestly work, he shall not fail. He cannot
fail. His love is unfailing. His mercy
is unfailing. Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable,
unspeakable gift. Being confident of this very
thing, that God who has begun a good work in you, he'll finish
it. leads me to believe that that
which begins in grace will end in glory. Amen. Thank you, brother. God bless
you. You're dear to my heart. You're dear to my heart. And
you come and see us in Kentucky sometime. OK.