OK, turn back in your Bibles
now to Acts chapter 20. Acts chapter 20. Let's read verses
7 through 12. Acts 20 verse 7 through 12, I
just want to make a few comments on this particular incident.
I didn't didn't touch on it. Last Sunday night. Upon the first day of the week,
when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached
unto them, ready to depart on the morrow, and continued his
speech until midnight. There were many lights in the
upper chamber where they were gathered together, and there
sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus. And being
fallen into a deep sleep, and as Paul was long preaching, This
young man sunk down with sleep and fell down from the third
loft and died, was taken up dead. And Paul went down, rushed down,
fell on him like the story of Elijah. Remember him falling
on the widow's son and embracing him, said to the parents and
all around, trouble not yourself, his life is in him. And when
he therefore, when Paul was come up again, came back upstairs
and had broken bread and eaten and talked a long while, even
till the break of day. So he departed, and they brought
the young man alive and were not a little comforted by this. From seven till midnight, the
Apostle Paul preached. Seven till midnight, five hours
he preached this night, and I have been instructed and and taught that we should limit our messages
to 45 minutes at the most, if possible. But if, like Paul in
one place, he said he was full of matter, a man is full of matter
if the Holy Spirit fills him. And were the people filled with
the Spirit to begin with, Four or five hours wouldn't be too
long, would it? It wouldn't, would it? If Paul
preached, and let me just, I need to touch on that. If Paul preached
four hours to enthusiastic hearers, and we preach the same message,
don't we preach, do I preach the same message, Vicki, as the
Apostle Paul? Sure I do. I preach from his
very words. If we preach the same message,
and yet cannot hold the people's attention for forty minutes.
The problem is not the message, is it? I believe that this is another
sign, like the dire warning to the Church at Ephesus in Revelation,
the love of many waxes cold. Remember, our Lord said that
in the last days, the love of many shall wax cold. As the Ephesians, he warned them,
he said, you've left your first love. Other things have taken
place, taken its place. Or the lukewarmness he warned
the Laodiceans about. Remember that? Neither hot nor
cold, you've taken this thing for granted. Become lukewarm
to it. Not on fire anymore for this
gospel. When you first heard it, you were so on fire, you
couldn't get enough. But now it's old hat. and become
lukewarm. Could that not be the case? Most
definitely. Judgment begins at the house
of God. It has begun, Peter said. The question is, what think ye
of Christ? That's still the question of
all questions. What is the evidence of what
a person thinks of Christ? When Christ is preached, how
do they react? That's the evidence. Christ is
preached. When Christ is preached, a person
works with Christ, when he is expounded on, when he is extolled
and honored and magnified and his word proclaimed and his beauties
and his majesty and what he did on Calvary's tree for the likes
of us, what's our reaction? What think we of Christ? What
would think we of the preaching of Christ? It ought to rejoice
our hearts. It either enlivens them or they're
dead. Granted, the flesh is weak at
times. But this young man, it says in verse 9, sat in a window,
this young man named Eutychus, and fell into a deep sleep. I
think this is a picture of our youth who are in a deep sleep. Many reasons, many causes of
this, an enchanting ground like Pilgrim and his companion fell
into or wandered into the enchanting ground and fell asleep. That's
where they lost It's where he lost his role. He lost his role
that he had kept with him. The evangelist said, Don't ever
lose that. And he lost it there and lost his assurance. Well,
the enchanting ground of this world, Vanity Fair is another
place that you'll fall asleep in. And our young people are
in danger of that. sleeping right on through like
this world, the sleep of death, right on through. It's a picture
of being dead in trespasses and sins, too, isn't it? Until they
fall down and they're dead, really dead. Verses 10 through 12, Paul
ran down the stairs and fell on this young man and braced
him and told the anxious parents and people there. This was a
terrible scene. A lot of anxiety and all. Can
you imagine what happened to this young man falling and breaking
his neck or dying? And Paul and everybody rushing
downstairs, and Paul threw himself on the man. I know he prayed,
young man, and prayed for him. I wish we could do that to some
of our own. Just fall on them, and the Lord
grant us that power to produce life in their dead hearts. Don't
you? The Lord knows we fall down on
our knees in prayer for these young people. Paul said, Don't
be troubled, his life is in him. His life is in him. Oh, I hope
the faith is in you, young Andrew. God is predestined you to have
that faith in Christ. Son, there's nothing I want more
for you and all of our young people." So this happened, a
young man lived, and Paul went back upstairs and preached six
more hours. Who do you reckon was the most
enthusiastic here of the bunch? You reckon he fell asleep the
rest of the time? Oh, no. And it says the people
were not a little comforted. I guarantee everybody there was
listening. God got their attention. I don't
know what it's going to take to get some of our... Let me
just say this one word and then we'll go on. I have too much
to cover and I need to address this one more time. I wonder how much of our enthusiasm,
or lack of it, influences our children. Our children see our hypocrisy.
