of my truth, of my love. Oh, send thy Spirit, Lord, down
on me, and make me see, and make me see All right, Luke chapter 7. The song says, Break the bread
to me as thou didst break the loaves beside the sea. I'm sure
after he handled that bread that it sweetened him. Probably the
best bread they ever put in their mouth. May he sweeten his word
to us tonight. Luke chapter 7. Let's read verses
24 through 26. This is where we left off. And when the messengers of John
were departed, you remember that from Sunday,
don't you? The messengers came and sent
by John. And when the messengers of John
were departed, he began to speak unto the people concerning John. And this is what he said, What
went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the
wind. What went ye out for to see?
A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they which are gorgeously
appareled and live delicately are in king's courts. What went ye out for to see? Yay, I say unto you, and much
more than a prophet, much more. Stop right there a minute. Can you think of one well-known
preacher today who seems to have any real wisdom
or integrity or honor? One well-known, and I'm talking
about nationally known, a man who commands the respect
of everyone for his wisdom and his knowledge and his boldness
to tell the truth. Can you think of one? You've probably noticed with
me how preachers are depicted on television, in TV shows and
movies and all that. They're effeminate, silly, confused
little fellows, you know, that nobody takes seriously and nobody's
paying any attention to. Especially those feminist type
shows like Dr. Quinn. Have you noticed how preachers
are depicted on TV? They're so confused. Nobody is paying
attention to them. It wasn't so with John. We read over there where it says
everybody came to hear John. It says Jerusalem, Judea, and
Jordan. Everybody. Was it Herod that
came to hear John? The king? Huh? He had to come here. He had to
come here, John. But the king would sit and listen. The prophet John was such a great
man that The Lord Jesus Christ commended
him, held him in high honor. I asked one of the brethren,
I said, why do you suppose that so much space in Scripture is
given to John? Well, it's the same with other
true prophets, isn't it? John is Elijah. Our Lord said that this is Elijah.
He dressed like him. He looked like him. He acted
like him. He sure preached like him. Same message. Prophet John was commended and
held up to be honored by the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Now
that's amazing. God commended a man like he did. It just amazed me. When I read
this, it amazed me how the Lord was commending this man. But you know, it's fitting. This is fitting because this
is the man, John was the man chosen by God to herald Christ's
coming. In other words, like we read
in the scriptures saying, now this is the one, this is the
one God chose to prepare the way of the Lord. This was the
herald, the harbinger is the word for, the one to go before,
the one, the messenger who would go out before the greatest, the
king of kings is coming through. And so what's his messenger going
to be like? He's not going to ask anybody. He's not going to
be begging it. He's not going to be offering
an invitation. So you see, isn't that fitting
that the man who came before the King of Kings is going to
be the greatest man to ever live? And everybody is going to sit
up and pay attention. You see that this man was a broker
for a man of authority. Our Lord said, What do you go
to see? What do you got to see? That's what he asked those who
heard John. He said, A reed shaken with the wind, a reed shaken
with the wind, a thin little wispy fellow that bends and sways
with every breeze that comes along. Any threat to him, he
backs down. Anybody or anything can sway,
easily sway, and he's easily influenced or swayed by every
wind of doctrine or popular opinion or whatever. Or a man who's resolute
and firm in what he believes. Huh? A reed shaking with the
wind? Doesn't that describe modern preachers for you? They can't stand up for anybody. They cannot stand up before anybody.
They're easily swayed. Modern preachers are easily swayed
and influenced. Money mostly will do it. But,
you know, if posed... Turn with me to Isaiah 29. Isaiah
chapter 29. Modern preachers, if they are
asked difficult questions, and presented with difficult situations,
they can't answer. They don't have any answers. You see, their God doesn't, their God doesn't even make good
sense, Joe. They don't have any answers.
