I want to read one verse again. 1 Peter 3, let's read verse 15,
that's the text. It says, But sanctify the Lord
God in your hearts, and be ready always. to give an answer to
every man and ask of you a reason of the hope that is in you with
meekness and fear." Now, he begins the verse with the word, but. So we can't begin with this verse,
can we? But. But what? Well, to understand this, we've
got to go back and see what he'd been talking about. All right,
but sanctify the Lord God in your heart. All right, let's go all the way
back to chapter one. All right, go back to chapter
one. Let's do a little review here of 1 Peter. Chapter one,
verse three, it talks about those who've been blessed. Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according
to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again." Oh, some people have
been born again, Peter said, by the Word of God, which liveth
and abideth forever. Verse two, they've been elected. Elect according to the foreknowledge
of God. through sanctification of spirit,
sprinkled with the blood of Christ. And now, verse five, look down
at verse five, they're kept. They've been kept by the power
of God. They don't keep themselves, they
didn't save themselves, and they're not keeping themselves saved.
Kept by the power of God, and this gospel is that power. And verse six, it says, they
rejoiced. Oh, wherein they greatly now rejoice. They rejoice in
this gospel. Love this gospel. And then he
clearly defines this gospel he's talking about. Verse 19, down
there he says, oh, we're redeemed with the precious blood of Christ.
Now, here's the gospel. We're redeemed with blood No,
not verse 18, not with your own vain life or tradition or religion
or whatever. No, but with blood, took blood
to wash you, blood to pay for your sin, precious blood, precious
blood. Verse 23 says again, you're born
again of this incorruptible Word, verse 25, which is the gospel
preached unto you. This is how God brings a dead
center to life, what I'm doing right now. It's a mystery. An earthen vessel, but God, who hath despised a day's
small thing, God uses base means to bring centers to
life. Maybe this morning, I don't know. But chapter 2, verse 4, he says
to those who have been brought to life by the gospel, they're
coming to Christ. To whom coming? They keep coming
to Christ. To whom coming? And coming. And coming. Why are
you here this morning? You're coming to Christ. You're
coming to hear the gospel that brought you to Him in the first
place. Right? To whom coming? since Christ
is so precious. And to you who believe, verse
7, he says, and to you therefore which believe, he is precious.
This gospel is precious. It's strange. We saw chapter
4. That's strange. It was strange to me at one time
that doing what we're doing right now could be precious or actually
the greatest desire of your heart, but it is a mystery, because
He is, He's precious. But now wait a minute, verse
8, to some, chapter 2, verse 8, to some, this gospel, yes,
the very things we just said, elect, chosen, sanctified, kept
by the power, stone of stumbling. The very gospel, which gives
great joy to those that are saved by it, causes great anger in
some people. It's hard for you to believe,
isn't it? Isn't it? I'll talk to you. It's hard to understand why people
could get mad at the truth. It's hard to understand why,
as Teresa said, people would turn from their own hope
and reject a free gift. Get mad at God for being God.
It's hard to understand that. The very hope, all of our hope of salvation Everything that we hope to be
saved by, most people absolutely deny it, hate it, reject it. Well, look at verse 9 there,
chapter 2, verse 9. He said, But, well, you're a
chosen generation. Why do you believe? Well, it's
not of yourself. You're chosen. What have you
chosen to do? What have you chosen to do? Well,
look at verse 9. "...to show forth the praises
of him." He had fights. "...to show forth the praises
of him." Now, people that meet together,
not to pat one another on the back, but to thank God. been called to stand up and declare
not how precious mom is on Mother's Day or dad or whatever, you know,
but to declare he is precious. To praise his name. People who
are concerned about praising him, that's it. Chosen. Chosen. And then Peter goes on
to talk about suffering, for the truth's sake. And every believer will suffer persecution
for the truth's sake, for believing the truth. Yes, they will. And he reminds us, now, chapter
2 and chapter 3 both, he reminds us not to do anything offensive,
not be offensive. In other words, don't don't do
anything that. Mean or offensive that. You know
that make people get mad at you. And so. Bring approach on the
gospel. Don't do that. But now that's
chapter three. Here's where we are. Chapter
three, verse 14. But man, if you suffer for righteousness
sake. If you suffer for Christ's sake,
Christ is our righteousness, isn't it? If you suffer for the
truth's sake, I'm reading verse fourteen, chapter three. Oh,
you're blessed. You're blessed. And don't be
afraid of their terror if everybody turns against you. Don't be troubled. If nobody believes like you,
well, there are 7,000 who haven't bowed the knee to other believers. And you're blessed, you're chosen,
sanctified. You're being kept. Kept from
whatever the broad road. Kept from the wide gate, from
going in. be made to enter in the narrow
way, he said. All right, now verse 15. But,
all right, but, now, sanctify the Lord God in your heart. But, now, I want you to see why
he says that. But, now, sanctify the Lord God
in your heart. In other words, where it's going
to have to start is in your own heart and your mind. It's going
to have to be absolutely resolved in your own heart and your mind.
