Very, very good. Wonderful. I enjoyed that so much. I want you this morning, first
of all, to open your Bibles to the book of Philippians for just
a moment. This will be my text tonight.
We'll be meeting again this evening at 6 p.m., and I'll be speaking
from Philippians. I want to show you the verses
so you can read it this afternoon and think a little bit about this.
Philippians 1, verses 1 through 6. I'm going to speak tonight
on the subject, He will finish the work. He will finish the
work. Now, here's the text, verse 6. of this very thing, that he which
hath begun a good work in you will perform, that word perform
is complete or finish it, he'll complete it, finish it, until
the day of Jesus Christ. He will finish his work. This morning I want you to open
the word to Isaiah chapter 1. Now this is a—I'm sure you've
read this scripture before. It's not a pleasant scripture.
It's just not pleasant. It's hard and it's harsh, but
it's important for us to look at it. Isaiah chapter 1. I'm
going to speak on the subject, things that are really important.
Things that are really important. In chapter 1, Isaiah, verse 10,
hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom. Give ear unto
the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. Is God speaking
to Sodom and Gomorrah and Nosa? No, He's talking to Israel. He's
talking to backslidden, hard-hearted Israel, people who are called
by His name. And he's calling them Sodom and
Gomorrah because they're acting like Sodom and Gomorrah. That's
what he's saying here. Hear the word of the Lord, ye
rulers, the religious rulers and leaders, acting like Sodom. Give ear unto the law of our
God, ye people who are acting like Gomorrah. And that could
be shouted in this country right now. Because this country, full
of religious people, is behaving just like Sodom and Gomorrah.
And that's who he's talking to. He's talking to Israel. Now watch. To what purpose is the multitude
of your sacrifices unto me? See, Sodom and Gomorrah weren't
offering sacrifices. Israel was. Israel had the temple,
and the mercy seat, and the priesthood, and the sacrifices. He said,
what to what purpose is a multitude of your sacrifices to me, saith
the Lord? I am full of your burnt offerings
of rams, and of fat beasts, and I delight not in the blood of
bullocks, and of lambs, and of egos that Israel was offering. When you come to appear before
me, who hath required this? The way you come at your hand
to tread my courts, bring no more vain oblations. Incense
is an abomination to me. The new moons and Sabbaths, the
calling of assemblies, I cannot away with it. It's iniquity,
even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed
feast, my soul ate it. There's trouble under me, I'm
weary about it. Religion, going about the ceremonies
and the form and the tradition of religion, God said, I'm weary
of it, just weary of it. And when you spread your hands,
I'll have my eyes from you. When you make many prayers, I'm
not, I'll not hear you. Your hands are full of blood. Learn what's important. Learn
what's essential. Wash you and make you clean.
Put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes and cease
to do evil. And learn to do well. Learn to
truly worship. Learn the true way to come before
God. Learn the things in which God
delights. Learn to do well. Speak judgment. Relieve the oppressed. Judge
the fatherless. Plead for the widow. Come now!
And let us reason together. Sayeth the Lord. Let's have a
conference. Let's talk about some things
that are important. Though your sins be as scarlet,
they'll be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool. Now, if you'll be willing and
obedient, you'll eat the good of the land. If you'll hear me,
you'll listen to me and learn. You'll eat the good of the land.
But if you refuse, if you continue as you're going and rebel, you'll
be devoured with a sword in the mouth of the Lord that's spoken.
Now, it's evident from this Scripture. It's evident to you and it's
evident to me. You don't need a preacher to
show you this. That these religious people and
religious rulers were interested in and concerned about and carrying
on things which actually were an abomination to God. And God was weary of this. traditional
religious form and ceremony. And I want us to see if we can
find out what God is really interested in, that which delights the Lord,
that which concerns the Lord. And certainly it's not buildings.
It's not tabernacles and cathedrals and buildings and great houses
of worship like being built all over this nation. Turn to 2 Chronicles
6. 2 Chronicles 6. David talking about that house
that Solomon would build, and Solomon talking about that house,
and here in 2 Chronicles 6, verse 17, Solomon's prayer about that
house is this. Now listen, 2 Chronicles 6, 17,
Now then, O Lord God of Israel, Let thy word be verified when
thou hast spoken, which thou hast spoken unto thy servant
David. But will God indeed dwell with
men on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven
of heavens can't contain thee, how much less this house that
I built thee." God finds no delight and pleasure in so-called houses
of worship and buildings of heavens. Heaven won't contain Him. He
said, Heaven's my throne and the earth's my footstool. And
turn back to our text. He talks about these sacrifices. Didn't God ordain these sacrifices? Yes, He did, to picture Christ.