If they're presented with difficult questions, if God is, why? They can't answer it. Difficult
situations, when things happen, they can't answer it. Isaiah 29, verse 11, says, "...the
vision of all is become unto you as the words of..." Now,
God's speaking to these ignoramuses. He says that the words of the
book are sealed, delivered to one that is learned, a Bible
scholar. Delivered to one who has learned
and saying, Read this, I pray. And he said, I can't. It's sealed. Jeremiah talks much of it. Our
Lord talks much of it in Jeremiah. Because they don't preach anything. They don't preach anything, they
can't answer any real questions. You see, a God who is all love,
And only love. And this this is you want one
word. That's the only attribute that
God have got it. But the God small G that men
are preaching today. Is nothing but. Love and I'm
talking about. Fickle I'm talking about sinny,
silly, sentimental. lovey-dovey love, you know. A
God whose only love will not, that won't explain sin, evil,
pain, suffering, sickness, death, will it? If God is love, why? Right? Calamities, disasters. The whole, you know, peoples
are wiped out by wars and diseases and all that. But God loves them. Why? If God is loving, why did
he let this happen? They say they don't have any
answers. They don't know God. This pathetic Jesus. That's being
preached that who loves everybody and wants to save everybody yet
is helpless to do anything for him. That describes him, doesn't
it? He's a laughingstock to this
perverse generation. A laughingstock. Turn with me to Psalm 115. Psalm
115. This God, this small G God. that they say is in heaven today. The old man upstairs, you know,
this granddaddy figure who cannot do anything about the state of
this world, is sitting idly by while men and devils are having
their way. Isn't that what, isn't that,
doesn't that describe preaching today and their God? And so,
therefore, these preachers, when they go to try to comfort people
or whatever, they don't have any comfort. They don't have
a God. Psalm one fifteen verses five
through eight says they have mouths these are the gods that
they make up they have mouths but they speak not eyes have
they but they see not ears but they hear not noses have they
but they smell not they have hands but they handle not feet
have they but they walk not haven't you literally heard these
fellows say that I bet you everybody in here has
heard some preacher say, God has no hands but your hands,
no feet but your feet. Now isn't that amazing? Who needs a God with no hands? How did he create the world with
no hands? Well, he says in verse seven,
verse eight, they that make them are like unto them. These preachers
that are preaching them, they're just like them. They have mouths.
Isaiah said they got DDs, but they're dumb dogs. They can't
preach. This pitiful fellow, I said I'll
never say his name again, I won't. But that pitiful fellow who's
so highly esteemed among everybody, you know, he's got a whole highway
named after him in North Carolina. Why, he's the most pathetic speaker.
He can't even What was it? Wizards that peep
and mutter. That's what Isaiah said. Familiar spirits and wizards
that peep and mutter. They're not even good preachers. I know former coal miners are
better preachers than the whole lot put together. They that make them are like
unto them. That's what the psalmist said. Mouthless, blind, impotent,
pussyfooting preachers. That's him, isn't it? Tell him I said that. Tell him
to meet me outside. Boy, they wouldn't want to meet John.
They did. They did. They came to see him,
all dressed up. They wish they'd never showed
up, didn't they? Well, our God, David said, well,
don't turn yet. We missed verse 3, didn't we?
Here's our God. Now, their God, He doesn't have
a mouth. Boy, ours does, and He'll consume.
