That's not only just a beautiful
old hymn, melodic and poetic, but very scriptural. Psalm 150, let everything that
hath breath praise it. Psalm 103, that all that is within
me. Bless the Lord, O my soul. All
that is within me. Adore Him. Let the Amen sound from His people again. May the Lord give us such hearing
ears this morning that we say, Amen. That's just wonderful. At Isaiah 55, we came over here
a few weeks back, didn't we, and began to look at this. We looked at how God's high thoughts
and ways spoke of His mercy. And I remember
that message well, those verses. After the Lord told David, through
Nathan, of his mercies to him, David said, Is this the way of
man? That's what the Lord is saying
there. My thoughts are not your thoughts. Men don't do things
this good. Men aren't this merciful and
good. I am. My, my. We went there and we've been
stuck here. It's a good place to get stuck.
Isaiah 55. I don't know of any passage that's
more God-honoring. There are many equally so, but
none more so. None more Christ-exalting. Christ said, If I be lifted up.
And we say we preach Christ, and we do. Because salvation
is to look to Him. Salvation is to know Him. Salvation
is to come to Him. Salvation is to leave Him. Salvation
is to be loved by and love Him. We preach Christ. That's what
we do. It's not just a doctor, but a person. We preach Him because
He is life. He is life. He that hath the
Son hath life. And we want people to have life.
I want you to have life. I want to have life. I want our
children to have life. So how do they get life? There's
life in the Lord Jesus Christ. So we preach Christ, our life. And if God, the Holy Spirit,
will move upon us, you create life by looking at that serpent
on the pole. Christ crucified. And I don't know of a passage
in all of God's Word more Christ-exalting than this, which you're going
to look at with me this morning. Three titles given to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, you young mothers, I want
you with me, okay? The Lord's given us seven beautiful,
healthy babies. The Lord didn't have them before. And they're going to be all right.
If they start crying, forget it. All right? I want you to start crying. I want to hear you cry. And then there will be comfort.
All right? I know. I know. I'm not a hard
old man. I know you're concerned. But
I'm more concerned about you. All right? The Lord is speaking
through Isaiah to his people of the mercies of God. The mercies of a covenant God. That sound good to you? We looked at that, tried to last
Wednesday. Sure mercies of David. Sure. Unalterable. Unchangeable. Eternal. Everlasting covenant. Ordered
in all things and sure. It's all the salvation of God's
people. But it doesn't matter what happened to your house,
if He's made with you, then it's alright. But it's more than that. It's wonderful. The sure mercies
of David. Did you hear that? That's what
the Lord is speaking to His people about. The sure mercy. Those
who hunger and thirst, and those who come, and those who hearken,
and those who hear, and those who eat, and those who delight
themselves in this. That's who this is for. the needy,
the poor and the needy, the hungry, the thirsty. They'll be filled,
filled with joy, filled with gladness, delight. Their soul will be delighted
in these mercies. This is what we need. We keep
saying this. This is an old doctrine, isn't
it? This is a doctrine of God's sovereign grace and mercy, but
it really is what we sinners need. And we're going to find
out someday when God destroys this God-forsaken planet when
He shows no mercy. No mercy. No mercy. Boy, Noah, it really struck Noah,
didn't it? Finally. It really struck Noah
when he was in the ark and he heard nothing but cries for mercy. And there was no mercy. No more
mercy. No more. God's been merciful to us. You
see, like I was talking about those babies the Lord has given
us? So that's why we come here. Lord, thank You. Thank You. I've got reason to
listen real carefully. I've got reason to be here and
sing these songs from the depth of my heart and from the top
of my lungs. I've got reason. Look what He's done for me. And
I'm the greatest recipient in here of the grace of God. Where I came from, you're looking
at the prodigal son. You're looking at Mephibosheth.
Oh, I've got the greatest cause to be here, Brother Henry, to
sing the loudest. You know, Brother Spurgeon, didn't
he say there in that article, he said there's only going to
be one argument in glory. He called it the birds of paradise.
They're only going to disagree over one thing. It's who should
sing the loudest. Who received the most grace,
huh? So this is what the Lord is talking
about. I'd sure like to preach the gospel,
the sure mercies of David, more than come out. I'd like for it
to come out more than just sounding like the doctrines of grace.
