Good singing. Good singing. I sometimes enjoy
a cappella, but I enjoy our piano too, don't you? Luke chapter 4. You know, the
early church, I say early, Maybe the last several hundred years
did not believe in instrumental music. And that's a shame, because
the scriptures commands it throughout the scriptures. I am greatly blessed by, say,
the prelude, aren't you? It's worshipful, and it recalls
the message to mine. That's one good thing about instrumental
music is, and songs, is that you can more easily remember
the words when you have a tune to go with it, right? I venture
to say that most everyone in here now knows Psalm 121. Because
our brother Gabe has been singing that. That's the way they used
to sing. Psalms to music. And I love the
hymns. I love the music. I love those
that play the music. Very much. Luke chapter 4. Let's
read these verses. Just two verses. I wrote you
a text and said go to the end of the chapter, but it didn't
make it. There are really two stories here. The story of Simon's
mother-in-law being healed. That's what we're going to look
at. Look at verses 38 and 39. The
Lord arose out of the synagogue. He entered into Simon's house.
And Simon, his wife's mother, was taken with a great fever.
And they besought him for her. And he stood over her and rebuked
the fever, and it left her. And immediately she arose. That's why when we sang that
hymn, I will arise, arise my soul. She arose and ministered
unto them, all of them. There was not a few in there,
there were more than that, James and John and Simon and Andrew,
this was Andrew's house, too. They lived together. This is
recorded in three gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and only two
verses in each story. Must be important. Must be something
that doesn't meet the eye. There is. Believe me. Lord Jesus
Christ said, I must preach, for thereunto am I sent. Therefore
am I sent. In verse 18 of this chapter,
it says that He quoted, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He hath
anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. Sent me to heal
the brokenhearted. Preaching the gospel and healing
go together. We'll probably look Wednesday
night at the rest of this. Preaching and healing. Or preaching
that heals. Everywhere the Lord went, He
went preaching first. And then He said He healed all
that had need of healing. He sent the disciples there.
He said, I send you forth to preach. He said, go everywhere,
preach the gospel. Heal the sick. It always follows. When the gospel is preached,
healing follows. And this is preaching. What you're
going to hear this morning is preaching that heals. And I'm
not talking about the physical body. I'm talking about spiritual
diseases. Preaching and healing go together.
Preaching the gospel is the power of God. Ask those who have had
their blind eyes open. Ask those who have had their
deaf ears open. Ask those who were lepers and
clean. Ask those who were dead and been
quickened. What was the means? Preaching the gospel. That's who I'm talking about,
spiritual lepers, spiritually blind, spiritually haught, lame,
deaf, dumb, dead, and trespassants. And you hath he quickened who
were dead. How? The gospel is the power
of God and salvation. Go back to Isaiah 52 that we
read a moment ago. Did you enjoy that? I did. Look at it with me a minute.
Isaiah 52. Look at it. And this is talking
about the church. He's talking about Christ, the
servant of the church, how he speaks to them, chosen them,
brought them out of this world. Isaiah 52, 2. Shake yourself
from the dust. Isn't that where we dwell? Arise and sit down. Can you do both? Well, you need
to. Our Lord said, come out from
among them, come out and do what? Sit down. Like Isaiah 30, you
remember that? Their strength is to sit still. Thus saith the Holy One of Israel,
in returning and rest shall you be saved, in quietness and confidence
shall be your strength. Come, sit, sit at the feet of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Arise, Have the seat of the spornful,
and come and sit in the seat of the worshipers." Look at Isaiah
52, verse 2. He says, sit down, O Jerusalem. Loose yourself from the bands
of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion. Do you not feel when
you come in to hear the gospel preached that it just frees you
from the cares of this life? The bondage of sin and corruption.
Do you not feel like you never feel so free? That's when you're
sitting right here. An old daughter of Zion, an old
captive's daughter of Zion, verse 3, he says, you've sold yourself
for nothing, and you're going to be redeemed without money.
