If you don't have it already
marked, I also want you to turn to the book of Acts, Acts chapter
1, which was also written by Luke, Acts chapter 1. I've had people tell me before that I like it when you preach
simply. The more simple you make it,
the better I like it. And so that's what I want to
do this morning. Preach very simple, very simply,
so that even these young children can understand, hopefully. And
I don't have anything new to say. You better be thankful for that.
I don't have anything new to say. I'm going to say the same
thing, the same thing said just a little while ago, the same
thing that was said Wednesday night, the same thing said last
Sunday, the same thing. But it's not high joy, not grievous
to me. Well, Luke began this gospel
of Luke in this way. Listen as I read. He said, many have taken in hand
to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most
surely believed among us. Many, he said, others have written
down things most surely believed among us. And he said, so I want
to do the same thing. I want to, it seemed good to
me to also write down and tell you, but you might know the certainty
of those things. where you've been instructed.
The certainty of those things most surely believe, and he says,
I'm writing, that you might know the certainty. Things, things,
things. What things? Now, here in Acts
chapter 1, which I said also that Luke is the writer of it. Acts chapter 1, verse 1, look
at what he says, what things he's talking about. The former
treatise, or the Gospel of Luke. The former treatise, the Gospel
of Luke, have I made, or wrote, O Theopolis. And he said, and
this is what it's all about, of all, the former treatise I wrote,
O Theopolis, of all things, things that we most certainly believe
and things that most surely, of all that Jesus began both
to do and to teach, the things he said are the things of Christ. You see that? The things, all
the things that Christ did, what He did, what He said. Alright?
And in Luke 24, most of you know this story, Luke 24, that our
Lord met two disciples one day. They were walking on the road.
And it says that in Luke 24, verse 44, that he began to speak to them
and he says that, he said this, now listen as I quote it, Christ
said, All things must be fulfilled which were
written in the law of Moses and in the prophets and in the Psalms,
that's the whole Bible, the Old Testament, all things must be
fulfilled, things, concerning me. all things concerning me."
Now, you see that? And as we noted, and by now in
Luke chapter 6, last week we looked at who he is and what
he did, and who are his, and what he did. Brought them to
him. He, him, his, and him. We talked
about this being a him book. Well, it's still a hymn book,
so my message this morning is a hymn. I've got nothing new
to say. Same things. What things? I'm
talking about hymns. Okay? Those that love hymns,
they don't grow tired of hearing about hymns. Same thing. What if I just dealt with the
same verses again this morning? I mean, the exact same verses.
He, him, and it. Well, I'm going to. Look at verse
13. It says, When it was day, he
called unto him his disciples, and of them he chose twelve in
whom he knew. He did it. He did it. He came, he called, he chose,
he knew. He chose, he knew. He did it
all, didn't he? And he's going to do it all.
If you're going to be his, he has to do it all. He came, he
called, he chose, he named. He did it all. See that? Now,
who are we talking about? Who is he? Who is he? That's what they said one time
when When Christ came into Jerusalem, everybody was all taken up with
him, and some folks stood outside and said, ìWho is this? Who is
he?î Well, heís not just a man named Jesus. Heís the Lord God. Thatís who
he isóthe Lord who is sovereign over all. Listen to this. Listen
to these scriptures in John. It says, ìAll things were made
by who this is, is the one that
created the planet. That's the reason he chose whom
he would, because he owned all he is, and he just chose whom
he would. All things were made by him, and without him was not
anything made that was made. And all things were created by
him, Colossians said, and for him. All things, the Scripture says,
are given into his hand, because everything is in his He's not
in our hands. Jesus is not in men's hands.
Scripture says in John 3, 35, all things are given into his
hands. The God in whose hands thy breath
is and all thy ways. His hands. Who is he? He's the one whose hand we're
standing in. That's it. Victor says in John 5.22, all
judgment is given unto me. Christ said all judgment. He's
a judge of all here. That's who He is. He said in
John 17.2, all power. God's given Him all power over
all flesh. So He came. He's Lord over all. He called whom he would. He owns
them. Cannot I do with my own what
I will? Sure he can. Make this one a vessel of honor,
that one discard. Is that unfair? No, because it's his. It's all his. Huh? This is my suit here, isn't it? Is this my suit? You can't tell
me what to do with my suit. I can wear it or I can throw
it away, can't I? He said, you can't do that. Now, wait a minute. Yes, I can. It's mine, he said.