They see our lack of enthusiasm, or they see our deadness and
coldness, and they wonder to themselves. Maybe for fear of the consequences,
but they wonder, if Daddy or Mommy is not any more interested
in that, why do they bring me? Why do they force me? Well, may God deliver us all from a stupor. Maybe even break our necks. Do something. Do something to
gather us and get our attention. Now, let's read, let's carry
on here. Verses 13 through 16, I'll not
read all that. Paul was impressed in the Spirit
to go to Jerusalem. He set his face toward Jerusalem,
just like his Lord. He was determined to go to Jerusalem
at the day of Pentecost, to be there. And he knew, it says on
down here, that he knew the Spirit, bore witness with his own Bonds
and afflictions awaited him. We're going to see in the next
chapter how a prophet came to him and got his girdle, or the
thing he tied his robe up with, and bound his hands with it and
said, the man that owns this girdle is going to be bound to
Jerusalem. So Paul knew, he knew, it's fitting, though, isn't it,
that perhaps the man God used the most in all the New Testament,
that he go to Jerusalem and be bound for the sake of the gospel,
be captured and and be judged just like his Lord. Just like
his Lord. That's pretty, isn't it? Verse 17. Let's start there. So from Miletus, he came to this
town, Miletus, which was very near to Ephesus, where he spent
two years. Paul spent two years at Ephesus,
and they had become a close-knit family. Two years Paul dwelt
with them, and he came. He didn't He was on his way to
Jerusalem, and he came to this town of Miletus, which was very
near to Ephesus, and he called the elders. He sent word by one
of these men, by the messenger, Go get the elders and bring them
down here. I want to meet with them, the leaders of the church.
Remember, Ephesus was a big place. Remember that? Do you remember
the twelve men that the Lord endued with power there at Ephesus?
Do you remember our story of that? Twelve men began to speak
with languages and so forth. Do you remember that? Well, those
were 12 of them, and then there were others. It was a large city.
Paul called for these men to come down, these elders, men.
There were women in the bunch. But these elders came down to
where he was. Verse 17, From Miletus he sent
to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church. And when they
were come to him, he said unto them, and here is his speech
to these these men, these church leaders. Now, you know, from
the first day I came into Asia, when you first met me, after
what manner I have been with you at all seasons over these
two years or more, serving the Lord with all humility of mine
and with many tears and temptations which befell me, or trials which
befell me, by the lying weight of the Jews. You know how my
life was in danger everywhere I went, and you know how I conducted
myself. Turn over to 1 Thessalonians
2, and Paul writes similar words to the Thessalonians who he visited
on this journey as well. Thessalonica. 1 Thessalonians
2, I just want to read this with you. Paul says the same thing to them.
Look at it, verse 1. He says, You yourselves, brethren,
know our entrance in unto you. It was not in vain. They are
not for vain purposes. Even after we had suffered before,
were shamefully entreated, as you know at Philippi, we are
We were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God, though
we met with much contention, persecution. Our exhortation,
our preaching, was not of deceit. We didn't have money or fame
or fortune or any hidden motive behind it, nor of uncleanness,
nor in guile. We didn't try to trick you. didn't follow cunningly devised
fables or gimmicks or tactics. But as we were allowed of God
to be put in trust with the gospel, that's what we spoke. We speak
the gospel. Not as pleasing men, we weren't
trying to win friends and influence people, but God, trying to preach
what God says preach, which trieth our hearts. He's listening to
the preaching of the gospel. 5. Neither at any time used we
flattering words. We didn't try to scratch anybody's
back or anybody's ears, he said. Didn't try to flatter anybody,
as you know, nor a cloak of covetousness. We weren't trying to get rich.