You know this, don't you? We're not redeemed with corruptible
things such as silver and gold or our vain conversation, our
past religion. Like Paul said, just lost, what
a waste of time. Wasn't it a waste of time? Wouldn't
you like to get all that back, brother, and be raised under
the sound of the truth? We'd know so much more. We'd
have so much more people. So you're going to be redeemed
without money, You're going to be redeemed by the precious blood
of the Lamb. Verse 4, My people went down
and sojourned in Egypt. That's the world. My people are
in the world. And the Assyrian, that is the enemy, has oppressed
them without cause. Now therefore, the Lord said,
hear this, what I have here, My people are taken away for
nothing. They that rule over them, make them to howl. Howl
along, O Lord, howl along. My name continually every day
is blasphemed. Isn't that where we live? Therefore,
my people, they're going to know my name. They're going to know
my name. The day and that day that I am
he that doth speak. How are they going to know his
name? He's going to speak to them. He's going to preach to
them. And what is he going to say?
Behold, it is I. That's how you speak. You know
these verses well. In Isaiah 43, Jacob, I've called
you by name. You're mine. You're going to
pass through the rivers. Not going to overflow you. You're
going to walk through the fire. You won't be burned. The flame
won't kindle upon you. I am the Lord thy God, the Holy
One of Israel. I'm your Savior. I gave Egypt
for your ransom, Ethiopia and Cebu for thee. I passed by a
whole world and chose you. You're precious to my sight.
I've loved you. I'd give a people for this. Fear not. I'm going to say, give up. Keep
not back. Bring my sons from afar, my daughter.
Everyone's called by my name. I've created him for my glory.
I've formed him. Yay, I did that. I've made him.
Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, deaf that have
ears. You're my witnesses, saith the Lord, my servant whom I've
chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that
I am he. Before me there was no God. Neither
shall there be after. I am the Lord. Beside me there's
no Savior. I've declared it. I've saved,
I've showed you. Before the day was, I am he.
None can deliver out of my hand. I will work, and who will then? Where did you first hear that?
Huh? Where did you first hear that
from a preacher? Go look at our text. Well, it
kind of is our text, Isaiah 52. It is a text. It says in verse
7, how beautiful, upon the mountains are the feet
of him, him, the man, that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth
peace, peace by the blood of his cross, peace that bringeth
good tidings of good, Good news that publishes salvation. What's
he saying? Thy God reigneth. How beautiful
are the feet. The feet. The feet. Our Lord's
feet. First we must speak about his
feet. And the reason he says how beautiful
are the feet is because they walked everywhere. Preachers
back then walked everywhere. The prophets, the apostles, our
Lord himself walked Everywhere, didn't he? Unless he was on a
ship. Do you not know that his feet were more calloused and
perhaps dirtier than anybody's? They were none more beautiful.
I'll tell you a woman that thought he had the most beautiful feet
on earth. Mary Magdalene. That's where he'd find her every
time. Wherever he was, she was sitting
at his feet. And because she was such a sinner,
you know, she'd just have to hang her head most of the time.
And what did she see when she hung her head? Those beautiful
feet. Maybe too ashamed, like that
woman caught in adultery. She casted his feet. Too ashamed
to lift her head. But she heard his voice. And
what did he say? No accusers. Neither do I condemn
that. And she thought, I'm sure glad
feet, but those feet that brought me glad tidings. I remember as
a young believer, very young, a babe in Christ, I heard a man
preaching the gospel in one of the conferences, many men, but
this particular message just so greatly blessed me. Oh, I
was just overjoyed. I could not And I promptly went
home and wrote him a letter, and all I put in it was these
words, you have beautiful feet. The Lord sent that man to me
to hear that message. We were sitting, my mother and
I, sitting around my father's still warm but lifeless body
in the home. And his still warm body, and
he was covered up, I covered him. And I went down and uncovered
his feet. Do you remember that? And I quoted that to them. How
beautiful are the feet of him that possesseth good tidings
of peace. Those are the most beautiful
feet I've ever seen. We need to know who God is. We
need to know who Christ is. We need to know what we are.
We need to know what salvation is. God is known one way, through
the preaching of his word. One way. Scripture says this,
Psalm 77, His way is in the sanctuary. That's what it says. Go back to our text in Luke 4. His way is in the sanctuary.
Our Lord was always found in the synagogues wherever He went. Every little town had a synagogue.
That's just the way it was in Israel. Every little town had
a synagogue, had one temple. But every little town had a synagogue,
just about the way it is now. There's one place where his name,
he put his name there. And look at verse 16, he came
to Nazareth, where he'd been brought up, and as his custom
was, he went into the synagogue, didn't he? That's where he went. That's where his father and his
mother brought him to. The synagogue did. Why? What's
going on there? God's being worshipped. The Word
of God's being read. The Word of God's being preached.
