So as we continue our studies
on this path that Simon Peter is being led on, in that point
where he was called out of darkness by the Lord Jesus Christ himself,
looking at this path that goes between that and all the way
out to the point where Peter finally sits down and pens, under
the inspiration of God, his two epistles. And it may take us
quite some time to get to those two epistles, because there's
a lot of instructions that our Lord is teaching Peter throughout
this whole thing. Peter learned the power of God
when the miracle of the fish filled the two boats. We were
looking at Matthew chapter 10, and we looked at verses 5 through
23, and a brief summary of the whole
thing. In verse 5 it said, these 12
Jesus sent forth. God sends his people out. He
provides what they need when he sends them out. And that's
what he's in the process of doing in this chapter, chapter 10,
is he is providing the apostles, his disciples, what they need
to go out into the world and preach the gospel. He says in
verse 7, And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven
is at hand. That's an extremely important
thing for these men to know. That's a very important thing
because that's what we're supposed to go out and preach. We're supposed
to go out and preach the gospel. How many churches out there in
today's world... Bill and I were just sharing
with Brother Mike at the services for Limb. They borrowed a church
in Lodi, which is a church of the main family. That's where
Lem was buried, was in Lodi, because that's where the family
plot is. I guess they have a very large family plot there. So we
went to a goat barn. And the very first thing this
man did was he stood up and he made an invitation. He said,
thank you, and we're honored, and all that kind of stuff, too.
Don't let me leave that out. glad to be able to loan their
auditorium and everything to the family of Lem. That was the
very first thing he did, was get up there and make an invitation.
Come to the Lord. And Bill and I were both talking
about it afterwards, how we wanted to set our Bibles aside. And
if we hadn't known that Jesse Custand was going to stand up
and preach next, we probably would have gotten up and walked
out of the place. But as it was, we knew who was coming up next.
So we stayed there. But this is what we hear in the churches. It's
things like that. What men can do. Gospel preachers
preach about Christ. Christ and Him crucified. That's
our only message. It's the same message over and
over again. This is the food that came from heaven. This is
why Jesus Christ came to this earth. Was to be crucified for
yours and my sins. Plain and simple as that. Go
out, preach, saying, the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. You who
our Lord has shown what your sins are. There's hope. There's hope in our Lord and
Savior, Jesus Christ. Jesus is sending out His disciples
to begin preaching the Kingdom of Heaven has come. And here
in these verses of chapter 10, our Lord gives instructions for
all of His sheep to consider. We may not have the ability that
the apostles did to do the wonders that they needed, but that was
only needed during their time to prove who they were. We don't
do that because all the power of God is right here in His Word.
This is what saves people. This is what heals people of
blindness. Speaking about Christ, When we
speak about Him to our loved ones, to our family, to our co-workers, we're speaking about
our Lord and Savior. The Kingdom of Heaven has come
in Him and in Him alone. In verse 16 we read, Behold, I send
you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be ye therefore wise
as serpents and harmless as doves. John Gill wrote this about that.
He says, the serpent is a very sharp-sided, cunning creature,
and uses various arts and stratagems for its own preservation, and
especially of its head, and is so far to be intimidated by the
followers of Christ as to make use of all the proper methods
to preserve themselves from the insults and the rage of men,
and not to expose themselves to unnecessary dangers. Why go
into a goat barn? Why go and argue with a bunch
of people who don't want to hear about Christ in the first place? And as much as in them lies that
they should be careful to give no justification of offense,
or irritate and provoke them to use them ill, and to avoid
all snares and traps that are laid for them, and at the same
time maintain innocence and harmlessness as a dove, being free from all
wicked and cunning and craftiness without resentment, malice, or
wrath. Not meditating or seeking revenge,
but meek and humbleness in their department. leading inoffensive
lives and proceeding in the course of their calling though liable
to many insults and much oppressions." End of quote. If we go out and
declare God to be sovereign over everything, which he is, it's
interesting. Most will agree with you up to
a certain point. And they'll say, oh, no, no,
no. Wait a minute. He's sovereign over all the trees. He's sovereign
over all the wind. He's sovereign over all this.
