Unto us, part five, Isaiah 9,
6. We've already looked at that
verse. This morning, we're gonna consider
the title that is given to our Lord in that verse, Counselor.
In our study of this phrase, unto us, found in Isaiah 9, 6,
we have considered in detail the first five parts of this
verse. The first thing we considered was unto us, unto God's elect.
Unto those that God had loved, as I mentioned in the prayer,
before the world was. Unto us, us who were dead in
trespasses and sin, yet now we live in Christ. It's not us that
live, but Christ that liveth in us. The light of the world
has been shined in our hearts. A child is born was the second
part, this one who had to be born. He had to come to this
world in the flesh in order to pay our sins. In order to redeem
us to the Father, sin had to be punished. And all of our sin
was laid upon Him and punished in Him. He accepted the wrath
of God willingly in our stead. Unto us a child was born. Unto
us a son was given. God gave His only begotten Son. He gave him. Can we comprehend that God the
Father gave his son? Here, here's my only begotten
son. Let him take your death for you. Let me pour out my wrath upon
him for your sins. The son was given. This one who was given to us the very government,
the very creation that you and I know all things were governed
by Him. And as we consider those wonderful
points, we looked at our last week, or two weeks ago, we looked
at His name is wonderful. Oh, do you see the wonder of
Christ your Savior? Do you comprehend the slightest
bit of the grace that God has for you and I in giving us his
son, the wonderfulness of that? We'll live like Bill lives now
in eternity with him. In heaven, his father has many
mansions, one with the name of every single one of his children
on it. And not one seat will be empty. The name, the seat with your
name on it, Pauli Mary, shall be filled one of these days.
The seat with Bill Silva's name on it has been filled. This morning, I want to wish
to continue with these beautiful names of our Savior, these names
that bring comfort to the sinner, a sinner that is saved by grace. I want to bring to you this morning
comfort from the counselor, or God. Every way my Savior leads
me. Every way my Savior guides me. His inerrant word I look to for
my counsel. I've heard Pastor Gene say over
the years, I'm not a counselor. If anybody could make that statement
today, it's me. I'm an uneducated, I didn't say stupid, I said uneducated. I'm an uneducated man in the
things of this world other than my own experiences. But I have the greatest counsel
there is in this entire world right here in my hand. The counsel of the one who created
everything. whose wisdom is above all wisdom. Wisdom we can't even understand
because his ways are not our ways, right? Isn't that what
scripture tells us? Robert Hawker wrote these words.
He said, oh, thou wonderful Lord, thou unerring, faithful, kind,
tender counselor. Do you realize that the Lord
calling us out of darkness and healing our blindness, healing
our lameness, healing our leprosy is opening us to his counsel
where the world is not open to? How many people, how many people
stood and heard the words of God himself right in front of
their face on this earth and didn't hear a single word in
truth? They heard it with the ears here, but they had no ears
in the heart to hear it. You and I have been given ears
of the heart to hear the counsel of our Lord. We know that our
brother Bill stands with the Lord through the counseling that
he has given us in his word. Not in anything that we have
seen in Bill, although I will express this, we do see something
in God's people. We see the love of God in them. All right, I don't mean to put
anybody down who's not here for services this morning, but I
see the love of God and you folks sitting here this morning desiring
to hear God's word. I see the love of God in you
and Friday nights coming out of your homes when you could
be doing any kinds of things in the world and listening to
God's word preached. God's people love to hear the
gospel. Oh, thou wonderful Lord, thou
unerring, faithful, kind, and tender counselor, in whom are
hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Oh, thou mighty
God, thou all-sufficient Jesus, to see the purchase of thy blood
and thy Father's gift completed and made effectual. This is our
counselor. This is Robert Hawker's Praying
out praises to our Lord as our counselor, thou all-sufficient
Jesus, O thou almighty God, O thou everlasting Father in
all things everlasting in love, in provision, in care, in security,
a blessed eternity for all relations in one art thou to thy people. John Gill wrote this, he said,
this some read in conjunction with the former title, thus,
wonderful counselor. They put the two words wonderful
and counselor together as one. That's the way the Arabic version
of scripture is. He calls, he refers to the subjunct,
I don't say this correctly, I apologize, septungent, which calls him the
angel of the great counsel, and the targum, puts it this way,
who does wonderfully in counsel. Now look over at Isaiah, hold
your place here. Well, we're not gonna come back to it. Turn
over to Isaiah chapter 28, 29. And I wanna see what John Gill
is referring to here. He's referring to this, who does
wonderful in counsel. And he agrees with that through
what we read in Isaiah 28, verse 29. Isaiah 28, verse 29. This also cometh forth from the
Lord of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working. So we see what John Gill is stating
there as the angel of the great counsel. Our first consideration
of this title is how it belongs to Christ as concerned with his
father and the blessed Holy Spirit and the works of nature and providence,
in the works of nature and in providence and in grace. Hear
the counsel between, hear, listen, hear. I want you to hear the
counsel between the great three and one. In Genesis 1.26, we
read these words. And God said, let us, there's
the counsel between the three and one. People say, well, there's only
one God. Absolutely correct, but there
are three distinct persons all make up the Godhead, God the
Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. And it doesn't just
say it in one place, it says it throughout all of scripture. All the fullness of the Godhead
dwelleth in him bodily. I and my Father are one. Many,
many more scriptures I can go with. And God said, let me finish
Genesis 126, the council of the great three in one. God said,
let us, make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them
have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of
the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over
every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. There's just
one example of the council between the great three and one. Let
me give you another one in Genesis 11, 7. Go to, this is at the
Tower of Babel. You remember that story, right?
God looked down upon the earth and he saw men trying to raise
themselves up to God with the works of their own hand. And
he said, we will not have this, right? Here's what it says in
Genesis 11, 7. Go to and let us. Didn't say, I'm going to go down
and do this. He says, go to and let us. Speaking
of the great three in one, counseling, taking counsel with each other
in perfect agreement. There's no dispute between the
three of them. They are three in one in perfection and in every
way. Go to, let us go down, and they're
confound their speech. confound their language that
they may not understand one another's speech. So we see right there
two examples of the great counsel between the three and one. So
we see the great three and one taking counsel with each other,
yet God stands in no need of counsel with his creation. His ways are above our ways.
How could we give God counsel? Go and read the book of Job sometime
and find out how God addressed Job. Where were you, he said
to Job, where were you when I made the world? I didn't need you,
I don't need you now. He does not take counsel with
his creation. Creatures are not part of his
counsel that Christ is. Christ is part of all of his
thoughts, part of all of his purposes. Christ is part of all
the decrees. Christ was consulted in creation
and in the works of providence and in the great affair of redemption
and salvation. Again, John Gil points this out.
He says, the council held concerning, that is the great council. Again, the subjunct scriptures
version reads it this way. Here makes a mention of this
and it's called the council of peace. And he gets that from
Zechariah 6, 13, where we hear these words. Even he, speaking
of God, speaking of the Lord, even he shall build the temple
of the Lord, and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and
rule upon his throne, and he shall be priest upon his throne,
and the council of peace shall be between them both. The council of peace. The Council
of Peace that determined that Christ would sit on his throne
and work all things out for the good of his people, that he would
be the mediator between a sinful man and God Almighty who is holy. It is in this Council of Peace
which the plan of salvation was formed. And it was also that
same Council of Peace that it was deployed. It was agreed upon. It was agreed upon that God the
Son, the God-man would become human flesh. He would become human by nature
and by obedience, through sufferings and through death. And the time
of Christ's incarnation and death was settled at that moment before
the world began, as well as all the blessings of grace and the
glory for the persons who are to share in this salvation. Now
secondly, and I'll bring this to a close after this, we see
this counselor as God sending his wisdom down to us. Remember, we're looking
at unto us. This counselor was sent by God
the Father unto us to help us to walk through this
valley of the shadow of death. till the day that he would take
us across the Jordan into heaven. All that is written, all of his
holy word is for our learning. Learning of what? Learning of
our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Learning of who he is, learning
of his graciousness in becoming flesh, learning of him fulfilling
his own law on our behalf, learning of his love for you
and I from before the world was. He displays his wisdom in sending
saved sinners to preach his word to sinners in need of salvation. Look over at the 16th Psalm,
if you would. Psalm number 16. In the 16th Psalm, we read in
verses one through seven, preserve me, O God, for in thee do I put
my trust. Here's the wisdom, the wisdom
that you and I have by our Lord, and that is that there's nothing
in this flesh we can be dependent upon. We see through God's word that
there is nothing to have any confidence in this flesh. Our
flesh is nothing but tainted with sin. And when we are given sight,
where once we were blind to see this truth, he shines his light
in our hearts where we say, preserve me, O God, all the way my Savior
leads me. Preserve me, O God, for in thee
do I put my trust. O my soul, thou hast said unto
the Lord, thou art my Lord. My goodness extendeth not to
thee, but the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent
in whom is all my delight. Their sorrows shall be multiplied
that hasten after another God. They drink offerings of blood
will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips. The Lord is a portion of mine
inheritance and of my cup. Thou maintainest my lot. The
lions are falling unto me in pleasant places, yea, I have
goodly heritage. I will bless the Lord who hath
given me counsel. My reigns also instruct me in
the night seasons. One more, if you would, turn
over to the 32nd Psalm, and we'll just read a couple of verses
there. Psalms 32. Psalms 32. In the 32nd Psalm, verses one
and two, we read these words. Blessed is he whose transgression
is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom
the Lord imputeth not iniquity, in whose spirit there is no guile.
Now look down at verse seven. Thou, thou, O Lord, thou art
my hiding place. Thou shalt preserve me from trouble,
Thou shalt compass me about, that means surround us, completely
covered, a hedge all around us with songs of deliverance. I will instruct thee, he says,
and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go. I will guide,
I will counsel thee with mine eye, saith the Lord. You don't
need to turn it over. In John chapter six, verse 45,
we read these words. It is written in the prophets,
and they shall be all taught of God. Oh, what a wonderful God we serve,
who comes to us in our personal times of trouble and counsels
us in his word. Put no trust in your flesh. There's
nothing in your flesh that you can count on, but you can count
on every single promise from him to come true. Now, folks, there's no way to
consider in one study of the counsel our Lord gave while walking
this earth, but let me just list a few, if you would. Consider
his counsel in repentance. What did he do when he walked
this earth? He counseled people to repent of their sins, repent
of their pride, repent of their unbelief, and turn to him. I am the way and the truth, he
says. He counseled people in humbleness,
giving himself as an example. Though he thought it not robbery
to be equal with God, he was made to be a servant. Though he had all the royal command
of heaven at his fingertips, he became a servant and washed
the feet of his people. Take that as counsel. He counseled the people in righteousness. You have none. There is only
one who is righteous, the one who was sent from the
Father, and he was sent unto us. He counseled the people in
holiness, but the most precious counsel of all was his counsel
of substitution. I must needs go to Jerusalem
and be crucified and die and be raised the third day. What
a council for you and I, huh? What a council for hearing him
say, it's finished, Mike. Your warfare is done. John, Kathy,
all of you who are online, Our warfare is done, the counsel
of our Savior is sit and rest in me. He counsels us in his love, the
love he has for his people. Unto us, it said. Our Lord is
our counselor, amen? Will you bow with me? Unto us, part five, Isaiah 9,
6. We've already looked at that
verse. This morning, we're gonna consider the title that is given
to our Lord in that verse, Counselor. In our study of this phrase,
unto us, found in Isaiah chapter nine, verse six, we have considered
in detail the first five parts of this verse. The first thing
we considered was unto us, unto God's elect. Unto those that
God had loved, as I mentioned in the prayer, before the world
was. Unto us, us who were dead in trespasses and sin, yet now
we live in Christ. It's not us that live, but Christ
that liveth in us. The light of the world has been
shined in our hearts. A child is born was the second
part, this one who had to be born. He had to come to this
world in the flesh in order to pay our sins. In order to redeem
us to the Father, sin had to be punished. And all of our sin
was laid upon Him and punished in Him. He accepted the wrath
of God willingly in our stead. Unto us a child was born. Unto
us a son was given. God gave His only begotten Son. He gave him. Can we comprehend that God the
Father gave his son? Here, here's my only begotten
son. Let him take your death for you. Let me pour out my wrath upon
him for your sins. The son was given. This one who was given to us the very government,
the very creation that you and I know all things were governed
by Him. And as we consider those wonderful
points, we looked at our last week, or two weeks ago, we looked
at His name is wonderful. Oh, do you see the wonder of
Christ your Savior? Do you comprehend the slightest
bit of the grace that God has for you and I in giving us his
son, the wonderfulness of that? We'll live like Bill lives now
in eternity with him. In heaven, his father has many
mansions, one with the name of every single one of his children
on it. And not one seat will be empty. The name, the seat with your
name on it, Pauli Mary, shall be filled one of these days.
