Good evening. Tonight, I want you to remember two verses. One is Job 9. Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this? And Psalm 25, 5. Lead me in truth and teach me, for thou art the God of my salvation. On thee do I wait all the day.

There's two parts of my message tonight. God did it. And God does it either in mercy or in justice. Mercy or justice. One or the other. All the things that happen in this world, it's either to turn His people to cry out to Him like Israel did, or it's judgment. It's one or the other.

That message John preached Sunday, I'm still feeding on that, and I hope you are too. You have to go to Mount Sinai before you can understand what happened at Calvary. You've got to be condemned, you've got to be killed. That's it. And if you don't understand what happened about Sinai, then there's a problem. A lot of people think they can keep the law, that's self-righteousness. And you can't. Not one bit of it.

God did it. Salvation's of the Lord. Men have been lying on who God is from the pulpit for years. And men drink it up. They love it. They love to hear it. They do. It makes them look good.

Something popped up on my phone the other day. I don't read much of the news. I don't Facebook. I don't social media. I don't do nothing. I don't want to hear it. Most of it is complete ignorance anyways. They're writing a new Bible now. It's called the Open-Minded Bible. This Bible aims to reach progressive Christian families who are turned off by tradition. What they're turned off is by the God of the Bible. That's what they're turned off by. They hate God and they say, I'm not going to have this man rule over me. We all did that at one time until God, in mercy, taught us who He was. That's mercy. He's going to teach the others injustice.

Now the parable the Lord Jesus Christ spoke in Luke 19. A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. He called his servants and he said, Occupy till I come. But his citizens hated him and said, we will not have this man reign over us. And that's still what men say today. We will not have the Lord Jesus Christ reign over us, the God of the Bible, the living, sovereign, holy, and just God, the God that rules this world and all things in it.

In Proverbs 2. In 21, it tells us the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, and He turns it as rivers of water. He turns it wherever He wants to. Throughout the Old Testament, that is so clear what He does. Every way of man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord ponders the heart. The Lord looks on the heart.

In Luke 16, the Lord said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men, but God knows your heart. For that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God. Men will justify anything they do to make others look bad so they can make themselves look good in the eyes of man. They think as long as men don't see it, they're all right, they can keep it hidden. And all is well, but God looks on you hard, and he tells us, beware ye of the living of the Pharisees, for there's nothing covered that shall not be revealed, neither hid that shall not be known.

And John, it tells us, describes in the Pharisees, describes for what? Teachers of the law. These men were proud, self-righteous men. They brought the woman to the Lord who'd been caught in the act of adultery. They're trying to trick Christ, the very man that wrote the law, the God-man. They're going to trick him. They're going to ask him questions. They're going to ask the Lord Jesus Christ. They said, now Moses said in the law, he commands us that she should be stoned, and they're exactly right under the law. She deserved death. She deserved death. And we all do. Under the law, that's what we all deserve to die.

They were tempting Christ. They said, what do you say? And they tempted Him to accuse Him. But the Lord Jesus stooped down on the ground and He wrote as though He didn't even hear them. He didn't even pay attention to them. He didn't argue with them. He didn't say nothing to them. He just stooped down to the ground.

They kept asking Him the same question. He stooped and He said, He that is without sin among you, cast the first stone. When they heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one from the eldest to the youngest. They didn't ask for mercy. They didn't care if God knew what they had done. They didn't ask Him for mercy. They just went out. They didn't want other men to know it. They wouldn't say nothing. He had written it on the ground. They knew He knew.

What did the woman at the well say? Come see a man that's told me everything about me. She loved him. He knows everything about me. Come see him. They didn't tell nobody to come see Christ. They wanted him gone. I wondered why the eldest went out first. I think because of his age, he'd probably committed adultery more than any time than any other ones.

Their conscience convicted them, the Lord convicted them, or they would have kept right on arguing and condemning others. The Lord makes them see that part of their sin. He wrote it on the ground, and they saw it. They didn't want other men to see it. They knew Christ then, but they didn't ask for mercy. The men knew the Lord Jesus Christ knew what they had done, and He exposed them, and I'm sure they didn't want men to know that. They were right beside speaking to the Lord Jesus Christ, and they never saw Him. He never revealed Himself to them.