But I've got my freedom. This is my choice whether I get
to choose Christ or not. Don't you take my will away from
me. You go out and you preach God's
sovereignty and His will over everything, people will reject
you. The message was now a message
of mercy. Up until this point, Israel,
the Jews, it was all about sacrifices. It was all about the things that
Christ came and fulfilled. Now the message had changed.
The message wasn't looking forward to what was done, it was looking
at what would be done and what was going to be done. Christ
was there for one purpose. He was there to go to the cross
and take all the sins of his people, of his chosen elect,
of his loved ones, who he has loved from eternity past, upon
himself. He who knew no sin would be made
sin, so that those would be made righteous in him." The message had changed. It was a message of mercy and
message of grace. It was a message of God's mercy
in sending his son to be the sinner's substitute. You know,
he didn't have to do that, did he? As the creator of everything,
couldn't God have just, you know, yeah, I knew they were going
to do that. That's it. Everybody's gone. Start all over.
As God, he could have done that. But that wasn't his purpose at
all. You see, because He loved us from the beginning of everything,
from eternity past, because of that, all these things had to
happen exactly the way they've happened. So that He could be our substitute. We are exactly what we are. Sinners
saved by grace. for His purpose to glorify Him. And knowing that, we see just
a little bit in today's world of how we can praise our Savior.
Think about how we're going to do it for eternity. Think about
that for a moment. We just do, you know, we give
what we have now in praise and love and worship to our Savior,
for eternity it's going to be perfect. And it's going to be
glorifying to our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. The message
is changed to God's grace in bringing salvation to His chosen
loved ones. In verses 24 and 25 we read,
The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above
his Lord. It is enough for the disciple
that he be as his master, and the servant as his Lord. If they
have called the master of the house Beelzebub, How much more
shall they call them of his household? How much more shall they call
you and I? We must never expect to be treated
better or to receive better in this world than our Savior did.
If we learn, if we leave men alone, they will probably leave
us alone, most likely. But we dare not leave a million
alone, do we? Should we just leave our children alone? Should
we just walk away from those that we love? No. I don't take my children and
sit them down and preach to them. But they know who my God is.
They know that I believe in the sovereign God of all things.
Does your family know that you believe in a God who rules all
things? We must, as our Savior did, expose
man's sin, proclaim God's righteousness in and by Christ and Christ alone,
and call sinners to repentance and faith in Christ. If we follow
our Master, we will, in the ordinary course of events, experience
what He experienced. He was slandered and rejected
of those among whom he ministered. Men called him Beelzebub, a devil,
a glutton, a wine-bibber, and a sinner. Why does this man sit
with sinners? Because that's what he came to
do, is to save those sinners. Few believed his message, so
let us not be surprised if we experience the very same thing.
Charles Spurgeon wrote this. He said, if the master of the
family is likened to Beelzebub, Beelzebub is the fly god of the
Philistines. You thought America was the only
one that had all kinds of different gods for stuff, huh? No, Philistines
had all kinds of different gods too. They had a fly god called
Beelzebub and named after the prince of demons. By what names
will they call us? Doubtless malice will quicken
wit and sarcasm will invent words which pierce as daggers and cut
like knives. God was slandered in paradise
in Christ on Calvary. How can we hope to escape? Instead
of wishing to avoid bearing the cross, let us be content to endure
dishonor for our king's sake. Those that we love may look on
us with a little dishonor, but remember how they looked upon
our Lord. In verse 26 we read, Fear them not therefore, for
there is nothing covered that shall be revealed, and hid that
shall not be known. We must be content to wait for
Him, He who we serve to vindicate us in the day of judgment. God
will bring everything to light in His time. Vengeance belongs
to Him, saith the Lord. If we are His servants, then
He will both vindicate us and avenge our names and our work
in the last day. Either here or there, God will
vindicate His servants. And He will do it by judgment.
Wicked men under the cover of religion and devotion may cover
their malice and hatred for a time, but it will be revealed at God's
appointed time and in God's appointed way to their everlasting shame."
