Thou hast loved us, love us still. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus,
Thou hast loved us, love us still. All right, you can go back to... Well, let's look at Proverbs. I have written down here to read
from the Proverbs. Look at Proverbs chapter 1. We use a lot of scripture, don't
we? And I don't apologize for that.
I know that we don't retain too much. We don't retain too much. But I know what the power of
God is. I know what God uses. It's a
word of his power. This is the only thing God uses.
It's the only way he speaks to anybody. And so we use a lot
of it. We shoot a lot of bullets, a
lot of arrows, hoping that one of them will hit somebody, and
it will. He said, like the rain that falls
down, comes down, my word won't return void. You can't dodge
raindrops if you go outside. Something's going to hit you.
Look at Proverbs 2, verses 1 through 6. This touched me this morning.
Oh, that the Lord would touch a heart of young For oh, with
this, my son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments
with thee, so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply
thine heart to understanding, yea, if thou criest after knowledge,
and liftest up thy voice for understanding, if thou seekest
her as silver, and searchest for her as hid treasure, Then
shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge
of God. For the Lord giveth wisdom, out
of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding." So that's why it's all we do
is preach the Word. out of his mouth, this right
here. So back at Psalm 25, this message was actually born by
reading Titus chapter 2. Titus chapter 2, which if you
want to jot it down, we're going to look at that Wednesday night. Titus chapter 2. The things which the grace of
God teaches us. Titus chapter 2. I was reading
that. And I actually prepared a whole
message from that for today. But it just didn't, it just wasn't
the message that this is. And the only message that comes
from God, it comes from God's word. As we say it, that's his power.
As he said, that's his power. And over there, anyway, I was
reading that and over there in Titus chapter two, it talks about
the doctrine of God, our Savior. That's what caught my eye. Damn
it. The doctrine. Doctrine means teaching. The
doctrine of God, our Savior. That just sprung out at me. And that led me over here to
Psalm 25. And what happened, stand with
us. preparing that Titus 2 and went to Psalm 25 and couldn't
leave. Stayed there. The doctrine of God our Savior.
And so what we have, what we're looking at is lessons learned
of the Lord. Now, all of God's people, all
of God's children are disciples of his. The apostles were called
disciples, weren't they? What's that mean? Well, you students
are disciples. You go to school, you sit and
you learn from a teacher. You follow the teachings of a
disciple, one who follows the teachings of the master. A disciple. All of God's children are disciples,
are students. They're lifelong learners. We're
in a lifelong school, learning. Who do we learn from? school of the Lord, school of
the Lord. Now, we're born ignorant in every way. We're born ignorant,
both in natural things and spiritual
things, especially spiritual. And everything we learn is taught
to us, right? Spiritually, everything we learn
is taught by the Lord from his word. I wonder how many in here would
have gone to school if you were given an option. Maybe some of these young, I
think Laura and some of these young ones, Elizabeth probably
Do you like school? She really does. Well, I didn't. And had they
given me an option, how about you, Stan? Had your parents said,
now, Stan, you don't have to go to school if you don't want
to. I'll just stay here and milk cows, Dad. Thank you. But they made you then. Aren't
you glad? Aren't you glad? All of God's children are sent
to school. They're forced to do so. Paul thanked Timothy's grandmother
and his mother for bringing him to hear the
Word. He didn't want to He sure didn't want to be like
Joseph and me thanking Nancy and Mary for bringing Joseph
here. I was the same way. I'm not saying you don't want
to now, but I was that way, just like that.
I thought my parents were being unusually cruel and forcing me
to sit under the Word of Life. Keep me from destroying myself. Oh, I know now. But anyway, Paul
said to young Timothy later in this letter, he said, you continue
down the things that you've learned. He learned. And from a child,
he said, you've known the scriptures. You've heard the scriptures,
Timothy. Your grandmother and mother brought you to hear the
scriptures were able to make you wise and salvation. We just
read that didn't we in Proverbs 3 and 4. Proverbs 2. And I wouldn't have come. I wouldn't
have gone to school. Would you? I sure wouldn't have
come to church. No way. Thank God. He sent me. Thank God. He said, here's what God said
in Isaiah 54. Our Lord quoted it in John 6.
He said, all thy children shall be taught of the Lord. All of
them. Every single one of them will
be taught of the Lord. He's John. He's the one that's
going to teach them. and he's the subject. He's the teacher
and he's the subject. They're all taught of the Lord. Taught of the Lord, all thy children.
