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Paul Mahan

The Truth Shall Make You Free

John 8:32
Paul Mahan August, 11 1996 Audio
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John

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It is my privilege to be here
with you this morning. I had the pleasure of meeting
several of you yesterday. We had a very good time. We are thankful for the opportunity
to come and get to visit the churches that have been supporting
us over this last year. It is my privilege to be here
to get to speak to you this morning and to express our appreciation
and thanks to you. I thank the Lord for his moving
in the hearts of his people. That's the Lord's doing. I'm thankful for you. I'm thankful
for your pastoring. It's been a great encouragement
to me. Since we went down there, since
we've been down there a year now, the Lord has been pleased
to open several new places to go, given us the opportunity
to go and preach the gospel in several new places. And there's
Opichen, and there's San Pedro, and now the latest is in the
town of Mérida, where we live. And I trust I will get to speak
to you about these places more on Tuesday. But this morning,
I'd like to bring you a message from Psalm 1. When you go into
a new place, you go forth preaching the gospel, what do you preach
to people who have never heard the gospel before? What do you
preach to people who have never heard the gospel before? A lot of them don't even have Bibles,
and some don't even know how to read if they did have a Bible.
But what do you preach to people who have never heard the gospel
before? You preach the same message you
preach to people who have heard the gospel a thousand times.
A thousand times. The very same gospel. Over and
over and over. It's always new. It's always our delight to preach
the same message. Preach the same message. One
of the passages I like to preach particularly from is this book
of Psalms, Psalm 1. I think it is particularly well
suited to people who have heard the gospel for the first time
and people who have never heard the gospel. You see, man is not ungodly. Man is not ungodly in the sense
that he doesn't have a God. Man by nature has a God. Man is ungodly in the sense that
his God is not the God of his Bible. So I like to speak from
this text, from this passage, and see what God says about the
blessed man. There are some people in this
world who God says is blessed. This is a blessed man, a blessed
woman, a blessed child. That's boy or girl. And I'm really interested in
knowing who it is that God says is a blessed person. I trust
you are also interested in who is this blessed person. You see,
there's no greater benefit, there's no greater, there's no higher
blessing than that God says that person's blessed. If God says
you're blessed, who can pronounce a curse? If God be for you, Who
can be against us? If God be for me, if God be for
you, who can be against us? That's what Paul said. And I'm
really interested in knowing who it is this person is blessed.
There are some people in this world who God says are blessed.
In this first verse of Psalm 1, this blessed man is described
with three negative statements and two positive statements in
verse 2. I want to take each one of these statements, and
I ask that you bear patient with me. I want to take each one of
these statements and go through them, and then I want to come
back and wrap it all up. Just bear with me for a little
while. First of all, it says, "'Blessed is the man that walketh
not in the counsel of the ungodly.'" What is the counsel of the ungodly? What is the counsel of the ungodly?
Most of the time you ask that question and they think, It's
that person who got caught for committing a crime. He's in jail.
It's that person who's on drugs. That's the person that's ungodly.
Don't take his counsel. But the person that is ungodly
is man by nature. Man by nature. That's the counsel
of the ungodly. Take in your own thoughts and
your own considerations. Blessed is the man that walks
not in the counsel of the ungodly. It's not talking about man. sense,
man is not godless in the sense that he doesn't have a God. Someone
said, man by nature, this mind is the greatest God-manufacturing
machine. God-manufacturing machine. He'll
go out and he'll manufacture of God, and he'll manufacture
just like himself, or actually a little bit lower than himself.
