All right, open your Bibles with
me to the book of Zechariah. Chapter 13, Zechariah, which
is the next-to-last book in the Old Testament. Next-to-last book
in the Old Testament, the book of Zechariah, chapter 13. I was speaking with Brother Marvin
Stoniker just a couple of days ago. We were discussing the upcoming
Sunday messages we would be bringing, and I told him I was going to
preach from Zechariah, verses 7 through 9. He said, I just
read that 10 minutes ago. I woke up, and 10 minutes ago,
I just read that. Zechariah 13, let's read verses
7 through 9. against my shepherd, and against
the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts. Smite the
shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered, and I will turn
my hand upon the little ones. And it shall come to pass that
in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut
off and die, but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring
the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver
is refined, and will try them as gold is tried. They shall
call on my name, and I will hear I will say, It is my people,
and they shall say, The Lord is my God." I almost wish I didn't have to
comment on it. What a passage. The scripture says to Christ,
Give all the prophets witness. Zechariah here is speaking of
the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the shepherd. Verse 7, it says,
Awake, O sword, against my shepherd. Psalm 23 says, The Lord is my
shepherd. Jesus Christ is the great shepherd
of the sheep. The good shepherd, the great
shepherd, the chief shepherd of his sheep. And here it says,
God says, Awake, O sword, against my shepherd. Look with me at
the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 32. Go back to Deuteronomy 32. Deuteronomy 32. Now, in order to understand this
book, Not just Deuteronomy, but the whole book. In order to understand
anything about God, about man, about salvation, about why Jesus
Christ came and died, why he came and lived and died, one
must first understand, in order to understand anything about
this book, Anything about God, anything about man, anything
about why Christ came and died, one must first understand that
God Almighty is first and foremost unapproachably holy. God is not first and chiefly
love. God is first and foremost and
chiefly, and all of his attributes or characteristics can be found
under this one, holy, unapproachably holy. And in order to understand this
book, in order to understand anything about God, in order
to understand anything about man, In order to understand anything
about why Jesus Christ came and lived and died, one must understand
that God is just, inflexibly just. Now, this is the God of the Bible
I'm describing here. This is the living and the true
God. unapproachably holy. I said,
you must understand that he is unapproachably holy, and that
means more than just morally pure, without sin. Listen, listen. Scripture says our God is a consuming
fire. That's not just Old Testament
Scripture. That's new. That's Hebrews 12,
29. Same God of the Old Testament,
same God of the New. Our God is a consuming fire. Scripture says this in Job 25. Listen to this. Job 25. How can
man be justified with God? Listen. How can he be clean that's
born of a woman? Behold the moon, it shineth not,
yea stars are not pure in God's sight. How much less man that
is a worm. That is what God says about mankind. That's who God is, unapproachably
holy. It says in Job chapter four,
verse eighteen, that he charges his holy angels with folly. I'm quite certain that my generation
doesn't have a clue about what I'm talking about right now. God is holy. Listen, listen to
this. All descriptions of everything about God and everything around
God, everything concerning God in the Scriptures says he's the
holy God, the holy Son, the holy Spirit, his holy throne, his
holy temple, his holy church, his Holy-look at the front of
the book you're reading. Holy Bible. It's holy angels. Everything about-it doesn't say
loving God, loving Spirit. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord
God of hosts. God is unapproachably holy. Now, you'll see in a moment,
I hope, if you're listening, Why we begin this way. God is
inflexibly just. God must and will punish sin. He will and he must punish sin. He said, I am a just God first. I'm a just God and a Savior. But first, just. He said, the
soul that sinneth must surely die. He said, it says, justice and
judgment are the habitation of his throne. You're blessed here, but you
know something of what I'm talking about now. Now look at Deuteronomy
32, okay? Why did I say all that? In light
of what we just read about the sword, God says, Awake, O sword,
against my shepherd. Deuteronomy 32, look at verses
39 through 41. See now that I, even I am he,
and there is no God but with me. Not even a little g, little
g, small g. There's no God with me. Read
on. I kill and I make alive. I wound and I heal. Neither is
there any that can deliver out of my hand. I lift up my hand
to heaven and say, I live forever. If I wet my glittering sword
and my hand take hold on judgment, I will render vengeance to my
enemies and will reward them that hate me. Now go back to our text. So he
says, Awake, O sword. You see that? It's God who kills
and makes alive, who wounds and heals, who says, I live forever,
who whets his glittering sword. He says here in our text in Zechariah
13, Awake, O sword, against my shepherd. Against my shepherd, Jesus Christ. is the shepherd, a good shepherd. And he says here in verse 7,
Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man that is my fellow,
my fellow. Scripture says he was chosen
from among the people, looked like a common fellow, looked
like a common man, but no, he's God's fellow, he's God's man. And he says, awake, O sword,
against my fellow. He says, smite the shepherd. Smite the shepherd. Kill him. Who said this? God did. Kill the shepherd. Smite the
shepherd. Jesus Christ. Why? Why? Why was Christ smitten Scripture
says he was smitten, wounded, bruised, smitten of God. Why? Why did God do that to Christ? Why did Jesus Christ die? Because
the Romans didn't like him? Because the Jews didn't like
him? Well, they didn't like him. And they took him and crucified
him. But the Scripture says They did
it by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. That
is, God, before the world began, calls him the Lamb slain before
the foundation of the world. That God determined before the
world began to kill his Son in due time. Why? Because God is holy. It's the first thing we've got
to understand. Not that God is love. that God is holy, God is
just, and God will by no means clear
the guilty. And the scripture says, All have
sinned and come short of the glory of God. We're guilty. Guilty. We're unholy. How can, I quoted
it to you in Job, he said, how can man be clean with God? How
can man be justified with God? How can God do it? God sent his
son into this world as a man, not as an example, not just to live a life as a
good example that men would follow. And if they live like him, God
will love them and accept them. Jesus Christ came down here as
a substitute, as a righteous substitute. He came down here and lived a
perfectly holy, righteous life, not to show us how, but to do
it for his people, because we can't do it. His people can't
do it. God demands perfection. This
is the God of the Bible. Men like it or not, men believe
it or not, this is the God of this book we're reading, the
Holy Bible. He's the Holy God, and Christ
is the Holy One of God. And God is only well-pleased
with him and for his righteousness' sake. God cannot accept anything
short of absolute holiness like himself. I've tried to you and there's
really no earthly illustration that suffices to speak of God's
holiness and how that he cannot allow one sin. But I'll give this one. Why do
surgeons? Why do? Why does the operating
room insist upon it being sterile and without germ-free as much
as humanly possible. Why must everyone scrub to perfection? Why must they sterilize all the
instruments? Why? Several nurses in here will tell
you that one microscopic germ that's not seen with the eye,
yet it's there. One germ can set in and staph
infection will kill you. Did we just read of that recently?
A whole bunch of people were infected by, what was it, some
kind of a scope that they were using? That was it. One little
germ will infect and kill everybody. Our God is holy, cannot allow
one sin into his presence, into his holy presence. It all must
be eradicated. It all must be paid for. God
is holy. You see what sin has done to
this planet? Seemed like a little thing, didn't
it, when Satan came to Eve? Seemed like a little thing, didn't
it? One little unseen, little hidden lie. One little hidden lie. Plunged this whole planet into
this mass of corruption that it is. Huh? And God said, there's
only one way I'm going to get rid of all of this. I'm going
to have to burn it all up and create something new. And there's
only one way he can get rid of it in us. It's the paperwork. By death. Christ came down here
and lived that perfect life for God's people, and God charged
that righteousness to them. And God sees every one of those
people whom Christ lived for as holy and righteous. He must.
But when Christ went to that cross, the sword of God's justice
and holiness, the sword of God's wrath and hatred of sin, God
hates sin. The Scripture says, The righteous
Lord loveth righteousness and hateth iniquity. And you can't
separate me from my sins. I do what I am. I am what I do,
and me by nature God hates." That's what the Scripture says.
Psalm 5, 5, God hateth all workers of a nickname. And God must kill, must punish
sin. He's holy, he's just. Well, when
God made his Son to be sin for his people, Just as he made them
righteous through what he did, he made Christ's sin what they
did. God laid on him the iniquity
of us all, all of God's people. All the sins of God's people
were found on Christ, so that Jesus Christ, in effect, was
the greatest sinner who ever lived. He was me. He was the
chief of sinners. The chief shepherd became the
chief of sinners. And God's sword of justice said,
kill him, smite him, slay him, punish him for those sins. And the justice of God slew his
son. Slew his son. You remember the
story of Abraham and Isaac, don't you? God told Abraham back in the
beginning, back from the beginning, God was picturing his absolute
holiness and justice and the Son who is the substitute. God
was showing this all the way back in the beginning. In fact,
God's the first one to shed blood. When the first man and woman
sinned, God took an innocent animal and slit its throat. Why
would God do that to an innocent animal? God is holy. God is just. Without the shame of blood, there's
no remission. Blood means death. Well, Genesis 22, our Lord told
Abraham, who's a picture of every believer, he's a picture of God
himself, told Abraham to take his son, his only son Isaac,
whom he loved, and take him up onto a mountain that he would
show him. and offer him up for a burnt offering before the Lord.