God sovereignly chooses his people and sets them under his word. And then in time, according to
his mercy, they from the heart Now they're there at first, because
they don't want to be there, like children in school. Do I have to go? I'll never forget
the day. You just wait, Gabe. You just
wait. The day you take that little girl, the Lord willing, you take
that little girl, put that little lunchbox in her hand. If you
had her for, you know, six years. Just shielding her, protecting
her, teaching her, and all that. And then you're going to send
her out into the world. Lee M. Wade. Going to send her
off in the midst of all those evil people. And there she goes. She walks out of that little
lunchbox. Whoa, it killed us didn't it? Killed us. There she goes, she looked back,
do I have to? Yeah, you do. Go on. In time though, here's what
I'm saying, all God's people, in time, by his mercy, from the
heart, they began to actually enjoy. They began from the heart. Call
on the Lord. Seek the Lord. If you don't,
you won't find him. Well, I thought you said, preacher,
that we're found. That's right. But he said, you
seek me and you'll find me. That's what he said. That's what
he said. So do it. And seek him while he may be
found. Today is the day of salvation. In time, all of his people began
to seek the Lord. They want to learn of him. They
want to be taught. to be taught. All God's children,
and here's what He teaches them. All God's children, they're born
sinners, they're brought up sinners, they're worldly. They begin being
taught by the world. Look at Psalm 25. Psalm 25. He says, Under thee, O Lord,
do I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in thee. Let
me not be ashamed. Let not my enemies triumph over
me. Let none that wait on thee be ashamed. Now everyone's going
to be ashamed for rejecting God and rejecting Christ and rejecting
the Word. Verse 4, he says, Show me thy
ways, O Lord, thy ways. Teach me thy paths. Here's the
point. All of God's people begin walking
in the ways of the world, paths, the Scripture says, of unrighteousness.
We learn, we begin early, don't we? From the minute we're able
to walk and talk, we're just, we're just like the world. It's
in our hearts. We're born, there's an old song
back in the sixties, you probably never heard it, born to be wild. How true that was. How true that was. They gloried
in that. I gloried in it. But that's what
we're born, born wild asses colts, walking in the ways of the world,
until God, one day, in his mercy, begins to make that wild asses
colt call on him, call on him to show me his ways, show me thy ways. I've been walking
in this way, and I'm in nothing but trouble. Here I am in a pit, in a net,
and on and on. Show me thy way. See, the way
of the transgressor is hard. Here's where we begin. I want
to go my way, don't I? I told my parents as a young,
I'm leaving. I'm going my way. I want to be
my own man. No, you really don't want that,
son. Oh, yes, I do. No, you don't. You don't know
what you want. Oh, this is the way I think it's right. Now I
killed myself. Literally. Left myself. Had not God stopped my wild ways. You wouldn't be listening to
me this morning. You wouldn't even know me. He said, show me
thy ways, O Lord, teach me thy paths. The way of the transgressor
is hard. It's hard. Paths of unrighteousness
lead to one place, destruction. See, so David says, show me thy
ways. We're going to see in a minute
how all the ways of God point to one way. All the paths of God, mercy and
truth. And what do they do? Bring you
to one path. Set you in one path, one way.
I've tried this. I've tried that. I've tried this.
I've tried that. Here's a path. Let's go. They weren't you that
way, Kelly? Look here. I'm coming too. Look at here. Paths, paths. They all lead off a cliff. Verse five, he says, lead me
in thy truth, thy truth. Everything else is a lie. Elizabeth,
what the world is, everything the world teaches behind it is
a big lie. Honestly. Dad, am I telling her
the truth here? You found out, didn't you? It's
all a big lie. It's all a big, a big lie. conspiracy by man to disprove
God, that's what it is. And somebody's behind it, the
father of lies. Father of lies. Say, he's the
father of the Christ said that, he's the father of the, and him
you will hear. You'll hear him, you'll believe
him. First woman believed a lie, didn't she? I've been telling
them ever since. And religion is the worst. Religion
is the worst. Religion is full of more liars
than the six o'clock news. That's getting worse and worse.
