A Twofold Commendation

Q: What does the Bible say about repentance?

The Bible teaches that repentance toward God is essential for salvation and involves recognizing our guilt before a holy God. Repentance is a vital component of the gospel message as outlined in the Scriptures. The Apostle Paul emphasizes this in Acts 20:21, where he states he preached 'repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.' This repentance involves acknowledging God as just, holy, and deserving of our utmost reverence. It requires us to understand our sinful nature and the need for God's mercy. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, meaning that without an understanding of God's holiness, one cannot truly repent. Therefore, recognizing our guilt before a just God is the first step towards genuine repentance and salvific faith.

Q: How do we know God's grace is sufficient for salvation?

God's grace is sufficient for salvation as He has given His Son to bear our sins and provide righteousness for believers. The sufficiency of God's grace is grounded in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. In Acts 20:24, Paul describes his message as 'the gospel of the grace of God,' highlighting that salvation comes solely through grace. This grace is not merely a concept but is embodied in Christ, who paid the heavy price for our sins. Romans 8:32 reinforces this truth, stating that if God did not spare His Son but delivered Him up for us all, He will surely give us all things necessary for salvation. Thus, God's grace encompasses every aspect of our redemption—from calling us to Himself, granting us faith, and ensuring our perseverance until the end.

Q: Why is understanding God's sovereignty important for Christians?

Understanding God's sovereignty assures Christians that He is in control of all things, which brings comfort and hope. God's sovereignty is fundamental to the Christian faith as it reassures believers that nothing happens outside of His divine will and purpose. Paul, in his farewell to the Ephesian elders, commends them to God, emphasizing that He is in control of all things (Acts 20:32). Knowing that God orchestrates every circumstance of life encourages believers during trials and uncertainties. Furthermore, understanding God's sovereign grace allows us to recognize our salvation as a gift from Him rather than a result of our efforts. This knowledge brings peace, as we are assured that God will fulfill His promises and will care for us as our heavenly Father.

Q: What does it mean that God is a just God?

God's justice signifies that He will not clear the guilty and that sin must be punished. The notion of God's justice is pivotal in understanding His character and the gospel. The Scripture explicitly states that God will by no means clear the guilty, highlighting that He is perfectly just and cannot overlook sin (Exodus 34:7). This attribute calls us to perceive our true condition as lawbreakers deserving punishment, which, in turn, leads to repentance. However, God's justice is coupled with His grace, allowing Him to justify the ungodly through the work of Christ. Thus, while God is just, He also provides a solution for sin through the sacrificial death of His Son, satisfying His own requirements for justice.

Q: Why is faith in Christ essential for salvation?

Faith in Christ is essential for salvation as it is the means by which we receive God's grace and forgiveness. Faith in Christ functions as the channel through which God's grace flows to believers. In Acts 20:21, Paul's preaching emphasizes faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ alongside repentance. This faith is not simply intellectual assent but is a deep reliance on Christ's finished work for our salvation. Christ’s atoning sacrifice satisfies God's justice, and through faith, we receive the benefits of His grace, including forgiveness of sins and eternal life. The significance of faith is further illustrated in Ephesians 2:8-9, which teaches that we are saved by grace through faith, highlighting that it is not by our works but by the grace of God that we are saved.

