Good evening. What an honor and a privilege
to be here. I love your pastor. I love his wife. Dear friends
to Teresa and I, I want to address those of you here at Central
Grace Church. Your pastor loves you dearly.
His wife loves you dearly. And He has your eternal soul
on His heart. Never forget that. Never forget
that. Tonight, I want you to turn with
me to the Old Testament book of Zephaniah. If you find the
Gospel of Matthew and turn back four books, you'll find the little
book of Zephaniah, chapter 3. Zephaniah chapter 3. I want to
look at one verse tonight. Verse 17. Zephaniah 3 verse 17. The Lord thy God in the midst
of thee is mighty. He will save. He will rejoice over thee with
joy. He will rest in His love. He will joy over thee with singing."
What a verse. Now let's for just a few minutes
consider this one verse. So many times when studying the
Scriptures, we get in a hurry. And we hurry right over great
blessings. We need to just slow down. Consider. Ponder. That's a good word. That's
a Kentucky word. Ponder. God's Word to us. Let's look at the first ten words
for a moment. The Lord thy God is in the midst
of thee. This is talking about the Lord. Only one Lord. He's the Lord. That's who this book is about.
It's about the Lord. It's not about you. It's not about me. It's about
the Lord and what He's done for His people. These words are referring
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you know how I know? Because
He is the Lord. He's the Lord of lords. He's the King of kings. Just one. The Lord Jesus Christ. Immediately we see something
else here that should be a great blessing to us. It says, the
Lord thy God. Jesus Christ is God. That's very important. He's God. He's thy God. God consists of three Persons.
We know that. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit. And Jesus Christ, the Son of
God, and God the Son. and He is thy God. The Lord Jesus
Christ is God. Now we need to learn and understand
right off the bat that the Lord is God of all. Of all. He's the God of the believing
and He's the God of the unbelieving. Right? I had a religious fellow
recently tell me that he accepted Jesus. You've all heard that
language. And that when He did, that God
became His God. And I said, no, He's always been
your God. God is God, period. That's what
I'm trying to say. He's the Lord God of all. And the sinner's awareness of
God has no bearing on has no bearing at all on who the Lord
is. The sinner's awareness of God,
no more bearing on God being God than their opinion of Him.
Some folks have the wrong opinion of God. It doesn't change God
one bit. Your awareness and opinion of God doesn't change who He
is. The Lord thy God. He's going to have His way in
the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth,
whether you believe it or not. The inhabitants of the earth,
that includes those that are aware and believe God, the same
as it includes those that are not aware and don't believe God. He's God of all and Lord of all
whether sinners know it or not. And God has the right to do what
He will with His own. The Scriptures say that the earth
is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and all they
that dwell therein. Lost sinner, you belong to God. Whether you know it or not, maybe
not in a saving sense, but you're His nonetheless. But just because you belong to
Him does not mean that He belongs to you. Men and women today regard
God to be the little old man upstairs. You know, so disrespectful. We've all heard those. The little
old man upstairs that's subservient to the whims and the will of
men and women. God doesn't belong to anyone
that way. But to those whom God has given
a right understanding of Himself, they understand that He's God. And He does what He wills, when
He wills and how He wills. And the child of God rejoices
in that. Bruce and I were talking about today. I'm glad God's in
control, aren't you? I'm glad God's running this thing. Jesus Christ is my Lord and He
is my God. And one day every tongue is going
to confess that. And every knee is going to bow
to that. But right now, to his people,
the Lord Jesus Christ is thy God." Thomas, put your finger
in my hand. Take your hand and put it into
my side. What'd Thomas say? My Lord and
my God. He's my Lord and He's my God.
