Let's ask the Lord's blessings
on the Word. Our Heavenly Father, we count
it a blessed privilege to come here tonight to take time out from the hustle
and bustle of this life, the clamor and noise of the world,
and problems at home and family and job. these things that trouble
us at times, and to come in here and sit quietly and open your
word and look into it and seek a word from you, to hear from
you, to have you speak to us and to encourage our hearts,
to comfort, speak peace and encouragement and strengthen and edify and
instruct and exhort and rebuke and correct and reprove. All
of these things, Lord, come from your all-powerful Word. Lord, we count it a privilege
to be here. We thank you that we are able
to be here. We ask, Lord, though, that you
would bless this time, make it an unusual time. time of all
these things that we just said, a time, a profitable time, a
time when we might truly learn, we might grow in grace and in
the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, seeing
a better glimpse of Him, seeing things a little more clearly
through the this looking glass, beholding ourselves in this mirror,
beholding our God in this book, beholding salvation. Lord, may
we see what wondrous things You've done for us. May the righteous
be glad in the Lord. May we rejoice in who You are
and what You've done in and through Christ. May we rejoice in the
Lord. Lord, we thank you for all your
blessings, blessings of this life. Again and again, we are
mindful of your blessings. Deliver us, Lord, from murmuring
and complaining. We're so like the children of
Israel. We're so heaped with blessings,
yet all of these things come down freely from heaven, from
our Father. things we have not earned, things
we do not deserve, yet come freely and abundantly, yet we murmur
and complain on every hand. Lord, surely our blessings far
outnumber our troubles and trials. May we remember that. May we
find some true joy and happiness, some contentment in whatever
state we are in. Lord, teach us thy will. Teach us thy way. Teach us thy
word, teach us of thy Son. May we rejoice in him and all
that we have in Christ, the unsearchable riches. May we rejoice in the
Lord. Rejoice, I say, in the Lord.
Lord, forgive us of our sins. We're a sinful people laden with
iniquity. Forgive us, we know you do, through
the blood and the righteousness of your Son. It's because of
him that we're here tonight, because of him that we know one
another and we have all these things, because of Christ. So
it's in his name, for his glory, his honor, his praise that we
pray and ask and do these things. Amen. All right, let's read from
Acts chapter 11. Let's read a few verses beginning
with verse 19. Now they which were scattered
abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen traveled
as far as Phenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, preaching the word
to none but the Jews only." Remember the scripture that spoke of Abel,
he being dead yet speaketh? That applied to Stephen, didn't
it? You remember our study of Stephen, who died a horrible
death, and some may have considered that an untimely death? You remember
that blessed study? I enjoyed that study, and seeing
God's hand in a horrible trial and a troublesome time in the
Church, yet it was a time of great outpouring of God's Spirit
and his blessing. trouble and trial, God made his
blessings multiply exceedingly. Remind me of the death of our
Lord himself. Much fruit came as a result of
that. The Lord used that terrible event
to unfold a large purpose. And another message we saw was
that we have the gospel indirectly from that. We have the gospel. We remember the message on Cornelius,
how he was a Gentile and heard the gospel. The Lord came to
Peter. Well, look at verse 21. Read on. Verse 20. It says, verse
20, some of them that went preaching this gospel were men of Cyprus
and Cyrene, which when they were come to Antioch, they spake unto
the Grecians. preaching the Lord Jesus, and
the hand of the Lord was with them. The hand of the Lord was
with them that preached the gospel. And it says a great number, a
lot of people, believed and turned unto the Lord. A lot of people
turned to the Lord, not due to the signs and the wonders and
the miracles that the apostles perform. These people turn to
the Lord not due to these men, their ability to speak, their
oratorical abilities, their charisma. Most of them were very plain,
ordinary, working-class people. They were unlearned, ignorant
men like Peter and his fisher brethren. It wasn't due to the
gimmicks and the tricks and the methods and evangelical crusades
and bringing in of entertainers and sports stars and politicians
and contrived soul-winning methods that many people turned to the
Lord, was it? It wasn't due to that. What was it due to? Well,
how do you explain all this, that many people turned to the
Lord? Well, verse 20 says that they came preaching the Lord
Jesus. merely the preaching of the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. What drew you to this place?