The Apostle Paul was such a faithful
preacher and friend to all of God's people. It's a blessed privilege to have
a man who faithfully proclaims the gospel to you and be faithful.
He's not in it for his own namesake or what he can get out of you. loves you and wants to tell you
the truth. I had such a man, still do, faithful
preacher and pastor who faithfully told me the truth so long. I've
said before that it's one thing to love to preach, but it's quite another to love
those to whom you preach. There's plenty of preachers out
there, so-called. This was a man, Apostle Paul
was a man who faithfully, constantly declared the gospel. He said in verse 20, look at
it, verse 20, he said, I've kept back nothing that was profitable
unto you. Kept back nothing profitable
unto you. All scriptures, he told young Timothy, are given
by inspiration of God and are profitable. All scriptures are
profitable. Whatever God's word says, that's
what God's preacher says. He's just a messenger sent to
declare whatever God says. If God's word says election,
then he hollers election. God's word says predestination,
and he preaches it just as strongly. Whatever God says, that's what
that man said. That's what the Apostle Paul
did. At times he would say things and do things that people might
be offended by, and they were. And he said, in one place, he
said, Am I to become your enemy? Because to tell you the truth,
He's telling you the truth. The truth is never our enemy. It's our best friend. Truth sets
you free. Truth will deliver you from error. Paul was a faithful man that
always proclaimed the truth. And he said this, verse 21. He
said, I've testified Jews and Greeks, wherever
I go, he said, this is what I preach. Verse 21, repentance toward God
and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance toward God. Do you ever hear the word repentance
even used anymore in preaching? It's gone out the wind, isn't
it, Brother If there ever was a missing note
in today's preaching, this is it. And I know why. Why, if God loves everybody, nobody's got anything to worry
about and repent of. Right? If God loves everybody,
why repent? Huh? repentance toward God. See, the
first thing a preacher, a faithful preacher, comes preaching is
a just God, a just God. Isaiah 45, verse 22 says, Look
unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. Look unto
me, God says, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. For
I am God, and there is none else. just God. That's the first description
God uses about himself. He says, I'm a just God and a
Savior. You don't get the cart before
the horse. You don't talk about God loving and Christ dying and
God being a Savior before you talk about the just God. You
see that? Because nobody's going to repent
to a Savior. But they're going to repent before
just God. Understand? When we see God is holy, we sang
that song a while ago, number 70, holy, holy, holy. That's the character of God used
in Scripture more than any other. It's not like that seventh-day
Adventist fellow said, that love is his chief characteristic. That's not it. No. It's holiness. Holy, holy, holy. A just God
and a saint. A just God. The Scripture says
this more than once. Listen to me. The Scripture says
this in Exodus 34. And it's quoted in the New Testament,
God will by no means clear the guilty. That means he's just God, justice. He said, I will by no means clear
the guilty. God doesn't forgive sins. He punishes them. Listen, I'm
telling you something very, very important. Because the fear of
the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. I'm not going to take
it for granted everybody in here understands what I'm saying.
I've said this over and over again, and I'm losing some of
you already, but I've got to declare that God is holy. God is just. The reason we don't
know anything about justice today is because our legal system has no justice. A man could commit murder and
be caught red-handed, and they convict him, so you're sentenced
to life in prison. He might serve seven years. That's
not justice. God says the soul that sinneth
will surely die, didn't He? He will by no means clear the
guilty. We won't do it. And the Scripture
says all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Every
person in here is worthy of, you know what we're worthy of?
You know what we've earned? No matter how moral you are,
no matter how good a mother, a grandmother, this is what God's
saying. The soul that sinneth must surely
die. God is angry with the wicked. Say, I'm not wicked. Yes, you
are, before this holy God who sees the thoughts. God looketh
not as man looketh. God seeth not as man seeth. God looketh. God's looking at
the motive, the intents, the thoughts of the heart. And God
is holy. Everything shall be perfect to
be accepted. Shall be. Every thought must
be perfect. And God says, if it not, I'm