I really would. Come out in such a way that Each
one of us personally would say, God's been merciful to me. That's
what sovereign grace is. God has shown mercy to me. Me. Now, the sure mercies of
David. We talked about the sure mercies
of David. The everlasting covenant. The
eternal covenant. That's this compact, this agreement. that God made before the world
began, and written, and put in a book, and sealed, and it can't
be, nobody can change it. the sure mercies of David. Meaning, he says, I've taken
you from the sheepfold and I've put you, set you among princes.
I have watched over you all of the days of your life and will
continue to do so. Given you rest round about from
your enemies. Nobody's going to bother you
anymore from here on out. That's the gospel is what that
is. And all of that is because of one person. And the Lord tells us, here he
is, verse 4, Behold, I have given him. How do you know God's mercy? This is how. What is this covenant? It's not
a what. We keep saying that, don't we? It's not a what. It's
not what you know. We keep saying that, don't we?
It's not. It's who knows you. The Lord one time said to a bunch
that apparently had some correct doctrine, he said, I never knew
you. I never knew you. The Lord, here is how we know.
He says in verse 4, I have given him, him, him, salvations of
him. I have given him. Four. And these three things. I've given him for a witness
to the people, a leader and commander to the people. And he'll call
the people, he says, that thou knowest not, or that is like
Isaiah said, that were not my people, they'll be my people,
and that knew not be. Those that sought me not, seek
me. I'm going to call them. This witness, this leader, and
this commander. Three blessed titles. Are you
with me? Three blessed titles that to add to the many which
the Lord Jesus Christ bears. Great titles. Don't you love
the titles of the Lord Jesus Christ and all that they mean?
Prophets. That prophet. That woman at the
well, she ran home and said, this is Him. That prophet that
Moses wrote of. He's here. He's going to tell
us all things. He just told me. told me everything
about myself and more. That prophet priest, if anybody
was ever in Catholicism in here, and I know somebody was, what
a blessing to be brought out of that vile, false religion
and to be introduced to, united to the great high priest, Jesus
Christ. who is not corrupt, who is not
a filthy fellow, but sinless and doth put away. You are seeing
these fellows that people all over the world, millions, millions
are fooled by, millions upon millions are fooled by and confessing
their sins to a man who is worse than they are. Worse than they
are. And he can't put away one sin
of his own, let alone theirs. John's scripture says we have
a high priest. And he's in the heavens. He's not in Rome. He's not in
St. Peter's. St. Peter's in him.
He's in the heavens, seated there. One mediator between God and
man. The man. Man. Jesus Christ. Like us. Touched
in all points as we are, yet without sin. And he puts them
away. He actually puts them away. Absolves
us of all wrongdoing. All things. Just all things. Put them away. All things. We
have a priest. And that's not my subject. Yes,
he is. But that's not the title. King!
King! Don't you love that? And I better
go on or I'll get stuck there. King, prophet, priest, king.
I wish this nation had a king. It scares me that Jezebel might
be elected next time. Not for me. Not for Henry. Henry is not going to be around
much longer. For our children, though. No
telling the moral decay of this country when Jezebel is elected.
No telling. Ahab was a few years back, wasn't
he? Ahab was, and it declined greatly.
So I am concerned about my children. But I'd rather have a king, a
good king, a kind king, a godly king, a benevolent king, like
David. Well, you know what? We do have
one. Robin, we do have one. He's seated
right now on the throne. Prophet, priest, king. But that's
not my subject, but not the title anyway. These are three titles
that add to so many, so many. The Lord says in verse 4, He
said, Behold. Do you know that word is used
more than a thousand times in Scripture? Behold. Mostly in the Old Testament. Behold, it means, I don't look
up all words, but behold, it means be shocked by this. Be
shocked by this. This is something greatly surprising,
amazing, that you ought to just stop, think, be shocked, behold. Like when God says behold your
God over in Isaiah 40, right? Like when he said in Isaiah 42,
Behold, my servant. Like John said, Behold, the Lamb
of God. He says here, Behold, I have
given him, for a witness, for a leader, for a commander, to
the people. I've given him to the people. You know, God gave Christ God
gave a people to Christ, didn't it? Before the world began. The children being not yet born.
He chose a people, elected a people, and gave them to Christ, didn't
he? All that the Father giveth man, he said. You know, in time, God gave Christ
to those people. Like a marriage. Over in Isaiah
54, verse 15 says, your maker is your husband. See, God gave
Christ a bride. And every one of them were like
Gomer. They ended up like Gomer and Nancy. Every one of them
did. Our great Hosea married a forlorn, they're all forlorn
women. Fallen women. Prostitutes. Don't you know that Gomer was
so glad that God gave Hosea to her? God gave Christ to a people.