He's going to consume the world with the breath of His mouth,
the Scripture says. That's what the Scripture says. The very
breath of His mouth is going to consume the world. Verse 3,
Our God's in the heavens. Well, tell me about it. He's
done whatsoever He has pleased. And we do whatsoever He's pleased. That's God, and when men ask
us for answers, we say it's the Lord. Let him do what seemeth
good. And who art thou, O man, to reply
against God? Now, that's John's God. And here's
God's John. This is God's John. God's John,
God's man. The man called John. He's no
wind-shaken, delicate reed. Says here, Christ said, what
did you go to see? You're not going to go see one
of mine. He's not going to be a reed shaking
wind. He's not going to back down. And he's not going to scratch
your ears. I thought about Samuel when I
read this where it says David lived delicately. I thought
about story of Samuel, another highly respected prophet, wasn't
he? All the people respected Samuel. Even Saul, who was a
war monger. Saul, you know, was this six
foot eight tall man, broader and taller than any man on earth
at the time until he met Goliath. Saul, you know, Saul the king, not Saul of Tarsus,
Saul the king, he backed down Samuel. He was afraid of Samuel. He feared Samuel. And I thought
of Samuel There was a fellow, you remember Samuel told Saul,
from God, told Saul to kill everything. To kill everything. Don't take
any spoils, go in this place and kill it all. And Saul didn't. Remember that? He kept some of
it back and he, you know, Saul was a wicked fellow and he said,
oh, I kept it to sacrifice to the Lord. Yeah, right. Well, he kept this Agag fella.
Maybe Agag slipped him some, I don't know. But this Agag is
king. It says, it says, Samuel said, I hear
sheep bleeding. I hear sheep. I told you to kill
them all. I told you not to let anything
live. I hear sheep. I hear people.
Well, to make a long story short, Samuel said, you bring in this
king you kept alive. Agag was his name. It says he
came in delicately. That's what the Scripture says.
It says he came in delicately. You know, he lived a king. He
was born a king. He's about like, well, I'm not naming names. He's just a king's boy, you know. And he came in delicately. You
know what Samuel did to him? Do you know what Samuel did to
him? He took a sword and chopped him in pieces. I mean to tell you, he took a
sword in front of everybody, I told you to kill him, and whacked
him, and cued him to pieces, he said. You see, that's awful. Well, what's the point in all
this? The point is, God said it. It's
God's Word. The point is, our Lord is speaking
here, and he's confirming his true preacher, John. You see, the messenger is a lot
like the one that sent him. Right? If I was going to send
somebody, my personal emissary, my ambassador or whatever, I'd
send somebody that just agreed with me. Right? I like the way
they did things, and they were just like me, you know? Represent me. So you see, Christ Jesus is not this silly,
sentimental, effeminate fellow that they're talking about. Sweet
gentle Jesus meek and mild, the Catholics say. That's how they
refer to Him. Talk about Mary, mother of God,
but gentle Jesus meek and mild. He's always in her lap, you know. Well, the king's messenger is
like the king. And that's number one. God, Christ
is confirming his true preacher. And secondly, we're told to try
the spirits, aren't we? Another John said that. Try the
spirits, whether they are of God. First thing you try is his
message. You try his message. If his God
is not God, then he's not God's man. All
right? As plain as that. If the preacher's
God is not God, I mean God, holy, sovereign, just, consuming fire,
then that man is not God's man. And his manner. You try his manner.
Paul said, you fully know my manner of life. If he's not a
man's man, he's not God's man. Judges 8. Turn over to Judges
8 with me. And I'm not bringing this up
by any... God is my witness. This is not
in any way meant to draw attention to myself. But Judges 8, and
we're dealing with this because Christ dealt with it here in
Luke 7. Christ is commending John. Judges chapter 8. I love this story. One of these
days, John Sheasley wants us to go through Judges, one of
his favorite books. 1 John. And we will, Lord willing, someday. But Judges 8 is the story of
Gideon. Boy, here's a man's man. You
fellas, you men in here, you'd like these
men. John was the kind of man you'd
like to sit and listen to. He'd remind you a lot of Scott
Richardson. Man's man. Gideon, you'd like
to him, buddy. You'd like to him. Gideon here
is a mighty man of God, and he was pursuing the enemy of God.
You know the story. God whittled his army down to
300 men so that no flesh should go. So that they'd see that this
is God's man and God's men. God's army. Well, Judges chapter
eight, look at verses four through nine. Let's read. The Gideon
came to Jordan and passed over. He and the three hundred men
that were with him, they were faint, they were tired, and yet
they were still pursuing. They were tired, yet they were
still pursuing these enemies, the Midianites. And he said,
he came to this succoth, and he said to the men of succoth,
Give, I pray you, loaves of bread unto the people that follow me.