He says, you teach me. David says, Lord, would you teach
me thy truth? If you're going to learn the
truth, where are you going to hear it from? The truth. God's truth. God's truth. Teach me, he said. Teach me. Lead me. Teach me. Verse 5, look at this. Thou art the God of my salvation. Now, here's the first lesson
that we learn of the Lord. The first lesson we learn from
the Lord is we're lost. We're lost. You know what the
problem is with most so-called religion and Christians and all
that today? None of them were ever lost. Oh, they got in financial bad
shape, or they had a little drinking problem, or this and that and
the other and so forth, and they accepted Jesus, and they started
attending church, and they got them fixed up all up with righteousness.
They were just living a good life and a Christian life and
a victorious life and all that, but they were never lost. You
know what it means to be lost? Brother Barnard used to say,
I'm not trying to get people saved. I'm trying to get people
lost. Some of you know what that means.
Lost. Lost means You can't find the
way. You don't have any idea where
it is. Even if you were looking, you couldn't find it. Lost. First thing we learned,
we're lost. We need to be found. Lost means
if somebody doesn't find you, you'll stay lost, doesn't it?
Well, I accepted Jesus. And you weren't lost. I accepted
Jesus. And you weren't lost. Now here's
a man who's lost. He's out in the woods and he's,
you know, there is a way. He can't find a way. He's calling
nobody. He's lost. What's his hope? If
somebody goes out there and finds him. Here's a person who's in
a burning building and they're going to die. How are they going
to get out? Only if somebody comes and gets
them. Here's a man who's out there drowning. He can't swim. How's he going to be saved? A
person that's saved, Teresa, somebody saved them. It wasn't
a cooperative effort. They tell you when somebody's
drowning, the first thing to do is hit them in the face. Knock
them out. You know that? That's true. You ever have a
life-saving process? Anybody? I did. First thing they
say is what you're going to have to do is knock them out. Why? Because they're going to fight
you. It's not a cooperative effort.
You're drowning. Somebody swims out and lays hold
on you, and they bring you back. Now, who gets the glory? Who
gets the credit when it's all over? What could be plainer? Here's a man standing on a shore.
Here's a man drowning. And this man, he's drowning.
He doesn't have to jump in there, does he? But he does. Oh, he sure is merciful,
isn't he? Sure is great. He dives in, grabs
that man, pulls him back. The fellow that was saved, what's
he going to say? Oh, I accepted him as my personal
Savior. And everybody congratulates him
for letting the fellow save him. Isn't that hogwash? What is hogwash? Whatever it is, it's dirty stuff.
It's just ridiculous. The Savior gets the glory. Somebody
that's saved knows who saved them. And that's what they're
singing from that day forward. He saved me. He decided to. He chose me. It's not a matter
of doctrine. It's a matter of being saved. First thing we learn we're lost.
Look at this verse five says lead me lead me in that truth
lead me. You know the first thing you
do we've got some horse people in here. I've had a little little bit
a little bit of experience at trying to train a horse or a
dog. Anybody tried to train a dog. What's the first thing you do.
First thing you do. So a dog if you if a horse if
you don't begin doing this to a horse at a young age you've
got a wild creature on your hands that kill you. Or a dog dogs aren't domestic
animals by nature you leave one to itself. And they'll kill you. So what's
the first thing you've got to do to a horse or a dog person? You've got to get a restraint.
You've got to get a collar. You've got to get a halter or
a collar, and you've got to strap it on their head, on their neck,
don't you, Kim? That's the first thing. You begin
when they're really young, don't you, Mindy? When they're really
young, when they're about just as soon as you can, and you put
this halter on this, oh, it's so cruel. No, it's not. No, no,
no, no, no, no. You're trying to save their lives.
They're no good to anybody if this doesn't happen. Are you
with me? Jill, are you with me? A dog. Now, only good dogs and kids
are trained ones. And anyway, you've got to put
this collar on the dog. What's the purpose of that? You've
got to lead him. You're going to tie a rope
on that collar. on the hopper, aren't you, Kelly?
And you're going to teach that thing to lead. Because it's going
to, phew, it's going to run. Rachel, if you leave it alone,
it's going to run out. Oh, run, yeah, you're going to
run right into the path of a car. What good's a dead dog? A dead
horse. Lead man. Lead man. And what we've got to learn,
the first thing, we've got to be restrained. God's Word is
a restraining influence. Scripture says it's good that
a young man bear the yoke in his youth. If you don't put that on a young
colt early, it gets harder and harder to get. Harder and harder.
