You all get to be my age. You
might get lost, just like I just did. Oh, you know, my message. I just couldn't help
but start thinking about my message three minutes before I need to
start preaching it. And then I forget where I am
in the song. Oh, I'll tell you. John, John, John. Allow me to
read an article from today's bulletin for our devotional by Pastor Todd Nyberg on the
inside middle page if you'd like to read along with me. Three
things regarding God's grace. Number one, grace is always sovereign.
In Romans 9.18 we read this, Therefore hath he mercy on whom
he will have mercy. and whom he will, he hardeneth. Secondly, grace is always free.
Romans 3.24, we read this, being justified freely by his grace
through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ. And third, grace
is always saving. Ephesians 2.8, by grace are ye
saved. God's grace is not an offer up
for man's acceptance or rejection. His grace sovereignly, freely
saves. We cannot believe grace without
believing these three things regarding grace. You know, I'm
thankful that the Lord didn't leave me to myself as we brought
up in the Sunday morning Bible study. I'm thankful the Lord
did not leave me to myself, that he did not leave me to making
my own decision. I'm glad the Lord made a decision
for me because I know in my heart that if I was left to my own,
I would make the same exact decision that all of those people we talked
about in Bible study, when they stood around the three crosses
and they said, crucify him, that would have been John Reeves if
John Reeves would have been left to himself. Turn to the 10th chapter of Acts,
if you would, please. And while you're turning there,
allow me to read from Romans 3.11. There is none that understandeth,
there is none that seeketh after God. That's the Word of God. That's
not me up here trying to tell you something true. It's the
truth that God has said to His people, there is none that understandeth,
there is none that seeketh after God. But He also says this in
chapter 10 verse 13, For whosoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord shall be saved. It's kind of confusing, Pastor. We read in Romans 5.19, for as
by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the
obedience of one shall many be made righteous. And then and
again, chapter 10, verse 14, we read this, how then shall
they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall
they believe in Him in whom they have not heard? And how shall
they hear without a preacher? I declare unto you this day that
God has a chosen remnant out of every tribe. Somewhere in the United States
today, Lord willing, one of His children, one of those chosen,
one of those whose names were written before the world was
ever made, is being called to Him by the preaching of His Gospel. He says, I have a remnant out
of every tribe, every tongue, every nation, and they are to
be witnesses of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ." Now there
are some pastors who have a great gift to write. Write poems. Brother Mike Loveless,
he can write a poem, can't he? Boy, he surely can. Other men
write books. Charles Spurgeon. My brother
Don Fortner, Henry Mahan, several others. Others have a great,
wonderful gift, and one of them will be here, as a matter of
fact, for our conference, Norm Wells. God has given that man
a wonderful gift to go into the Old Testament and see Christ
on every page. I'm telling you folks, don't
miss out on the conference. You're missing out on a great
blessing. Our Lord has four wonderful preachers. talented way more
than this man who stands before you, who will be here to speak
the gospel and preach Christ and Him crucified. I can't wait.
I'm excited. I can't wait to be preached to.
Pastor Genie used to say that all the time. We would bug him
about, Pastor, how come you don't preach one little message while
the conference goes on? He says, man, I need to hear
them. I don't get to hear them twice a year. You get it every
Sunday, Friday night. I need it once or twice a year.
And I'm excited. I can't wait to hear these men
preach. Chosen witnesses. You see, that's what I do. I witness to those who God brings
into this building the love and the grace that He has for His
people. I know all the pastors do that.
That's about all I can do. I can't go into the Old Testament.