We need something to eat," he said. They'd be fainting. I'm
pursuing after Ziba and Zalmunna, kings of Midian. I'm out to get
them. Now, listen now. There was 15,000.
This is two kings with a 15,000-man
army. And get in in 300. Before this,
they had sticks and pitchers. Well, he said, he came in this
place called Succoth and told the men there, give us something
deep. We've got a journey we're pursuing
after this 15th. Well, these fellows, they kind
of were laughing at Gideon. The princes of Succoth said,
verse 6, well, they were kind of mocking him. They said, are
the hands of Ziba and Zalmunna now in thine hand? Yeah, right,
you're going to 300. How many you got 300? You and
300 are going to go after 15,000, two of the greatest kings, the
Midianite kings. Yeah, right. You got them now?
Are they in your possession right now? If they are, we'll give you something
to eat. See that? Verse 7, Gideon said,
When the Lord hath delivered," and no doubt about it, when the
Lord hath delivered Ziba and Zalmun into my hand, I'm going
to tear your flesh with thorns and fires. He said, I'm going
to get a fire bush and whip you with it. That's what he said. He said, when I come back, I'm
going to get a fire bush and whip a daylapse out of you. That's what he said. Man, this
is a man's man. Look at the next line. All right,
read on. So he went up to Penuel and spake unto them likewise.
These fellows of Penuel answered them, and they the same way.
Yeah, right. Yeah, sure, get in. You're going
to go. And he said, When I come again, I'm going to burn down
this town. There's a huge tire of this. I'm going to burn this
thing down. Well, verses 15 through 16, well,
he did, buddy. He went and got Ziba and Zalmun
and came to the men of Sukkot and said, Here they are. Here
they are, verse 16. He took the elders of the city
and thorns and bars and taught them a lesson. See that, Sam? You'd have liked
to go get in. Take your freshen. Said I was
going to line up. Drop your drawers. I like that. And then in verse
16, he took the elders of the city and, or verse 17, he beat
down the tower of Penuel and slew the men of the city. Well,
to make this long story short, down in verse 21, Ziba and Zalmuna
said, now Gideon told his young son, kill these two fellas. He
had them. He had these two fellas in his possession. He told his
young son. training him for battles, where he was training him to
come harden, you know, to what he's going to have to do. He
said, kill these two fellows. Now, this is a picture. Christ
is getting in. And his sons, he says, don't
spare them. Whatever I tell you to do, you
do it. Don't fear men's faces. Well, this young fellow, he was
afraid. He took one look at these two powerful kings. And verse
21, these two fellows said to Gideon, they knew they were going
to get it. And they said to him, you rise and fall upon us. Look
at this, as the man is, so is his strength. And he slew them both. Well, someone may be asking this question
right now. Sunday morning, didn't you say, They were to practice nonviolence. Did that come up? Did anybody
think of that? Did that enter your mind? There's one honest
person in here. Well, we have different enemies today.