But God didn't ordain these sacrifices as an end And as a way of justification,
and as a way of purification, as a way of justification, He
didn't ordain them for that purpose, and that's what they were trying
to do, find salvation in the sacrifices. Over in verse 11, to what purpose
is a multitude of your sacrifices? I'm full of burnt offerings and
the fat of beasts. blood of bullocks and lambs and
eagles. You see, our Lord said in Hebrews
10, the Lord had no pleasure in the sacrifices, though I come
to do thy will. He taketh away the first and
establishes the second. All of these Jewish sacrifices
were but pictures of Christ. They were given as a means to
point to Christ, not as an end. And then he says in verse 13,
talking about their Sabbath days, and, "...bring no more vain oblation,
incenses and abomination to me, your new moons and Sabbaths,
and your calling of assemblies." They thought to find sanctification
and acceptance in these Sabbath days. Washing of the hands, purifications,
Down here in verse 15, he talks about their prayers. He said,
you spread your hands, I'll hide my eyes. You make many prayers.
They thought they were heard for their much speaking, eloquent
prayers, religious deeds, laws, and legalism. I believe I can
give you this morning five things in which God delights. Five things
that we ought to be concerned about and we ought to be interested
in, and five things that delight the Lord. Now, I can't give you
in the order in which they bring Him to light. I can't do that. I've got to give them to you
in an order. Now, one's got to precede the other. I can't give
them to you all at once. I've got to give them to you
in an order. But these five things, the Lord delights in them in
such a way that neither of them is first. Neither of them. God sees things as a whole, not
in sequence, like we see them. But I'm going to give them to
you one at a time. Now, here's the first one. God
delights in His words. God delights in His Word. I want
you to turn to Isaiah 66. You know, our Lord delights in
His—even the Lord Jesus Christ is called the Word of the Lord.
His Son is called the Word of God. He said, My word will not
return unto me bored. God delights in His Word. Listen
to Isaiah 66, verse 1, Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne,
the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you build
unto me? Where is the place of my rest? For all these things
hath my hand made, and all those things have been, always have
been, saith the Lord. But to this man will I look.
Oh, that's what I'm looking for. Here it is. To this man will
I look. Even to him that's poor, and
of a broken heart, and a contrite spirit, a humble spirit, and
trembleth at my word." I'll tell you the greatest sin
of the pulpit today. The greatest sin of the pulpit
today is withholding the Word of God from the people. The problem's
not out in the pew, it's up here in the pulpit. The preachers
of this day are not preaching the Word of God. Your pastor
told me just yesterday, before I left Ashland, we were sitting
in the den talking, and I said, what are you studying in Sunday
school? He said, well, you go ahead and take whatever you want
to teach the Sunday school class, but we're Kind of at a place
where we're fixing to go another route in Sunday school, because
we've covered all the epistles in the New Testament. All the
epistles, verse by verse, in the New Testament. We've covered
that. Isn't that a delight? Your apostle has given you the
Word. You've taught the Word. You've
preached the Word. He's gone through Genesis and
all those, going through the Old Testament, going through
the New Testament. The foundation of Abraham's faith
was the Word of God. This is what I found over in
Russia. Somebody asked me about the churches
over there. I preached in four different
churches in Belarus back in August, six times in four different churches.
And this is what I found. They don't bring Bibles to the
services. One church where I preached,
even the pastor didn't have a Bible. They haven't taught, they don't
know anything about God's Word, about Him, about the Gospel,
about salvation. It's just religion, just religion. And this is one of the things,
when I met with the pastors and the deacons at this church on
Friday, Friday evening, to talk to them, I said to their men,
Get in your study and study the Word. Brother Clark told them
the same thing. Get in your study and study the Word and bring
your Bible. And you people bring your Bibles
to the church and open the Word and see what God says. This is
the foundation of Abraham's faith is the Word of God. And God's
going to hold us accountable for His Word. Turn to John chapter
12. John the twelfth chapter. Listen
to this in verse 47. John 12, verse 47. It says here in John 12, 47,
And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him
not. I came not to judge the world.