What drew you to this place? Our vast choir here? Go stand up and take a bow. Your desire to be in the choir?
You'd be the only member. The entertainment that goes on,
all of the programs we have. The programs for your kids. Say
why you came? What about the decor of our beautiful
cathedral here? These lovely stained glass windows
and crystal chandeliers. Is that it? What drew you here? What drew you here? The gospel. Isn't it? The gospel. Not pageantry
and programs, entertainment or musicals, but the gospel. The
gospel is the drawing power of God Almighty. It's what he draws
his people to himself by. And it says that many turned
unto the Lord. They turned unto the Lord. Many turned from their all-consuming
ambition after the world. Some of you can say this. I have
someone in mind right now, some some of you have a little education
that could have gone a long way with that could have. Greatly
succeeded in this world. But the Lord turned you from
that all consuming ambition after the things of this world to more
nobler pursuits, things that are higher and nobler. These
have allured my sight. The song says. Some of you have
turned from riotous, wanton, ungodless living. Some of you have turned from
that. It wasn't even your own doing, was it? Huh? Some of you have been turned
from that. Some of you have been turned from a way that seemed
right to you, a way that would end in your certain destruction.
And all of us have been turned from going our own way. And where
we turn to religion. Mere religions that. Turn to
the Lord. That's key. Turn to a person. Follow after a person. Not a
denomination. Not a system of beliefs. Not
a social group. Not a church organization. Or a little local church. But to a person. That's who you
follow in there. A person. And it's not this person.
I don't have any charisma or looks or talents or things to
draw men and women in with. Not at all. And it says that
a great number believed and turned to the Lord. A great number.
It's not hard for the Lord to save many. Not any harder for
him to save many or just a few. Not at all. It can save millions,
as well as just a few. Same gospel. And let me give
you this note. It says here that many turned
on the Lord. It wasn't really many. They weren't really many,
not by world population standards. Not many at all. There were several
thousand, and not many by population standards. many as far as we're
concerned. And today, we may think that
this little group and just a little group here and there is all there
is, you know. Just a little, just a small number
of people. Are there few that be saved?
Well, few by world standards, by population standards. But
Terry, I just believe that even today there's 7,000 who have
not bowed the knee to Baal. I believe God's reserved unto
him at least that many. I believe there's quite a few
we don't know anything about. We've never met before. I'm just
quite certain of that. God hasn't let us in on everybody
who are his people. We'll meet them someday. Well,
look at verse 22. It says, tidings of these things,
this revival, not revival, that's not a good word, is it? They
weren't vibes to begin with. This regeneration of a a lot
of people, the saving of a lot of people. And tidings, verse
twenty-two, of these things came into the ears of the church which
was in Jerusalem. And they sent forth Barnabas,
that he should go as far as Antioch. This seems to be the first missionary
journey of the church at Jerusalem. Barnabas was sent, sent by the
church to Antioch, verse twenty-three, who when he came And here's my
text tonight. This is where I'm going to dwell
the rest of the time. Verse 23. This man Barnabas went
down to Antioch, and when he came, when he got there, it says,
when he had seen the grace of God, he was glad. And he exhorted them all that
with purpose of heart, that they would cleave unto the Lord when
he had seen the grace of God. Can you see the grace of God?
Huh? That's what it says there, doesn't it? When Barnabas came
down to this church at Antioch, it says he saw the grace of God. What is it to see the grace of
God? Now look over at Luke chapter 7 with me. Our Lord says the
same thing. In Luke chapter 7, is the grace
of God something you can see? Now, we talk about grace. Grace is
a word for a gift, is it not? The wages of sin is death, but
the gift of God is eternal life. The grace of God brings eternal
life, right? The grace of God, or the gift
of God, is eternal life. So when we talk about grace,
we're talking about, the scriptures are talking about, the saving
power of the gospel, the gift of eternal life. Are you with
me? We're talking about grace. When
God talks about his grace, he talks about saving, the saving
power of the gospel, or the gift of eternal life to men and women
and young people. The grace of God, and it can
be seen. The preaching of the gospel, and the preaching of
the gospel, the gospel is the person and work of Jesus Christ.
