morning everybody if you will
let's begin turning to Daniel chapter 4 We got Lamentations, Ezekiel,
Daniel, Hosea, and Joel. Daniel chapter four. Just a reminder,
there's no midweek service this Wednesday or next Wednesday,
but this week from today, Lord Will and Brother Eric Lutter
will be here to preach the gospel to you. I'm thankful for that.
Pray for him as you're able. Daniel chapter four. The title of the message is,
Who is God? This is our Sunday school. That's where we're gonna
learn some things. May God be our teacher. And that's
a very simple question. Very simple answer, but God has
to make it factual. Who is God? Who is God? And if you had to answer that,
I thought about this hard. You have to answer this. Close your eyes, who do you think
you'd say it to? There's a master theologian in front of you, or
my boss at work, or I don't know, that's what we think, isn't it?
What if you had to tell a four-year-old child? We used to have a lot of children
here, and I pray someday there'll be more children here, but raise
them children up. What if your grandchild come
to you and ask? What if your loved one, or your nephew, or
niece, a little four-year-old child come up and said, who's
God? Could we answer it? And could we answer it as God
says he is? Could we be right? That's my
question today. Who is God? Who is God? I can
teach somebody facts. I can take a small four-year-old
child and I can explain to them all the facts there is about
God. It's who he says he is. But the Lord has to make that
effectual. It's not just like, yes, this is a fact. The Lord
has to make you thankful for it and rejoice in it and be happy
about it. Turn the frowns upside down. Make somebody grin and be happy
because he is who he says he is. Here in Daniel 4, I just
noticed this today. I love the end of Daniel 4. But
this whole chapter, this is after Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
had been cast into the fire and come back out. Nebuchadnezzar
appointed them officers in the kingdom. Nebuchadnezzar starts
chapter four here, he's telling a story. And I thought of Jonah. The book of Jonah, those four
short chapters, ends, the punctuation is a question mark. The Lord
asked Jonah a question. What's the answer to the question?
Jonah wrote the book of Jonah. Nebuchadnezzar, this is the king. God'll make kings say this. Look
here in verse one. Nebuchadnezzar the king. That's
who's talking. Who? Unto all the people, nations,
languages that dwell in the earth. And he says, peace be multiplied
unto you. I thought it good to show the
signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought towards me.
I'm gonna tell you what the Lord's done for me. Not that I found
him and what I've done for him and all this accurate things
I've come across. I'm gonna tell you what God did for me. How
great are his signs. You read that in verse three?
How mighty are his wonders. His kingdom is an everlasting
kingdom and his dominion is from generation to generation. And then he starts telling us,
he said, I had a dream. This one's sent to God. This man had
a dream and he didn't know what it meant. And so Daniel came
in, Daniel interpreted this dream. He said, this is what's going
to happen. And then a whole year passes, a whole year passes. And Nebuchadnezzar said, I forgot.
I believe Daniel. Can you imagine, what if the
Lord gave you a gospel message and then that's it for 12 months?
Turn the radio off, turn the ears down, nothing. Well, he
forgot. That's what we need. We'll deal
with this later, I guess. We need that midweek service.
We need to hear the gospel every week. We need to read them scriptures.
We need to hear, like I wrote that article. We don't need to
just assume that God's with us. I need to hear from him. I need
communion with him. I need to see him, Christ, day by day. And Nebuchadnezzar says, I didn't,
and I forgot him. He didn't forget me. It says
in verse 30, chapter four, verse 30. It says, after 12 months
as the king spake and said, is not this great Babylon that I
have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power
and for the honor of my majesty. We're firing all engines, businesses
are booming, and I've done great. While the word was in the king's
mouth, there fell a voice from heaven saying, O King Nebuchadnezzar,
to thee it is spoken, the kingdom's departed from you. What the Lord
said declared 12 months before that, he said, time's come, time's
come. Well, he ends up crawling on
all fours for seven seasons, isn't it? Seven hours, seven
days, seven weeks, seven months, seven years, how long was it?
It was the perfect amount of time that God was pleased for
that trial to stay on him. Oh, let's pray that the Lord
takes this trial from us. Why? Do you know how long it
ought to last better than God knows how long it lasts? He sent
it. Lord, keep this trial as long as it takes for us to see
Christ in it. That's hard words, isn't it? Well, that's true. That's what the Lord does. Look
at verse 34. Daniel 4, 34. And at the end of days, how many
days? Exactly how many days it took. Verse 34, and at the end
of days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and
mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the Most High,
and I praised and honored him that liveth forever, whose dominion
is an everlasting dominion in his kingdom. He's got a kingdom.