This is not why our Lord was here at this time. He came to
save sinners. He didn't come—He'll someday
judge the world. But at this time, he came to
save. He said, I didn't come to condemn the world. It was
already condemned. I came to save it. I came to
give my life a ransom for many. But listen, verse 48, He that
rejecteth me and receiveth not my words hath one that judges
him. It's the words that I've spoken.
It's the word I have spoken. The same shall judge him in the
last day. If I'm not spoken of myself,
But the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what
I should say and what I should speak. You see, God who spake
to our fathers by the prophets has spoken to us by His Son.
And I know that His commandment is life everlasting and whatsoever
I speak, therefore, as the Father sent it to me, so I speak, and
my word will judge you. And brethren, we're cheating
ourselves when we don't major on the Word. We're going to preach
the Word and read the Word and study the Word. We're robbing
ourselves of the blessing. We're robbing ourselves by neglecting
God's Word. Those dear people over yonder,
they just don't—they don't know anything. They're in They were
in political slavery years ago. Now they're in spiritual slavery
to free will and Arminianism and easy believism and all this
stuff from America coming over there, and they're just wallowing
in hook, line, and sinker because they don't know anything about
the Scriptures. You see, by the Word of God,
the world was created. Turn to 2 Peter just a moment.
Let me show you something here. 2 Peter chapter 3. 2 Peter chapter 3, verse 5. Listen. 2 Peter 3, 5. For this they willingly are ignorant
of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the
earth standing out of water and in the water, whereby the world
that then was being overflowing with water perished. But the
heavens and the earth, which are now by the same word, are
kept in store by his They're reserved under fire against the
day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. And when he speaks
the word, it'll be destroyed. And when he speaks the word,
there'll be a new heaven and new earth. Look at verse 12,
verse 13. Nevertheless, we, according to
his word, his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth wherein
dwelleth the Lord. He's got to have this word. And
I'll tell you something very important. You listen to Psalm
138. Psalm 138. You know, so many folks today
are preaching what they think. A true preacher preaches what
God says, even if he doesn't understand
it, even if he doesn't comprehend it. He preaches what God says. Psalm 138. Listen to verse 1
and 2. I will praise thee with my whole
heart before the gods." See, that's a small g. Before the
idols, before the idol worshipers and men of this world worship
false gods, I'll praise the living God. I'm going to be ashamed. I'm going to declare the name
of the living God in a world that's an idol-worshiping world.
I'll sing praise unto thee before their idols and before their
false gods and their false religion. Now listen. I will worship toward
thy holy temple, toward the mercy seat. I will praise thy name
for thy loving kindness and for thy truth. Now you underscore
this. Thou hast magnified thy word
above thy name. God's word. What's important to God? His
words. And it better be important to
us. We're reading too many books
about the Bible. We need to read His Word. Good along with the
Bible, but we need to read His Word. Will you listen to me just
a moment? By the Word of God, the world was created. By the
Word of God, things are kept in store. By the Word of God,
God is revealed. By His Word. How does a man know
God? By the Word. By the word of God, we're born
again. Of his own will began he us with the word of truth.
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible seed
by the word of God. That's how men are born again.
If any of us are born again, it'll be by the word. By the
word of God, we're convinced of sin. By the word of God, Christ
is revealed. By the Word of God, faith is
given. Faith comes by hearing and hearing
for the Word of God. By the Word of God, we're comforted.
He said, comfort one another with these words. By the Word
of God, we have hope. There's a psalm—I know you're
familiar with it, I know that you are—Psalm 119. Turn over
there just a moment. Psalm 119 has to do with the
Word of God. It exalts the Word of God. It
calls attention to the Word of God. It magnifies the Word of
God. Let me just read a few verses
from Psalm 119. Verse 49, Psalm 119, 49, "'Remember
the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to
hope. This is my comfort in my affliction, for thy word hath
quickened me, given me life. Look at verse 114, way over 114. Thou art my hiding place and
my shield, I hope in your word. Look at verse 130. The entrance
of thy words giveth light, and giveth understanding unto the
simple thy words. Preacher, what's important to
God? What's really important to the Lord God? His Word. His Word. And I tell you, it
ought to be important to me. Secondly, the second thing, and
like I tell you, these are not in this order. They're just the
same to Him. But secondly, that which is important
to God is His grace. His grace. Turn to Exodus 33. Exodus. I never get tired, and
I know you're familiar with this Scripture, but I never get tired
of it. I preach from it quite often, refer to it quite often.
