Tonight turn to Jeremiah chapter
18 Jeremiah chapter 18 My text is Jeremiah 18 verses
1 through 11 And this is the title of my message
the potter's clay The potter's clay God's prophet Isaiah describes
all the human race just that way, calling the human race the
potter's clay. Though men think themselves wise
and despise God, the fact is we are nothing but the potter's
clay. The sooner we learn it, the better.
Our dependence on God, arises from a sense of our utter nothingness
and complete inability in ourselves. And when the Lord God describes
man as clay, he's described us in our utmost inability, in our
utmost worthlessness, in our utmost nothingness. We're just
clay in the potter's hand. We will never seek his mercy
in Christ until we know that we're nothing in ourselves. Isaiah
said later, O Lord, thou art our father, we are the clay,
and thou our potter, and we all are the work of thy hand. We'll never seek to be molded
by his hand until we recognize that we are nothing but clay
in his hand. God sent Jeremiah the prophet
down to the potter's house. He said, go down to the potter's
house and by observation and inspiration, that is by the things
you observe and that which I by my spirit will teach you with
this object lesson, learn my ways and my words. Now you'll learn God's ways and
God's words if you'll be blessed of God's spirit tonight as we
visit the potter's house. Let's read the first four verses
of my text, Jeremiah 18 verse 1. The word which came to Jeremiah
from the Lord saying, arise and go down to the potter's house
and there I will cause thee to hear my words. Then I went down
to the potter's house, and behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of
clay was marred in the hand of the potter. So he made it again
another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. God sends Jeremiah down to the
potter's house. He said, now, hear my words and
learn my works. Hear what I say and learn what
I'm doing in this world. Then we read in verse four that
as Jeremiah observed the potter working, the vessel that he made
of clay was marred in the hand of the potter. So he made it
another vessel. as seen good to the potter. Now remember, the whole human
race is clay in the potter's hands. And the clay was marred
in the hand of the potter. There's no indication that there
was something in the clay that caused it to be marred. No indication
there was any kind of outside force that caused it to be marred.
But the clay, as the potter worked it on his wheels, was marred
in the potter's hand and made a new vessel according to the
will of the potter, as it seemed good to the potter. The Lord
God created man out of the dust of the earth. He created our
race in our father Adam. We all stood before God in Adam. And the whole race was marred
according to the will of God, the potter. Marred in the potter's
hand, not by accident, but according to his will. Now understand this. We need not try to investigate
secret things. Those things belong to God. But
whatever it is that we consider when we think about the entrance
of sin into the world, the fall of Satan and the fall of Adam
and the fall of our race in Adam, it didn't take God by surprise.
This too was ordained of God and came to pass according to
the will of God. And out of this mass of fallen
humanity, God makes another vessel. He calls out His elect by His
free grace in Christ and gives us life. Just as God breathed
into Adam's nostrils and Adam became a living soul, so God
puts the breath of God in us. That's the word spirit. His Spirit
comes and by sovereign regeneration gives us life in Jesus Christ,
giving us faith in our Redeemer, all according to the will of
the potter. And it would not be possible
for us to know God as we now know Him, in pardoning grace,
in redeeming mercy, had we not first been marred in our father
Adam. The clay is the potter's clay. He can do with it, make of it,
whatever He will. He can make it again as He will. You and I are the clay. God's
the potter. The clay is the potter's clay. That means we belong to God,
not to ourselves. That means we're in God's hands. He's not in our hands. Now, read
the last part of the text, verses 5 through 10. Then the word of
the Lord came to me, saying, O house of Israel, cannot I do
with you as this potter, saith the Lord? Behold, the clay is
in the potter's hand. So are ye in mine hand, O house
of Israel. At what instant I shall speak
concerning a nation? and concerning a kingdom to pluck
up and to pull down and to destroy it. If that nation against whom
I have pronounced turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil
that I thought to do unto them. And at what time, at what instant
I shall speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom to build
and to plant it If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not
my voice, then I will repent of the good wherewith I said
I would benefit them. Later in chapter 4 of Lamentations,
the same prophet Jeremiah describes God's elect as the precious sons
of Zion comparable to fine gold. We who are gods made to be the
sons and daughters of God Almighty, the precious sons of Zion, made
comparable to fine gold, made worth something because God has
formed Christ in us, made worth something because God has made
us his own. The work of the hands of the
potter in the midst of dangers and difficulties and discouragements.
especially with regard to the work of the gospel, especially
as you in this place seek to give your all to the building
of God's kingdom here, to establishing a gospel witness in this place.