And that being the case, he thinks he can manipulate that God. He is going to approach that
God in the way that he sees fit. The problem with this is that
the carnal mind is enmity against God, enemies by nature. So he creates a God like himself,
he thinks he can approach this God, and you hear it in their
speech. They say, My God is not like
that. And you know what? They are telling
you the truth. Their God is not like that. their God is. My God wouldn't do that. That's
right. The God that they've manufactured,
they're not ungodly, they have a God, but it's not the God of
the Bible. And God says, Blessed is the man that walks not in
his own counsel, the counsel of the ungodly. You see, there's
a way that seems right to man. Proverbs 14, 12. There's a way
that seems right to man. It seems right, or otherwise
he wouldn't go that way. It seems right. That's why you
have all these different religions. There's only one way to God,
that's the way Jesus Christ. But man, there's all these different
ways. Man has got his own way. There's
a way that seems right to man, but the end thereof are the ways
of death. does not walk in the counsel
of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners." What
is it to stand in the way of sinners? To stand in the way of sinners
is to stand in one's own self-righteousness. That is to stand in the way of
sinners. Self-righteousness, self-justification,
All those who are in the way of sinners are trying to do something
to justify themselves before God. They think that they are
going to trust in their own works. Something they are going to do
is going to get God in the notion to do something for them. There
is the case of two men who went up to the temple to pray in Luke
18, and you know Our Lord told us that these two men, one was
a Pharisee, a religious man, a moral man, a fine citizen. But he was trusting in his own
righteousness. He was begging before God of
what he was and what he wasn't. And to stand in the way of sinners
is to stand in one's own self-righteousness before God, trying to justify
themselves before God. And here this text says, Blessed
is the man that does not stand in the way of sinners. You see,
the gospel is very clear, this word is very clear, that by the
deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight. By
the deeds of the law, by the doing of the law, there is no
one who is going to be justified before God. Because by the law
is a knowledge of sin. By the law is a knowledge of
sin. It doesn't matter whether this person, man by nature, is
religious, tries to justify himself before God, and it doesn't matter
if this person has never heard the gospel, is over there in
Timbuktu, Yucatan, or Timbuktu, Virginia. Rocky Mountain, Virginia. I love Rocky Mountain. man by
nature tries to justify himself before God. The third statement--"Nor
sitteth at the seat of the scornful." Sitting in the seat of the scornful
is to be hard set in your ways. That person does not care what
the Scriptures say, does not care what God says. I don't care
what that says, I'm going to go my own way. does not give
any heed to the message of the gospel, free and sovereign grace,
salvation only by the doing and dying of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Not only do they not want to have anything to do with it,
they try to justify themselves before God, but they speak evil
of the Lord Jesus Christ. They speak evil, they do. They speak evil of his work. The example I have is our Lord
Jesus Christ, a man approved of God evidently by the miracles
he did. All the scriptures give testimony
of him. And he told those Pharisees of his day, he said, You hypocrites,
you don't go in and you don't let others go in. They are hard
set in their ways. They even came to the point where
they said, This man This man does the works that he does by
Beelzebub. That's hard setting your ways. They don't care what the scriptures
say. They don't care that there is evidence over evidence, being
clouded with so great compass with so much evidence. They don't
care. I don't care what this says. That's being hard setting
your ways. And we see here the regress of
man by nature. We hear a lot of progress. We
hear a lot of progress. Man is progressing. But we see
that man by nature, left to himself, is regressing. Not only does
he walk in his own understanding, his own counsel, but then he
stands in his own righteousness, and then he gets hard set. He
doesn't care what God says. He doesn't care what God says. But his delight is in the law
of the Lord. Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel
of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth
in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the law
of the Lord. When it speaks of his delight, as being in the
law of the Lord, it's not talking of the law of the Ten Commandments
as a covenant of works to justify himself before God. It's not
talking about delighting in the law as a covenant of works. That
Pharisee was delighting in the law as a covenant of works. He
was delighting, but that is not listening to the law. Don't you
hear what the law says? If you do one thing, you have
to do everything. It's not talking about the law
of the Ten Commandments as a covenant of works. Now, there's nothing
wrong with the law of God. What's wrong is with me. What's
wrong is with you. You cannot keep that law. You
cannot keep that law. The law pronounces a curse on
me. Cursed is everyone that doeth not all the things that are written
in the law to do them. I cannot find any delight in
that law that pronounces a curse on me. I want nothing to do with
that law of the Ten Commandments as a basis for my justification
before God. But what is it talking about?
The blessed man, his delight is in the law of the Lord. What
is it talking about? Well, it's talking about this
word, the law of God. You see, in the law and in the
prophets, I'm going to get ahead of myself a little bit because
I can't wait. What do the law and the prophets
give testimony? Who do they give testimony of?