Old Brother Scott Richardson was fond of saying this. Boy, that's going to hit us soon. He used to say that. I remember Old Brother Scott.
Righteous men go in the world, I know. But anyway, he used to
say this. He used to be fond of when he'd
see a fellow who'd married a good woman like Gabe. He'd say, you've
outmarried yourself. Actually, he'd say that to everybody.
Most men I know have outmarried themselves. Do you men agree? I know your wives. You need to
be doing this. Tammy. Okay, Ron. Outmarried yourself. Well, I'm here to tell you that God gave this woman such
a husband. And I've outmarried myself. Haven't
you? And all the bride throughout
heaven is going to sing together. We've outmarried ourselves. The Lord gave him to the people. You see, that's a blessing. Stop
and think about this. Just be shocked by this, John
David, that God Almighty chose you. Who are you? David, after
God said this to David, I took you. I took you. I didn't take your brother. I
didn't take your sister. I chose you. And I brought up
what I'd done for you. And I gave these sure mercies
to you. And I gave you to Christ and I gave him to you. And David
said, who am I? Why would you do this to me?
Especially when he got older. Especially when he got older.
The older he got, when he took his worst fall ever, Brother
Henry, when he was older, that's when he wrote Psalm 51, wasn't
it? That's when he really thought,
that's when he really knew, Brother John, from the heart, oh, who
am I? Not only chose me in the beginning,
but put up with me. In my later years, an old dog,
he didn't destroy this old dog. Called him out of the pack. Dog's a dog. No, but if you're his dog, that's
your salvation, you see. He remembers his covenant. We
forget him, John. He doesn't forget us. He can't.
Can't deny himself. You love that verse, don't you?
Don't ever quit loving it. Oh, God forbid that we should
ever quit loving it and hear that without... Who am I? See, that's what sovereign election,
the message of sovereign election, God's sovereign election ought
to do to us. You know, every time there's something wrong,
granted, I don't preach it like I want to. Granted, I don't preach
it like I ought to. Granted, the half of it's never
been told. Never! That will, that this finite,
this vessel of clay, but, but. He says, I have given him, him,
him, the altogether lovely, most high son of the most high God. Of whom the world is not worthy.
Especially us. This little church. Oh, man. Who are we and what is this house?
Huh? A bunch of nobodies. From nowhere. And not much use to the Lord,
are we? We're not much good in His service,
are we? We're just not. Starting with me. But God. This house. This house, what
an amiable place. God gave us Christ. And look
what He said. I've given Him for three things.
I've given Him a witness. I've given Him as a leader and
commander. Would you stay with me just about
20 minutes and you just might go out of here with joy. He said,
I've given him as a witness. Go with me to John chapter 1.
John chapter 1. Now, a witness. Anybody in here
ever been called to be a witness in a trial in a court of law? Had you? Well, then you know
that a witness in a court of law is called forth by the court
to testify. What? To testify what you've
seen or heard. They don't want your opinion.
Do they? Everybody in that place has got
an opinion, like someone once said, like a certain part of
our anatomy. Everybody's got one, and they
show it. They do. Men really do show it
when they start giving their opinion. The court, we don't
need an opinion. You know that? What this is all
about, what we're doing here this morning, Monty, what we're
doing here this morning is looking into who God is. We're seeking
God. We want to know the truth. Is this God's Word or not? Who
is God? How may we know God? Can we know
God? What's God like? Does God speak
to people? What does He say? What's He like? Is God the Creator? Is God the
Judge? Is God holy? Is God just love? How is God? What's He like? Can anybody tell us? We don't need opinions, do we? Everybody's got one. Their own
interpretation, they call it. That's what they call it. Well,
that's your interpretation. I'm not standing up here this
morning trying to give my interpretation of God's Word. What does God say? What does
He say? How may he be known? What's he
like? Can we know him? How do we approach him? How do
you worship him? I mean, is God to be worshipped?
How do you worship him? Will God have anything to do
with us? Will God accept us? How? Will he? Will he speak to
us? Who can tell? Who's seen God?
