My brother Carol Poole, I began
to listen to a message of his there in Danville recently and
he had a phrase and I kind of took it and run with it. I haven't
finished the message, he may have done the same. He said,
God's train of providence is right on time. And I thought,
that's true. There's no station that has been
missed. There's no station that wasn't
on the itinerary that was visited. There's no passengers missing.
There's no stowaways. They're not out of fuel. Everyone's
fed. The waters won't get to them.
They're dry. His train's right on time. Oh, if we could remember
that. If we could remember that. That'd be precious, wouldn't
it? Well, some things happened here in Acts 3. We just read
them. This lame man was healed and
everybody knew him. He was a man about my age. We'll
see here in a week or two. He's a little over 40 years old.
He was lame from the womb. He was a beggar. He was completely
content at staying just outside of the house of God. He was completely
content having others provide for him. do things he would not
do or could not do. And he was just fine. And God
saved that man. And it made him completely different. Everybody knew it. They said,
that's him. They knew him. And this is not
as it was. This is a whole new creation.
And I tell you what, he didn't come to the doctrines of ankles.
That man went from lame to walking. And he'd tell you about it. And
God did it. He rejoiced in God. And he hailed
Peter and John. He just wanted something from
them. Now he wanted to bless them. He wanted to squeeze them.
He had to hug them because he loved them. The love of God was
shed abroad abundantly. That's a bunch in his heart,
and it came out, and he just couldn't contain himself. And
he went into the house of God, not finding excuses not to go
to the house of God. He said, I can't, if these ankles
give out, you carry me, I'm gonna get in there. And one fella had
good friends. They busted the roof out and
lowered him down. That's needy. An unclean came
along with the issue of blood and lepers and all kinds of sick
folk, because they needed to go to the great physician. There's
a need. This man now, didn't even know
he had a need. Didn't even want to have a need. He was happy where he was, and
then God shook him up, and now he said, I need. Didn't even
know he had one before. And people marveled at that.
Verse 11 says, and as the lame man, which was healed, hailed
Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the
porch that is called Solomon. That's a whole lot of people
we'll see here in a week or so. About 5,000 people. Probably a lot
more than that. Maybe 10, 20, 30,000 people. They ran there to see this, greatly
wondering. They knew him, they knew what
had happened, and they were greatly wondering. You know what that
word means? Utterly astounded. Their jaws were dropped open.
They were amazed at this. A lame man, from birth, from
the womb, that everybody knew him and now he's leaping and
he's praising God and not begging for money anymore. And he wants
to be a blessing, not looking for a blessing. Like Naaman did. Now he wants to be one. And they
marveled at this man healed and the power that was displayed.
It had to take a whole lot of power. If I was abled and I sat
down for a month, I couldn't just jump up and start leaping.
If I sit down for a few minutes now, it takes me a second to
stand up. Gets worse, I'm sure. The power it took, and potentially
the reason why. Why did this happen? They saw
what happened. Why did it happen? And you know
what? And they all, with their jaws dropped open, utterly astounded. You know what? They had an opinion on what they
thought it was. They had an opinion on how it happened, on why it
happened. They had a heresy. about why
it happened. Now, they might not have thought
what they was doing was wrong, and it's probably greatly offensive what
Peter's about to say to them. Well, they just gonna have to
get their little toe stepped on. Would it be nice, would it be
loving of Peter to let these people just carry on in their
way all the way to the gates of hell and eternity? No. Need somebody to tell them the
truth. Rip the bandaid off if need be. Now, he'd probably be
the sweetest fellow on earth. He's holding this lame man, isn't
he? He's hugging him. He's not mean. He's telling them
the truth and they need to hear it. What do we greatly wonder
about? Do you wonder about things? Are
you utterly astounded at things? Does your jaw just drop open
at stuff? What are we utterly astounded by? What's some good
things? I got some bad things listed. Are you ever, we'll start
on the good foot. Are you ever utterly astounded
at good things that happen? I thought about the provision,
the shelter, the rainment that the Lord provides, even fun times. Drink and be merry. Have your
glass of wine. Be happy. Watch a ball game.
Talk to your brethren about it. That one brother of mine, he
always had us over for the Super Bowl. That place was packed.