The preaching of the gospel, or the declaration of Christ
and who he is and what he did, when it is revealed to the heart,
to the mind, to the heart of a human being, then it manifests
itself. Remember when Paul said that
God revealed his Son in him? Remember that? When it pleased
God to reveal his Son in me. When the gospel goes through
your ears and into your head, your understanding then goes
down into your affection. And your affection is set on.
You fall in love with Christ. Then that is in you. It's part
of you. It is you. Christ becomes your
life. And then, like that little girl,
remember that little girl asked her daddy, said, Daddy, Scripture
says Christ is in us. Well, if he was in us, he'd stick
out, wouldn't he? That's it. That's a very simple
illustration, but that explains it. It's something you can see.
The power of God, grace is real, isn't it, Rick? And it's something
you can see. It's something other people can
see. It's something that you can experience. It's something
that other people experience. Grace of God, it'll manifest
itself and it's seen in various ways. All right, look here in
Luke seven. Look at Luke seven, verse 20. Verse 19, John was
in prison at this time. And I don't know why this happened.
Nobody knows, there's been a lot of speculation about why John
sent these two disciples. My pastor, I'm preaching from
this down here. And he said that John sent these
two men for their sakes, not for his sake, not for John's
sake, but for their sakes. John knew. Remember when Christ
came to John and he was baptizing? What did John say? Well, it should
be on a shadow of a doubt. Behold, the Lamb of God. He knew
him, Terry, just as soon as he laid eyes on him. He saw the
Spirit descend on him. God told him he was full of the
Spirit from his mother's womb. He knew who Christ was. There
wasn't any doubt in his mind. But then again, he could have
had it, you know, but down there in prison, down that dark dungeon,
things look kind of bleak, you know, and he could have been
had a little doubt and he could, and he sent these men. We don't
know, but it happened. All right, read verse 19. John
calling unto him two of his disciples sent them to Jesus saying, Art
thou he that should come? Are you the Christ or look we
for another? Are you really he? And when the
men were come unto Christ, they said, John Baptist has sent us
unto thee, saying, Art thou he that should come? Are you the
Christ? Or look we for another? And in that same hour," in other
words, he did natural. He was busy. He listened to them. And in that same hour, it says
that he cured many of their infirmities, plagues, evil spirits and the
many that were blind, he gave sight." How long that took, I
don't know. But then he turned to these men
and said, Now, you go your way and you tell John what things
you have seen and heard. You go tell John what you have
seen. The grace of God, the gift of
God is Christ, isn't it? His unspeakable gift. Christ
came down here. Christ said, you go tell John what you've
seen. And here's what he said. These
are the things that you've seen. How that the blind see. And what Barnabas saw, people,
I've seen right here in the midst of this congregation. When I
came down to Rocky Mount, Antioch, South, I saw the grace of God. And I'm still seeing it manifested,
the grace of God. How the blind see. And many people
in here who were blind, well, we were all blind, weren't we?
Some may still be blind. But many of you who were blind,
blind to God's glory, blind to his attributes, his glory, his
person, blind to your own condition before God, not knowing you're
lost and undone under the wrath of God, the judgment of God,
the condemnation of God, blind to the truth of God's Word, of
the gospel, didn't need it, didn't need it. What you don't know
won't hurt you, you know. That's what we thought. Yeah,
it would have if you didn't know Christ. If you hadn't come to
know Christ, it'd damn you. That's how bad it'd hurt you.
Blind to the beauties of Christ, there was a time when you were
totally blind to the beauties of Christ, and his God had no
interest whatsoever. But the gospel in the hands of
the Lord, the Holy Spirit, says the hand of the Lord moved, back
in our text. The gospel in the hands of the Lord, some of you
now see. You have your eyes opened. by the Lord himself. You see
God, don't you? You see God as God. You see yourself
as a sinner before God. You see the truth of how you
can get to God, of salvation. You see the glory in God's Word.
You see the beauties of Christ. There was a time when he had
no There was no comeliness in him that you should desire him.
Now, like Brother Donnie told us about, he's altogether lovely
now to you. You see his beauties, his glory,
you see his sufficiency, you see your need of him. There was
a time when you had no need for him at all, no need for the gospel,
no interest whatsoever in the gospel. Blind to it. The most
glorious and blessed, unspeakable gift Known to man, you had no
interest in it whatsoever. Like a pig standing before a
big treasure chest. No interest. Would rather have
mud. Rather wallow in mud. But then you had your eyes open.