They give testimony of Christ. We know that the law of God is
good because the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto
Christ that we may be justified by faith, Galatians 3.24. And we read in Romans 10.4, Christ
is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. That's
where the delight of the blessed man is, in Christ. My delight
is in Christ. When we read the law of the Lord,
we understand the whole word of God. The gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ, that law, the law and the prophets give testimony
of him, they speak of Christ. We read in Romans chapter 1,
we read of this gospel, talking about where the delight of the
blessed man is. The gospel, Romans chapter 1,
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated
unto the gospel of God. This is God's gospel. God's message,
God's word, which he had promised before by his prophets in the
Holy Scriptures concerning his Son, Jesus Christ. This word,
this gospel, is concerning Jesus Christ. And in this gospel, in
this gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, is where I find revealed
the righteousness of God. The righteousness of God is revealed,
Romans 1, 15-17. So as much as in me is, I am
ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also, for
I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. For it is the power
of God unto salvation to every one that believeth, to the Jew
first, and also to the Greek. For therein, in the gospel, in
this law of the Lord, is the righteousness of God revealed
from faith to faith." The righteousness of God. Now, one thing I'm convinced of is
that God will not justify one sinner. God will not justify
one sin at the expense of his holy law. God will not justify
one sinner, one sin, at the expense of his holy law. I'm a sinner undone before the
law of God. How can I be just before God? How can I be justified? Just preaching my message right
there. How can I be justified before God? Therein is the righteousness,
the justice of God is revealed in the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. How that God can be just and justify the sinner. Look at it in Romans 3, Romans
3.19. Now, we know that what things
whoever the law saith, it saith to them who are under
the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world
become guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the
law, by the doing of the law, there shall no flesh be justified
in his sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. No one
is going to be justified by the doing of this law. But now, right now, in this gospel,
the righteousness of God without the law, that is, without you
doing the law, without me keeping this law, the righteousness of
God Without the laws manifested, it is, this is what I wanted
you to see, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets. Witnessed
by the Law and the Prophets. All the Law and the Prophets
give testimony of Him, of Christ, being witnessed by the Law and
the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, which is by faith, by
the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. He kept that law. He kept that
law. unto all upon all of them that
believe, for there is no difference. For all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace,
freely without a cause in you, without a cause in me." Not that
God saw something in you, not that God saw something in me
that was worthy, meritorious of his grace. of his mercy freely,
without a cause, by his grace through the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus. God will not overlook one sin,
and he did not overlook one sin, but he punished all the sins
of all his people in his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord
Jesus Christ, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom
God hath set forth to be a propitiation, a sin covering, through faith
in his blood. He hath made him to be sin for
us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him, to declare his righteousness, God's justice, God's righteousness
for the remission of sins that are through the forbearance of
God. All those Old Testament Saints
were justified just the same way that we are justified, by
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, by his obedience, by his blood,
by his righteousness, by his They are justified the same way.
God is just when he overlooked, overpassed their sins, because
he was looking to Christ, the Lamb of God, that would come
in due time. To declare, I say, at this time,
God's righteousness, God's righteousness, that he might be just and to
justify him that believeth in Jesus. That's where the rejoicing,
that's where the delight of the blessed man of God is. God can
be just when he justifies me. I delight in Christ my prophet. Christ my prophet. I have no
doubt that Christ is the prophet of God. to reveal, to declare
God. We know nothing of God except
through Christ. No man has seen God at any time.
The only begotten which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath
told him out, declared him. He is the prophet to tell us
about God. I delight in him as my prophet
to tell me about God. I know nothing of God except
through Jesus Christ. I delight in him as my priest
to offer that sacrifice acceptable to God for my sins. He ever liveth
to make intercession for them that come unto God by him. He
is my priest, and I delight in him to be my priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek." ever to make intercession for me.
I delight in him as my King, he is my Lord, he is my Lord. I delight in this message, the
law of the Lord, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. How I
delight to hear a message like we heard at the Sunday School
Hour. Delight, just delight to hear about him. to hear how it
is that God can be just and justify sinners. When I hear that God
hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him. The righteousness
of God. to think that my sins that I
can't forget, God can't remember. That's where I find my delight.