I don't have the knowledge that some of them have. Maybe someday
the Lord will give me that, but for now I just stand before you
and I preach about God's grace. I'm a witness of grace. Chosen from before the foundation
of the world, as we read in Ephesians 1.4. Chosen to salvation through
sanctification of the spirit. That means being made holy, being
made set apart by the spirit and belief of the truth, as we
read in 2 Thessalonians 2.13. Chosen to be vessels of mercy
formed by the potter, as we read in Romans 9.23. Are you with me in Acts chapter
10? Would you join me in reading verses 39 through 33? Romans,
I mean Acts chapter 10, beginning at verse 39. And we are witnesses, now this
is Peter and he's speaking to Cornelius. Peter was sent to Cornelius,
a Roman centurion, a Gentile, to preach the gospel. And in
those days, Jews had no relations, as far as religion was concerned,
with anybody outside of the Jewish nation. And he's been sent to
Cornelius to preach to Cornelius. And he says here in verse 39,
And we are witnesses of all things which he, speaking of our Lord
and Savior, did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem,
whom they, the Jews, the self-righteous religious Jews, they slew and
hanged on a tree. For God raised up the third day,
Him, God raised up the third day and showed Him openly." Now
this is important, hear these words. He was shown openly, but
listen to the next thing, it says, not to all the people. I want that to sink in. This is
the grace of God that you and I have heard the Word of God
preached. This is the love of God that
you and I have heard through the preaching of His Word, His
grace and mercy to His people, not all the people, but unto
witnesses chosen before of God, even to us who did eat and drink
with Him after He rose from the dead. And He commanded us to
preach unto the people and to testify that it is He which was
ordained of God to be the judge of the quick and the dead. To
Him give all the prophets witness, that through His name, whosoever
believeth in Him shall receive remissions of sins." Now I want
you to mark your Bible there if you would. Take a little piece
of paper from one of the envelopes or whatever, because we will
come back to Chapter 10. I know I'm a little quick sometimes
in going back. I'll try to be a little more
considerate this time for those of you who have electronic Bibles. Just as though that it is written
about here that we just read, they were chosen to see the resurrected
Christ. Not all. But all of God's people
are chosen before of God to witness the things of Christ, not with
the eyes of the flesh as these did that we just read about,
but with the eye of faith. It says in 2 Corinthians 5, 7,
for we walk by faith, not by sight. Folks, I'm telling you,
if you see the Lord Jesus Christ face to face, you've either gone
on to heaven, or you need to talk to somebody about it. Our
Lord does not reveal Himself in person as He did in the days
of old. He reveals Himself in His Word. When Abraham was told by God
Through the seed of His Son, a great nation would arise, and
through that nation, a Savior would come into this world. He
believed God. That was how He attained righteousness. He believed God. He had received the gift of faith,
the very gift that each and every one of God's children have. Faith
in what God said would come true. As I reminded Tim this morning
down in Yocumba, our faith can be weak at times, but aren't
you thankful that Christ Jesus, His faith was perfect always.
It is in His faith we stand. Don't trust in anything you see
of yourself. Don't trust your eyes especially.
Don't trust your feelings. Don't trust the water that you
got into for baptism. Don't trust the act of coming
to the table. Trust in Jesus and in Jesus alone. He is our perfection. He is our
righteousness. And when we come to understand
that He is our all in all, we quit trying to do all that other
stuff. for the sake of salvation. We
still come to the Lord's table, but not to save ourselves, not
to prove that we're saved. We come to the Lord's table,
in which we will at the end of this service to remind ourselves
of His mercy and grace for us. We get into this baptismal back
here to declare unto all of those who may be witnesses of it that
I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone. I have no confidence
in this flesh that you see before you. It is my Savior that I stand
in. Abraham's gift was exactly as
yours and mine. It's a gift of God. Did he express
great faith? Yes, he did for a moment, didn't
he? When the Lord asked him to sacrifice
his son, he was going to do it. Because God had made a promise
to him. He had made a promise about this son being the head
of a great nation. And that the Savior would come
through him. He knew that by God's Word, he would keep His
Word. Just as you and I know, God keeps
His Word. All of those whose names are
written in the Book of Life before a star ever twinkled in the sky
will receive that very same gift. The gift to believe God's Word.