Kill him, take his son up there and kill his only son as a burnt
offering to God, and burn his body. God is not bloodthirsty and taketh
no pleasure in death, per se, but God is holy, just. And that's a picture of Jesus
Christ. Well, Abraham took his son Isaac, the son of promise,
the miracle son, took him up on that mountain, Mount Moriah,
bound him, bound his hands and his feet, put the wood under
a stone altar there, bound his son and laid him on that altar
and took a huge knife and was going to slit his own son's belly
open. But God God Almighty out loud
said, Abraham, Abraham, spare the son. Spare this boy. Don't
kill the boy. And Abraham turned around and
looked, and in the thicket, in the thorns, was a ram, a male
sheep, caught in the thicket by its horns. And Abraham laid
hold on that ram, and the scripture says, offered the ram in the
stead of his son Isaac. Cut his son free, set his son
free from being killed, and took that innocent ram, male sheep,
and tied it up and slit its throat, actually took that knife and
plunged it in that sheep and shed all of its blood. And Abraham and Isaac went down
from the mountain that day singing, Oh, how merciful. Singing substitution. Singing in the stead of that
God killed the lamb in the stead of us. You see what that's talking
about? A wake old sword against the
shepherd. The sword of God's justice. plunged
itself into the Lord Jesus Christ. He actually died. God actually
slit his own son's throat. They're dead. Please the Lord to bruise you.
Why? If he doesn't die, we have to-because God is holy. And this is where the love of
God comes in. God did it in love. God did it
in love for his people, in an everlasting love that he set
upon all of his elect before the world began, determined to
save them all, though they're unworthy, though they're not
lovely, though there's nothing in them that God needs or desirable
about them. Yet God chose to love them, and
the only way he can really love them is to put away their sins
and to make them holy like his Son. his only begotten son, whom
he's well pleased with. And that's why this imputation
of righteousness, God sees all his people right
now as holy and righteous, covered with the robe of Christ's righteousness,
and their sins, he doesn't see those. They're covered in the
blood. And so God loves them. God loves
them. The love of God is in Christ
Jesus, the Lord. Like old Jacob, they covered
in the skin of their elder brother. Blessed are you if you know that
story. Well, it says in verse 7, But the sheep will be scattered.
Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man that is my fellow,
saith the Lord of hosts. Kill him, smite the shepherd,
and the sheep will be scattered. And they did, literally. When
our Lord, our Shepherd, went to Calvary's tree, all the disciples,
it said, literally fled and forsook Him. Even God forsook Him. And this must be so. This must
be so. Why? When Christ hung on the
cross, He quoted, He shouted those words from Psalm 22, My
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? God turned his back on his
own son. God forsook him. God left him. Why? Because that's what hell
is, people. We can't understand what hell
is. Whether it's literal fire, I don't know. Our Lord said,
where the worm dieth not, where the flame is not quenched. Jesus
Christ said that. Not some hell's fire preacher,
but Jesus Christ. What it is, we really don't know.
But we do know this about hell. It's wherever God is not. Now,
this world is something like it, this godless world. You see,
God is light. Men dwell in darkness. God is
life. Men are dead and trespassers in. God is mercy. Men are merciless. God is grace. Men are-God is
love. Men are full of hate. wrath,
bitterness, anger, this world is full of, God is full of this
world of men full of sin. And someday God is going to put
everything and everyone in a place where he is not. And it will
be without mercy, there will be no mercy, no love, no grace,
no goodness, nothing but, well, we can't describe it, you see.