No, you can't. You can't. I won't let you. Wait
a minute now. Are you crazy? Who do you think you are anyway? This is mine. And I'll do good
and well, what I want to do with it. And you're not going to say
anything about it. Got that, Henry? Well, man does that to God. They
say that about God. You can't do that. Well, wait
a minute. That's crazy, isn't it? Of course
you can't. It's his. It's in his hand. Now, what he said? The whole
thing's in his hand. And he can throw it away or he
can keep it, and if he keeps it, He said, nobody's going to
pluck it out. Didn't he? You can't do that,
throw it away. I just did. You can't keep them,
I tell you that. You watch me. Try to get it out. It's his. It's him. That's who we're talking about.
Why do I declare who he is? Because these things depend on
who he is. The certainty of these things
depends on who he is. Whether these things certainly
come to pass depends on who it is, you see. Salvation depends
on who he is. Is he able? Is he sovereign? Is election so? Well, surely
there is God's sovereign. Is eternal redemption and salvation,
complete salvation so? Certainly there is God's sovereign. The blood of Jesus Christ is
all power. He's got nothing new to say.
Who he is, what he's done, all right? When it was day, the day
he chose, the fullness of time, God made a woman, made her under
the law to redeem them that were under the law. Who's them? He called unto him, and over
Mark 3, verse 13, St. Burt says, he called unto him
whom he was. And what did they do? He says,
they came to him. Oh, if the Father giveth me,
shalt thou come to me. And him that cometh to me, I
will in no wise cast out. That's who he is. All right?
Let's read on. He chose twelve, all right? Now
look at it here. He chose them, and he named them.
Named them apostles. And look at it. It says Simon,
who also is named Peter, and Andrew, his brother James, and
John, Philip, and Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James, son of
Alphaeus, Simon, called Zelote, Judas, the brother of James,
Judas Iscariot. But they were different people,
weren't they? They were the same, but they
were different. Different personalities, but
they were still all just a bunch of sinners. Didn't know Christ
and what didn't care. Weren't interested. Here sat
a fellow counting money named Levi or Matthew, and he wasn't
interested in Christ. Christ came and called him. Chose
him. two brothers, Simon and Andrew,
sitting in a boat fishing. And they didn't care about Christ
either. Christ came and He called them. All right? They're the
same in that they don't care about Christ. And unless Christ
comes calling them, they're not going to be called. They're not
going to be saved. But they're different, aren't
they? They're different. You know, a tax collector or
CPA, he might, you know, Levi, if they had glasses back then,
he would have wore thick, you know, glasses and he'd have been
the bookworm type, you know. And over here, Peter, boy, if
you'd have seen him coming, you'd have got on the other side of
the street, you know. Rough, rough looking. Smelled like a fish. They're
two different fellas, all right? And what I want you to see in
that is that there are different personalities, just like everybody
in here, different styles. Right? Simon Peter, you've got
Simon Peter who was, you know, he was used to, you know, just
speaking out. And I guess that's fishermen
like to tell their fish stories, don't they? And we'll tell everybody
about his fish, whether they want to hear it or not. Just
all outspoken, impulsive, and so forth. And John, and there's
John over here. John, he's different. He's quiet,
apparently, bleak, mild. And there's Matthew, like I said,
Matthew, the publican, tax collector. And there's James, he's a fisherman.
So they're different. And what I want to tell you here
by this is that though they're different, they all went out
with the same message. They all went out with the same
message. They were declaring Christ. They declared Christ. And now
I want you to see this too. So he chose whom he would, the
different personalities, and that's what Paul said in 1 Corinthians.