Moses. Oh, how special Moses was. How
special he was. What a great servant. Moses was
faithful in all his house. But Moses one day went out to
what he called a tent of meeting. This wasn't the tabernacle, it
was a tent of meeting. And when Moses would go out to
this tent where he met with God, the men of Israel would stand
in the doorway of their tents and silently watch him go. And
there the cloud of God's glory would hover over that tent, and
Moses would go in, and God spoke to Moses as a man speaks to his
friend face to face. And here in Exodus 33, Moses
asked God for three things. In verse 13, he said, Now therefore
I pray thee, Lord, if I found grace in your sight, show me
now your way, show me your way, that I may know thee. Psalm 103,
David said, God revealed to Moses his ways, unto Israel his acts. There's a difference. Moses entered
into the way of God. Christ is the way. And God showed
Moses his way. He showed Israel his acts. And
Moses says, show me your way. And then the second thing he
asked him was this, in verse 15. He said to him, if your presence
go not with me, carry me not up hence. Don't let me move a
peg if you don't go with me. Don't let me move, if you don't
go with me." Those good questions, good requests. Now, here's the third one, verse
33, and he said, I beseech thee, show me your glory. Show me your glory. Moses is
seen enough to satisfy most religionists, Down in Egypt, he saw all those
plagues. He saw that bush that didn't
burn. He saw the plagues. He saw the dividing of the water.
He saw the smitten rock. He saw the manna from heaven.
He saw these miracles. But Lord, he said, I want to
see your glory, your greater glory. I want to see that which
is really important to you, your glory. And God said, all right,
verse 19, God said, I will make all my goodness—what's that word,
goodness?—grace. Grace. That's my glory, my grace. I'll cause my goodness to pass
before you, and I'm going to proclaim the name—whosoever shall
call on the name of the Lord, that's his name. I'm going to
proclaim the name of the Lord. Whosoever believeth on the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ, this is grace and mercy in a name. Jehovah, God my Savior. Jehovah-Jireh, God will provide. Jehovah-Sid-Kinu, God my righteousness. Jehovah, I'll make my name, I'll
declare my name before you. I'll be gracious, that's my name,
to whom I will be gracious. I'll show grace and mercy. Grace is God giving us what we
don't deserve. Mercy is God not giving us what
we do deserve. He said, I'll be gracious to
whom I will be gracious, and I'll show mercy on whom I'll
show mercy. It's sovereign mercy. It's mercy
freely given. It's mercy from God. It's mercy
we don't deserve. It's grace we don't deserve.
It's freely given. It's in Christ. That's God's
glory, His grace. And I'll tell you this. Now listen
to me. When the angels fell, there was no grace and no mercy. God reserved them in everlasting
chains in darkness until the day of judgment. You know what
Jude said? That's true, isn't it? But when man fell, there
was a Savior provided. There was the seed of woman.
There was a Redeemer. That's grace. God said, I'll
be gracious, not to the angels, I'll be gracious to men. I'll
be merciful to men. Now, wait a minute. When God
sent the flood, when God destroyed the world by flood, there was
no grace for the world. But what does it say in Genesis
6? But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. I'll be gracious
to whom I will. His name's Noah. Shem, Ham, and
Jacob, and their wives. I'll be gracious to whom I will.
Huh? Abraham's family was idolatrous. If you want to read sometime
Joshua 24, he said, I found Abraham on the other side of the waters
worshiping idols, and Abraham and his daddy, and his brothers,
and his whole family. And that family didn't find grace,
but Abraham did. God said, Abraham, get thee out
of thy father's house unto land, I'll show thee, I'll make of
you a great nation. Huh? Is this not true? Is this not true? And God made of him a great nation,
Israel. How many nations can you name
that were on the earth when Israel was on the earth? Egyptians,
Babylonians, Philistines, Amalekites, Jebusites, Hittites, just keep
naming them. There was one ark, one mercy
seat in Israel. There was no mercy seat in Egypt.
