Romans 15. Let's read verses 8 through 16.
Romans 15 verses 8 through 16. Now, I say that Jesus Christ
was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God to confirm
the promises made unto the Father. and that the Gentiles might glorify
God for his mercy. As it is written, for this cause
I will confess to thee among the Gentiles and sing unto thy
name. And again, he saith, rejoice,
ye Gentiles, with his people. And again, praise the Lord, all
ye Gentiles, and laud him, all ye people. And again, Isaiah
saith, there shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise
to reign over the Gentiles. In him shall the Gentiles trust.
Now, the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing
that you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost.
And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye
also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also
to admonish one another. Nevertheless, brethren, I have
written more boldly unto you in some sort, in some way, as
put in you in mind, because of the grace that is given to me
of God, that I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the
Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up
of the worship sacrifice of the Gentiles might be acceptable,
being sanctified by the holy gift. Now, Gentiles are mentioned
several times. You notice this subject, the
title is Rejoice, Ye Gentiles. That's us. That's us. He's writing to the Romans who
were in Italy, not Israel. The Gentiles are mentioned often,
all through Romans. Jew and Gentile, remember? All
the way through Romans. Now at first glance at this,
you read it with me and I read it many times. When I first read
it and looked at it, I thought, is this a doctrinal message or
some instruction on the Gentile? When you read that, it probably
didn't strike your interest, did it? He read that, it probably
did not thrill you, but I hope this will be thrilling to you.
It was to me, he said. The Jews were God's elect people,
a nation, a kingdom, symbolically. Okay? Symbolically. Paul said in Romans, he's not
a Jew, which is one hour late. Neither are they God's children
because they're Abraham's seed. Right? This whole book is about
this, Jews and Gentiles. The Jews were God's people symbolically. Because you're born in a certain
place, you're not God's people of bloods. Not born of the will
of the flesh, the will of man, not of blood, but of God. He's not a Jew outwardly, but
inwardly. You're not God's elect because you're Abraham's seed,
but Christ's seed. He's the elect. Are you with
me? Alright, the chosen Jews are
symbolic of all of God's people. They were made Jews. They were
called Jews by God. It started with Abraham. He was
not a Jew. He lived in Turkey. There were no Jews, and God made
this nation of people, starting with Abraham, and called them
Jews, Judah, the tribe of Judah, which Christ came from. The Jews
are symbolic of God's sovereignty in salvation, symbolic of God's
sovereign choice. God chose these people. They
didn't choose him. Symbolic of God's sovereign mercy. They were sinners like everybody
on earth, but God chose them. He said, I didn't choose you
because you were more than anybody, but you were the fewest. Symbolic of God's sovereign election,
God's sovereign mercy upon a sinful people, no better than the Gentile.
These Jews were symbolic of God's sovereign grace. He gave them
everything. Paul wrote in Romans, what advantage
hath the Jew? Every way. They receive, they
receive, they receive, they receive. They receive the law, they receive
the prophets. They were so bled. The Jews are
symbolic of God's sovereign grace. He gave, He gave, He gave. He
gave them the Word, He gave them the law, He gave them the truth.
They are symbolic of God's sovereign, particular redemption. The Jews
had the atonement, not the world. The high priest went into the
Holy of Holies to offer up the blood of a lamb for the atonement
of the Jews, not the world. Right? Particular redemption
is not a Calvinistic doctrine. It's the Bible. The whole Bible
is about a particular redemption of a chosen people whom the Jews
represented. Now because they were born in
Israel doesn't mean they were God's people. In fact, only 2
over 20 went into the promised land. Joshua and Caleb. And what a picture that is. Joshua
is Christ. Joshua is a picture of Jesus
Christ. That's his name. Caleb means faithful dog. All
dogs go to heaven. We're going to look at Gentile
dogs in a minute. The Jews are symbolic of God's
chosen few. Are there few that be saved? The Jews are symbolic of that.