We read this in Bible study, but I'm going to read it again
for you in Hebrews 1.1. God, who at sundry times and
in diverse manners spake in times past unto the fathers by the
prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son,
whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom he made the
world, who being the brightness of his glory, and the express
image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his
power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on
the right hand of the majesty on high. In the beginning was
the word. This is the Word of the Lord
Jesus Christ. This is how God speaks to His
people. Isn't it amazing that God uses
sinful men to speak to sinners? About the One who saves men from
sin. This Jesus, this One who is God
in the flesh has shown and is still showing all of his chosen
blood-bought children the things of himself. And he's doing it
throughout his word. He expounds the things of himself
to you and I, just as he did with the two men on the road
to Emmaus. What did He do? He began at Genesis
the books of Moses and throughout all the prophets and expounded,
taught, brought out the wonders of Himself in them. Now turn over to Mark chapter
8 if you would. With the eye of faith, In other
words, believing God's Word, we are a witness to the fact
that Christ is God in the flesh. Here in Mark, we see God feeding
about 4,000 souls in a way that only God could do. In Mark chapter 8, beginning
at verse 1, in those days the multitude being great, being
very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples
unto him and saith unto them, I have compassion on the multitude. Because they have now been with
me three days and have nothing to eat, and if I send them away
fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way, for
divers of them came from afar. And his disciples answered him,
from whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in
the wilderness? And he asked them, how many loaves
have ye? And they said, seven. And he commanded the people to
sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves.
And he gave thanks. And he break and gave it to his
disciples and set it before them. And they did set them before
the people. And they had a few small fishes. And he blessed
and commanded to set them also before them. So they did eat
and were filled. And they took up of the broken
meat that was left, seven baskets. And they had that at Eden were
about 4,000, and He sent them away. But then we see another
miracle in verse 22. Look over at verse 22 of this very
same chapter. And He cometh to Bethsaida, and
they bring a blind man unto Him, and besought Him to touch him.
And He took the blind man, by the hand, and he led him out
of the town. And when they had spit on his eyes and put his
hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought. And he, the
blind man, looked up and said, I see men as trees walking. And
after that, he put his hands again upon his eyes and made
him look up, and he was restored, and he saw every man clearly.
And he sent him away to his house saying, neither go to the end
of the town, nor tell it to any in the town." Now if you would
go back to our text in chapter 10 of the book of Acts. These and many, many more miracles
were done by our Lord and Savior. He said to those unbelieving
Jews, you believe not, even though I had performed all these miracles
as proof, even though I had clearly declared to you that I and my
Father are one, you believe not because you were not my sheep.
He proved himself as God in the flesh, for no mere man could
do these miracles. Not then, and not now. These
guys on TV, they're nothing but a sham. Aren't you thankful that
we know that? Are we smarter than the people
that are around us in the world? I would say we're blessed, but
we're not smarter. And you and I know that there's
a lot of people who believe the stuff that they see on TV. Aren't you thankful? It is only
by God's grace that we don't stand right there with any other
religion that is out there. No mere man could do these miracles,
not then and not now. Do we not also read that He,
Christ, thought it not robbery to be equal with God in Philippians
2.6? Folks, there is only one God.
And He is a jealous God, and He will not share His glory with
another. Yet there are three distinct
persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit.
A mystery, yes, but the truth all the same. There are many
mysteries about God that I cannot understand and that I would not
even think there's any possibility for me to understand until I
stand with Him in heaven. Throughout Scripture, we see,
we witness the truths of God, and we believe. God the Father
choosing His people. Look at verses 41 in Israel. This is a picture, and we believe
God, not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before
of God, even to us who did eat and drank with Him after He rose
from the dead. We believe God's truths, that
God the Son redeemed His people. Look at verse 39. And we are
witnesses of all the things which He hath done in the land of the
Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they slew and hanged on a tree. We believe the truths of God,
that God the Spirit calls His people. Look at verses 43 and
44. To Him give all the prophets
witness. that through His name, whosoever
believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins. And while
Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them
which heard the word." The whole house of Cornelius had the Holy
Ghost fall upon them when the Lord Jesus Christ was preached
unto them. Now I know, I know that there
are those who might say I've misused the word witness here.