You meet with discouragements, you meet with disappointments,
you meet with some dangers. And in the midst of those things,
nothing in all the world is more comforting or more satisfying
than the assurance of God's total sovereignty. If we give way to
carnal reason and unbelief, we're quickly baffled. How we need
to learn the lesson God taught Jeremiah in the potter's house. The sooner we learn it, the better.
He puts it in other language. Is it not lawful for me to do
what I will with my own? Is it not lawful for me, God
says, to do what I will with my own? You see, God owns you. He owns this universe, lock,
stock and barrel. Everything belongs to Him. And
it is perfectly right and reasonable and lawful that any man who owns
something do with what he owns as he will, with no one telling
him what to do. And we don't much like it when
the government steps in and tells us we've got to do certain things
with our property, certain things with our business, certain things
with our family. That's not your prerogative. This is mine. But
the reality is the land you owned, Dwight, was there a long time
before you lived on it. The world God made, He made. You belong
to Him. Your sons and daughters, your
wife, your family, your property, everything belongs to Him. And
it's right for Him. to do what he will with his own. Woe unto him that striveth with
his maker. Let the pot sherd of the strive
with pot sherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that
fashioneth it, what makest thou? Nothing but pride and unbelief
in these rebellious hearts causes men to object to what I've just
declared. Men everywhere object to the
declaration of God's sovereignty, to God having absolute rule over
everybody, doing what he will with everybody at all times and
all places. But there's nothing except man's
pride and unbelief, the rebellion of his heart that causes him
to object. Men have come up with countless schemes of theology
and philosophy which have been formed specifically to deny the
grace of God, to darken the counsel of God's Word, to turn men away
from the righteousness of God in Christ to their own righteousness
and to somehow limit the power of the Almighty. Mortal sin for
man. dares to lift his fist in God's
face and say to the Almighty, hitherto shalt thou go and no
further. You can have control over this,
you can have control over that, but this I rule. This is my domain. Man dares lift his fist in God's
face and challenge God. Who can stay his hand or say
to him, what doest thou? But the throne of God is unmoved. Our security, our peace, our
joy for time and eternity is this fact. Behold, as the clay
is in the potter's hand, so are we, are ye in my hand. That gives us peace with regard
to all things present. Everything's in God's hands. Everybody's in God's hands. Nothing
moves or wiggles but by God's decree. Nothing breathes or ceases
to breathe but by God's will. Everything is ruled by Him. We are clay in the potter's hands. And with regard to all things
future, this is our joy. Behold, as clay is in the potter's
hand, so are ye in my hand. The Lord God Almighty totally
governs the universe, and that ought to give us peace. God give
us grace to believe Him, to rest in Him, to trust His sovereignty
in all things, understanding that He does all things well.
Our God is too wise to err, too good to do wrong, and too strong
to fail, and we're just clay in His hands. God give me grace
to believe what I've just told you. Now let's look at the potter's
house and observe four things that seem to just jump out in
the passage we've read. First, look for a minute at the
clay. And then the wheels. And then
the potter. And last, the message God gave
his prophet in the potter's house. First, the clay Jeremiah saw,
God told him plainly in verse 6, represents all of Israel,
all the house of Israel. Israel had been dug as clay from
the pit out of Egypt and God brought them into the land of
Canaan. There he gently shaped and molded them. gave them his
law and gave them his word, gave them his prophets, gave them
his ordinances, revealed all things in type and symbol in
the pictures of the Old Testament law and ceremonies that we have
revealed clearly spiritually in the gospel in the New Testament.