It's from generation to generation. The Lord revealed himself to
Nebuchadnezzar by the preaching of Daniel, and through the trials
that the Lord sent. He got his classroom instruction
in here, and then he went through the practical out in the field
looking like a beast, eating grass. And he said, this everlasting
dominion, this self-existent God, the Lord of lords, the King
of kings, this God is God, the most high God, and he's revealed
himself to me. This is absolutely necessary. Why? Because by nature, born
of Adam, we don't know God. Everybody thinks they do. Everybody
does. Everybody's got an opinion on
God. They got an opinion on how to preach Him. They got an opinion
on what y'all ought to be doing. I know this. What you standing
on? Show me that in chapter and verse.
It's what grandma told me. What my uncle told me. What's
God say? What's God say? He has to reveal
himself. Remember when Pharaoh asked Moses,
who's the Lord? That I shall obey his voice and
let Israel go. Who is he? Nobody asked that question because
everybody thinks they know God. Who's God? Who is the Lord? Like I said, what if a four-year-old
asked you that? This is as simple as it can get,
but almighty God has to reveal this. Who is God? He is who he
says he is. He's exactly who he says he is.
And I thought, you know, you may be the only witness that
somebody in this world will ever have. There'll be a small child
come to you one day and say, who's God? And they'll never
see another believer in their life. And the only influence,
the only instruction they'll ever get is from you. Who's God? He's who he says he is. My brother Maurice used to say,
our God is God. I love that. David said that. He said, for
this God is our God forever and ever. This God is our God. The Lord reigneth, he said in
Psalm 93. And he's clothed with majesty. The Lord is clothed
with strength and he's girded himself. Nobody's girded him.
And the world is established that it cannot be moved and his
throne is established of old. It always has been. Thou art
from everlasting. He revealed himself to Moses.
Did you know that? We get to see all these things.
This is for us. He revealed himself to Moses.
Moses said, who am I going to say sent me? He said, I am. He revealed himself as the eternal
one, and that's revealed on holy ground. Remember, he said, take
your shoes off, Moses. What's going on with that bush? How
come it's burning, but it's not consumed? He said, take your
shoes off. I am speaking to you, the eternal one. I am that I
am. That's what you're gonna tell
the children of Israel. I am since you, not I used to be, not someday
I'm gonna be, or I would be if you'd let me. He said, I am. That's so simple. But you know
what? That ain't like us. That ain't like us. I had a beginning.
Did you have a beginning? Do we have an end? I don't know
anybody alive from the 1700s. Not a woman. Everybody's dead. And I don't know anybody that's
going to be alive in the 2020 or 2300 or whatever. They ain't
born yet. He always has been, he is, and
he always shall be. That ain't like me. That ain't
like us. We weren't around at one point. There was a time this
earth wasn't around. There was a time when time wasn't
time. And the Lord was, and He was on His throne, that everlasting
throne. He has everlasting dominion.
His kingdom stood then. And it's not only that God's
not like what we think He is, it's that we can't comprehend
Him as He is. Explain infinity. You'll go crazy. Explain everlasting. You can't
enter into that. I can't either. That's the exact words that Christ
used in the garden when they come to arrest him. He said,
whom you looking for? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth.
And he said, I am. And a whole lot of them fell
back. Wouldn't that be something if the Lord come to us and said,
I am, and he knocked us flat on our backs? Did it work in
us? Revealed himself? His kingdom is an everlasting
kingdom. He always was on the throne, he is on his throne,
and he always shall be on his throne. Boy, if we could remember
that. That's what he showed Moses.
What'd he show Isaiah? He revealed himself to Isaiah
and his holiness. Remember those cheraphims were
there? He said, the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord upon
a throne high and lifted up. That's how we want to see. His
train filled the temple, and those seraphims, they had six
wings, two covered their face and two covered their feet, and
with two they flew. And they cried to one another, Holy, holy,
holy, the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory.