It's not, you don't see the word witness right there do you? Other
than where to all the prophets gave witness. And there will
be those who say that I've taken the word out of context. And
they could say witness is a first hand experience. And to a small
degree that is true. You see, if all you have is the
knowledge of these events spoken of in Scripture, then you've
missed the whole boat. The Pope of the Catholic Church
knows more about Scriptures. He spends his whole life memorizing
them, and a whole lot of other junk with it. But he knows the
Scriptures. There's a lot of men out there
in today's world preaching the Word who know Scriptures way
better than any of God's preachers do. But to know what the Scripture
says is not to experience it. And to experience it is to witness
it. My message today is witnesses
of grace. Are you a witness of grace? Has God been gracious to you
as He has been to me as He is to all of His children? Allow me, if you will, to share
some first-hand events that I have witnessed. And I pray that my
Lord may give you a witness in the same manner. I am a witness. I can tell you
for a fact. There was a day when I walked
in darkness. How do I know? Because I know
I was blind. I see the blue sky now before
me. I see the light of Jesus, the
light of the world, the truth of who He is, what He's done,
where He is now. I am a witness that my heart
was as black as anyone else who has ever walked this earth. I am a witness that my desires
were all as one who has walked this earth, worldly desires. I am a witness that I was blind
and now that I can see spiritual things, spiritual things in the
Word of God, spiritual truths. I'm a witness that I had no ears
to hear the wonderful truths of the Gospel. I tell you from
experience that I was not seeking the things of God until He came
seeking me. I tell you from experience that
there was a time when it was all about me, but now for some
reason, because of God's love, because of His mercy and grace
to me, I walk around and that's because of God. Look at the wonderful beauty
that God had created in the ice fields of Canada. Did you know God made a rock
so big that standing at the bottom of it, you can't help but look
up and go, wow! Down here at a place called Yosemite, where
God made a lake so clear you can stand above it and see 30
feet deep. Or that God, in His grace and
mercy, saved a poor sinner? I'm a witness that in the day
of His power, trouble came into my life and brought me on my knees to
a place where I would hear the gospel. I'm a witness that as it was
according to His will, not mine, that I saw my need of a Savior. I saw the man before you for
the first time, a true sinner. I'm a witness before you that
under the sound of His gospel, I heard grace. I'm a witness of grace. A man passed away a couple weeks
back that I had a little opportunity to spend talking to him on the
phone. His name is Kelly Crowell. And when I spoke with him, we
thought he was on the mend. Not once in all of those conversations
that I had with this man did he say anything about himself. He witnessed grace in every word
that he spoke. And then the Lord took him. He
witnessed grace Oh, how I needed to hear this man's witness. I have witnessed that the Lord passed by John
Reeves and He said, John, live. Yet, it is not I that live, but
Christ that live in me. Christ dwells in the hearts of
His church. His called out people. Christ
came to me, not in the person, but by the way of the Holy Spirit,
and He cut away that old stony heart. In 2 Corinthians, we read it
this way, chapter 4, verse 6, for God who commanded the light,
to shine out of darkness, have shined in our hearts, to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. Did you catch that? The glory
goes to our Lord. We are witnesses of His grace
to us. just as He had brought a great
famine upon Israel so that Naomi and her husband and sons would
flee the land of Bethlehem. God brought that famine on Israel. And they flew down to Moab where
they worshipped idols. And then the Lord took her husband
and her two sons who had married from Moab. Moabitess women. Gentile women. so that Naomi
would return to the people of Israel when she heard that the
food had returned, and she would bring her daughter-in-law back
to Israel to become the wife of Boaz, one who could and did
redeem her. Just as the Lord did that, He
caused certain things to happen in our lives so that we would
cross paths with one of His chosen preachers and meet our Redeemer. Just as the blind man that we
read about and Mark could see dimly after the first touch of