God is witness. 6. Nor of men sought we glory,
not trying to get the favor of men, or a great reputation, or
a name for ourselves. Neither of you, nor yet of others.
When we might have been burdensome or used some authority as the
apostles of Christ, a man like this, a man with this kind of
motive and this sort of manner, is a man you can listen to, isn't
it? Verse 7. This is Paul. He said, This was
our manner. We were gentle among you, even
as a nurse cherisheth her children. So being affectionately desirous
of you, not yours, he said in another place, we don't want
what you can give us, we want you. We are desirous of your
souls, salvation and edification, not your wallet, he said. We are affectionately desirous
of you, we are willing to have imparted unto you not the gospel
of God only, but also our own souls, because you were dear
unto us. You remember, brethren, our labor
and travail, laboring night and day, because we would not be
chargeable unto any of you. We didn't want anybody to think
that we were lazy and in this thing for an easy way out, but
we labored. We preached unto you the gospel
of God, your witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and
unblameably we have behaved ourselves among you. So that was the manner that Paul
entered into not only Ephesus, but everywhere he went. That
was Paul's manner. And as his manner was, back in
chapter 13, he preached the gospel, he reasoned out of the scriptures
wherever he went. So this is what he said here
in our text. Turn back there again. He said, You know what
manner I've been with you, serving the Lord with humility. Paul was not a proud man. He
was not a man who practiced a vain show of religion,
you know, a fake pie smile. He didn't smile. He didn't feel
like it. He didn't tell everybody he loved them when he was angry
with them. You've seen these false, pious,
ultra-religious people, you know. God loves you and so do we. They
love your wallet, you know. Paul, he was no hypocrite like
that. He said humility. He wasn't proud
either. He was a chief apostle. But he
said from the heart, he said, but I'm less than the least.
He meant that. He really meant that. Paul didn't
come behind any apostle or any preacher in any way. He was one
of the best, if not the best. The Lord used him more than any
other, but Paul said, I'm less than the least. I'm not fit to
be called an apostle. Those weren't vain words. He meant that from the heart. Humility of mind and tears he
wept, not in front of them as to impress them. Preachers are good at that. They
can turn on the tears. He wept. He tells them now, leaving
them, I've cried a few tears over you. But I'm sure he didn't
do it in front of them, just to let them think he was. With
tears and temp trials which befell me now, verse 20, and he says,
Now I have kept back nothing that was profitable unto you. I've kept back nothing that was
profitable unto you, though risking the anger of some
Paul said, in another place, Have I become your enemy because
I tell you the truth? And he said to young Timothy
and Titus, both of them, he said, Don't keep back. You reprove,
you rebuke, you exhort, admonish, and so forth, as well as comfort. You say whatever the word of
God said, whatever the Spirit of God impresses upon you to
say, even though the truth may may cut, may hurt. We need cutting
at times, don't we? We need the wound as well as
the healing at times. Paul said, I didn't keep back
anything from you for fear of offending someone or fear of
losing a friend. No, no. It's the truth. The truth needs to be said. Kept
back nothing. Dealing with all areas necessary,
Paul said. All those areas necessary. That
one vital thing, he said, was the preaching of the gospel.