going to punish it. Holy, holy, holy. And he said,
the soul it sent, I'm going to kill it. Right? A just God. He said, every sin shall receive
a just recompense of a war. He's a just God. He's holy. He's just. Now, that ought to
make everyone here guilty. Repent toward God. God, forget
Lord, have and say this. It ought to make everyone say
this. God, I'm guilty. Be merciful unto me. I've sinned. But it's missing today, isn't
it? And it ought to bring the fear
of the Lord. Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And
there's no fear of God today because they're talking about
God being all love. God is love to those that he grants repentance
to. And that's what Paul said, I
go everywhere preaching, and so did the prophets. Every prophet
in the Old Testament went preaching, repent. What Jonah preach? Repent. What Isaiah preach? Woe is unto
you. No prophet ever went out into
the world preaching, God loves you, Christ died for you. Not
one. Never. No apostle ever went out
preaching that. Find me a sermon by one apostle
where he ever said in his opening remark, God loves you and Christ
died for you. Won't you let him into your heart?
Never. The Son of God came preaching
the Lord Jesus Christ. What was his first message out
of his mouth? What was it? Repent. The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
The king's standing here. The holy God's standing here. Bow down. Repent. So Paul says repentance toward
God. All right. And if you see God
as holy, who will by no means clear the guilty." You know what
that'll bring a man to do? By the goodness of God, it'll
make him repent, and then you know what else? Everybody that
really repents toward this God, God be merciful to me, the sinner.
God have mercy on me. God, I'm unworthy, I'm undeserving. Lord, please, forgive this old
sinner. You know what that'll cause him
to do? You know what God'll do first?
He'll point him to the Lord Jesus Christ. You're guilty, aren't
you? Yes. You deserve hell, don't
you? Yes. Look at Christ. He wasn't guilty. He lived a
perfect life, and he gives that to all that need it. And he went to the cross and
bore some people's sins. He took the wrath of God, the
justice of God. God poured out his justice. He
killed Jesus Christ. If you look to him, he did that
for you. Faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ. He did that for you. Paul says
that's a two-fold message I bring. That's the sum and substance
of the gospel, isn't it? God's holy. We're sinful. Better look to Christ. Christ
alone. Now, when you look to something,
everybody look at that window right there. I want you to look
at that window. Now, are you looking at it? I
am. Are you looking through that
window? You're not looking anywhere else? You're looking at that window.
Don't look anywhere else. Don't look to the right. Don't
look to the left. Look at that window. Don't look at me. Don't
look at me. Look to that window. Look to
that window. Are you looking at it? That's
what it means to look to Christ. Now look at me. That's what it
means to look to Christ. Don't look at the right hand.
Don't look at your work. Don't look at the past, back
at what you've done. Don't look at the preacher. Look
to Christ. He's the light of the world. He's the light. He's the Savior.
He's the only one that can. Don't look to, well, I've got
to do this. I've got to clean up my life. Don't do that. Don't clean. He doesn't want you to clean
it up, about like mine. Well, let me get somebody else.
Somebody's very meticulous about cleaning, you know. If it's going
to be clean and they want it done right, they want to do it
themselves. Open mouth, insert foot. Right? If you want something
done right, what do you do? You do it yourself. I confess
to being guilty, but I don't always do it right, do I, Rick?
Sometimes when I want something done right, I get Rick to do
it. The Lord does all things perfectly. There is no other way. Christ
says, You look unto me and be ye sane. Don't look to the right,
don't look to me, and be ye sane. I'm just God. And God can be
just and yet justify the ungodly because Christ died. Who is he
that condemned them? Christ died. God's just and yet
the justifier of all them that believe in Christ. How? Their
sins are paid for. God can be just. God can be holy. God can be—God must. God must
punish sin, people. He must. And be God. So Paul says, I've preached repentance
toward God and repentance to God, not to the priest. You don't
sit in some little booth and confess to some man who is more
wicked than you are. Repentance toward God and faith
toward the Lord Jesus Christ. Are you with me? All right. Paul said, I've preached that. Verse 24, and all this is, verse
24, look at the last line, is the gospel of the grace of God.
That's what this is. the gospel of the grace of God. How God gives repentance, how
