of our heart and at the top of
our lungs unto him that loved us. I was singing that song thinking
how ashamed I am with my lack of appreciation for that
so great love. Ezekiel 16, this story, this
story of the Lord finding and saving this abandoned child is
the blessed and beautiful story of God's amazing love and saving
grace and power and saving wretched sinners. And it needs no lengthy introduction. The best way to tell this story
is simply Let God's Word tell it. The Word of the Lord came
to me, verse 1, saying, Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know
her abominations. God had raised up this man Ezekiel,
who was a preacher. And God commanded this preacher
to cause Jerusalem, Jerusalem, to know their abomination. Now,
Israel was God's elect, God's chosen people, and Jerusalem
was the heart, the capital, the heart of that nation. So God told the preacher to speak
to his people and go straight to the heart. You understand? Preach to the heart. This is
what he said in Isaiah 40. Speak ye. to the heart, to my
people. Cause them to know. Now here's
the thing he said, the first thing he told the preacher to
do. Cause them to know. Go straight to the heart, the
heart of the matter. Cause them to know their abominations. Now most of you in here know, I'd venture to say, everybody
in here heard this. You know, at least in your head,
the truth of what God thinks of this world. What God really
thinks of this world. Not what the world says, but
what God says about the world and the inhabitants thereof.
You know that God Almighty's Word says it's abominable to
him, doesn't it? That it's filthy. He said, The
Lord looked down upon the sons of men to see if there were any
that didn't seek after God, any that didn't call upon God seeking.
He said they all together become filthy, unprofitable. The word is stinking, wretched
in God's eyes. That's what God says about this
world. And in the beginning, he destroyed
the then known world, didn't he? God destroyed it. And the
same God, Peter wrote, the same world is kept in store now, reserved
under fire, wrath. And God's going to destroy this
planet again. Why? It's not the love of God. It's what God really thinks about
this world. It's a monument. It's a wretched
and vile place. He looks at this as we would
look in a sewer. That's right. My wife and I were at a shopping
center the other day, and we remarked to one another how the
people today look a whole lot rougher. than they've ever looked
in history. I mean, just everybody up to
adults. They look at people the way they're
what they're doing to their bodies and so forth and the way they
let themselves go, it's it's it looks almost demonic. It is. It wasn't that way just 40 years
ago, though, was just 40 years ago, people. And I blame it all
on the pulpit. And if it's so outwardly, if
people look that way on the outside, God looks on the heart. God looks
on the heart. God looks at the thoughts and
intents of the heart. God knows the imaginations of
the heart. He said that in Genesis 6. He said the thoughts of man's
heart and his imagination are only evil, only evil, continually,
every day. That's what God said. He looks
on the heart. And now here's mercy, here's
saving mercy. If God sends you a preacher and
causes you to know your abominations, this is the first work that God
does in salvation is to cause us not just look at the world
and see how cause us to know our abominations. This is saving
mercy. And what we truly looked like,
how God beheld us, what we were to God, abominable, filthy, wretched,
miserable, poor, naked, blind, and so forth. Man is a filthy
creature, wicked and vile, incapable of doing anything, and such were
some of you. And it says this. Here's what
it says about us. And these are the verses that
pricked your heart in the beginning. who were dead in trespasses and
sin, you who walked according to the course of this world,
just like it, according to the prince of the power of the air,
that is, captive Satan, the prince of the power of the air, the
spirit that now worketh in these children of disobedience. among
whom also we all had our conversation, our lives and time passed in
the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the man. We're
by nature children of wrath, just like the others, just like
the others. Now, here's salvation. But God,
you're rich in mercy. And the first thing He does in
mercy is to cause you to know your abomination. God, the message doesn't come
from a true preacher telling you how much God loves you. Oh,
no, it comes telling you what an abominable person you are. Hmm. Capable of anything. And you and you, yeah, but God. By his grace, you see, it's by
grace we're saved and it's by grace. The mercies of the Lord
that were not consumed and it's by grace that we amount to anything. Our salvation salvation is now
this is Bible salvation. Real salvation. God Almighty
saving us from sin. That's what it's all about. Saving us from sin. Sin is a is a awful thing. Sin
is a. ugly thing. Sin is... God Almighty is saving us through
Christ from the penalty of sin. God's going to just destroy people.