Preaching of the gospel. That's the chief reason for preaching. Paul said, I certainly hadn't
kept that back. We're going to see that in a
moment. But Paul dealt with every area, Ed, from the preaching
of the gospel down to the way they dress when they come to
hear the gospel preached. Didn't he? He said, I've kept
back nothing that was necessary in this thing of knowing God and being
conformed to Christ. Verse 21, testifying both to
the Jews and also to the Greek. Now, testify, have you ever testified
in court? What you do when you testify
is you are a witness, and they call you up to the witness stand
and the bailiff or whoever says, Raise your right hand and put
your hand on the Bible. And they say, You swear to tell
the whole truth, nothing but the truth, so help you God. I
do. And as a witness, all you are called upon to do is testify
those things you see and those things you have heard. And the
truth is under oath. You are under oath and under
danger of perjury if you don't tell the truth, you've got to
tell the truth, you testify. Not what you think, not what
you surmise, not what you, not conjecture, what you know. And
Paul said, I have testified, I'm a witness. Paul said, I'm
a faithful witness. And we saw there in 1 Thessalonians,
before God, chiefly, before God, a faithful witness to him. And
these are the things he said, I've testified. Look at verse
21 again. Repentance toward God and faith
toward our Lord Jesus Christ. The two missing ingredients in
preaching today, and the two ingredients that are absolutely
vital and necessary, and that you cannot preach the gospel
without these two things. Number one, you don't start with
the love of God. You don't go to hellbound, hell-deserving,
God-hating, rebellious sinners, children of wrath, disobedient,
the Scripture calls us by nature, and tell them, smile, God loves
you. None of the prophets did that,
none of the apostles did that, and Paul, the chief one, never
did that. Jesus Christ himself, the very
first words out of his mouth upon his public ministry was
what? Repent, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. There is no
message more needed in our day than that right there. Repentance
toward God. God is angry with the wicked
every day. Not in love with sinners, angry
with the wicked every day, the scripture says. Isn't it? The wrath of God abides upon
the ungodly. So this is the message we come
to. Paul says, I have not chunned to testify the need to repent
before a holy God. God is holy, God is just, God
is sovereign. Exodus 34 says he will by no
means clear the guilty. Well, how then can God who is
just and man who is guilty, how can God be just and yet justify? or accept or declare us innocent
or forgiven? How can he? We need to know the
answer to that, don't we? We need to repent of our sins,
first of all. Have we offended him? We need
to repent of three things, George Whitefield, a great statement
Whitefield made. He said, You've never repented.
You've never repented unless you've repented of these three
things. And folks, our generation doesn't have the foggiest idea
what repentance is, you know. It ain't stealing a watermelon,
it ain't cussing, it ain't chewing, and drinking a beer, repenting
over that. He said the first thing we need
to repent of is our sin. Singular. Sin. David says, my sin is ever before
me. Singular. Sins are what you do. Right? Those are the results
of what you are. Sin is what you are. I'm a sinner. Sinful. Full of sin. That is
me. Right? By nature. And we've never
repented unless we've come to a holy and righteous God and
said, God, I am sin itself. Not just so much what I've done,
that's just the outward manifestation of what's within this old wicked
heart. Lord, forgive me for what I am. Forgive me of my evil motive,
my evil thoughts, my evil heart. Lord, forgive me. Lord, have
mercy upon me, the sinner, the publican Christ. Sin, what you
are. Sin, what you've done. And our generation sure doesn't
know anything about death. Our righteousness. A man has
never repented until he's repented of his best deeds. Because Isaiah 64 says, all our
righteousnesses are what? Somebody say that out loud. Filthy
rags in a holy God's eyesight. And nobody's ever repented fully
until they've come before a holy God and said, My religion is
sin. My church goings, my prayers
are sin. Everything about me is sin. Lord,
have mercy. God, may the blood of Jesus Christ
make propitiation on the mercy seat for this old sinner. Everything
about him, what I am, what I do, and my hypocritical, self-righteous show of religion. We know it
so, don't we? We know it so. God sees us. God sees us. He's not impressed
with our songs of, Oh, how I love Jesus. He looks at the heart,
doesn't he? He looks at the heart. He's not
listening to our songs When I see these people on TV,
they're looking old, they look so pious. A person turning on,
they think, those people are really religious. Oh, how they
love Jesus. No, they love that collection
plate they're about to take half the proceeds from. God sees the
heart. Repentance toward God. It's not
toward men, either. We don't come running down front
and confess our sins to men, do we? He doesn't say, Confess
your sins to me, and don't go in a little booth and confess
your sins to that man who might be running around with your wife,
that priest. We don't confess our sins to
a sinful man. We confess our sins to the sinless
one, the one mediator between God and man, the man, not to
Mary, not St. Christopher, not St. Jude, not
St. Bernard, but the Lord Jesus Christ. We confess our sins to
him. He's the only one to do anything
about them. He's the only one the Father hears. He's the only
one a holy God will hear. Christ said that one day, he
said, I know you hear me. You always hear me. But I said
this for their sake. Because if I regard iniquity
in my heart, the Lord won't hear me. Christ never does. So the
Lord hears him every time. And faith toward the Lord Jesus
Christ. We come to God repenting of our
sins, sins and our righteousness, and we come to God no other way but by faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ. We dare not come before a holy
God without what? Blood. They've all together taken
the blood out of religion today, haven't they? Huh? Nobody wants
to hear that old-fashioned bloody religion anymore? Boy, I do.