Christ, so could we. But as time went along, God began
to reveal Himself more and more and more. This is what I like
about coming to church, is every time I come, the Lord reveals
Himself a little bit more. The day is going to come when
all the earth around us is going to burn up, and we will stand
before God and see Him clearly as He is. Do we not read in Romans 10,
verse 17, So then faith cometh, belief comes, Faith cometh by
hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Salvation is of the Lord,
my Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And as Peter answered to the
question, who do you say that I am? He said, you are the Son
of the living God. I have witnessed the healing
power of God firsthand. King David wrote it this way
in Psalms 51, my sins are ever before me. And then Paul wrote
this in Romans 7, O wretched man that I am, I too, as those
two men, can see my sin in my flesh. As I told Tim this morning,
our faith will never be any better than it is because it's of the
flesh. I know what I deserve, the wrath
of God, for in my flesh there is no good thing, yet God delights
in mercy. He delights in having mercy on
whom He will, and whom He will, He hardeneth." We all know the
words of Ephesians 2, 1-6, we all walked according to the Prince
of this world, as children of wrath, even as others. But God,
who is rich in mercy for His great love wherewith He loved
us? But God, or in other words, because of Him, we see He who
came into this world to establish a perfect righteousness for us.
Because of Him, we see He who was made to be sin for us. Because of who He is, we see
Him who willingly laid down His life on the tree as our substitute. Because of Him, we see Him who
was raised again for our justification. Because of Him, we see Him who
is rich in mercy for His great love wherewith He loved us even
when we were dead in sins and hath quickened us together with
Christ. I have witnessed first hand the
saving power of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus. Turn over to
John chapter 15 if you would please. John chapter 15. Even though I have seen the grace
of God with my own eyes. Eyes that were
once blind. Even though I have heard with
ears, new ears given to me by the Lord Jesus. Even though I
have heard with ears of the heart, a new heart that God has given
me. Oh, how I am prone to wonder. Oh, how easy it is for me to
take my eyes off of my Savior! Yet the Lord has sent a Comforter,
THE Comforter, to keep us through our times of trials. Are you
with me in John chapter 15? Read with me if you would, verses
1-5. I am the true vine, and my Father
is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth
not fruit, he taketh away. And every branch that beareth
fruit, he purchased it. In other words, he prunes it,
kind of like roses. You know, you got to take that
withery rose and clip it off there, Kathy told me, so that
this other rose that's about to bud over here will get more
water to it. Kind of like that. He purchased
it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye, ye children of
God, these ones who he prays for, these ones who belong to
the Lord Jesus Christ, are clean through the word which I have
spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you, and
as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except for it abides
in the vine, no more can ye except ye abide in me. For I am the
vine, and ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I
in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit, for without me ye
can do nothing." Now look over at verse 26, if you would. Same
chapter, John 15, verse 26. And our Lord gives us these words,
but when the comforters come, whom I will send unto you from
the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from
the Father, he shall testify, that means to be witness, that
means to tell about, he shall testify of me, and ye also shall
bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning. How often have I told you, you
were children chosen in the sun before the world was? From the beginning, folks. And
again, I say, all things were created for us to be witnesses
of his sun. to be witnesses of His grace.
The Comforter keeps us by reminding us of the things of Christ. He
shall testify of me, our Lord says. I have witnessed the keeping
power of God the Holy Spirit. In Romans 10 verses 13 we read
it this way, For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord
shall be saved, but how then shall they call on Him in whom
they have not believed, and how shall they believe in Him in
Him of whom they have not heard? Folks, it's a matter of the heart.