Salvation is of the Lord. Oh, but He did to that woman. She belonged to Him. He came to seek and to save that which was lost. The Lord asked the woman, Where are thy accusers? And she said, No man, Lord. Nobody condemns me. He said, Neither do I. I condemn thee. Go and sin no more.

And we know what it says in Romans, There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Oh, the Lord said to that woman, a sinner, neither do I condemn thee. I don't condemn you. No more condemnation to them that are in Christ. No more. Free from the law, oh, happy condition. Jesus hath bled, and there is remission. Cursed by the law, bruised by the fall, grace hath redeemed us once for all.

That song we just sang, that's why I chose it. We're cursed by the law. That is the message tonight. God did it. Salvation's of the Lord. Salvation is all of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the beginning, He's the end. God rules this world and all things and every man in it. He turns man any way He wants.

Look at Saul. He gave Saul a good spirit. He gave Saul an evil spirit. He gave Saul a good spirit. He gave Saul an evil spirit. Saul was a wicked, wicked king. He was wicked. You remember in that message, give us a king. What did Saul do? The Lord anointed Saul. He anointed him. And Saul, the Lord told him, He said, you go in there and you kill all these people and you kill the king. What did he do? He didn't do what the Lord told him to do. He kept the best sheep, he kept the best oxen, and he brought the king back alive. Samuel killed the king. What did Saul tell God? He's going to lie. God doesn't know. Oh, we just took the best so we could offer them up to God. Just lied. And God knew his heart. He knew what he was. Because in that, give us a king, he told these people exactly what they were going to get. And they said, we want him anyways. We're rejecting Christ. We're not going to have this man reign over us. They rejected him.

Remember Pharaoh? Same thing. John's going through that now. Pharaoh said, oh, I've sinned. I've sinned. And he's going to tell God how he's going to let his people worship him. He's going to put boundaries on what he'll do. I'll let them go out, but not that far. They can go, but they can't take their cattle. Well, they can go, but they can't take their little ones. He's going to put parameters on them, not with God.

Salvation to the Lord. Chosen by the Father, purchased by the Son, and sealed by the Spirit, the Triune God, the God that rules and reigns in majesty. He's sovereign in all things, everything. Ecclesiastes tells us where the word of the King is, the Lord is there as power. And who may say to him, what are you doing? Daniel 4, it says, and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. And He doeth, God doeth according to His will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay His hand or say unto Him, What doest thou?

Now you don't have to turn to this, I've already got it marked. But Psalm 2, Why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointing. Let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from up. He that sitteth in the heaven shall laugh. He shall have them in laughter. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath and vex them in his sore displeasure. He said, You don't want my king? He said, I've already set him up. Yet I have set my king upon my holy hill Zion. I will declare the decree. The Lord has said unto me, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me and I shall give you the inheritance, the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron. You shall dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Be wise now, be wise, all you kings. Be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish from the way when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are they that put their trust in Him."

That's what men say. We're not going to have this man rule over us. I thought about this message and what John said Sunday. I thought about it a lot of days, and when John asked me to do this, it came to me, and I just started writing. All the flooding and everything, people were killed in Texas, North Carolina, and even in Jamaica, and it's just happened. We hear people say things that they ought not say, even in the church, in God's church, about how bad it is. God's providence ain't bad. I don't care what it is, it ain't bad. It's either an affliction or it's injustice. It's one or the other. An affliction, God's people are going to cry out, Lord, save me or I perish. What's won in the fire is lost in the calm. I got a quote, and this is what this woman said. How do we trust a God who is supposed to be good, and all-knowing, and all-powerful, but who allows such terrible things to happen, even to children? They wrestle to trust the God that they believe could allow this pain.

That person is completely ignorant of the God of the Bible. Completely ignorant. I pray for her. I hope the Lord reveals who He is to her. People don't know the God of the Bible. They've been lied to, mostly from the pulpit. They believe what Granny says, and Papa says, and whoever else says, and they'll go to hell believing it before they'll find out who the God of the Bible is.

