We are going to look at quite
a few scriptures this morning, and I will try to tell you the
general location of them. I don't want to insult anyone, but sometimes
it takes a while to find some of these Old Testament scriptures
especially. So I'm going to try to give you
the general location so you can find these things. Because, like I said, what we're
going to do is search the scriptures this morning. Search the scriptures. Look at Acts 17. We've been going
through the book of Acts, as most of you know, and we came
to this verse and have stopped there for a
while. That's where we should. Look
at Acts 17, verse, let's read verses 10 down through 14. Acts 17. Got it? It says, The brethren
immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea. Their
lives were in danger for preaching the gospel, so the brethren got
them and sent They came to Berea, a town called Berea, and coming
thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. Now, these Jews
at Berea were more noble than those in Thessalonica in that
they received the word with all readiness of mind and searched
the scriptures daily whether those things were so. In other
words, Paul and Silas preached from the Word of God. They preached
to these people, and they got them a Bible, the Old Testament,
and searched it. They didn't take their word for
it. They didn't take Paul's word
for what he was saying, but they searched the scriptures and tried
to see if what he was saying was so from the scriptures. Therefore,
many of them believed. They must have concluded it was
so. They believed also of honorable
women, which were Greeks, and of men, not a few, there were
many. But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of
God was preached to Paul at Berea, they came to Berea also and stirred
up the people, and immediately the brethren sent away Paul by
sea. Paul wrote to a young preacher
named Timothy, he said, All Scripture is given by inspiration of God. All Scripture is given, is written
by inspiration of God. What he's saying is, all Scripture
is God's Word, not the words of a man. Peter said that over
in 2 Peter 1. He said this, No Scripture is
of any private interpretation. It's not of any man's own personal
or private interpretation. For prophecy, the Old Testament,
came not in old time by the will of man. In other words, Isaiah
and Jeremiah and Daniel and Ezekiel and others, Moses, didn't just
up and one day say, I think I'll write a book. No. It came by
God. Holy men of God spake as they
were moved by the Holy Ghost. So what he's saying is that nobody,
no man, no mere man wrote this book but God Almighty. This book, all of it, was written
And nearly everyone has a copy of it in their lap. This book
was written by the hand of God, no less than those tables of
stone back there that Moses received. Remember when Moses went up to
Mount Sinai and it says God wrote with his finger on stone the
Ten Commandments? Well, the rest of the book was
written by God's hand as well. He used men, but they were the
mere pens in the hands of God. Right? Like I use a pen to write
something with. That's what we, these men, were
instruments in the hands of God. All right? Do you believe that?
You must. If not, if this is not God's
Word, throw it away. Why don't we? It's of no value,
is it? No more value than the books
of men, right? and subject to error, is that right? But if
it's God's Word, if all of it is, the holy Word
of God, the inerrant, no error, infallible Word of God Almighty,
God who made everything, who controls it, we better sit up
and listen to And we better search what I'm saying. You better search
what I'm saying. Don't take what I say as truth. You better search this book.
Right? Now, very few people believe
that this is God's word. Very few people. In our day,
This book is under attack, more so than ever before in history.
All of these different versions of scripture, I call them perversions,
when you keep on translating and keep on interpreting, you
know how it is. Have you ever played that game
as a child where you whisper gossip? One of the ladies said,
That's a good name for it. That's the way gossip is, where
you whisper into your neighbor's ear. You tell them something.
You've got something written down. This is the way it is.
And you whisper it into your neighbor's ear, and they whisper
it to the next, and they whisper it to the next. And you go around
in a circle, and when it gets back to you, it doesn't even resemble
what it really was to begin with. Right? That's what's wrong with
all these perversions of Scripture, all these translations and all
And in our day, more than ever, this book is being perverted
and twisted and corrupted, but we're not as many. I can say
that from the bottom of my heart, people, that we're not as many. Paul said this over in 2 Corinthians
2, 17. You can look it up yourself. We're not as many which corrupt
the Word of God. They deal deceitfully with it.