The Psalms of Zion are being sung. God's people are calling
on the Lord. And that's where God is. You
can count on that much. That's where God is. Look at
verse 31. He came down to Capernaum, the
city of Galilee, and taught them on the Sabbath day. Where did
he teach them? Verse 33. In the synagogue. In the synagogue. Look at verse
38. He arose out of the synagogue.
He left the synagogue. Verse 43. Look at it. Verse 43. He said unto them,
I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also. Therefore
am I sent. And he preached in the synagogue. Why are you saying this, preacher?
Because if you're going to hear from the Lord, you're going to
hear His gospel through a preacher in His church. That's the way
it is. That's the way it's always been. If I object, well then
go on then. Listen to some of these verses.
You can turn with me if you want. Turn with me. That's an order. Psalm 20. You'll be glad you
did. Psalm 20. I looked them up. You look at
them with me. Psalm 20. Several verses here. Psalm 20. Psalm 20. Have it. Verses 1 and
2. The Lord hear thee in the day
of trouble. The name of the God of Jacob defend thee. Send thee
help from the sanctuary. And strengthen thee out of Zion.
Do you not get more help here than anywhere else? Look at Psalm 63. Psalm 63. I already quoted Psalm 77. His way is in the sanctuary. Psalm 63, verse 1. O God, thou art my God. Early
will I seek thee. My soul thirsteth for thee, my
flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water
is. Where are you going to find him, David? I see thy power and
thy glory so as I have seen thee in thy sanctuary. Look at Psalm 73. You remember
this? David was looking all around
him. He was envious of the prosperity of the wicked. He was looking
at all this stuff. Everybody was just having a big
old time. And David started envying that. He said, my religion is
in vain. All I've got is trouble. Nothing
but trouble. And then he said, look at it, verse 16. Verse 17,
until I went into the sanctuary. Then, oh, my eyes were opened. Then my eyes were opened to see
clearly. You know, I'd rather be in this little
ark with just food and rain, than out there perishing with
the wicked. You say, I'm so foolish. How
foolish? I was like a beast. How could
I be envious? at those fattened for the slaughter. Psalm 77, verse 13. Psalm 77, this is it. Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary. What way? Christ's way. When did you first hear the gospel?
What is the gospel? It's personal. Let me just quote
to you this, the very last psalm, the very last psalm, David says,
Praise ye the Lord, praise God in his sanctuary. So there you have it. So our
Lord came to the synagogues. Well
look at our text in Luke chapter 4. Now let me just say this one
more thing about the sanctuary. Why did the Lord ordain it that
His gospel should be heard and He should be known? Why did the
Lord choose preaching? Why did He choose preaching?
It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching. For that is, the
world calls it foolishness. Preaching of the gospel, preaching
of God's Word is the wisest thing there is. It's the wisdom of
God and the power of God. Christ is the wisdom. But the
world calls it foolishness. They don't know anything about
it, but they call it foolishness. And they call man's wisdom wise,
and they call God's wisdom foolishness, don't they? Not us. Why? I've heard it. I've heard it. He's revealed it. But it pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching. Why? Why did God choose preaching? Why? Do you know? Why? It only need one reason. Because He did. Because he did. Who art thou,
O man, that replyeth against God? I don't like that. Then
you're not going to hear from God. Because he did. And Christ came. God's Son came. And what was
his occupation? What did he do? He just said,
I must preach. This is why I am sent. The Spirit
of the Lord is upon me, Christ said. He hath anointed me to
what? Preach the gospel. To the poor, that's the problem.
Not many poor. Hard to find a sinner, isn't
it? Oh, buddy, if you're a sinner, you're going to love to hear
this gospel. You're going to hear it one way. Preach it. Because he did. But I can give
you a few more reasons. Because the place, the church
of God, the people, church, and the thing that they do in that
place, God loves that more than anything. God doesn't love this
world. That's what 1 John 2.15 said.
A man loves the world, the things of the world, the love of God's
not in him. All that's in the world, lust of the flesh, lust
of the eye, the pride of life, is not of God. God doesn't love
this world. He calls it this sinful world, this wicked place. That's what he calls it. He's
going to destroy it because everything's in it. But I'll tell you a place
he does love. I'll tell you a place where he
is found. I'll tell you people he does love. And I'll tell you
what they're doing he loves. It's the gates of Zion. The Lord
loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.
God is in the midst of her. A couple of you sent me that
psalm the last couple of weeks. Psalm 46. God is in the midst
of her. That's where he loves to be.