There was no high priest in Egypt. or in Philistine's camp, in Babylon,
or Baghdad, or anywhere else. God chose Israel. And He said,
I didn't choose you because you were more in number, you were
the fewest of all, but because the Lord loved you, and because
the Lord would keep His promise to Abraham, I chose you. I will
be merciful to whom I will be merciful. I'll be gracious to
whom I will. They were God's chosen people.
They were the people to whom God gave the law, the tabernacle,
the mercy seat, the priesthood, the promises, the articles. And
when Christ came to the earth, He was born the seed of David. Is that right? What's your story? All right, mine's in Ephesians
2. You want to turn over there to Ephesians 2? It's grace. That's my story. Grace, grace,
and more grace, Ephesians 2. T'was grace that first inscribed
my name in God's eternal book. T'was grace that gave me to the
Lamb who all my servants took. Grace taught my soul to pray,
and grace made my eyes overflow. Grace kept me to this day, and
grace won't let me go. Here's my story, Ephesians 2. Henry T. Mahan and you, as he
quickened who were dead in trespasses and sin. In times past, you walked
according to the course of this world, according to the Prince
of the Pine, the heir of the Spirit, that now worketh in the
children of disobedience, among whom we all had our behavior
in times past in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of
wrath, even as others. But God. That's my story. But God! He said, Moses, my glory
is my goodness, and I'll be merciful to whom I will, and gracious
to whom I will. But God, who is rich in mercy,
for His great love, where is it? He loved us. We didn't love
Him. He loved us. We didn't know Him. He knew us. even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ by grace,
you say, that hath raised us up together
and made us sit together in heaven, the places in Christ Jesus, that
in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of
his grace. in His kindness toward us through
Christ Jesus, for by grace, so you say, through faith. That's
not yourself. That's the gift of God, not of
work. Before ordained, we should walk
and live. What's important? His Word, His
grace. And this belongs first. Third,
the third thing, His Son. But how do you put it? You got
to know His Word before you know His Son. You got to be a partaker
of His grace before you know His Son. But with Him, they're
all one. But his son, his son turned to
Proverbs 8. God delights. He said, this is
my son. Proverbs chapter 8. Twice God
spoke from heaven to me in the Gospels. He said, this is my
son in whom I'm well pleased. This is my son. Hear him. Proverbs
8, beginning with verse 23. Verse 22, here's the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's called Wisdom. In Proverbs
8, 22, The Lord possessed me in the beginning of His way,
before His works of old. I was set up from everlasting,
from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no
depths, I was brought forth. When there were no fountains
abounding with water, before the mountains were settled, before
the hills, I was brought forth. While as yet he had not made
the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust
of the world, when he had prepared the heavens, I was there. When
he set a compass upon the face of the depth, when he established
the clouds above, when he strengthened the fountains of the deep, when
he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass
His commandment. We are part of the foundations
of the earth. I was by Him as one brought up
with Him, and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before
Him. That's my Savior. From everlasting
to everlasting, the first and the last, Alpha and Omega, the
Father loves the Son. I gave you one time when I preached
here five things If George Whitefield had never said, never preached
any other sermon but this one, it would have been worth his
life. Method of grace, five important
things. Number one, everything God has
for the sinner is in Christ. Point number two, it's ours by
union with Christ. To be in Him is to be a joint
heir. That union with Christ certainly
comes by faith. And that faith comes by the Word.
And that Word is empowered by the Spirit. His Son. Everything's in Christ. Chosen in Him. Loved in Him. Accepted in Him. The Father crowned
His work with success. The Father accepts His person
and accepts His people in His person. where he is, we are. What he
has, we have. Philippians 2, verse 5. Philippians 2, verse 5. Listen
to this. Philippians 2, verse 5. Let this
mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in
the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God,
but made himself of no reputation, took upon him the form or likeness
of a servant, was made in the likeness of men, being found
in passion as a man, he humbled himself, became obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God hath highly
exalted him." given him a name which is above every name, that
it's the name of Jesus. Every knee should bow in earth,
in heaven and earth, and things under the earth, and that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory
of God the Father." And that's the fourth thing in which God's
interested. His Word, His grace, His Son,
and His glory. the glory of His Son. Father,
glorify the Son, that the Son may glorify Thee. And let me
read you over here in Isaiah 42. You need to read this with
me. Isaiah 42, the glory of God. The heavens declare the glory
of God. The angels sing glory to God
in the highest. The Son of God says, Glorify
thy son, that thy son may glorify thee. Our Lord Jesus said, The
Holy Spirit shall glorify me. The redeemed in heaven sing salvation
and glory and power to the Lord our God. And here in Isaiah 42,
listen, Isaiah is writing about the Redeemer. And he says in
Isaiah 42, 1, Behold my servant, whom I uphold, mine elect. Christ,
in whom my soul delighted. I put my spirit upon him, and
he'll bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He'll not cry,
nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A
bruiserie, that is, he'll be a meek person, and a bruiserie
shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench. He'll be a friend of sinners.