Huh? Who did that? The Lord did it,
didn't He? All right, look, He goes on.
He says, You tell them how the blind see, how the lame walk.
The lame walk. Those who were once dead and
trespassed in sin have now been quickened, made alive to walk
in newness of life, newness of life, taught by God's Spirit
to walk by faith and not by sight. There was a time when you didn't
trust anything but your eyesight. Remember, like Thomas, and this
is the world's philosophy, I won't believe it unless I see it. Now,
your eyesight's been totally changed, hasn't it? You walk
by faith, not by sight. Faith in God's Word. Once walking
in the world, I'm turning over to 1 Peter. 1 Peter chapter 4,
if you want to turn there. Once walking as the world, in
the world, now you're learning to walk like Christ. He said
there in 1 Peter chapter 4, he said in verses 3 and 4, he said,
Now the time past of our life may have sufficed for us to have
wrought the will of the Gentiles, that is, to act like the world
when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, drunkenness,
reveling, partying, vanquishing, abominable idolatry. There was
a time when that sufficed for us. That made you happy. the next morning's hangover,
that is. Made you happy. You thought you were having a
big time walking in that kind of lifestyle. Verse 4, But now
they think it strange that you run not with them. The same excess
of rioting. There was a time when you ran
with the world, right? And riots was living. Now, you're
learning to walk all over again, aren't you? You know, it's spiritual. Becoming a new creature in Christ
is like learning to walk all over again. You could run and
ride just living very easily. That's what you're prone to do,
isn't it? You just run headlong and feet are swift to do, to
sin. And this thing of walking with
Christ is like him, like you teaching your little child to
walk all over again or to walk anew. They've never learned it
before, and it's a slow process. So don't get discouraged, young
believer, if you can't just walk with the Lord without ever falling
or just run. It's a process, a learning process,
and the Lord has to teach you. But the lame are walking The
fact of the matter is, and the blessedness of the thing is,
that we now walk, we are walking with the Lord. There was a time
when we weren't, right? Not at all. Not at all. The lame walk, or fib shift,
parts. And it says in Luke 7, he says,
you tell John how the lepers are cleansed. stinking, filthy, vile. Rick,
if you'd have known me, well, I take that back. You were just
like me. We'd have been big, big buddies back then. And some
of you others, let me take some of you that weren't in the ditch
like us, some of you self-righteous sinners. If you'd have known
me years ago, you'd have said, what a vile fellow, what a filthy
What a leper. You'd say, unclean, unclean. Next to him is a scraggly fellow. Lepers get cleansed. They get
cleansed. Sinners washed in the blood of
Christ. Once defiled in all their ways. That was the thing about
a leper back in the Old Testament day. Everything he touched was
leprous. Everything he did was defiled. Everything. And that
was some of our lifestyles. years ago, but he's able to wash
you from all your, to cleanse you from all unrighteousness.
And many of those old stinking, filthy, vile, rotten, dirty,
corrupt lepers are being conformed to the image of Christ. They
look just like a, scripture says their youth is being renewed
like an eagle. Their heart, their mind, their eyes, their ears,
everything cleansed, being cleansed from all unrighteousness. It's
an ongoing work, sure is. It's become as little children,
holy, harmless, and undefiled. And he says this, he says, tell
them how the deaf hear. The deaf hear, how you seen the
deaf hear. There was a time we had ears
and we didn't hear very well with them. I sat through, I don't
know how many gospel messages, as a child As an adolescent,
as a young man, how many gospel miss great? I heard some of the
greatest preacher. I said under Farrell many a time,
Rick, I said under Barnard many a time, many of the world's greatest
preachers of that day. And I didn't hear a thing. I
didn't hear a thing. There's a day when my ears were
open and I heard for the first time death. The death finally
here, it says this, you tell them how the dead are raised,
how you've seen the dead raised. Dead to God, spiritually dead,
unable to see God, hear God, talk to God, walk with God, raised
to life. And how are they raised? By the
Master's voice. Eh? Just like when he came to
Lazarus too. Same thing. He came to your town
one day, Terry Kinsman, and he said, Senator, Leo, listen, I've
got good news for you. Come out of that grave. Come
out of that grave. And then look at this. You tell
them, you tell John how you've seen the poor have the gospel
preached to them. That's how I know you're elect,
Joe Park. The gospel came to you. It's not everywhere. You
could go most of every other place in this county. And the
gospel's not there. But you're here. Why? You were
in a place at one time where the gospel wasn't, weren't you?