The Lord thy God in the midst of thee. That's what our verse
says. Truly God is not far from every one of us according to
Acts chapter 17. And to His chosen He's near at
hand to support, to supply, to protect and preserve. Truly He
is Emmanuel. Oh, I love that name, don't you? God with us. He's God and He's
with us. And to the lost, He's near. He's
ready to save all who will call upon His name. His sovereign
presence and purpose presides over all His creation, but to
His elect, to His people. He's near in their midst to do
them good all the days of their life. Who is? God is. God is. And it's His gracious providence
that causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust. It's
by His gracious giving that His sun shines not only upon the
believing, but also upon the reprobate. And this Lord, this God is always
in the midst, for He's everywhere all the time. We put a name on
it and we call it omnipresent, yet in a very special way. This
is what I want you to see, child of God. In a very special way,
the Lord our God is in the midst of His people. He's God to all,
but it's His sovereign prerogative to be Savior to some. In Exodus chapter 33, the same
Almighty God told Israel, He said, For I will not go up in
the midst of thee, for thou art a stiff-necked people, lest I
consume thee in the way. You see friends, it's God's right,
His entitlement, His prerogative to give or withhold His presence
and His grace. Men and women say, well, that
isn't fair. I haven't found anywhere in this
blessed book where God claims to be fair. The laborers in the vineyard
said, we worked all day and you gave us no more than you gave
those who only worked an hour. That isn't fair. That's not fair. And the master said, Friend,
I do thee no wrong. Dost thou agree with me for a
penny? I'll give unto this to the last,
even as unto thee. And then our Lord said, Is it
not lawful, is it not right for me to do what I will with mine
own? And isn't it? Yes, sir, it is. Is thine eye evil because I am
good? Read on. The Lord thy God in the midst
of thee is mighty. He's mighty. We're ungodly and
without strength, yet He is mighty. For when we were without strength,
He, Christ, our Substitute, died for the ungodly. He's mighty
to save. He's mighty. Mighty. It is He that speaks in righteousness,
mighty to save, Isaiah 63 verse 1. The godly died for the ungodly. The just died for the unjust. What a mighty, mighty work of
grace. Only a mighty work of grace alone
by a mighty God can save sinners. The Lord thy God in the midst
of thee is mighty. Notice those next three words.
I could spend eternity right here. He will save. He will save. Isn't that the
best news you've ever heard? It is if you're a sinner. It
is if you're a sinner, He will save. He not only can save, but
He will save. May we all learn what that poor
leper learned. He said, Lord, if You will. I know You can. I know You're
able. But if You will, You can make
me clean. I will. I will. Be thou clean. That's the good news. Our God
is as willing as He is able to save. Why folks don't believe that
God is able, I'll never know. He's able to save to the utmost,
to the farthest limit. He's able to completely and fully
save those who come to God by Him. seeing that He ever maketh
intercession for them. This Lord, this God is sitting
on the throne praying for you. Peter, Satan has desired to sift
you as wheat. I pray that your faith fail you
not. Oh my, He came to seek and to
save that which was lost, and He never seeks those that He
does not save. If He seeks you, He'll save you.
He came to seek and to save. If He never saves you, then He
never sought you. It's just that simple. For none
can resist His will, we know that. He will save. Oh, the certainty. Do you see the certainty of that?
He will save. He's full of power to save. He will display that power in
the salvation of His people. Lazarus. Come forward. Now let me ask you a question.
Was Lazarus given life when he came forth? That's what religion teaches. Well, my four-year-old granddaughter
knows that's not so. Lazarus was given life before
he came forth. At least three times in the Scriptures
that I'm aware of, probably more, we have the call and then we
have God enabling the sinner. With the command comes the ability. Lazarus come forth, the result,
and he that was dead came forth, immediately following. That young
man at the gate of Nain. Young man, I say unto thee, arise.
And the result, he that was dead set up. and begin to speak immediately. The call, damsel, I say unto
thee, arise. The result, and straightway the
damsel arose and walked." You see, friends, with the command
and the call comes the power and the ability. And where there's no call and
command, there's no salvation. A sinner that cannot call or
save themselves. Do you know why I love the election
of God? Do you know why I love the blessed
doctrine of election? Because it removes all doubt
about who does the saving. Doesn't it? If God chose me before
I ever was, then what do I have to do? That's pretty simple,
isn't it? Why do folks make it so hard? And I'm convinced that the seeking
and the saving of Christ won't mean much to you if you don't
see that you're lost and dead. God is going to save some lost
sinners. You know how I know that? Because
this verse says, He will save. He will save. That's the only
reason that this earth still spins. It's the only reason that
the sun came up this morning. Because God's still going to
save some sinners. He will seek and He will save.
