sacred head, such a worm as I
am. Romans 8. I know from experience my own experience, that the preaching
that blesses my heart the most is that preaching which is fullest of Christ, that is most
full with his person and his work. I study preaching. This is my occupation. I study my life. I study preaching. I study messages, I study mannerisms,
I watch men, I observe, I hear, I listen to methods, oratory,
I study theologians, I read sermons, I listen to tapes, I look at
other preachers and observe them. I listened the other day to a
scholarly man on tape. He's dead now, a great old preacher. Perhaps he could be called a
preacher's preacher. A very scholarly and learned
man. I listened to him expound some
very weighty passages, and I came away impressed. Of course, as
Brother Bell would say, it don't take much. It don't take much
to impress this old boy, you know. But I came away impressed. somewhat enamored with the depth
of the man's knowledge and wisdom and the truth of what he was
saying and the depth of that. I listened to that and came away
impressed and blessed to a certain degree. But then I listened to
another tape. by chance. I was just digging
through my tapes, looking for something to listen to, and grabbed
one. I'll not tell who it is. It doesn't
matter. But I grabbed one, and the title
on one side was The Gospel Head. So that interested me. That's
what we studied this morning. But on the flip side, was Romans
8.32. He spared not his own son. And
that was first. I thought about running it through
and getting to the other one so I could, you know, get to
my subject. But I said, no, I'll listen to
this. And I'm so glad I did. It's the
best message ever been preached by mortal tongue. I'm telling
you. I told Brother Bell on the phone,
I said, Donnie, I said, there's preaching. And then there's preaching. And I said, I just heard some
preaching, because I heard Christ lifted up, Christ crucified like
I'd never heard him before. Now that's preaching. And maybe
the Lord will kindle that this morning. It's all up to him.
Look at Romans 8. And I'm going to just, I'm just
gleaned a lot of what I heard on that tape. A man I greatly
admire in my soul. I admire his Lord. and his message. Romans 8 verse 1 says, There
is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus. This chapter begins and talks
about all the way through with the blessings of God. Blessings
of God, no judgment, no rejection by God, although we deserve it
No condemnation, no hell, no punishment to hell-deserving
people. To them that are in Christ, that
is. No condemnation to them that have been chosen by God and accepted
by God in the Beloved. Those that have been placed by
God in Christ by faith have been put in Him. If you believe Christ,
oh my, thank God for that. Flesh and blood didn't give you
that faith. And it says here, they walk not
after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Verse 5, go on down. It says, they that are after
the flesh, they mind the things of the flesh. They mind the things
of the flesh, but they that are after the Spirit, the Holy Spirit,
they mind the things of the Spirit. Now, we must be mindful of some
things. We must be mindful of whatever
we do. your jobs you must be mindful
of, and you must give them your best effort. You have to put
your mind, your effort, and all of your abilities into them.
The Scripture says, whatever we do, we do it with all of our
might, and we are to do it as unto the Lord. If you weren't
mindful of what you are doing, you would do a bad job, right? A poor job. So we must be mindful. But what he is talking about
here is not having these things uppermost and foremost. in your mind, on your thoughts,
in your affection, in your heart, in your life. All right? Those things, those that do mind
the flesh, or that is all they're taken up with from morning till
night, every day of the year, just the world and the things
in it, getting, consuming, doing, pleasure, this and that and the
other, he says plainly, that's not the children of God. He says, they that are after
the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are
after the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, here in Romans 8, the Lord says
when God regenerates a person, those old things pass away and
all things become new. The Holy Spirit comes in and
begins to give them new thoughts, that throughout the day their
entire thoughts and attentions aren't on this world and the
things of it, but every now and And a great deal of the time,
their mind, their thoughts go to God work. Can you say that about yourself?
Come on, can you say that about yourself? Every now and then,
throughout the day, you think about God, whereas before you
never thought of Him. You mind the things of the Spirit. In your affection, in your heart,
in your desire, do you desire to know God, to win Christ, to
be found in Him? That's being led by the Spirit.