Look back at Psalms. His delight is in the law of
the Lord, and in his law he meditates both day and night. This message of the gospel is the delight of the believer
when he first believes in the day. From the womb of the morning,
when God said, Let there be light, God who commanded the light to
shine out of darkness has shined in my heart to give us the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ in the day. He's
our delight from the moment you first believe, and he's your
delight when you meditate on him at the time of your death. He's the delight of the blessed
man in the daylight when he first believes and in the night when
he's old. He's the delight of the believer,
of the blessed man of God, when everything is going well. That's
daylight, when everything goes well. And when trials and tribulations
come, he is also our delight. And him does he meditate both
day and night. Now, I want to go over verse
1 and 2 again. I told you I was going to bring
it together. I want to do this. I'm going to take each statement
from verse 1 and bring it down to verse 2. Blessed is the man
that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly." He's not walking
in his own understanding, his own counsel, but he's walking
in the counsel of God. He's walking in the counsel of
God. His delight is in the law of the Lord. What does God say? Who God is. Who man is. How we are to approach unto God.
Blessed is the man that's walking not in his own counsel, but he's
walking in the counsel of God. Blessed is the man who is not
standing in the way of sinners. He is not standing in his own
righteousness, but his delight is in the law of the Lord. He
is standing in the righteousness of another. He is dressed in
the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed is the
man who is not standing in the way of sinners, but he is standing
in the righteousness of another. Blessed is a man that is not
sitting in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the law
of the Lord. He is sitting at the feet of Jesus, just like
Mary, sitting at the feet of Jesus, always there to learn,
to receive of him. That's the blessed man. That's
the one that God has said is blessed. Look at this in verse 3. Verse
3 says, He shall be like a tree planted. He shall be like a tree
planted by the rivers of water. As he is the architect of it,
of his salvation, he has chosen his people in Christ before the
foundation of the world. I like to use this verse right
here, verse 3, in chapter 1 of Ephesians. He shall be like a
tree planted. But you know, our Lord said this,
Every plant which my heavenly Father planteth not shall be
rooted up. It is a tree planted by God.
Salvation is the work of God from beginning to end. This new
birth is of God. The faith with which we believe
is of God. It is not a work of man, like
you mentioned earlier. But it is of God, planted by
God by the rivers of water. Now, who is that rivers of water?
You know, a tree has to have water for life, and we are planted
by God in Christ, in Christ. He is our life. He is our life. Our Lord Jesus Christ said, He
that thirsteth, let him come unto me. And we are planted in
Christ. Once again, in Ephesians 1, how
many times it says, In Christ, in Christ. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ." And it says it over
and over again. I skipped over a couple in verse
1 and 2. But all the blessings of God
are in Christ. That's that federal headship
he's talking about. Federal headship. In Christ,
all are made alive. He has planted all of the believers,
all of those blessed men who are planted in Christ. And it says, he has planted in
Christ, and it brings forth his fruit in due season. All those
that are planted in Christ bring forth fruit. There are none that
don't bring forth fruit. This fruit that they bring forth
is the spirit of the Spirit. In Galatians 5, verse 22, you
read of the spirit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness,
faith, meekness, temperance, against such there is no law.
All those who are planted by God in the Lord Jesus Christ
produce this fruit. He brings forth this fruit in
them. It's the work of the Holy Spirit. They have done it, some
more than others, but all bring forth this fruit. They should
bring forth this fruit. It leaves them out with it. Now, there's certain times of the year when
you go by and all the leaves are gone on the tree. But what
if right now in the summer you go by and you see the leaves
off a tree? You think that tree's dead. That's
what you think. You think that tree's dead. Well,
when it says, Elisha not wither, it's talking about evergreen,
always alive, always alive. That person that believes in
the Lord Jesus Christ has everlasting life. It's a present possession. Everlasting life. Everlasting
life. That person has everlasting life. If you think of that, it's not
everlasting existence. It's everlasting life. Life where
there is joy forevermore in God. His leaves shall not wither.
He has everlasting life right now. He is not waiting to go
into the ground to have everlasting life. It is right now. And whatsoever he doeth shall
prosper. This is not saying health, wealth
and prosperity. Our Lord Jesus Christ said, in
this world you will have tribulation. These things I have spoken unto
you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall
have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world." whatsoever he did shall prosper."