Wipe them out. That's the penalty. Death. Put them out of my sight. But
God. Salvation from sin, it's consequences. The consequences
of sin render someone filthy and ugly and vile and wretched
and no good but God. The letter to the Corinthians
says, know ye not that whoremongers and adulterers and so on and
so forth shall not inherit the kingdom of God? And such were
some of you but God. But you're washed. Like his child. Sin, it's power. Sin just manipulates,
reigns over unto death, doesn't it? Reigns unto death over people,
doesn't it? Under its bondage, but God. Deliver them, he says. Set the
captives free. Sin, and someday God's going
to deliver his people from the presence of it. And I can't rightly
comment on that. It's too mysterious. But verse
3 in our text says, he said, When I found you, thus saith
the Lord, your birth, your nativity, is of a land of Canaan. Your
father, he was an Amorite. Your mother was a Hittite. In
other words, you were born of heathen parents. Your parents
were no good. A mixed breed. No good. Heathen. Hittites. Amorites. I started
thinking about all the races of man and how various ones considered
themselves to be the superior race, haven't they? Down through
the years. I guess it started with the Jews,
maybe. They quickly showed us, didn't
they, in the wilderness just how they're not the superior. They're all just alike, you know, and bloody, barbaric. Germans, Aryans, superior race,
the most bloody ones of all. Barbaric, evil, murderous, no
good. None good. Not one. We're not
from noble parentage. None of us in here were born
of noble parents. We're born from Adam. We're sons
of Adam. People like to trace their family
tree, don't they? They're hoping to find something
good there. Somebody of note, and usually it's somebody notorious. Notorious. That's right, because
we all go back to that fellow named Adam who was a rebel. Sinners,
heathen, that's who we were born of. Verse 5, none I, when I found
you, Verse four, you weren't, your navel wasn't cut, you weren't
washed with water, you weren't supple, you weren't salted, nor
swaddled at all. None eye pitied thee to do any
of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee. Thou was cast out,
you're cast out in the open field to the loathing of thy person. That's how you were born. It's a terrible picture. These young parents can enter
into could enter into this. You think about this a little
born newborn baby just thrown out. They actually did this.
This actually happened. Still happening today. They throw out this field. They
throw out this child into a field usually a female. As they've done and they're actually
still doing. China I've mentioned to you before China you know
trying to do away with female babies seventeen million born
here. Maybe. America aborts millions of them. But back then usually a newborn
female child if unwanted was literally cast out in a field. So is this born. And here this
child is lying in this field, naked, polluted in its blood,
and it's drying up on it. It's a horrible picture, isn't
it? It will soon be devoured by wild beasts. And nobody cared for it, especially
after they see it the way it was. And this child, had you come
across it, it would have repulsed you. You wouldn't have had anything
to do with it. None did. This is what God says
about us. You know that? You know, no preacher has ever
preached man as he really is. He really has not. The world
doesn't even believe this. But really, the half has not
been told. And God says things like this, in Isaiah 1, from
the sole of thy feet to the top of thy head, there's no sounds
and sadness, nothing but wounds and bruises and putrefying sore.
Isn't that what God's Word said? And that's the way God found
us. And it says, to the loathing of thy person. And he says to
this preacher, you cause my people, that is Israel, Jerusalem, go
right to the heart, and here's the first thing you tell them.
You tell them just how abominable they are in themselves, how they
were born, and how that none eye pitied them. There was nothing
to pity in them. Tell them that. John, and you
said that fellow at work makes you too rough on yourself today. Not rough enough, John. God hadn't let us see. He hadn't. He didn't let us see. Cause them to know their abominations.
To know this is the first great blessing that God Almighty does. It's a great blessing to know
that we're a wretched, miserable, no good, vile, hell-deserving
sinner. That's old-fashioned. We've heard
that for years. Oh, we've heard that before preached. It's a blessing to know that. to cause us to loathe ourselves.