And the post of the doors shook at that voice that cried. He
revealed himself to Job. as the creator and a ruler of
all things." There's several chapters there in Job, but Job
38 always sticks out to me. He looked at Job. Job wouldn't
pay no attention to the Lord. He's just bellyaching, wasn't
he? And he said, you gird your loins up like a man. I'm going
to ask you some questions. Buddy. There's a very faithful
pastor that's of age now, still alive and still preaching. And
he told me one time, he said, Kevin, you gird up your loins
like a man, knock it off. Oh, buddy. And I thought that's
just my brother that I love. That's just one of God's preachers.
Imagine the Lord speaking that to us. Gird up your loins like
a man. I'm going to ask you some questions.
What are you asking? He said, I'm going to demand
of you, and you're going to answer me. He said, where were you when
I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me with understanding. Tell me. Laid the measure thereof. Do you know? He said, what about
whenever I stretched a line out upon it? Was you there? He talks
to Job the same way that he mentioned to Jeremiah about the sea. And
he said, don't you tremble at my presence. He said, I placed
the sand to bound the sea. He said, the waves come. You
know what holds that ocean back? Sand. What do we use to make
a reservoir? Concrete. Lord said, isn't that
amazing? He said, this is my power. I
just have sand there. And I say, stop. And it stops.
It can't go nowhere. And if I want a tsunami to come,
it comes right over the sand. You can't do that, Job. I created
this, and I control this. He said, have you entered into
the treasures of the snow, or hast thou seen the treasures
of the hill? Have you been to the storehouses, the warehouses
I have full of snow and hail that I have reserved against
the time of trouble, against the day of a battle of war? How did
George Washington cross that Delaware? God froze it. That's
exactly what he's talking about. We can't turn a battle if we
wanted to. And he said, I could just send snow and stop everything.
Can you do that? He's high and lifted up. He said,
can you cause it to rain on earth where no man is, out in the wilderness
where no man is? You don't even know it's raining
out there. You can't make it rain here, much less I'm watering
the flowers out there, because I want to. Can you send lightning
that they may go and say unto thee, here we are. I love that. He's talking about the stars
saying that's spectrum analysis. You know, light has sound waves.
We just discovered that. Job told us 4,000 years ago. And we just discovered back in
the 80s that lightning doesn't actually come down from the sky.
It originates from the ground and goes up. The boat does. We
slowed those cameras down. The Lord says, go over there,
lightning. And the lightning says, from the ground, here we are,
Lord. He's telling us how that thing works. The Lord revealed
himself to Jeremiah as the sovereign of salvation. He said, you go
down to the potter's house, Jeremiah. I'm going to train you up before
I have you preaching. And he said, you go watch that
potter. And he said, that potter is going to take the same lump
of clay, and it's going to make a vessel of honor and a vessel
of dishonor. And he says, now, can I not do with you as I've
done with the potter? Can I do that, Jeremiah? Can
I make one vessel of honor and one vessel of dishonor? Ain't
that my business? Are you the potter or are you the clay? He
says, I'm the potter, you're the clay. That's how he revealed
himself to Jeremiah. Ezekiel, the Lord revealed himself
as the one who made that covenant of love. You remember that baby,
back then they aborted babies by throwing them out in the field.
And he gave that illustration. There's a baby out there in its
own blood and its own corruption that's laid out in the field.
It's no defenses, no way of warming itself, no way of watering itself. He said, I came to you. That
baby didn't low crawl to me. Now that's simple, but God has
to reveal that. We gotta get to this. Get the
picture. He said, I came to you. You was
covering your own blood. You was polluted. And when I
passed by thee, I looked upon thee. Behold, thy time was the
time of love. I didn't show up a minute before
it was a time of love. I didn't show up a millisecond
after the time of love. He's right on time. And this
time is your time of love. And I spread my skirt over thee,
I clothed you in righteousness. My garments were on you, and covered thy nakedness. Yea,
I swear unto thee, and I entered into a covenant with thee, saith
the Lord. I entered into a covenant with
you. Why? Because it was a time of love.
He established that everlasting covenant that we didn't have
enough sense to ask for, and he's the only one that can sustain
it, because he sustains everything else. We're seeing a pattern
here, aren't we? The Lord taught Nebuchadnezzar about his sovereignty,
his holiness, his majesty, his power. He revealed who he was
to an earthly, proud, boastful king. What did he say? He said,
your dominion, your kingdom. What's he talking about? Stuff
about kings, isn't it? He met them at the point of rebellion.
right where he was kicking against the pricks, fighting at tooth
and toenail. And they said, that's where I'm
going to meet you. He met him where he was. That's
the point of rebellion. One king to another king. Nebuchadnezzar
said, you stop capitalizing that K in front of my name. Revealed
himself to him, didn't he? But Nebuchadnezzar's something
else. Look here, Daniel 434. And at the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar,
lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and my understanding returned
to me. My pure mind was stirred up. I'm back in my right mind.