I mean, the principles are the same, but the enemies are different. This is a different, in the words
of old writers, a different economy. A different enemy, different
weapon. We use a different weapon. Now
you see where I'm getting at here in a moment. Look at 2 Corinthians
10, 2 Corinthians chapter 10. A different enemy and different
weapon. What is our weapon? What is our weapon that we use
now? And, Joe, there ain't no way
to hew a man delicately, is there? You see what I'm getting at? 2 Corinthians 10, verses 4 and
5, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, not fleshly. You remember when Peter pulled
out the sword and whacked the... Now there's a man, you'd like
Peter. Stan, you'd like Peter. He just pulled the sword and
started thrashing. The Lord's enemies, that is,
not his own, but the Lord. And do not I hate them that hate
thee, you know. And well, the Lord said, put
up his horn. Remember that? No, there was
a time for that. There was a time for that, our
Lord. He gave the orders to Gideon. Christ gave the orders to Gideon
and said, go ahead and kill them all. Didn't He? He gave the orders
to Joshua, go ahead and kill them all. Everything is pissed
up against the wall, He said. Didn't He? That's Scripture language. Don't apologize for the way Scripture
reads. Goodness. Same Lord gave those same orders,
but now he said, put your sword up. He said, my kingdom is not
of this world. If it were, we'd get her strapped
on our swords. Right? Doesn't that do away with
these malicious, malicious, malicious? Huh? But now we do have a sword. that we wield. He said, it's
mighty, our weapons are not carnal, but mighty through God, to God,
to the pulling down of strongholds. Read on, verse 7. Casting down,
look, you notice how this is all in a destroying mode? Casting down every high thing
that exalteth itself. Pulling down strongholds, casting
down, tearing down idols. carrying down idols or towers,
high towers, high places, everything, anything and everything
that exalted itself against the knowledge of God, bringing into captivity every
thought to the obedience of King Jesus Christ. You see that? Our weapon? The Word of God.
It's a two-edged sword. Two-edged sword. And like David
said about Goliath, there's none like it, give or take. None like
it. And now this is what the prophet
John used. And all who show themselves to
be men and women. Now, in our text, in Luke 7,
the Lord said, He's the one who prepares the way. He said, This is he of whom it
is written, verse 27, Behold, I send my messenger before thy
faith, which shall prepare thy way before thee. I bet you most every man in here,
and women, have cleared land, gone out. You've gone out and had to hack
and cut shrubs and grub stumps. Right? And you know, it's cutting down
everything in its path. When you're clearing the way,
what you're doing is you're cutting down everything in the path.
Now, here's a play on words, and I mean to. You shouldn't
cut people down. You shouldn't cut people down
like that. Judge not. Don't cut people down like that.
Snakes. I got up Saturday morning and
said, y'all are a bunch of snakes. Like I said, there's no delicate
way to heal people in pieces. There's no delicate way to tear
down an idol. Listen. He said the mountains will be
brought low. This is what the preparer of the way did. High
opinions. Everything that exalteth itself
against God, every high opinion of man has got to be brought
down. Right? Every high opinion of
man has got to be absolutely cast to the ground. Everything that is highly esteemed
among men, religion, everything in religion that is highly esteemed
among men, God says it's abomination. I love the stories of those old
prophets, don't you? Remember Elijah on Mount Carmel? He said, where's your God? Where is He? Cry! Where is He? Well, He had to
take a trip. I love that, don't you? Don't
you think that's funny? I do. He's laughing at their
God. They've made a mockery of my
God long enough. They've made a mockery of God.
They're the ones that are making a mockery of God Almighty. We're declaring God as God, but
not them. No, they've made God a laughing
stock to this generation. It's time to say, where's your
God? Call on Him. What's wrong with
your God? Can He do anything? He can't whip a flea. Barney,
you say, your God can't whip a flea. Right there is the present day
John and Ralph Martin. Prepare the way. You see, you
ought not cut people down like that. That's what a preparer
does. That's what the Word does. Doesn't it? It'll cut you down. And now or later. Look at verse
28. Our Lord said, And I tell you,
among those that are born of women, there's not a greater
prophet than John the Baptist. That's a commendation. There's
not a greater man than John the Baptist. Why? Well, I'll tell you why. Because
John didn't think he was great, and he sought not great things
for himself. Our Lord said there's not a greater
man born, because when they came to John, they said, Who are you? I'll tell you why John was somebody,
because he said he was nobody. The only person who's somebody to
God is nobody. I'll tell you why John was great,
because John said, He must increase, I must increase. And therefore
God said, You're going to increase. He didn't exalt himself, but
he abased himself. Our Lord is truly His Word, isn't
He? Huh? He said, This is the man to whom
I look. This is the one I'm going to
pay attention to, that he is poor and with a contrite heart.