John, verse 18 of John chapter 1 said, No man hath seen God
at any time. Nobody. Ever. If anybody ever
stands up and says, God told me, or I saw a vision, he's a
liar. Right? That's what this book
says. No man has seen God. Well, who
can tell us? One. There's one witness. One faithful witness can tell
us, Ron, not his opinions. but what he seen and heard. No man hath seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared Him. He hath declared Him. The only
begotten Son. The Lord Jesus Christ came to
bear witness of God. In verse 15, you see, John is
witness of Him. You see, the preacher, the true
preacher, the apostle is a messenger. An apostle of who? He's an apostle
of who? The apostle of Christ, right?
The messenger, he's a witness of Christ. The true preacher
sent by God is to bear witness of Christ, right? If he doesn't,
God didn't send him, and he doesn't know God, and he's a false prophet.
But now Christ came, John, to bear witness of God, didn't he? Father, tell us who God is. Christ came forth the witness. Revelation says the faithful
and true witness. Everything he says is true. You
know, God Almighty, chapter 1, verse 1 says, In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God. Verse 14 says, The
Word was made flesh. God was manifest in the flesh. While Christ was on this earth,
God, if somebody were to ask, What is God like? You could say,
There he is. Huh? There he is. Go find out. Didn't the same one over in Isaiah
that said, Come unto me, oh, everyone that thirsted, didn't
he say that again? Didn't he say it again while on this earth? Christ, didn't he say, everyone
that thirsted, come to me. Come to me. Who? God. God, that's it. Will God accept
us? There he is. Obvious, yes. The answer is yea
and amen. All the promises, the acceptance,
right there he is, are in Christ. Will God have anything to do
with sinners? Yea and amen. There he is, the
friend of sinners. of publicans and sinners. Will
God accept us? Yay and amen. In the beloved,
not there. Will God speak to us? I want
God to speak to us. He did in these last days. In
sun, the sun spoke. We're not in the dark. God spoke. Didn't Christ say, Peter, James,
John, all of them were worried. Christ was leaving. He said,
you believe God, don't you? I know you do. I gave you that faith. You believe
God? What did he say? Believe also
in me. Oh, but show us the Father. Show
us the Father. What did he say? Philip, have
I been so long with you? You don't know me? He that hath seen me, I had seen
the Father. I and the Father are one. The works, I do. They bear witness
to that. Oh, Thomas, the Lord finally
removed all his doubts and fears, didn't he? The great witness
and Thomas Elton, my Lord and my God. It's a person, you see. This is why, oh my, well, my,
my, a court of law, Robin, you said you were in a court of law.
What did they make you do? They made you stand up and swear,
didn't they? That's what they, they still
do it? They still use the Bible? That'll probably end soon. But
anyway, they used to make you, still make you stand up and put
your right hand That's your right hand and your left hand. And
they say, the bailiff will say, do you swear to tell the whole
truth? We don't want an opinion here.
But you've seen and heard. To tell the truth. The whole
truth. Half the truth is a lie. What's the term for lying in
court? I forget. Well, I can't hear
you. You know what I'm saying. The
whole truth and nothing but the truth. So help you God. God is your witness. This is
a witness. This is going to bear witness whether you tell the
truth or not. Somehow or another. Some way or another. In the end,
it's going to come out. The truth is going to come out.
You see? Put your hand right there. Do you? You say, and everybody
does, and they're all liars. They're all liars. There's not
a faithful witness among the bunch. But they say it on a stack
of Bibles. Truth's going to come out. But
Christ came. Are you with me? God sent the
faithful witness. And He didn't put His hand on
the Bible. He is the Bible. And if asked
him, he would say, I am the truth. That's what Pilate said, Pilate
that ignoramus, who the one standing in front of him, he gave him
his power. That one standing in front of
him, he's seated on the throne because he put him there. And
Pilate said, what is truth? That's what all these ignoramuses
all over the place today, all these people in high power are
saying, what is the truth? All these ants putting their
fist in the face of God, what is truth? Prove yourself. Christ
didn't answer that man, did he? Don't you know I have power over
you? Boy, he answered him then, didn't he? You have no power
over me at all. What is truth? It ain't a what. Christ said, I am. He stood forth. And there are very few people
who believe this faithful and true witness. You know that?
There are very few people who believe that if you believe,
the witness is in you. He's put that witness in you.
That's what Paul wrote about. He had to believe that the Son
had the witness in Himself. He's bore witness to you, Nancy.