At any given time on earth, there are few compared to the vast
population. There were few that believed
Jesus Christ. When He left this earth, 120
people. That was it. But the Gospel went out all over
the world. The whole Old Testament, the Bible, is concerning God's
dealings with the Jews. The Jews represent all of God's
true people, a spiritual people. They're not of the world. They're
chosen out of the world. They're wandering through this
world. They have here no continuing city. They're looking for a promised
land, a place that God promised them. That's God's people. But he includes some Gentiles. Isaiah 42, Isaiah was a prophet
to the Jew, but Isaiah all the way through said, Gentiles, hey
Gentiles, the Isles, he's coming to the Isles. He's coming all
over the world with the Gospel. Isaiah 43, he said, I'll say
to the North, give up to the South, keep not back, bring my
sons, my daughters from afar. They were far off. That's what
Ephesians said to them. You that were far off now are
brought nigh. Who? Gentiles. And we read the story and we
looked at the story of the Jews in chapter 11, how that we owe
a great debt to the Jews. They were God's people first,
you know, but they rejected Christ. But we reap the benefits of even
them rejecting Christ. Because they rejected Christ,
the gospel went everywhere. Because the church in Jerusalem
was persecuted, we have this church right here. That was all
in God's purpose. The Kingdom of God. All Israel
shall be saved. But it's not a national people,
it's a spiritual people. Alright, look at verse 8. He
says, Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision.
That's to the Jew. For the truth of God. Jesus Christ
was a servant of God, sent by God to His elect. The Jews were
symbolic of that. His elect. For the truth of God. He came to bear witness to the
truth, didn't He? What's the truth? The Jews said
they were looking for the truth. Well, He came. The truth came. And He was standing right there
in front of them. He said, I am the truth. But they said, no,
you're not the Christ we're looking for. We're not looking for a
righteousness. We've got one. We're not looking
for someone to really redeem us from captivity. We're not
in captivity. He came for the truth of God.
He was a servant of God to come for the truth, to bear witness
of the truth, and He bore witness of Himself. And look at this,
verse 8, the promises of God. He came to confirm the promises
of God. You see, all the promises of
God were confirmed to the seed. Who's seed? Abraham's seed? No. Christ, the seed. We've already
looked at it. It's what Romans said. So Christ came, made of the seed
of Abraham, the Son of David. He's called the Son of David.
But yet He was not born of man, but of God, the Holy One of Israel. He had no beginning of day, no
end of day, no father or mother as it were. Christ came though
from that line, that lineage, seed of Abraham, the son of David. Christ came and He's called the
King of the Jews. But the Jews said, we have no
king but Caesar. They rejected Him. They killed
their king, earthly king. No, they didn't. They enthroned
Him. When they put Him on the cross,
God's the one that killed Him anyway. God enthroned Him. That
was His coronation day. And all Jews bow the knee. Every son of God, every child
of God, elect of God, bows the knee to King Jesus Christ. He
is reigning in the river. There's all this controversy
over millennial, millennial reign, millennial reign. Whether you're
pre-millennial, whether you're amillennial, whether you're post-millennial.
And I'm here to tell you that it's all so. Christ reigns. Always has, does now, and always
will. reigning and ruling, and he has a kingdom, and it's not
of this world, it's not seen, but he knows who did it. And
they all bow the knee to him. Every knee we'll bow. Every tongue
we'll confess to the glory of God the Father. But right now,
in salvation, all of God's people bow their knee. So, most of the
outward Jews, when Christ came, rejected him. Some did not. Why
didn't they? They were lax. Some received him. He came to
his own, the Jews, and they received him not. But as many as received
him. How? Why? Why did they receive
him? They were born of God. John 1.13. Now that's the truth. Christ is the truth. A sovereign
God sent the Christ. Come down here, the Redeemer,
the Savior, the Messiah, the Covenant Head, the second Adam
from above, for His people, His chosen Israel, and all Israel
will be saved because the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses
us from all sin. Because those whom God has chosen,
given to Christ, He said He'll never cast them out. This is good news. Good news
to Jew and Gentile. Because we're all a bunch of
sinners. When Christ came, this is a faithful saying worthy of
all acceptation, because Christ Jesus came into the world to
save sinners, called His name Jesus. That's what He is, Savior,
and that's what He did. Salvation's in His hand. So He
came. Here's the truth. Here's the
truth now. Man is evil. That's what God said. Man is
depraved. Man is totally corrupt. That's
what God said. But God chose some of them. Had to, they wouldn't have chosen
Him. Had to. God chose them. God gave them
to Jesus Christ to redeem them. Gave the blood atonement of Christ
for their ransom. The Spirit of God in time calls
them out of darkness into light. Calls them from hating God to
loving God. Calls them out of death to life.