He said we'd be in many different gifts. And callings, understand
that? But same, really, same service
that his people are in, just a different way. Same message,
same service, same Lord who called you. One Lord, one faith, one
hope of your calling. Now, look who else he called
here. Look who else he chose here. Look down at verse sixteen. It
says, Judas, the brother of James. Now isn't this interesting? Two
Judases. Judas, the brother of James,
and Judas Iscariot. Fellows with the same name. But
one was a devil, a traitor. There's a lesson there. Men can look the same, and look
like men, even bear the same name, and even sound the same,
be preachers. Jesus cared to preach. But he was a devil. And the point I want to make
to you in this is that Jesus Christ is sovereign over men
and devils, even. That the devil can't do anything
of his own. Boy, is that shocking. It might
be to somebody. The devil can't do what he wants.
He can only do what God allows him to do. Is that right? Look at Proverbs 16. I hope you have a Bible. If you
do, and you look at this, it may
change your theology. This one verse of Scripture may
change your whole way of thinking. It won't change your heart. Only
God can do that. But if you look at this honestly,
if you look at this with your own two eyes and face it, it
may change your whole way of thinking about God. It ought
to. God said this. Like I said, Steve,
it won't change a man's heart. It won't make a man love it,
but a man at least see it. And if he sees it, if he doesn't
love it, he'll say, I don't like that, and he'll turn from it.
But this is what it says. Proverbs 16, verse 4 says, The
Lord hath made all for himself, all things are all for himself,
yes, even the wicked for the day of evil. He made the devils? Now, people, we can't charge
God with sin. And I was going to have you turn
to several other verses, Isaiah 45, Colossians 1, but you can
write these down if you want to turn later. Isaiah 45, 7,
Colossians 1, 16 say the same thing. God is not the author of sin.
You can't charge God with sin. God is holy. But the devils do his bidding. They couldn't do anything unless
God decided. That's just so. Now listen, if
the devils were out of God's control, if they were doing things
independently and He couldn't stop them, they were doing exactly
what they wanted to, if they were out of His control, He's
not God. They're equal to Him. Do you
remember now how we read that Christ said, All power, all authority
is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Remember that? In Colossians 1, I was going
to turn to it, but he says, he's the head over all principalities
and powers. Now, the world, unbelievers don't
like that. For some reason, they just don't
like that. They think that that's making
God a monster, you know, responsible for sin and all that with people. That's all my hope. What's my
hope against Satan and the demons and the devils and all these
evil forces that are against me? What's my hope? If they're
just as strong as God is, I can't fight them. Adam and Eve couldn't
fight against him. They couldn't stand up against
his wisdom and his subtlety and his power and all that. How in
the world is this poor puny sinner going to do it? One time, the Lord said to Peter,
He said to Simon Peter, a fisherman, man, what can he do? He's just
been fishing all his life. Peter, you can get after the
devil, buddy. Fight him, fight him, Peter.
This is a regular, ordinary man. If he was just flesh and blood
that he was going to wrestle with, I bet you Peter would have
stood his own. Peter had been manning ropes, fishing. They
didn't have light tacklebacks. Hey, he wasn't throwing a bait-cast
rod, you know. He was reeling in nets. If it
was flesh and blood that Peter had to fight against, I bet he
could have took him by the... He did one time, didn't he? Huh?
In the garden one time, a whole bunch of them came. Peter said,
I've got them, Lord, I've got them. Took his sword out and,
I'll take them. We're not wrestling against flesh
and blood. against principalities and powers of spiritual wickedness
and high places, rulers of the darkness of this world, which
the most perfect man ever lived, Adam, was no match for. Christ
said to Peter, Peter, Satan hath desired thee. Satan, the arch-enemy
that desired you. He wants you. What's your hope? What's his hope? Me, Lord? Be of good cheer, Peter. I'll pray for you. He's got to
come through me, and he's no match for me. He can't take me. As a matter of fact, right this
minute, he's under my thumb. I've got him on a leash right
now. At this very moment, I've got
that pit bull called Satan on my leash. And he can only go
just as far as I want to go. And for purposes known only to
him, the Lord Jesus Christ turns Satan loose for a season, the
Scripture says. Turns him loose, lets his leash
out a little bit. To do what he will according
to purposes known only to him. All right? Did he jerk it back? He'll have that one. There's
one of God's own. I don't want to get... No, you
don't. It might cause him to roar at
you and bark, you know, and maybe swipe at you and one little scratch,
but that's it. No further. You can't have him.