And Christ went through hell on Calvary's tree when he said,
My God, why hast thou forsaken me? Because that's what God must
do to all those outside of him, forsake them. And the disciples fled and forsook
him. The disciples forsook him. Why? Why did the disciples run? Why
didn't one of them hang around? Because he was going to do this
by himself. Because he's going to do this
work of salvation by himself. There was nobody with him. He's
going to bear the sins alone. He's going to be the scapegoat
alone, bearing the sins. And Hebrews 1 says, When he had
by himself. By himself. Not Mary didn't help
him. No, Mary wasn't in on it. No. He was by himself. Peter
wasn't in on it. No, Peter ran. He's just a man. Only Jesus Christ by himself
can purge the sins of God's people, and he did it by himself, purged
the sins of God's people. But now, in the death of the
shepherd is the life of the sheep. They're scattered, yes, but they're
alive. He's dead, yes, but they're alive.
I love that story in the garden where they came to take him. They came to take him. And the soldiers and a big lynch
mob was out to get him. And they came to take him in
the garden, and he went out before all the brethren. They were all
lying around asleep, eleven apostles and Christ, Judas not being there. Our Lord went out before his
precious sheep, his little lambs. Our Lord, the Great Shepherd,
stood up and said, Who are you looking for? He went before them. Earlier on,
our Lord said, Now a hireling, he'd flee. He would flee. He'd run. But not the Great Shepherd. He stood out and said, Who are
you looking for? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. He said, Well,
if you seek me, you've got to let them go. He said, before he said that,
he said, in one last display of his power and his glory and
his omnipotence, one last display to show he's not just Jesus who
you're talking about. This is God. He said, I am. Who are you looking for? They
said, Jesus. He said, I am. And they all, that whole crowd
of men with their staves and swords and all, just hit the
dust. Because every knee will bow,
willingly or unwillingly. I am not just Jesus, this is
God in human flesh. And when they got back up, he
said, now if you seek me, you must let them go. Oh no, we want
that one. No you don't. Miraculously. You remember the
story of Peter in the garden where he was kind of hanging
around? around the fire and all that. You remember that? Why
didn't they apprehend Peter? They started recognizing him
to be John. You want to have him too? They can't take him. They can't. Why? Because the
great shepherd said not. They can't have him. It's either
me or them. Them or me. He's the substitute,
you see. Although they were scattered,
they're alive. Though he's dead, they're alive. And in the scattering
of the sheep, this is glory, in the scattering of the sheep,
the persecution of the sheep, spreading out the sheep, is the
gathering of the flock. In verse 7, I've got to hurry.
It says, scatter the sheep, and I will turn mine hand upon the
little ones. All right, they're scattered.
They're scattered. He said, I'll turn my hand upon
the little one. After the holy God smites his
son and his justice is satisfied, then he turns his hand. See,
this is a hand of God's justice. A hand of God's justice. And
after his hand of justice is satisfied upon his son. I remember
hearing a preacher preach years ago when I was a young believer. It made an impression on my mind
and my heart. A young preacher vividly described
the justice of God being poured out on his son. He said it's
as if God Almighty reared back his mighty, holy, just, angry
fist against all sins and iniquity of God's people. But then that hand-that's a fist-turns
to his little one, coming to bed. His scattered sheep, the
lambs, all over, turns to them, the hand of justice against the
shepherd. The hand of justice against the
shepherd turns in an open palm in mercy and grace and love and
kindness and tenderness and compassion. You know, a real man's hand is
both calloused and rough and hard and a weapon, but it's also,
a real man's hand is also tender and kind and a sensitive touch. And that describes our God, our
God who is holy and just and who must punish sin and did punish
sin. His hand turns to the little
ones, turns to the little ones, little
ones, little lambs, little lambs. Our Lord said one day, O Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, little lambs. I know there's a verse of Scripture
that made an impression on me as a young fellow, Scripture
where Christ said, It's the Father's good pleasure. Fear not, little
flock. He said, Fear not, little flock, it's the Father's good
pleasure to give unto you the kingdom. Kind of like a little,
there's a little black lamb out there, black one, black sheep
of the family. Roman wandering, he's going to
die, the wolves are going to get him, he's going to die of
hunger, but the good shepherd goes in search of him, picks
him up, and those hands that could kill a wolf, picks him
up in those gentle arms, takes him home, carries him all the
way home, even the black one, even the black one. And now look
at this. Here's a picture of God's electing
grace, distinguishing grace. Look at verse 8. And it shall
come to pass that in all the land, saith the Lord, in all
the land, two parts therein shall be cut off and die. But the third
shall be left therein." People, this is not just a prophecy of
Israel and of history. This is God's electing grace
of his people. This is a remnant according to
the election of grace which Paul spoke of in Romans 9, Romans
11. A remnant. He said, two parts
therein shall be cut off and die, but a remnant shall be saved. Vessels of mercy of a poor prepared
unto glory. These are the ones that Christ
was made sin for, that Christ died for, and the rest must die
for their own sins. The third shall be left therein.