Yeah, and He's the one that's got to teach you. I mean, the kings in the Old Testament, Father would do wicked in the sight of the Lord, and in His Son, God's child, He would do right in the sight of the Lord. So there you go with a bloodline salvation. It ain't so. It ain't so.

Let's first look at a couple of things. I want to look at the book of Job, Genesis to Luke, darling. There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was perfect, blameless, upright, and one that feared God. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge of the holy is understanding. That's from Proverbs 9.

Men don't fear God. Listen to how they used to profane His name. Do you fear the Lord? The God that speaks and mountains quake, rocks tear in two. With a blast of His breath, frost is formed on the ground. The God that rebukes the wind and the storms. The God that controls all of nature and animals. The sovereign God of the Bible. The holy and just God. The God of salvation. The God that forms you in the womb. That God can save you or damn you. Is that the God you believe in? Because that's the God of the Bible. He rules everything. Everything.

I want to read Romans 7-7. And I want to read this. I'm going to start at Romans 7-7. You don't have to turn to it. Unless you want to. This is Paul talking about the law. Like I said, what John said Sunday about Mount Sinai. And Mount Calvary is just, hmm. What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law. For I had not known lust, except the law had said, thou shalt not covet. But sin, taken occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law, sin was dead. For I was alive without the law once, But when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died, and the commandment which was ordained to life found to be unto death. For sin, taken occasion by that commandment, deceived me, and by it, it slew me. Wherefore the law was holy, and the commandment holy, and just and good.

Yeah, so Paul goes on in verse 24, he said, oh wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this dead? Who shall, not who I was, he says, oh wretched man that I am, I still am, I am, the flesh. I thank God through Christ our Lord, so then with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin. And this is the beautiful part, "...there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."

Now, I'm going to go back to Job now. After I said we were going to look at Job, I'm going to go back to Job. But Job was blameless. That's because he was in Christ. He was blameless. The Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? And Satan answered the Lord and said, From going to and fro in the earth and from walking up and down. And the Lord answered him and said, Have you considered my servant Job? There is none like him in all the earth, a perfect and upright man, one that feareth God and hates evil.

God sees my Savior and then he sees me. That's how God saw Job. He saw Christ. Job was in Christ. Satan said, doth thou fear God for nothing? You put a hedge about him, about his house and about all he has on every side. Satan can only do what God allows him to do. Satan says to God, put forth your hand and touch all that he has and he'll curse you to your face.

But Job knew that his inheritance was not in this world, it was Christ. And we'll see that in a minute. Like the Levites, they didn't get any of their properties, but Christ was their portion. Christ is our portion. Christ is our inheritance. All this stuff that we have that the Lord has given us, everything, that's not our inheritance. Christ is our inheritance. And I'm happy it's that way, because this is nothing. We won't start living until we die. We won't start living until we meet Christ.

The Lord told Satan, behold, he gives him permission. He gives Satan permission. He said, behold, all that he has is in the power, only upon him you can't touch his life. Can't do it. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord. You see, the Lord God dismissed him. You're dismissed. That's what you can do. Nothing more. That's it. Nothing else.

First thing, the Sabeans fell upon the servants in the field and slew them, plowing and taking the oxen and the asses. While he was speaking, came another and said, the fire of God fell from heaven. and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed him. While he was speaking, another servant came and said, the Chaldeans, made of three bands, have taken all the camels and slain the servants. While he was speaking, another servant, Camp Jobes, came and said, your sons and daughters are dead. They were all having a big party at the eldest brother's house, and a big wind come and blew out the four corners of the house, and they're all dead, all of them.

Job arose. tore his mantle, fell upon the ground, shaved his head, and what did Job do? He worshipped God. He said, naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this, Job sinned not, or charged God with folly." Not one bit. God kept him. God permitted Satan to touch Job's flesh. The Lord told Satan, Behold, he's in your hand, but you can't take his life.

Satan smoked Job with soil balls all over his body while he was scraping him. Job's wife told him, Why don't you curse God and retain your integrity and curse God and die? Remember now, Job said that his breath was strange to his wife. She hated him. Everything was gone from Job. Everything. But Christ was his inheritance. Christ was everything. In Job's affliction, he worshipped God. He worshipped Him.