They take away from it because they think so-and-so won't like
that. They add to it. They make it say what it doesn't
say. They make it not say what it does say. Right? Paul said,
we're not as many which corrupt the word of God. But as of sincerity,
we're sincere about. About God's word, about that
men and women should hear it as of God. He went on to say,
as of sincerity, as of God, as though God sent us. He said,
if any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God. In the
sight of God, God is listening to what is being preached, whether
or not it's his word or not. Don't you think it makes him
angry when men and women pervert and twist his own word? How does
it make you feel when people misuse and abuse things you say? And God will not hold a man guiltless.
who takes his word, his name, and name. It's his name, the
word. And he said, we speak Christ,
the rest of that verse. In the sight of God, we preach
Christ. Well, our brother thanked God, and I couldn't help but
notice this when he's praying. He thanked God for a place where
the word of God is preached. Now, there are many people that
say that. The many preachers getting up
today and they've got a Bible, and they're saying they're preaching
from the Word of God, but they're not. I've already quoted to you. We've already read two or three
dozen scriptures, and I've already quoted, in the course of what
I've been saying to you, I've quoted five or six verses of
scripture. Quoted them to you. In all honesty, from the heart.
I don't want to do anything else, and you don't need anything else
than to look into this book and see what God says. That's the
reason we don't have all the trappings of religion, you see. We don't have great entertainment,
clowns for Jesus, you know, puppet shows for our kids, and vast
choirs so people go away talking about the choir. You won't find
those things in the New Testament. What you'll find is one man getting
up with a copy of God's Word and saying, this is what God's
Word says. This is what we need to hear.
We read it over there in Psalm 119. Thy word is quick and quicken
me according to your... And he said that in the Hebrews
and over in Isaiah. The word is quick. It's life-giving.
A choir can't give life. A choir can't save anybody. All
of these things, all this entertainment can't save anybody. Like an old preacher said, it
just entertains sinners on their road to hell. But if God Almighty
speaks through the preaching of His Word, it changes. We sung
that song, Ye Blind Behold. He said, Hear ye deaf, His praise
ye dumb, your loosened tongue is involved. Blind have their
eyes open, deaf have their ears open, the dumb speak through
the word of God. Very few people believe this. Old Testament prophets. I can
see already, I'm not going to get through my message, but what
I'm saying is so necessary. The Old Testament prophets. From Moses on down the line,
I already mentioned some of them, from Moses to Daniel, Ezekiel,
Hosea, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Malachi, Zechariah, Isaiah,
Jeremiah, and on and on and on. Those men were scoffed at in
their generation. They were mocked and ridiculed.
When they came saying, Thus saith the Lord, they were scoffed at.
for declaring God's word. God said, go tell them this is
what I said. All of the New Testament apostles
who came merely repeating what the prophets said, right? The
New Testament apostles, Paul, Peter, James, John, and so forth,
Judas and all, they came repeating what the prophets had already
said. Thus it is written in the scriptures,
thus it is spoken. They were scoffed at, they were
mocked, they were ridiculed. All of the prophets were killed
for what they said. All of the apostles were killed
for what they said, all but one. He was banished to the Isle of
Patmos. That's John. That's where he wrote that they
got rid of him, out of sight, out of mind. No. All of the apostles
but one. All of the martyrs who came preaching
the Word were killed. The Puritans, the Reformers. scoffed at, mocked. Why? Because
they just simply declared this book what it says. And if it were lawful today,
they would kill me and many other men like me. Why? Because I'm a bad guy? An
immoral man? No, I try to be friends with.
I like the people of Franklin County. I really do. I consider
many of them my friends. I like this town. I like these
people. They're my friends. I like living
here. I'm going to stay here." But Christ said, Let a man come
in his own name, and people will receive him. They'll call him
a good old boy, a good guy. He said, You let a man come in
God's name, though, just declaring what God's word says, and if
it were lawful, they'd kill him. It's what they did to the prophets,
it's what they did to the apostles, and so forth. And I see the same
thing behind my back. You do too, those of you who
merely believe it. Why? Because it's right here. Now, like I said, there are a
lot of fellows that claim to preach this word. I listen to them on TV. And what I see, what I see are
men and even some women. I don't listen to them very long.
Because, why? Am I prejudiced against women?
Oh, ask me sometime what I think of women. I think there would
be more people in heaven who were at one time women than there
were men. I say at one time because the
scripture says in heaven in Christ there would be no male or female.