God gives faith, how God gave his Son to do for us what we
could not do for ourselves. The gospel of the grace of God. The gospel is grace, grace, grace. Verse 27, he says, I have not
shunned, declared unto you all the counsel of God. What is all
the counsel of God? The whole counsel of God to you,
old sinner, is the gospel and the grace of God. That's all
God's got to say to an old sinner, isn't it? He's not going to discuss
astrology with us and all this other junk. He's got one thing
to say. Bow down and repent. Trust my
son. That's it. Trust my son. And
that's what Paul faithfully preached. That's what he faithfully preached.
And now he's leaving these people, all right? He's leaving these
people that he'd been with for a long time, and he's never going
to see them again. And he's going to say something
to them as he's leaving. These are his parting words,
his last words, Paul's parting words. He's never going to see
these people again. And he's got one last thing to
say to them. What's he going to say? Richard Baxter said that we ought
to preach like that. Richard Baxter said, an old preacher
years ago, he said, I preach as one that may never preach
again, as a dying man to dying men. And you don't know if you'll
ever hear another sermon. Virgie was in here one Sunday
morning, wasn't she? Well, here's what Paul says to
these people in leaving them. Verse 32, he says, Now, brethren,
I commend you to God and to the word of his grace. I commend you to God. Now, brethren,
and he's talking to believers, brothers. Brothers are those
who have the same father, aren't they? I don't call all men my
brother, because we don't have the same
father. I don't call every religious nut that comes along and says,
Hey, brother. Praise the Lord, brother. Hey, you brother. I
don't call him brother back until I find out we have the same daddy. You see, all God's people have
the same father. One Lord, one faith. They believe
the same way. One Lord, one faith. baptism,
one hope of their calling, one God, one Father that's in them
all. They all believe the same way
about this God. And I know if a man—I don't know
infallibly, but I know this—when I hear a man start talking about
God and he starts talking about God trying and failing, about God who loves everybody
and wishes and wants so bad to save them but can't unless they
let him. I said, that's not my God and you're not my brother. You see, all of us mayhem boys
and girls talk pretty much alike. If you listen to me, I sound
like my father. God's people sound like God,
sound like Christ. They have the same language.
Their language is the same. Scripture says Christ's grace
poured from his lips, didn't it? Huh? Grace poured from his
lips? What pours from the lips of an old sinner? Now, what does
he want to talk about? What he's done for Jesus? Does
he want to talk about his profession of faith? Does he want to talk
about his church? Does he want to talk about a
God who tries it? No, they talk about grace, sovereign
grace. Talk about God. Talk about God
doing things, about Christ, what he's done. Not what they've done,
what he's done. They have the same speech. They have the same family resemblance.
All God's people, they look like Christ. They live in the same
house, Christ. They have the same head, Christ.
Now, brethren, brethren, talking to believers, I commend you to
God. I commend you to my God, Paul
said. your God. Now, if I was a preacher today,
one of these average preachers today, I couldn't say this in
all good conscience. If I preached like these preachers
preach today, if I believed in the God that they believe in
today, I couldn't say this in all good conscience. I commend
you to God. Why? Well, he loves you. Well, will
he save me? He might. I don't want no mights. Maybe. God wants to. He wants to. He wants to, then
he will. I don't know. You'll have to
let him. Ain't that yea and nay preaching? It may be. But you've
got to do something. I couldn't commend anybody to
God like that. Henry, I would want you to commend your soul.
body and spirit to a God who might love you one day, might
not love you the next, or a God who wants to save you and tries,
and you don't make it some day. You just don't make it. The blood
of Christ, you know, if it's shed for you, if it doesn't save
you, buddy, I'm not going to commend you to it. We wouldn't even put one another
in an automobile like that. Let me borrow your car. OK, fine. Now, it's in good shape, isn't
it? got plenty of gas in it. Will
it make it? Well, last week it's... You know,
I might not get there. I don't know. Thanks just the
same. They won't find me a good car.
I got a good God for you. I commend you to my God, who
is God. Paul said, like Daniel's God. Demechanes just said about Daniel's
God. Now Daniel's God, he's God. All these other fools, they're
God, but he ain't God. He tries and all that. Daniel's