Job said to his wife, he speaks foolishly, he said, What shall we receive? Good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In the book of Amos it says, Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? Shall there be evil in the city, and the Lord hath not done it? God said, I form the light, I create darkness. I make peace, I create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things.

You remember in Job 12, 9 and 10, He said, Who knoweth not all these that the hand of the Lord has wrought this? The hand of the Lord has wrought this. Now, who did all these things? God did it. God did it.

Job knew that God was sufficient in His grace and mercy. Job knew, as Isaiah said in chapter 43, when you pass through the waters, I'll be with you. And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle against you.

You remember Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, when they came out of that fire, they didn't even smell like it. It had not kindled against them. They were in Christ. The fire of God's wrath did not consume him.

Job said, though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.

In Acts, the Lord speaking about Paul when he tells Zion and Ives, and he's putting his hands on Paul to receive his sight, the Lord says to him, for I will show him what great things he must suffer for my name's sake. God's people are gonna suffer. Everybody suffers, but the words here are for my name's sake. For my name's sake.

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. He that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me.

Paul said, I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I had suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but done, that I may win Christ and be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.

Not having my own righteousness is what? From the law. You can't keep the law. Men keep trying and keep this self-righteousness. That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and what else? The fellowship of His sufferings. His sufferings. The fellowship of Him. He will suffer for my name's sake. Being made conformable to His death. His death.

Rahab the harlot, you remember that one? We've talked about it, I know I have, but it just, the whole city of Jericho was destroyed. John just went through this. But Rahab the harlot, her full name, Tommy the sinner, Rahab the harlot. That scarlet line, she and her family were in Christ. That whole wall fell down but where she lived at. And everybody in that city dead.

Sodom and Gomorrah, same thing, except for Lot, he was taken out. And God rained down fire and hell, fire and brimstone on that place, and He killed everybody in it. Now, all this is in the Bible, and this happened, but when something happens in this earth, everybody, oh, oh. No. That's God. God did it.

No one in the ark. Death was outside that ark. There was no death in it. None. Exodus 12, John went over this, the Lord's Passover, God said, I will pass through. God went through the land of Egypt and He killed every firstborn there, man and beast. God did it. Every one of them.

Eli's son, Hophni and Phinehas. Philistines smoked Israel with a great slaughter and took the ark of God. And Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were killed. They were wicked men. Wicked men. Remember in chapter 3 of Samuel, Samuel told Eli all the Lord had shown him and that his sons would be killed for their wickedness. And what did Eli say? It is the Lord. Let him do what seemeth good.

Now when Eli heard that the ark of God was taken, He was a big boy. He fell back, broke his neck. The Ark of God was taken. When Phinehas' wife, that was with child, she went and travailed, started having a baby when she heard the Ark of God was taken. She named that boy Ichabod. The glory of the Lord has departed from Israel. Because the Ark was taken. She didn't care about her husband being dead. She didn't care about that baby. She didn't care about anything or Phinehas. The Ark of God, the glory of God was taken. The glory of God. That's how we ought to treat the Gospel here at Bethel. Because it can be taken just as quickly as He gave it. And as hard as John studies. Gloria the Lord was departed from Israel. And who did it? God did it. He took it from them.

I've told my son and everybody, if the gospel leaves Spring Lake, North Carolina, there ain't nothing here but death. That's it. Nothing. There's nothing here for you.

1 Samuel, an unfaithful prophet delivers a message from God to Eli. I just want to bring this out. This is the lineage. And we'll bring some of that out. Hoth and I were sons of Belial, sons of Satan. Wicked men. You remember, they used to walk with their flesh hooks and just walk through the flesh pots and grab them and snake out whatever they wanted. They were wicked, King. They slept with women at the tabernacle doors. Just wicked priests. The unknown prophet told Eli, you honor us your sons above me to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all offerings of Israel, my people. That prophet told Eli his sons would be killed and they would be cut off from the priesthood. And he did. But he tells him Eli's whole bloodline is going to be taken out of the priesthood. I talked to John about this the other night. And I just looked at it. But this is where it happened at. This is where it happened at in 1 Samuel.