That's mine. Here, have at them. Devour the
world, you know. Just have them. Not my own. No. Stop right there. You got
a dog? Anybody got a watchdog? Who do you turn him loose on?
Enemies, thieves. Get him, Abner. I hope you don't have a dog like
mine because he won't get anybody. Might lick him to death, you
know, but get him, Abner. He might. I don't know if a real
enemy came. He might. But you don't turn
him on your friends. You turn him back on. Hold on. Back off. Hush up now. That's exactly. He's God's devil. Is that too strong? Is there
anything wrong with that? I'm so glad. Aren't you glad? And he chose Judas to betray
him. Somebody had to. Somebody had
to do this evil work. And oh, it was evil. And he chose this man to betray
him. He had to be betrayed. Innocent blood had to be betrayed. The Lamb had to be slain. Psalm
2 says it, against the Lord, against His anointed. They all
gathered together. The heathen, the people, rage. They had to. Ought not Christ
to have suffered these things? He had to. Somebody had to deliver
Him. And He chose this man to do it. Well, you say then Judas was
doing this against his will, and how could the Lord hold Judas
responsible for this? Why would he hold Judas responsible?
He was doing what Judas did what he wanted to do. It says he was a thief from the
beginning. Judas was a money man from the beginning. He liked
money. He was a treasurer. And he liked money. In several
instances you read through the gospel, you'll see how the Judas
was, he was interested in money. One time a woman broke some real
costly perfume, very costly, in a real nice container worth
a lot of money, and she poured it all over Christ. Just everything. lost it all for his sake. Judas
said, oh man, we could have sold that and got lots of money for
it, owed it to give to the poor. He was a thief from the beginning,
all right? So God chose him, and he worked
it out. Judas did exactly what he wanted
to do, exactly what his evil nature caused him to do, sell
his Lord out for money. They offered him, we'll give
you some money if you sell the Lord. What will a man give in
exchange for his soul? Here, give it to me. Why was Judas that way? Well,
Peter would have been that way if the Lord hadn't changed him. See, Peter wanted to leave a
little while later. The Lord said, no you don't. We're going
to save you. I've chosen you in salvation
through the sanctification of the Spirit and belief in the
truth. Judas, I've chosen you to deny me, to betray me. I'm not going to change you.
That's just the way... You see, they were all that way by nature.
Christ didn't have to make Judas a traitor. Do you understand
me? Christ doesn't have to ordain us to go to hell. Christ doesn't
have to elect a man to go to hell and say, I'm choosing him
to cast him into hell. No, you just have to leave him
alone. He's born in hell. Just leave him alone. He'll go
there. The way it seems right, there's
destruction. He'll go there. God has to choose whom he would
to save him, to stop him, to change him. See that? All right, so he chose this traitor.
All right, now look at the next verse, and I'm going to quit. It says, He came down. The next
three verses, I'm going to quit. And He came down, it says, with
them. He came down. Oh, my. There's a message in
every line. He came down. Christ left His
throne of glory and came down where we were, where sinners
were, left holiness to live in a cesspool with us sinners, and
stood in the plain, came down from the mount, came down from
his glory and stood in the plain, down here with plain people.
They heard him gladly, fishermen. And he became a plain man, spoke
very plainly. A plain man in a plain brown
rack. And the company of his disciples.
He stood in the plain and the company stood in the midst of
his disciples. The company of his disciples. Well, who were they? Who are
these? What's the company that the Lord keeps? Oh, you'll like
this. If you see you're called in an
election, brethren, you'll like this. It wasn't a rich and famous. Christ didn't come and row shoulders
with and live in the lifestyle of the rich and the famous. He didn't go to Monte Carlo.
He didn't go to the Riviera. He went in the plain. Stood in
the plain. Plain people. Poor and unknown. Not the high and the mighty,
but the low and the meek. Not the wise, mighty, and noble,
but the ignorant, the powerless, and the nobodies. He still keeps that kind of company.
Huh? So it says, Thus saith the high
and lofty one who inhabits the eternal day, he that dwelleth
on high, he says, I dwell with him that is of a poor and contrite
heart, and tremble at my word. Not the proud and the noble and
the educated and so forth, but the poor, the nobodies, the nothings,
the weak. Do you see your calling, brethren? Look at these bunch. It says
people, a great multitude of people from Judea and Jerusalem,
from the sea coast, and Tyre and Sidon. Tyre and Sidon. What's the significance of that? Our Lord in one place said, he
pronounced woe on a couple of cities, Chorazin and Bethsaida.