You know that? The only people that love Christ
truly are those that loathe themselves. Do you hear me? The only people
that cry out for mercy are those that are helpless and lying in
a field. You understand? You understand that. The only
people that the gospel is really good news to is those that hate
themselves. The only people that mercy really
means anything to is guilty. That's right. Mm, loathe thyself. Look at verse 61, the end of
this story. See, this woman, I don't know
if we'll get to it Wednesday night or not, said we would,
but this woman got puffed up. After the Lord did all that he
did for her, she got a little puffed up in pride. She forgot
where he found her. And it says the Lord reminded
her later on because she got in a bad way again. She became
outwardly beautiful, but the Lord said, you're ugly in pride. And it says in verse 61, you
will remember thy ways and you will be ashamed. And it said
in verse 63, you'll remember and be confounded and you'll
never open your mouth again. If you do open your mouth, all
you'll say is grace. Grace, all you say is mercy,
mercy. That's why David said, I'll make
mention of thy righteousness and thine offering, to the loathing
of thy person. Son of man, cause my people,
go straight to the heart, cause her to know her abomination and
cause her, and if you do, if they do, here's what they're
going to cry. Lord, there's no soundness in my flesh. Lord,
my iniquities have gone over my head. Lord, my wounds stink
and they're corrupt because of my foolishness. Lord, my loins
are filled with a loathsome disease. There's no soundness in my flesh.
Lord, save me, the sinner." The world, as we said, doesn't
believe this. Preachers don't preach this. The religious world
doesn't believe this. False preachers don't preach
this, but you do, and I do. Cause my people. Cause Jerusalem
to know their abomination. Know what they were when I found
them. Know that. And if you do, if you believe
it, and if you loathe yourselves, and you love this gospel of God's
sovereign mercy and grace, you must be one of God's called.
You must be one of God's foreknown, foreloved. You must be loved
by the Lord. Because for whom he did foreknow
or forelove, he did predestinate. And whom he did predestinate,
he called by our gospel. And the first thing our gospel
says is, cause them to know their abomination. And once they know
it, I've got good news. See, we hear the bad news first,
don't we? Somebody ever said to you,
I've got some good news and I've got some bad news. And generally you say, well,
tell me the bad news first. Let's get over with it. Well,
here's the bad news. Cause them to know their abomination.
And now here's the good news. Here's the good news. Here's
the gospel which causes us to great joy. He says in verse six,
look at our text, in verse six, when I passed by thee. Now here's
salvation. When God passes by you, meaning
comes where you are. When I passed by thee and I saw
thee, when I looked upon you. This is salvation. This is Bible
salvation. He finds us. We're not even looking. He puts us in his field. He puts
us in his field like Ruth. You remember when Boaz passed
by? Ruth, her hat was to lie in the field as a beggar. That's
what she was. First thing, she knew, I'm a
beggar. If I get anything, it's going
to be pure grace. And her half was the blessing
of the Lord, and God's sovereign providence was to have her lie
in this field that belonged to the most blessed man upon the
face of the earth, the only one who would show mercy and compassion
upon her, blessed Boaz, her kinsman-redeemer. And as she was a beggar, gleaning
in that field, just picking up some crumbs, somebody passed
by. Somebody riding on his white
horse, a noble man, a beautiful man, they owned it all, says
he took notice, said, Who is that maiden right there? Oh,
there's many maidens out there. Yeah, but that one right there.
Oh, that's a Moabite. You don't want her. She's of
no noble parentage. She's nobody. She's just a beggar.
Ah, you let some handfuls fall on purpose for her. Don't just
load her sacks, load her wagons. And when the evening comes, you
bring her to sit at my table. I've put my affection upon her.
I'm going to have her." She lit on Boaz's field, and he passed
by. Remember when she was sitting?
That's not our story. But she was sitting at the table,
remember? And Boaz passed by, and he's going to make her fall
in love with him. He's wooing her, and he brushed up against
her and gave her some cornbread. And she's fallen. She's in love. Because he loved
her first. He passed by. And the Lord put
this child in this field. And the Lord put us in this field.
And the first thing we're going to hear from a preacher is not
how lovely we are, but our abominations. That's a good thing. Because
that's where the Lord goes. That's where the Lord is. That's
who the Lord saves. You know, He saves the chief
of sinners. The Lord put a thief one day, an old murderer and
a thief, a no good fellow you would have nothing to do with.
You'd have wanted him dead. You'd have wanted him dead. You'd
have hurled insults in his face. You'd say, crucify, an old thief.