This seat with Bill Silva's name on it has been filled. This morning, I want to wish
to continue with these beautiful names of our Savior, these names
that bring comfort to the sinner, a sinner that is saved by grace. I want to bring to you this morning
comfort from the counselor or God. Every way my Savior leads
me. Every way my Savior guides me. His inerrant word I look to for
my counsel. I've heard Pastor Gene say over
the years, I'm not a counselor. If anybody could make that statement
today, it's me. I'm an uneducated, I didn't say stupid, I said uneducated. I'm an uneducated man in the
things of this world other than my own experiences. But I have the greatest counsel
there is in this entire world right here in my hand. The counsel of the one who created
everything. whose wisdom is above all wisdom. Wisdom we can't even understand
because his ways are not our ways, right? Isn't that what
scripture tells us? Robert Hawker wrote these words.
He said, oh, thou wonderful Lord, thou unerring, faithful, kind,
tender counselor. Do you realize that the Lord
calling us out of darkness and healing our blindness, healing
our lameness, healing our leprosy is opening us to his counsel
where the world is not open to? How many people, how many people
stood and heard the words of God himself right in front of
their face on this earth and didn't hear a single word in
truth? They heard it with the ears here, but they had no ears
in the heart to hear it. You and I have been given ears
of the heart to hear the counsel of our Lord. We know that our
brother Bill stands with the Lord through the counseling that
he has given us in his word. Not in anything that we have
seen in Bill, although I will express this, we do see something
in God's people. We see the love of God in them. All right, I don't mean to put
anybody down who's not here for services this morning, but I
see the love of God in you folks sitting here this morning, desiring
to hear God's word. I see the love of God in you
on Friday nights, coming out of your homes when you could
be doing any kinds of things in the world and listening to
God's word preached. God's people love to hear the
gospel. Oh, thou wonderful Lord, thou
unerring, faithful, kind, and tender counselor, in whom are
hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Oh, thou mighty
God, thou all-sufficient Jesus, to see the purchase of thy blood
and thy Father's gift completed and made effectual. This is our
counselor. This is Robert Hawker's Praying
out praises to our Lord as our counselor, thou all sufficient
Jesus, O thou almighty God, O thou everlasting Father in
all things everlasting in love, in provision, in care, in security,
a blessed eternity for all relations in one art thou to thy people. John Gill wrote this, he said,
this some read in conjunction with the former title, thus wonderful
counselor. They put the two words wonderful
and counselor together as one. That's the way the Arabic version
of scripture is. He calls, he refers to the subjunct,
I don't say this correctly, I apologize, septungent, which calls him the
angel of the great counsel, and the targum, puts it this way,
who does wonderfully in counsel. Now look over at Isaiah, hold
your place here, or, well, we're not gonna come back to it, but
turn over to Isaiah chapter 28, 29, and I wanna see what John
Gill is referring to here. He's referring to this who does
wonderful in counsel, and he agrees with that through what
we read in Isaiah 28, verse 29. Isaiah 28, verse 29. This also cometh forth from the
Lord of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working. So we see what John Gill is stating
there as the angel of the great counsel. Our first consideration
of this title is how it belongs to Christ as concerned with his
father and the blessed Holy Spirit and the works of nature and providence,
in the works of nature and in providence and in grace. Hear
the counsel between, hear, listen, hear. I want you to hear the
counsel between the great three and one. In Genesis 1.26, we
read these words. And God said, let us, there's
the counsel between the three and one. People say, well, there's only
one God. Absolutely correct, but there
are three distinct persons all make up the Godhead, God the
Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. And it doesn't just
say it in one place, it says it throughout all of scripture. All the fullness of the Godhead
dwelleth in him bodily. I and my Father are one. Many,
many more scriptures I can go with. And God said, let me finish
Genesis 126, the council of the great three in one. God said,
let us, make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them
have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of
the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over
every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. There's just
one example of the council between the great three and one. Let
me give you another one in Genesis 11, seven. Go to, this is at
the Tower of Babel. You remember that story, right?
God looked down upon the earth and he saw men trying to raise
themselves up to God in their own, with the works of their
own hand. And he said, we will not have this, right? Here's what
it says in Genesis 11, seven. Go to and let us. Didn't say, I'm going to go down
and do this. He says, go to and let us. Speaking
of the great three in one, counseling, taking counsel with each other
in perfect agreement. There's no dispute between the
three of them. They are three in one in perfection and in every
way. Go to, let us go down, and they're
confound their speech. confound their language that
they may not understand one another's speech. So we see right there
two examples of the great counsel between the three and one. So
we see the great three and one taking counsel with each other,
yet God stands in no need of counsel with his creation. His ways are above our ways.
How could we give God counsel? Go and read the book of Job sometime
and find out how God addressed Job. Where were you, he said
to Job, where were you when I made the world? I didn't need you,
I don't need you now. He does not take counsel with
his creation. Creatures are not part of his
counsel, but Christ is. Christ is part of all of his
thoughts, part of all of his purposes. Christ is part of all
the decrees. Christ was consulted in creation
and in the works of providence and in the great affair of redemption
and salvation. Again, John Gil points this out.
He says, the council held concerning, that is the great council. Again,
the subjunct scriptures version reads it this way. Here makes
a mention of this and it's called the council of peace. And he
gets that from Zechariah 6, 13, where we hear these words. Even
he, speaking of God, speaking of the Lord, even he shall build
the temple of the Lord, and he shall bear the glory, and shall
sit and rule upon his throne, and he shall be priest upon his
throne, and the council of peace shall be between them both. The council of peace. The Council
of Peace that determined that Christ would sit on his throne
and work all things out for the good of his people, that he would
be the mediator between a sinful man and God Almighty who is holy. It is in this Council of Peace
which the plan of salvation was formed. And it was also that
same Council of Peace that it was deployed. It was agreed upon. It was agreed upon that God the
Son, the God-man would become human flesh. He would become human by nature
and by obedience, through sufferings and through death. And the time
of Christ's incarnation and death was settled at that moment before
the world began, as well as all the blessings of grace and the
glory for the persons who are to share in this salvation. Now
secondly, and I'll bring this to a close after this, we see
this counselor as God sending his wisdom down to us. Remember, we're looking
at unto us. This counselor was sent by God
the Father unto us to help us to walk through this
valley of the shadow of death. till the day that he would take
us across the Jordan into heaven. All that is written, all of his
holy word is for our learning. Learning of what? Learning of
our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Learning of who he is. Learning
of his graciousness in becoming flesh. Learning of him fulfilling
his own law on our behalf. learning of his love for you
and I from before the world was. He displays his wisdom in sending
saved sinners to preach his word to sinners in need of salvation. Look over at the 16th Psalm,
if you would. Psalm number 16. In the 16th Psalm, we read in
verses one through seven, preserve me, O God, for in thee do I put
my trust. Here's the wisdom, the wisdom
that you and I have by our Lord, and that is that there's nothing
in this flesh we can be dependent upon. We see through God's word that
there is nothing to have any confidence in this flesh. Our
flesh is nothing but tainted with sin. And when we are given sight,
where once we were blind to see this truth, he shines his light
in our hearts where we say, preserve me, oh God, all the way my savior
leads me. Preserve me, oh God, for in thee
do I put my trust. Oh, my soul, thou hast said unto
the Lord, thou art my Lord. My goodness extendeth not to
thee, but the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent
in whom is all my delight. Their sorrows shall be multiplied
that hasten after another God. They drink offerings of blood
will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips. The Lord is a portion of mine
inheritance and of my cup. Thou maintainest my lot. The
lions are falling unto me in pleasant places, yea, I have
goodly heritage. I will bless the Lord who hath
given me counsel. My reigns also instruct me in
the night seasons. One more, if you would, turn
over to the 32nd Psalm, and we'll just read a couple of verses
there. Psalms 32. Psalms 32. In the 32nd Psalm, verses one
and two, we read these words. Blessed is he whose transgression
is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom
the Lord imputeth not iniquity, in whose spirit there is no guile.
Now look down at verse seven. Thou, thou, O Lord, thou art
my hiding place. Thou shalt preserve me from trouble,
Thou shalt compass me about, that means surround us, completely
covered, heads all around us with songs of deliverance. I will instruct thee, he says,
and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go. I will guide,
I will counsel thee with mine eye, saith the Lord. You don't
need to turn it over. In John chapter six, verse 45,
we read these words. It is written in the prophets,
and they shall be all taught of God. Oh, what a wonderful God we serve,
who comes to us in our personal times of trouble and counsels
us in his word. Put no trust in your flesh. There's
nothing in your flesh that you can count on, but you can count
on every single promise from him to come true. Now, folks, there's no way to
consider in one study of the counsel our Lord gave while walking
this earth, but let me just list a few, if you would. Consider
his counsel in repentance. What did he do when he walked
this earth? He counseled people to repent of their sins, repent
of their pride, repent of their unbelief, and turn to him. I am the way and the truth, he
says. He counseled people in humbleness,
giving himself as an example. Though he thought it not robbery
to be equal with God, he was made to be a servant. Though he had all the royal command
of heaven at his fingertips, he became a servant and washed
the feet of his people. Take that as counsel. He counseled the people in righteousness. You have none. There is only
one who is righteous, the one who was sent from the
Father, and he was sent unto us. He counseled the people in
holiness, but the most precious counsel of all was his counsel
of substitution. I must needs go to Jerusalem
and be crucified and die and be raised the third day. What
a council for you and I, huh? What a council for hearing him
say, it's finished, Mike. Your warfare is done. John, Kathy,
all of you who are online, Our warfare is done, the counsel
of our Savior is sit and rest in me. He counsels us in his love, the
love he has for his people. Unto us, it said. Our Lord is
our counselor, amen? Will you bow with me? Good morning, folks. Good to
have you here with us this morning. What a wonderful day the Lord
has provided for us to worship and praise his name. In our announcements,
I missed out on one. Next week will be the 17th of
July will be our third Sunday of the month. And as you well
know, our third Sunday of the month, we come to the Lord's
table in communion with those who are unable to join us after
our fellowship dinner on the first of the month. So Lord willing,
next Sunday, immediately following our morning 11 o'clock service,
we'll come to the Lord's table in remembrance of our Savior.
Speaking about coming together in remembrance, Saturday, July 16th, at 11 a.m.,
here at this place in Rescue, California, we will come in remembrance
of our brother Bill, having a memorial service to gather together in closure
of our brother Bill leaving this world. Because of that, I'm going to
go ahead and cancel this Friday night's Bible study. Actually,
Kathy and I were planning on leaving this next week. My brother Lee and his wife just
left last Friday, and we were gonna get away for a few days,
but I've got a service on Saturday to prepare for. No, this TV is
not permanent. This is Bill's big screen TV,
which his sister graciously gave to the church along with his
motorcycle. And we will attempt to sell it for whatever we can get for it
on Craigslist or whatever. It's not very old, and as you
can see, it's quite large. What we're trying to do with
it, and the reason you see it set up here in the worship hall
is we're hoping that, and we're not sure if this is
gonna work, so you'll bear with us. We're hoping that we can
show it, all of those who wanna join on Zoom. We have people, in Tennessee, Kingsport, Tennessee,
the Stonkers want to join us. Gene and Judy and their daughter,
Shelly, and her husband want to join us from Kentucky. Shelby Fortner wants to join
us. And I want people that do join us in person to see those
who are on the line. And we're trying to see if we
can figure out a way where we can give those online an opportunity
to speak where everybody can hear. But we're not sure if this
is all going to work out. We pray the Lord will give us
the ability to do that. We're testing and so on. So,
that TV will not stay here. Somebody asked me, are you gonna
set it up and start doing like all the other churches where
you put a verse up on the board? No, no, we have our verses right
here. We can read them right from this
book God has provided for us. And I pray each and every one
of you have a book. If you don't, let me know and I'll be happy
to give you one. So, I believe that's it. Unto us, part five, Isaiah 9,
6. We've already looked at that
verse to this morning. We're gonna consider the title
that is given to our Lord in that verse, counselor. In our
study of this phrase, unto us, found in Isaiah chapter nine,
verse six, we have considered in detail the first five parts
of this verse. The first thing we considered
was unto us, unto God's elect. Unto those that God had loved,
as I mentioned in the prayer, before the world was. Unto us,
us who were dead and trespassers in sin, yet now we live in Christ. It's not us that liveth, but
Christ that liveth in us. The light of the world has been
shined in our hearts. A child is born was the second
part, this one who had to be born. He had to come to this
world in the flesh in order to pay our sins, in order to redeem
us to the Father. Sin had to be punished and all
of our sin was laid upon him and punished in him. He accepted
the wrath of God willingly in our stead. Unto us a child was
born. Unto us a son was given. God
gave his only begotten son. He gave him. Can we comprehend that God the
Father gave his son? Here, here's my only begotten
son. Let him take your death for you. Let me pour out my wrath upon
him for your sins. A son was given, this one who was given to us the very government,
creation that you and I know all things were governed by Him. And as we consider those wonderful
points, we looked at our last week, or two weeks ago, we looked
at His name is wonderful. Oh, do you see the wonder of
Christ your Savior? Do you comprehend the slightest
bit of the grace that God has for you and I in giving us his
son, the wonderfulness of that? We'll live like Bill lives now
in eternity with him. In heaven, his father has many
mansions, one with the name of every single one of his children
on it. And not one seat will be empty. The name, the seat with your
name on it, Pauli Mary, shall be filled one of these days.