Calls them by His gospel. Calls them all. What's the gospel? Not of what. It's who. Christ,
He said, My sheep hear My voice. The Spirit of God comes, they
hear. Their eyes are opened. The new
heart given. They bow the knee to Jesus Christ.
With the tongue they confess. And they get in the pool. They
all confess Him. This is Christ. This is the truth. The saints, all the sons of God,
they will be sons forever. Spiritual history. Israel means prince with God.
Why are they called princes? Because their father is their
king. So we came to the Jews. Our Lord
said to that woman at the well, He said, Salvation's of the Jews. Didn't He? She didn't know what
He was talking about. He told her, You don't know what
you worship. We know what we worship. We know
what we believe. Salvation's of the Jews. A sovereign
God? an ordained, chosen high priest,
a blood atonement for a particular people, and it's done. That all
represents Jesus Christ. That all represents a sovereign,
holy, electing God who chose a people in Jesus Christ before
the world began. A great high priest who came
and made that atonement now ever lives to make intercession. The
Spirit of God comes, rounds them all up, and they're all going
to be with Him in heaven. It's a done deal. Salvation is legit. Spiritual
Jews. Spiritual Israel. All Israel
is going to be saved. Are you with me? What about the
Gentile? What's this got to do with the
Gentile? Well, the Jews were given laws. I'm going to have
to bypass the whole page. I'm glad. I have notes. I was
hoping I wouldn't have to use them. What's this got to do with the
Gentile? That's us. Well, the Jews were given laws.
God was so gracious. Man's born like a wild animal.
You know that? Man is born a wild animal. Unless God tames him, he'll become
a devil. Man's a wild animal unless God
does something for him, unless God restrains him, unless God
changes his nature. The Jews were given laws. The
Jews were given laws of God that reflected the holy nature and
character of God. He didn't give it to the rest
of the world. They lived like dogs, eating, drinking, and sex. That's all they cared about.
Their God was their belly. Their God was their senses. If
it feels good, do it. That's what we're here for. No,
God said to the Jews, that's not what you're here for. That's
not why you're created. You're creating the image of
God. So God gave the Jews His chosen people. Laws and rules
and things that reflected His character said, now worship me.
Now glorify me. Now don't live like a dog. Live
like a man. Live like you're intended to
live. The laws were, as it were, some restraining influence on
open sin. But did it give them life? Could
they keep it? No. But the law showed the exceeding
sinfulness of sin. If there hadn't been any laws,
men were a law to themselves like the Gentiles. If it seemed right in their eyes,
they did it. That's what people are doing now. This modern society, you know,
wants to take God out of everything and the Ten Commandments out
of all of that. But brother, you can't do that. I mean, you
can do it physically, but the law is written right here. You
don't have to post it on the walls of the courthouse. It's
written right here. And so men and women are accountable
for it. Why did God do this? Because we're born animals. Is that not right? Now the Gentiles represent the
rest of the world. No God, no law. Like he said
to the Ephesians, you're without God, without hope, without law
in the world. But God chose some dogs. God so loved the world. God who destroyed the whole world,
full of people. But God so loved the world. Not every person in the world.
Ain't nobody in the world worth loving. But God chose a people
out of every. Isn't God good? Out of not just
Jews, but Gentiles. Not just this tribe, but every
tribe. Every kindred. Every family. Every nation. Every tongue under
earth. Glory be to God. I told you everybody wants to
be Irish. I'm Irish. I come from Ireland. Not family. They were a bunch of heathen.
Naked. That's how all of us were. Naked. But God. Gentile dogs. Go with me to Luke
chapter 4. Luke chapter 4. Rejoice ye Gentiles! Rejoice, dogs! Luke chapter 4. This is when
our Lord came to His hometown of Nazareth, okay? Full of good
Jews. Full of good Jews, good religious
people. Never missed a Sabbath day all
their lives. And here came the truth. Here
came the truth personified, Jesus Christ. Here came God walking
in there. He stood up and read the scripture.