Harder and harder. Tougher and tougher. And the
lessons get harder and harder until it gets to be an old horse.
You think, boy, this fellow is really being cruel to this animal.
No. It just didn't learn this early.
If it learned it earlier, it would have gone better with it.
You see, the earlier it learns this, the better it'd gone with
it. The earlier we learn from God's Word, the better it'll
go with us. It's good that a young man, Joseph, learned to take
this yoke upon them, the yoke of God's Word, in their youth.
Why? Because if he leaves us alone, we're going to just do
stupid things. Stupid things. Get into everything. And if God
doesn't have mercy, we're going to kill ourselves. We had a little
cult that, I think a bunch, all of them did this. But one, I
remember one day we heard the awfulest screaming and hollering.
We went out there and this little cult was all wrapped up in wire. It got in some fencing I had
somewhere, you know. Didn't it? It was all wrapped
up. What was he doing in there where
he shouldn't have been in there? Got that whole pasture, but he, ah,
this looks good, and just got himself, could have killed himself.
I saved him. It's good that a young man bear
this yoke in his youth. You're going to do stupid things
even as an adult, but they're really stupid when you're young,
aren't they? This is what he said in verse
seven, Remember not the sins of my youth. Oh, Lord. Verse six, he says, Remember,
O Lord, thy tender mercy. The first thing the Lord teaches
us is we're lost. We need saving. We're wild. We need taming. And it's going
to be mercy that does it. What's mercy? What's mercy? There's so few people. You don't
hear that word much in religion, do you? You do. I bet you there's
not a message that goes by you don't hear this word. Mercy. It's of the Lord's mercies that
we're not concerned. I am the Lord, I change not.
Therefore, you sons of Jacob are not consumed." God is a consuming
fire, and He's going to someday. But we're not consumed. Why? Mercy. Mercy. There was a bush that
didn't burn. And we're going to get to that,
I hope. Mercy. Mercy means not getting what
you deserve. Not getting what you deserve. The Lord sent his disciples into
town one day and said, You'll find a colt, the foal of an ass,
tied up where two ways meet. I want you to get him. And you
bring him to me, and I'm going to get on him and ride him. And
if they ask anything, you tell them, The Lord hath needed him.
He's mine. That one's mine. There was a
bunch of codes weren't there that day, everywhere. The Lord
chose that particular one. What's he need with a code? He
didn't need that code. But that the scriptures might be fulfilled.
And because he's merciful. God doesn't need to save anybody,
doesn't have to save anybody. As we've said so many times,
nobody deserves a chance to be saved. No, no, no. It's of the Lord's
mercy, so we're not concerned. But God is merciful to many. And he says, remember, O Lord,
thy tender mercy. Here's a couple of things. David
wants the Lord to remember something and not remember something else.
You see that? He wants the Lord to never forget
something, and he wants the Lord to forget completely something
else. Do you notice that? Remember your mercy. It's been
of old. You've been merciful to others.
Have you got any left? I've heard that you were merciful
to that old fellow named Jacob. I heard you were merciful to
that old fellow named Abraham. I heard you were merciful to
Mary Magdalene. I heard you were merciful to that thief on the
cross. I heard you were merciful to that prodigal son. Would you
be merciful to me? I'm the same. And then he says,
don't remember, verse 7, the sins of my youth are my transgressions. Trespasses, transgressions. Oh, I don't remember, Lord. Sins
of my youth. You know that one of the things,
the first thing we learn is that we're sinners against God. David
said, against thee and thee only have I sinned. What do you mean against God?
Well, God feeds us, clothes us, causes the sun to shine on us,
the rain to fall down on us, provides everything there is
for us. You with me? God Almighty, all our lives, from the minute
we're born, gives us breath, gives us life, clothes us. Your
parents don't do this. God does it. If you're healthy,
God did it. If you've got two eyes, two ears,
God did it. If that baby's born healthy,
it's not because Hannah ate right, it's because God did it. if a
baby is not born well, because God did it according to his purpose. I, the Lord, do all these things.
I'm the Lord. He says, I've clothed you, though
you didn't know me. I fed you, though you didn't
know me. I provided for you, though you didn't know me. I
spared you, though you didn't know me. I did everything, all
your lives for you, though you didn't know me. You didn't care
who I was. That's what God says to us. He
didn't even care that there was a God. Romans 1 says, God was
not in their thoughts. God was not in my thoughts. Was
God in your thoughts, Ron Fannin, as a young man? Did you ever
think about God? There is an honest man. I didn't
either. I didn't either. And I'd sit
in a service like this, and all I thought about was, when can
I get out? That's right. And this is our reasonable service,
isn't it? Just come just for a little while and thank God.