The seat with Bill Silva's name on it has been filled. This morning, I want to wish
to continue with these beautiful names of our Savior, these names
that bring comfort to the sinner, a sinner that is saved by grace. I want to bring to you this morning
comfort from the counselor, or God, Every way my Savior leads
me. Every way my Savior guides me. His inerrant word I look to for
my counsel. I've heard Pastor Gene say over
the years, I'm not a counselor. If anybody could make that statement
today, it's me. I'm an uneducated, I didn't say stupid, I said uneducated. I'm an uneducated man in the
things of this world other than my own experiences. But I have the greatest counsel
there is in this entire world right here in my hand. The counsel of the one who created
everything. whose wisdom is above all wisdom. Wisdom we can't even understand
because his ways are not our ways, right? Isn't that what
scripture tells us? Robert Hawker wrote these words.
He said, oh, thou wonderful Lord, thou unerring, faithful, kind,
tender counselor. Do you realize that the Lord
calling us out of darkness and healing our blindness, healing
our lameness, healing our leprosy is opening us to his counsel
where the world is not open to? How many people, how many people
stood and heard the words of God himself right in front of
their face on this earth and didn't hear a single word in
truth? They heard it with the ears here, but they had no ears
in the heart to hear it. You and I have been given ears
of the heart to hear the counsel of our Lord. We know that our
brother Bill stands with the Lord through the counseling that
he has given us in his word. Not in anything that we have
seen in Bill, although I will express this, we do see something
in God's people. We see the love of God in them. All right, I don't mean to put
anybody down who's not here for services this morning, but I
see the love of God and you folks sitting here this morning desiring
to hear God's word. I see the love of God in you
and Friday nights coming out of your homes when you could
be doing any kinds of things in the world and listening to
God's word preached. God's people love to hear the
gospel. Oh, thou wonderful Lord, thou
unerring, faithful, kind, and tender counselor, in whom are
hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Oh, thou mighty
God, thou all-sufficient Jesus, to see the purchase of thy blood
and thy Father's gift completed and made effectual. This is our
counselor. This is Robert Hawker's Praying
out praises to our Lord as our counselor, thou all-sufficient
Jesus, O thou almighty God, O thou everlasting Father in
all things, everlasting in love, in provision, in care, in security,
a blessed eternity for all relations in one art thou to thy people. John Gill wrote this, he said,
this some read in conjunction with the former title, thus,
wonderful counselor. They put the two words wonderful
and counselor together as one. That's the way the Arabic version
of scripture is. He calls, he refers to the subjunct,
I don't say this correctly, I apologize, septungent, which calls him the
angel of the great counsel, and the targum, puts it this way,
who does wonderfully in counsel. Now look over at Isaiah, hold
your place here, well, we're not gonna come back to it, but
turn over to Isaiah chapter 28, 29, and I wanna see what John
Gill is referring to here. He's referring to this, who does
wonderful in counsel, and he agrees with that through what
we read in Isaiah 28, verse 29. Isaiah 28, verse 29. This also cometh forth from the
Lord of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working. So we see what John Gill is stating
there as the angel of the great counsel. Our first consideration
of this title is how it belongs to Christ as concerned with his
father and the blessed Holy Spirit and the works of nature and providence,
in the works of nature and in providence and in grace. Hear
the counsel between, hear, listen, hear. I want you to hear the
counsel between the great three and one. In Genesis 1.26, we
read these words. And God said, let us, there's
the counsel between the three and one. People say, well, there's only
one God. Absolutely correct, but there
are three distinct persons all make up the Godhead, God the
Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. And it doesn't just
say it in one place, it says it throughout all of scripture. All the fullness of the Godhead
dwelleth in him bodily. I and my Father are one. Many,
many more scriptures I can go with, and God's in, let me finish
Genesis 126, the council of the great three in one. God said,
let us, make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them
have dominion, let the men have dominion over the fish of the
sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and
over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth
upon the earth. Now, there's just one example
of the council between the great three and one. Let me give you
another one in Genesis 11, seven. Go to, this is at the Tower of
Babel. You remember that story, right?
God looked down upon the earth and he saw men trying to raise
themselves up to God in their own, with the works of their
own hand. And he said, we will not have this, right? Here's what
it says in Genesis 11, it says, go to and let us. Didn't say go, I'm gonna go down
and do this. He says, go to and let us. Speaking
of the great three in one, counseling, taking counsel with each other
in perfect agreement. There's no dispute between the
three of them. They are three in one in perfection and in every
way. Go to let us go down and they're
confound their speech, confound their language that they may
not understand one another's speech. So we see right there
two examples of the great counsel between the three in one. So
we see the great three in one taking counsel with each other,
yet God stands in no need of counsel with his creation. His ways are above our ways.
How could we give God counsel? Go and read the book of Job sometime
and find out how God addressed Job. Where were you, he said
to Job, where were you when I made the world? I didn't need you,
I don't need you now. He does not take counsel with
his creation. Creatures are not part of his counsel, but Christ
is. Christ is part of all of his
thoughts. It's part of all of his purposes. Christ is part
of all the decrees. Christ was consulted in creation
and in the works of providence and in the great affair of redemption
and salvation. Again, John Gil points this out.
He says, the counsel held concerning That is the great council, again,
the subjunct scripture's version reads it this way, here makes
a mention of this, and it's called the Council of Peace. And he
gets that from Zechariah 6, 13, where we hear these words. Even
he, speaking of God, speaking of the Lord, even he shall build
the temple of the Lord, and he shall bear the glory, and shall
sit and rule upon his throne, and he shall be priest upon his
throne, and the Council of Peace, shall be between them both. The Council of Peace, the Council
of Peace that determined that Christ would sit on his throne
and work all things out for the good of his people, that he would
be the mediator between a sinful man and God Almighty who is holy. It is in this Council of Peace
which the plan of salvation was formed. And it was also that
same Council of Peace that it was deployed. It was agreed upon. It was agreed upon that God, the
Son, the God-Man would become human flesh. He would become
human by nature and by obedience, through sufferings and through
death. And the time of Christ's incarnation and death was settled
at that moment before the world began, as well as all the blessings
of grace and the glory for the persons who are who are to share
in this salvation. Now, secondly, and I'll bring
this to a close after this, we see this counselor as God sending
his wisdom down to us. Remember, we're looking
at unto us. This counselor was sent by God
the Father unto us to help us to walk through this
valley of the shadow of death till the day that he would take
us across the Jordan into heaven. All that is written, all of his
holy word is for our learning. Learning of what? Learning of
our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Learning of who he is. Learning
of his graciousness in becoming flesh. Learning of him fulfilling
his own law on our behalf. learning of his love for you
and I from before the world was. He displays his wisdom in sending
saved sinners to preach his word to sinners in need of salvation. Look over at the 16th Psalm,
if you would. Psalm number 16. In the 16th Psalm, we read in
verses one through seven, preserve me, O God, for in thee do I put
my trust. Here's the wisdom, the wisdom
that you and I have by our Lord, and that is that there's nothing
in this flesh we can be dependent upon. We see through God's word that
there is nothing to have any confidence in this flesh. Our
flesh is nothing but tainted with sin. And when we are given sight,
where once we were blind to see this truth, he shines his light
in our hearts where we say, preserve me, O God, all the way my Savior
leads me. Preserve me, O God, for in thee
do I put my trust. O my soul, thou hast said unto
the Lord, thou art my Lord. My goodness extendeth not to
thee, but the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent
in whom is all my delight. Their sorrows shall be multiplied
that hasten after another God. They drink offerings of blood
will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips. The Lord is a portion of mine
inheritance and of my cup. Thou maintainest my lot. The
lions are falling unto me in pleasant places, yea, I have
goodly heritage. I will bless the Lord who hath
given me counsel. My reigns also instruct me in
the night seasons. One more, if you would, turn
over to the 32nd Psalm, and we'll just read a couple of verses
there. Psalms 32. Psalms 32. In the 32nd Psalm, verses one
and two, we read these words. Blessed is he whose transgression
is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom
the Lord imputeth not iniquity, in whose spirit there is no guile.
Now look down at verse seven. Thou, thou, O Lord, thou art
my hiding place. Thou shalt preserve me from trouble,
Thou shalt compass me about, that means surround us, completely
covered, a hedge all around us with songs of deliverance. I will instruct thee, he says,
and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go. I will guide,
I will counsel thee with mine eye, saith the Lord. You don't
need to turn it over. In John chapter six, verse 45,
we read these words. It is written in the prophets,
and they shall be all taught of God. Oh, what a wonderful God we serve,
who comes to us in our personal times of trouble, and counsels
us in his word. Put no trust in your flesh, There's
nothing in your flesh that you can count on, but you can count
on every single promise from him to come true. Now, folks, there's no way to
consider in one study of the counsel our Lord gave while walking
this earth, but let me just list a few, if you would. Consider
his counsel in repentance. What did he do when he walked
this earth? He counseled people to repent of their sins, repent
of their pride, repent of their unbelief, and turn to him. I am the way and the truth, he
says. He counseled people in humbleness,
giving himself as an example. Though he thought it not robbery
to be equal with God, he was made to be a servant. Though he had all the royal command
of heaven at his fingertips, he became a servant and washed
the feet of his people. Take that as counselor. He counseled the people in righteousness. You have none. There is only
one who is righteous, the one who was sent from the
Father, and he was sent unto us. He counseled the people in
holiness, but the most precious counsel of all was his counsel
of substitution. I must needs go to Jerusalem
and be crucified and die and be raised the third day. What
a council for you and I, huh? What a council for hearing him
say, it's finished, Mike. Your warfare is done. John, Kathy,
all of you who are online, Our warfare is done, the counsel
of our Savior is sit and rest in me. He counsels us in his love, the
love he has for his people. Unto us, it said. Our Lord is
our counselor, amen? Will you bow with me? Good morning, folks. Good to have you here with us
this morning. What a wonderful day the Lord
has provided for us to worship and praise his name. In our announcements,
I missed out on one. Next week will be the 17th of
July, will be our third Sunday of the month. And as you well
know, our third Sunday of the month, we come to the Lord's
table in communion with those who are unable to join us after
our fellowship dinner on the first of the month. So, Lord
willing, next Sunday, immediately following our morning 11 o'clock
service, we'll come to the Lord's table in remembrance of our Savior. Speaking about coming together
in remembrance, Saturday, July 16th, at 11 a.m., Here at this place in Rescue,
California, we will come in remembrance of our brother Bill, having a
memorial service to gather together in closure
of our brother Bill leaving this world. Because of that, I'm going to
go ahead and cancel this Friday night's Bible study. Actually,
Kathy and I were planning on leaving This next week, my brother
Lee and his wife just left last Friday, and we were going to
get away for a few days, but I've got to have service on Saturday
to prepare for. No, this TV is not permanent. This is Bill's big screen TV,
which his sister graciously gave to the church along with his
motorcycle, and we will attempt to sell it. for whatever we get for it on
Craigslist or whatever. It's not very old, and it's,
as you can see, it's quite large. What we're trying to do with
it, and the reason you see it set up here in the worship hall
is we're hoping that, and we're not sure if this is gonna work,
so you'll bear with us. We're hoping that we can show
it, all of those who wanna join on Zoom. We have people in Tennessee, Kingsport, Tennessee,
the Stonikers wanna join us. Jean and Judy and their daughter,
Shelly, and her husband want to join us from Kentucky. Shelby Fortner wants to join
us. And I want people that do join us in person to see those
who are on the line. And we're trying to see if we
can figure out a way where we can give those on the line an
opportunity to speak where everybody can hear. But we're not sure
if this is all going to work out. You just have to pray the
Lord will give us the ability to do that. We're testing and
so on. That TV will not stay here. Somebody asked me, are you going
to set it up and start doing like all the other churches where
you put a verse up on the board? No, no. We have our verses right
here. We can read them right from this
book God has provided for us. And I pray each and every one
of you have a book. If you don't, let me know. I'd be happy to
give you one. I believe that's it. Remind us. Remind us of the things that
we all ask as we walk through this world of darkness. Am I a light in this world? Turn, if you would, to Philippians
chapter 2. The world around us cries out
for good works in one who calls themselves a Christian. Look at all the wonderful things
those dear folks at that church do. One who calls themselves a follower
of Christ, one who claims that they follow Christ, must be as
Christ. Think about that for just a moment. Oh, I want to be as Christ. My brother Bill wanted to be
as Christ. He is as Christ this very moment, without sin. Isn't that something? That day's coming for us too,
but it's not here yet. It's not here yet. Can you imagine putting the burden,
what if I stood here today and put that kind of a burden on
you? Go out into the world and be
as Christ. There is no way on this earth
I could be anything as Christ. You might be able to be. I can't. God helped me never to put that
kind of pressure on anybody. But that's what the world does,
doesn't it? Go out and be as Christ. Shine your light in the
world. What is your light? Is it in
what you do? See how good of a person I am?