And here's what he said to them. Verse 25, Luke 4, I tell you
of a truth. There were many widows in Israel
in the days of Elijah when the heaven was shut up, three years
and six months. Great famine throughout all the
land, but unto none of them was Elijah saved unto Sarepta, a
city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow." A Gentile woman. God didn't save any of them because
they were Jews. He saved one Gentile woman. Read
on. He said, many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha
the prophet, and none of them was cleansed, save Nehemiah the
Syrian. A leper! You know that story,
don't you? And when they heard death, the
Jews heard death. Salvation by God's sovereign
choice, not man's heritage, not man's works, not man's keeping
the law, not your righteousness. It's all completely His sovereign
choice, His sovereign power, His sovereign redemption. And
they were filled with wrath, just like the average Southern
Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian place that if I preached this
this morning, they'd be filled with wrath, want to throw me
off the hill. And Christ passed them. The truth came, and the
truth went, and passed them by. Why? They hated it. Do you love the truth? Do you
love God's sovereign right to choose whom He will? Do you now? You must be one of God's chosen.
You must be one of God's elect. There was a time when you didn't
love Him. There was a time when you can't say, I don't like that.
I'm going to prove Him wrong. But, God. Rejoice, Gentile. Look at Matthew 15. Matthew 15. Oh, you get six or seven messages
in one this morning. Matthew 15, look at this. This
is a story about a dog, a woman. The Lord called her a dog. Matthew
15, verse 21, the Jews departed, Jesus departed into the coast
of Tyre and Sidon. Where is Tyre and Sidon? If you
look on your map in the back of your Bible, it's the uttermost
coast. It's as far away from Jerusalem
as you can get. Why? Because He came to save
to the uttermost. Them that come unto God by Him.
And here comes this woman. Why'd she come? God chose her. God gave her to Christ. And the
Holy Spirit said, you go to Him. Alright, listen to what he said.
Behold, a woman came out of the same coat and cried unto him
and said, have her what she wants, what she needs, what she's calling
for, mercy! You'd be hard-pressed to find
one single good Christian today sitting at a church house that's
calling for mercy! But I'm here to tell you, I'm
here to tell you, every person that calls for mercy is going
to hear what this woman says. She said, have mercy on me, O
Lord, thou Son of David. Christ didn't call him Jesus.
She said, Lord and Christ. My daughter is grievously vexed
with the devil. How does she know? Because she
was. She was born that way. She knew her daughter was born
that way. But he answered her not a word. He ignored her. Or
did he? No, he didn't. the article about prayer this
morning. He will have His people call upon Him. How much? One
time? All the time. All their days. And never quit calling. Importunity. Have mercy on me. He answered
her, not a word. His disciples came. She went
to them. And it's a good thing. God has
raised up men. who have the truth, who have the gospel, go and hear
what they say. But they can't help you. You
know what they'll do? They'll point you right back
to Christ. Verse 24, He answered and said
to them to tell her, I'm not sent but unto the lost sheep
of the house of Israel. I'm here for the elect. I'm here
for the elect. Israel. Not Gentiles. Israel! She came, verse 25, and she worshipped
Him, saying, Lord, help me. And He answered and said, it's
not fit, it's not me, to take the children's bread, the children
of Israel, God's children, take this bread, this Word, and cast
it to Gentile dogs. Now, what's she going to do? She's going to bow. She's going
to confess that she's a dog. She believes everything he said
is the truth. He is the truth. Look at what
she said, verse 27, to everything he said about the truth and about
himself and about her, she said, truth. A lot of people say, well, that's
true, but no, she didn't say that. Truths. Everything you said is truth.
I'm a dog. I don't deserve it. It's not
fit. It's not me. It's not right. You shouldn't
hear me. You shouldn't listen to me. You shouldn't receive
me. You don't deserve it. Yet, the
dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from the master's table. She said, I'm a dog. That's true.
And I want to be your dog. And the Lord answered her and
said, O woman, great is thy faith. She believes. Why does she believe?
This Gentile woman, where did she get this faith? Not of herself. It's the gift of God. This is
one of God's elect. Rejoice, ye Gentile. Do you say
with this woman? Truth. Everything you say is
the truth. Everything you say about salvation
is true. It's for God's chosen people.
It's true. And I don't know if I'm one of
them or not. I know the elect will be saved, but I want to
be. And I'm just a dog. I don't deserve it. I know that.
But Lord, would you please count me among your chosen ones. Rejoice, you Gentiles. Alright, look at our text again.
Romans 15. Romans 15. And again, he said,
Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people. And again, praise the
Lord, ye Gentiles. Laud him, all ye people. I reckon
that woman did. Her daughter? Oh, she sure did.
Her daughter. And again, Isaiah said, there
will be a root of Jesse. Remember that. The next message. I want to talk a lot about Jesse.
And he'll rise to reign over the Gentiles. Rise to reign.