He'll bring forth judgment to the He will not fail, nor be
discouraged, till he has set judgment in the earth, and the
hours shall wait for his law. Thus saith the Lord God the Lord,
that he that created the heavens, and stretched them out, he that
spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it, he that
giveth breath to the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk
therein. I the Lord have called thee in
righteousness." He's talking about Christ here now. and keep
you, and give you for a covenant of the people, for a light in
the jinn's house, to open the blind eyes, blind eyes of sinners,
to bring out the prisoners from the prison, those under the curse,
bondage of the law and sin, and them that sit in darkness out
of the prison house. I'm the Lord, and that's my name,
and my glory I'll not give to another." My glory. God's jealous of his glory. He's
going to have all the glory for everything he does, chiefly for
the work of his Son and the salvation of his people. Somebody said
one time, to the extent that we believe
what we believe for the glory of God, to the extent that we preach
what we preach for the glory of God. To the extent we do what
we do for the glory of God, to the extent we pray what we pray
for the glory of God, to that extent He'll receive it. He'll bless it, and He'll honor
it, and He'll use it. If I can preach for the glory
of God, God will honor it. If I don't, He won't. If I can
give with that purpose in mind, the glory of God, the glory of
His name, the glory of His Son, the exaltation of Christ, God
will honor it, God will use it, God will bless it, God will use
me. If I can pray what I pray, not
to consume it on my own lust, but for His glory, you're granted. I know that. Whatever you do,
in word or deed, do it for the glory of God. Whether you eat
or drink, do it for the glory of God. If you can't do it for
the glory of God, God won't honor it. He just—He cannot and be
God. It's got to be for His glory.
And see, this is what— Have you ever turned to 1 Kings? I know
you've seen this. I know, I'm sure that you've
seen this. 1 Kings 18. You remember when the prophets
of Baal met Elijah on Mount Carmel? Remember that? Elijah, 450 prophets
of Baal, and I think 400 more, And he said, this is a demonstration
of who God is. Who's God? Baal or the living
God? And he told them, just do what
you will now. They called on their God. They cut themselves
with stones. They dashed around some kind
of altar. They fell on their faces. They
just kept on screaming and hollering. They did everything they could
do to get Baal to respond, and he wouldn't respond. Because he is not. And then Elijah
came at the end of the day, time of the evening sacrifice. He
built an altar. He put the sacrifice on the altar,
the wooden sacrifice. And then he started dumping all
that water on it. You remember barrels of water? It filled up,
it covered the altar and covered the, filled up a trench around
the altar. Just water, water, water, water.
And then he prayed. Not all day, not all night. He
prayed a 63-word prayer. It took not a minute and a half
to pray it. And the fire fell from heaven.
What on earth did he pray? Let's read it. 1 Kings 18, verse
36. And he came to Paris at the time
of the offering of the evening sacrifice. Elijah the prophet
came near and he said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel,
number one, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, that
I have done all these things at your words, Hear me, O Lord,
hear me, that these people may know that you are the Lord God,
and that you have turned their hearts back again." Then the
fire fell. That's a prayer for the glory
of God. There's no Elijah in there at
all. Let it be known, even, that I'm your servant and I've just
done what you said to me. Let me know that you're God,
that you reign, that you've shown mercy and grace. Lord, teach
me to pray. Not how to pray, but what to
pray. I know not the things for which
I should pray, except the Holy Spirit tell me. All right, I've
got to quit. One more thing. God's interested
and concerned about it. Those things that are dear to
God are His Word, no question about it, His grace, Question
about his son, his glory. He's jealous of his glory. His
people. His people are precious to him.
Precious in the sight of the Lord to the death of his saints.