We had to take turns coming inside. We had a good time. We thank
God for that. The Lord said, I sent you out without purse
and script and shoes. Lacked ye anything? And they
said, nothing. Nothing. I love sailboats. I like tropical places. The Lord
sent me to Hawaii and gave me a sailboat to do anything I wanted
with for several hours. And I thought, have I lacked
anything? Nothing. Why do I doubt and I marvel at
that? He said so. Why am I utterly
astounded at that instead of the one that sent it? Why do
I doubt it? What about family and friends?
I hope this will be a blessing. You turn with me in your Bibles.
Mark 10. Mark chapter 10. There's so much trouble in family
and so much trouble between friends in this world. And people bend
over backwards and beyond sometimes more than we ought to to satisfy
relationships that are carnal. We ought not do that. And if
it's at the sacrifice of the gospel, bring reproach on it.
If the Lord's pleased, he will chasten us for that and then
show his provision. Look here at Mark 10, verse 28. Peter said unto him, Lo, we've
left all and have followed thee. Peter's asking him, we've left
everything for you, Lord, what do we get? Poor Peter. And Jesus answered and said,
Verily I say unto you, there is no man that hath left house,
or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children,
or land, not because they didn't like him in the first place,
and this here's a good reason to get out of it, or because
you messed up before, now you can make amends and blame it
on God. If they've left these things for my sake and the gospels, that he shall receive an hundredfold
now in this time, that's on this earth, houses and brethren and
sisters and mothers and children and lands with persecutions and
in the world to come, eternal life. They forsake all for me. Let the dead bury the dead. Well,
that's gonna make some people mad. Well, they just have to
be mad. I'm gonna worship God. Well, you'll do without, you'll
lose everything you have. No, he said a hundredfold. Do we
believe him or do we like it our way? He said so. Why do I doubt? Do we wonder
that? It's so. It's so. I've experienced it. I've lost
brothers and sisters and loved ones and friends and everything
else because of this gospel. I can't leave the Lord. I can't
do those things. And he's given me a hundredfold. A hundredfold. I went for a walk
with one this morning. I got a brother. The other one
ran ahead and then came back and ran ahead again. My knee
couldn't do it, so one of them walked with me and one of them
talked with me while he was running. Gotta go on a hike with some folks.
Gotta go out to eat. Sit down and have a meal. Rejoice together.
Be thankful for the weather. A hundredfold. It's more than
that. Why do I wonder? Why am I utterly
astonished that what the Lord said would come to pass, come
to pass? That's a shame, isn't it? The Lord's saving a person. Do you ever marvel at that? Do
you ever wonder, I can't believe the Lord saved him. Can you believe
that? I pray the Lord saves some people
here. And he did it. Sometimes we pray for two decades,
don't we? And then the Lord does it, and our jaws drop. Why are
we surprised? Why are we surprised? The Lord
saved 5,000. People say, wow, the Lord saved all of Nineveh. 1.23 million, I don't know, a
bunch, more than ever recorded in history. Are we shocked? Does
our jaws drop at that? What does his word say about
him calling his people? At an appointed time of grace,
if they're his, he ain't gonna lose none, and they ain't gonna
be revealed beforehand, they won't be revealed too late, at
that right moment, the Lord will come and send a man to preach
to them, and they're gonna be made alive. He said in Micah
7, who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity and passeth
by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He retaineth
not his anger forever, because he delighteth in mercy. HE WILL
TURN AGAIN. HE WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON US. HE WILL SUBDUE OUR INIQUITIES. HE WILL CAST ALL THEIR SIN TO
THE DEPTHS OF THE SEA. THOU WILT PERFORM THE TRUTH TO
JACOB. and us sorry sons of Jacob, sinners,
hill snatchers, deceivers, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou
hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old." God's a covenant
God, and he reminds us often, I'm going to keep my covenant. Do we marvel at that? Is our
jaws dropped when the Lord saves somebody? He said he's going
to. We can't force his hand, and we can't prevent his hand.
He's going to do it when it pleases him. He said, I'm the Lord, I
change not. Therefore, because of that, you
sons of Jacob are not consumed. That's an amazing thing. We ought
to believe him, shouldn't we? Just said, that's right. Instead
of being all at the function, instead of being in awe at what
actually took place. What about the bad things that
we are utterly astonished at? People hurt, nations falling,
cities burning. We haven't experienced too much
of that here. We've been pretty comfortable
in this nation. Some people may have went outside of this nation
and experienced it, but on our home turf, it hasn't come to
our front door just yet. What we consider bad things.