God now, he's God. Paul says, My God's God. I commend
you to my God, in whose hands your breath is, and all your
way, who wills all things, and when he wills it, it comes to
pass. You want to use the word want to? Whatever God wants to,
He gets. He does. Whatever God says, that's
what I want, that's what He gets. God wants to save you, bless
God, you are going to be saved. I commend you to that God. Do
you know Him? Some of you do. I commend you
to that God. I commend you to God who's in
charge, who's God. who works all things unto the
counsel of his will, and doesn't depend on man's will. That's
only God worth trusting in, people. I commend you to a God who, when
he says he loves you, you're going to be loved. And
you're going to be loved to the end, and you're not going to
go to hell. He's going to save you. He's going to save you. That's who I commend you to.
Let me give you some good reasons for commending you to God. Number
one, look there at verse 28. I commend you to God, all you
believers, I commend you to God. Listen to me now. Would you stay
with me a little bit, believers? This will be comforting. I'm
talking to believers now. It says there in verse 28, he
says, To a preacher, and boy, this is weighty for a preacher,
take heed to yourself. Watch out for yourself and all
the flock over which the Holy Ghost has made you overseer,
and you better feed them. Don't beat them. Don't fleece
them. Feed them. It's God's church,
not yours. It's God's church, the church
of God. It's the church of God which he purchased with his own
blood. See, God's people, God's sheep, God's church, they belong
to Him. I commend you to God. Why? He
owns you. You're His anyway. You're His. He says you're not
your own. Genevieve, He said you're not your own. You're bought
with a price. Who better to take care of something
than the rightful owner, huh? I've got an automobile. Once
again, I've got an automobile. Who's going to take care of that
automobile more than me? I own it. I paid for it. I don't want it to break down.
I'm going to take care of it, right? You parents, you have
your children earn things, or ought to. Instead of just buying
them things, they won't take care of it that way. But if they
own it, they'll take care of it, you see, or somewhat. They realize, I've got to make
the payments. God made a payment for his people. What was the
payment? What was the price? I can't rightly preach on it.
It's too high. The price is too high. It's his
son. What if I bought something, paid
for it, and it took the life of my daughter to do it? That's
mine. Ain't nothing going to happen
to that. I got too much invested in it. Right? I commend you to God, brethren.
If you trust God to save you, he'll save you. Why? The price
that he paid to save you. He's not going to lose you. I told you about that old cat,
you know, that we picked up one time. My daughter wanted that
cat. I didn't need that cat. She wanted that cat, so we got
that cat. And like I said, several thousand
dollars later, we own a cat. Now, the cat is still really
of no value to me. I feed it, I water it, I clean
up its everything. I still don't really need that
cat, but I'm going to keep it. I hate to confess this, but I
called the other day and I asked Stan, who was taking care of
it, how's that old cat? I called long distance. How's that old cat? See, I've
got a lot invested in it. It's worthless, but I've got
a lot invested in it. I'm going to keep it. I'm not going to
let anything happen to it. I commend you to God, brethren.
If God sent his Son to die for you, he's going to keep you.
You're going to keep you in his position. And secondly, here's
a good reason to be commended to God. Turn over to John chapter
14. John 14. I'll try to hurry, really. I'll try to wrap this up in 45
minutes. John 14. Not 45 more minutes, but I mean
45 total. All right. John 14. Christ spoke of the Father several
times. He spoke of the Father more than
anybody. John 14, look at verse 16, verse 15. Got it? John 14, 15, and 16. If you love
me, keep my commandment and I will pray to the Father and he shall
give you another comforter. Verse 21. He that hath my commandments
and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me. And he that loveth
me shall be loved of my Father." Verse 23, Jesus answered and
said, And if a man love me, he will keep my word, and my Father
will love him. Who does God love? That ought
to sum it all up, shouldn't it, Rick? Shouldn't that lay to waste
all this talk about God loving everybody? Who does God love?
Those who love Christ. Paul said, if any man love not
the Lord Jesus Christ, he's going to hell. If any man love the
Lord Jesus Christ, he's going to glory. And trust him, my Father will
love, my Father, my Father. Verse 26, the Comforter, the
Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name. He'll teach