I think there will be more, because God has chosen the weak, the
foolish, things that are despised. He revealed himself to the women
first, after he arose from the grave. The women stood by him
by the cross. That's another story. I'm not
prejudiced against women. The reason I say that is because
the scriptures say It's not permitted for a woman
to speak or teach or assert authority over a man. 1 Timothy chapter
2. This is because the Word of God
says that. And on and on. 1 Corinthians
14. Say that and you'll have a fight
on your hands, won't you? Why? It's God's Word. All of this talk about homosexuality
and all, it's very clear in God's Word and you come out and you
say it's from God's Word, it will hate you. But the gospel
is the chief cause for men and women's hatred of those that
proclaim it. You know that? The gospel. Look at our text in Acts 17. It says that these people, in
verse 11, these Bereans, received the Word with all readiness of
mind. They received the You see that? They didn't argue it. I've told
you before that goats, that Scripture talks about there being sheep
and goats. Sheep is a type of God's people. Goat are the people of the world,
other people. And goats, a characteristic of
goats is that they like to butt. Right? Goats butt. They might
be friendly to your face, but you turn your posterior. And
you'll get butted. Well, goats, people who hear
the word of God, and no matter how plain it may be, about the
first reaction you're going to get out of them is what? Butts. Right? You can say something,
you can read something from the word of God and say, well, I
don't know what says that. Butts. No. Sheep don't butt. Goats do. Sheep don't butt. Sheep hear
his voice. Right? Scripture says, My sheep,
my people, shall hear my voice. They receive the Word. See, that's
God's Word. I believe it. I don't understand
it. I can't rightly understand how this is so and this is so,
but it says it, and I believe it. Right? These people received
it. It says they were more noble.
And they received the word. They received the word as little
children, true seekers. Paul said to the Thessalonians,
2 Thessalonians 2, verse 13, he said this. He said, I thank
God that when we preach to you, that you receive the word as
it is in truth, the word of God. He said you didn't receive it
as the word of men, but as the words of God. And really, and
truthfully, people, very little of what I'm saying this morning
is what—none of what I'm saying is what I think. Is it? Those of you who know something
about the Word of God, I've said more scriptures than I have anything
in them. And this is not a vindication
of me or my ministry. What I'm trying to do is point
you to this book. It says they received the Word
of God. Anybody who wants to know the
truth, the Lord said that in John 7, verse 17, I believe it
is. Let me look it up real fast for
you, don't want to misquote it. John 7, 17. If any man will do
his will, the will of God is that you believe on him who he
has sent. That you believe. Christ said
that in John 6. If any man will do his will,
Christ said in John 7, verse 17, he said, if any man will
do his will, he'll know the doctrine. Right? Whether it be a man's
or whether it be of God. Do you hear that? Truth seekers,
do you want to know the truth? Do you want to know the truth
of what God's word says? He said, truth seekers will find
it. He said, our Lord said, ask and
you shall receive. Lord, tell me the truth. Any
true asker will receive. Not people playing religion.
They won't receive anything but a good feeling all over for being
religion. Ask and you'll receive, he said.
Seek, how do you seek? Right here. And you'll find. And he said, it will be opened
unto you. It's like, let me in. I've got to come in. Lord, I've
got to know what this is saying. Will you let me in on your word? Let me in on the truth, Lord.
Because the scripture says it's secret to men. Let me in on it. The Lord said, knock, it will
be opened unto you. The truth. And it says these
people here in Acts 17 received the word with all readiness of
mind. They were ready. They were seeking. And they searched
the scriptures to see if these things were so. Searched the
scripture. I wish more people would do that.
I wish more people would do that. I wish every man and woman, upon
hearing some fellow get up and preach, whoever it may be, just
because he's got the name preacher. in front of his name, or a string
of D.D.' 's and M.D.' 's and all this behind his name. I wish
everybody, upon hearing some preacher get up, and whatever
comes out of his mouth, I wish they would look in the Scriptures
and see if what he's saying is so. I wish people would ask
these preachers, where does it say that? And when they make
some statement, They say, hold it right there, hold it, hold
it. Where does it say that? Before you go any further, where
does it say that? I'm not going to believe that
until I see it in God's Word. I wish people would do that.