Don't you stand? Because it's the blood that makes
the atonement for the soul. Without the sharing of blood,
there's no remission of sins. That's my biggest problem. I
sin. I want to hear about the blood. You can't say enough about
the blood. And when I get to heaven, I'm going to see a lamb
as if it had been slain. That's the first thing I'm going
to lay eyes on. That atonement that washed away
my sin. The blood. Faith toward the Lord
Jesus Christ. Faith in his person. Everything
about him. His whole name bespeaks my salvation. He's the Lord. I'm in his hands.
He's Jesus. He's the only Savior. He's Christ. He's the only mediator. He's
the only intercessor. He's the only substitute. He's the only
advocate. He's the daysman betwixt us.
His name says he is salvation itself. Faith toward him, his
person and his work. What he did, he came down here
and everything he did, he did on behalf of an old sinner like
me. Everything he did, every step
he took, every word he uttered, every jot and tittle of the law
he fulfilled, he fulfilled on behalf of an old sinner like
me. And that's all my plea. When God asks me if I come to
the gates of heaven someday, and he says, What right you got
to be in here? I'm going to say, I don't have
any right at all. I'm here on the rights of another. I'm here
on the righteousness of Jesus Christ, your Son. He said he
fulfilled it on my behalf, and he imputed it to me, and Lord,
you accept me for what he did. Come on in. That's the wedding
garment he'll be looking for. And it's not as if he's going
to ask us anything. He knows the law. The foundation
standard, sure, he knows it. He's the one who put the garment
on. His righteousness and his shed blood. Those are the two
missing ingredients. Do you ever hear him preaching
like this? Turn on the TV, turn on the radio. Do you ever hear
much mention of blood, God's holiness, God's justice? God's
sovereignty, man being dead and trespasses in, need to repent,
need for God to show mercy, sovereign grace, sovereign mercy, blood,
righteousness, justification, sanctification, biblical words.
Bless it on your ears, Rick Williams. You hear it every time you come
in here. Oh, my, my, my, my, my. The world needs this message,
and we've got it to ourselves. We ought to esteem it more precious
than rubies. Two missing ingredients today.
The world is going to hell, trusting in some Jesus as the wrong one. Paul continues his farewell message
here, verses 22 and 23. He says, And now, behold, I go
bound in the Spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that would
follow me, save the Holy Ghost witness in every city, saying
that bonds and afflictions await for me. But I don't care. Oh, I'd like to have this attitude.
None of these things move me. They're not going to move me.
I don't count my life dear unto
me. I don't fear him that kill the body and after that can do
more, no more. I fear God. I fear not telling
the truth. I don't fear men, I don't fear... I don't fear that. I fear being
cast out by a holy God for not preaching the truth, Paul said.
Besides, Paul said, I've been killed before. Remember that? He was already stoned before
this, and he forgot to worry about it. If I die again, I might
be raised again. Who knows? I will be raised someday,
he said, forever. never to die again. And we shouldn't
either. We shouldn't count our lives
dear unto us. Our Lord is the one who said that. He said don't
fear him that kills the body, and after that there's no more
you can do. Fear him that after he's killed the body, and God's
the one that kills. Isaiah 45, 7, he said, I kill,
I make a life, I the Lord do all these things. Satan, he's
not in charge of men's souls. He doesn't kill. God kills. The life and souls of men are
in God's hands. Fear him. After he kills the
body, he is able to cast body and soul into hell, Christ said.