Put him on the cross at a particular day, at a particular time, right beside the Lord Jesus Christ. You think about that. Could have
been the day before, could have been the day after, but God put
this man on this cross on his right hand. That'd be the right
hand, because today is his time of love. God put this baby in this field
because somebody's passing by. He passed by through the preaching
of the gospel. Oh, the lot is casting a laugh,
isn't it? Oh, honey, I'll go to church with you this morning.
I've decided to go to church. Well, good. Well, the old disposing
there of his own Lord. I'll go to Mama's funeral. Well, he passes by and he looks on
us. We don't know who he is, like, you know, like Ruth. She
didn't know who that man was. He knew her. He looks on us,
he says to us, look at this, verse six, when I passed by thee
and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee,
when I passed by, when I saw you, and I said to you, live, live. You know, there were many babies
thrown out in the field. Many left to die, weren't they?
Do you have any brothers or sisters, some of you? Do you have any unsaved spouses
or parents, any of you? Sure you do. Everybody in here
died. Many are left to die. But he passed by here and said,
Live. You're not going to die. You're
going to live. And forever. Live. I said unto thee, when
you are in your blood. See, God, you know, for a good
man some would die, might die. For a righteous man some would,
might die. But God commended his love toward
us. And while we're in our blood,
centers, particles, God said, live. You don't want that one. That's
precisely what I want. I said unto thee, live, and verse
seven is what she became. It really goes with the rest
of the story. Verse eight is what she was when he passed by.
Verse eight. Now, when I passed by thee and
looked upon thee, when I passed by thee, when I came to you,
when God sent the gospel to you, when God Almighty took notice
of you, when God Almighty set his love upon you and his affection
upon you, when God looked upon you. Remember, God called Lazarus,
didn't he? Christ called Lazarus, didn't
he? Lazarus was dead, but Christ called him. Lazarus, come forth. Christ looked upon Zacchaeus
up that tree, didn't he? He's passing by. And he looked
up, and there's old Zacchaeus. And he looked upon him first
and said, Come down. The Lord himself was waiting
in a well on a woman to come by one day, wasn't he? He passed
by, and he sat there waiting on her. He was waiting to be
gracious. And he won't be kept waiting. Behold, I, he keeps reminding
us, when I passed by thee, now when I passed by thee and looked
upon thee, thy time was a time of love. I want you to stop and
think, this really caught my attention. Thy time was a time
of love. Thy time. He says, behold, thy time. There was a John Newt, the man that wrote
Amazing Grace, great preacher, hymn writer. That man, if you've
ever read his story, The Way the Lord Saved Him, it's amazing. He was a rough
one. and a man named William J. another
preacher in his day. They were both pastors at the
time but William J. came by the study where John
Newton was to visit. And Brother William J. was excited
at good news. He said, Brother Newton, he said,
did you hear that Brother Edwards of Bath County, not Brother Edwards,
Mr. Edwards of Bath County, you remember
that notorious fellow that everybody knew was just a vile fellow that
he was? Mr. Edwards, yes, he said, I
remember. He said, Brother Newton, he said, the Lord saved Mr. Edwards, that wretched man. And he said, Oh, Brother Newton,
we shouldn't. I'll never despair of anybody
being saved since the Lord saved Mr. Edwards. And John Newton
looked at him and said, Brother Jay, he said, since the Lord
saved me, I'll never despair of him saving anybody. Thy time was a time of love. This is your
time. In the fullness of time, God
sent forth His Son in the form of the gospel. It's your time.
Who? You? Me? Yeah. What is it? The time of love. Whose love? Your love? My love, God said. My love. I've set my love upon
them, not yours. That comes later. This baby,
this baby, when a baby is born, When a baby's born, they're born
blind. They're born blind. Yes, they are. When you open
their eyes, they don't see anything. It's just a blur. That's right. They're born bloody. They're
born messy. They're born ugly. They're everything about them.
They hear voices and they're groping and they're miserable
and blind and naked. Yes! This is the picture. They hear a voice and they just
need help. They know something. Where's
all they know? Something has happened to me.
They can't see hardly anything. They don't know who this... They
hear a voice. They hear a voice that sounds good to them, but
they're blind and they're groping and all of that. Who loves her?
Where does the love start? Come up here and tell us. Her time. Time of love. Oh, somebody loves you. Your
love will come later. That child's love will come later.