Verse nine, and he says, I will bring the third part through
the fire. Those that are left, those my
chosen ones, my little ones, whom his hand of mercy and grace
is open to. Those I will bring through the
fire." The only thing wrong with the song we sung, or was played
a while ago, is it says, some through the fire. No, all through
the fire. We read that. Did you read it
with me in 1 Peter 1? Through heaviness and manifold
temptations, let your faith, though it be tried with fire.
Faith must be tried by fire. All of God's people. Let me tell
you very briefly, OK? I've only been less than 30 minutes. Give me about four more. Let
me tell you what this fire is that all of God's people go through.
Through the fire. If you'll turn with me to Matthew
3, very quickly, Matthew chapter 3. Now, Scripture says our God
is a consuming fire. Our God is a consuming fire.
It also says he's a refiner's fire. All right? This fire that all
of God's people pass through. Look at verses 11 and 12. Matthew
3, verse 11 and 12. This is John preaching. And John
says, I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. But he
that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not
worthy to bear. He shall baptize you with the
Holy Ghost and with fire, whose fan is in his hand, and he will
thoroughly purge his floor, gather his wheat into the garner, but
he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." This fire,
he said, is the Holy Spirit and fire. The Holy Spirit, God Almighty
sends his Holy Spirit, who is a fire to all of his people. And it's not this ridiculous
rubbish that's going on on TV today to make people's talk like
Fred Flintstone. That's not it at all. This is
the Holy Spirit. It's not some hoax. This is the
Holy Spirit, the burning, consuming Spirit of God, who actually descends
upon God's people. And this fire, the Holy Spirit
and fire, which comes from the Spirit of God, is this. Listen.
Our Lord said this, is not my word as a fire? My word. You remember at Pentecost
it says they had cloven tongues with fire and the men began to
speak what? The Word of God. In other words,
fiery-tongued preachers. Isaiah, it's said of Isaiah in
chapter 6, Isaiah said the cherubs cried, holy, holy, holy concerning
God. And it says the scripture, the
scripture says that God Almighty took a coal, a live coal from
the altar and put it on Isaiah's lips. That's the holy word of
God, the pure word of God, the purifying word of God. He purified
you through the truth. Through the mouth of a preacher,
the holy word of God, by the Holy Spirit of God, from the
lips of a preacher, burns in the hearts of God's people. Isn't
that what the disciples said on the road to Emmaus when our
Lord got through speaking and preaching the word? They said,
hearts burn within us. Why? Because we heard the beautiful
music, because we saw the beautiful choir. No! Because we heard the
Word, which is a fire which burns in the hearts of God's people.
What does this fire do? What does fire do? People, if
you want to get rid of something, what do you use? What's the thing
that will burn away everything? That will actually put it away?
Fire. If you want to do away with something,
you use fire. Well, the Scripture says that
he will use his word to burn away the dross. To burn away
the dross. What's dross? Flesh. Anything that's not spirit, that's
not truth. Man's works, man's thoughts,
man's righteousness. Flesh. Anything to do with man,
he'll burn it away. through the Word of God. The
Spirit of God takes the Word of God as a coal from the altar,
and it burns away everything but truth. And it burns in the hearts of
every believer. And fiery trials. We read that.
Go back to the text very quickly. And we read in 1 Peter where
he said, the trial of your faith, though it's more precious than
gold, it's tried with fire. The fiery trial of persecution,
that separates the chaff from the wheat, does it not? The fiery
trial of affliction. The fiery trial of affliction,
a man's afflicted, and it comes from God. If you're afflicted,
it's from God. And he'll reveal who is the true
believer or not. And they'll be like Job. And
though everything is removed, they'll say with Job, it's the
Lord. The Lord took it away. Not Satan,
not this, not that. The Lord gave. The Lord had taken
away. They'll say with Job, though
he slay me. Yes, he's the one who kills and
who makes alive. He's the one who wounds. This
is the God of the Bible. And they'll say with Job, through
a fiery trial, they'll say, though he slay me, I'll trust him. Trial of your faith. Precious
stones will come out of that, which will be set in the crown
that goes on the head of Christ alone. Did you hear that? Only
precious stones, not wood, hay, and stubble. Only precious stones
that are tried with fire, gold and silver. That's the reason
he takes his precious jewels, Hannah, and puts them through
tough times. And they come out to the glory
of the head. Yes, they do. Watch a believer die. Who will
get the glory? their precious, their glorious
head. Yes, sir, it's a fiery trial,
not an easy thing. And it will be found silver and
gold, precious stones set in the crown of glory upon the head
of Christ himself, trophies in the hall of grace, no dross,
nothing left until they're dying and say, Though he slay me, I'm
standing on the rock. It's Christ alone. Well, verse 9, it's a fiery trial. And verse 9 says, I'll bring
them through the fire, and find them, and trial them as gold,
and they're going to call on me while they're in the fire.