you. Look at chapter 16. John 16. Look at this now. Come on. Verse fifteen sixteen all things
that the father hath are mine. Why? He is the father. Well he said he shall take of
mine and show them unto you a little while you shall not see me verse
sixteen and again a little while you shall see me I go to the
father. Verse twenty six Verse twenty-three, in that day, verse
twenty-three, you shall ask me nothing, and verily, verily,
I say unto you, whatever you ask the Father in my name, he'll
give it to you. Verse twenty-six, at that day
you'll ask in my name, I say not unto you that I will pray
the Father for you, the Father himself love of you, because
you have loved me. And then in John seventeen, you
know that glorious How does he start that out, John? His very
first words were, Father, this is what I want, Dad. That's what
he says, Father, I will. I will. I want something. What,
son? That those that you've given
me be with me where I am. I will. that they may be with
us, and behold my glory." I will, I will. Father, this is what
I want. The Son, whom he always hears, is what I want. All right,
look at this. Are you still with me? Somebody? Look at chapter
20. Our Lord talks about the Father,
the Father, and he says, My Father, or His Father. He talks about
the Father, the Father, His Father, Christ's Father, all the way
through, all the way through. Then He died was buried and rose
again. Now here he is appearing to the
disciples after he rose again. John, look at this, buddy. And
ladies, feel free to shout. Verse 17, Christ said to Mary,
Mary was the first one there, and he said, Don't touch me.
Touch me not. I am not yet ascended to my father. But go to my brethren and say
unto them, Tell them I ascended unto my father, and your father He is now your father. Who? God. Why? Christ. Paul says, I commend you to God.
Why? What's a good reason? He's your
father. Who's going to take care of that
little girl he's sitting there on the front row, third from the end? Who's going to take care of her?
What if I gave her to Stan? Now Stan would take good care
of her. Pretty good care of her. I gave
her to Henry, he'd take pretty good care of her. John, they'd
all take pretty good care of her. Who's going to take the
best care of her? Huh? Me. I love you. I'm going to love you from now
on. She didn't have a thing to worry
about. Not a thing. But wait a minute, I'm a man. I'm a man. You want to know who
my father is? Say, yeah, I know, Henry Manning.
No. God is my father. He's able. He's able to keep
that which I committed, commended unto him. He's able. He said, I'm going to try to
take care of her. God doesn't try anything. He doesn't. I commend
you to God. He's your father in Christ. And he's taking care of you up
to this point. Yeah, he's your father. Will
he take care of you tomorrow? Well, yeah. Why? He's your father.
Your dad, dear old dad. The Spirit has testified to our
spirit and given us the spirit of adoption whereby we can cry
We don't have to just cry, Oh Holy Sovereign God, though we
do. We can say, Dad! Come to Him, Dad! Any old time,
with any old thing, Dad! Abba! They say that word comes
from a little baby, the first utterance of the word, bababa,
trying to say, Dada. Uh-huh. Is a father going to
smack his little baby around? Dada. Dearest words to a father, Abba,
Dada. As soon as they say Dada, there
he is for life. Abba, Father, I commend you to
God. I commend your life to God. I
commend your children to God. I commend your home and family
to God. We say, but I don't know. Don't
lean on the arm of the flesh. Yeah, but I've got some decisions
to make. I commend you to God. He's your Father. But it looks
like I'm going to have to do something. Stand still and say
the salvation of the Lord. My daughter's always doing that.
But Daddy, but Daddy, but nothing. I'm Daddy. Stand back. I'll take care of
it." She hadn't done anything up to this point. And long as I'm around, she won't
have to. I'm her daddy. I commend you to God. Why? He's
your father. Believe her. Oh, but you don't know my situation.
Yes, I do. Everybody has it. Everybody has
the same situation. Bills to pay, and this and that
and the other, and children and so forth. I commend you to God. Why? He's your father. What about the Israelites? They
were headed out in the wilderness. They didn't have jobs. They didn't
have homes. They didn't have nothing! No food! Nothing! God says, Go! Where? Just go! Hell! Go! What are we going to eat? Watch!
What are we going to wear? What about my children? What
about my children? You are my children. I'll never
leave thee, nor forsake thee. Watch me." Didn't Christ say
to his disciples, he said, now you've been with me three years.
I told you to follow me. You've been with me three years
now. In all these three years, have you lacked anything? They