Do you remember that? Woe unto the Chorazin. Woe unto
thee, Bethsaida, for if the mighty works had been done in you, it
would have been done in Tyre and Sidon. Woe unto thee, Bethsaida,
if the mighty works had been done in you, it would have been
done in Sodom. So Tyre and Sidon was
a notoriously wicked place. Sodom. Notoriously wicked place. But there's some people he called
out of there. Some Tyre and Sidonians. Tyronians and Sidonians, if you
will, came to him, right out of just, you know, low-life centers,
out of Tyre and Sidon. Do you see that? Out of Sidon.
He has some lots inside of him. You hear that? He has some lots
inside of him. And they feel just like the Sodomites. They're vexed. That's what's
said about Dext. Look at this. It says they came
to hear him. Where'd they come to? They came to hear him. And to
do what? Be healed of their disease. to hear Him. Christ said, My
Word is Spirit and life. Peter, who just vexed all, Peter,
an old fisherman, just stayed vexed all the time. He said to the Lord, He said,
Oh, you have the words of life. When I don't hear you, I'll just
go astray. When you don't call me and keep
me, I'll just go astray. I'll quit. I'll go back fishing.
I'll just fall. I'll deny you. I'll start cussing.
I'll act like the world. I've got to hear you. You've
got the words of life. When you say unto me, you're my salvation, it gives
me hope. See what I'm trying to say here?
Hearing is healing. They came to hear Him and be
healed. When did I start? I want you to notice this. This
is important, all right? I want you to listen to this.
I won't have you turn for the sake of time. But over in 2 Timothy,
it says this. And we all have ears to hear.
Everybody in here has two ears, I think. Some bigger than others. All
bigger than mine. My ears may be little, but bless
God they hear. You may have big ones and they
don't hear. He's got to give you ears to
hear. Listen to this. Timothy chapter
4 says this, it says, he says to Timothy, preach the Word. Time will come when they won't
endure sound doctrine. After their own lusts have heaped
to themselves, teachers having itching ears, listen to this,
it says they'll turn away their ears from the truth. I don't
like all that talk about God being sovereign. I don't like
that, God electing the people. I don't like that. He's God. That's what the Scriptures
are about. I don't like that. Preach the
Word, Timothy. Preach it. Say it. Hold fast
the form of sound words. Say election. God says it. Say
it loud and clear. Get up on the rooftop. Say it.
By God, great it. All flesh is glass. He doesn't
need them. He's going to burn them all up. Except some he elects. Say it. I don't like that. Say
it. He said, if you don't say it,
I'll make rats cry out and say it. But people don't like it. Don't
you know the Pharisees are offended? I ain't talking to them. My sheep are going to hear my
voice. And they're not going to turn
away their ears from the truth. They're going to turn it toward
the truth. You see that? Over in John 8,
our Lord said, He that is of God, heareth God's word. He that
is of God, heareth God's word. And he turned to some fellow
and said, You hear not. He said, Why is it that you can't
understand what I'm saying? Remember that, John, when he
said that in John? Why is it that you cannot understand? He
says, because you cannot hear. As I said unto you, my sheep
hear my voice. They say, babe, he that is of
God heareth God's voice, God's words. Now, you hear it or not,
because you're not a devil. Oh, I believe. I hear, I believe. Do you? Do you believe, Dickie? Oh, blessed are you, just like
Simon Bar-Jonah. He's chosen you to hear and to
believe the truth. Blessed are your ears. See, hearing's
healing. See that? Hearing is healing,
Joe. That's the first thing you hear.
It heals his ears and your eyes. You know, I've
had my eyes worked on recently to see, you know. And my wife said, you need to get
your ears fixed. Why don't you get your ears fixed?