They say the Romans won. They weren't thankful. That's
all we do here. We're not trying to make anybody
miserable. Not trying to turn little kids into miserable humans.
No! We're thanking God. Pauline,
we're thanking God. It's our reasonable service.
One hour out of the week we get together as a people and say,
thank you. Even us go hours if not days
on it without thinking about God. But God is rich in mercy. Stops these wild asses cold and
says, listen, I am God. It's like you're waking out of
a sleep. That's exactly what's happening.
It's like you're hearing a voice. That's exactly what's happening.
It's like light turns on. That's exactly what happens. Message after message here about
God. I could argue, I believe the
doctrine. I believe God's sovereign. I believe He's sovereign. God,
I'm your God. I heard one day, I believe there's
a God. I believe He's sovereign. I believe
He elected the people. I believe He's righteous. I'm your God. I'm not just God. You believe
there's one God, you do well. The devils believe and tremble.
Here's salvation when you tremble. When you tremble. This is salvation. Not to just believe God is and
believe Jesus, believe that. It's to tremble. Look here in
verse 12. It says, What man is he that
feareth the Lord? He will teach him. Fear the Lord
is the beginning. I've gone all my life, God, without
giving you a thought, and you could snuff me out at any moment. That's what we finally come to
the realization of. I just can't preach without hollering.
I'm sorry, I don't apologize for it. There's people sleeping
in anyway. God so much. So. Word of life the gospel the good
news of salvation of God's eternal mercy grace and love of people
in Christ the joyful sound. It's mercy for the Lord to convict
you. It's mercy for the Lord to prick
your heart. It's mercy of the Lord to make
you feel bad. You know that? It's mercy of
the Lord to make you feel bad. There's no healing set for somebody
that's sick. There's no salvation set for
somebody that's a sinner. What's that mean? Sinner. You've got a whole world full
of people that don't drink, don't smoke, don't cuss, don't chew,
don't do this, don't do that, go to church and all that, and
they're holy people. No, they're probably the worst
sinners on earth to God. That's right. Oh, Lord, he says, according
to your mercy, Verse seven, look at it. Remember thou me? For
thy goodness sake. For goodness sake. We say that
all the time, don't we? We need to quit saying that.
Here's the way it ought to be said. Lord, would you remember
me for goodness sake? Here it is. Let me just illustrate
it, OK? Here's two thieves hanging, one
on one side of the Lord, one on the other. And they're both
getting exactly what they deserve. That's what one of them finally
realized. One of them, why did he realize?
The other one didn't. The other one never did realize it. But
one of them just woke up, hanging on the cross, about to die and
meet God. One of them just woke up as if in a dream, out of a
dream. And he said, we're getting what we deserve. This man has
done nothing amiss. And what did he say? Of salvation
came to this fellow then. What did he say? Lord, remember
me. Would you remember me? I haven't
given you a thought on my life. And now all of a sudden, would you remember me? Would
you not forget me? You will come into a kingdom,
an eternal kingdom. Remember me. Oh for goodness
sake he didn't have to. The Lord didn't have to. What's
he need with that old thief. What's he need with him? Will he do it? Did he do it?
Yeah. Why? He's good. Because he's
good. Look at it. Verse eight. Good
and upright is the Lord. He's good. And so he will teach
sinners in the What's the way? I just told you. I just illustrated it. Here's
this rotten, no-good seed that's dying on the cross, and God taught
him the way. The way to God. What is it? Look at verse 9.
As the meek will he got in judgment and the meek will he teach his
way. His way the way the way the only
way there is one way God's way. It's one way God's way. What
are you talking about judgment what's judgment mean sound wisdom
understanding judge between right and wrong judge between truth
and error. We don't have any of that. Until God gives it to. Judgment. The way. What is that? I'll ask you a
question, okay? One question. This is all you
need to be asked. What's the way to God? Blessed art thou. Who said that?