You're going to have to be thoroughly convinced in your own heart and
in your mind of the truth of the gospel. All right? That'll keep you from
being moved away or keep you from being troubled. and so on. You're going to have to be able
to say with the Apostle Paul in your own mind, in your heart,
you're going to have to be able to say, now I know whom I have
believed, and I'm persuaded. And once you're convinced now,
once you're convinced and you're persuaded in your own heart and
mind who God is, and who Christ is, what salvation is, what the
gospel really is, then you're ready. to give an answer to everybody,
to ask you a reason for the hope that's in you. All right, you
see why I said that, but it's going to have to be settled in
your own heart and mind who God is, who Christ is, what the gospel
is, or you're not be willing to suffer persecution, you're
not be willing It's got to be settled in your
own heart and mind. You have to be settled on the
gospel or you're not, you're not, you're not confessing. And once it is, then you'll be
ready to give the reason, to give an answer. Every man asks
you a reason for the hope that's in you, and you'll do it with
meekness and fear, with meekness and fear. And the things I'm about to say
this morning. What I've already said, you've got to understand, people,
that I was before, before you knew me, I was injurious, a blasphemer,
a vile, despicable son of Adam, a God-hating, Christ-hating,
truth-denying rebel. But God chose me. I was a prodigal son,
absolutely not interested in the gospel one bit. I wasn't
seeking the Lord, but God. It's what Peter says
here, do it with meekness and fear, and that is remembering
the pit from which you did. All that I'm about to tell you,
I didn't figure it out because I didn't have a clue. I didn't come to these conclusions.
God taught it to me by another man preaching the gospel to me,
which I rejected. I thought I smartened him for
a long time until God brought me down off my high horse. shut
my mouth and open my ears to hear the deep truth. See what Peter is saying there?
And this gospel for a believer. Believers don't think they're
better than anybody else. Oh no, I tell you what, let me
tell you something. I wish the world, I wish they
could really know the heart and the mind of a true believer.
True believers don't feel like they're better than anybody else.
True believers feel like they're worse than everybody else. You know that. A lot of people
give an excuse for not coming to church, you know, that they
feel out of place. You know, all those religious
folks. You know, I'm just an old If folks knew true believers,
they'd feel real comfortable. Believers don't look down on
sinners. Goodness gracious. And so what you understand what
I'm trying to say here. Before I say what I'm saying,
I'm not saying that I didn't have anything to do with it.
None of us in here. It's all revealed. If anybody
in here knows this. It's because God revealed it
to them. If anybody in here believes this, it's not because they just
decided to. No, no, no. They hated it at
first. It's because God made them with
it. All right? We don't say our gospel
or our church is better than anybody else, or smarter, or
our people are smarter than anybody else. No. We're just more blessed.