That's where Christ was. Wherever town he went into, he
went in the synagogue where a people were worshiping God, rejoicing
in what Christ was saying. No confidence in their parents. That's what he
loves. The people of God. Men. The things
that they're doing. The worship of God. And heaven.
Another reason that God chose preaching. And the church. And the congregation, because
heaven is a congregation. Heaven is an assembly of the
saints. And those who do not like to
assemble with the saints now, will not be there then. But those
who love this more than life itself, just wait. Those who say it doesn't get
any better than this, well, it does. But it's the same thing. You see, this is the thing. And
this is how you may know you have passed from death unto life.
That you see this world and everything in it as dead things and perishing
things. But you see in Christ life. And
you're all in it and all. And you say, be gone. Let me have Christ. I need nothing
else. Right? And when it comes to that
point, and you find yourself gathered, and that's the only
way you're going to be here, is if He gathers you, and you
find yourself gathered and assembled with the same. And if you find
yourself loving the Psalms of Zion, loving the truth of God,
loving that God is God, loving the gospel of Christ, loving
His people more than anything on this earth, bless God you're
one of His chosen. That's right. Blessed are they
that hunger and thirst after what? Righteousness. All that is in the world is sin. All that is in Christ is righteousness. Is that you? I know, I'm not going to, you
know, there's still an allure, there's still something of a
desire, there's still, but from the bottom of my heart, and you
can say this too, from the bottom of my heart, give me Christ.
I need nothing else. Well, that was the introduction. Here's the story. Alright, he
came out of the synagogue, verse 38, And he entered into Simon's
house. Simon's wife, mother, was taken
with a great fever, and they besought him for her. He went home with Simon and Andrew. It was Andrew's house, too. They
were poor, and they lived together. He and his brother, Andrew. And
I don't know if Andrew was married. It doesn't say. But that's good. There's a reason for that. You'll
never hear about Simon's wife again. Why? Because that's not
his true family. Because the scriptures talk about
the imperative that those who have wives be as though they
have none. That you must know one as your husband. That it's
important that you know one person. Jesus Christ. That's what he
said. Who is my mother? Who are my brothers? Behold my
mother and my brother. That's what he said. You'll never
hear about Simon's wife again. You don't even know if Andrew
had one. You don't know if John had one. Jane, you don't know.
They don't tell you. Because they're no more concerned
about their wives than they are everybody else. You don't know
if they had children. Do they have children? Grandchildren? That's it. One thing, the one
they wanted to know like Paul was Jesus Christ and their family. Was Simon's wife a believer? Maybe not. You think about that. An apostle's
wife. She might not have been a believer.
It doesn't say. Might not. Why are you saying that, Preacher?
Because it's who the Lord chose. And he can say who he will. I've
got preacher brother after preacher brother after preacher brother
who have lost children. Some of my brothers, none of
their children know the Lord. What do they say? It's the Lord. Let Him do what's seen as good.
What do they say? They say, it's a miracle of God's
mercy and grace that I'm saved. Let alone my children and my
family. He doesn't have to save them. Sure wish he would. But if he doesn't, it's the Lord. But he entered into Simon's wife's,
Simon's house because Simon asked him. You know the Lord will go home
with whoever asks Him. Yeah. Matthew the publican. Hey, you're about the sorriest
fellow around. Nobody like Matthew. Nobody liked Matthew. And Matthew
asked him one day after the Lord came where he was, sitting at
that receipt of customs. Remember that story? And after the Lord revealed himself
to Matthew, Matthew said, would you come home and eat with me?
Christ said, sure will. And he went home with him. And
Matthew got all his old buddies. Can you imagine what a rough
house bunch of no good fellows would have been? Huh? If it was today, you know, they'd
have been, they'd have looked, you know. And they all came and
sat and listened to the Lord Jesus. You know, because this
is it. This man received sinners and
eateth with them. Any sinner, here's my point,
anyone that asked him, Lord, did you come into my house? Lord, did you sup with me? Sure we did. Be glad to. Have you asked? So they besought
him. He'll come. He entered into Simon's
house with James and John. James and John went there. You
know, wherever the Lord was, His disciples, at least two or
three, were with Him. John didn't want to leave His
side. I know the feeling. Don't you? John, you will always find John
wherever the Lord was, like a faithful dog, wouldn't you? He wouldn't
leave His side. He sat down with John right there,
laying on His back. Right? Why? Because John knew, if left
to myself, I'm a goner. I want to stay as close to Him
as I can get. Everywhere the Lord was, His
disciples were. No telling how many were there.