John? Did he say that? Blessed art
thou, John Bar Davis. Flesh and blood didn't reveal that. Christ is the way. Christ said,
I am the way. Not a way, the way. The way to God. The way of righteousness. Don't try to pick you one up. I wish old brother William were
here this morning. He loves my illustration of the hospital
gown. Well, he doesn't really love
steel camels, but he likes my illustration. Isaiah 64, 6 says,
All our righteousness is a filthy rat. That is all that we do,
all this little religion we concocted up and all our goodness and all
this we've done all our life, our little morality we've fixed
up, thinking God's going to be pleased with it. We're going
to quit this, we're going to quit that. Somehow we think that if we just quit
things, God will be happy with us. That's the extent of our
knowledge, Kelly, is that we just quit things. Anyway, hospital gown, that's what was,
all our, what we fix this little religion up, you know, all our
lives, we quit this and quit that. We patch us up a little,
a little covering, you know, we've covered up this flesh.
God doesn't look at that. He looks at the heart. He looks
at the motive. He looks at the thought. He knows.
He can't cover up. You can't cover up. No matter
how you try to cover it up. Fix yourself up. You can't fix
yourself up. Well, we get this little light
that we patched up and got all our little... Hey, don't I look
good? And what it looks like is one
of those hospital gowns. Hannah, you're with me. You know,
we can face people and say, don't I look good? Yeah, you look covered. Don't I look good? You show yourself. What? What you really are. Honestly. You know how God tells us to
come to Him? Naked. Naked. Take it all off. Take
it all off. Take all that religion off. Take all that former church
attendance off. Take your baptism out of your
Bible. Throw it away. Take that little decision you
made years ago and throw it in the ocean. Take everything you
ever knew about God and just give it away. Just throw it away. Forget it. Paul had all this fixed up. This
religious fellow, Paul, he said, don't I look good? God said,
you look, you're positively a monumentation to me. Wow. You're proud of yourself. Proud of what you did for God. And I'm going to bring you down
in the dust and I'm going to tell you, I'm going to strip
you naked of all that stuff. Toss all that away and I'm going
to tell you what I've done for you. Like that child in the Ezekiel.
Cast out. Now, he said, now you just, here's
how this baby's going to be beautiful. What I do for it. I'm going to
wash it. I'm going to clothe it. I'm going
to put a ring of love and affection on it. Jewels. Take it home with
me. And it's going to be beautiful
through my work. I'm going to get the glory. A-double-L
all of it. And you're going to know it.
And all your beauty and righteousness and all that, you're going to
know is of the Lord. If you have any, you know who
gave it to you. If you've covered, you know who's covered you. If
you've saved, you know who did the saving. It teaches them all this. Not
one of them knows this. Every single sinner whom God
teaches, they know that Christ is mine. Righteousness. That's
more than a doctrine, people. That's covering. Old Noah knew there's one thing
keeping the rain out. Pitch. Huh? It's the blood of God's
sons out of my pitch. God pitched my ark. One way. One way. Yeah. The meek. Verse
9. The meek. What's that? Meek.
That means teachable. Children. children if I was going
to be a teacher. In school. I got to stop and
think about that. Yeah I believe if I was going
to I don't want to be one but if I was going to be one I believe
I'd want to be a kindergarten teacher. I sure wouldn't want seventh
grade or not eleventh grade. Oh man. They don't want to be
there and there's nothing you can teach them. They're not meek. They know it all. They know nothing. They don't think they know it
all. I'll tell you who I love to preach the gospel to. The
meek. The teachable. What's that mean? It's like little
children. Little children. And Jeanette, you've been hearing
this for years. I'm going to tell you about mercy.
I'm going to teach you about it. Come, you children, hearken
to me. I'll teach you the fear of the Lord. And there she sits,
and she's been hearing it for years, Nancy, just like you.
You've been hearing it for years. But she acts like she's never heard
it. She says, oh, you teach me. Oh, you can teach me. But this is
who the Lord teaches. And he keeps teaching. And he
keeps teaching. How much do we know about mercy, Tammy? Really,
now. How much do we really know about the mercy of the Lord?
Someday in glory, the Lord's going to show us just how merciful
you are. You know, we talk about Christ
crucified. We didn't see it. We didn't see it. We weren't there. Someday, Gabe, he's going to
show us. I mean, we're going to know.
And how we're going to keep from crying and weeping and wailing
is because he said we wouldn't. And we're going to see, you know,
it's of the Lord's mercy. You know why you're here? Because
look what I did for you. I just didn't realize. I really
didn't. You know when you're going to
appreciate your mother, Hannah, more than you've ever in your
entire life appreciated your mother? Son, that's my son's, you know.