That's the leadings of the Holy Spirit. If you don't, then that
means you're led by the flesh. If all you care about is this
world and the things in it, you're none of His. As many as are of the Spirit,
you see. All right? He says, verse 6, to be carnally
minded is death. That means you're dead in trespasses
and sin. You're dead to God and alive
to the world. You're just dead to the things
of God. You remember how it was, some of you. before God revealed
the gospel to you? You didn't ever give God a thought,
really. Huh? You were dead to God. Dead. Carnally
minded. Dead. To be carnally minded is
dead, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Life and peace. There is no—last
night a group of ladies and myself sat around the table and looked
at the Word of God for about two hours. Saturday night now,
mind you. Saturday night. That's the party
night, isn't it? It used to be. But I'm telling
you, I wouldn't trade that for a night at Waldorf Historic—how
do you pronounce it?—Hilton. Wouldn't trade it for a night
on the town in Los—well, sure wouldn't trade it there. Well,
wherever. Wouldn't trade that for anything.
Sitting around the Word of God, and God blessed us with a little
sight of Himself, a little foretaste of glory divine. We're all sitting
about six inches off our chairs as we read and look into the
things of God. Life! That's living. Now, that's
living. And it's peace. It gives you
peace that Christ said, no man will take from you. What you
gleaned last night, by God's grace, by God's Spirit, nobody's
going to take it from you. That's life and that's peace.
He says down in verse 14, as many are led by the Spirit of
God, they are the sons of God. But this Spirit, now look at
verse 15, this Spirit does not lead us into bondage. Verse 15,
you've not received the Spirit of bondage again, or that is
legal fear or religious fear or bondage. This is exactly what
Paul is saying here. Not bondage. He said it in another
place, didn't he? Not being subject to ordinances
such as touch not, taste not, handle not, but free! Not a spirit of bondage to fear.
You've received a spirit of adoption. Sons, whereby you can cry unto
God, this holy God, Daddy, Father, and he'll give you what you will,
what he will. Freedom? Free from guilt? Oh, yes, we're guilty sinners,
right? But we don't—believers, those that are in Christ, those
that have been placed by God's grace into Christ by faith, they
don't fear hell. Let me tell you something, people.
I don't fear hell. I fear sin against God. I fear the displeasure of God. I fear the chastening of God,
but I don't fear hell. There's no condemnation to them
that are in Christ. Who is he that condemns? Christ
died, and we're going to see that in a minute if I ever get
to it. I don't fear hell. I have assurance. Really now,
I do. I don't, not because I'm the
preacher, not because I'm a good Christian, because Christ died.
We'll see that in a minute. free from guilt. God gives, through
his Holy Spirit, gives his people freedom from guilt, freedom from
ignorance. Oh, my, we looked into mysteries
last night, didn't we? Just glory and blessed truth
after truth. Right, Vicki? Truth after truth
after truth. The Word of God just opening
up to us. Freedom from religious bondage. I tell you, I've said
it before. I've made this statement before. Some people have just enough
religion to make them and everybody around them miserable. Most religious
people don't enjoy life. Christ didn't say, Now that you're
followers of me, you've got to be miserable. No, he didn't say
that. That's what religious bondage
will make you, miserable. It will make you in bondage to
beggarly elements, like I said, touch not, like Paul said, touch
not, taste not, handle not. But if the Son will set you free,
you're free indeed, free to enjoy all things God has given us to
enjoy. There's nothing wrong with this
world, Stan, nothing wrong with anything in it. And God said,
don't you dare call unclean what I've made. Right? Don't you dare! Peter had that
vision of ham sandwiches and bacon fry, and God said, You
eat! Get up and eat some barbecued ribs. Oh, I'm a Jew, Lord, I
ain't never eating that. I'm just eating kosher food.
Get up and eat. I made a pig. He's got cleft
feet. Eat him! Don't be so religious. That's
what Paul came into Mars Hill, didn't he, that day and said,
I perceive everybody around here just too religious. God hasn't
given us the spirit of fear, but freedom to enjoy, free to
live. And it's not free to sin, but
free to serve. You never serve God except in
freedom. Religion is bondage. You feel
like you have to do this, you have to do that. Freedom to serve
is serving because you want to. I'm here at church not because
I'm supposed to, although I am, but because I want to. Now, there's the difference.