See, I don't drink anymore. Maybe you say, I don't smoke
anymore. Maybe you say, I don't cuss. Maybe you say, I don't
beat my wife. Or maybe you say, I don't cheat
on my husband. Or maybe you say, whatever you want to say. Is that your life? That's what the world expects
of so-called Christians. They expect good works. to be
like Christ or to be released to strive to do the works that
Christ did. Serve the poor, give till it
hurts, or as they see it, sacrifice yourself for all mankind. Kind
of like, you know, that little old lady that they raised up. Her name was Mother Teresa, I
think. She was inducted into a position of sainthood. You
know, to be inducted into the true position of sainthood is
to be called out of darkness living, loving, gracious life
of the Lord Jesus. Everyone for whom God laid down
his son's life for is a saint. How are we a saint? We're a saint
in him. He is our sanctification. He
is our holiness. He is our wisdom. He's our everything.
Isn't that what scripture tells us? And as those who were once
blind to that truth, we see it clearly now, don't we? Does my light shine in the world?
Not the light of this flesh that stands before you, because as
one who was once blind, I can see there is no light in this
flesh. There's nothing in this flesh
but putrid, sinfulness, enmity with my Lord. but I have a new spirit. And
each and every one of you, God has called out of that darkness
to walk in his light. See, there's the light of the
world. The light of the world is his, not ours. The world wants to see our good
works as proof They wanna see that we're true followers of
the Lord Most High, and indeed, these verses that we're gonna
look at in Philippians chapter two, they encourage us to do
that very thing. Would you look it with me? Philippians
chapter two, beginning at verse one, we read these words. If
there be therefore any consolation in Christ, any comfort of love,
any fellowship of the Spirit, if any vows and mercies fulfill
ye my joy, that you be like-minded, having the same love, being of
one of court and of one mind. See, there's some instruction
right there. Our Lord has given us in truth. We've looked at
these verses carefully several times. Verse three, let nothing
be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind, let
each esteem other better than themselves. Our Lord continues
with our instructions. Look not every man on his own
things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this
mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. who being in
the form of God, this one Christ Jesus, the God-man, God in the
flesh, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery
to be equal with God. He's equal with God because he
is God. He's the third one in the Godhead.
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. All the
fullness of the Godhead dwelleth in our Lord and Savior Christ
Jesus. But look at verse seven. But made himself of no reputation
and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the
likeness of men. And being found in the fashion
of the man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. Oh, how I want to be like my
Savior. But how could I be any of that? How can this weak-minded, sinful
person before you be anything like that? Wherefore, verse 9, God hath
also highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above
every name, that at the name of Jesus Every knee should bow
of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the
earth. That every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is
Lord to the glory of God the Father. Now here's what I want
you to look at these next three verses. Swear for my beloved.
As ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now
much more in the absence, work out your own salvation with fear
and trembling. For it is God which worketh in
you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Oh, thank you, Lord. Thank you,
Lord, that the goodness that anyone sees in me is a work from
you. Thank you, Lord, that I have
nothing to boast on upon my own flesh, but my only boast is my
Savior, Do all these things, in verse 14, without murmuring
and disputings, that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons
of God, without rebuke, and in the midst of a crooked and perverse
nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world. That's the
title of this morning's message, Lights in the World. What does
it mean to be a light in the world? How can I be a light in
the world when I walk in the flesh when I walk in the death
of this flesh, when every time I turn around, a sinful thought
creeps into my mind, when every time I turn this way, my pride
jumps up in front of me and says things that I cannot even repeat.
How can I be a light in the world when all I see in this flesh
is sin? How can I let my light shine?
Well, to answer these questions, one must first understand what
this light that shines in the true children of God, the Most
High is. Now, the world believes that
your light is your good works. It's called works religion. If
you do this, you're saved. If you do that, you're saved.
There was a man who once said, if you don't believe that the
world is flat, you're not saved. I heard it with my own ears. But once again, I tell you, we
must look to scripture. Look to scripture to find the answers. Look to our great counselor to
find the truth. Would you turn with me to the
book of John chapter one, please? John chapter one. I want you to see who this light
is. This light that shines in everyone for whom he has died,
everyone for whom he has shed his blood for, when he calls
them out of that darkness, when he shines his light in their
heart, this is the life that God's people carry. John chapter one in the beginning
was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God, and all things were made by him, and without him
was not anything made that was made, for in him was life, and
the life was the light of men. And this one that we call our
savior, the Christ Jesus, Christ, Christ, Jesus the Christ. I'll get it out there, right? This is the light of God's people.
It's not your works, it's His. His work in creation, His work
in becoming a man, His work in walking perfectly on this earth,
establishing righteousness for His people, the Lamb slain before
the foundation of the world, it's in His works. This is the
light of His people. God Almighty, who became flesh
and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we'd be held
as glory, the glory of the only begotten. We're not talking about
some glow in the way that one is or a specialness of one who
acts a certain way, such as that poor soul who was misguided in
her works. We're talking about the light
of the world. Look at verse five of John chapter one. And the
light shineth in darkness. And what does it say next? Darkness
comprehended it not. Folks, we're all born dead in
trespasses and sin. We are all born walking in the
darkness of our own lusts, our own desires, our own free will,
you might call it. It's not free. It's bound by
our nature. It's what we are. It's who we
are. And until the Lord does a miracle of the new birth, giving
us a new nature, the nature of his son, we will continue to
walk in that darkness. The light shineth in darkness
and the darkness comprehended it not. Blind to the truths of
God and only thinking our own truth of our own mind, our own
imagination was all there was. Over in the third chapter, we
read in verse 16 through 19, we read these words, John chapter
three, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten
son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but
have everlasting life. For God sent not his son into
the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him
might be saved. He that believeth on him is not
condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because
he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son. And
this is the condemnation, that light is coming to the world,
and men love darkness rather than light. Why? Because their
deeds were evil. One of the things our Lord was spoke clearly of, clearly. He was not bashful to call those
righteous, those self-righteous religious people prideful and sinners. You're calling me a sinner? I
go to church on Sunday. How dare you call me a sinner?
I give money to the poor. I go down and feed. I feed the
homeless people twice a year, Thanksgiving and Christmas, every
year. How dare you call that sinful? Look at me. And when the Lord stood and boldly
told them what kind of sinner they were, they got angry and
wanted to kill him. Darkness hates the light. And
the light is truth. And each and every one of us
hated that light at one time too. Now back in to John chapter 1. This light is not a light that
natural man can see for our darkness is loved by us. We love what
we do. We love what we are. We love
the darkness for it hides the truth about who we are and what
we are and our nature. It hides our state, our standing
before the creator. How dare you tell me I am a sinner
and I can't be saved? How dare you tell me that I can't
accept the gift of God? I don't tell you you can't, God
does. He says you won't. He says you're not even looking
for him. He says, he's the one who says
that you're dead and you can't do anything. Not me. We come into this world, we're born
in darkness. We love the darkness. The darkness gives us a false
sense. It gives us a sense that we have
a power over creation. Satan put it this way, when he
deceived Eve in the garden, he said, the serpent said unto the
woman, ye shall not surely die. Well, she didn't, did she? She went on to have children,
didn't she? But her spirit died. Her spirit surely did die, and
so did Adam's. Serpent said unto the woman,
you shall not surely die, for God doth know that in the days
ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall
be as gods, knowing good and evil. In the darkness, we think
of ourselves as gods, having power to do whatever it is that
we do, because we will to do it. Isn't that what freewillism
is? Isn't that what making a decision
for Jesus is? You know, that sounds so good
to be, you know, Yeah, one of these days I'll, one of these
days I'll start, one of these days I'll make a decision and
I'll start following Jesus. You won't come to the light because
it reveals the truth about what you are. John the Baptist came
crying in the wilderness. Says in Matthew 3, 3, for this
is he that was spoken of by the prophets, Isaiah. This is John
the Baptist crying out. He's the voice of one crying
in the wilderness. Prepare ye the way of the Lord.
Make his path straight. There is the light of God shining
in one of his children. Prepare ye the way, God Almighty. The Lord Jesus Christ, salvation
is of the Lord. I haven't done anything. And
if you're a child of God and hear the words of truth in your
heart, because he gave you ears to hear it, you'll say the same
thing. I have not done anything in my
salvation. I've not made a decision. If
it was left to me, I'd still be out doing what I was always
doing before. But thank God for his decision. Thank my Lord for his will. Thank
my Lord for his love for me that would not let me go to myself. We love him because he first
loved us. Isn't that what scripture tells us? You and I as children
of God know that to be true, don't we? We see the truth in
our deadness. We see the truth in our depravity
and what we were. We see the truth that we would
not come to the light. Therefore, we glorify our Lord
for being our light. There's the light. There's the
light in us. Glorifying our Lord. Now, do
I do that as good as I'd like to? No. And I'll bet you're sitting there
thinking to yourself, you don't either, do you? John the Baptist was our example
of walking in the light in this world, letting our light shine,
the light shining in us. We trust, we believe, our faith
is in Christ Jesus the Lord. We declare him as he is revealed
in scripture. That's what it means to go forth
into all the world and preach. It means to proclaim the good
news, the gospel. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. That's what Christ in him crucified
is. We declare he is God in the flesh. Listen to Philippians
2 verse 5, where we just read it a moment ago. Let this mind
be in you, which is also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form
of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. You know
how much peace that gives God's people? All the peace we need
for our creator is our salvation, is our savior. And if he's created
everything, what can stop him from what he is determined to
do? I don't know about you folks,
but my biggest fear is that John Reeves is gonna try to do something
stupid, something foolish, and it's gonna hurt. Because I forget I forget all
the time that it is all of my Savior and none of me. My mind,
my flesh is weak. Oh, how quick I can start an
argument. Oh, how wonderful our Lord is
who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be
equal with God, but made himself of no reputation and took upon
himself the form of a servant and was made in the likeness
of men. Look over at verses 6 through 15 of John chapter 1. John chapter 1, looking at verse
6, there was a man sent from God whose name was John. The
same came for a witness to bear witness of the light that all
men through him might believe. He, speaking of this witness,
he was not that light. See, you're not that light. It's not your good works that
shine a light in the world. It's not what you do in the world
that shines that light. We bear witness. He was not that
light, but was sent to bear witness of that light. Bearing witness,
attesting to those that God brings across our path that we have
a Savior who is almighty. We have a Savior who rules everything,
including the will of men. Not just the dust that you can
see in the window like we say so many times, but everything. Everything that has come to pass
has because our Savior has purposed it to be. Which means that everything that's
come to pass is for the good of His people, right? If it's
by His purpose? Does that not confirm Romans
8, 28? Isn't that how we know? Because we know. If it's all by His purpose, it's
got to be for our good, right? No matter how much it hurts.