But Israel was a stiff neck and a rebellious people. Israel would
not hear his word, would not receive his prophets, would not
bow to his revelation. And so the Lord God cast them
off. God sent blindness to Israel. God cast them off so that hearing
they could not hear, seeing they could not see, and they could
not believe, for God hardened their hearts. When God sends
blindness, there's no seeing. When God sends hardness, there's
no bowing. When God sends deafness, there's
no hearing. Israel was cast off so that God
sends the gospel now into all the world, gathering His elect
out of all the Gentile nations and thereby all Israel, that
is, all the true seed of Israel, all the seed of Abraham, Christ's
spiritual seed shall be saved by the purpose and will of God
exactly as God has ordained. Hath not the potter power over
the clay of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor and
another to dishonor? Vessels of wrath fitted to destruction
and vessels of mercy which he afore prepared unto glory. Clay
is just raw material, infertile, useless. What can you do with
clay? Clay has no ability in itself,
no natural properties to make it useful at all. The only way
clay is useful is for the potter to dig it out and make something
of the clay. That's what you and I are, useless
clods of red earth, the sons and daughters of Adam. God dug
us from the pit of fallen humanity by the hand of omnipotent grace.
He filled us with his mercy, fashioned us into the image of
his son according to his will. God's elect, sinners chosen to
eternal life are vessels of mercy. made and prepared by God for
glory being filled with mercy. Vessels of mercy whom he aforeprepared
unto glory. So that before ever we were formed
in our mother's womb, God formed us and prepared us in Christ
Jesus before the world began making us fit for glory, making
such things as we are, meet to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in life, so that you and I, you and I who are
nothing but clods of red earth, nothing but clay, you and I who
are but the fallen sons and daughters of Adam, sinners by nature, sinners
in heart, sinners in all we do, God has made us by His grace
in Christ Jesus fit for heaven, All who believe on the Lord Jesus
are vessels of mercy. And nothing but mercy comes to
God's elect. Nothing but mercy comes to God's
elect. Oh, if we had to believe that,
we'd dance with joy. Surely, goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life. Goodness and mercy pursuing
me all the days of my life so that for these 62 years Nothing
has been nipping at my heels except goodness and mercy. That's
all Chasing me into the arms of my Redeemer and I shall dwell
in the house of the Lord forever But there are some men and women
in this world who are vessels of wrath I intend to talk about
that a little bit more in a few minutes, but You mark this day
Some in this world are vessels of mercy, others are vessels
of wrath, and that's according to the purpose of God. You can
fuss about it, you can squawk about it, you can kick your heels
all you want, but your fight's with God, not with me. This is
what God says. We read it in Romans chapter
nine. Vessels of mercy are for prepared to glory, vessels of
wrath fitted for destruction. Turn over to 1 Peter, 1 Peter
chapter 2. I want you to look at two passages.
1 Peter chapter 2. Hold your hands
in Jeremiah and look at 1 Peter 2. I know that everybody objects
to this but this is what the book says and we bow to the book. Unto you therefore which believe
Christ is precious but unto them which be disobedient He is the
stone of stumbling, the stone which the builders disallowed.
The same has made the head of the corner and the stone of stumbling
and a rock of offense. Christ is a stone of stumbling
and a rock of offense. Christ is crucified. Dwight,
we're built on Him. He's the foundation stone laid
in Zion on which God builds us. But to others, He's a stone of
stumbling and a rock of offense. That, too, by God's decree. Look
at what we're reading here. Even to them which stumble at
the Word. To those who stumble at the Word. You preach the gospel of God's
grace and somebody hears something about election and they buck
up and want to fight. Hear about effectual redemption,
they buck up and want to fight. They hear about God's eternal
purpose of grace, they buck up and want to fight. They stumble
at the Word. The very Word of God which ministers life to you
who believe is to them a rock of offense. And they stumble
over Christ into hell. Now watch this. Being disobedient. Have you got your Bible open?
whereunto also they were appointed. You mean this was God's purpose?