You can't really enter into it like a daughter. Oh, what you went through for
me. You trammeled for me. Right, Jennifer? Now, you're
closer to your mom than ever before, aren't you? You don't realize how close you
are. You're her. Well God has a whole people predestined
to the image of Jesus Christ, every one of them, just like
him. So how'd they get? He did it.
He did it all. He travailed. He's the way. Christ is the way, the mercy
of God, the pardon of God. Can't come to God but by Christ.
Can't be accepted by God, but by Christ can't be heard by God,
but by Christ can't be saved by God, but by Christ. Christ
is the center substitute. He's the unrighteous man's righteousness.
He's the ignorant man's wisdom. He's a lost sheep shepherd. He's
the unclean man's sanctification. He's a he's he's it. He's all
these way. Name away and I'll tell you how
Christ is it. You realize that? Everybody doesn't. He teaches his people to meet
his way, his way, the only way. All the paths of the Lord, I've
got to hurry, all the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth,
and the suchest keep his covenant and his testament. Covenant,
covenant, covenant, covenant. What's covenant? Oh, I need,
I need 10, 15, 20 more minutes. Covenant, what is that? Look
at verse 14. He'll teach them, he'll show
them his covenant. Well, it's a will and it's a
testament for it is. It's something. It's something
that God did before anybody was anybody. And God, the son, God,
the father. Made this covenant for the world
again before the reign of anything, made this covenant. And they called it the covenant
of mercy, they call it the covenant of grace, it's called the covenant
of of Christ, it's called a covenant, covenant, covenant, an agreement,
a will, a testimony, testament. God the Father, God the Son,
purpose to have a kingdom of people. And God, these people were going
to be a bunch of fallen sinners, sons of Adam. But God's going
to make his kingdom up of these fallen creatures. And Christ
in this covenant, God said, I'm going to say, I've chosen them.
I've chosen them. Chosen them. Chosen them. All over. Chosen
them. God chose them. A number that no man can number. He did. And His Son said, I'll go down
there and I'm going to do everything for them. I'm going to save them. I'm going to redeem them. I'm
going to make them righteous. I'm going to redeem them. I'm going to keep the law for
them. They're a bunch of log record. And, you know, I don't have time
to tell this. But anyway, so Christ came in the fullness of
time, made a woman, made under law, redeemed them that were
under law, and cursed the law of Christ, and made a curse for
it. Hung on a tree. Curses everyone that hangs on
a tree. Christ made sin for His people. Took their sin, their
punishment, on Himself. For the wrath of God on Calvary. And somehow some way. Transferred. His holiness to them. I'll show you, let me show you.
Here's a better way. I'll show you. So you'll show
him his covenant, not just teach him. I just taught you some doctrine
and show you. I told you about that thief on
the cross. God showed him something. He showed him, he's hanging there,
he showed him, the Lord showed him, you're getting what you
deserve. I'm getting what I deserve. He's
not. Right? He's not. And I guarantee you, Back at
the back Charles back at the back of that crowd of some three
or four or five thousand people there stood a man. Named Barabbas. I guarantee you he hung around. And that man was should have
been hanging right there. But he's standing back at the
back of that crowd he wants to see who it was that got what
he deserved. See that John I'm showing you
the covenant. Brabus said you know I didn't
get what I deserve. He did. I'm not hanging there dying.
Because he is. I'm going free. Because he's
not. What the covenant is, here it
is. You go down, you agree to bear their sin. I agree to accept
them. Substitution. Covenant. And they both said, yes. The
Son of People of Joy was said before. Yes. I have loved them with an everlasting
love." They agreed. They struck hand. Mercy and truth
met together. God and Christ. Righteousness
and peace kissed each other. Let's seal this thing with a
kiss. We're writing in a book an eternal covenant, ordered
in all things and sure, and this is all their salvation. Covenant. Write it down. Seal it in your
blood. Wrap it up. It's done. And I'll
never, never take it back. I'll remember it forever. The
blood of the everlasting covenant. Forever. And when the books are
open, there's nothing against us. Nothing. Every page is read. The blood of the covenant. I
showed you the covenant. I just didn't teach you. I showed
you. It's a person, you see. Not a
doctrine. It's a person. It's the teaching
of a person. And he did it for his namesake,
and I've got to quit. David said in verse 15, he said, well, look
at this. You've got to look at this. Verse
13, his soul shall dwell at ease. His seed shall inherit the earth,
the soul at ease. The person that's under the bed,
finally, you remember that illustration of the, if the person, finally, if God
will just cause them to give at the bed. Just give at the bed. Mac, you
know what I'm talking about. Just give, give up, heal. Old Abner, where's his heart?