said, nothing. One. He's their father. And never
will like anything he says, go, don't take code or script or
anything, don't take anything, but but but but don't. Don't
take anything. I'm just a sandwich. No. You
don't eat sandwiches. You're going to steak. Maybe. They did. Children of Israel. Oh, I commend you to God. Why?
He's your father. You're his property. You're his
child. I commend you because of the
enemy. Look at chapter 20 again. Look at verse, read on. He says, verse 29, After I depart,
Paul said, grieve this wolf shall come in. Doesn't it say that
Satan is like a wolf in sheep's clothing or his minister? It
says he's like a roaring lion. Could you handle, anybody in
here handle a roaring lion? Huh? You see, that's what Satan's
like. I know somebody can. I know a
man who crushed his head. He says, "...of your own selves,"
verse 30, "...of your own selves shall men arise." speaking perverse
things to draw away disciples. Watch! Paul says, he says, wolves
are becoming. I'm warning you. Watch! What are we going to do, Paul?
Don't leave, Paul. You got a phone number I can
call you at, Paul? Huh? What's your address? All right,
Jim, you're getting problems. Paul says, I commend you to God. You see that? Paul said, now
you've got any problems, call me. No! Call on God, who is an
ever-present help in time of trouble. Psalm 46, 1. I commend you to God. Call on
God. He's your Father. Don't call
a friend. Call your dad. Call your dad. See, aren't those good reasons
to be commended to God? Huh? I tell you what, it's all
in that name. If I hadn't commented on it, that's enough. It's all in that
name, John. Because he said, he said, if
God be for us. Huh? Who or what? If God be for us. Who's God? God! Not this God they're saying
they want. God, who you're breathing now
because of. You're breathing right now because
of. I mean, you're breathing because
He says, Breathe, Henry. Breathe. Your Father, who owned you, paid
a big price and said, I'm not going to let Him go. I paid for
it. Not your own. If God be for you, is He for
you? He sure is. Who or what circumstance
or situation or problem or trial or trouble, Paul said, we're
down, but we're not forsaken. We're worried, but not too much.
Why? If God be for us. Believer, I'm
telling you, there's no better word you could hear except this.
Look at the next thing, and the word of his grace. I commend
you to God and the word of his grace. Don't you just like some
of that word? Yeah, good word, grace. Grace,
great, great word, grace, great, because great, grace is great.
It's a great word, good word, great word, grace. It kind of
sounds like another word, doesn't it? Grace. Christ. Grace. Christ. They kind of sound
alike, don't they? They're one and the same. The grace of God is Christ. All
the grace of God is in Christ. Grace. Christ. Start to finish.
It's all grace. Grace. It's His grace. Do you
see that? His grace. I commend you to God in the word
of His grace. His grace, grace, grace, God's
grace, grace that will pardon and cleanse within, marvelous,
infinite, matchless grace, freely bestowed grace. God's grace. It's His grace. It's His grace. It's not mustard. It's not mustard. You remember
that? Somebody said, Grace, you're
talking about today, you might as well say mustard. Because
it's something you use. See, God gives it to you and
you use it and you improve on it. It's something, you know,
however much you use it on the hamburger of your soul. It'll
save you. It'll make you sweat savory to
God if you use this mustard. Now, grace is not something you
use, people. It's something God uses. It's something God does
to you. By grace are you saved. Through
faith. You see, as a preacher, you've
got to believe. Where does that come from? Grace. Same source,
isn't it, Joe? Same source. Faith. Through faith. And that's not of yourself. That's
grace. Now, listen. Grace is purposing grace. God's
purpose is to save the people. If he hadn't, nobody would be
saved. He purposed to save them, didn't have to, but he did, that's
great. God's sovereign elect in grace, he chose whom he was
going to be gracious to, didn't have to be to anybody, but he
did. If God just chose one person to be gracious to, that one person
would be singing throughout eternity, grace, great grace. One fellow
in heaven, if God chose one fellow in heaven, he'd been singing
at the top of his lungs, grace, grace, grace, grace. But he chose a number of the
sands of the sea and the stars of the sky. Why? God wanted to
hear it a little louder. Not just one voice. I want to
hear a whole bunch of y'all singing to me. I like the sound of it.
Grace! Yes, that's me. Gracious, God
said. Mercy. Christ. Don't you love to hear a big
crowd singing? Huh? Saving grace. Saving grace. That means he saves
all those he intends to save. He saves them. Calling grace.