You know His success rate is 100%. He doesn't try to save. He didn't make salvation just
possible. He didn't make salvation available
and leave it up to the sinner to decide whether or not they
want it. And that kind of thinking, I'm
telling you, it absolutely attempts to strip God of any and all authority. And some people say, well, we
just disagree on some things. No, it's much, much more than
that. It's an attempt by sinful man to strip God of His right
to do what He will with His own. God's never left anything up
to man, especially salvation. And so-called preachers stand
and cry and beg sinners to let God save them. Give Jesus your
heart. God don't want your heart. You know how I know? Because
it's wicked. Desperately wicked. Deceitful
above all things. My heart is on evil continually. God doesn't want your heart.
He's going to give you a new one if you're one of His. And I'm so glad that the Lord
answers the name that He was given. Thou shalt call His name
Jesus. He shall save His people from
their sin. Oh, He's able to keep our soul
that we've committed to Him. He's able to save to the uttermost
those who come to God by Him. He's God. He's going to convince every
child of God that salvation is His doing. Salvation is of the
Lord. I like to say this. I say it
at home a lot. I say, salvation is of the Lord.
Do you know what follows that in the Scriptures? And they go,
what? I said, a period. Salvation is of the Lord. Period. Right? Where does God save His people
from? Saves us from sin, Satan, self. I love to hear folks who know God pray. Very
often you'll hear one of God's people say, Lord, deliver me
from myself. That's a good prayer. Lord, deliver
me from me. He saves us from sin, Satan,
self. He saves us from the holy justice
of His law which must be kept perfectly. The Scripture says
it must be perfect to be accepted. You and I cannot provide what
God requires of us. That's why this is called the
Gospel. Is Christ doing for me what I
cannot do for myself? Holy wrath and judgment awaits
those who do not perfectly, perfectly keep God's holy law. He saves His people from death,
judgment, and hell in the grave. Why? Because He Himself provides
what He Himself requires. That's the gospel. He will save. Now look at this. When God does
save one of His elect, look at the verse, He will rejoice over
thee with joy. My mind immediately runs to the
father of the prodigal son when I think of that. Teresa and I
have a son, Andrews, his name, and we haven't seen him in about
six months. He is working in Saudi Arabia,
a far-off country. And a couple weeks ago, he scheduled
a visit to come into the States. And you know what all we thought
about for about a week or two before he came in was? Seeing
him. That's all we thought about.
Can't wait to see him. Can't wait to see that boy. When you haven't seen one of
your children in a while, and you find out that they're coming
home, you'll count the days, and then when the day comes,
you'll find yourself looking out the window a lot. And when that prodigal son was
yet a long way off, God's Word says that his father
saw him. I'm telling you, Bruce, his father
was looking for him. I'm sure every day, probably
several times a day, that father looked down that long winding
road that led to his house to see if his son was returning.
Maybe today, And his father saw him and had
compassion and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And
what joy the father rejoices with when his sons and his daughters
come home." That's what this verse is telling us. He will
rejoice over thee with joy. God's not waiting on the portals
of heaven, wringing His hands and begging and pleading, oh,
won't some sinner please come home? He's not softly and tenderly
calling, wringing His hands, threatening and going, I love
everybody, won't somebody love me back? That's the God that
religion portrays today. He's no God at all. But I tell
you, our God is on the portals of chosen sinners' hearts, drawing
them to Himself. And He rejoices. He rejoices
when He brings each and every one of them home to Himself. And I think about that prodigal
son. I think about it a lot. You know why? Because that's
me. That's a picture of me, isn't it? And a picture of you. He
said, Father, I've sinned against heaven. You see, out there in
that pig pen in the world, the Scripture says He came to Himself. We know how that happened. I remember when I came to myself,
but it wasn't me coming to myself. It was Him drawing me to Him,
showing me my need of Him. And that prodigal son said, I've
sinned against heaven, I've sinned in Thy sight, and I'm no more
worthy to be called Your son. And did you ever notice in that
story that the father didn't even acknowledge what he said? He didn't say, well, that's right,
son, you have wronged me. No, he turned to his servants
and he said, bring forth the best robe. That robe of perfect
righteousness. And put a ring on his hand, which is a mark of wealth and
dignity. And put shoes on his feet, what