I tell you what I am saying, what we are saying is our God
is better than the God that's being preached today. Our gospel is better. I hope
you'll see that. All right, he says, sanctify
the Lord God in your heart. And that's what I hope will happen
to you right this morning, is that in your own mind and heart
you'll be convinced that now this is the gospel, that there
is no other. And when somebody asks you a
reason, or to give an answer for the reason of the hope that's
in you, you'll say, this is it, this is it, this is all my hope. All right? Our hope is in God. We hope in God. Now really, that says it all. That's it. That's what the Scripture
says. Hope thou in God. Now, if God isn't God, what's there to hope in? My hope is in a God who's
God. Now, I'm getting on my favorite
subject here, because I'm getting on my hope that God is God, that
everything And most people would admit this
right here, that everything is in God's hands. Everybody will
say that. Everybody will say that. But
people, I'm here to tell you that the souls of men are in
His hands. And I'm so glad that my soul
is in His hands. My soul is in His hands. You
see, salvation is of the Lord, whether or not I'm going to be
saved or not depends completely on God being God. That's my hope. He's my hope. And some of you
understand exactly where I'm coming from right now, don't
you? Right out of the bat, don't you? My hope of being saved is
that God is God. This is all the believer's hope.
Let me try to explain this. You see, the very thing, listen
carefully, the very thing that men argue against about God is
what is the believer's, it's all their hope. Let me illustrate
that. People argue this, well if God
is sovereign, if God is sovereign, And then they come up with all
sorts of questions, don't they? Then why are they there? Then
what's the city? Wait a minute now. What do you
mean, if God is sovereign? What do you mean, if God is sovereign? God is sovereign. And so I have
hope. Well, I argue, well, if only
the elect will be saved. God's sovereign, he elects whom
he will. That's right. Well, then if only the elect
will be saved, then they start arguing about that. Well, the
fact is, only the elect will be saved. God is sovereign, and
yes, only the elect will be saved. And my hope is that I'm one of
the elect. And if the elect are saved, I'm
saved. You see, the thing that men argue
against is my hope that if God chose me, I'm chosed. If God saved me, I'm saved. You see that? Men argue there, I don't like
predestination. I don't like election. I don't
like that. My hope is built. All my hope
is that the absolute, sovereign, unchangeable will and purpose
of God Almighty is that he chose me before the
foundation of the world. And like David said, Ordered
all things concerning me. Everything ordered all things
concerning me, predestined everything concerning me. That's all my
hope and my salvation. Is it yours? If you know yourself, It is. If you know yourself. You see, that's what God does. He brings a person to first know
themselves and their utter, utter helplessness. And then they come
to God. God who is God. Come to Christ. Come to a gospel that actually
says, Well, people argue that I don't believe all that about
sovereign God. I don't believe it because I
don't understand. Here's their argument. I don't
understand that if God is sovereign, I don't understand how God can
be sovereign, and yet all this evil happened. I don't understand
how God can be sovereign, how God's controlling all things,
and then there's wars and diseases and famines and evil, you know. murder and rape and babies abused
and dying and so forth. They say, my God wouldn't do
those things. My God is all love. They've got
their God all figured out, they say. My God is all love and He
wouldn't do any of those things. He has nothing to do with those
things. And so I don't believe in your
sovereign God. I don't believe. Well, let me
try to answer that. I don't fully understand everything
either. I don't fully understand. To say this, why things happen
like they do is sin, has something to do with sin. And what happens
is what man deserves and man is responsible for. But God is suffering. And somehow
or another, even all the evil is working out his purpose. If
it were not, then it's out of, something's out of his control,
right? That means God's not in control, right? Then who is in
control? And that's basically what people
believe, believe that here's God and here's the devil and
they both are equal in power. Good forces the good and forces
the evil. Yin and yang, you know. We don't fully understand everything
either. I don't begin to be able to explain
why certain events happen the way they do. But let me see if I can... The
very fact that I can't understand everything, that I can't understand God's
sovereignty, is why I believe like I do. You see, if I could understand
God, He wouldn't be any better than me, would He? He wouldn't
be higher than me. You understand what I'm saying?