And most of you were. You know, most grace churches
are churches full of outlaws. Huh? Full of rejects. We take only rejects here. Everybody's
rejects. We take them. Remember I said
I wanted to put on our sign out there sometime? Good people not
allowed. No good people allowed in this
building. Sinners only. We take only rejects. Those that are outcasts. Those that go out of the camp.
You've got to go out of the camp to get to Christ, don't you?
Out of modern religion. Out of the way of the world.
Out of the world's religion. You poor old sinners, you finally
hear the gospel. You go to a hospital where the
gospel is being proclaimed, a good news. In verse twenty-three in
our text, back in Acts eleven, it says that when he came he'd
seen the grace of God. He saw all these things. This
is what I've seen here and other places. The grace of God at work,
the gospel of God at work, and he was glad. He was glad. And I'm mighty glad to. I'm mighty
glad it came to me and I'm mighty glad he came to you. And it says
he exhorted them all. He exhorted them all that with
purpose of heart they would cleave under the Lord. They would cleave
under the Lord. Well, these are the things that
you'll see when the grace of God comes, when the gospel comes
to a man or woman. You'll see all of these things
we just looked at. Look at the verse 21. It says,
The hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed
and turned unto the Lord. They heard the gospel of God's
sovereign grace and they believed. This is the distinguishing mark
of God's sheep. They hear and what? They believe. They hear it and then they believe. They don't argue. They see God's
glory. They hear of God's glory and
they like it that way. They believe. They believe who
he is. Those that come to God believe he is. They see Christ's
person and work and they believe and they trust him. They look
to him and they follow him. They see their own inability
and their need of Christ and they appeal to Christ. They come
to Christ. They believe Christ. And they
confess Christ. They believe. Those who do not
believe are not his sheep. But those who do believe are
God's sheep. Do you believe? Do you? Huh? And those who don't believe,
I can't help but think that those who don't believe have never
really heard the grace of God. Well, I sure do, don't you? I'm going to need it till the
day I die," says a common people here in Gladden. And that's me. Over in 1 Thessalonians, it says
this. 1 Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians chapter 1, he
said this. I briefly stated this. Barnabas,
he saw the grace of God manifested in the lives of these people.
When he came to this group at Antioch, he saw how that many
people had been changed. And could be that some of them
he had known before, and he saw a drastic change in them. Well,
this is what happened. 1 Thessalonians 4, chapter 4,
look at verse 10. It says that, 1 Thessalonians 4, let's see, that's
not it. I'm sorry. First Thessalonians
one look at verse nine first Thessalonians one nine and says
they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had
under you and how you turn to God from idols to serve the living
and true God. Some of you in here were real
religious and you worshiping a God God of your own imagination
zealous toward him but he was nothing but an idol. And you've been turned from that
idol to serve the true and living God. And many of you have turned
from the idol of this world, following after the world, worshiping
the world, to serve the living and the true God and to wait
for his son from heaven. That describes a believer waiting
for Christ to come. He can't wait. A believer just
can't wait. He's waiting, but he can't wait.
If that makes any sense. Over in Titus, look over at the
book of Titus, chapter 2. This is something that's seen. Titus chapter 2, when the grace
of God appears to someone. Titus 2, look at it. Grace is
manifested. Fruit, here's the fruit of grace.
Titus 2, verse 11. The grace of God that bringeth
salvation hath appeared to all men, or that is, not all men
without exception, but every tribe, kindred, nation, tongue,
blood, teaching us, and here's what the grace of God does, teaches
us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts. We still may have a little
problem with these things, but we at any rate we attempt to
deny them, don't we? Huh? There was a time when you
didn't fight it at all. There was a time when you freely
partook of these things. Now it's a struggle, right? That's an evidence of God's work
within you. Deny ungodliness and worldly
lusts. We should live soberly and it's
an ongoing Teaching thing, people. We don't learn this lesson overnight.