God must come by the preaching of His Word and remove the old
stony heart and give a new heart. A heart made willing. A heart
that loves the Lord and His Word. A heart that believes. Isn't that what we read in John
3.16? Isn't that the truth behind that
verse? For God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth and
him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Isn't that
what that verse really says? Saul of Tarsus was going about
doing what seemed right in his own unregenerate heart. And then
on a certain road at the appointed time, the Lord blinded him with
the light of His glory. The light of Jesus Christ, the
Lord. A glory that was so bright that
it had blinded him for three days. Look with me back at Acts
chapter 9 this time if you would. And I'll bring this to a close. Acts chapter 9, let's look at
the conversion of Paul. You know, Paul is set as an example
of all of God's people. So is Lazarus. So is the man
with leprosy. So is the man with palsy that
we read about in Friday night's Bible study. So is this man who
is so religious that he was going about persecuting the true children
of God for believing in a Jesus rather than following their works. Verse 1, chapter 9, And Saul,
yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples
of the Lord, went unto the high priest, and desired unto him
letters to Damascus, to the synagogues. that if he found any of this
way, any of those who preached Christ, any of those who were
following Christ, if he had found any of this way, whether they
were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. And as he journeyed, he came
near Damascus, and suddenly there shined round about him a light
from heaven. And he fell to the earth and
heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou
me? And Saul said unto him, Who art
thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus,
whom thou persecutest. It is hard for thee to kick against
the pricks. And he, trembling and astonished,
said, Lord, what wilt thou have me do? And the Lord said unto
him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what
thou must do. And the men which journeyed with
him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. And Saul arose from the earth,
and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man. He was blind,
he could see nothing. For they led him by the hand
and brought him into Damascus, and he was there three days without
sight, and neither did eat nor drink. And there was a certain
disciple in Damascus named Ananias. And to him said the Lord in a
vision, Ananias, and he said, Behold, Lord, I am here, I am
here, Lord. And the Lord said unto him, Arise
and go into the street, which is called Straight, and inquire
in the house of Judas of one called Saul of Tarsus. For behold,
he prayeth, and hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias
coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive
his sight. Then Ananias answered, Lord,
I have heard of many of this man, how much evil he hath done
to thy saints at Jerusalem, and here he hath an authority of
the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name. But the
Lord said unto him, said unto Ananias, giving him comfort,
listen to these words, Go thy way, for he is a chosen vessel,
a chosen witness, unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles
and the kings and the children of Israel, for I will show him
how great things he must suffer, for my name's sake. Witnesses of grace, from that
time on, Paul preached Christ and Him crucified. I wish to
know nothing of you save Christ and Him crucified. The Apostle
Paul declares himself to be an example to all who believe. We
are chosen vessels formed by the potter to be vessels of honor
by his grace. We were ordained, predetermined
to be witnesses of his grace. And by his grace, we have experienced
his grace. Is that too much grace for you? I love grace. Because I know
that I don't deserve it. And I know that I can't earn
it. And I know that the works that I do have nothing to do
with God's grace. God's grace to me is because
of His love for me. Go into the world, I ask of you,
as the four men who took that poor man with palsy to where
Jesus was. And they were not hindered by
the fact that they couldn't get close to Jesus because of all
the people that were surrounded about Him. Folks, there's not
all that many people surrounded about this church to keep us
from bringing good folks to hear Christ. Bring our friends to
Christ. And I'm saying this to me. I wished, I want, I desire to
be more boisterous in bringing my friends to the Lord. But yet I am what I am. What
is your desire? Do you have a desire to be witnesses
of His grace? The grace that He had to you?
Are we like the man who got up after leprosy and ran into the
streets showing everybody how great I am? How great things
the Lord hath done for me? Not great that I am. I said that
the wrong way. You understand. You know what
I mean. We're witnesses of grace. By
the way we walk in this world, it's by God's grace that we point
everything to Him. My son's riding in the car with
me. We're stopping at every light. Man, Dad, your luck is bad today. No, no, son, no, no, no, no. That's my Lord protecting me
from something up ahead. Or, that's my Lord putting me
right where He wants me to be in something up ahead. Either
way, it's all of Him. And it's by His grace that I'm
able to say that to my son. How about you folks? Are you witnesses of grace? Will
you stand with me please?