And I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored Him
that liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and
His kingdom is from generation to generation. This is a holy
God. This is the King. This is the Lord, the Sovereign.
Any way we can cut it, this is Him. God is God. And, verse 35,
all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. A-double-L,
all. All the inhabitants of the earth
are reputed as nothing. You know what Isaiah replied?
He said he saw the Lord in that holiness. It was holy, holy,
holy. Oh, he's high, he's lifted up,
he's on his throne. What'd Isaiah say? You know it.
Then I said, woe is me. I'm undone because I'm a man
of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean
lips. For mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.
We've seen him. Isaiah said, I'm undone. Woe
is me. Nebuchadnezzar said all the inhabitants
of the earth. I don't care who they are. They
ain't him. I used to see men as gods. as idols. We worshiped them. Nuh-uh, not
no more. The Lord's broke me. He's hit
all the inhabitants. Isaiah said, woe is me. Job replied
after several chapters of the Lord just rebuking him. And I
thought, how did Job get in that trial for the Lord to come and
give him three chapters of stern talk? Job was fine. He was sacrificing to the God
for his children. He was a righteous man. And Satan
came and reported to the Lord. He said, hey, have you considered
Job? He said, I can't touch him. He said, you can now. Lord sent
all that so he could give us chapter 38, 39, and 40. Isn't
that precious? Job answered and said, behold,
I am vile. What shall I answer thee? I will
lay my hand upon my mouth. I'm gonna stop talking, Lord.
I used to yickety-yack the whole time. I'm gonna open my ears
and close my mouth. I'm vile. Moses, what would he
respond when the Lord spoke to him? He saw it burning bush.
It wasn't consumed. Moses hid his face. And he was
afraid to look upon God, is what it said. He hid his face, he
hid his mouth, he hid their eyes. Paul said, we are the circumcision,
for we worship God in the spirit, we rejoice in Christ Jesus, and
we have no confidence in the flesh. The Lord has to teach
that. We read in Isaiah, it said, behold,
the nations are as a drop in a bucket. I fill up a five gallon
bucket and water my trees twice a week. And I try to get all
the water I can and not be wasteful, but sometimes you walk and just
a little drop falls in or a little drop off the hose drops in extra. I don't go back and get that
drop. I don't shake it and get every little drop, because I
need that drop. Well, close enough. It ain't even measurable. How
would I measure that? How would I know if I got the right amount
of drop? I saw somebody put their lunch in the fridge, and it said,
this chicken's mine, and I got 7,243 pieces of rice in here. They didn't count that rise or
line, ain't they? The Lord said, all the nations,
what's going on in Israel? What's going on in Gaza? What's
going on in America? He said, it's a drop in the bucket.
He says, dust on the scales. You ever go to weigh something,
you get more weigh yourself, and you see just a little speck
of dust. That could be a loss, huh? That's what we see next
there. You go over and dust that scale
off. No, even if you're trying to lose weight and you breathe
all the air out or whatever, hold your hands above your head.
You don't rock the dust off. It's immeasurable. It's not worth
measuring. Of course, that's what nations
are. God's teaching Nebuchadnezzar
that. Maybe he'll teach us. Maybe he'll teach somebody here
today. He said all of those Inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing.
As nothing. That's what we are. A man can
have nothing except it be given from heaven. Unless the Lord
gave it, isn't that right? Power comes from there. Pilate
said, why aren't you answering me? He said, don't you know I
have the power to crucify you or release you? And the Lord
said, thou canst have no power against me at all except it were
given from above. No power, nothing, you're nothing,
Pilate. Lord said, I'm the vine, you're the branches. He that
bideth in me, and I in him, the same bring forth much fruit.