I was asked, I was asked, why couldn't the Lord just keep us
all together and then we can all lead this world together
at the same time? Why has it got to be one here, one there? I don't know. I don't know why. except for that he's wiser than
me, and he's promised it to be for my good some way or another. Verse eight, again, he was not
that light, but was sent to bear witness of the light. That was
the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the
world. He is in the world, and the world was made by him, and
the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his
own received him not. but as many as received him. Here's the gospel. Here's the
good news. The good news that God reveals
to his people, you wouldn't come to me. You would never come to
me if left of your own, but God. But me, says the Lord to you
and I. But because of me, But as many
as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of
God, even to them that believe on his name, which were born
not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will
of man, but of God. And the word was made flesh and
dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory. The glory is the only
begotten of the Father. full of grace and truth. John
bare witness of him and cried, saying, this was he of whom I
spake. He that cometh after me is preferred before me, for he
was before me. Isn't that something? John the
Baptist knew that Christ has always been. God the Son has
always been God the Son. He just wasn't in the flesh until
this time. We were talking about that this
morning in the council as the title counselor that Isaiah gives. And the Holy Spirit inspired
Isaiah to write in chapter nine, verse six. His name is wonderful. His name is counselor. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit in council together as one, let us, let
us make man In our image, that's counseling together, that's the
three having counsel together. Determined exactly when Christ
would become flesh. How he would become flesh, through
a virgin. Not with the seed of Adam, but with the seed of the
spirit. All of that was determined by
the counsel of God. For he was before me. Now go back to Philippians chapter
two, if you would, please. We declare who he is and what
he's done for us, and not for the world, but for those whom
God, whom gave he power to become the sons of God. But we must
also consider verse 13 of John chapter one, where it says, which
were born not of blood, nor the will of flesh, nor the will of
man, but of God. Remember what we read in John
chapter three, verse eight, Did I skip reading that? I think
I did, but it says this. It says, the wind bloweth where
it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst
not tell whence it cometh and whether it goeth. So is every
one that is born of the Spirit. He was talking to Nicodemus.
How can I be born again, Lord? Don't worry about that. That's
a work of God. You got nothing to do with it.
Just like you have nothing to do with your birth from your
mother, You got nothing to do with the birth of God and the
second birth. It's all of Him. It's not that
day when you think you got up and made a decision, OK, I'm
born again now. I'm all new. I'm going to do
a new thing. I'm going to go a new way. It's
not that at all. It's God taking over inside and
shining His light in a new heart. We declare his works and salvation
for his people. Look at verses 6 and 7, 6, 7,
and 8 of Philippians chapter 2. Being confident of this very
thing, note that's in verse 1, 6, 7, and 8 of verse chapter
2, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be
equal with God, but made himself of no reputation and took upon
him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men,
being found in a fashion As a man, he humbled himself and became
obedient unto death. This is the works of our Savior.
He humbled himself. He went to that cross and he
died for his people. He didn't die for the whole world.
Contrary to what the world wants you to believe, God does not
love the whole world. They completely deny the scripture
that says, Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated. And you think,
well, you know, maybe it was something that Esau did when
he grew up. No, it was before they were ever even born that election might stand. We declare salvation is of the
Lord for his elect. The Lord Jesus Christ willingly
went to the cross, obedient to the covenant, the covenant that
was made between the great three and one, Council that was agreed
upon between the great three or one God the Father chose the
people before the world was in that what he says in Ephesians
Let me read for you Ephesians chapter 1 verse 3 blessed be
the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ Who have blessed
us with all? spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ According According as he hath chosen us in him before
the foundation of the world. By his sovereign grace, he gave
this people to his son. As we read in John chapter 10,
my father, which gave them me, is greater than all. No man is
able to pluck them out of my father's hand. I and my father
are one. We declare that salvation is
accomplished as it says, as our Lord said from the cross, it
is finished. There's nothing for you to do
where the world cries out, oh, you gotta get in this big tub
of water and get baptized. Oh, no, you gotta worship on
a Saturday. Oh, no, you gotta go do this.
Oh, no, you gotta do that. God's true people say, no, it's
finished. You're saved if you belong to him. His work. accomplished what it
was set out to do. That's the power of God. That's
the power of God's blood. Israel, your warfare is accomplished. The power of God was shed on
that cross. The sheep of God were saved.
Our sins were laid upon him. He who knew no sin was made sin,
that we would be made righteous in him. Do you ever get tired
of hearing that? Does that ever, oh. Oh, John, you're saying it
again. I've been hearing that from my
pastor for 23 years. 23, yeah, 23 years. I had to
count on my toes real quick. My fingers don't go that high. Oh, yeah, my toes don't either,
huh? I've been hearing that for 23
years. I hope to keep hearing it for the rest of my days on
this earth. That's the only good news I like
to hear. Salvation is of my Lord. He who knew no sin. He who is
perfect in every way was made to be My sin. Your sin. Could that have happened any
way other than being perfect? Could there be one part of that
that wasn't done in totality? No. Not if he's God. As God, he does everything perfect.
As God, He does everything in total. That means all. That means what you're gonna
do this afternoon was laid upon our Savior. Whatever it is you do this afternoon,
it was laid upon Him. Whatever it is you do tomorrow,
it's not giving you the permission to go out and just do whatever
you want. And as children of God, you know that. But it does give us comfort knowing
that when we fail, because we will, we have Him still. And again, and again, and again. He bore our sins in His own body. God looks upon His people and
He sees the perfect blood of His Son and He sees no sin. Our
sins are gone. Our sins are gone, gone, gone,
gone, gone. Never to be seen again. Atonement,
payment has been made. Blessed Redeemer, Jesus is mine. Not by any works of mine, but
by his own blood. I didn't choose Christ, he chose
me. And nothing can stay in the hand
of God. Isaiah 14, 24, we read these words. The Lord of hosts
has sworn Surely, as I have thought, so shall it come to pass, and
as I have purposed, so shall it stand. The sovereignty of
God has been declared from beginning to end throughout all of his
word. You think that, you know, somebody,
I can't remember what, somebody I was having a conversation with
the other day was saying that they go to a church, or somebody
they know is going to a church that, They only look into the
New Testament with us. That's it. They don't look into
the Old Testament. They don't believe Christ is in the Old Testament. God's people know that Christ
is from cover to cover. The light didn't just shine starting
when Christ walked this earth. It shined before. Isn't that
what we read about John the Baptist just a moment ago? He was talking
about the light shining. He hadn't even seen him yet. He's talking about the one who
was before him, before John was ever born. This is the light
of the world, Jesus Christ the Lord. And as I have purposed it, so
shall it stand. This one that we declare has
life-giving power in 2 Timothy, Verse one, chapter one, verse
nine, we read these words, who, speaking of this one, this one
who is life-giving power, has saved us and called us with a
holy calling, not according to our works. There you go, world. It's not according to my works.
Don't look at the man who stand before you, look to the savior
of this man who stand before you. Look to the savior of the
person who sits here and listens and hears these words. Look to
my savior. Oh, but you're such a good person. Folly, you're just so sweet.
Folly would be the first one, yep, shakes her head, says, no,
you just don't know the truth about me. Every single child of God here
today and listening to me on this internet says the same thing. I'm not just singling out Paulie.
We all say that about ourselves. We all know that about ourselves,
don't we? We point the people who God gives
us the ability to speak to, just like he gave you the ability
to speak to that person at the Bible class the other night.
Or at least that's what they call it. You didn't even talk about the
one who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according
to our words, but according to his own purpose and grace, which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. That's
who we talk about. That's the light that shines
in God's people. It's Christ himself. Good works
will follow because he who has begun a good work in us, he who
has begun a good work in his people will finish it. That's
what it says in Philippians 1, verse 6, being confident of this
thing, that he which has begun a good work in you, Paul writing
to the Philippians, he who has begun a good work in you will
perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. But good works is not
that light. No, Christ is the light. Do you know a man who's
out plowing his field, says in scripture, talks about a man
who goes out and plows his field, if he's not doing it for the
glory of God, it's sin. Because everything in this body,
from all the way up here to the tip of that little hair that
may be sticking up, to the bottom of my feet is sin. And that includes
all the stuff in between. But my Savior is my righteousness. Christ in us is the hope of glory.
Our Lord says in John 8 verse 12, Then spake Jesus again unto
them, saying, I am the light of the world. He that followeth
me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
We declare this light sits on his throne of glory, and death
could not hold him. I'll be just a moment more. 1
Corinthians 15, 55, we read these words, O death, where is thy
sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ. Our Lord is on his throne. Isn't
that what we read over here in verses eight through 11 of Philippians
chapter two, and being found in the fashion of man, he humbled
himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross, wherefore, wherefore God also hath highly exalted him
and given him a name which is above every name, that at the
name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and in
earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the
Father. Christ is on his throne. God
the Father has made him the object of all worship. All power in
heaven and earth is his to use as he sees fit. And I ask you,
shall anything, can anything separate God's people from the
love of God that is in his son, the Lord Jesus? If you think
so, then you don't know God. You don't know the God of Scripture. Can anything stay His hand? Our great God tells us to take
His yoke upon us. Our greatest foe, our greatest
struggle is our struggle within, the weakness that we have in
this flesh. I encourage you, rest in Christ. Take no confidence
in what you can do in the flesh. Rest in Christ. Our Lord says
to you and I, he says, my grace. He doesn't say what you do. He
doesn't say, well, if you go do this. No, he says, my grace,
his grace is sufficient for us. You got something bothering you
inside? Sin troubling you? Our Lord's grace is sufficient
for it. I've gone a little long, so I
want to close with a couple of words. Turn over to 1 John 1,
if you would, and allow me to read once again from John, the
book of John. While you're turning to 1 John
1, In John 6, verse 27, we read these, labor not for the meat
which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting
life. This is talking about the light,
talking about the light in us, Christ in us, the hope of glory.
Endure, but labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for
that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son
of Man shall give unto you, For him hath God the Father sealed.
Then said they unto him, what shall we do that we might work
the works of God? Now listen to these words, folks.
This is the light of God shining in the life of one of his people.
Jesus answered and said unto them, this is the work of God,
that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. Did you notice he
said it wasn't your work? It wasn't the work that you could
do. It wasn't something you could do, it was the work of God. We
declare the works of the Lord as we see in John 3, verse 14,
and as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the Son of Man be lifted up. Are you with me in 1 John? Turn
over to 1 John, let me get there, I'm not there. Of course, I ask
everybody to turn there a little quicker than me. 1 John, look
at verses five through seven. This then is the message which
we have heard of him and declare unto you that God is light and
in him is no darkness at all. In our Lord Jesus Christ there
is no darkness. If ye say that we have fellowship
with him and walk in darkness, we lie. I know someone pretty dear to
me who believes it's okay to worship
in any church. Doesn't matter. Folks, that's not true. If you're somewhere, or you want
to go somewhere, where the truth of Christ is not preached, and
you believe that you can worship with that. Our Lord just said that. Isn't
that what he said there? If we say that we have fellowship
with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light,
As he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another,
and the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanses us from all
sin. How can I be a light in this
world? Our brother Bill used to, when
he and I first started coming together as friends, we
would ride our motorcycles all over the place. As you know,
I used to live down in the valley, not far from where Bill lived.
And we, that's a little bit waste of travel, folks. I can be honest
with you. Get up in the morning, oh, I got to ride an hour or
drive an hour up to church. That's a long way. So there's
got to be something. And I would go and, you know, we'd become
pretty good friends. And I would go, you know what,
I saw something. about this preacher over here,
and I would go and go over and listen to him. I'd call Bill,
say, Bill, come on, man, I heard something about this church over
here. They have the name Sovereign Grace Church. It's gotta be a
Sovereign Grace Church, right? He would say to me, he goes, nah, John, you go ahead and you
go check it out. Why don't you wanna go with me?
Because. I already hear the gospel at
rescue. I got no other place to go. I
don't need to go anywhere else. I hear it. I hear it what the
Lord preaches. And of course, you know what
happened? John would go. And the first thing John would
do is get up and walk out or call Bill as soon as he was over
and say, yep, you were right. It ain't here. I don't know what
they think sovereign means, but it sure doesn't mean what scripture
is saying it is. And he'd kind of laugh at me,
see, yeah, right. You gonna go to rescue next week? Yes, yes,
that's what we gotta do. Let your light shine, let the
light of Christ shine in you. Have fellowship with God's people. As the Lord put a desire in your
heart to hear his truth over and over and over again, That's
the light that is in all his people, the truth, who Christ
is, what he's done, and where he sits right now, amen. Stand
with me if you would, please. Unto us, part five. Isaiah 9, 6. We've already looked
at that verse. This morning, we're gonna consider
the title that is given to our Lord in that verse, Counselor.