You know what? Like I said, there are many men
today standing up claiming to, and I watch them, I listen to
them on TV and the radio and all that. And you know what I
see mostly? I see them get up and they make
many wild statements. Just one right after the other,
and most of the time they're walking around stage, you know,
on the show, making a show of themselves. Some of them, like
Mr. Swagger, you know, loves to have
a prop, a microphone, and it's a show! It's a religious show! And people are paying big money
to get in on the show, and the man's making big money to put
on the show. And I hear just occasionally,
here and there, one word or so, one verse of Scripture. He'll
go twenty, he'll go thirty minutes, making all kinds of wild statements,
then all of a sudden he'll say, you know what it says in the
Scripture? I wish that every time he'd make
a statement, people would say, oh! Where does it say that in
God's Word? You better be that way. You be
more noble than this generation. You hear me, Deborah? You better
be more noble than this generation who's taken every man's word
for everything he said. Don't take anybody's word for
it. You search these scriptures to see if what I'm saying is
so. You got some questions, you call me up, and we'll look at
it together from God's Word. You need to be more noble. That's
the true test of a believer. The true test of a believer is
like these people here. They search the scriptures. Is
that so? Is that God's word? And the true test of a preacher
is he wants you to do that. He wants you to do that. Well,
I want to see if what you're saying, I'm a preacher, I'll
have you know, I'm going to go home and I want to see if what
you're saying is so good. Good! Won't you please do that? Because that's all I'm trying
to preach anyway. That's what God's word says. Maybe he'll
show you more. Well, let's examine from the
scriptures some things here, and I've only got a few minutes.
Just a few minutes. All right, let's examine what
I'm preaching from these scriptures. Turn air conditioning down so
you'll be nice and comfortable. Got a Bible? All right. It took
me hours to look up these scriptures. You're just going to spend a
few minutes. Psalm 99. Turn over there. Psalm 99. If you're not comfortable, if
I let somebody give you their pillet, not to sleep with, but
to be comfortable with. Psalm 99. Now, the first thing
I come preaching, the first thing any man that stands up here in
this pulpit comes preaching. The first thing any true preacher
of the gospel comes preaching and declaring unto you is the
person of God Almighty, the attributes, the characteristics, that is,
who God is, what he's like, how he does things. This is the first
thing that we come declaring unto you, and the first thing
we say about the God of the Bible. is that he is first and foremost,
and above all, his chief characteristic is that he is not enough. That's later. Holy and sovereign. I'm going to include
these two together. He's holy and sovereign. Don't
take my word for it, let's search it and see what it says about
God. Look at verse 1, Psalm 99. Psalms is right about in the
middle of this Bible. The Lord reigneth. What's that
mean? He's in charge. Doesn't say,
if you let him. Does it? Just say, The Lord reigneth
if you let him. Said the Lord reigneth, let the
people tremble. Isn't it? Look at verse 3. Let
them praise thy great and terrible name." Boy, those aren't . .
. Have you ever heard a preacher get up and say, God's terrible? That's the word of Scripture.
What does that mean, terrible? It means . . . I can't even rightly
say it. It means fearful, fearsome. So magnificent and great and
powerful, it's just terrible! Fearful. Read on. For he, for it is, his name is
holy. Not love. Holy. You'll not find the word love
in here anywhere. Not in this passage. Read on down. Look at
verse 5. Exalt ye the Lord our God, and
worship at his footstool. He is holy. Look down at verse 9, "...exalt
the Lord our God, and worship at his holy hill. For the Lord
our God is holy." More than any other description of God in all
the Bible, it calls God holy. More than any other. hundreds
upon hundreds of times, it says God is holy. What does that mean? We'd better find out. We'd better find out. Holy. What does that mean? Now
I want you to turn over to the book of Habakkuk. Habakkuk, Zephaniah,
Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi. The last five books of the Old
Testament. Five from the end, you'll find
the book of Habakkuk. Habakkuk, a little small prophet.
Five books from the end of the Old Testament, the book of Habakkuk.
You need to see this. You need to see this. What does
it mean to be holy? It's far more than just mere
morality. Are you with me? I've got written at the top of
my notes on every page. I've got written up at the top,
slow and distinct. Slow and distinct. What does
it mean to be holy? God, in many verses of Scripture,
and I don't have the time for you to look them all up, God
in the Scriptures is compared to, it says, light that no man
can approach unto. Didn't it say that, Brother John?