Remember that. And in Him shall the Gentiles
trust. Yeah, in Him. They'll be blessed,
didn't Brother David... David, what a good name. David
preached that, didn't he? In Him, all will be blessed.
In Him shall the Gentiles trust. Now, parting prayer. May God of hope fill you with
all joy and peace and believing. Brethren, if you came empty this
morning, you'll go away filled. If you came poor and needy, you're
blessed. You'll be filled. If you came
hungry, you're going to... If you're poor and needy, the
gospel is going to be preached to you this morning. You're going
to hear it. You're going to believe it. You're going to rejoice.
If you're an empty vessel, but not if you're full of whatever, that's who this is for. Now,
a God of hope fills you. Fill you in a hopeless world.
Fill you with joy. We've got nothing to worry about. Read Sibbes' article on the best
is yet to come. You read that? Read it, people.
These articles are for you. The best is yet to come. We've
got nothing to worry about. We've got everything to look
forward to. Fill you with joy and peace. There's no peace for
the wicked, there's no rest for the wicked, but for those who
are in Christ, peace. I'm here to tell you, as an ambassador
of peace, ambassador of the Lord Jesus Christ, be reconciled to
God. God is angry with the wicked
every day. I'm here to tell you right now, bow the knee to His
Son and God says, peace to you. Otherwise, He won't be well with you. A
God of peace. And how? And what? What shall
we do? Believe. Sounds easy though. It's not.
It takes the power of God. Do you believe? What everything
said this morning. Do you believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ? Do you believe this is the truth?
God is, Christ is, you are, dog. Christ is your only hope. Do
you believe it? This is the truth. I believe this by the grace of
God. I believe this with all my heart. That's why I get so
worked up telling it. And I want everybody in here
to. I'm not here to just do good. I'm here for you to trust Christ.
I'm here for you to believe Christ. I want your soul saved. I want
you to save yourself from this untoward generation, this religious,
self-righteous, conceited, proud generation. I'm here to tell
you the truth that will make you free. Oh, pity the poor people that
are hearing all these things they're hearing today. Garbage! And look at verse 13, that you
may abound in hope. In such a hopeless world. I tell
you, you look around like Isaiah 8 says. You look to this earth
and it's all full of, Isaiah 8 says, trouble, darkness, dimness
and anguish. Men are driven to darkness. Drugs
prevail. Despair prevails. Men are looking
for something, don't know what they're looking for. Darkness. And their leaders are blind leaders
of the blind. Nevertheless. Isaiah 9 starts
with nevertheless. Some people that sat in darkness
have seen a great light upon them. Did you hear the radio
message about Saul of Tarsus? Upon him the light shone, the
light apprehended him, which is Christ. Oh, I'm praying, I'm
hoping, I'm preaching that Christ may this morning, right now,
apprehend somebody before it's ever lastingly too
late. It's just that serious. This is not just a sermon. This
is life or death. Today is the day of salvation.
I ain't just preaching doctrine. I'm not just going through Romans
15. I'm preaching the gospel. I'm preaching your hope. This
is your only hope. Christ is your only hope. Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. If you confess
with your tongue, and believe with all your heart, and confess
Him, and believe He was baptized, baptism is saved. Saved. Be with the Lord forever. What
mercy. How simple. What grace. I don't have to do anything. It's not up to me. Totally up to my Lord. And he
said, I'll do it. He said, I'm here to confirm
the promises. Verse 14, he said, I am persuaded
of you, my brethren. You're full of goodness. That's
two ways. The gospel is the good news,
isn't it? Goodness. Full of faith. Faithful. The gospel is the good news,
isn't it? You're full of that. Filled with
knowledge. The knowledge of Him. The knowledge
of Christ. And this means a new creature in Christ. A new creature
in Christ. God's people are the only good
people on earth. Really good in the eyes of God.
Why? Because Christ in them is their hope of glory. They're
the only good people. They're good people. When the
rich young ruler came to Christ and said, good master, he said,
why call yourself any good? There's nothing good but God.
Didn't he? Not good, but God. Christ is
a good man, wasn't he? But he also said that Joseph
of Arimathea was a good man. He said Barnabas was a good man.