In our study of this phrase, unto us, found in Isaiah 9, 6,
we have considered in detail the first five parts of this
verse. The first thing we considered was unto us, unto God's elect.
Unto those that God has loved, as I mentioned in the prayer,
before the world was. Unto us, us who were dead in
trespasses and sin, yet now we live in Christ. It's not us that
live, but Christ that liveth in us. The light of the world
has been shined in our hearts. A child is born was the second
part, this one who had to be born. He had to come to this
world in the flesh. in order to pay our sins, in
order to redeem us to the Father, sin had to be punished. And all
of our sin was laid upon Him and punished in Him. He accepted
the wrath of God willingly in our stead. Unto us a child was
born. Unto us a son was given. God
gave His only begotten Son. He gave Him. Can we comprehend that God the
Father gave his son? Here, here's my only begotten
son. Let him take your death for you. Let me pour out my wrath upon
him for your sins. A son was given, this one who was given to us, the very government,
the very creation that you and I know, all things were governed
by Him. And as we consider those wonderful
points, we looked at our last week, or two weeks ago, we looked
at His name is wonderful. Oh, do you see the wonder of
Christ your Savior? Do you comprehend The slightest
bit of the grace that God has for you and I in giving us his
son, the wonderfulness of that. We'll live like Bill lives now
in eternity with him. In heaven, his father has many
mansions, one with the name of every single one of his children
on it. And not one seat will be empty. The name, the seat with your
name on it, Pauli Mary, shall be filled one of these days.
This seat with Bill Silva's name on it has been filled. This morning, I want to wish
to continue with these beautiful names of our Savior, these names
that bring comfort to the sinner, a sinner that is saved by grace. I want to bring to you this morning
comfort from the counselor, or God. Every way my Savior leads
me. Every way my Savior guides me. His inerrant word I look to for
my counsel. I've heard Pastor Gene say over
the years, I'm not a counselor. If anybody could make that statement
today, it's me. I'm an uneducated, I didn't say stupid, I said uneducated. I'm an uneducated man in the
things of this world other than my own experiences. But I have the greatest counsel
there is in this entire world right here in my hand. The counsel of the one who created
everything. whose wisdom is above all wisdom. Wisdom we can't even understand
because his ways are not our ways, right? Isn't that what
scripture tells us? Robert Hawker wrote these words.
He said, oh, thou wonderful Lord, thou unerring, faithful, kind,
tender counselor. Do you realize that the Lord
calling us out of darkness and healing our blindness, healing
our lameness, healing our leprosy is opening us to his counsel
where the world is not open to? How many people, how many people
stood and heard the words of God himself right in front of
their face on this earth and didn't hear a single word in
truth? They heard it with the ears here, but they had no ears
in the heart to hear it. You and I have been given ears
of the heart to hear the counsel of our Lord. We know that our
brother Bill stands with the Lord through the counseling that
he has given us in his word. Not in anything that we have
seen in Bill, although I will express this, we do see something
in God's people. We see the love of God in them. All right, I don't mean to put
anybody down who's not here for services this morning, but I
see the love of God and you folks sitting here this morning desiring
to hear God's word. I see the love of God in you
and Friday nights coming out of your homes when you could
be doing any kinds of things in the world and listening to
God's word preached. God's people love to hear the
gospel. Oh, thou wonderful Lord, thou
unerring, faithful, kind, and tender counselor, in whom are
hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Oh, thou mighty
God, thou all-sufficient Jesus, to see the purchase of thy blood
and thy Father's gift completed and made effectual. This is our
counselor. This is Robert Hawker's Praying
out praises to our Lord as our counselor, thou all-sufficient
Jesus, O thou almighty God, O thou everlasting Father in
all things everlasting in love, in provision, in care, in security,
a blessed eternity for all relations in one art thou to thy people. John Gill wrote this, he said,
this some read in conjunction with the former title, thus,
wonderful counselor. They put the two words wonderful
and counselor together as one. That's the way the Arabic version
of scripture is. He calls, he refers to the subjunct,
I don't say this correctly, I apologize, septungent, which calls him the
angel of the great counsel, and the targum, puts it this way,
who does wonderfully in counsel. Now look over at Isaiah, hold
your place here, well, we're not gonna come back to it, but
turn over to Isaiah chapter 28, 29, and I wanna see what John
Gill is referring to here. He's referring to this who does
wonderful in counsel, and he agrees with that through what
we read in Isaiah 28, verse 29. Isaiah 28, verse 29. This also cometh forth from the
Lord of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working. So we see what John Gill is stating
there as the angel of the great counsel. Our first consideration
of this title is how it belongs to Christ as concerned with his
father and the blessed Holy Spirit and the works of nature and providence,
in the works of nature and in providence and in grace. Hear
the counsel between, hear, listen, hear. I want you to hear the
counsel between the great three and one. In Genesis 1.26, we
read these words. And God said, let us, there's
the counsel between the three and one. People say, well, there's only
one God. Absolutely correct, but there
are three distinct persons all make up the Godhead, God the
Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. And it doesn't just
say it in one place, it says it throughout all of scripture. All the fullness of the Godhead
dwelleth in him bodily. I and my Father are one. Many,
many more scriptures I can go with, and God's in, let me finish
Genesis 126, the council of the great three in one. God said,
let us, make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them
have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of
the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over
every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. There's just
one example of the council between the great three and one. Let
me give you another one in Genesis 11, seven. Go to, this is at
the tower of battle. You remember that story, right?
God looked down upon the earth and he saw men trying to raise
themselves up to God in their own, with the works of their
own hand. And he said, we will not have this, right? Here's
what it says in Genesis 11, seven. Go to and let us. Didn't say, I'm going to go down
and do this. He says, go to and let us. Speaking
of the great three in one, counseling, taking counsel with each other
in perfect agreement. There's no dispute between the
three of them. They are three in one in perfection and in every
way. Go to, let us go down, and they're
confound their speech. confound their language that
they may not understand one another's speech. So we see right there
two examples of the great counsel between the three and one. So
we see the great three and one taking counsel with each other,
yet God stands in no need of counsel with his creation. His ways are above our ways.
How could we give God counsel? Go and read the book of Job sometime
and find out how God addressed Job. Where were you, he said
to Job, where were you when I made the world? I didn't need you,
I don't need you now. He does not take counsel with
his creation. Creatures are not part of his
counsel, but Christ is. Christ is part of all of his
thoughts, part of all of his purposes. Christ is part of all
the decrees. Christ was consulted in creation
and in the works of providence and in the great affair of redemption
and salvation. Again, John Gil points this out.
He says, the council held concerning, that is the great council. Again, the subjunct scriptures
version reads it this way. Here makes a mention of this
and it's called the council of peace. And he gets that from
Zechariah 6, 13, where we hear these words. Even he, speaking
of God, speaking of the Lord, even he shall build the temple
of the Lord, and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and
rule upon his throne, and he shall be priest upon his throne,
and the council of peace shall be between them both. The council of peace. The Council
of Peace that determined that Christ would sit on his throne
and work all things out for the good of his people, that he would
be the mediator between a sinful man and God Almighty who is holy. It is in this Council of Peace
which the plan of salvation was formed. And it was also that
same Council of Peace that it was deployed. It was agreed upon. It was agreed upon that God the
Son, the God-man would become human flesh. He would become
human by nature and by obedience, through sufferings and through
death. And the time of Christ's incarnation and death was settled
at that moment before the world began, as well as all the blessings
of grace and the glory for the persons who are to share in this
salvation. Now secondly, and I'll bring
this to a close after this, we see this counselor as God sending
his wisdom down to us. Remember, we're looking
at unto us. This counselor was sent by God
the Father unto us to help us to walk through this
valley of the shadow of death. till the day that he would take
us across the Jordan into heaven. All that is written, all of his
holy word is for our learning. Learning of what? Learning of
our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Learning of who he is, learning
of his graciousness in becoming flesh, learning of him fulfilling
his own law on our behalf, learning of his love for you
and I from before the world was. He displays his wisdom in sending
saved sinners to preach his word to sinners in need of salvation. Look over at the 16th Psalm,
if you would. Psalm number 16. In the 16th Psalm, we read in
verses one through seven, preserve me, O God, for in thee do I put
my trust. Here's the wisdom, the wisdom
that you and I have by our Lord, and that is that there's nothing
in this flesh we can be dependent upon. We see through God's word that
there is nothing to have any confidence in this flesh. Our
flesh is nothing but tainted with sin. And when we are given sight,
where once we were blind to see this truth, he shines his light
in our hearts where we say, preserve me, O God, all the way my Savior
leads me. Preserve me, O God, for in thee
do I put my trust. O my soul, thou hast said unto
the Lord, thou art my Lord. My goodness extendeth not to
thee, but the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent
in whom is all my delight. Their sorrows shall be multiplied
that hasten after another God. They drink offerings of blood
will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips. The Lord is a portion of mine
inheritance and of my cup. Thou maintainest my lot. The
lions are falling unto me in pleasant places, yea, I have
goodly heritage. I will bless the Lord who hath
given me counsel. My reigns also instruct me in
the night seasons. One more, if you would. Turn
over to the 32nd Psalm, and we'll just read a couple of verses
there. Psalms 32. Psalms 32. In the 32nd Psalm, verses one
and two, we read these words. Blessed is he whose transgression
is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom
the Lord imputeth not iniquity, in whose spirit there is no guile.
Now look down at verse seven. Thou, thou, O Lord, thou art
my hiding place. Thou shalt preserve me from trouble,
Thou shalt compass me about, that means surround us, completely
covered, a hedge all around us with songs of deliverance. I will instruct thee, he says,
and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go. I will guide,
I will counsel thee with mine eye, saith the Lord. You don't
need to turn it over. In John chapter six, verse 45,
we read these words. It is written in the prophets,
and they shall be all taught of God. Oh, what a wonderful God we serve,
who comes to us in our personal times of trouble and counsels
us in his word. Put no trust in your flesh. There's
nothing in your flesh that you can count on, but you can count
on every single promise from him to come true. Now, folks, there's no way to
consider in one study of the counsel our Lord gave while walking
this earth, but let me just list a few, if you would. Consider
his counsel in repentance. What did he do when he walked
this earth? He counseled people to repent of their sins, repent
of their pride, repent of their unbelief, and turn to him. I am the way and the truth, he
says. He counseled people in humbleness,
giving himself as an example. Though he thought it not robbery
to be equal with God, he was made to be a servant. Though he had all the royal command
of heaven at his fingertips, he became a servant and washed
the feet of his people. Take that as counsel. He counseled the people in righteousness. You have none. There is only
one who is righteous, the one who was sent from the
Father, and he was sent unto us. He counseled the people in
holiness, but the most precious counsel of all was his counsel
of substitution. I must needs go to Jerusalem
and be crucified and die and be raised the third day. What
a council for you and I, huh? What a council for hearing him
say, it's finished, Mike. Your warfare is done. John, Kathy,
all of you who are online, Our warfare is done, the counsel
of our Savior is sit and rest in me. He counsels us in his love, the
love he has for his people. Unto us, it says. Our Lord is
our counselor, amen? Will you bow with me? Good morning, folks. Good to
have you here with us this morning. What a wonderful day the Lord
has provided for us to worship and praise his name. In our announcements,
I missed out on one. Next week will be the 17th of
July, will be our third Sunday of the month. And as you well
know, our third Sunday of the month, come to the Lord's table
in communion with those who are unable to join us after our fellowship
dinner on the first of the month. So, Lord willing, next Sunday,
immediately following our morning 11 o'clock service, we'll come
to the Lord's table in remembrance of our Savior. Speaking about
coming together in remembrance, Saturday, July 16th, At 11 a.m., here at this place
in Rescue, California, we will come in remembrance of our brother
Bill, having a memorial service to gather together in closure
of our brother Bill leaving this world. Because of that, I'm going to
go ahead and cancel this Friday night's Bible study. Actually,
Kathy and I were planning on leaving This next week, my brother
Lee and his wife just left last Friday, and we were going to
get away for a few days, but I've got to have service on Saturday
to prepare for. No, this TV is not permanent. This is Bill's big screen TV,
which his sister graciously gave to the church along with his
motorcycle, and we will attempt to sell it. for whatever we can get for it
on Craigslist or whatever. It's not very old and it's, as
you can see, it's quite large. What we're trying to do with
it, and the reason you see it set up here in the worship hall
is we're hoping that, and we're not sure if this is gonna work,
so you'll bear with us. We're hoping that we can show
it, all of those who wanna join on Zoom. We have people in Tennessee, Kingsport, Tennessee,
The Stonikers want to join us. Jean and Judy and their daughter,
Shelly, and her husband want to join us from Kentucky. Shelby Fortner wants to join
us. And I want people that do join us in person to see those
who are on the line. And we're trying to see if we
can figure out a way where we can give those on the line an
opportunity to speak where everybody can hear. But we're not sure
if this is all going to work out. You just have to pray to
the Lord and give us the ability to do that. testing and so on. That TV will not stay here. Somebody asked me, are you going
to set it up and start doing like all the other churches where
you put a verse up on the board? No, no. We have our verses right
here. We can read them right from this
book God has provided for us. I pray each and every one of
you have a book. If you don't, let me know. I'd be happy to
give you one. I believe that's it. Remind us. Remind us of the things that
we all ask as we walk through this world of darkness. Am I a light in this world? Turn, if you would, to Philippians
chapter 2. The world around us cries out
for good works in one who calls themselves a Christian. Look at all the wonderful things
those dear folks at that church do. One who calls themselves a follower
of Christ, one who claims that they follow Christ, must be as
Christ. Think about that for just a moment. Oh, I want to be as Christ. My brother Bill wanted to be
as Christ. He is as Christ this very moment, without sin. Isn't that something? That day's coming for us too,
but it's not here yet. It's not here yet. Can you imagine putting the burden,
what if I stood here today and put that kind of a burden on
you? Go out into the world and be
as Christ. There is no way on this earth
I could be anything as Christ. You might be able to be. I can't. God helped me never to put that
kind of pressure on anybody. But that's what the world does,
doesn't it? Go out and be as Christ. Shine your light in the
world. What is your light? Is it in
what you do? See how good of a person I am?