That's how the Spirit of God laid it. Adoption. My, my, what a blessing
that is. Sons of God, behold what manner
of love. the Father hath bestowed upon
us." Look at verse 17. He says, "...if children, then
heirs, heirs of God." I can't preach, John Davis. I
ain't never preached in my life. Heirs of God? Somebody preach
on that, would you? Trade places with me. Ed, come
on up here. Tell us what it is to be an heir
of God, a joint heir of Christ, to enjoy the unsearchable riches
of Christ. I ain't never been there. I ain't
never seen them. I've just had a little pocket
change every now and then. Unsearchable riches? I'm like
the Queen of Sheba that came up to Solomon and said, I've
heard about all this. But now that I see it, someday I'm going
to be like her. When I get there, half was never
told me. I never sing like I ought to
sing. I never read the Word. It never
jumps out at me like it ought to. Someday I'm going to. These
old eyes are going to be, boy, joint error. with Christ, heirs
of God, all that is God is mine." What in the world does that mean?
All that belongs to God belongs to me. I'm an heir of God, son
of God. Let's go on. Innumerable blessings. He said even in this life, just
had a little faith, exercised a little faith, he'd show it
to us. And Brother Bell always says this, he says, the believer
lives so far below his privileges, so far below their privileges.
Verse 28 says this, look at this. Verse 28, God says, or Paul says,
under inspiration of the Spirit, and we know. Huh? Do we believe it? Paul says,
we know. Who's Paul? Paul was a man who
was beaten with an inch of his life, shipwrecked in pain and
sufferings and trials and torments more than anybody, tenfold more
than what anybody in here will go through. Sent lying to death,
Paul. He knows what he's talking about.
He said, we know that all things work together. for good, for
good, yes, for good to them that love God, to them that are called
according to his purpose. All things work together for
good. Now, that doesn't apply to everybody. All things do not work together
for the good of all people. Right? No, they don't. but they work together, it says,
for good to them that love." He qualifies it, "...to them
that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose."
Did you notice when we read through Romans 8, as I emphasized the
Verse 26, the Spirit maketh the intercession for us. Verse 27,
he maketh the intercession for the saints. Did you notice when
I was emphasizing the we's, the us, the brethrens, the saints,
huh? That's who Paul is talking to
here. And we, those are the only ones
that know this, because that's the only ones it applies to,
know that all things work together for good to the we, the us, the
brethren, the saints, to them that love God. to them that are
the called according to his purpose. We know, to them that love God. Let me ask you now, it says,
to them that love God. Now, do you love God? That seems
to be a condition here, doesn't it? Doesn't that seem to be an
evidence of all things working together?
Doesn't that seem to apply to them that love God? Do you love
God? Do you? I don't see one person shaking
their head. Are you afraid to? Do you or
don't you? You better. Why are you here
this morning if you're not here to worship God because you love
God, appreciate God, want to thank God? Huh? Rejoicing God, do you? Are you
rejoicing in what we're doing right now? Huh? Well, if the
love of God is shared abroad in your hearts, don't you know
whether or not you love God? Sure you do. Peter, now, I know
that there are times when we act like we don't love God. There
are times when we act like we're like devils, don't we? And we feel like the very hell
is in our hearts. Peter felt the same way, Violet,
after he had denied the Lord. Right before that, Christ turned
around and called him a devil. Then it's Satan. Remember that?