an act of mercy and grace to the undeserving. Bring hither
the fatty calf and kill it and let us eat and be merry. For my son, this my son was dead
and is alive again, and he was lost and is found." And they
began to be married. In that same chapter, chapter
15 of the Gospel of Luke, our Lord said, What man of you, having
a hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety
and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost,
until he find it? And when he hath found it, he
layeth it on his shoulders. You want to know how you were
saved? He laid you on His shoulders
rejoicing. He layeth that sheep on His shoulders
rejoicing, and when He cometh home, He calleth together His
friends and His neighbors, saying unto them, Rejoice with Me. I have found My sheep which was
lost. He'll rejoice over thee. I say unto you that likewise
joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than
over ninety and nine just persons which need no repentance." The
conversion of sinners is the joy of angels, friends. Do you
know why? Because the saving of sinners
is the joy of God Himself. Oh, that's about the best news
I ever heard. Now I'm almost finished, but
I want you to look at this. He, speaking of God, will rest
in His love. If you have a marginal Bible,
you may notice that that word rest there means to be silent. God will be silent in His love. Man, I could chew on that for
a long time. God rests in His love. God is silent in His love. The scribes and the Pharisee
caught a woman in the very act of adultery. And they unmercifully
dragged her in front of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Scripture says
to tempt Him concerning what He might say should be done to
her. And they said to Christ, they
said, the law says that she should be stoned. What sayest thou? And with his finger he stooped
and he began to write in the dirt. I don't know what he wrote. I have a pretty good idea he
wrote some things they wished he hadn't have written. But he said this, he said, he
that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone
at her. And then he stooped down again
and began to write on the ground some more. And the Scriptures
say that they which heard it, being convicted by their own
conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even
into the last, and Jesus was left alone. with the woman standing
in the midst." Who's standing there? The sinner and the Savior. And when Jesus had lifted Himself
up and saw none but the woman, He said unto her, Woman, where
are thine accusers? Where they at? Hath no man condemned
thee? And she said, No man, Lord. No man. And what did he say? Neither do I. Neither do I. Go and sin no more. Friends, when God saves a sinner,
He's silent about our faults. Silent of any accusation to us. Silent about our sin. He's silent
of any reproof He's silent in correction and He'll make all
others silent because the redeemed of the Lord are now holy and
unblameable and unreprovable. Above reproof. That's what unreprovable
means. Above reproof in His sight. He's
silent about our sin. Do you know why? Because we don't
have any. We don't have any. Oh, you missed
a good place to say amen. We don't have any. Christ has taken it all upon
Himself and He's given us His perfect righteousness. Do you know what God's silence
has turned into? Look at it one more time. The
Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty. He will save. He will rejoice over thee with
joy. He will rest in His love. He will joy over thee with sin." What's that sound coming from
heaven? It's the most beautiful sound
I ever heard. What could it be? Well, it's the Lord singing. He's singing with joy in His
heart. Oh, He that was once grieved
over the sinner's sin now takes great pleasure in their redemption. And I don't know about you, but
if God is singing with joy in His heart for me, oh, shouldn't
I be singing with joy in my heart for Him? Isn't that the greatest story
that's ever been told? That's the greatest story that
the sinner has ever heard, the chosen sinner. And did you notice,
let me just say this in finishing, did you notice all the he wills
in that verse? That's the gospel, the story
of how the Lord our God will save, will rejoice with joy,
will rest, be silent, and His love for His people. He will
joy over the sinner with singing. He will do all these things. For He will have mercy on whom
He will have mercy. And we're right back to being
shut up once again to the mercy, love, and grace of God in Christ. Lord, if You will, You can make
me clean. And the Scripture says, Jesus
moved with compassion. God has moved with compassion
for you who are His people. I can't get over that. He was
moved with compassion and He put forth His hand and He touched
him and He said unto him those two words that we all long to
hear. I will. I will. Be thou clean. I believe that's
the truth, don't you? God, enable me to believe it
more. Help thou my unbelief. I sure appreciate your attention.
Thank you, Paul.