Amos 3.6 says, shall there be evil in a city and the Lord hath
not done it? You can get off the source and
talk it away all you want to if the Lord allowed it. Well,
that's permissive, Will. God did it. Is that good enough
for you? He said, He done it. Why don't
we talk the way He talks instead of making up words about things?
and try to churching it up. The Lord did this. This is for
his glory. He said, the wrath of man shall
praise thee. The bad things we call bad things. And we just,
our jaws dropped. How could this take place? God
did it. It's for his glory. Do we care
about his glory? It's for his glory. He's doing
all this. And it said, the remainder of the wrath, thou shalt restrain.
It ain't going to go farther than he intended to. The pain
won't go farther than he intends it to, and it ain't gonna stop
short either. What we call evil in these things, and what we
see is that, and we drop our jaws. I thought of some of those
things. The Lord's ways aren't our ways. I wouldn't have picked
that. His thoughts ain't our thoughts.
He don't think like I do, and he don't lie like I do, and he
don't look out for number one. He's looking out for the glory
of his son and his people. We see abortion. all around us
and on the news and in our faces, especially in this place, in
this state. It's horrible, it's awful. But then you read Ezekiel
16, ain't nothing new underneath the sun, is there? I mean, nothing. Homes divided, go read Hosea.
Children killing their parents, go read David. Ain't nothing
new underneath the sun. As for the inactivity, day was
when thou was born thy navel was not cut neither was thou
washed with water and supple thee neither was you salted nor
swaddled no i pitied you to do any things to you to have compassion
on you but that was cast out in the open field instead of
doing a at some place that's got a nice thing to help them
parents plan things they chucked them out in fields back then
same thing and the loathing of thy person in the day that thou
was born. And then the Lord said, when
I passed by thee and I saw thee polluted in thy own blood. It's
as bad as it gets, because that's a wounded one. It ain't just
somebody else's blood. It's your own. It's nasty, and you're dying. And he said, live. Yea, I said
unto thee, when I saw you in your blood, live. And he went
down and put his covering, his coat over it, and took that thing,
and swaddled it, and cleaned it, and arrayed it, and gave
it jewels. And it boasted, thinking it did
that. It was corrected. David said of his son, now as
he dead, wherefore should I fast? Can I bring him back again? He
was young, he was a little fella. I shall go to him, but he shall
not return to me. God told Hosea, that prophet
that's about to marry a prostitute, he said, you're gonna marry her,
and have some children, she's gonna leave you, and you're gonna
buy her back when she ain't even worth fixing up. Because I'm
gonna show Israel what I'm doing to her. And he said, yet the
number of the children of Israel shall be the sands of the sea,
which cannot be measured or numbered. Those sands of the sea may be
at every one of them clinics, every one of them fields that
they're casting babies out, that's his children, he's bringing them
home. Ain't the way I'd do it. That's for his glory, isn't it?
We see nations fall, wars, genocide, atrocities. It's in Isaiah 43,
for I'm the Lord, thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior.
I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Saba for thee. Let's
get this, okay? It's important. I care for you. I care for your souls. God gave
nations for you. You think that's impressive?
He gave his son for you. You're his. Why? You ever wonder why? Why me? Not why me, it's why
I'm having all this bad stuff happen to me and all these bad
things happen around me and I gotta be present in these things. Why
did God save me? Because I'd have let all of them
if he took his hand off of me. Since thou was precious in my
sight, thou hast been honorable and
I have loved thee. Therefore will I give men for thee and
people for thy life. I'll kill people for you because I love
you. What's lovable about me? His son that he put me in. That's
it. How do we respond when we see
these atrocities and we see all these horrendous acts that mankind's
committing? Should we do it more? That's
natural man's response. Well, if that's it, well, let's
do more and God will get more glory out of it. Paul addressed
that. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that
grace may abound? God forbid. God forbid. How shall we that
are dead to sin? We're dead to it. It's gone.
It's put away in Christ. It's finished. He's on his throne
and we don't understand it. We're with him now. We'll realize
when we're there in glory, we've been there the whole time. We're
dead to sin. How can we live any longer therein?