It teaches us to live soberly and righteously and godly in
this present world. And it's just like natural life. We learn things. We grow from
a child to a young person to a young adult to an older mature. It's the same way spiritually.
It's not instant growth overnight. It's a lifelong thing. A learning
thing. Teaching us, looking, verse 13,
for that blessed hope and glorious appearance of the great God and
our Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, and this
is why, that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify
unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good work. They asked
Spurgeon one time, they said, if you could have any wish Anything
at all that you wish for, what would it be? And he said, he
didn't hesitate for a minute, he said that I would be without
sin. Without sin. And isn't that in
effect what David said when he said, I'll not be satisfied until
I awake with his likeness. What is it that gives you all
your problems? What is it that gives you all of your problems
in this world? It's not the world, it's the
world in you, it's the sin in you, the sin that plagues you,
that sin that is ever before you, that's over your head. Well,
back to the text now and I'll quit. All who experience real
saving grace have this grace manifested in their life. It
is, it's manifested. All who experience real saving
grace are gracious people. Not all at once. Not all at once. But it's there
where once it was not there before. It's there. All who experience
grace are gracious and all those who have received mercy become
merciful. Right? All those that are God's
sons, Christ's people, are being conformed to the image of Christ.
Now, you may not see it in yourself. Huh? You may not see it in yourself,
but other people do. Other people see this change.
You don't see it in yourself so much. It's kind of like looking
at your own child day by day, and you don't see much change
in them, do you? But other people, when they're away for a while
and come back, boy, they see a drastic change in them. Same
way with you. You don't see it. And you see
that your inner corruption and all, but they don't see it. But
it's there. It's there. Grace is there. And
look at this in closing, verse 23. It says this, that Barnabas,
when he came and had seen the grace of God, he was so glad
and he exhorted them. He exhorted them all that with
purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord. He exhorted them. You know what this word exhort
means? It's the same word as that word we saw over in 2 Corinthians,
beseech. 2 Corinthians 10, I beseech you. It means to come near. It means
to come near. It means to listen carefully. In other words, Barnabas came
down here and he saw the grace of God. He saw what was going
on in this congregation. And it says he exhorted and he
said, come here, I want to tell you something. Come here, everybody
gather around. Listen to me carefully, would
you? All right, if you haven't heard a thing I said up to this
time, I want to exhort you to do something. All right, listen
carefully. Are you with me? I mean. That with purpose of heart. I want you to cleave under the
Lord. With purpose of heart, that's what Barnabas said. That's
the extent of his message, Joe. He said, y'all come here and
I want to tell you something. Cleave under the Lord. With purpose
of heart, cleave under the Lord. What does that mean? Well, let
me ask you what the purpose of your heart is. What's the purpose
of your heart, John David? Huh? That's just the answer I was
looking for. Is it to win Christ and be found in him? Huh? Is
that the purpose of your heart? Huh? That's what Paul said. Oh,
that I might know him. Search your heart. Huh? Is that the purpose of your heart?
Is that the desire of your heart? Huh? One thing have I desired
of the Lord, and that will I seek after. Is it? With purpose of
heart? Is it to walk with God? You want
to be like Anna Terry Kinsley? Wouldn't you like to be like
Anna and walk with God? Huh? Is that the purpose of your
heart? Wouldn't you like to walk in unbroken fellowship with God?
Purpose of your heart. Ed Berry, do you want to be like
Jesus Christ? I mean, really, is that the purpose
of your heart? It's not just a religious saying.
You're not just trying to be religious. That's what you want
in your heart. Be like Christ. Huh? Stan, do you want to be with
Christ someday? Do you want to see Him? Well, then, plead to the Lord.
Don't quit. Huh? Don't quit. David said,
One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after,
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord. This is not the
house of the Lord. God's people dwell here. We are
His temple and tabernacle. But that eternal house, that
eternal city that God built for His people, that eternal dwelling
place in Him where God dwells with His people. in unbroken
fellowship, in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
to behold the beauty of the Lord, to see him, to inquire in his
temple, to hear him speak and speak to him." Is that your desire?