Oh, yes, it will. It'll be there. If loved, you'll
love. Love of God shed abroad, you'll
love. But when we're born, you see, oh we know, when we're born
again, when we're born again, we don't know what's happened
to us. Something's happened. If I get blind now, I don't know.
I once was blind, now I see. Something's happened to me. It's
your time. It's a great, it's great love
and great grace for the Lord and the gospel to break the heart. This is the first time. Show
your abomination where you cry out. It's the first thing a baby
does. Cry out, cry out. What's wrong? I don't know. I'll
tell you what's wrong. Everything's right now. Everything's
right now. Your love's, baby, baby, you
just don't know how much you love. We saw that Wednesday night,
didn't we? Because of pity of his children,
cause my people to know their abomination. Oh, a miserable
beggar. Yes, you are. But you love. This
is your time. And it's a time of love. I love you. It's the first thing
I do for those that I love. Here's the love of God. We preach
love, don't we? Oh, we preach love. We preach
love that's real love. We preach a God that really loves.
Will you ever quit loving that child? It was love at first sight.
Love at first sight. Will you ever? You can't. It's
not possible. Well, it is humanly possible.
Can a mother forsake her second child? Yes, she can. They do
it all the time. Not God. It's not possible. Love, real love, never faileth. Our God who sets his love on
his people, they are loved forever. And I saw you in your blood,
and it was love at first sight. Thy time, it's your time. God's loved many, hasn't he?
God's loved many. As the sands of the sea and the
stars of the sky, he's loved many. Now it's your time. I wish
I could taste this. I wish I could feel this. Now
it's your time, my time, time of love. We sing a song, Oh,
How Can It Be, that God should love us all. Jeanette, one time
in my life, wouldn't you like to sing it from the heart, really
thinking, how can it be? I remember saying that when I
heard about my first love, when I first heard the gospel. And
that's an indictment God says against people in Ephesians.
You've left your first love. This gospel doesn't touch you
anymore. Then I'll remove it. When I passed by you, I could
have gone right on by. I could have left you. I could
have left you, and I left your brother. I left your sister.
I left your mother. I left your father. I left your husband.
I passed by you, and I stopped and said, Deborah, it's your
time. Time of love. Yea, I have loved
thee with an everlasting love. Before I formed thee in the belly,
I loved thee. And therefore, with loving kindness
through the preaching of the gospel, I have drawn thee. Look at the next thing. He said,
You became... Well, no, that's not the next
thing. I spread my skirt over. I spread my skirt over. Here's
this naked little child. You know, there's babies all
over the world now running around naked, dying, aren't they? We just saw one born naked. The first thing you do is, Cover up. Cover up. I spread my skirt over.
My skirt. The white skirt. Men wore robes
back then. The skirt of their robes. What
is this skirt that he spreads over? This covering. Cover the
nakedness. This covering that warms this
cold child. This covering. What is it? It's
Christ himself. Christ who is our righteousness.
It's not the righteousness of Christ, it's Christ our righteousness. He himself. That baby is not
warmed simply by a blanket, but by a mama who's holding it. He didn't wrap this child in a blanket
and put it over there and defend for itself, no. He hugged up
in the arms of a person. This child loved by a person. Dave and I are talking about
this love, how you know it, you hear about it, you think you
understand it, and then you experience it. You experience it, don't you? You
think, I didn't think I could, I didn't know what love was.
Don't you? That's the difference in salvation
and heaven. It's time of love. I covered you. And look at this. He said, and I swear unto you, honey, I'm going to take care
of you the rest of your life. I love you, and I will never
quit loving you. I swear I'm making a covenant,
an agreement. Your mama and I and your grandfather
and I, grandmother, we've made a covenant. We've made an agreement.
We're going to take you and care for you and not let anything
or anybody touch you. Why? Because you're mine. Thou becamest mine. Get a hold of this, would you?
God says about His people, you became murderers. And all that that means, they
can have this God that love them and leave them, this God that
won't save them, they're going to end up in hell anyway. My God
says, Kellie, Kendrick, my God says to me in the gospel, you're
mine and nothing and nobody's going to change that. made a
covenant, and I swear, God, this immutable thing, two things immutable,
it cannot lie, John. His oath and his covenant. He
says, murder! And he's engaged all of his heart,
all of his mind, all of his purpose, all of his will, everything on
the top side of God's earth, he's engaged to our salvation. And thine are mine, and thine
are mine are thine. That's our God. Ed Berry Benson's
our God. He loves us. And everything's
working together. Why? Because of where he is.