How often have we seen a man who is built up? Well, look at
the Catholic Church right now. The Catholic Church is huge. You know, Lance was telling me
one time, he says, the biggest influence in the world is the
Catholic Church. You go to the Philippines, that's
all about the Catholic Church there. The Sovereign Grace, those
who know the Lord, is just a very small, little, minor group compared
to us here in the United States. Baptists, they've got all kinds
of those. We've got all kinds of Jehovah
Witnesses and Mormons and all kinds of other stuff. You go
to the Philippines, all those other groups are very small.
Look how much the Catholic Church was built up. And in today's
world, what's it full of? What's it full of? A bunch of
men who love to have their way with children. Everywhere you
turn in today's world, we hear about another one being charged
with it. In our God's appointed time,
all of those massive religious groups will be dealt with. Let
us not worry. Let us not look at them and say
to ourselves, how is that growing so big and becoming so popular? In fact, if you're in something
that is becoming so popular, you might want to stop and think
about where you're at. Our Lord says, they do not look
for Me. We don't go out and look for our Lord. He comes and finds
His people, doesn't He? Turn over to the 37th Psalm if
you would, please. In 1 Corinthians 4, 1 Corinthians 1 verses 4-9, allow
me to read. Paul says, I thank my God always
on your behalf for the grace of God which is given you by
Jesus Christ. The Corinthians were showing
their love for the Gospel. With financial, prayers, all
the support a child of God can give to the Gospel going out. And Paul was, I thank my God
always on your behalf for the grace of God which He has given
to you by Jesus Christ. That in everything ye are enriched
by Him. But notice it also says in all
utterance, and in all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ
was confirmed in you, so that ye come behind in no gift. Waiting for the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who shall also confirm you in the end,
that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord. God is faithful
by whom ye are called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus
Christ our Lord. Are you with me in Psalms 37?
Begin reading at verse 1. Fret not thyself. What did our
Lord say back in verse 26 of Matthew? Fear them not. Therefore, for there is nothing
covered that shall not be revealed and hid that shall not be known.
Threat not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious
against the workers of iniquity, for they shall soon be cut down
like grass and wither at the greener." No, rather than being
worried about those, what do we do? What does it say in verse
3? Trust in the Lord. Our Lord will
take care of those things. Our Lord will take care of the
wickedness in the world. No, trust in our Lord and be
thankful. Be thankful and do good. So shalt thou dwell in the land
and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the Lord
and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Notice it's not
telling us to go out and do works. Did you notice that? It's not
what we're doing. It's not giving us instruction
to go out there and work for the Lord. No, trust in Him. That's what the cross is all
about. Trusting in what our Lord and Savior has done for us. Taking
all of our sins upon Himself. Taking them and burying them
in the ground. leaving them behind, being raised
from the dead and sitting on His throne right now. Trust in the Lord, the One who
sits on that throne, making intercession for us. Delight thyself also in the Lord,
and He shall give thee the desires of thine own heart. Commit thy
way unto the Lord, and trust also in Him, and He shall bring
it to pass. and he shall bring forth thy
righteousness as the light of thy judgment as the noon day. Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently
for him. Threaten not thyself because
of him who prospereth in his way, because the man who bringeth
wicked devices to pass. Well, I said everything I was
going to say now just a moment ago. Folks, this is what I love to
hear. I love to hear, trust in my Savior. We can be so stiff-necked at
times, forgetful of what it is that we actually need to trust
in, especially with everything right before our face and our
very eyes. And we see all this and we think, oh, no, put all
that aside. Put it all aside and trust in
the Lord. That's our best instructions that we can give anybody. That's
our best instructions that we can follow. He says, all things, that's His
word, all things are for the good to them that are called,
to those who love the Lord, to them that are called. That means
all things. Everything, including the troubles
that we go through in this world. Surgery. Divorce. Anger. Fighting. All those things
that we could think. Trust in the Lord. Leave it upon
Him. Amen? Brother Garrett,