Five, six, seven, eight. Alright? So Simon... Here's the
point. Simon and Andrew asked the Lord
to come, and then a bunch of people came with them. Well,
that's alright. If you love the Lord, you love
His people. Right? Somebody says, well, I love the
Lord, I just don't like this crowd of people. Can you imagine a sheep saying,
I like a shepherd, but I just don't like this bunch of sheep.
And generally what it is, they say, they're no good, they're
stinky, Have you smelled yourself lately? It can't be done. It can't be
a kind of a sheep saying, I love the shepherd, but I don't like
these sheep. No! It's the nature of the animal. It had that big
crowd of people. Because one man died, four hundred
people showed up. And brethren, because one man
died, four trillion are going to show up. And you know what
you're going to say? The more the merrier. Isn't this
wonderful? Look at that. There's Andrew,
Jane, John. Look at Abraham. Look at that.
There's Ellen. Look, there's... Are you going to be there? I want
to be there. Can you imagine? We sang the
funeral to today. It wasn't any better then as
it is now. There is a fountain filled with blood. Oh man, did
my heart good. You talk about singing. Just
you wait. When they entered in, the Lord
came in that house. He came in that house. And Simon's
mother-in-law... Let's stop right there. They call Peter the first pope,
don't they? That's what they say about Peter.
He's the first pope. Well, he's married. Anybody catch that? He can't
be a pope. Mike, he can't be a pope. He's
married! Popes and priests and cardinals
and all these other pinhead fellas, they can't be married. That's
why they're going from there. Simon was married. Marriage is
honorable and all in a bed under fire. That's what the Lord did,
a man and a woman in the garden. That's the first thing he did
when... He says, good, male and female. And he joined them together
in holy matrimony. He said, multiply. That's it. Marriage. Christ and his people. It's a picture of them, but marriage.
But they... He was... That mother-in-law
living with him. Get off that subject. But his
mother-in-law was living with him. She was ill of a great fever. A great fever. It doesn't say
what it was. A great fever. You know, years ago, people would
get these great fevers. Scarlet fever. 150 years ago or more. Hundreds
of thousands. It mostly affected young children. They just died left and right. It's awful. Scarlet fever. Hundreds of thousands. You know
it's coming back. But this scarlet, this great
fever is a picture of something we're all born with. We all get
into this great fever. Fever is a symptom of a disease. You have a terrible disease,
a fatal disease, and your body is fighting it off. And I wish
one of you medical people were up here to say it a little more
in depth. But your body is fighting off something that's going to
kill you. And this fever, your body gets
in this fever, hot, all over. And sin is the problem with that. And what sin produces in all
of us is fever. passions, lusts, where you burn
with lusts, where you burn with anger, where you burn with envy. That's what the scriptures call
it, the burning. You have to have something so
bad it's just like a disconsumption. Burning fever. It's great fever.
We're all born with it. Set on fire, scripture says,
with the fires of hell. That's just fever that sin produces
in us. It consumes all flesh, and we'll
be consumed by it unless somebody comes by our house and does something
for us. You know, a fever, if at one
time I had a fever, what was it, 104 or higher than that? That's dangerous in an adult. I think it's about 105. That's
dangerous, that's deadly. Mindy had to put me in a tub
of ice water. A great fever. And I was out
of my mind. If you get in a great fever,
you'll lose your mind. You're not thinking straight.
You've lost your mind. You get crazy. Isn't that a good
picture of sin? Of what sin has done to this
world. This world's in a fever and it's called sin. And they've
lost their minds. And I'll tell you this, when
God heals His people, He gives us the mind of Christ, and He
takes our Lord Himself who took our diseases and our sins and
His body on a tree, and He who was set on fire with hell itself,
went through hell itself. Our Lord who has made sin for
us, He knew that. He knew what it is. Yes, He did.
And He put it away. That's why He went to the cross.
He made sin for His people. He put away that sin. And He
did. And he healed his people. And
yet, there are times when you feel this fever coming on again.
Where do you go? Where do you go? Go back to the
physician, don't you? Lord, I thought I was healed.
He said, I was, but I feel this fever coming on. There's no other
healing. Lord, do something about it.