Probably gonna keep doing that. knowingly. We'll see this next
week. Peter says, I pray you's ignorant in these things. I do. I hope you just didn't know what
you was doing. You know, if we know better,
if the Lord's taught us something, we ought to do better. If he's
given us the ability, we ought to take responsibility, shouldn't
we? I want to. I want to. In all these things, these good
and bad, and we see that, and our jaws drop, and we're in utter
astonishment, and we're wondering at these things. May God keep
us, here's a point I want to make, may God keep us from looking
to the providence, he's bringing a pass, and turn us to praise
the omnipotent one that sent it. We not just look at what happened
and have our jaws drop at acts and things and feelings or pain
or joy or anything, but may our eyes be fixed on the one that
gave it. That Taylor made it for us in this generation, this
time, this hour, right now in Hemel, California on this date.
And then tomorrow when that date comes, make us look to him. Lord,
keep me from marveling at the fact that there is good news
and marvel at the one who it originated with and who performed
it and who gets all the glory for it. Joe said that in his
last message. He said, there's people that
are in love with the doctrines of grace and never loved Christ.
Lord, keep me from facts and keep me on a person and show
him to me and make me love him as he loved me. That's called
life. Make him my life. I need it. We need it, don't
we? What's the response to one of the Lord's under-shepherds,
this apostle here, or anybody else, when such marveling takes
place? Everybody's got their jaws dropped
that this man was healed, and that what he's doing after he
healed, and Peter and John was, maybe something's up for them,
and a power took place, and something, you know, this is a big event.
People look to circumstances, people were looking at outcomes,
or what do we do in our daily life? When we look at our own
sin and we're just, oh, look at me and look at my sin, or
we look at the good deeds that people do or we do, or the bad
deeds that people do or we do, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera,
et cetera. You just keep listening until your arm wears out and
not looking to the Lord who does all things well. They're marveling
at something that ain't Christ. Well, what's Peter gonna do?
Is he gonna go down and hold her hand and say, no little buddy,
this is dire important. This is eternal life and death.
Verse 12, back in our text, Acts 3, again verse 12. And when Peter saw They didn't
see what they was doing was wrong. If they thought they was doing
it wrong, they wouldn't have done it, or at least hid it in front of people,
wouldn't they? If I do something I know I'm
wrong, I at least do it private or try to. They didn't see what
they was doing wrong. Peter saw what they was doing
was wrong, because he's marveled at some wrong things. He'd been
taught that lesson, hadn't he? Remember this weekend, Elisha
was teaching Naaman some lessons. Peter been taught this lesson.
Hey, I got a good idea, Lord. We're on this Mount of Transfiguration.
Let's make a few different altars here. One for Moses, one for
Elijah, one for you. He thought what he was doing
was right and the Lord taught him different, didn't he? When Peter saw, he
answered unto the people, ye men of Israel, why marvel ye
at this? Or why look ye so earnestly on
us? Why you marvel at this man's
walking, this lame man, and happy and hugging us and wanting to
go in the Lord's house? Or why are you looking on me
and John? As though by our own power, or holiness, we've made
this man to walk. What's Peter saying? What's wrong
with you? What's wrong with you? Why are you marveling at a man
and his healing, inside and out? Because he's different, isn't
he? It ain't just he can physically walk, this man's happy. The Lord
didn't work in him. Oh, why are you looking at me
and John? Like it was our power. Like I have this amazing ability.
I can just do this all by myself. I'm a child of Adam or our holiness. And it's because I'm just such
a good boy that the Lord was favorable to me because I'm so
good. That made him walk. What and who and what do we need
to look to, Peter? If we ain't supposed to look
at you, we ain't supposed to look at John, we're not supposed to just be astonished
that this man can walk. Peter tells us, verse 13. The
God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers,
hath glorified his Son, Jesus. You see a fella dancing and singing. I see Christ honored and glorified
by God the Father. The God, the God, not a God,
the God. Not one of many or the biggest
one, the only God, the potentate, the sole source of authority
and power. The God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob. Every
time you see that, let's remember, that's a covenant God. That lame
man was purposed before time. It's one of God's sheep, and
at that appointed time, God sent a person to him to preach Christ
to him in Christ's name and the power that that holds and everything
it has to do with it. And he leaped for joy. He was tickled
to death. He came out of his shoes for
it. Because that's God's covenant. The God of Abraham, of Isaac,
and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his son,
Jesus. People call, they use so many
same names. What do you mean? Because I believe
in God. Well, good, the devil will do