For without me you can do nothing. Nothing. God taught Nebuchadnezzar
that. Paul told Timothy, we brought
nothing into this world, and it's certain we can carry nothing
out. We didn't bring nothing here,
and we ain't taking nothing with us. He said, if a man thinketh himself
to be something when he's nothing, he deceiveth himself. Nebuchadnezzar
ain't deceived no more. He used to be. That's what he
goes on in the middle of the chapter there. And he says, whenever
Daniel come, he said, here's the name I gave him, Belshazzar.
He said, that was after my God. Lowercase g. He said, I was in
false religion. It was terrible. That was my
doing. It wasn't false religion's fault, it was my fault. It was
an honest confession. True repentance towards God.
I thought of all the I wills and they shalls of the scripture.
All throughout, that's the gospel. The Lord says, I will and you
shall. I'm gonna do this and you shall do. I'm gonna work
in you. Verse 35, all the inhabitants
of the earth are reputed as nothing and he doeth according to his
will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the
earth and none can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest thou?
What you doing? We have the nerve to ask other
grownups. It probably happens more now
than it did when I was a kid because you might get punched.
People pop off at the mouth. What are you doing? One of my
favorite ones is, what made you think that's okay? Them's fighting
words. Ask somebody that, you may get
in a scuffle, isn't it? That's just between men. Think about
God. Nebuchadnezzar's right. Who in the world's gonna say,
God, what are you doing? There's flies all over this place
and gnats and there's lice and frogs and snakes. What are you
doing? That's what natural man does,
isn't it? Grit your teeth and say, no. No God, the fool hath
said in his heart, no. There is no God, there is his
italics. No God. No, you ever had a flat tire?
No! That's what we're doing. Utter rebellion, isn't it? God's will is always performed. He doeth. do if that's the perfect
tense. He has always done what pleased
Him. He's doing what pleases Him, what His will is, and He
shall do what pleases Him, and He doesn't change, because He
changes not. He's always been doing what He
is doing, and He's going to keep doing it. That's good, isn't
it? He said, I know my thoughts towards
you, not of evil, but of good, to give you an expected end.
You want to pay attention to somebody that's talking like
that? That's God. That's the King of Kings. And we know that
all things work together for good to them that love God, to
them that are called according to His purpose. We know it's
for our good, and that's what we normally just look out for,
not to benefit us. And as we mature a little bit,
we get the sweet part, it's for Christ's glory. We sought first
His kingdom. Everything's fine. It's all good,
as they used to say. It is. Well, he's on his throne.
Where do you think he is? His kingdom's from everlasting.
Ain't nothing changed. Eat a ham sandwich. Get underneath
a shade tree. You'll be fine. Lord's on his throne. Ain't you
happy about that? Aaron Colossians 1, let's look
at it. We got time. I'll go quick. Colossians 1.
Philippians, Colossians, 4 Thessalonians. Verse 16. I'll tell you this, the seven
stubborn statements, I preached on that. It's just a good outline.
Henry and Scott Richards was driving in a car someplace to
go preaching. And they're just talking back and forth. I don't
know which one's driving, but the other one's taking notes. And they come out
with seven stubborn statements. Either God's sovereign or he
ain't. Either he saved his people or
he didn't. And he went through those. And Don preached on that.
I looked it up. Same passage he preached from.
He has eight stubborn statements. Henry come out back in the 70s.
He preached four things, four lessons Nebuchadnezzar learned.
Don preached on it in the 80s. He said five lessons. I didn't
count how many lessons this is, but hope the Lord will bless
it. Colossians 1 verse 16. For by him, Who? God, the Lord Jesus Christ, where
all things created that are in heaven, that are in earth, visible
and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities
or powers or governors or presidents or kings or prime ministers.
All things were created by Him and for Him. That's precious. and he is before all things,
and by him all things consist. He is the head of the body, the
church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things he might have the preeminence. For it pleased
the Father that in him should all fullness dwell. Also, having
made peace, how did all this happen? Having made peace through
the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto
himself. by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth or things
in heaven, and you that were sometimes alienated, you that
before He come and revealed this to you, enemies. You at war with
God. How can you say that the warfare
is over? Warfare has been accomplished if there never was a war. You're
calling God a liar. It's as plain as it is, isn't it? You were
enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled,
just like he revealed himself to Jonah as what? The Savior,
salvation to the Lord. In the body of his flesh through
death to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable
in his sight. If you continue in the faith,
grounded and settled and be not moved away from the hope of the
gospel which you've heard. which was preached to every creature
that's under heaven wherever I, Paul, am made a minister.