Is that your purpose? The purpose of your heart, your
determination? Paul said, I determine, this
is what I determine, not to know anything, not to really go after
anything. that Christ and him crucify.
Well, cleave unto the Lord. Polly, cleave to Christ. What else are you going to hold
on to? Huh? Virgie, you better. This life, you're hanging on
by the skin of your teeth. You better cleave to Christ.
Huh? Cleave unto the Lord. You know, a little child I thought
of the illustration like a little child, you know, a little baby.
Take Rick's Lewis baby. When he has that baby in his
arms, when Jenny has that baby in her arms, you better believe
that baby's safe. They are holding on to that baby,
right? They're not going to drop it.
As much as life is within them, as much as is within their power,
they're not going to drop that. take care of that baby. Well,
we're kept by the power of the Lord, by his power. We're not
going to fall. He's never dropped one of his
babies, Joe. Never once has he dropped one
of them. He said, they're in my hand, and they're in my father's
hand. There's two hands wrapped around.
They're not going anywhere. They're not going to fall. Oh,
he says, I may let them down and leave them to themselves
for a little while just to show them that they can't do it. They
get, you know, they get to be spiritual teenagers, and they
think, I can do it myself. I mean, all right. See if you
can do it without me. And they fall miserably. He picks
them right back up again, huh? He's not going to let go of his
people. He's not going to let go of them. He has a hold of
them. They're in his hands. God's, every one of his little
children are in his hands. He's not going to let go of them.
He's not going to let them fall forever. But you know that baby,
little Anna, that baby's holding on to Mama too, isn't she? Holding
on to Daddy. Whenever she gets in Daddy's
arms, now she trusts her Daddy that he'll hold on to her, and
he will. But she's got to hold on to Daddy too. You see? And so should we. And so do I. I know Christ will not let me
go, but by his grace, Joe, I don't want to let go of him either.
I'm going to hang on to his, so to speak, apron strings, robe
of righteousness, until I make it safely on that other shore. I'm going to hang on just as
tight as I can. It will be by his grace. So what Barnabas is
saying and what I'm saying to you is don't quit. Don't quit now. Have you come
this far? Don't receive the grace of God,
but don't quit now. It's almost over. I really believe
Jesus Christ is at the door. His coming draws near. He said,
Behold, I come quickly. He said it twice, didn't he,
Joe? I'm coming quickly. Was your life but a vapor? Some
of you are hidden, getting up in years. He's coming for you
quickly. Quickly. Joe, you've got twenty
more, maybe. That's, man, what is 20 years,
Ben? Nothing. Don't quit now. It's
almost over. Keep trusting Christ. Keep looking
to Christ. Keep depending upon Christ. Keep
waiting on Christ. He's holding on to you. He's
got you. Keep holding on to Him. And you'll
be all right. It's going to be all right. It'll be well with yourself. All right, stand with me. Heavenly Father, how we thank
you for your grace. We see your grace in every aspect
of our lives. Especially we see your grace
in bringing us to this place to hear about your grace, to
hear of that saving grace, the gospel of our salvation. your
son. Thank you, Lord, for this unspeakable
gift. And because of him, and because
we have this gift, we're joint heirs. We have everything, all
things, with Christ. And someday, and in eyes that
haven't seen, we see a little bit, we hear a little bit, we
know it in part. But eyes really haven't seen,
nor ears heard, neither have entered into our hearts. the
things you've prepared for us. And someday we're going to look
back. Some way we're going to know. Even as we are known right
now, somewhere we're going to know someday we're going to know
we're going to see clearly. With 2020 vision. Vision of God. And how we're going to rejoice
them. And we're going to say we're going to sing. About that
amazing grace throughout eternity. Cause us to know a little bit
more about it right now. Make us grow in grace and the
knowledge of Christ. Lord, we know you won't let go
of us. We pray that you might keep us
cleaving to you. Don't let us leave us to ourselves,
Lord. Keep us cleaving and still believing. I pray this for every person
here, Lord. No matter how down they may get,
how sinful they may feel. I pray that you might lift them
up and comfort them as only you can and keep them cleaving to
you. Keep us all together, Lord, until
we all behold that glorious, your glorious face someday together
and we'll all be transported up into the arms of our Savior.
In his name we pray. Amen.