Tony, if it came to pass, it's God's purpose. They stumbled
at the word being disobedient, and to this disobedience, they
were appointed by God. Look at Jude, Jude verse 3. Beloved,
when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common
salvation, it was needful for me, as Jude says, I took my pen
out and I was going to write to you about the wonders of God's
grace. But it was needful for me to
write to you and exhort you that you should earnestly contend
for the faith, the faith of the gospel, which was once delivered
to the saints. For there are certain men crept
in unawares, now watch this, who were before of old ordained
to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our
God into lasciviousness and denying the only Lord God and our Lord
Jesus Christ. So Peter says these men who stumble
at the Word were ordained to this condemnation, their disobedience.
And these men who turned the grace of our God into lasciviousness
were ordained to this condemnation. For God does all things with
the clay as He will. He has mercy on whom He will
have mercy and whom He will He hardeneth. He saves whom He will
and He casts off whom He will. All right, that's the first thing
we see, the clay. The second thing that strikes me is the
wheels, Jeremiah saw. The wheels. Wheels? That just doesn't strike
me as right. Wheels? My sister's a potter.
She's a master potter. And I've never seen her work
with the clay, but I've seen potters work a wheel and work
making something, a vessel on the wheel. I'll tell you what
I've never seen. I've never seen a potter make
one vessel on many wheels. But here he says wheels, wheels. God's doing something for the
house of Israel, not the natural seed of Abraham, the spiritual
seed of Abraham. He's doing something for his
elect. He's molding a vessel on wheels, plural, because Jeremiah
here sees something that's intended by God to be a spiritual instructive
picture teaching Jeremiah his words and his ways. The wheels
he saw represent the purpose and promises, providence, and
power of God Almighty. How do you know that? If you
want to read at your leisure the first two chapters of Ezekiel,
you'll see Ezekiel has a vision of wheels, wheels representing
God's providence and God's work. All the circumstances, all the
experiences, all the events of our lives in this world are wheels
used by God to mold and shape His people into the image of
His Son according to His will. We know, we know, that all things
work together for good to them that love God, to them who are
the called according to His purpose, for whom He did foreknow, them
He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His
Son. Rita, you and Tony went over
to China and adopted those two babies. Wonder God's intention. Wonder what God has in store
for those two babies. He arranged things uniquely in
this generation so they could be raised right here, hearing
the gospel of his grace. That not astounding to you? Oh,
I'd remind them of it every day as they grow up. I'd remind them
of it every day. What an honor, what a privilege,
wonder what God has in store. The wheels of providence and
grace move according to God's eternal purpose of grace in predestination
so that everything that comes to pass in time comes to pass
exactly as God marked it out, ordained it, predestined it from
eternity. Everything, everything. So that
not only does he presently control everything, he works everything
presently exactly as he purposed everything in eternity for the
saving of his people. No wonder we delight to sing
with Calper, God moves in a mysterious way his wonders to perform. Now here's the third thing. The
potter is the Lord God himself. Our triune God, Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit. You and I are the clay in the
hands of God. And he says, cannot I do with
you as this potter? Behold, as the clay is in the
potter's hand, so are you in my hand. I'm not ruled by you,
you're ruled by me. I'm not controlled by you, you're
controlled by me. I'm not subject to you, you're
subject to me. My will doesn't bow to your will,
your will bows to me. Like it or not, that's the way
it is. You're clay in my hands. You and I are in the hands of
God just like clay in the hands of the potter. Well, what's the message of this?
The message is plain and clear. In verses 6 through 10, God teaches
us two things. First, He declares His sovereignty,
and I'm going to go over that a little bit more in detail.
And then He declares His justice. Everything comes to pass by the
will of God, by the will of God. And God does everything justly. The judge of all the earth must
do right, and he always does. That means if you're saved, you're
saved because God purposed it. That means if you go to hell,
you go to hell because you deserve it. And if you're saved by God's
grace, you're saved in complete consistency with justice, righteousness,
and truth. First, let's look at God's sovereignty.