But they besought Him for her, it says. They besought Him for
her. Can you hear the urgency in Simon's voice? Or his wife,
maybe? Maybe she besought Him. They
did. Can you hear the urgency in her voice? Or his voice? Can you? Lord, my mother, my
mother-in-law. You know, don't you? Because
you go to Him the same way for somebody that you know and love
is in this great fever called sin. You go to Him yourself,
to the Lord. I've talked to them. I've tried. Lord, if you don't do something
for them, they're going to die from this. Lord, please. Can
you hear Simon? Lord, she's going to die if you
don't come into my house. If you don't speak to her, I've
spoken to her. If you don't speak to her, if
you don't raise her up, she's going to die. Please. Would you
please, Lord? Like that importunate woman.
Our Lord, when He said you have not because you ask not, I believe
He's talking about that. The woman who wouldn't quit asking. Who wouldn't quit asking. Until
the one she was asking for is either dead or saved. Don't quit
asking, people. It's not too late. You got any
lost loved ones? You got any lost spouses or parents
or in-laws? Do you? Everybody in here does.
And it's not too late. Where there's breath, there's
hope. Where the gospel preaches, there's hope. Call on the name
of the Lord. Lord, please, please. The centurions
had such faith. You remember him, the centurion,
his servant? He said, Lord, you just speak
the Word. If you just speak the Word, he'll
be healed. Just say the Word. That's all you have to do. Just
speak to him. Would you please? Our Lord said,
I will. I've never seen such a man. Not in all Israel. So he came. Look what he did. Verse 39, he stood over her. You see that? He stood over her. Brethren, if you're lost, if
you or your lost loved one, your spouse, your lost wife or husband,
or father or mother, or son or daughter, if you ever meet the
Lord, you will see Him not standing outside your door knocking. You'll
see Him over you. You'll see Him standing at the
right hand of the Majesty on high, that this is not some helpless
Jesus. You'll be lying there looking
up. Are you with me? When Isaiah
saw the Lord, he said, I saw the Lord how? High and lifted
up. Why do we say this all the time?
Because it's so. When somebody finally meets the
Lord Jesus Christ. It's not some poor pitiful Jesus
that wants to save you and he can't save you unless you let
him. It's the Lord. He saves whom he will. And if
your spouse is saved, if anybody is saved, he's the one that has
to decide it. And he's going to have to come
where they are and tower over them and show them, I am the
Lord. And you will not rise up unless
I say so. Is that too hard? What's hard about that? It's
simple. This is the Lord. And if you
were saved under some poor, pitiful Jesus that you accepted, you
weren't saved then. Salvation is to know the Lord,
high and lifted up. And I know it so. With every
single chosen child of God, when they first hear about Jesus Christ,
when they first hear about the true God, like I quoted to you
from Isaiah 43, I am the Lord, there's none else. They will
see Him as Lord on a throne that can save or damn them. That doesn't
have to, that shouldn't. That's right. I love the story of Stephen preaching
Acts chapter 7. Don't you Stephen? Love it. Stephen,
he was preaching with authority, wasn't he? What was he saying?
Read it! He was saying, everybody's nothing
but a bunch of sinners! He said, you stiff-necked, rebellious
people killed the Son of God, and God ought to kill us all.
That's what he said. And they all got mad at him. And they
took up stones to stone Stephen. Remember that? Took up stones.
And as they were bashing his brains out, you know what Stephen
said? He said, I see the Son of God standing at the right
hand of God. The Lord received my spirit.
Nobody here believes it. Stephen said, I do. The Lord
Jesus Christ. And those that love His salvation,
those that love His name, that fear His name, that love His
glory, love His honor, you'll never tire of hearing that. You
can never tire of hearing a man stand up and proclaim your Lord.
High and lifted up. His train filled with the temple.
The whole earth is full of His glory. He stood over her. And he's looking down on her.
And if she had her eyes open, who's she looking at? She's looking
up at him. All right, what'd he do? Forget
it. He rebuked the fever. He rebuked the fever. Would you
turn with me to Proverbs 15? Let me hurry. Proverbs 15. Gotta hurry. Proverbs 15. You know, Psalm 39, 11 says this. Listen. When thou with rebukes
dost correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume
away like a moth, surely every man is vanity. Did you hear that? When thou with rebukes dost correct
man for iniquity, Now make us his beauty to consume away like
a moth. Surely every man is vanity."