He's taken you, not Pilate, you and told you, I am that I am. I'm the true. I'm the way. Oh,
but Billy Graham says there's other way. He's a liar. Though we are an angel from heaven,
say anything else. Christ said, I'm the way. Oh,
the Muslims don't like that. So what? Huh? I am the truth. Everything else,
all religions are a lie. I am the life. You can't come
to God but by name. Do you believe that? Do you really believe that that
man who walked this planet 2,000 years ago, do you really believe?
Do you stake your eternal destiny on? Are you willing to lose everything? This is where it will be known. That this one is not just the
Son of God, but He's God. And all your eternal, all your
future, everything, you're looking to Him, depending on Him. Everything.
Do you? Oh, blessed art thou. Highly
favored. You have the witness in yourself.
He's come personally and bore witness to you. He said, my sheep
are going to hear my voice. I'm going to tell you who God
is. It's me. Oh, I'd love to stay right here
a long time, but Barbara, you see, the whole world is arguing
about who He is. They were then, they are now, they still are.
He's the Son of God. Well, He's God. He's the Son of God. Well,
He's this. The Mormons say, we believe He's the Son of God.
He's just not God. Jehovah's Witnesses say, well, we believe
He's the Son of God, but not just Jehovah. John, we know who
he is, don't we? He's told us. They say, he never
said he was God. No, he didn't say that to them.
He didn't say that to them. But God said, they'll all know
me, isn't it? My sheep. They said, if you be
the Christ, I mean, the Christ, Catherine, the only one, not
a doctrinal person, only one that can get you to heaven. If you be the Christ, tell us
plainly." He said, I told you, but you believe not. Why? You're
not my sheep. And Jerry, he plainly said, I
told you, you believe not, you're not my sheep. As I said, my sheep
hear my voice. I know them, they follow me.
I speak to them. I call them by name. I'm the
good shepherd. I lead them out. And they follow
me. All the days of their life. You're one of the call. Oh my. That brings me to my next thing.
It says, he's our leader. Now hold on now, this is good. Really folks, this is good. Isaiah
said, eat that which is good. I talked about good preaching.
If it's Christ filled, it's good preaching. Brother Nybert used
to say, if God's being glorified, if man's being abased and Christ
is being exalted, and men are pointed to it, it's good. It
doesn't get any better than this. This is good. Eat this, all right? We have a leader. He said, I've
given him as a leader. Go with me to Mark chapter 10,
real quickly. Mark 10. We've already looked
at this, not long ago. And Matthew's gospel is the same
account. Mark chapter 10. We're going
to see Christ our leader. People need a leader. Most people don't think they
do, but they do. They do. A leader. An army needs
a captain, don't they, Brother Henry? Can you imagine all those
raw recruits just, they stood up and said, well, anybody, John,
you're in the army. Hey, I'll do what you If you
like doing, they go home. An army needs a captain, don't
they? Somebody out front. Sheep? Oh, sheep. Our poor, pitiful
little creatures, you know that? They've got to have a shepherd.
One thing about a sheep more than any other is they're prone
to wander. Oh, we like sheep have gone astray,
but the Lord is my shepherd. We have a shepherd. We have a
leader. We have a captain of our salvation. Look at Mark 10,
verse 32. It says, They were in the way
going up to Jerusalem. Do you remember looking at that
with me? They were in the way. And Sherry, we're in the way. We're in the way. If we're in
Christ, we're in the way. He set our feet in paths of righteousness
for His name's sake. We're in the way. We're not in
the broad way, but the narrow way. Sherry, narrow way. You're not singing, you know,
all this and going through all these motions and playing like
Liberazzi and everything to show everybody your talents for the
Lord and all that stuff. You play them because necessity
is laid upon you for the glory of God and for the good of the
church. And praise to Him. Oh, blessed are you, Sherry.
You're in the way. You're not in Broadway religion. You're in Narrow Way Truth. We're in the way. We're going
up to Jerusalem. And this is not my text, but we're going
up, Sammy, we're going up. This whole thing, Kelly, this
whole salvation, and I hope someday Kelly Parks is hearing me. Kelly
Hendry. Oh my, we're going up. You see,
this whole thing, buddy, is him taking us beggars from off the
dung heap. Over in Exodus 3, verse 8, it
says, I've come down to bring you out to bring you up. Remember
that? God says, I've come down. We
can't go up unless He comes down. I've come down to do what? Bring
you out because I'm destroying Egypt. I'm bringing you out as
a brand from the burning. I'm plucking you out to do what? Bring you up. I'm taking you
up with Me to Jerusalem. Are you with me? I hadn't seen, hear, hadn't heard,
hadn't entered into our hearts the things that God has prepared
for us. I go to a prepared place for you. That's what he said
there in Isaiah 55, a house. Are you going to build me a house?