God sent Jeremiah to the potter's house to learn that he, the Lord
God, is irresistibly sovereign. Throughout the Word of God, everywhere
in this book, the Lord God identifies himself who has and exercises
total control over all things. All times, all places, all men,
all animals, all forces, all nature, everything in heaven,
everything in earth, and everything in hell. God controls it all. Absolutely. Absolutely. The king's
heart is in the hand of the Lord. Like rivers of water, he turneth
it whithersoever he will. Now that word translated rivers
of water. literally is talking about irrigation
canals. Now, Shelby and I don't have
a garden this year, but we've had a garden for 42 of our 43
years together, and she hasn't missed it at all. Folks have
been bringing her vegetables, and no sweat, but she's still got
flowers, and we have to irrigate. Now, our irrigation canal is
real simple. It's called a garden hose. It's a real easy thing
to be taken care of. She asked me if I'd go water
the flowers, and I'd go pull the hose off the rack, turn the water
off, and I'd stand there and water the flowers. Squirt a little
water on this one, squirt a little water on that one. And if it's
hot, I have to sweat doing it. The hose gets heavy when it's
full of water. But really, it's kind of easy. God controls the
universe. Not by the power of his outstretched
arm, though it's spoken of that way. Because God speaks in human
terms, so we get some idea of the might of God. Do you know
how he does this? Do you know how he controls the
universe? Determine exactly how many times you're going to flip
that fan tonight. That's all right. Flip away.
He ordained it before the world was. Exactly. Controls it. By his will. By his will. by His will. You understand that? His will is irresistible so that
everything, even Satan in hell, the demons of hell, every man
on the earth is controlled absolutely by God's will to do good to His
people. Everything, everything. We look
at things sometimes and we think, oh, what a mess, what a mess.
And we mess things up. Chris, if I get my hand on it,
I mess it up. I can't do anything with messing up. I remember the
first time I changed spark plugs in an old 54 Chevrolet I had.
I was a right stout fella. I twisted off the spark plug
in the very back of that thing. I mess it up. That's just what
I do. God Almighty. rules the world, even our messes,
absolutely. Sometime ago I read about a fellow
named, I think his name was John Ruskin. He was an art critic
in the 19th century, a wealthy man, but he was also a master
watercolorist. And one evening he was at one
of these fancy dinner parties they had in England in the 19th
century with some rich folks. And somebody with him had a very
expensive handkerchief. I presume linen handkerchiefs
were very expensive in that day. And someone spilled ink on it. And he looked at it and he said,
oh, it's ruined. And Ruskin said, is it really?
Let me have it. And he took it home with him.
And a few days later, The man to whom the handkerchief belonged
got his handkerchief back. And Ruskin, this master watercolorist,
had taken the ink blot that had marred that lovely, beautiful,
costly handkerchief and ruined it. And he made it more beautiful
than it could possibly have been otherwise. And the man was just
overwhelmed. Earl, that's what God does with
our messes. Oh, what messes we make. And God overrules them for our
good. And I look back now, and I say,
thank you, Lord. Thank you for bringing me through
that to this place. He does everything well. In particular,
I want you to understand that you and I are clay in the potter's
hands. God owns us. We belong to him. And it's right
for him to do what he will with us. This one who is universally,
uncontrollably, irresistibly sovereign is not only our potter,
he's our father. And he does everything exactly
according to his will for the good of his people. God exercises
this sovereignty with the greatest of ease. He makes us, He changes
us, He uses us, and He disposes of us with ease according to
His purpose for His glory and the everlasting good of His elect. And God will be glorified in
all His works. both in vessels of mercy and
in vessels of wrath fitted for destruction. We ought to willingly
submit ourselves to his will. We ought to keep silence before
him, being willing and pliable in his hands like clay in the
potter's hands. Make me and mold me after thy
will. God do that for me and God do
that for you. After your will, do what you
will for the glory of your son. God's glorious sovereignty is
revealed in all things, but it is most gloriously revealed in
his works of grace. He's chosen some as vessels of
mercy. Paul raises three questions. He says, who maketh thee to differ
from another? And what hast thou that thou
didst not receive? Now, if thou didst receive it,
why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it? Hunter, I guess you're the youngest
one here tonight. Listen to me a minute, will you? Strapping,
strong, good-looking young fellow. or you could have been made an
imbecile, distorted and twisted. And the only difference is God
did it. Understand that? We like to think we're something
and we distinguish ourselves by our great intellect or by
our strength or by our beauty or by our achievements in this
world. The fact is every earthly distinction
is a distinction God made. He made you and me, you who are
his. He made us just exactly as we
are with the abilities and lack of abilities that we have for
his purpose, for the place where he would use us, each of us.