They're going to call on me. They're going to call on my name.
Oh, I need 45 more minutes. They're going to call on my name. We
need an eternity to preach the name of the Lord. Not just Jesus,
but call on my name! Thus, that at the name of Jesus,
every tongue will confess that he's Lord to the glory of God
the Father. Not everyone that just says it.
But everyone that calls on Him as Lord, the Lord our righteousness,
the Lord our substitute, the Lord our shepherd, the Lord our
provider, the Lord our... the Lord. Everything. They're going to call on Me.
And He said, I'll hear them. I will hear them. I will hear them. Don't you know
Don't you know Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were calling on
the Lord in that furnace? Huh? Don't you know they were
calling on the Lord, Lord, save us or we'll perish? Huh? Well,
he heard them. What'd he do? What'd he do? How do we know he heard them?
He looked there in the furnace with them. He's right in there
with them. shielding them, protecting them,
comforting them through the fires, four in the front. He went through the fire, and
it says all three of them came, three of them came out. Three of them came out, and there
wasn't even the smell of smoke on their garment. But one stayed in and was consumed. I'll give you 45 more minutes.
Go back to Daniel. They'll call, and I'll hear them.
They'll call on my name, and I will hear them. You know, this
world is slowly burning up, literally drying up. They call it global
warming. They ought to call it global
warning. We've got to do something about
it. Yeah, I'll tell you what we need to do is repent. Well, it still is not going to
stop the global burning. But this world is being literally
set on fire by the wrath of God. And they curse God. That foolish,
ignorant priest in the wake of 9-11 said, get this, can a man
be so ignorant? He is. He said, I believe men
are turning to God because everywhere I hear them saying, oh God, Oh my God. People say that when
they mash their thumb. Kids say it when they see a rock
group playing. That's not calling on the name
of the Lord. That's cursing His name. But
God's people will say, Oh my God. There's a difference. The world
curses His name. Oh my God. And God's people,
though, are calling, Oh my God, have mercy upon me according
to the multitude of thy tender mercies. Blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from my iniquity.
Purge me from my sin. Create in me a clean heart. Renew
within me a right spirit. Oh my God, have mercy upon me. I have sinned against thee and
thee only. And God will answer. And he'll say, that's my people. That's my people. And they'll say, the Lord is
my God. This God I've been trying so
feebly and so fruitlessly, I believe, probably,
to describe this morning. Is this your God? This holy, just, righteous God
kills and makes alive wounds and heals, who does all things
according to his will and his purpose. Is this your God? This
is the God of the Bible. This is the only God there is.
And God's people, they believe him. They call on him. And he
says, no, that's my people. and what they say is in fact
the Lord is my God. This is my God. Is this your
God? Is this the God you believe? He's a consuming fire, but to
those who believe Him and trust Him, He's a tender hand, a gracious,
loving Father. You know, my dad used to... I know a man's hands. I used
to feel it. Hazel, I used to feel my father's
hand at times on my rebellious bottom, but oh, there was times, oh,
that he'd lay that hand on my shoulder. As a loving, kind father
that he was. And that's the God of Bible.
He's first a just God and a loving Savior. All right. All right. Let's sing in closing number
268. 268, it says, When through fiery trials thy
pathway shall lie, His grace all-sufficient shall be my supply. Number 268. Stand with me. After the foundation he takes
up the road. He is made for your faith in his great son, One more can He say, and to you
He will say, to you He will pray, to you He will praise and bless. When through thy refinement,
Thy bread we shall find, Thy grace also patient to eat and
to thrive, The day shall ever be our holy day's night. Yet I don't believe that, that
I should know that it'll be true