If you want the verses, I'll tell them to you later. It says
God is a consuming fire. Doesn't it say that? I think
that's Hebrews 10.29, isn't it? I believe it is. It says you
cannot look upon him. Doesn't it say that? It says you cannot approach unto
him. It cannot be understood. It says
he's infinitely pure and brilliant like white hot light. Nobody, I don't care what the
National Enquirer says or the Star, has ever died and seen
God. I don't care what those silly
tabloids, they're selling newspapers. You understand that? They're
selling newspapers. Nobody has come back to say they've
seen the light. Sure they saw it. the operating
table when they woke up, that big light shining in their eyes.
They haven't seen God, and I just got spots before my eyes looking
at that one. They haven't seen God because
the Scripture says, and it gets over in 2 Timothy. Now, I'll
find it for you later if you want. It said, "...whom no man
hath seen, nor can see, at any time." Our Lord said that, didn't
he? No man hath seen the Father,
no man can. The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared it. Can't see
God. Why? God is holy. That's why. Look here in Habakkuk
1. You got it? Verse 13. This will tell you a little bit
about what it means to be holy. It says, verse 13, Habakkuk 1,
verse 13, Thou, speaking of God, Thou art of purer eyes than to
behold evil, and canst not even look on iniquity." Look over at chapter 2, verse
20. way to do it. Shout and carry
on and make a fool and rush into his presence and let all the
earth keep silence before him. In the verse in Ecclesiastes,
he says that God's in the heavens, thou art upon the earth, therefore
let thy words be few. Because he's holy. And I can't
rightly preach it, because God's too holy. I'm not holy. But it means it has something
to do with unapproachable. You understand from these verses?
Holy doesn't just mean moral. All right, the next thing, God
is sovereign. Look back several books to the
book of Daniel. You'll find the book of Daniel
between Ezekiel and Hosea. It's back about three or four
books, all right? The book of Daniel. Daniel, Daniel,
Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, and Abel. Habakkuk. All right, several verses before,
several books before Habakkuk. The book of Daniel. I want you
to see this. We're searching the scriptures, all right? Don't
take my word for it. How many times do I quote Daniel
4.35? All the time. Don't take my word for it, Margaret.
I want you to look at it. Daniel 4, and I said a while
ago, God reigns, God is sovereign. What does that mean? What does
it mean that God is sovereign? It means he's absolute ruler,
controller over all things. Hear that? The word sovereign means absolute. That means there's nothing that
controls or has any influence over his rank, absolute ruler
and controller of all things." Got that? Things, worms, rocks,
rain, earthquake, and people, human beings. People, things,
events, circumstances. Everything in the universe is
controlled and directed by God Almighty from the souls of men,
where they go and why they go, to the dust, the particles of
dust that you'll see in the sun rays coming through the window.
Preordained. You believe that? That's what this book says. Look at Daniel 4, look at verse
17. You got it? I want you to see
it. You got it? Daniel 4, look at verse 17. Everybody got it? All right.
It says that this matter is by the decree of the watchers and
the demand by the word of the holy ones to the intent that
the living may know. This is what we need to know.
This is who we need to know. The Most High, God, ruleth in
the kingdom of men and giveth it to whomsoever he will. You see that? It says the same
thing in verse 25. See verse 25 down at the end
there? Thou must know, till thou know that the Most High ruleth
in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. Daniel
4, 17, 25. Look at verse 32. It says the same thing. The last
part of verse 32. Until thou know that the Most
High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever
he will. Got that? Look over at verse
35. Talking about who God is. And
he said in Malachi 3, verse 6, I am the Lord, I change not.
The same God of the New Testament is the same God of the Old Testament.
He doesn't change. Daniel 4, verse 35. All the inhabitants
of the earth are reputed as nothing. and he doeth according to his
will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the
earth, and none can stay his hand." I hear preachers and people
say today, well, God wants to do this and can't unless you
let him. That's not what the Bible says. Old Brother Barney said, buy
you a Bible. That old North Carolinian accent,
a Bible. His jaw used to shake. The Bible
doesn't say that we must let God do anything. It says, did
you read that with me? None can stay his hand or say
unto him, What doest thou? Got that? Look over at chapter
5. Look at chapter 5, verse 21.
It says the same thing, the last part of verse 21. this Nebuchadnezzar,
he knew that the Most High God ruled in the kingdom of men,
and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will." Look at
verse 23, the last part of that. "...the God in whose hand thy
breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified."