When he was a young puppy, you know, teaching him. Oh, I felt
so sorry for him. I really did. Had that choke
collar on him. I didn't choke him, I didn't
hurt him. I wouldn't have hurt him. And
that chain on him, you know. Oh, you're killing me. Oh no, I'm
trying to keep you from being killed. Until finally, Kelly,
finally one day he quit choking himself. He ain't choking himself, Henry.
Just heal! Just bow. Just bow. Stop. Sit. That Psalm 23 says bow. He makes
us to lie down. Sit. Lie down. Roll over. Beg. Now speak. You think Abner's a happy dog,
Robin. Is he a happy dog? Happiest dog you know. He gets
to come in the big house. He wouldn't if he didn't sit,
would he? If he didn't lie down, he wouldn't.
What if he thought he belonged in there? I don't let any dog in my house.
I do one. Fine. I chose him. I bridled
him. I trained him. I brought him
down. Humbled him first to lift him
up to the big house. Mandy still thinks he doesn't
belong in the house. She thinks Charlie does. I got news for
her. Charlie's a dog as much as Abner
is. He really is. And had we not
trained him to be the obedient dog that he is, Ron, had we not cleaned him up, you
wouldn't let him in the big house either. He's a dog. And there ain't no human beings
that's heard to be saved but God. He trains them. He says, Your soul
will be at ease, young people, if you'll just give it a bit.
Just give it a bit. You're going to choke yourself.
Just give up. Your soul will be at ease. Your
soul will be at ease, and you'll inherit the earth. What earth?
You see, you know, here down here, we want this earth. You
ain't getting much, are you? Solomon said, I had it all. Nothing
to it. Nothing to it. When I was eight,
you know, I watched people, young and old alike, and the greatest
symbol of status, I guess, to a human being is an automobile. You know, you get, you can get
a guy that doesn't have a dollar in his pocket, but he's borrowed
dad's big truck or whatever, dad's car, or he's in hock up
his hill, but he's got this new car. Oh, and he might lose it.
But anyway, he's in this car. Oh, look at me. Look what I own. Ain't I something? Were you that
way, Sam? When you finally, what car was
it that made your dreams, you know? Where is it now? It's probably in the car you
have. You're probably still driving.
You understand what I mean? It's crushed up, and that's your
right door of your car. But at the time, and I see them,
old and young alike, and I look at me. What an ignorant person. When I was eighteen, I had about
the finest, well, I had a lot of other things I
can do now, but there ain't nothing to it. That big fine car I had, it's
gone, long gone. Where's Stephen? He's at work,
isn't he? And we've had a hundred and forty-eight since then. between
us and then nothing to it's a hunk of hunk of hunk of metal. You
think I just live to get this or what a thing to live for.
And you name something. Anything. Nothing to it. But
God says at my right hand are pleasures for evermore. Blessings
it hath not entered in. I hadn't seen. Ear hadn't heard. Music. Oh, I love music. Don't
we get it? We love music. I do. I love music. We haven't heard anything yet. I hadn't seen, hear, hadn't heard,
neither have entered in the heart the things that God had prepared
for them that love him. The new earth. See, Adam wasn't
even content in this first paradise, was he? Wasn't enough. God says, I'm creating a new
one. And who's going to be there?
Sinners? All his elect, his children, those he teaches away, the meek,
the unrighteous, the no good, the lost, the helpless, the hopeless,
the damned, the doomed, the dying. Sons of Jacob. We'll teach them. Don't breathe in. Number 337,
and let's stand. Let's sing the first and last
verse of 337. Teach me thy way, O Lord, teach
me thy way. Thy guiding grace, O Lord, teach
me thy way. Help me to walk the right, or
I faint left my sight. Lead me with heavenly light,
teach me Thy way. Last verse. Long as my life shall
last, teach me Thy way. Where'er my lot be cast, teach
me Thy way. Until the race is run, until
the journey's done, until the crown is won, teach me thy way.