If I can figure out God completely and know exactly what he's doing
and not doing, and why, then he's no higher, no wiser than
I am. Does that make sense, what I'm
trying to say? Spurgeon said it this way, I don't want a God
I can figure out. Listen to Job 33. Listen to Job
33, verse 13. He says, He giveth not account
of his matters to any man. Nobody was with him when he ordered
all things. He doesn't give an account of
his matters to anybody. He doesn't stop and tell everybody
why he's doing what he's doing, when he's doing it. No, sir. He doesn't have to. Any more of my daughter can stop
me and say, now why are you doing that? I don't answer to her. I don't stop and explain myself
to everybody. every ant that crawls along. Why I'm doing what I'm doing.
You understand? Men have this modern God figured
out, and I've got him figured out too, you know. He's not God
at all. He's less than God. He's less
than a man, really. The modern God's less than a
man. You figure it out, people. God doesn't have a free will,
but man does. Now, you figure that one out. that man can do whatever he will. God can't. Now you figure that
out. I love that illustration of that
young preacher, that young Armenian preacher going to that old farmer.
This explains it better than I can. Simple story. That young
preacher, you know, just like most all these other false preachers
going around today, went to the house of that old farmer that
would not come to the revival meeting, trying to witness to
him. Old Farmer Jones went to his
house and said, ìFarmer Jones, you need to come down to the
meeting now and let the Lord save you. You need saving.î Farmer
Jones said, ìNope, donít want to.î And the young preacher said,
ìOh, you better come now. You need saving. You better come
down there and give your heart to Jesus and let the Lord save
you, Farmer Jones, now. Why donít you let the Lord save
you?î He said, nope, don't want to. Well, the young preacher said,
well, if you don't, he'll send you to hell. And the old farmer
said, nope, won't let him do that either. Nope. Try to save me. And I won't let him. Try to damn
me. I won't let him. Now you explain,
you know, is there a difference? I've got this God figured out
today," he said. He's just like a man. I don't
need a God who's like a man. I need a God who's God. I need
a God who's infinitely wiser than I am. I need a God who's
ordered all things, and they're sure. I want you to turn with
me to Isaiah 45, and let the Scriptures tell us who God is. And it doesn't really go into
detail here and explain, but it just says it here in Isaiah
45. Here's the God of the Scriptures.
Here's what the Scripture says that God is God. You see, God Almighty ordered everything.
God Almighty, His will and His purpose, before the foundation
of the world, before anything was made, God had a will and
a purpose. You want to call it a plan? That's
not a real good word, but we'll use a plan because man doesn't—his
understanding is not big enough to truly understand will. All
right? God had a plan. And the reason
that's a bad word is because men say, well, that one failed,
so God had another plan. No, sir. No, He always had one
plan, or one purpose, one will. Well, God had one will and one
purpose before the world ever began. And He ordered everything
to fit that purpose, to fit that one plan. He predestinated everything
and everyone to fit that purpose. give you a little clue, it's
found in Ephesians 1, that purpose. Verse 9, well, all persons, all
places, all things are fulfilling his eternal purpose and will. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Everything. Nothing, Barnard
said, nothing writhes or wriggles that doesn't absolutely fulfill
God's ordered, eternal, all-wise purpose. Spurgeon said to him, he said,
you look at the sunbeam coming through the window. You ever
seen particles of dust? When the sun comes through the
window, you see particles of dust in that sunshine? He said,
not one particle of dust lands in a certain place. But God did
not ordain that before the foundation of the world, exactly where it
would land and why, for what purpose. I don't believe that. No, you're not. You're a worm. Now, I could sit down with my
dog, Abner. Abner's a smart dog. He's an
Australian Shepherd. He's smarter than most dogs.
He's smarter than black lads. He's smarter than most dogs.
I could sit down with him and do my best to describe to him
the law of physics." He's not going to understand.
He does not have the capacity to. I am so high above him in
every respect, and God said, as the heavens are higher above
the earth, so are my thoughts than your thoughts, and my ways
than your ways. Man said, I wouldn't have done
it that way. Of course you wouldn't. You're a man. Are we beginning to understand
a little bit now why God is God? I look at it here, Isaiah 45. And this will is too deep and
too infinite, too mysterious for a mortal man to comprehend.