that. People said, well, I worship God. And we was down there studying
about God, and I was seeking God. What God? The God? The covenant God? The only one
that's holy? No, there's gods of men's imagination. We're at Psalm 115. The heathen
had asked David, where's your God? And he said, our God's in
the heavens. And he hath done whatsoever he
hath pleased. He does what he wants. He's God. That's his name. And now everybody
else in the world that don't know that one, their idols are
silver and gold, the works of men hand. Covetous. Some people
like money so it buys them time because they're lazy or whatever. Silver and gold, power that that
affords and that buys. They have mouths but they speak
not. You ever heard somebody just talk so much and say so
little? Just yickety-yacking for 20 minutes. Like, I don't really think I
know what you're talking about. They don't stop. They have mouths,
they speak not. They have eyes, but they see
not. Don't you see? What's it say? What means what
it says? They have ears, but they hear
not. Take heed how you hear. Is that what the Lord cautioned
us? Take heed how you hear. They have noses, but they smell
not. They have hands, but they handle not. They have feet, but
they walk not. Neither speak they through their throat, and
they that make them are like unto them. Why? Because that's how we are. Born
of Adam, we don't see nothing, we don't hear nothing, we don't
say nothing, we ain't got nothing to say. And so is everyone that
trusteth in them. They're just the same. The same
because mankind makes a god of themselves. We can call it something
else. It's a figment of our imagination. It's conjured in their own heads. If we do, if the child of God
does any of those things, God will correct it. He'll correct
it. He rebuked those that was with
him, those disciples. He said, you beware of the leaven
of the Pharisees and the scribes. And they said, oh man, we didn't
bring bread. Well, they look into carnal things and the providence
of not bringing enough bread. He said, what is wrong with you?
He said, you have an eye, see you not, have an ears, hear you
not. Don't you remember? He said, how many baskets we
take up? And I said, 12. He said, we fed them other ones. How many
did you take up then? I said, seven. He said, why don't you get it?
What's the matter with you? He's the Lord of the Remembrancers. He chastens his people and encourages,
we ought to pay attention. We ought to open our, we ought
to take heed how we hear. We ought to prepare ourselves
and ask the Lord to bless us and keep us and send a message
to us and then show up expecting him to. And for his name to be
glorified, him to be high and lifted up. Not us, him. He asked him, he said, how is
it do you not understand? He speaks as we do and I appreciate
that. How long must I suffer thee? He ought to smite us right then,
and gently, he lets us know that what we're doing's wrong. That's
a sweet and tender father, isn't it? He goes on in Psalm 115.09,
O Israel, trust thou in the Lord. He is their help and their shield.
How has the Lord done this? He's glorified his Son. How? In this man being lame, by saving
his people that he promised he would. by saving His people that
He promised He would. And how does that begin? How
does that begin? It begins with a conviction of
sin. It does. The Lord high and holy and us
low. That's it. All flesh is grass.
Behold your God. Look here in Acts 3, verse 13. The God of Abraham, of Isaac,
and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified His Son,
Jesus. whom ye delivered up, and denied
him in the presence of Pilate when he was determined to let
him go." That doesn't mean that the Lord had allowed Pilate to
want to let him go and they frustrated the Lord's grace. Of course not.
Peter has, you know, some people would say he just rehashed the
message he preached in Acts 2. It's the same message. The message
don't change. There's a conviction of sin is
how this is going to begin. He said, whom ye delivered up
and denied him in the presence of Pot when he was determined
to let him go. But ye denied the Holy Ghost, the Holy One,
and the just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you. Give
us Barabbas, and kill the Prince of Life, whom God hath raised
from the dead, whereof we are witnesses. All that took place
in a determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God because
he loved his people, and this was on his purpose, but your
hands did it. God's still on his throne and all that, and
he raised him, that sacrifice, that lamb slain for the foundation
of the world, that bore our sin that was made us, and we were
made him, was accepted because we have an empty tomb. That's
what Peter's telling them. We're sin. People, everybody wants a savior,
what's he saving you from? He saved me from me. You get that? What is sin? Ain't hard. People don't like
the answer. They like to write books, and
books, and books, and books, and confessions, and legal documents,
and church ordinances, or whatever, bylaws, and all these other things
to him, pick every little thing. What's sin? Not believing on
Christ. Source of it may be pride, but
that's what sin is. He said he's gonna send the Holy
Ghost, and when he comes, he's gonna reprove the world of sin.
and of righteousness and of judgment, of sin, because they believe
not on me." Well, we believe in him. He said, believe on him.
What's that mean? What is it to believe on Christ?