Fear him. Fear him. Paul says, I want to
finish my course with joy in the ministry which I have received
of the Lord Jesus. What is your ministry, Paul?
What are you here for? What is your course? He said over there in 2 Timothy,
the last words, he said, I'm ready to depart. The time of
my departure is at hand. I've fought a good fight. I've taken my stand against abortion. I've fought a good fight. I have
led the cause for prayer in schools. I've fought a good fight. I have
established a political coalition to elect Oliver North, a good
conservative Is that what Paul said? I've fought a good fight,
I've kept what? The faith. What's the faith? Ephesians 4. One Lord, one faith. The faith, I've already told
you. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He already said that,
didn't he? Faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I know, Paul
said, whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able
to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. And
I know and am persuaded that he's your only salvation, your
only hope, and you need to be persuaded that he's able to keep
that which you commit unto him against that day. And I'm preaching,
Paul said, I'm determined not to know anything or anyone among
you or do anything among you say the preaching of Jesus Christ
and him crucified. That's the faith. The faith is
a person. The faith is a person. Paul is
not saying here, there in 2 Timothy, that I've just kept on keeping
on, that I prayed through, or I've got faith, brother. Keep
the faith, brother, not these silly slogans. The faith he's
talking about is a person. Faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ.
Faith is an object. Faith is not subjective, not
looking down to see if you've got enough faith. Faith is looking
to a person. Faith is not looking in to see,
well, are you strong enough? Do you believe enough? Do you
love Jesus enough? No, faith is looking to a person.
And the more you look at that person, at his strength, at his
might, at his glory, at his work, at his faithfulness, that's what's
going to build your faith. He said, I'm not able, but boy,
he is. I know and I'm persuaded he's able. I'm not able, he's
able. And Paul said, I've kept that. I'm not going to let go
of that. It's not going to move me. Nothing's
going to move me away from that hope. And don't you be moved
away from your hope, either. Where are you going to go? Christi,
where are you going to go if you leave the faith? What religion
are you going to go to? Huh? Go back where you came from? To a Jesus that can't say, who
tried and failed and can't do anything unless you let him?
I don't need Jesus like that. To a blood that didn't accomplish
anything, that he shed for everybody without exception, and his people
are in hell right now with the blood of Jesus supplied to them?
I don't need that. To whom shall we go? These are
the words of life, eternal life. life. This is a good message. A good message. Paul says, I
have received of the Lord to testify of the gospel of the
grace of God. Oh, give me an hour there, would
you? Got an hour? The gospel of the grace of God.
Brother David Plager preached one of the finest messages I've
ever heard in my life. Preached it here. He did. He
preached it out here. When I first heard it on tape,
I thought That's just the greatest thing. The gospel, and there
is no other gospel, but the gospel of the grace of God. You see,
salvation is of the Lord, not of the Lord and us, not a cooperative
effort, not God trying and us helping Him out. It's of the
Lord. The gospel is a free gift, a
sovereign gift, a discriminating gift to undeserving people. Grace means undeserved, unmerited
favor, doesn't it? That's the only gospel there
is. That's the only gospel sinners want to hear, too. It's the gospel
of God's sovereign mercy and grace, how he shows mercy to
hell-bound sinners. Nobody deserves it. Nobody's
earned it. Thank God he shows mercy and
does show grace to some. And now, Paul said, Behold, verse
25. that you all among whom I have
gone, preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more. And he finishes up by saying
this. I'm going to finish up. We'll
go from verse 28 on Sunday night, or Sunday morning one. But let's
finish right here. Paul says in verse 26, I charge you, Deborah, if I had
you stand up right now in front of this congregation, that's
what Paul is saying, I take you to record. Now, you bear record,
you bear witness today of what I'm saying, that I am pure from
the blood of all men. Four. Why are you pure, Paul? He says, verse 27, I have not
shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. I have not shunned to declare