Those he predestinated, he called them. It's calling grace. Repenting grace. Goodness of
God. The grace of God leads a man
to repent. Believing grace. He gives you faith. It's keeping
grace. Keeping grace. Through many dangers. toils and snares, I have already
come. Tis what? Grace hath brought
me safe thus far, and what? Grace will lead me home. Grace
called me, grace bought me, grace will keep me. Grace, grace, grace. And he says this will build you
up. His word will build you up, I'm not giving the law. I never
even said the word until just now. I haven't told you anything
to do. Heaven. Huh. It's great. It's all great. This will build
you up. It won't tear you down. Now, nobody in here who trusts
Christ ought to be torn down right now. Nobody in here ought
to be downcast right now. I'm building you up, committing
you to God, who's your Father, who's your owner. I commend you to the word of
His grace. You see, the law says this. The law says guilty. Grace
says pardoned. Not guilty. Holy, unblameable,
unapprovable. That's what grace says, John.
It's a good word. It's to build you up. John comes
in here like all sinners do, you know, kind of slumped over.
John ought to be sitting up right like this here in a moment. The
law says, offended, you're offensive to me. God says, unblameable. The law says, die. Grace says,
live. The law says, well, look at you,
would you? Grace says, look unto me, look
unto me. The law says, sold unto sin. He's sold unto sin. Grace says,
bought back with a price. The law says, unworthy, you're
unworthy. Grace says, he's worthy. That ought to build you up. The
word is grace. Grace will build you up and give
you an inheritance, it says. Give you an inheritance among
all them that have been set apart, sanctified. All them, with all
those that sanctified themselves. All those that God set apart
for his own use. He said, I'm going to be merciful to that
old boy. I'm going to be gracious. I'm
going to forgive him. I'm going to be gracious to whom
I will be gracious. I'm going to save that old sinner.
Do you hear that word? It will build you up. Build you up. And it will keep
you from falling. Give you inheritance. You get
the glory. You get the glory, old sinner.
What are you going to say? What right have you got to be
in here? Say one word. Just say one word. Christ! Oh, Christ! One word. You know what's going
to happen if you do? Come on in. Come on in. Yeah, that's it. We went up to
an amusement park Friday night before we drove home with the
kids. And to get in that park, they
stamped me. Everywhere I went, I was free.
Go in anywhere, go in and out, in and out. Why? That's stamped
on me. That's stamped on me. How am I going to get to go?
Got blood on me. Got blood on me. Wow. You know,
I didn't pay for that stamp. I didn't pay for it. Somebody
said, you go up there and they'll stamp you. Go up to that woman
right there and they'll stamp you. How much do I owe you? Don't
pay anything. It's free. Go up there and they'll stamp
you. Christ says, come unto me. But, but, but I got to do this.
Don't do that. Come. I'll save you. I'll save you. And that's your
entrance. Free. And everything, and he that spared
not his own son delivered him up for us all? How shall I not
with him freely give us all things? Read that. Go home and read that
to yourself. Romans 8.32. If he killed his son to save
you, he's going to pay your bills. He's going to pay your bills.
He paid for your sin that took the bloody death of his son.
You're a light bill. That's almost ridiculous to think
about, isn't it? 209. Yep, that's what I thought. 209. Stand with me,
sing that. Sing the first and the last then. Three static seas, dark seas,
and dark years. God on hell's roof, he fell and tore. There was no other way
at all. God's grace, grace that far exceeds
within. Grace, grace, God's grace, grace that is greater than all
mercy. Marvelous infant, at that first
glance Did he stoop on a holy knee? Did you not long to see
his face? Did you not know his great deceit? Grace, grace, God's grace Grace
that is greater than all our sins Grace, grace, God's grace Grace
that is greater than all our sins Thank you, New Disney.

A Twofold Commendation

What does the Bible say about repentance?

How do we know God's grace is sufficient for salvation?

Why is understanding God's sovereignty important for Christians?

What does it mean that God is a just God?

Why is faith in Christ essential for salvation?

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A Twofold Commendation

What does the Bible say about repentance?

How do we know God's grace is sufficient for salvation?

Why is understanding God's sovereignty important for Christians?

What does it mean that God is a just God?

Why is faith in Christ essential for salvation?

Sermon Transcript

About Paul Mahan

Comments

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