Got that? It says, his will, he doeth according
to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of
the earth. What is that will? God's will. Everybody say, I
want to know God's will. The will of God is his purpose,
right? When I say this is what I'm going
to do, this is what I will do, I have purposed that, I've planned
it, I've thought about it ahead of time, right? What's God's
will? What's God's purpose? Look over
at Isaiah 46. All right? Look back about three
books and you'll find the book of Isaiah, chapter 46. Are you
more noble? Are you searching the scriptures
to see if what I'm saying is so? Are you? I hope so. Isaiah 46. People, we don't realize,
you don't realize now, I'm not up here playing the guitar and
we're not going through a bunch of, we haven't taken 40, 40 minutes,
45 minutes of entertainment and then about 10 of a little sermonette
so that this would be a nice little sweet little Sunday service
and everybody would go home feeling good. We're searching the scripture.
And you don't know how blessed your ears are to be sitting in
a place where nothing but the scriptures are proclaimed. I'm
telling you, I'm telling you, there's a whole generation of
people in the scriptures proclaiming it, of religious people that
are going to hell feeling good and religious. They don't have
the foggiest idea of who God is and who Christ is and why
he died and what salvation is. Blessed are your ears, Stan Anderson.
Are you growing weary because we're searching the scriptures? This is God's word. I'm trying
to tell you what God's saying, not what I think. I entertained
you. This is what God's saying. You must hear it. You must hear
it. What is God's will? Well, everything
that has happened, everything that will happen, has been predetermined,
preplanned, pre-purposed by God Almighty, and it cannot be changed.
You know that? You say that's fatalism. No,
it's not. It's God's word. Look at it in Isaiah 46. Look
at it here. Many, many scriptures talk about
a council. Look at Isaiah 46, verse 9. Remember the former things of
old, for I am God, there is none else. I am God, there is none
like me. Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient
times. And he says this over in Ephesians
1, over in Revelation, before the foundation of the world.
Ancient times, before the world began. From ancient times, he
declares things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel,
my purpose, my will, my plan, everything I've thought, I'll
do it, all my pleasure. You see that? Read on. And he
talks about this ravenous bird, calling a ravenous bird from
the east. That's talking about a man named Cyrus, a king who
was like a bird who swept over the land and ravaged the hillside. God used this man, calling this
man from the east, the man that executes my counsel. The king's heart, the Scripture
says, is in the hands of the Lord. He turneth it with us,
soever he will. He says, he executes my counsel
from I've spoken it, I will also bring it to pass. I've purposed
it. I'm going to do it. The God we preach, we come preaching,
the God I'm declaring unto you this morning, is sovereign, and
he works all things that we read there in Daniel 4.35, after the
counsel, the predetermined will and purpose before the foundation
of the world, works all things after the counsel of his own
will. And none can stay that will and
that purpose, or say unto him, you can't do that. Yes, he can,
and yes, he does. That makes him God, you see. All right? And God is sovereign
in the souls of men. And I've got to get to this,
OK? I've got to get to this. God Almighty, in that purpose,
chose and elected a people to save them. God chose and elected
a people to save them from certain condemnation, because all of
sin had come short of the glory of God. Right? God chose to save
a certain number of people. We can't number them. He has.
He's got them numbered. He knows every one of them by
name. He wrote them down in a book. And it's written, that Lamb's
Book of Life is written through Revelations 8 and on and on. I could give you a list. 17,
got it. 20, 15, 21. The Lamb's Book of Life with
seals on it. God elected a people, chose a
people to save them. You have a problem with that?
You say, where does it say that? I was hoping you'd ask that.
Look at Isaiah, you're still there. Look at chapter 43, okay? And I'm telling you, this is
what the world's getting mad at. They're getting mad at these
people. If only they understood. Sammy,
if only they understood. that God didn't have to save
anybody. Right? He should have destroyed
the whole world, shouldn't he? He said that in Daniel 4, that
all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing, didn't
he? God doesn't need anybody or anything.