He's the foundation. He's the source. He's the one
that wielded. It's the power. He's the stability. He's the endurance that makes
it keep happening. If we don't believe on him, if
those things aren't so, you hate God and you're at war with him.
You are at war with him. It's not that we're at enmity,
we are enmity. In war, you take a break and
sleep every now and then. You maybe get sent to the rear
for a little bit. Day in, day out, while we're awake or asleep,
we're at war with him or we believe on Christ because he made us
and he's our foundation. It's one or the other. There's
no sitting on this fence. As rebels, never forget this,
don't ever think we wouldn't. As rebels, born of Adam and willfully
from birth, speaking lies, we would have put Christ on that
cross if we was alive in that day. I would have took Barabbas,
and because you're cut from the same cloth as me, you would have
said, give me Barabbas, and you'd take Christ and kill him, crucify
him, we don't want him. And you'd have said, let that
blood be on us and our children, just as I would have. And then
when the Lord saves us by his grace, he sends somebody to us,
he reveals Christ in us, and we see then that our guilt and
our shame and the feminine noun, just like a bride, seeing that
we are, it's what he was made, he was made me. And that's why
he had to go to that cross. And God had to turn his back
on him. That we should be made the sons of God. He had to that
we could be conformed to his image and made just like him.
Holy, unreprovable, before him in love without reproach. Peter's
preaching that same message he did over in chapter two. He said,
therefore, let all the house of Israel know surely that God
hath made that same Jesus whom you've crucified, both Lord and
Christ. This is the Messiah that was
promised to come and he's on his throne right now, ruling
and reigning. That's my king. That's twofold, isn't it? Those people said, let his blood
be on us and our children. And I just thought that was so
precious of Zipporah. When she took that stone, she
cut the foreskin of her son when the Lord sought to kill Moses,
and she threw it at his feet and said, surely you're a bloody
husband thou art to me. And because that law was fulfilled
that God commanded, the Lord said, let him go. I ain't gonna
kill him. And when she saw that, then she
said, a bloody husband thou art to me. Just like those people
like we would have before the Lord came to us, we just said,
let his blood be on us and our children. And what do we cry
now? God, when you pass by, see the blood, let that blood be
on me and Lord, let it be on my children. Whatever it takes
from me to use me or kill me or wound me or whatever you got
to do, put that blood on me and put it on my children. We cry that out of our need.
Verse 16, Acts 3. And His name, through faith in
His name, hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know. Yea, the faith which is by Him,
who that lame man? No, the Son of God, God's Son,
the faith of Christ, hath given Him this perfect soundness. That
means 100% complete. in the presence of you all. You've
all seen it. You've all seen it. Yeah, he's
got new feet and ankles, and he's leaping and jumping and
happy to go to the Lord's house, but he's been perfected. God
made him holy, complete, ready for glory. Right now, there's
a new creation in him. Complete. If the Lord's pleased
to let him live, he's going to grow in grace and mature and
understand some things and have some wisdom about him. But right
now, he's as right as he can be before God. There's that one
man. And you've all seen it. You've all seen it. Paul said,
I know your election of God, brethren. And like old Barnard
said, the dog's going to know it. You won't kick it as much. Gil wrote on this, he said he
had sound, perfect, perfect soundness in both body and mind. And this
was not done in a corner, but publicly before them all at the
gate of the temple where the multitude passed to and fro.
Everybody knew it. Everybody, you couldn't hide
it. It can't be done in a closet somewhere. It can't be hidden
in a cave somewhere. The Lord don't save people and
hide them in the four corners of the earth or something. And
nobody's ever the wiser. That man was healed inside and
out. How? By Him. By Christ. By the way. The person. The only way that
anyone will ever be saved or healed or restored or at one-ment
with God. Reconciled to God. And it's the
faith of Christ. Who's glorified in that? A man
don't get no glory. It's God's glory, isn't it? Over
in Galatians 2, 16, it says, knowing that a man's not justified
by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. Mankind wants out from under,
old flesh wants out from underneath the law. A new creation wants
the faith of Christ. You get that? I don't want any
more speeding tickets. I don't want to go to jury duty tomorrow
morning. I get it every three months, it seems like. I don't
want to do that no more. No, none of you want to do jury
duty. It's probably why I got it. Of course they don't want
nothing to do with the law. What about the faith of Christ?