unto you all the counsel of God." And I had so much written down
here for this. I'm going to go over to Ephesians 1 and look
at that counsel, how that God from the beginning determined
to gather all things together in one, in Christ, the counsel
of God. What that eternal counsel was
all about, what that covenant was all about, how God predestined
and elected a people before the foundation of the world for his
own glory and his honor and the glory of his Son, and determined
to save them, they didn't deserve it. They didn't want it. God determined to do it. The
counsel that they got together and said, We're going to do this,
and we're going to order it in all things, it's going to be
sure. This counsel of the triune God in saving sinners like us
and sending Christ, giving all this into the hands of one who's
mighty to accomplish it. A fit man, like that scapegoat
who was led out in the wilderness by a fit man. How that this council,
this covenant was given into the hands of the surety of the
covenant, the head, the keeper of it, to establish it, to ratify
it, to make it sure and all things. A fit man. And he came down here
and accomplished it. Moses and Elijah came down when
he was getting ready to go to the cross, and they talked about
that death. He said, what? Accomplish. Oh my, what a council this was. Oh, let's take six hours. Got
till the break of day? We could, couldn't we? Talk about
this council. How many years did God spend
on it, Ed? One hundred zillion years? Maybe. Eternal councils. Ordered everything,
every jot and tittle, every step, every thought, every minute,
every second of all time and eternity. Ordered. What a counsel. Paul said, I'm not shown to declare
all the counsel. Well, what he means is all the
revealed will of God, anyway. And that's what Paul said in
Ephesians 1. He said, God has revealed unto us his will. secret
things belong to the Lord, but to reveal things unto us and
his children. And that revealed will of God is summed up in one
word, or rather one name, Christ. Christ is all in him. God is determined in that council
to gather together in one, even in him, in Christ, all things,
that council. Paul said, I'm not shunned, not
for the favor of men, not for money, not for fear of offending
somebody, not to make a name for myself or have a big ministry,
a big glass cathedral. And if you shunned, if you pared
off the edges, some of the sharp edges of the gospel, if you'd
just not say election preacher, you'd have a big crowd. If you'd
just not say predestination preacher, they'd flock to your door. If
you'd just not talk about man's sinfulness now, you'd have a
big crowd. Who cares? Who cares? Paul said, I've not
shunned to declare what God says. There's one person, he said,
I'm interested in pleasing more than any other. Not as pleasing
men, but God, which drives the heart. And he said, besides that,
Christ has already said his sheep will hear his voice. They'll
hear it. And all that God has given to the Son will come to
the Son. And they'll hear this gospel. And they'll receive it
with gladness. Or they might reject it the first
time. But they'll come back. They'll be drawn. You'll draw
them back. Irresistibly. They can't help
it. They've got to go back. Now, what do you say about that
again? I don't believe that, but I want to hear it again.
Like that fellow, you heard that story about my pastor preaching
on the TV, and that fellow, watching him, an old coal miner, sitting
there in his chair drinking a beer, and preaching against drinking
beer now, don't you? But he's sitting there drinking
a beer on Sunday morning. Some of them are hardcore. They
start early. And he was watching my pastor on TV, and he was preaching
what he ought to be preaching, repentance toward God and faith
in Christ. And my pastor looked as he does,
and boy, I saw that finger a lot of years. But he'd point his
finger and say, You're a sinner! God's holy, God's angry with
the wicked, and you're a sinner before a holy God. And that fellow
said he'd gotten mad and jumped up. Turned the TV off and said,
I ain't no sinner. Went back and sat down or rummaged
through the kitchen for a sandwich or whatever. Directly he came back and said,
maybe I am a sinner. Turned the TV on. You know, the
Lord spoke to that old boy, and he's been hearing and believing
the gospel ever since. Sinners. I have not come to call
the righteous, Christ said, but sinners. Repentance. Paul said, That's basically all
that counts. Repentance toward God and faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And you're a blessed people if
you hear that message time and again, time and again. All right,
let's stand and I'll dismiss this input.