Remember when David went to Nau, he was fleeing from Saul. He went to Hamalek, the prison. And David takes the hollow bread and the sword. The priest gives it to him. He takes it. He takes Goliath's sword.

And Doeg, Henry Mahan preached a message on this. It's called Doeg the dog. I don't know if that's the name of the message, but that's what Henry called him. Doeg the dog. And he is a dog of a man. He is a dog. Doeg goes in and he tells Saul that David was there and what they gave him. And Doeg goes in and he slaughters all those priests. I think it's 45. He kills them all.

But guess what? A Bithar fled. A Himalic, the son of Hithab, named a Bithar, escaped from that slaughter. And he told David what Saul had commanded him to do. And Doeg had volunteered to do it, probably for political gain, so he could step up on Saul's army. But he did it.

Now, Bithor was the last lineage in Eli's bloodline that was priesthood. And when Saul becomes king, In 1st Kings 2.27, he thrust out a by-thar from the priesthood unto the Lord, that he might fulfill the word of the Lord which he spoke concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh. God did it. Sounds terrible, but God did it. Is it? And he told him he was going to take them out. That is all God's sovereign providence and His holy justice.

So when we see things that God does in this world, ruling and reigning, be careful not to speak out of turn. I don't know what God's providence is. I don't know what He's doing. My ways are not His ways. And I'm preaching this to me as I am to anybody. Be careful what you speak against God's providence.

All things work together for good to them who love God, and that's where everybody stops at. But it says what? To them who are THE called, according to what? His purpose. God's purpose.

For I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. God has not changed not one bit. God is holy, holy, holy, a just God and a Savior. This is the God of the Bible. God says over and over in Isaiah, I am the Lord, there is none else. He says, I change not. I don't change.

Now, I want to switch gears and talk about salvation. I want to speak about salvations. It's all of God, and man has no part in it. God did it, salvations of the Lord. And he says, this is what I wanted to do. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her. Her warfare is over. It's accomplished. Christ accomplished it. Her iniquity is pardon. She hath received of the Lord's hands double for all her sins.

And that reminded me of Hannah. You remember Hannah. What did Elkanah do? He gave her a double portion. You know why he did it? Because he loved her. And that's what God does for his people. He loves us. He gives us a double portion. Salvation of the Lord.

You remember in Jonah, the Lord told Jonah to arise and go to Nineveh. But Jonah fled to Tarshish. He got on a boat. The Lord sent a great whale. Who did? God did. He sent a great wind into the sea that the ship was about to be broken up. The men in the ship cast lots to see who was responsible for the evil storm. And guess who the lot fell on? Jonah. God did it. They cast Jonah into the sea. The Lord prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days. There's a lot there, but I'm not going to get into it.

Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God because of what? His affliction. God had afflicted him. He tells when they were under affliction and they cried out and the Lord delivered them. He delivered them. He delivered them.

Psalm 38, salvation belongeth unto the Lord. The blessing is upon thy people. Psalm 62, truly my soul waiteth upon God. From him cometh my salvation. Habakkuk. Yet will I rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. Psalm 2, The Lord is my light and my salvation, who shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? Ephesians 1 13, In whom ye also trusted after ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also, after you believed, you were sealed with that of the Holy Spirit."

Psalm 25, 5. And I read, "...lead me in truth, and teach me, for thou art the God of my salvation. On thee do I wait all the day." Salvation to the Lord.

Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him, in Isaiah 53. He has put him to grief, when thou shalt make his soul a sin offering for sin, an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his day, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the small with the strong. For he hath poured out his soul unto death, and he has numbered with the transgressors, and he bear the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. And thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save their people from their sins.

The work is done. Labor to enter into His rest. It's His rest. God did it. Salvation is of the Lord.

In closing, I just want to say in Psalm 65, verse 4, Blessed is the man whom thou choosest and causes to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in the courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even unto thy holy temple. Blessed is the man whom thou choosest.

I'm going to close with Psalm 1.

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season. His leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

Blessed is that man.

" Will you pray for us, Doug, in closing?