He trembled at my word. That's the man I'm going to look
to and be behind. And the man of God, man sent
of God, points men to Christ. The man that comes in his own
name draws attention to himself, doesn't he? Huh? You can pretty
much, we're told to try the Spirit, you can pretty much write a fellow,
I don't even have to mention the way I'm going to do it, you
can pretty much write a fellow off when you see his name in
big bold letters, anywhere. Right? Just write him off. I
don't care how good, I don't care what he says and how good
it is. Well, our Lord said, verse 28,
and I like this, and you ought to like this, too. Verse 28,
John is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist, but he
that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. What do you reckon if Adam said
to Gideon, Gideon, you sure are a great man, are you? What do
you reckon he would say? No, it's these fellas with me.
It's these 300 men. David did that very thing. Remember? David had valiant captains that
fought with him and for him. And remember when David one time
just said, oh man. You remember when he was being
pursued and he said, Paul, what I'd give for just one drink out
of the well, that well in Bethlehem. I love that. Three men heard
him say that. They just overheard him say that. And they hazarded their lives.
They went through the enemy camp and to get a cup of water and
brought it back to the camp. You know what David did? He poured it out. I'm not worthy. See? John said, I'm not worthy to
tie his shoes. Tie his shoes. At least in the
kingdom is greater. Verse twenty-nine, let's finish
this up. Verse twenty-nine, all the people,
all the people that heard Him, the heard Christ, common people,
working class people, that's who came to hear Him, and publicans. It says they justified God. They justified God, being baptized
with the baptism of John. Justified God? That's a misprint. You mean they were justified
by God? They justified God. Can you remember anywhere else
in Scripture that said that God might be justified? Romans is
quoting this passage in the psalm. It's our favorite psalm. Every
sinner's favorite psalm, Psalm 51. where David said against
thee, and thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight,
that thou mightest be justified when you speak, and clear when
you judge." What does it mean to justify
God? To justify God means to agree with God, to agree with
God. With everything he says about
it. Look at verse 30, it says, The Pharisees and the lawyers,
oh, they the counsel of God. He didn't justify God. They rejected
the counsel of God against, against themselves. You see that? Against
themselves. And they weren't baptized. They
didn't, they refused to be baptized by John. Well, he called them
a snake and they got mad and they got offended. But these publicans and sinners,
they justified God and said, well, all right, here's the message
of the prophets. And I'm going to quit with it,
all right? Just a moment more. Here's the message of the prophets
then, and it's the same now. It hasn't changed. If a man's
a true preacher now, it's the same. The message is the same.
Men are the same. God's the same. I am the Lord,
I change not, therefore you sons of Jacob." Worms. Here's the
message of the messenger and the message of the master himself.
Listen, repent. Deborah, have you ever heard
of a modern day preacher ever use that word? Have you? Come
on. Repent. Poison of asps in that scripture
or language, Romans 3, the poison of asps under our lips, vipers,
hypocrites. Any hypocrites in here? Dogs. You dog, you. Henry, you dog,
you. Stan, you old worm. You worthless
worm. John, you're nothing but miserable,
poor, blind, and naked. Sam, you're absolutely unworthy,
unworthy. Holly, you're guilty, vile, and
helpless. What do y'all say to that? We
justify God. See? That's what it means to
justify God. Not a Pharisee. Well, that's God's Word to man,
isn't it? Isn't that God's Word to man?
God's Word to man is not good. It's not good. And to justify
God means to agree with God. with everything he says about
us, and everything he says about Christ, everything he says about
himself. One thing we need, we need a
bloody sacrifice, you know? That there explains, that explains
it all, doesn't it? Doesn't that explain it all?