Where he is in a covenant. He said before the world began,
this one's mine, this one's mine, this one's mine, this one's mine.
He chose them. It's his prerogative, isn't it?
Why'd he choose us? We're better than—oh, no. He
just pleased him in a covenant, and he gave them to his blessed
son in a covenant. This really happened. It's not
just doctrines of grace. This really happened. God, the
Father said to the son, here, I've chosen these. These are
yours now. They're yours. I'm giving them to you. You're
going to be the shepherd. They're my sheep. Every one of
them are going to be lost. Every one of them are going to
be filthy, abominable sinners cast out in the field of the
loathing of that person. And you're going to come, the
blessed Savior and Redeemer. I'm going to send you. They're
mine. And you're going to save all of them. And you're going
to bring them back to me. Mine. And you're going to say, Behold,
I and the children that you gave me are all here. And they're
going to sing throughout eternity. We're all going to sing to the
praise of the glory of your grace. They're mine. Covenants, agreements. Oh, I'd like to preach the gospel
in my life. Then he says, verse nine, I washed you with water.
I washed you. That's what he said in Ephesians
5, didn't he, verse 26? Washing up water by God's Word,
washed in His blood, washed in His water, the water of His Word,
washed in His blood, washed you. Yea, I truly washed you. Washed
away all the notions you used to have, washed away. New mind,
your mind renewed, this mind is in you now, washed away. Thy
blood from thee, thy sins and thy iniquities I'll remember
no more, he said. How? How? They washed away. There
is a fountain, you see, filled with blood drawn from God with
us, Emmanuel, Spain. Sinners plunged beneath that
blood. Lose all. How many? All. They're guilty still. Records
gone. Slate is claimed. All sins. There's sins and iniquity. I'll
remember no more. He said as far as the east is
from the west. And he says, and I anointed thee with oil. I anointed
thee with oil. Christ went back to glory and
sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, and God,
and Christ sent, he said, the Comforter. He's going to dwell
with you forever. The Spirit of Christ. Anointed. A nanny. We got a lifetime nanny. Can I use that term? Rich men
and rich lords of old, you know, who owned vast estates and had
much to care for. They had great business. Often
would attend to things all throughout the land. And they had nannies.
They had personal butlers and nannies that would care for their
children. And they chose the best. They would watch over them
and teach them, schoolmasters, to bring them up and so forth.
We have one. Spirit of God. Any man hath not
the spirit of Christ, none of his. Christ says it's expedient
that I should go, but the comforter should come, whom my Father will
send and heal, dwell with you, anoint you, teach you, guide
you, lead you, protect you. I clothe thee, verse ten, with
a broadered work. Oh, my. Character of Christ,
a multifaceted character of Christ, like old Joseph's coat, huh? Shod thee with badger skin. the
gospel of our Lord. These shoes that this baby wears
are amazing, but it never wears out. They never wear out. Do you still have any of your baby
shoes, Nancy, your children's baby shoes? Do you get them bronzed
or something? People actually do that, don't
they? These shoes that we first started walking in by faith,
this gospel, we've still got it. It hasn't changed a bit,
has it, Henry? You've been here as long as,
as long as anybody had, maybe longer. Hadn't changed a bit. Won't wear out either. Good shoes. You're kind of loath to throw
away a good pair of shoes, aren't you? An old pair of boots. The bees, the gospel, never wear
out. Badger's skin. For those of you who know, that's
the outer covering of the temple, of the tabernacle. And I girded
you with fine linen. That's what priests wear. You
know that? Priests wear linen. He's made us kings and priests.
See, this girl, this baby girl, she's His. Nothing but the finest. She's going to be His. She's
going to grow up to be His and look like Him. I covered thee
with silk. That's a smooth, comforting silk, isn't it? Your babies,
you give them silk, don't you? Hannah used to have a baby blanket,
and the border of it was silk. Used to love to feel that, you
know. She kept it, she was about 18, you know. Took it on her
honeymoon. You laugh, there sits Lauren.