That's what I want. I want His faith. Not my faith
that's been polished up or can come and go with the wind. There
ain't no faith. His faith. And we believed in
Jesus Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ
and not by the works of the law, for by the works of the law shall
no flesh be justified. How in the world do people still
think they can keep the law and be saved? Don't you own a Bible?
Read it sometime. I get frustrated with those things,
and my jaw drops, and God has to do it. But he's gonna do it
by a man saying those things. Maybe today's the day. Christ gave us his faith. It's
the faith of Christ that we believe him. Marvel at him who did that, not
that you have it. Marvel at the one that gave it. He spake a parable. Let's turn
to that, Luke 18. I know I've bumped in some text
messages today of people that trusted in themselves. Might
as well just cut loose. They ain't gonna hear me if I'm
low or high. They didn't know that. They think
they're just fine. That's why they're trusting in
themselves. Luke 18, verse nine. Speaking of Christ, Christ spake
this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they
were righteous, and what goes hand in hand with that, despised
others. They look down on somebody else.
He says, two men went up to the temple to pray. The one a Pharisee,
the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed
thus with himself. God, I thank thee that I am not
as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as
this publican. That sounds good, don't it? But
he's praying with himself. I fast twice in a week. I give tithes
of all that I possess. And the publican, A crooked tax
collector, not a religious fellow in fancy robes that ain't never
missed a day at the Sunday school. A mafioso, standing afar off,
would not so much as lift up his eyes unto heaven, but smote
on his breast. Wasn't that second sign that
Moses was given to go preach to the children of God? He smote
on his breast where the problem was, saying, God be merciful
to me, a sinner. I tell you, this man went down
to his house justified rather than the other. There's nothing that speaks of
that man's mental state, of his emotional well-being, of him
doing cartwheels down to his house, or him weeping the whole
way. And I guarantee you, just as I've seen other ones of God's
saints, they keep crying day in and day out, God be merciful
to this sinner because I know what I am. And God says, not what pastor
says, not what preacher says, not what apostle says, God says,
that man went down to his house justified rather than the other.
For everyone that exalts himself shall be abased and he that humbles
himself shall be exalted. God humble us. It ain't gonna
be fun. There's gonna be tears and snot
involved. It's gonna be ugly. We're yours,
God humble us. Bring us low that Christ be made
high. Marvel at the God of goodness that does that. Not the goodness
that takes place with that he does goodness. Marvel at him
who is good and him who is holy. Marvel at his power in saving
sinners and his son and how he chose to do it and exalt his
son. Make your jaw dropped at that. We've been given the faith of
Christ, you who believe, you who God's worked in. Faith's believing, that's it. He told Thomas, he said, hither
your fingers, behold my hands, behold my side. Come here, thrust
your fingers into my side, and be not faithless, but, now here's
the opposite, believing. That's faith, it's believing
on him. I believe on him, I believe in
him, I believe what he says, however you want to cut it. The
Lord told his disciples, let not your heart be troubled. You
believe in God, believe also in me. Isn't that substantial? Substantial, isn't it? That's
substantial. Now, faith is a substance. It's
a substantial substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things
not seen. That's faith, isn't it? Well,
we get that gift of God. It ain't in us. It's gotta come
from outside of us. It's the faith of Christ, and
he gives it to us. Peter said, quit looking at this
fella that got healed. Look to God. Let me tell you
about him. You need him. You'd have killed
him if you could. But you know what he did? For
some, he gave them faith, woke them up, and they lived to God.
Next week, we'll see that there's still hope for those that refuse
this. That's amazing. That fact is amazing, but the
God who made that true is amazing. I want to make that clear. Like
Naaman, he refused three times, didn't he? He gave three rebuttals
and the Lord sent a fourth one. I pray we see the Lord's diligently
seeking his sheep in that. The door of the ark is still
open. I don't know about tomorrow, I don't know about 10 minutes,
but the door of that ark is open. Come, find rest for your souls. Come, bow to him that's altogether
lovely and is pleased to save to the uttermost. Come to him,
live, dry bones, live. The Lord does that, we'll stop
being amazed at his providence and be amazed at the one that
purposed the providence, won't we? Let's pray together. Father, give us eyes to see our
King, the person of our Lord and our
Redeemer and the work that he's accomplished, that it's finished.
Your providence and your will shall come to pass. Give us patience in these things,
Lord. Teach us. Be with your saints everywhere,
just as you promised you would be with us always. Thank you,
Lord. It's because of Christ we ask
it. Amen.