We shouldn't have to go any further. We know what we need to be accepted
by God, we need a bloody sacrifice. Well, that tells it all. That
says it all. Only way God can have anything
to do with us is a bloody sacrifice. I mean God taking his innocent
son and slitting his throat. That says it all. That tells
you what God thinks about man. Doesn't that it? Doesn't that
tell you what God thinks about man? You see, they don't have
that answer, do they? Preachers don't have that answer.
You ask them, why did Christ die on the cross? Why? What, to pay for our sin? Why?
Because all sin that comes short of the glory of God. Why did
that have to happen? Why did they have to die like
that? They don't know. Because God's holy. And God hates
sin. And God's either going to make
us a bloody mess or He'll do this to us. Because God hates
us by nature. Whew! Boy, I have strong language. Ain't no way to cut with a sword
but one way. Now that says it all, and the cross says it all.
And the Pharisees say, We be not sinned. Are we blind? Well,
if you're a sinner, you justify. Here's the good news. If you're
a sinner, you justify. If you justify God, God will
justify you. There you go. You agree with
God what He says about you, you're a maggot. You're a dog. You don't deserve the crumbs
from the table. True, Lord. Then you'll get to
sit at the table. See? If you don't, you won't
get crumbs. Right? Is that hard? No, it's mercy. And it's just
so. And see, and then when the gospel
is piped, you'll dance. That's what our Lord said here.
He says down in Verse 3, You're like children sitting in the
murky. That's what I like in this middle generation, too.
We pipe and you don't dance. Why? Because the gospel doesn't
mean anything if somebody's not He said, we've mourned, you don't
weep. The lesson of the day is to mourn. A person not mourning
over their sins, they don't have any reason to cry, unless they
can't make their payment on their Mercedes or bring them to it. Sinners now, they weep over their
sins, and then when the gospel is packed, they'll dance. They'll
get out of the ark like David, and they'll make a fool out of
him, say. Or at least to the world, they'll be called a fool.
Listen to this in closing. And this gospel wisdom is justified
of our children. You see, that's where he went
on. That's the last word he said. Wisdom is justified of our children.
The wisdom of God, the Word of God, everything God says is justified
of His children. All later taught of God, they
justify God. And the wisdom of God is justified.
of her children, they see the wisdom of God in all this. They
see how Christ is made unto us. Wisdom, righteousness, sanctification. See that? But not these ignoramuses. Now
listen to Thomas Manton here. This is great. I'm going to put
it in the bulletin. Next sentence. Christ is not
valued, nor his grace appreciated, until men have a genuine knowledge
of their misery, of their helplessness and lost condition because of
sin. You hear that? Christ is not
valued, nor His grace appreciated, until men know what they are. When sin is sin indeed, then
grace is grace indeed, and Christ is Christ indeed. Isn't that
good? Listen again, line upon line. When sin is sin indeed, then
grace is grace indeed, and Christ is Christ indeed. If men have
a superficial sense of sin, they'll have a superficial faith in Christ. I'll tell you who's bulletin
that's in. That's in Gary Baines in Dangers,
West Virginia. Infinite wisdom published in
a paper that few eyes will see. Few eyes will see it. But our eyes see it. Well, do we justify God? No.
All right, let's stand. Our God, we thank You for Your
Word, every word of it. You are indeed God, our God, in whose hands our breath
is and all our ways, and we justify all that You do and say. All
that You say, we say It's right. We esteem all thy precepts concerning
all things to be right. And everything you do is right
because you do it. The judge of the earth does right,
and we justify thee. And oh, how we thank you that You revealed this to us. The flesh and blood didn't reveal
it to us, and this is against our nature. Thank you for sending
your Holy Spirit to reveal the gospel to us. We thank you. Enable others to hear it, Lord,
to hear this message and justify God. Call sinners. Beat the highways
and the hedges and call sinners to yourself. Call out your sheep. Until that day, Christ comes,
we meet and give thanks and bless your holy name for these very
same things. In Christ's name, amen.