Well, I'm not going to tell you what I told her, but I said,
honey, I'd a whole lot rather see you than listen to you. I already said it to her, so I
thought you'd appreciate that. But the first thing, God's people,
He heals their ears, and they hear His voice, and they see
Him as He is. Not Jesus. Not just Jesus. Poor Jesus. Leaning over the
banister and saying, Oh, poor Jesus. Poor God. He's sitting
there, an old man with a beard and all that. Oh, as He is. They have their ears open and
it says, Oh, God, there's none else like You're in my hand.
They see Him as He is. Well, he's not Jesus. He's not
leaning over a banner. He's sitting there. He's not
leaning over anything. He's sitting there! He's not
walking around anywhere and getting beefed up! What's it all? The world! Scripture says it's he that sitteth
on the circle of the earth. They see him as he is. How do
they see him? This is how they see him. Hearing
is healing. Hearing is sight, too. Hearing
and the eyes are directly connected, just like the mouth. Once he
opens his ears, you see, these two stay open. Not these two. One has got to be closed for
the other to be open. But these two are open simultaneously. Simultaneously. And He heals
those that are vexed with unclean spirit. I promise, this is it.
I promise. They're vexed with unclean spirit. And they're healed.
They were healed. Christ said, Sin shall not have
dominion over you. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's
Son, cleanses us. Now what does that mean? But
do you know I'm vexed? by sin, aren't you? I see another law of warring
in my memory, don't you? Is it vex some of you? Some of
you, some in here are not vexed for their sin. Here's what I'm trying to say
for your comfort. Warring is not ruling. He said, sin shall not have dominion
over you. Now, warring is not ruling, Jerry, understand it? War, just because you're in a
fight, doesn't mean... He said he will not have dominion
over you. It's a fight, but he will not have dominion over you. And the reason, listen to me. If someone feels no pain, what
does that mean? I mean, they feel no pain whatsoever. What would you surmise? They're
dead. You go to a cemetery, dig up
a body, do whatever you want to with it, knock them in the
head, don't feel it. Stick a knife in their heart,
don't feel it. Step on their toes, don't feel
it. Twist their arm, pull their leg. And we'll feel it. Why? They're
dead. Are you following? If you were
dead in trespasses and sins, you wouldn't feel them. You wouldn't be vexed by them.
Now that's good news to me. Huh? Isn't it? You say, how can
that be good news? Well, it means there's life. You feel pain. You feel guilt. The world's not guilty. People
aren't guilty. Those that are vexed, He heals
them. You say, when's He going to do
it? Well, that's part of the healing. He said, that's part
of the healing. And they're not going to be totally
healed until they get a new body with no more sin in it. no body
of sin. And the last verse says that
they came and virtue went out from him. They just came and
wanted to touch him. Virtue came out. Virtue means
power. It means meaning. You know what means meaning?
Virtue means meaning. There's meaning in him that comes
from him. He said I'm the Meaning? Yeah, all meaning. Meaning all. Power. Healing power comes from
Him. Touch Him. Like just touch the
hem of His garment. You know, Christ is on the throne
right now, but He's left His garment, the hem of it, down
here for us to touch. That's all about all we can touch
right now, the hem of His garment. See, the hem of His garment.
We know in part. I preach in part. I preach garment
hymn. It just occurred to me. I preach a hymn, the hymn of
a garment, or the garment of hymn. How's that? You like that?
That we touch, we seek constantly best to lay hold on the garment
of hymn, or the hymn whose garment we wear. But someday, we're going
to see Him, not just His daughter. And all gone. Sin's gone. Gone. Gone. No more vexation. Because there's
not going to be anybody or anything in there to vex us. There's somebody
there to make us happy. That's good news. All right.
Joe, what's that number? 42, all hail the power of Jesus'
name. That angel prostrated Paul. I
think I wanted to sing that because of verse 2. I think that's it. Yeah, you've chosen the seed
of Israel's race. He ransomed from the fall. Chosen. Hail him who saves you by his
grace. Count him Lord of all. Let's
sing the first two verses. Stand ready. Oh, hear the Pharisees a-swing
their angels from spring-fall, bring forth the royal bride and
crown him Bring forth the royal knight
and crown him Lord of all. He chose a seed of His own grace,
He ransomed from the fall. Hail Him whose name is by His
grace, And prayer will forever fall. Hail Him who saves you by His
grace, and crown Him Lord of all. Thank you.