He said to Peter, Get behind me, Satan. You're full of the
devil, Peter. Oh, don't you know that just
tore him down. And then later on, he denied the Lord. A little
girl came up to him and said, You're one of his disciples,
aren't you? He said, Dagnabish. Cussed. Said, No, I'm not. spitting
and cussing, and I don't even know the man. I don't want to
know. I ain't one of your disciples." Oh, my. And then the Lord came
to him after he arose and said, Go tell the disciples, and make
sure you tell Peter he's feeling mighty low right now, mighty
bad right now. And you remember that, Joe, what
happened? They gathered around the fire that night. Peter wasn't
looking up, but he wasn't looking up. He was looking down. He was
He didn't want to look into the eyes of the Lord. He didn't deserve to. He had denied
the Lord. And the Lord said, Peter, look
at me now. Peter, do you love me? Huh? I know you denied me. I know you're an old, rotten,
hell-deserving, filthy sinner. I know you. I know you better
than you know yourself. Henry, do you love me?" What
did Peter answer? In spite of all that that he
had done, or not, what did he say? "'Yea, Lord.'" No, he said,
"'Yea, Lord.'" That's the first thing. He said, "'Yes, Lord,
I do love you.' Thou knowest," and he went on to say, "'You
know, because if you do love the Lord, It's because he first
loved you, and he called you according to his purpose. Purpose! Did you hear that word? You learn the meaning of that
word, and it will open up the whole Bible to you. God does
everything on purpose. ain't no accidents with God's
purpose. He's called a covenant God. I like the sound of that word,
covenant God. His mercies are called covenant
mercies. His purpose is called the counsel
of his will. It's called an immutable purpose,
ordered in all things and certain. His decrees. You like the sound
of those words? You better. If there's no purpose,
then everything's flying out there in the world. It's flying.
It's chaos and might hit you in the head and kill you dead. But gravity is God's purpose. Everything is on purpose. Everything
in the universe is going exactly according to God's unchangeable
purpose. His purpose. Well, his purpose,
his purpose is his glory. God's going to get glory out
of you. He's going to get glory out of you. God's going to get
glory out of you either by saving you or damning you. He's going
to get glory. His purpose is his Son's glory. He's showing
off his Son. He's been doing it from the beginning,
just like the sun in the sky. For every eye to see, God has
been showing off his Son in pictures. This is God's photo album of
his Son. Let me show you my Son. Let me tell you about my Son.
That's what this Bible is all about. God showing off his Son,
pictures of his Son, just like you have photo albums pasted
all over your house and pictures of our little idols all over
our walls. This is God's Son. That's what
it's all about. showing off his Son, his glory,
and we better give him glory. But we're not in that purpose.
And his purpose is this, too. His purpose is to glorify his
Son, and then his purpose is to bring many sons to behold
that glory. You know what Christ prayed in
John 17? Father, I will that they be with me where I am, that
what? That there may be what? Behold
my glory. They see me, be with me where
I am. And all things work together for their good, these who are
called eternal good. Now, get that straight. Eternal
good. There are a lot of things going
on in your life right now that are not for your temporal good. God doesn't say it anywhere in
the Bible that everything is working together for your good
on earth, does it? for your temporal good. It doesn't
say anywhere that God wants you to be free from sickness, Henry.
Find it for me. It doesn't say that, does it?
It says the Lord kills, the Lord makes live. It says he brings
down, he raises up. He makes poor, he makes rich. It doesn't say anywhere, John
Cheese, that God wants you to be rich. If he did, you would
be. Everything is not working together
for your temporal good. Everything is not working together
for you to be happy on earth. It is not God's will and purpose
for us to be happy, necessarily, on earth. but up for us to be
totally dissatisfied with this earth. Why would we want to go
to heaven if we was happy here all the time? Happy, happy, happy.
Is everybody happy? You say, Amen. No, let your laughter
be turned to mourning, God said. Mourn over your sins. Be like
Lot in Sodom, vexed with the conversation of the wicked. Desire
to go and be with God and be done with this mess. If we were
happy here all the time, everything was going smoothly. He said,
no, broad is the gate, wide is the way that leads to destruction,
smooth, there's no problems, there's no calamities in the
wicked, David said in Psalm 73, for the most part. Smooth, smooth
sailing, riches, health, wealth, prosperity, till the day they
die. But for the believer, it's toil, it's struggle, it's heartache,
it's why. Everything's working together,
not for your temporal good, get it in your head, but for your
eternal good. It's working a far more exceeding
way to be eternal glory, to turn your eyes, to make you just,
the water of this world, Christ said, it leaves you thirsty.