I hear these things, and some people, it's just facts, and
they can go on to other facts, but if the Lord makes it effectual,
and you hear this with the hearing of the ear, he gives new ears
and a new heart, and you say, this is wonderful, this is great
news. Don't you need to be reminded throughout the week whenever
you get down and depressed that the Lord's on his throne? He rules and reigns
creation and providence and salvation, and it's sure, and we're preserved
in him and persevere because of him. That's good to hear,
isn't it? It's necessary. Don't be moved
away from that. Make your call on an election,
sure. Back in our text, finally, Nebuchadnezzar, he's learned
who God is, he's learned who man is, and not just man, him. And he's taught to praise God,
to thank Him for it. Not to give mental assent, not
just to agree with it, to thank Him for it. Be happy about it.
Verse 34. And at the end of days, I, Nebuchadnezzar,
lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and my understanding returned
unto me, and I blessed the Most High God, and I praised and honored
Him that liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion,
and His kingdom from generation to generation, and all the inhabitants
of the earth are reputed as nothing. And he doeth according to his
will in the army of heaven and among the habitants of the earth,
and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?
And at the same time my reason returneth unto me. And for the
glory of my kingdom, mine honor and brightness returned unto
me. My counselors and my Lord sought unto me and I was established
in my kingdom and excellent majesty was added unto me. He saw all
my life, all these bitter things all of a sudden became sweet.
He's still managing the kingdom. He's still the lowercase king.
And he said, boy, I got a good handle on it now. Wouldn't you
like to serve underneath the king? God saved the king. God
saved the prince. Could you imagine that? Now,
I, Nebuchadnezzar, instead of praising and extolling myself
like I used to, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven,
all whose works are truth. Everything he does is true. It's
in Christ and it's done, it's right, and it's good. Everything.
And his ways, judgment, and those that walk in pride, he's able
to abase. Mankind can't, one man can't take the pride out
of somebody else. You could beat them up, and that
may motivate them to try harder. You know what I mean? You can
go into a place to defeat an enemy and kill the enemy, and
then that whole household, all their offspring just became the
enemy. It's like throwing water on them. They're multiplying.
As fast as you can get rid of the enemy, you got more enemies. God's able
to abase the proud. And old brother Mahan put an
article in his bulletin this week. I couldn't fit it, but
if there's pride, God's going to abase it. That's the first
thing he hates. Proud look, isn't it? He's going
to deal with it. Would you choose to have a loved
one be made to crawl around on all fours and eat grass like
an ox for seven years? Would you choose that for yourself?
That's a self-help program. Can I sign up for that? Can you
make me an ox? Give me talons like an eagle
and make me eat grass for seven years? I don't think we'd go
to that powwow, would we? We wouldn't sign up for that
and pay our hard-earned money. What if the Lord was pleased to do
that to save them? His ways aren't our ways, are they? To reveal
Christ in them. Is it worth it then? Do we want
that trial to go away? Or do we want to see Him high
and lifted up and praise Him and thank Him for it at the end?
Paul ended Romans 11 with, Oh, the depths, both the riches of
both the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are
His judgments and His ways past finding out. For who hath known
the mind of the Lord? Who's been his counselor? Who's
gave him advice? Here's how I think you ought
to do it. We try it on. Or who hath first given to him
and it shall be recompensed to him again. For of him, that's
the source of all things. And through him, that's the sustainment
of all things. And to him, that's the end state,
the finality of all things, are all things. To whom be glory
forever. Amen. Let's pray together. Father, as you're pleased and
as you promised you would, reveal yourself to your people. Lord, show us Christ high and
lifted up, his holiness, his power, his wisdom, his strength,
his faithfulness, his love. Lord, show us what we are. He
must increase, we must decrease. And when that revelations come,
don't leave us in our wallowing, Lord, make us thankful. Make
us praise and honor and extol our King of Kings and our Lord
of Lords. Thank you for your word, Lord. It's majestic. It's
wonderful. And we see through a glass dimly,
but. what an amazing sight there is of your kingdom and dominion. Thank you for having mercy on
sinners, Lord, and forgive us for what we are. Be with our
brethren that aren't with us and our brethren throughout this
world, Lord, and keep them and preserve them. Give them understanding
as you promised you will. And it's because of our king,
because of his intercession that we ask these things. Amen. Alright,
we'll meet back at 1030.