Precious to the Lord. And I know his people aren't
to be put last, because he said, he loved them as he loved his
son. That's what he said. The Lord
Jesus prayed in John 17, Thou lovest them as Thou hast loved
me. Glorify them with the glory You've
given me. I pray that they might be with
me where I am. They're His people. Let me read
a passage in Revelation chapter 7. I told you in the Sunday school
class I was going to mention this passage here. Revelation
chapter 7, verse 9. What did John see? He said in Revelation 7 and 9,
After this I beheld and lo a great multitude, which no man could
number. We see our little churches here
and there, and they look so small compared to the population of
the world, but God has people in every tribe, kindred, nation,
tongue unto him. There's a great multitude. Listen,
a multitude which no man could number of all nations and kindreds
and people and tongues. He saw a great multitude, and
he saw them stand before the throne, standing in the presence
of God. Who shall stand in his holy temple? Who shall sin? Who shall sin
in the hill of the Lord? Who shall stand in his presence? These people are. Why? Before
the Lamb, there's a Lamb. The blood of the Lamb enables
them to stand and not be driven away as a chap before the presence
of God. And they're clothed with white
robes. They've washed their robes and
made them white in the blood of the Lamb. And they got palms. That's victory in their hands.
And you know what he heard? And they cried with a loud voice,
saying, Salvation to our God! You know, there may be people
down here on earth that believe salvation is by man's free will,
but up there, everybody sings one song. Salvation is of the
Lord. Salvation is of the Lord. Nobody
doubts it up there. No. Salvation to our God, who
sits on the throne, and unto the Lamb. And all the angels
stood round about the throne and about the elders and the
four beasts and fell before the throne on their faces and worshipped
God. And they said, Amen, that's so.
Blessing and glory and wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, might
be unto God forever and ever. And one of the elders answering
said to me, Who are these? which arrayed in white robes.
Which came they? I said, Sir, you know. He said
to me, I know. They are they which came out
of great troubles and sorrows and tribulation, and washed their
robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore
are they before the throne of God, and serve him night and
day in his temple. And he that sitteth on the throne
shall dwell with them, and they'll hunger no more. neither thirst any more, neither
shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which
is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead
them into living fountains of water." God will wipe away all
tears from their eyes. That's His people. Last Sunday
night, I read this scripture. Last Sunday night, closed my
message. reading this scripture, and I
stood back by the door where I stand on Sunday evening, and
the people coming out, and a dear lady, Ethel Salyers, and her
husband, her son, and daughter-in-law all came out, and they'd been
married 59 years. I'd been their pastor 44 years. And they came out, and she shook
hands with me. I remember it so vividly, and
looked up and smiled like she always does. And she said, I
just love that gospel. I just love that gospel. That's
the last time I saw her alive. That's the last words I heard
her say. Tuesday afternoon, her husband
called the church and said, come to the hospital. Ethel's had
a massive stroke. And I drove down there and sat
with him, and the doctor came in, and after two or three hours
of working with her, and he said, Cash, he said, I've shocked her
and shocked her, and I can keep doing it. But he said, Cash,
I believe we ought to let her go, because she doesn't know
anything, and there's no pulse, and there's no blood going to
the brain, and Cash, we ought to quit. And he looked over at
me, and I said, that's right. Let her go home, because she
loves that gospel. Do you? I do. The people of God
are precious to him, and he's going to wipe away all the tears and be their God, and they'll
be his people. Those are the things we're interested
in, aren't they? Those are the things, because
those are the things of God. Our Father, thank you for this
time together. What a delightful time to be
in your presence with your people, reading your Word. Oh, what blessed
people we are. What blessed people we are. To
have a church family like this, and a place like this, and the
pasture you put here, men and women you brought together here,
all who love your word, love your sons, love your grace, delight
in your glory, and rejoice to be your people. Continue your
mercies upon us, your grace. We are what we are by your grace. We have what we have because
of your mercy. Continue your blessings upon
this place. Lord, we don't deserve anything
we have. by your grace, and we thank you
and ask you to continue your mercies here till we meet again
in your presence. For Christ's sake I pray, amen.
All right, Brother Joe, if you'll come give us a song. Number 235, if you need a book.
Pass me not. Please stand. 235. First and the third stand. . The. Do not let me bow. Savior, Savior,
hear my humble cry. While others are calling, do
not let me die. Trusting only in Christ. Oh. Oh. Oh. Only do the best we can.