He's God. Why does he want worms? Why does
he want grasshoppers? That's what the Scripture calls
it. Why? Even so, Father, it seemed good
in thy sight. God just chose to do so, because he's good,
because he's merciful, because he's gracious, because he's love.
He is love. And he chose a certain number.
He didn't save any. If he'd have chosen one, that'd
have been mercy, that'd have been grace, that'd have been
love, wouldn't it? Nobody deserves it. Do you understand that? Nobody
deserves this choice, this election, this salvation. Nobody. And if
God had chosen one, That one person would have had the sun
through all eternity. Blessed art thou, O God, for
thou hast redeemed me, chosen me, and so forth. Thank you,
Lord. Grace, grace, grace. But he's chosen a number as the
sands of the sea and the stars in the sky. Why would anybody
have any trouble with that? They say it's not fair that God
should choose these people and and not choose these others.
Why isn't it fair? He didn't have to choose anybody.
He shouldn't have chosen anybody. All of sin that comes short didn't
need him. But he did. You say, where does
it say this thing about election? Well, in Isaiah 43, look at verse
6. Isaiah 43, verse 6, he says, I will say to the North, Give
up to the South, keep not back, bring my sons from far, my daughters
from the end of the earth, every one that is called by my name,
I have created him for my glory." Read on down, verse 10. "'Ye
are my witnesses,' saith the Lord," talking to these people
he's called, "'my servant whom I have chosen, that ye may know,'
I've chosen you, "'that ye may know and believe me, and understand
that I am he.' Then I am he. Read on down, verse 21. This people have I formed for
myself. They shall show forth my praise.
Verse 25 says, I'll blot out their transgression for my sake.
I won't remember their sin. Look at chapter 44, Isaiah 44. Look at verse 7. Who as I shall call, and shall
declare it, and set in order for me? since I appointed the
ancient people, and the things that are coming, and shall come."
Do you see that? Does it say that in your Bible
study part? Does it not? God chose a people. He chose a people. And the glory
of this is that he chose anybody to save them, to save them. And the way that God does this
is salvation is called the gospel. A few more minutes. God Almighty became a man. Why? Over in Isaiah 7, it says,
A virgin shall conceive and bring forth a son, and they will call
him by his name Immanuel. What does that mean? God with
us. God with us. Isaiah 9, verse
6, it says, a child is born, a son is given, call his name,
on and on it says, the mighty God. God became a man. Why? Why did God Almighty come
down here? To come down here to seek and
save those people He chose. He chose, He elected the people.
He came down here to personally seek them out and find them and
save them, and He did. God came. Why? Because God's
holy. God is angry. God is the offended
one. Only God can forgive sin, right?
Only God can forgive sin. And God is holy. So God became
a holy man. He said, You've got to be holy
to be with me. You've got to be holy to be with me. You can't
approach unto me. I'm holy. If you were holy, John,
John Davis, if you were holy, infinitely pure, like God. You
could look at God. You could walk right into God's
presence right now, but you can't. Why? You don't have clean hands.
Psalm 24 says you don't have clean hands. You don't have a
pure heart. You sin with these hands. Your heart is evil inside,
right? Desperately wicked. You haven't
lived a life for God. He said, that's the only one
that can approach unto me. Who can do it? Who can do it?
In that same psalm 24, it says, here's one that can do it. Open
the gates. He's coming in. Somebody's coming
in that can go up to God for us. A man. Who is this man? He's the King of glory. Who is
the King of glory? It's the Lord Himself. God has
come. God has come down in the person
of a man. They called Him Jesus. He's more
than just Jesus. He's more than a master. We don't
call Him Jesus anymore. He's the Lord. He's the King.
And he came down, God with us, Immanuel, God with us. God came
down, he said, I'm going to say, I'm going to live a holy life.
For these people I've chosen, all these people I've chosen,
I'm going to live a holy life. And Christ said, after living
a 33-and-a-third-year life, absolutely holy and perfect and spotless,
God Almighty, people standing around said it thundered. But
God Almighty spoke from heaven and said, That's my son, and
whom I'm well pleased. I'll accept him. There's a man. Peter, when he preached at Pentecost,
said, Listen to these words. A man's been approved by God.