There are certain times where orchard trees are cut back, and
the vines sometimes are cut back to where they just look like
sticks. Have you ever seen them? They look like sticks. There
are no leaves on them. But the reason they are cut back is so
they produce more fruit. So when these trials come, these
are pruning The end result is that we produce, bring forth
more fruit. We love to sing that song, It is well with my soul. It is
well with my soul. When peace like a river attendeth
my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll, Whatever my Lord
hath taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul. that verse of scripture that
all the Saints of God love so much, Romans 8. We know that
all things work together for good to them that love God, to
them who are called according to his purpose. All things work
together for good. That's real prosperity. Whatsoever
he doeth shall prosper. We can be sure it's going to
prosper if God is the author of it. If God planted it, and
he did, then it's going to prosper. Whatsoever he doeth, it's going
to prosper. And there is no greater prosperity than to be in the
presence of God one day, to be in the presence of God, blessed
in his Son's righteousness, there to sing his praises forever.
That's true prosperity. That's prosperity, forever and
forever. We know that in this manner of
salvation, we are confident of this very thing, that he which
hath begun a good work in you will perform it, that is, will
perfect it, will prosper it, will prosper it until the day
of Jesus Christ. That person that is the blessed
person, blessed by God, he is like a tree planted by the rivers
of water that bringeth forth its fruit in its season. His
leaf also shall not weather, and whatsoever he doeth shall
prosper." We see here in verse 4 a contrast between the ungodly,
the blessed man, and the ungodly. I've already said before, the
ungodly is that person that is walking in his own understanding,
is not walking in the counsel of God. They are walking in their
own understanding, trying to justify themselves before God.
They have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God.
They are ungodly. They are like chaff, which the
wind driveth away. We just got a very good lesson
about the chaff yesterday. The chaff, the wind driveth away.
We went to that, they were, Winnowing, is that what they call it, Winnowing?
What's the name of that place where we went? Explorer Park.
They gave us a demonstration of how they separate the wheat
from the chaff, and then they toss that wheat up and the chaff
drives it away. Now, the chaff at one time may
seem like it's prospering, doesn't it? The chaff may at one time
seem like it's prospering, but the wind is going to drive it
away. The wind drives it away. Should the destruction be swift,
the wind drives it away. The chaff is good for burning. The ungodly are not so. It says,
The ungodly shall not stand in the judgment. I'm going to have
to go to Philippians 2. There are none going to be there that
are coming by another way. They are not going to stand.
The ungodly are not going to stand in the judgment. Every
knee Every bow is going to bow to that blessed Son of God, the
Lord Jesus Christ, and is going to confess that he's the Lord,
to the praise of God the Father. Every knee is going to bow. They're not going to come to
God by another way. They're not going to come to
God by Mohammed, by Buddha, by Moses. They're not going to come
to God. The ungodly are not going to
stand in the judgment They're going to be bound. They're going
to be bound. They're going to be bound. They
shall not stand in the judgment. And there are sinners in the
congregation of the righteous. There will be none there who
trust in their own righteousness. See what I did. See what I did. There will be none there who
trust in their own righteousness that would take away from the
glory of God. He's going to get some glory
from that. I'd love to hear that prayer, get glory to yourself,
get glory to yourself. He's not going to give his glory
to another. There are none that are going
to stand in their own righteousness and say, I did something, I'm
somebody. But all those who are going to
be standing in that congregation are standing in the righteousness
of another, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Lord, our righteousness. The apostle Paul, his desire
was not to be found in his own righteousness. The apostle Paul's
desire was that I be found in him, that I be found, he says,
my desire is not to be found in his own righteousness, but
to be found in the righteousness of God by the faithfulness, by
the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, verse 6 of Psalm
1, For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way of them godless shall
perish." How is it that the Lord knows the way of the righteous?
How is it that the Lord knows the way of the righteous? The
Lord knows the way of the righteous because it's the way that he
planned. It's the way that he planned.