See, I don't drink anymore. Maybe you say, I don't smoke
anymore. Maybe you say, I don't cuss. Maybe you say, I don't
beat my wife. Or maybe you say, I don't cheat
on my husband. Or maybe you say, whatever you want to say. Is that your life? That's what the world expects
of so-called Christians. They expect good works. to be
like Christ, or at the very least to strive to do the works that
Christ did. Serve the poor, give till it
hurts, or as they see it, sacrifice yourself for all mankind. Kind
of like, you know, that little old lady that they raised up. Her name was Mother Teresa, I
think. She was inducted into a position of sainthood. You
know, to be inducted into the true position of sainthood is
to be called out of darkness living, loving, gracious life
of the Lord Jesus. Everyone for whom God laid down
his son's life for is a saint. How are we a saint? We're a saint
in him. He is our sanctification. He
is our holiness. He is our wisdom. He's our everything.
Isn't that what scripture tells us? And as those who were once
blind to that truth, we see it clearly now, don't we? Does my light shine in the world?
Not the light of this flesh that stands before you, because as
one who was once blind, I can see there is no light in this
flesh. There's nothing in this flesh
but putrid, sinfulness, enmity with my Lord. But I have a new spirit. And
each and every one of you, God has called out of that darkness
to walk in his light. See, there's the light of the
world. The light of the world is his, not ours. The world wants to see our good
works as proof They wanna see that we're true followers of
the Lord Most High, and indeed, these verses that we're gonna
look at in Philippians chapter two, they encourage us to do
that very thing. Would you look it with me? Philippians
chapter two, beginning at verse one, we read these words, if
there be therefore any consolation in Christ, any comfort of love,
any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies fulfill
ye my joy, that you be like-minded, having the same love, being of
one accord and of one mind. See, there's some instruction
right there. Our Lord has given us in truth. We've looked at
these verses carefully several times. Verse three, let nothing
be done through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind,
let each esteem other better than themselves. Our Lord continues
with our instructions. Look not every man on his own
things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this
mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. who being in
the form of God, this one Christ Jesus, the God-man, God in the
flesh, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery
to be equal with God. He's equal with God because he
is God. He's the third one in the Godhead.
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. All the
fullness of the Godhead dwelleth in our Lord and Savior Christ
Jesus. But look at verse seven. But made himself of no reputation
and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the
likeness of men. And being found in the fashion
of the man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. Oh, how I want to be like my
Savior. But how could I be any of that? How can this weak-minded, sinful
person before you be anything like that? Wherefore, verse 9, God hath
also highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every
name, that at the name of Jesus, Every knee should bow of things
in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth. That
every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory
of God the Father. Now here's what I want you to
look at these next three verses. Swear for my beloved. As ye have
always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in the
absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For
it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his
good pleasure. Oh, thank you, Lord. Thank you,
Lord, that the goodness that anyone sees in me is a work from
you. Thank you, Lord, that I have
nothing to boast on upon my own flesh, but my only boast is my
Savior, Do all these things, in verse 14, without murmuring
and disputings, that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons
of God, without rebuke, and in the midst of a crooked and perverse
nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world. That's the
title of this morning's message, Lights in the World. What does
it mean to be a light in the world? How can I be a light in
the world when I walk in the flesh when I walk in the depth
of this flesh, when every time I turn around, a sinful thought
creeps into my mind, when every time I turn this way, my pride
jumps up in front of me and says things that I cannot even repeat.
How can I be a light in the world when all I see in this flesh
is sin? How can I let my light shine?
Well, to answer these questions, one must first understand what
this light that shines in the true children of God, the Most
High is. Now, the world believes that
your light is your good works. It's called works religion. If
you do this, you're saved. If you do that, you're saved.
There was a man who once said, if you don't believe that the
world is flat, you're not saved. I heard it with my own ears. But once again, I tell you, we
must look to scripture. Look to scripture to find the answers. Look to our great counselor to
find the truth. Would you turn with me to the
book of John chapter one, please? John chapter one. I want you to see who this light
is. This light that shines in everyone for whom he has died,
everyone for whom he has shed his blood for, when he calls
them out of that darkness, when he shines his light in their
heart, this is the light that God's people carry. John chapter one in the beginning
was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God, and all things were made by him, and without him
was not anything made that was made, for in him was life, and
the life was the light of men. And this one that we call our
savior, the Christ Jesus, Christ, Christ, Jesus the Christ. I'll get it out there, right? This is the light of God's people.
It's not your works, it's His. His work in creation, His work
in becoming a man, His work in walking perfectly on this earth,
establishing righteousness for His people, the Lamb slain before
the foundation of the world, it's in His works. This is the
light of His people. God Almighty who became flesh
and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. and we'd be held
as glory, the glory of the only begotten. We're not talking about
some glow in the way that one is or a specialness of one who
acts a certain way, such as that poor soul who was misguided in
her works. We're talking about the light
of the world. Look at verse five of John chapter one. And the
light shineth in darkness. And what does it say next? Darkness
comprehended it not. Folks, we're all born dead in
trespasses and sin. We are all born walking in the
darkness of our own lusts, our own desires, our own free will,
you might call it. It's not free. It's bound by
our nature. It's what we are. It's who we
are. And until the Lord does a miracle of the new birth, giving
us a new nature, the nature of His Son, we will continue to
walk in that darkness. The light shineth in darkness
and the darkness comprehended it not. Blind to the truths of
God and only thinking our own truth of our own mind, our own
imagination was all there was. Over in the third chapter, we
read in verse 16 through 19, we read these words, John chapter
three, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten
son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but
have everlasting life. For God sent not his son into
the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him
might be saved. He that believeth on him is not
condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because
he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son. And
this is the condemnation, that light is coming to the world,
and men love darkness rather than light. Why? Because their
deeds were evil. One of the things our Lord was spoke clearly of, clearly. He was not bashful to call those
righteous, those self-righteous religious people prideful and sinners. You're calling me a sinner? I
go to church on Sunday. How dare you call me a sinner?
I give money to the poor. I go down and feed. I feed the
homeless people twice a year, Thanksgiving and Christmas, every
year. How dare you call that sinful? Look at me. And when the Lord stood and boldly
told them what kind of sinner they were, they got angry and
wanted to kill him. Darkness hates the light. And
the light is truth. And each and every one of us
hated that light at one time, too. Now back in to John chapter 1. This light is not a light that
natural man can see, for our darkness is loved by us. We love
what we do. We love what we are. We love
the darkness for it hides the truth about who we are and what
we are and our nature. It hides our state, our standing
before the creator. How dare you tell me I am a sinner
and I can't be saved? How dare you tell me that I can't
accept the gift of God? I don't tell you you can't, God
does. He says you won't. He says you're not even looking
for him anymore. He says, he's the one who says
that you're dead and you can't do anything. Not me. We come into this world, we're born
in darkness. We love the darkness. The darkness gives us a false
sense. It gives us a sense that we have
a power over creation. Satan put it this way, when he
deceived Eve in the garden, he said, the serpent said unto the
woman, ye shall not surely die. Well, she didn't, did she? She went on to have children,
didn't she? But her spirit died. Her spirit surely did die, and
so did Adam's. Serpent said unto the woman,
you shall not surely die, for God doth know that in the days
ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall
be as gods, knowing good and evil. In the darkness, we think
of ourselves as gods, having power to do whatever it is that
we do, because we will to do it. Isn't that what freewillism
is? Isn't that what making a decision
for Jesus is? You know, that sounds so good
to be, you know, Yeah, one of these days I'll, one of these
days I'll start, one of these days I'll make a decision and
I'll start following Jesus. You won't come to the light because
it reveals the truth about what you are. John the Baptist came
crying in the wilderness. Says in Matthew 3, 3, for this
is he that was spoken of by the prophets, Isaiah. This is John
the Baptist crying out. He's the voice of one crying
in the wilderness. Prepare ye the way of the Lord.
Make his path straight. There is the light of God shining
in one of his children. Prepare ye the way, God Almighty. The Lord Jesus Christ, salvation
is of the Lord. I haven't done anything. And
if you're a child of God and hear the words of truth in your
heart, because he gave you ears to hear it, you'll say the same
thing. I have not done anything in my
salvation. I've not made a decision. If
it was left to me, I'd still be out doing what I was always
doing before. But thank God for his decision. Thank my Lord for his will. Thank
my Lord for his love for me that would not let me go to myself. We love him because he first
loved us. Isn't that what scripture tells us? You and I, as children
of God, know that to be true, don't we? We see the truth in
our deadness. We see the truth in our depravity
and what we were. We see the truth that we would
not come to the light. Therefore, we glorify our Lord
for being our light. There's the light. There's the
light in us. Glorifying our Lord. And now,
do I do that as good as I'd like to? No. And I'll bet you're sitting there
thinking to yourself, you don't either do. John the Baptist was our example
of walking in the light in this world, letting our light shine,
the light shining in us. We trust, we believe, our faith
is in Christ Jesus the Lord. We declare him as he is revealed
in scripture. That's what it means to go forth
into all the world and preach. It means to proclaim the good
news, the gospel. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. That's what Christ in him crucified
is. We declare he is God in the flesh. Listen to Philippians
2, verse five, where we just read it a moment ago. Let this
mind be in you, which is also in Christ Jesus, who being in
the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God.
You know how much peace that gives God's people? All the peace
we need for our creator is our savior. And if he's created everything,
what can stop him from what he is determined to do? I don't know about you folks, but
my biggest fear is that John Reeves is gonna try to do something
stupid, something foolish, and it's gonna hurt. Because I forget I forget all
the time that it is all of my Savior and none of me. My mind,
my flesh is weak. Oh, how quick I can start an
argument. Oh, how wonderful our Lord is
who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be
equal with God, but made himself of no reputation and took upon
himself the form of a servant and was made in the likeness
of men. Look over at verses 6 through 15 of John chapter 1. John chapter 1, looking at verse
6, there was a man sent from God whose name was John. The
same came for a witness to bear witness of the light that all
men through him might believe. He, speaking of this witness,
he was not that light. See, you're not that light. It's not your good works that
shine a light in the world. It's not what you do in the world
that shines that light. We bear witness. He was not that
light, but was sent to bear witness of that light. Bearing witness,
attesting to those that God brings across our path that we have
a Savior who is almighty. We have a Savior who rules everything,
including the will of men. Not just the dust that you can
see in the window like we say so many times, but everything. Everything that has come to pass
has because our Savior has purposed it to be. Which means that everything that's
come to pass is for the good of His people, right? If it's
by His purpose. Does that not confirm Romans
8, 28? Isn't that how we know? Because we know. that hits all by his purpose,
it's gotta be for our good, right? No matter how much it hurts.