A man. God approves of a man. Brother
Ed says, That man has been approved, accepted by God. I can be, too. How? Well, if I try my best,
try to live like Jesus, no! That's not why he came. He didn't
come to show us how to live. He didn't say that, did he? He
said, I have come that they might have life. How? He took that robe, that life
he lived. Listen to me! That life that
he lived, for thirty-three and a third years, and God looked
at him and said, That's a holy life. That's a perfect life.
This man's lived a good life. I'll accept him, that man, for
what he's done. It was a robe of righteousness,
like old Joseph's coat, you know, like the high priest's ephod
and robe. A holy life in Christ. And this
is the mystery of the gospel. But Christ, as it were, wove
that life, he did that life with his own hands, like a coat that
he wore, covering him spotlessly white and pure and holy, and
God looks at him, loves him, accepts him, and he took it off.
He took that coat off, that robe off. It's called a robe of righteousness,
all through the Scripture. And because he's God, he can
do this. And all of those chosen, elect people that God chose from
the beginning, who have to be holy like God, but aren't. John
Davidson, you aren't holy. Christ comes with that robe in
the gospel, says, you need a robe? You're a sinner, aren't you?
You feel naked? You feel like a sinner? God knows your heart,
knows everything about you? Covers you up, it fits everybody.
I wear a 40 short. Christ's robe fits a 40 short.
Henry wears a . . . Joe wears a . . . Somebody . . . Henry
wears a 42 short, to give him the benefit of the doubt. It'll
fit you to a tee. Same robe, It fits you too. It
fits you perfect. A holy life. And that way, when
God Almighty looks at this Paul Mahan, he's a sinner, he's no
good, he deserves to go to hell just like a harlot on the street
or the drunk in the gutter. No different. I still have sinful
thoughts, right? And God holds people accountable
for their thoughts. Where does it say that? It says
it in the Scripture. And because I'm a sinner in thought, word,
and deed, God can't accept me. He's holy. You see, he's holy. But he looks at me and all he
sees is this robe I've got on. You see that? This righteousness
of Christ that he did for me. This life. He looks at me and
says, The life I now live, Paul said, I live by the faith of
the Son of God who loved me and washed me from my sins in his
own blood. He sees me as red, covered in the blood. My sins
are covered in the blood. The only thing God can't see
through is blood. I'm covered in blood. I've got
a robe around me. I'm holy. God sees me as holy.
And someday he's going to actually make me just like Christ. Now
he's conforming me, and I'll never be perfect like Christ
in this life, because I'm a sinner. But one day, in a moment, the
twinkling of an eye, the scripture says, will be changed, just like
Christ. Absolutely perfectly holy, just like him. God will
say, come on in here. Come on into my presence. And
that blood I just told you about, Christ See, God is just, too. God is holy, and God is just. What does it mean, just? God
be just. And not very many people have the foggiest idea what that
means. You know why? Because there's no justice today,
is there? The average murderer is out on the street in seven
years in our society. They don't know what justice
is. Joe you and I were talking about this one that I for an
hour is the justice of God whatever you just what it is so it's in
a scripture says must die. Let's say that I for an hour
was just punishment equal punishment for the equal equal to the crime
right. And me and we don't have the farthest idea what just to
see we don't say we don't know anything about it we don't nobody
gets justice and God is just. He says the soul that sinneth
must surely die. Why? God's holy. You see how
it all comes back to his holiness? He's holy. He's not loved first. The love of God is not what justifies
us. The holiness, the righteousness
of Christ, by Christ keeping that law for us and then giving
that to us. And it looks as if we're the
one that kept it. And then Christ went with our sins. Here's what
makes God just. Christ took all the sins that
must be punished because he's holy. All the sins of all his
people. Christ took those sins on himself
and went to the cross and God said, the soul that sinneth must
surely die. He saw every one of those elect in Christ that
day and killed him. shed his blood, and God's justice
has been satisfied. And that's how God, Brother John,
can be just. That's how he can punish me and
kill me and let me go free at the same time. That's the gospel. That's why
Christ died. And there aren't many people
that understand that. Do you understand that? That's
why we talk about Christ and Christ alone, not our works,
not our religion, nothing but Christ and Christ alone, his
person, his work, his blood, his righteousness. Right? Because
thus it is written. He's the Word, and that's what
this Word's all about. Who? This Word's all about. Salvation
is in Christ alone. All right, stand with me.