The first thing God does when he preaches the truth to you,
to us, the first thing he does is rebuke us for our iniquity. Son of man, show Israel their
iniquity, their abomination. That's a blessing of God. The
good news starts with the bad news, the call of sin. Yes, you. Yes, me. None good. No, not one. None, none, none,
none. None worth saving. That's what
it said, but God. Look at Proverbs 15, verse 10.
It says, Corrections grievous unto them that forsaketh the
way. He that forhateth reproof shall die. Hell and destruction
are before the Lord. That is, he hath the keys of
it. Ask how much more the hearts of the children of men scorn
or loveth not one that reproveth him. Look at verse 32. He that refuseth
instruction despises his own soul, but he that heareth reproof
getteth understanding. Let the righteous smite me. Be
a kind man. It won't break my head. It'll
break my heart. That's the only good heart there
is. There was a man listening to my, there have been a bunch
of them. One fellow was listening to my
father on the TV 60 years ago, 50 years ago. He was sitting
there watching the TV program. It was 8 o'clock in the morning,
8 o'clock Sunday morning, every Sunday. And the man was drinking
a beer. Eight o'clock, mind you. Anyway,
and he's listening. He's just thumbing through three
cans. He's whipping through three cans. And there he was, and he
listened a bit. And my dad, one of the first
things he said, and he used to do this. Hold that finger. He said, you're a sinner before
God. And that man said, he told this
story later, the man said, I got up and went over there and turned
that TV off. Somebody said, I ain't no setter.
Went back, sat down. Maybe I am a setter. And he went
and turned it back on. And the Lord saved that girl.
That's the first thing you're going to hear. That's the first
thing you're going to hear. None do it good. No, not one.
No, God's not going to accept you because you've been a good
little girl. God's going to accept you by the blood of Jesus Christ.
No, God's not going to accept you because you've been diligent
and zealous and done all these wonderful works. God's going
to accept you because Jesus Christ did a work. No other reason. Period. Exclamation point. So
he came and he rebuked that fever. We sang that hymn. Once I was
foolish and sin ruled my heart, causing my footsteps from God
to depart, but the Lord Jesus found me happy as my case. I now am a sinner, but I've been
saved by Christ. So what happened? It left her
and immediately said, Brother, our sins and iniquities, I remember
no more. They're gone. He separated them
far from us as the east is from the west. I don't understand
preachers. I don't either. But he said it, and I'm sure
glad I did. And the iniquity of Israel shall be sought, and
it won't be found. What did she do? Look at verse 39. She arose. She arose. Oh, how many people right now
are lying in bed as I speak. Literally, some at home, lying
on the couch, have no interest in God, no interest in Christ.
Somebody you know and love. Have no interest in God. Oh,
Lord, come. And there she was. And there
I was, lying there. But He came to me through the
preaching of the gospel. And when he spoke and rebuked
with rebuke, you know what I did? I arose. I will arise and go
to the Savior. Oh man, that great fever left
her. She went from a great fever to great joy. And sit and look
at this. It says she arose and ministered unto them. Them. She loves him. How do you know? She loves them. She loves him because he first
loved her, and she loves him and them. Reckon she minded all
these people in her house? Oh no, she's the happiest woman
on earth right now. She served him and served them.
Over in the book of Acts, when Saul of Tarsus, the Lord saved
him, You know, he was out to do away with the name of Jesus
Christ. It's all a curse. Because he
liked his religion. And he hated all this talk of
a sovereign Christ and His righteousness. And he was out to do away with
Him and them. He was out to do away with them.
Everybody believed this. He hated them. Well, you know,
when it was all over, when the Lord came to Him, when the Lord
chose Him, And when the Lord told him that he was the Lord,
not what Saul's will, it's the Lord's will. Now this is what
I'm going to do with you. Saul loved it. And you know what
the last thing it says about him was, Saul? He was with them,
coming and going. He never left them. Because he loved him. He's always with them, coming
and going. Die people, like Ruth, shall
be my people. And your God is my God. And where
you go, Lord, I'll die. And where you die, that's where
I want to die. And where you worship, that's
where I want to be. Those people are my people, because
their God is my God. Is that what you said? OK, let's
sing in closing. How late is it, Johnny? Number
389. 389. I am resolved. I am resolved. 389. Can't the
player come? No. I am resolved no longer to linger
charmed by this world's delights. Things that are higher, things
that are lower, these are ever lowered my sight. I am resolved
no longer to linger charmed by the world's delights.