I was asked, I was asked why couldn't the Lord just keep us
all together and then we can all lead this world together
at the same time? Why has it gotta be one here, one there? I don't know. I don't know why. except for that he's wiser than
me, and he's promised it to be for my good some way or another. Verse eight, again, he was not
that light, but was sent to bear witness of the light. That was
the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the
world. He is in the world, and the world was made by him, and
the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his
own received him not. but as many as received him. Here's the gospel. Here's the
good news. The good news that God reveals
to his people, you wouldn't come to me. You would never come to
me if left of your own, but God. But me, says the Lord to you
and I. But because of me, But as many
as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of
God, even to them that believe on his name, which were born
not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will
of man, but of God. And the word was made flesh and
dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory. The glory is the only
begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John bare
witness of him and cried, saying, this was he of whom I spake.
He that cometh after me is preferred before me, for he was before
me. Isn't that something? John the
Baptist knew that Christ has always been. God the Son has always been God
the Son. He just wasn't in the flesh until
this time. We were talking about that this
morning in the council, as the title counselor that Isaiah gives. And the Holy Spirit inspired
Isaiah to write in chapter nine, verse six. His name is wonderful. His name is Counselor. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit in counsel together. as one, let us, let
us make man in our image. That's counseling together, that's
the three having counsel together. Determined exactly when Christ
would become flesh. How he would become flesh, through
a virgin. Not with the seed of Adam, but with the seed of the
spirit. All of that was determined by
the counsel of God. for he was before me. Now go back to Philippians chapter
2 if you would please. We declare who he is and what
he's done for us and not for the world but for those whom
God whom gave he power to become the sons of God. But we must
also consider verse 13 of John chapter 1 where it says, which
were born not of blood, nor the will of flesh, nor the will of
man, but of God. Remember what we read in John
chapter three, verse eight. Did I skip reading that? I think
I did, but it says this, it says, the wind bloweth where it listeth,
and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it
cometh, and whether it goeth, so is every one. that is born
of the Spirit. He was talking to Nicodemus.
How can I be born again, Lord? Don't worry about that. That's
a work of God. You got nothing to do with it.
Just like you have nothing to do with your birth from your
mother, you got nothing to do with the birth of God and the
second birth. It's all of Him. It's not that
day when you think you got up and made a decision, okay, I'm
born again now. I'm all new. I'm gonna do a new
thing. I'm gonna go a new way. It's
not that at all. It's God taking over inside and
shining his light in a new heart. We declare his works and salvation
for his people. Look at verses six and seven,
six, seven, and eight of Philippians chapter two. being confident
of this very thing, note that's in verse one, 6, 7, and 8 of
verse chapter two, who being in the form of God, thought it
not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation
and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the
likeness of men, being found in a fashion as a man, he humbled
himself and became obedient unto death. This is the works of our
Savior. He humbled himself. He went to
that cross and he died for his people. He didn't die for the
whole world. Contrary to what the world wants
you to believe, God does not love the whole world. They completely
deny the scripture that says, Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated. And you think, well, you know,
Maybe it was something that Esau did when he grew up. No, it was
before they were ever even born that election might stand. We declare salvation is of the
Lord for his elect. The Lord Jesus Christ willingly
went to the cross, obedient to the covenant, the covenant that
was made between the great three and one, the council that was
agreed upon between the great three and one, God the Father
chose a people before the world was. Isn't that what he says
in Ephesians? Let me read for you. Ephesians chapter one, verse
three. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according, according
as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world.
By His sovereign grace, He gave this people to His Son. As we
read in John chapter 10, my Father, which gave them me, is greater
than all. No man is able to pluck them
out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one. We declare
that salvation is accomplished as it says, as our Lord said
from the cross, it is finished. There's nothing for you to do
where the world cries out. Oh, you gotta get in this big
tub of water and get baptized. Oh, no, you gotta worship on
a Saturday. Oh, no, you gotta go do this.
Oh, no, you gotta do that. God's true people say, no, it's
finished. You're saved if you belong to him. His work. accomplished what it
was set out to do. That's the power of God. That's
the power of God's blood. Israel, your warfare is accomplished. The power of God was shed on
that cross. The sheep of God were saved.
Our sins were laid upon him. He who knew no sin was made sin,
that we would be made righteous in him. Do you ever get tired
of hearing that? Does that ever, does that ever, Oh, John, you're
saying it again. I've been hearing that from my
pastor for 23 years. 23, yeah, 23 years. I had to count on my toes real
quick. My fingers don't go that high. Oh, yeah, my toes don't either,
huh? I've been hearing that for 23
years. I hope to keep hearing it for the rest of my days on
this earth. That's the only good news I like
to hear. Salvation is of my Lord. He who knew no sin. He who is
perfect in every way was made to be My sin. Your sin. Could that have happened any
way other than being perfect? Could there be one part of that
that wasn't done in totality? No. Not if he's God. As God, he does everything perfect.
As God, He does everything in total. That means all. That means what you're gonna
do this afternoon was laid upon our Savior. Whatever it is you do this afternoon,
it was laid upon Him. Whatever it is you do tomorrow,
it's not giving you the permission to go out and just do whatever
you want. And as children of God, you know that. But it does give us comfort knowing
that when we fail, because we will, we have Him still. And again, and again, and again. He bore our sins in His own body. God looks upon His people and
He sees the perfect blood of His Son and He sees no sin. Our sins are gone. Our sins are
gone, gone, gone, gone, gone. Never to be seen again. Atonement,
payment has been made. Blessed Redeemer, Jesus is mine. Not by any works of mine, but
by his own blood. I didn't choose Christ, he chose
me. And nothing can stay in the hand
of God. Isaiah 14, 24, we read these words. The Lord of hosts
has sworn Surely, as I have thought, so shall it come to pass, and
as I have purposed, so shall it stand. The sovereignty of
God has been declared from beginning to end throughout all of his
word. You think that, you know, somebody,
I can't remember what, somebody I was having a conversation with
the other day was saying that they go to a church, or somebody
they know is going to a church that, They only look into the
New Testament with. That's it. They don't look into
the Old Testament. They don't believe Christ is in the Old Testament. God's people know that Christ
is from cover to cover. The light didn't just shine starting
when Christ walked this earth. It shined before. Isn't that
what we read about John the Baptist just a moment ago? He was talking
about the light shining. He hadn't even seen him yet. He's talking about the one who
was before him, before John was ever born. This is the light
of the world, Jesus Christ the Lord. And as I have purposed it, so
shall it stand. This one that we declare has
life-giving power in 2 Timothy Verse one, chapter one, verse
nine, we read these words. Who, speaking of this one, this
one who is life-giving power, has saved us and called us with
a holy calling, not according to our works. There you go, world. It's not according to my works.
Don't look at the man who's standing before you. Look to the Savior
of this man who stands before you. Look to the savior of the
person who sits here and listens and hears these words. Look to
my savior. Oh, but you're such a good person. Folly, you're just so sweet.
Folly will be the first one, yep, shakes her head, says, no,
you just don't know the truth about me. Every single child of God here
today and listening to me on this internet says the same thing. I'm not just singling out Paulie.
We all say that about ourselves. We all know that about ourselves,
don't we? We point to people who God gives
us the ability to speak to, just like he gave you the ability
to speak to that. person at the Bible class the
other night, or at least that's what they call it. You didn't even talk about the
one who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according
to our words, but according to his own purpose and grace, which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. That's
who we talk about. That's the light that shines
in God's people. It's Christ himself. Good works
will follow because he who has begun a good work in us, he who
has begun a good work in his people will finish it. That's
what it says in Philippians 1 verse 6, being confident of this thing,
that he which has begun a good work in you, Paul writing to
the Philippians, he who has begun a good work in you will perform
it until the day of Jesus Christ. But good works is not that light.
No, Christ is the light. Do you know a man who's out plowing
his field Says in scripture, talks about a man who goes out
and plows his field, if he's not doing it for the glory of
God, it's sin. Because everything in this body,
from all the way up here to the tip of that little hair that
may be sticking up, to the bottom of my feet is sin. And that includes
all the stuff in between. But my savior is my righteousness. Christ in us is the hope of glory.
Our Lord says in John 8 verse 12, then spake Jesus again unto
them, saying, I am the light of the world. He that followeth
me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
We declare this light sits on his throne of glory, and death
could not hold him. I'll be just a moment more. 1
Corinthians 15, 55, we read these words, O death, where is thy
sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ. Our Lord is on his throne. Isn't
that what we read over here in verses eight through 11 of Philippians
chapter two, and being found in the fashion of man, he humbled
himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross, wherefore, wherefore God also hath highly exalted him
and given him a name which is above every name, that at the
name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and in
earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the
Father. Christ is on his throne. God
the Father has made him the object of all worship. All power in
heaven and earth is his to use as he sees fit. And I ask you,
shall anything, can anything separate God's people from the
love of God that is in his son, the Lord Jesus? If you think
so, then you don't know God. You don't know the God of Scripture. Can anything stay His hand? Our great God tells us to take
His yoke upon us. Our greatest foe, our greatest
struggle is our struggle within, the weakness that we have in
this flesh. I encourage you, rest in Christ. Take no confidence
in what you can do in the flesh. Rest in Christ. Our Lord says
to you and I, he says, my grace. He doesn't say what you do. He
doesn't say, well, if you go do this. No, he says, my grace,
his grace is sufficient for us. You got something bothering you
inside? Sin troubling you? Our Lord's grace is sufficient
for it. I've gone a little long, so I want to close with a couple
of words. Turn over to 1 John 1, if you
would, and allow me to read once again from John, the book of
John. While you're turning to 1 John
1, In John 6, verse 27, we read these, labor not for the meat
which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting
life. This is talking about the light,
talking about the light in us, Christ in us, the hope of glory.
Endure, but labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for
that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son
of Man shall give unto you, For him hath God the Father sealed.
Then said they unto him, what shall we do, that we might work
the works of God? Now listen to these words, folks.
This is the light of God shining in the life of one of his people.
Jesus answered and said unto them, this is the work of God,
that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. Did you notice he
said it wasn't your work? It wasn't the work that you could
do. Wasn't something you could do, it was the work of God. We
declare the works of the Lord as we see in John 3, verse 14,
and as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the Son of Man be lifted up. Are you with me in 1 John? Turn
over to 1 John, let me get there, I'm not there. Of course, I ask
everybody to turn there a little quicker than me. 1 John, look
at verses five through seven. This then is the message which
we have heard of him and declare unto you that God is light and
in him is no darkness at all. In our Lord Jesus Christ, there
is no darkness. If ye say that we have fellowship
with him and walk in darkness, we lie. I know someone pretty dear to
me who believes it's okay to worship
in any church. Folks, that's not true. If you're somewhere, or you want
to go somewhere, where the truth of Christ is not preached, and
you believe that you can worship with that. Our Lord just said that. Isn't
that what he said there? If we say that we have fellowship
with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light,
As he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another,
and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanses us from all
sin. How can I be a light in this
world? Our brother Bill used to, when
he and I first started coming together as friends, we
would ride our motorcycles all over the place. As you know,
I used to live down in the valley, not far from where Bill lived.
And we, that's a little bit waste of travel, folks. I can be honest
with you. Get up in the morning, oh, I got to ride an hour or
drive an hour up to church. That's a long way. So there's
got to be something. And I would go and, you know, we'd become
pretty good friends. And I would go, you know what,
I saw something. about this preacher over here,
and I would go over and listen to him. I'd call Bill and say,
Bill, come on, man, I heard something about this church over here.
They have the name Sovereign Grace Church. It's got to be
a Sovereign Grace Church, right? He would say to me, he goes, no, John, you go ahead and go
check it out. Why don't you want to go with
me? Because. I already hear the gospel at
rescue. I got no other place to go. I
don't need to go anywhere else. I hear it. I hear what the Lord
preaches. And of course, you know what
happened. John would go. And the first thing John would
do is get up and walk out or call Bill as soon as it was over
and say, yep, you were right. It ain't here. I don't know what
they think sovereign means, but it sure doesn't mean what scripture
is saying it is. And he'd kind of laugh at me,
see, yeah, right. I'm going to go to rescue next week? Yes,
yes, that's what we got to do. Let your light shine. Let the
light of Christ shine in you. Have fellowship with God's people. Has the Lord put a desire in
your heart to hear his truth over and over and over again?
That's the light that is in all his people. The truth, who Christ
is, what he's done, and where he sits right now, amen. Stand
with me if you would, please. We'll join the everlasting song
and crown him Lord of all. Folks, when the Lord Jesus Christ
shines his light in the hearts of one of his people, we come to know that the crown
is already his. He's always been the Lord of
all. We just didn't know it. Brother
Michael Evans, would you lead us in closing prayer, please?