Lauren? Still has it. This covering,
this blanket, this security blanket which God has given us, which
is Christ. Whom we hug up to, whom we lay
hold upon. Christ. Yes, the person. It's
a person, a trusted person. He's comforting, comforting,
silk, silk, never want to let go, don't want to. Verse, covered
you with silk, and he says in verse eleven, he decked you,
or he decked her with, adorned her
with ornaments, gold and silver and precious stone, bracelets
upon your hands, a chain on thy neck. jewel on our forehead. What kind of jewel do you reckon
is in the middle of her forehead? I happen to believe it's a pearl of great price, always where
she could think of it. A pearl and a beautiful crown
upon that head, crown of salvation. God has crowned us with glory,
not our own, but with this gospel of our salvation. It's on our
head, isn't it? On Christ our head, it's in our mind, always
on our mind. Christ, and I put a jewel, verse
13, you decked with gold and silver, a raiment was of fine
linen, silk and broided work, and you did eat. Oh, I fed you. Now, what's the first thing a
baby eats? Doesn't start eating bread immediately. What's the
first thing? Milk. A sincere milk. A pure milk. That's all babies
first. And it's wonderful. It's wonderful. And some do it longer than others,
don't they, Becca? It's a good thing, though. It's a nurturing thing. It's
a bonding thing. It's an intimate thing. I was
talking to Hannah about it. She loves it. She said, this
is just special between me and my child. I quoted it to you Wednesday.
God said, I'll dandle them on my knees, and they shall suck
the breasts of consolation. That's a personal, intimate thing.
I'm going to reveal my word to them, and they're going to suck
and be satisfied. And you know, I still love milk
to this day. Do you? Any adult? I still love milk.
I'm never going to completely leave milk. Love it. Got to have
it. That's what started out. But you go on to eat bread. Fine
flour, honey, oil. Oh, it became beautiful. It started
looking like a parrot. It became beautiful. You know, old brother Mark, I told you
about him. He didn't think any babies were cute. And I kind
of agree with him. Because when they're born, I
mean really, seriously now, when you first see them, Come on. Melinda now they all are bloody
and ugly until they're washed up and cleaned up you know a
little while later. But Myra used to say to see a
baby you know and he couldn't he couldn't lie. He's a true
preacher. Couldn't lie so all he would
say was well it's a baby. And I guess that would suffice
some of you, yeah. God doesn't love us because we're
lovely. God didn't find us because we
look cute. No, but unlovely. Altogether unlovely. But here's
the salvation of God, people. Here's the true Christ of Scripture,
and here's true sanctification. He actually makes you like Christ.
I mean, He actually does. Not in theory, not in principle,
not in doctrine, but He actually does. Think about somebody else. Think
about somebody else. Think about somebody you knew
before the Lord did a work on them. Think about it. Do they
not? Has there not been a miraculous change? This is the Savior. This is true
salvation. Who was it that said, Ebenezer
Erskiner, one of them said, salvation is so When God saves a man, it's
so real even an old hound dog will know it. Yeah. Came beautiful. Beauty. And it was perfect. Verse 14 says it's perfect. You're
beauty. You became renowned. Yeah, renowned.
Yeah, the salt of the earth. Nothing in the world is not worth
renown. And it was perfect. You're complete. You're perfect. Would you change
anything about that girl? Anything at all? So what you're
telling us is she's perfect? She's got a long way to go, doesn't
she? A long way. She's only three days old. Perfect? That's what God says about us. I don't see it. I look in the
mirror and all I see is ugly. Don't you call common what God's
plans? I would say it admitted. But
perfect, complete. How? Through my company. I'm the one who did all this,
he said. I'm the one who did all this. I put it on you. I
found you. See what this is all about, praise
of the glory of this exceeding riches of the grace of this wonderful
person who came by and saw this despicable, filthy, rotten, no
good, stinking child lying in a field and said his love of
him. And to the praise of the glory of his grace is what this
child became, what he did for this child. Brought it from the
dung heap. Who could do such a thing but
him? Your beauty is through my covenants
that I put upon you. I did all this, you see. So he
gets all the glory. Now, Lord willing, Wednesday
night, there's another part of this story. It's sad. It's sad. This baby girl grows up to be
a beautiful young woman. Beautiful. But she wanders off. Bad. Bad. But it ends good. Okay. Let's sing it.