It's the way that he provided. It's his way. It's his way. That's how he knows the way of
the righteous. is because of the way that he has set forth. He set forth before the foundation
of the world in his covenant. He was set forth by God in the
promises in the scriptures in the Old Testament. He was set
forth by God by that prophet John the Baptist who said, Behold
the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. He was
set forth on the cross. He is set forth in glory. He
knows the way of the righteous because it's his way. It's the
way whereby he gets all the glory. Man is put down in the dust where
he belongs. It's the way that gives all the
glory to the grace of God. For by grace are you saved through
faith. Not of yourself, it's the gift
of God. But the way of the ungodly shall
perish. Their destruction will come.
their destruction will come soon. Without remedy, the ungodly will
spend an eternity in hell." This is a message that is good
for people who have heard the gospel for many, many years and
people who have never heard the gospel. Blessed is a man who
walks not in his own understanding. He is not standing in his own
righteousness. He is not sitting in the seat
of the scornful, but he is standing He's walking in the counsel of
God. What does God say? He's standing
in the righteousness of another, and he's sitting at the feet
of Jesus. He's like a tree planted. He's planted in Christ. And one day we're going to be
there, true prosperity. We're there now. We're there
now. We really are. We just can't realize it. We're
there with him, seated right now. Thank you. You know. We started supporting. Brother Cody Gruber has missionary
to Mexico. By faith. Didn't. You never heard him preach
for it. You took me at my word my pastor
of the man. Is. pastor and father whom you know
preaches the gospel. And we just assume that Cody
Groover preaches the same gospel. Is there any doubt now? Is he
worthy of our support? Can you say amen to that? No, my, my. Worthy of whom the
world is not worthy. And I wish we could do so much
more. Oh, we're blessed people, aren't
we? We're blessed people, not only to be a part of what we
just heard, that song, but to be a part of this man and his
dear wife's ministry. I include them both because he
would be the first to tell you he couldn't do it without Winna,
right? I say the same thing. All right,
hymn number, let's stand as we sing, hymn number 222, giving
the ladies a little time downstairs to get the food ready. 222, I hope everybody will stay, whether
you fixed anything or not, that's how we operate They come when
all things are ready. Come and dine. Number 222, let's sing a few
verses of this. Okay. There is a fountain filled
with blood drawn from Immanuel's veins, and sinner's blood beneath
that flood, lose all their guilty stains. Lose all their guilty
stains. Lose all their guilty stains. And sin is once beneath me, that
flood, lose all their guilty stains. But I in Thee rejoice
to see that Thou art in His name. And there may I, O Father, see
wash all my sins away, wash all my sins away, wash all my sins
away. And there may I, though vile
as he, wash all my sins away. Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious
blood never loses power. Fill all the ransomed Church
of God with sin no more. He's saved to sin no more, He's
saved to sin no more. I'm Church of God, He's saved
to sin no more. Last verse. When this worldly space that
brings us together In my grave and in a nobler, sweeter song
I'll sing my heart to save, I'll sing I'll sing thy power to save. I'll sing thy power to save. And in a nobler, sweeter song,
I'll sing thy power to save. All right, I'm going to ask Brother
Cody and Ann Winnum to stand down here. We're all going to
go out this door downstairs. They'll stand down here and you
can greet them on your way downstairs, okay? And then, once everybody's
down there, you let them in the front of the line. You let them
back in front, and we're going to have to eat. so we can get
on the road and not hang around here all day long. We've got
to get on the road or get home and get a little rest and then
go. All right, I'm going to give thanks for the food now and the
day, and then we'll go downstairs. Our Heavenly Father, we thank
you so much for all of your blessings. every good and perfect gift that
you've bestowed upon us, these abundant blessings. All can be
summed up in that blessing of blessings which we just heard
about, which you blessed us to hear, the blessing of salvation
in Christ Jesus. Thank you, Lord, for Psalm 1. And thank you for the man you
have equipped, you have gifted so evidently. The man you have
equipped to bring this message to us, but first and foremost
to those people in Mexico, thank you, Lord, for him, for his wife,
for their children. Bless them. You have already. We know you will. But we continue
to pray for the abundant blessings of God upon them and their ministry. We have been blessed this day,
and we are thankful that this is the day the Lord has made. We rejoice in it, and we say
with the apostles of old, our hearts burn as the scriptures
have been opened unto us in the way. In Christ's name we pray,
and we give thanks for this food and everything. In Christ's name,
amen.
Paul Mahan
About Paul Mahan
Paul Mahan has been pastor of Central Baptist Church in Rocky Mount, Virginia since 1989; preaching the Gospel of God's Sovereign Grace.
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