And we have nothing that we've achieved on our own, nothing.
Not only that, those things that distinguish us from the rest
of the world spiritually. God did it. Tony, He chose you, and He redeemed
you, and He called you, and He formed you in the image of His
Son, and He teaches you, and He guides you, and He orders
your steps all the time. You understand that? We're clay
in the potter's hands. We're His because He made us
His. We walk before Him in faith because
He gave us faith and He continually gives us faith, sustaining us
in faith and in grace by the power of His grace. And then
there are others who are vessels of wrath, fitted for destruction. When David considered these things,
he said, oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, for
his mercy endureth forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord
say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy, and
gathered them out of all the lands from the east and from
the west and from the north and from the south. But then these
vessels of wrath were fitted for destruction. God shows us
his justice in this. Now, I realize that people, when they cannot refute gospel
truth, then they can't. They can't. The things Brother
Todd's been preaching to you all these years, things you've
heard me preach, these other men who come preach the gospel
to you, they can't be refuted. They just can't be refuted. Elections
is plain as a nose on your face in this book. Limited atonement,
plain as a nose on your face in this book. Irresistible grace,
plain as a nose on your face. It cannot be refuted, not from
this book. And the only option folks have
is either bow to God's truth, or find some way to make it appear
ugly, make it appear monstrous. One of the things men do is they
say, well, you folks believe that God arbitrarily predestinated
some folks to be saved and some folks to be damned and the folks
who are predestined to go to hell are going to hell and they
can't be saved even though they want to be. Nobody I have any
association with ever preached such a thing. That's just not
so. That's just not so. God did not arbitrarily appoint
anyone to hell, but rather God appointed his own to glory and
by his grace prepared them for glory and the vessels of wrath
in time being left to themselves are fitted for destruction by
their own rebellion and unbelief according to the purpose of God.
Let's see what he says here. Let's see what he says. Look
at Jeremiah chapter 18 again. Jeremiah chapter 18 verse 7. At what instant I shall speak
concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, verse 7, to pluck
up and to pull down and to destroy it if that nation against whom
I have pronounced turn from their evil I will repent of the evil
that I thought to do to them. I had a letter early yesterday
morning from a young man and he asked me, he said, I know
that God's immutable, what does it mean when it speaks of him
repenting? What do the scriptures mean? Clearly God is immutable,
he does not change. That's what he said, I am the
Lord, I change not. But here he says, I will repent
of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And we see it repeated
numerous times in the Old Testament, especially in the book of Judges.