Isaiah 45, verse 5, he says, I am the Lord, there is none
else. That means I'm the supreme one,
the absolute ruler, the absolute sovereign. There's no God beside
me. There's nobody beside me. There's
no equal with me. There's nobody reigning with
me. Not Satan. Listen, Satan, go back to Job
and read it, Satan had to come with what to God. Satan didn't
even stand. He had to report to God to ask what he could do. Tell me a preacher in the land
that's preaching what I'm preaching right now this morning. You don't believe me. But my hope is that Satan's not
God. God is God. All my salvation
depends on God being God, he said. And if he's ordered all
things concerning me, buddy, they're ordered. I don't understand, I don't understand
that. Of course you don't. You haven't had God revealed
to you. I don't believe that. Of course you don't. He's of
God, heareth God's words. You believe not because you're
not my sheep, he said. Blessed are you, we started reading
in verse 1, blessed are you if you know and understand that
I am He. Who? God. Look at verse 5. I girded you, though you had
not known me, that they may know. From the rising of the sun, from
the west, there is none beside me. I am the Lord, there is none
else. I form the light, create darkness. I make peace, create evil. Have you ever heard that verse
read in this 20th century other than here? No, and you won't. I, the Lord, do all these things. I don't understand that. I don't
either. I'm glad He's God. Look over at Isaiah 46. Turn
over another page. You say, that's the God of the
Old Testament. Well, let me tell you what He said about Himself
in Malachi 3, verse 6. He said, I'm the Lord, I change
not. Hebrews 13, 8. Jesus Christ the
same. He doesn't change. It's the same God. The God of
the Old Testament is the same God now. He hasn't changed. Isaiah 46, look at these verses.
Verses 9 through 11. Remember the former things of
old. I am God, there's none else. I am God. Why does he keep saying
that? Why does he keep saying that? Because men really don't believe
that. Do you understand that, Patrick, why he's saying that?
Why does he keep saying, I'm God, there's none else? I'm God,
there's none else. Why does he keep saying that?
I'm God, there's none else. Why does he keep saying that? Because people think, well, this
is in control, and this is in control, and man's in control,
and Satan's in control, and God's got his little bit of realm that
he's controlling. No! I'm God, he says. you're in my control." He even
says, the heart is in his control. Now, men say, I don't like that.
I'm here to tell you that's my hope, my hope, because the heart
is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. But if
he's got control of my heart, I feel better already. You see what I'm saying? The
very thing that men argue against is all my hope. I feel like I'm stumbling all
over myself. I started this whole thing out by saying, I wasn't
interested in God. And if God were not God, I would
still not be interested in God. Because I still see a law warrant
in my members, the old man saying, look, turn me and I'll be turned. If
God turns us, we'll be turned. If God's God and He's faithful
to promise. He said, I've chosen you that
you might know and understand, I pray you. Yeah, I've graved
you on the palms of my hands. Do you understand what I'm saying,
Brother Henry? I know you do. God's God. This is our hope.
Read on. He says, verse 10, I declare
the end from the beginning. I'm so thankful God declared
the end for me. I don't know where it's all going
to end. But I know if God's God and I'm
his, it's going to end up all right. And from the beginning of ancient
times, things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall
stand, I'll do all my pleasure. Verse 11, the last line of verse
11, I've spoken, I've said it, dictum factum, it'll do, it'll
happen. I've purposed it, I'll do it. The very things men argue against,
deny vehemently, is all my hope. And because they don't understand
it, they don't believe it. And because I don't understand
it, that's why I believe it. Now does that make sense? Because
I don't understand, that's why I believe. Listen, people, I wouldn't have
anything to do with God if I believed like this religion today. If
I believed that God loved me, If I believe that God loves me,
and I might end up in hell anyway, or you know, or Satan attacks
me and he just stands by idly. I had nothing to do with it,
didn't want it to happen. Why do I need that love? What good's that love doing me?