He said to David. Are you going to build me a house? I'm building the house. David,
your house is going to be in shambles. Everything about you,
everything you ever do is going to be nothing. Wait till you
see what I've done for you. My bride. I built the house. Leader. Where am I? Oh, verse 32 says they were in
the way and Jesus went before them. He was out front. That's where he ought to be.
That's where Captain belonged. Brother Ron, that's where captains,
real captains years ago, that's where they used to be. Not now,
back in the bunker, you know, on a radio. No, no. Out front. First to be shot at. Leading the way. Captain. That's where the shepherd is.
Our Lord said in John 10, he said, he calleth his sheep out
and he goeth before them. And he literally was always before
them. He went before them. They never
knew where they were going. You know that? They never knew
where they were going. They never knew what he was doing.
They never knew. They really were. They were in
the dark about most everything. They didn't know. He told them
their problem. Hannah, the problem most of the
time was he told them, but they weren't listening. Like you tell
your children all the time. This is this and this is that.
And then later on, they forget it all. And what's wrong? I told you. And he did. But most of the time, they didn't
know where he was going. Polly, they didn't know what
the next day would bring forth. Polly, neither do we. Neither do we. We don't know. I was sitting
at my mother's desk preparing a message and may have been working
on this one. But she had a concordance there
and I opened it up and inside was an old bulletin from 13th
Street when my father was pastor there. An old bulletin dated
back 1989. Caught my attention. I opened it up and there my name
was in there. It said on March 4th, 1989 that Elder Paul Mahan
would be preaching here. The next week it said Elder Charlie
Payne would be preaching. You know where I would be the
next week? Here. You know whose birthday was coming
up? Tammy Preston. Anybody know her? She's Tammy Fannin. I'm here. She's here. Charlie's there. Dad's not there. It all changes. Like that. Everything changed. Everybody but one. He ordered it all. I didn't know. I didn't have a clue. That week,
Sherry, I'd never been here. I'd never been. Well, I had back
in 1985. First time I'd ever been here.
I had no idea where I would be just 30 days later. No idea. But he does. He does. David says, ordered in all things. Isn't that the good news? Anybody
say amen to that? Oh, Lord, we don't know where
you're going. Show us the way. I am the way. What about the resurrection?
I am the way. Do you believe me? Yes. I've ordered this whole thing,
ordered everything about you. And sure, what did David say,
John? Ordered in all things and sure, known unto God are all
his works from the beginning. But anyway, I've got to get through
this. It gets better and better. It
really does. The Lord went out before them.
They didn't know where he was going. Every step he took was in the
direction of fulfilling God's purpose of saving his sheep.