God sent the Philistines, he sent this group and that group
to judge Israel time and time again and then they cried unto
the Lord and he repented and he changed his course of action
and destroyed them not. What does it mean? He appears
to repent because he changes his course of action. Let's see
if I can illustrate it. The wrath of God was upon me. Consciously, I was terrified
of God. Oh, I was accepted in the beloved
before the world was, but I didn't know it. All I knew was that
I deserved to go to hell and God's wrath was upon me. I was
terrified until God gave me faith in Christ and suddenly everything
changed. Everything changed. No longer
does God appear against me before me. No longer does God appear
angry with me, but pleased with me. No longer does God frown
upon me, but rather smiles upon me in the sweet experience of
his grace. So the Lord appears to repent
when he changes his course of action. These vessels of mercy
under God's wrath I call on him and he repents and has mercy. Read on, verse 9. And at what instant I shall speak
concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom to build and to plant
it? If it do evil in my sight, that
it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good wherewith
I said I would benefit them. God established Israel as a nation. He said, walk before me and obey
me and you'll be my people forever. But Israel hardened their heart
and rebelled and refused to bow to his word and God cast them
off. God established the priesthood
in the house of a man named Eli. Eli was a priest of God. And
God, because Eli refused to restrain his sons, took the priesthood
from his house in 1 Samuel chapter 2. So it is the Lord God takes
folks who, like you and I, have been so greatly blessed of God
with His Word. You young people, Lord, you've got a privilege.
Almost nobody you know you go to school with. Nobody in classes
you sit in class with had the privilege of hearing the gospel
of God's grace. What a privilege. What an honor. But if you won't hear, you stick
your fingers in your ears, I won't have God. I won't bow to him.
I won't trust the Savior. When you go to hell, you will
eat the fruit of your own ways, and it will be right. It will be right. We weep with
broken heart at the thought of people perishing under the wrath
of God, and rightly we should. But when we stand with our Redeemer
and judge the world, there will be no weeping and no sorrow Because
nobody goes to hell, Tony, except folks who fully deserve to go
to hell. You got that? Nobody. Nobody. If you go to hell, it'll
be your fault. It'll be your doing. It'll be
you eating the fruit of your own ways and your own devices. The book of God is as plain as
it can be. God is just in damning centers. And the same thing's true with
regard to the salvation of the righteous. If you go to glory, if you inherit
heaven's glory, it'll be all God's work, none of yours. But
you'll go to glory only if you are worthy of heaven's glory. Only if you fully deserve heaven's
glory. Well, how can that be? How can
that be? In Christ Jesus the Lord, God
found a way by which righteousness could be established, justice
satisfied, and sinners like you and I stand before God perfect,
accepted, and to belong. Look at the last verse of our
text, verse 11. Faith in Christ is the redemption
purchase of Christ's blood. Faith in Christ is the evidence
of election, redemption, and effectual calling. And none can
perish for whom the Son of God shed his blood at Calvary. Now
therefore, verse 11, go to, speak to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants
of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I frame evil
against you, and devise a device against you. the wrath of God's
upon you. You hear? Return ye now everyone
from his evil way and make your ways and your doings good. How are you going to do that?
How are you going to do that? How are you going to make your
ways, your whole life, and your doings, everything about you
good before God? You're just clay. You can't do
anything. You're just filthy sinners. You
can't do good. There's nothing to do with good.
But God says, return now everyone from his evil ways and make your
ways and your doings good. There's only one way that can
happen. And that's by faith in God's darling son. Believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ and the righteousness of God. The very
righteousness of God is yours. Your faith doesn't accomplish
the righteousness. Your faith doesn't put away sin.
Your faith doesn't cause God to do anything. Your faith is
the fruit of what God does and has done, the fruit of redemption,
the fruit of election, the fruit of calling, the fruit of righteousness.
It's the fruit of new life in Christ. Now, believe on the Son of God. Can you? Can you trust the Lamb of God? Can you trust the Son of God?
Can you cast your soul on Christ the Lord and you trust Him? If
you can, you're His. and your faith is the evidence
that it's so. Believing on the Son of God.
Brother Don, I just don't have very strong faith in me either.
But I have so many doubts and so much confusion. The longer
I live, the more I get. Me too. But I trust the Son of
God. In the teeth of all my sin, In
the teeth of all my weakness, in the teeth of all my ignorance,
in the teeth of all my ups and downs, when I feel it and when
I don't, I trust Christ the Lord. And I know thereby that God has
made me a vessel of mercy whom he has prepared for glory justly
through Christ the Lord. Amen.