My daughter goes out in the middle of the road. I love you, honey,
but I can't do anything to violate your free will." What good's that love going to
do her? If I believed like this religious
world today, this God, I wouldn't have anything to do with that
God. I've got to believe that whatever
happens, the worst that could happen, God's in control. You've got to believe that. If He's not, I don't want a God.
I don't want a God who's out of control. You understand what
I'm saying, Sam? Bless God He's in control. And
a person can just waste away to nothing with cancer before
your eyes, a person you dearly love. And you can say, God's in control. It's for good. I don't understand
it. That's not the way I would have
done it. But that's the way he did it. And someday I'm going
to look back and say, boy, I'm glad you did it. I'm so glad I wasn't in control. Do you understand that? So the very thing, if I don't
get another point across to that. The very thing the world argues
against because they can't understand it. Who is Jesus Christ? Why'd he
come? I want you to turn and close
your eyes. Right here, salvation. It doesn't
have anything to do with you. It doesn't have anything to do
with you. No, sir. I did not have anything to do
with saving myself. And I never will. People, if
I had anything to do with it, I'd damn myself. I'm telling
you right now, I'm a preacher. But if God left me alone for
a minute and I wasn't in his hands, absolutely, under his
sovereign control, I'd be a Charles Manson. And that's just so. Salvation never did have anything
to do with me, and it never will. It's all his doing. Who is Jesus
Christ? Why did he come? He came down
here to show us how to live so that we'll live good boys and
girls just like Jesus. Then we'll get to heaven. God
will accept us. No! No, no, no, no. He said, I've come to seek and
to save that which was lost. Leave the ninety and nine and
the wilderness to find that one sheep was lost. And what to do?
It says when he finds it, what does he do? What does he do with
that sheep there? It says he finds that lost sheep.
What does he do? It says he picks him up, puts him on his shoulder. The good shepherd found his lost
sheep and took him all the way home. Carried him on his big
shoulders. Ain't nothing going to touch
him. That's what we need to be found.
You see, you're lost. If you're lost, you're lost. You're dead. You're dead. What could be plainer? If you're
lost, then you can't help find yourself again. You can't help
find yourself. If you're drowned in, you don't
help save yourself. But if a man swims out and lays
hold on you and drags you to the shore, who did the saving? Who did the saving? Who does the saving, believer? Christ. Look here at Isaiah 25,
verse 9. It shall be said in that day,
Lo, this is our God. We've waited for him. He will
save us." No, this is the Lord. We've waited for him. We will
be glad and rejoice in his salvation. You see, I believe Jesus is the
Son of God. I don't believe he's God. Well, you've got him figured
out, do you, huh? The Jews did, too, didn't they? No, he's God. Yes, he is. He that hath seen him hath seen
the Father. He that hath seen him hath seen the Spirit. In
him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead. Here, O Israel,
the Lord, our God's one God, who is it? Jesus Christ. This
is our God. I don't believe that. That's
my hope. That God was manifest in the
flesh, came to save me, and he did it. He did it. He did it. Now, it's finished. Well, if I believe like that,
you're crazy, is what you'd do. You'd be glad. That's exactly
what you'd do. You sure would. If you believed
like Ket, you'd believe like that. If anybody asked you to
give an answer for the reason that's a hope within you, you'd
use one word, Christ. Oh, grace. How do you say it? Grace. How are you going to be
Ket? But what about the decision,
Grace? Well, didn't you have anything
to do with it? No. Grace. Well, surely, surely, no. Grace. Oh, great. Christ. Great. This is our hope. And I don't
know why anybody would argue. What's to hate about? anything
that's been said, huh? Hadn't made God out to be a monster,
have we? Made God, tried to declare God
as just God, in control, and that the believer has nothing
to worry about, nothing. And that the person that comes
to Christ by faith and trusts Christ, they're safe. Well, that's good news. That's
good news. Why would anybody reject that?
All right, Brother Joe, you come up. What number? 72? 272. 272.