And people, every step in your life was ordered by God to bring
you here. Yes, sir. Some of us went by
way of the gutter and the hog pen, like a product. Some went
by way of the gutter called the peon in religion. Same thing. But God ordered all things, brought
you together. Boy, you think about your different
paths, different people in here, all these different people from
different walks of life and so forth. He brought you all together
in one foal, one sheep, one body, one family, one thing in common,
one Lord, one faith, one hope of your color, one leader. One leader, the Lord is our shepherd. The Lord as our leader, and you
looked at this with me before, the Lord is the lamb slain before
the foundation of the world. Before there was a sinner, there
he stands. The lamb slain. Out in front. You see, John, I'm talking to
you because you're listening well. And I'm glad. But you see,
this thing of salvation wasn't an afterthought by God. It wasn't
a contingency plan by God. It wasn't, oh, man's fallen,
so I've got to come up with a way. No, no, no, no, no. It's all
order. God planned and purposed it all. And Christ was a lamb slain before
anything ever existed. This whole covenant, this whole
thing of the gospel was purposed before the world began. Yes, sir. And known unto God
are all those works and His people. That's the foundation. Christ
is the captain of our salvation. Goes before us, literally, always. Look at verse 32. He's still
there. Mark 10. It says, They were amazed
as they followed, and they were afraid. Are you afraid? Are you afraid of what tomorrow
might bring? This morning I scared everybody. The economy could collapse. We
all could lose everything. We could. It's happened many
times. And it will eventually. It's
just a matter of when, isn't it? Every civilization has. Does that scare you? Our Lord went before us. He's
before us. He's our leader. They were amazed. They were afraid. But it says,
he set his face like a flint. It's like a flint in a rock. And they were amazed. Our Lord
went before them in the Garden of Gethsemane. Don't you love
that story? Part of the problem in preaching
is not what you're trying to come up with something. You're
trying to leave things out. But in the Garden of Gethsemane,
don't you love that? Where that mob came looking for
them all. They weren't just looking for
Christ. They were going to take them
all. Yes, sir. And it says Christ went out and
said, who do you seek? Out in front of them, who are
you seeking? Face the foe. Face the enemy. Face those that
would have apprehended them. Christ faced the Lord. Christ
faced sin, hell, and death, didn't He? Huh? He said, if you seek
them. What did He say? Don't you love
those words? It was their salvation. It's my salvation. He said, if
you seek Me, let them go. Let them go. Did they? Peter said, I'm going
to help you, Lord. Peter took out a sword, didn't
he? And was aiming at everybody's heads. Now, think about this. Here's a mob sent from the Roman
authorities. And Peter took out a sword. They
saw him playing his darts. They got this sword and swing
at somebody's head, anybody. And it was the servant of the
high priest, mind you. And he cut his ear off. They
all saw this. Peter's going to jail. Peter,
they're going to kill him right now. Would you? They're going
to kill him right now. They didn't touch him. They didn't
touch him. They couldn't. Our Lord just
gave the command. And nothing and no one can touch
you. Is this religious rhetoric? Is
this just a fable? Peter says, it's not a fable.
We were there. Peter said, this is not a cunningly devised fable.
I was there. Peter said, I swung the sword.
And after it was over, I thought, I'm a dead man. But my leader gave the command
and they couldn't touch me. I'm amazed. Peter says, I'm amazed. They all took him and went off
and spared me. Now, isn't that the gospel? What the law says to everyone,
guilty, I'm guilty, just as guilty as that fellow out there. But
Christ stood in the gap, the great gulf fixed between us,
called our sins, and immersed himself. He said, take me. You seek them? Take me. And he did. In our stead. Went to the cross. Went to the grave. We've got
to go to the grave. I don't know who's next. Brother
William was the last, wasn't he? His body laid right here.
That was just the other day, wasn't it? He sat right back
there where his wife is right now. Just the other day. Just
the other day, wasn't it? Yes, he did. A real man, a real
man sat in that pew right back there. There sits his wife that
we all knew for years. And we really did put his body
right there in a box, right here. And then we took it and put it
in a grave. And who's next? Somebody. Somebody. Charles, William was the weakest. The Lord took it. The Lord took
him, Gladys. The Lord took him. Not heart
failure. The Lord took him. The Lord killeth. It's the Lord. Let him do what
seems good. Charles, you're the oldest here
now. It may be you. Barbara, it may
be Charles. Prepare for it. Okay? It's got to happen, doesn't it?
I don't want it to happen. I'm not ready to lose Brother
Charles. You aren't either, are you? As mad as he makes you.
I'm talking to you, Barbara. If he's gone, you're going to
miss him. It's a shame, isn't it? Isn't that a shame? People
have to be gone before we really miss them, before we really appreciate
them. That's just what rotten people
we are. We ought to hate ourselves more
than them. It may be you, Charles. We can
maybe put your body right here just tomorrow. It may be somebody
much younger. And it scares me to say these
words. It really does. I mean, it really
does. But it's going to happen. It's going to happen. It's certain
that the Lord went before us. He went there, Nancy. He went
there. He went in the grave. His family, his brethren, everybody
saw him take his dead body down and put it in a tomb. They didn't want to lose him,
did they? They loved him. That's not unbelief, it's love. Three days later, Three days
later. How long has Brother Joe been
gone? What year? What year? Seven years. Look at him. In a moment. Twinkle of an eye. Go see him
again. Our Lord, how do you know? Who
can tell us? Anybody died and come back? Yes. Yes. Don't look to the National
Enquirer. You know, somebody went to death
and saw a light. Don't look to Him who is the
light. Christ said, He went there, Nancy,
this is why you can believe this. He's the faithful witness, you
see. He went there first and He came out three days later
and said, Fear not. Fear not. You believe God, you
believe me. Here I am. Now, it's the Spirit
that don't believe this. Touch me. Handle me. It's me. It's me. The one that went in
that grave is the one that came out. You believe that? You see how
it's not a that? You see how it's a him? He said,
I can't lie. If it were not so, he said, I
would have told you. He said, I go to prepare a place
for you. That where I am, you may be also.