And here Paul says, you're all full of goodness. To the believers,
you're full of goodness. To the Roman believer, he said
that. What's he talking about? Christ in you. It's not you. It's not your goodness. You don't
have any. It's goodness imparted. It's
goodness imputed. It's righteousness imputed. It's
righteousness imparted. It's Christ in you, the hope
of God. The life you now live, it's not
you. It's Him. And thank God, the
sin you commit, it's the old man. And God says,
he's dead. That's right, John. When the Lord said, that's what
Psalm 126 says, our mouths were filled with laughter. And they
said, the Lord has done great things for us. He did it all. Man, what a message. Fill us with hope, with joy,
peace, and what? Believing. And he says in verse
14, you are filled with all knowledge. What is all knowledge? Christ.
In Him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Able
to admonish one another. What's that mean? Correct one
another? You ought to quit your sinning, brother. That's not
what that's saying. Here is admonition. Don't forsake
the assembly of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but
exhort and admonish. Keep yourselves under the love
of God. Save yourselves from this untold regeneration. How?
Being under the gospel. Being where Christ is. Thomas. Thomas. He's alive. Come on,
Thomas. Come back with us. When he did,
he was filled with hope and joy and peace and believing with
the rest of us. Able to admonish one another.
Brethren, don't quit. Don't quit. Don't leave. Now is your salvation nearer
than when you first believed? You're almost there, John. You're
almost there. Don't quit now. Well, I'm here
to give you good news. You won't quit. You know why?
Because this man, like Boaz, won't quit until he's done the
matter. That's what Naomi said to Ruth. Ruth, he won't quit. And because
he's not a quitter, you won't either. Bless God. Rejoice, you
Gentiles. Think about it. When I started
reading this, I thought, here we are over here thousands of
miles from Jerusalem. That little town, that little
place over there, not about the size of Rhode Island. New Jersey,
I guess. that the whole world revolves
around that. And that's where it all came
from. That's where He came. And it all went everywhere. And here we are. Where are we?
Who are we? Galilee. Who are these people,
these Franklin Countians, these Galileans with this strange speech? They're God's elect. Paul, you're kidding me. Why would He come all the way
over here? Does He need any of the likes
of us? And so Paul says, I was sent,
verse 16, I'm a minister. Christ was a minister. to the
Jew and said, I'm a minister of the Gentiles, that the offering
up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy
Ghost. What offering up? What do we offer up? What do
the Gentiles bring to God? Same as the Jews, blood. Where'd
they get the blood? It was provided to them, the
blood of a lamb. And the only acceptable sacrifice
is Jesus Christ. And we come to God by Jesus Christ
only. The Holy Ghost has taught us
that. By the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost
has taught us that. Has taken the things of Christ
and shown them unto us. The mouth, the speech of all
of God's people is the speech of Jews. They speak of Christ. They're prayers. There's hymns. They're preaching. Everything
they do is Christ, Christ, Christ. Like that person said to Brother
Scott Richardson, all you do is preach Christ. She meant it
in derision. He said, write it on my tombstone.
And every one of us wanted to write it on a tombstone. He believed
Christ. She believed that Christ is all.
You know what all they talk about, all they believe, all they're
hopelessly is what? Tell me! Let them hear it! Christ! Anybody? Christ! Verse 17, he said, I glory through Jesus Christ and those
things that pertain to God. What a glorious gospel. What
a blessed God. Doctrine? Doctrine of election? Bayard used to say, election's
not a doctrine. It's a person choosing worthless
persons. It's a person coming, an indescribable,
all-glorious, majestic, altogether lovely, holy person, God, in
the person of Jesus Christ, coming to this despicable place, which
he is some day going to destroy and burn it up because he's going
to be done with it. But God, He's not like us. That's what holy means. Holy
also means merciful, gracious, kind, compassionate, condescending. And he came around
looking for some dogs, destined to be euthanized. Worthless dogs. And he came through the preaching
of the gospel. He said, you're mine. I've chosen you. And they know it by the call,
the gospel call. And you know, they never think
of themselves anything more than just dogs. Sons of Jacob. Jacob never thought of himself
as being an Israel. Said, what's your name? Jacob.
But God says, no, Israel. Jacob have I none. Esau, I hate
him. What do you say to these things? If God be for them. If Christ died, who can be against him? And everything
is for us. He said to the Jews, he said
to Isaiah, 43, he said, I gave Egypt for your ransom. I gave
Ethiopia and Saba. The whole world exists for God's
people. Can you believe that? I want to go home. But the next message, oh, we're going to see the hidden
king reveal. Okay. I don't know.