And if I go, I will come again. Rahab, Joshua didn't tell her
when he was coming, did he? But she believed he was. Well,
did he? Did he spare her? He made the
promise, did he? Yeah. What was the token? What was her salvation? What
was she relying on? A red robe. Behold, I have given him a leader."
He went back to the Father. And the last thing, and hold
on to your seat, it says in verse 4, he says, I have given him
as a commander to the people. Our Lord and leader, the Lord
our shepherd is also the Lord our commander. Commander. You see, you can call yourself
a leader all you want to. And you can go out in front,
but if nobody will follow you, you ain't a leader, are you?
You can call yourself one. What if you try to get people
to follow you? And they won't. You're no leader, are you? That's what this other Jesus
is, Brother Henry. He's no leader. He's no shepherd.
He lives as sheep. He's no shepherd. He's not the
Lord. He's no leader. Nobody will follow
him. He's not really out front. He's
outside their little door, you know, trying to get in. Our Lord, who is the witness,
our Lord, who is our leader, is also the Lord, our commander. You get tired of hearing about
my dogs? Other people don't. They love
to hear it. I don't. The Lord gave me those dogs for
these illustrations. But you know something about
old Charlie, don't you? Charlie never comes when I call
him. He just won't come. He won't come when Mindy calls
him. Willie, Hannah, does he come when you call him? No, he
won't come. He just won't come. That's why,
like at 10.30 at night, he wants to go out. Yes, he's in the house,
which I said would never, ever happen. He's in the house. At 10.30 or 11 at night, he wants
out. I say, he's not my dog. That
is not my dog. You tend to. He won't come. But now I have a dog. You know
about that dog. out of a whole eater, the blackest
one, the one I bought with my own earned money, the one I set
my affection on, the one I brought home with me, the one I began
to teach, yea, command. That's my dog, and he comes when
I call him. That's how you know he's my dog. Scripture says, Brother John,
you love this verse. It's one of your favorites. Thou
hast given commandment to save me. Like old Mephibosheth. All of God's people are Mephibosheth. And it's all their favorite story.
Wish old Stan was here. He's working and he loves this.
All God's people do. Because David, who represents
one much greater, David said to his strong men, he said, go
down to the house of Lodibar, the house of Maker in Lodibar,
and there's an old rotten rebel down there, lame. He can't come
if he wanted to. He doesn't want to. He's an enemy.
All of his brothers are, I'm going to destroy. He's an enemy,
and he ought to be too. But I've made a covenant. I remember
a covenant, David said. Huh? The Lord remembers his covenant,
so he can't forget us. He said, I remember a covenant
I made with my beloved, Jonathan. He said, go down there and fetch
him. What if they said, well, he might
not come? You know who I am? I said, I
didn't say go down there and ask him if he will come. I didn't
say go down and strike a bargain with him. I didn't say go down
there and tell him if he'll take the first step. I said fetch
him. Did he? Yes. He came. How'd he come? He was brought. He was fetched. Do you love this? Commander. My dad brought this up after
he heard this message. He said, with the command comes
the power and the ability to come. The Lord told a man with
a withered hand one time, he said, stretch out your hand.
He couldn't. He can't. He did. He did. No man can come unto me, he said,
except the Father which hath sent me." What? Command him.
Draw up. Come, I said. See, this is all
my salvage. Isn't it, you? I wouldn't have
come had he not fetched me. Had he not told me the truth,
I wouldn't know the truth. I'd be like the rest of the world
in darkness, even as others. Wouldn't you? I'd be witnessing
for a God I didn't know. I'd be a preacher, a false preacher,
standing up just as zealous as I could for God, don't even know
Him. Yes, I would. See, I don't want to lead, do
you? I'm not a leader. I don't want opinions. I want
the truth. Don't you? I don't want my salvation
to be up to me, or up to chance, up to free will, all that. I
want it commanded.