Well, now that met my thirst right then. Ten seconds from
now, I'm going to want another drink. But that song says, once that
old boy had been eating on husks, comes and finds the bread of
life, he says, I'm satisfied! Once that old boy had been looking
for pearls, goodly pearls, you know, he's real religious, looking
for something to meet his needs, he finds one pearl! Christ. I'm satisfied. What more do I
need? Send what you may, Lord, I've
got Christ now. Right? He never promised us a
rose garden. He promised us thorns. Huh? Huh? Isn't that what he promised
Adam in the garden? From this day forward, bud, because
you're a rebel, because you're a sinner, you're going to get
what you deserve. Thorns and thistles in the sweat
of your brow. Didn't he say that? But because
I'm merciful and I'm good and I'm gracious, I'm going to give
you what you don't deserve. I'm going to give you Christ
to see you through. All things working together for
good to them that love God. Do you or don't you? Settle it! If so, let me tell you what I
told one of our ladies that called me up one day. Everything in my life is divinely
ordered and under the control of my Heavenly Father who knows
best. God always knows best, and He
loves me the best. He can't do anything wrong. It's
not possible with God to do anything wrong or spiteful or vengeful
or hateful to His children. Not possible. And I told that
lady, I said, shut up, straighten up, drive, and start believing
God, just for once in your life. You might get a little peace,
a little comfort, a little joy. God's on the throne. He's your
God. He's your Father. He said, I'll never leave you
no forsaken. Everything's working together
for your good. Can you get a hold of this? We need to start believing God
like we say we do, don't we? Huh? We need to act like we believe
God. Not just hearers of the Word.
That sounds good, and go out and hit the door and start complaining.
But hit the door and start living! Well, how do I know these things
are so? You say, Creature, these are all well and good. That sounds
good. Prove it to me. That all sounds good. You know,
here we are Sunday morning, everybody's, Amen, and that's right, yeah,
I believe that. Then we go out of here, we've
got problems, and it all starts again. Prove it, preacher, all
this sounds so good, prove it to me! All right? I'm going to
give you undeniable proof that all things work together
for good to them that love God are called according to his purpose.
Somebody may say, well, this is a proof, the love of God.
Yeah, that's true. And the love of God is unspeakable.
Oh, my. Unspeakable. Oh, my. It's eternal, it's effectual,
it's unspeakable, the love of God. That's true. That's true.
Proof, God's love, behold what manner of love the Father bestowed
upon us. Somebody may say, well, the promises
of God's Word, that's proof, isn't it? Yeah, it is. Aren't
the promises of God's word good enough for you? Isn't Romans
8.28 good enough for you? It's good enough for me. Promises
of God's word, they're true. Yeah, he said, not one jot or
one tittle will pass away from my word because it's all fulfilled.
He said, forever, O Lord, thy word is written. It's settled
in heaven. He swore by himself. He said, I magnify my word above
all my name. He said, my word will not return
void. He said, Believe every word of
it. It's true, it's so, it's the best. His word, yeah, love
of the word of God is proof of all these things. It's good enough,
it ought to be proof enough. Man's only good is his word,
isn't it? God's good. His word's true. How about the
mercy of God? Is the mercy of God proof enough?
His mercy to other people, that is. Is that proof enough to you
that God will give you all of these things? He was talking
about no condemnation, joint heirs with Christ, forgiveness
of sins. What about Abraham? Abraham was
75 years old, people, when God came to him. Abraham wasn't a
good moral man. Ed, was Abraham a righteous man
when the Lord crowned him? Is that why the Lord saved him?
He was an idol worshiper. Seventy-five years old. You know,
when you get old, you get set in your way. You get 60 like
Henry. You just get on around. What about seventy-five? Wait
till he turns seventy-five. We won't be able to do anything
with you then. Seventy-five, Abraham was old,
upset, hard. He knew everything. You can't
tell an old man anything. You can tell a young man anything.
An old man, I know it. I know it. I've seen it. Ain't
nothing you've seen I ain't seen. Nothing you have I ain't had.
Nothing you've done I ain't done. Had better, better. That was
Abraham when God found him. And God said, and he was worshiping
idols. Abraham wasn't anything special.
I wish people would get this out of their heads, that these
Old Testament saints were something special. They're just men, son. Just men. And God came to Abraham
and said, Abraham, get out. Come on. You're coming out. You're
coming out of that idol worship. I'm going to reveal myself to
you, Abraham. I'm going to change you. Noah? What about Noah? Well,
you said, there's an exception, Noah was the only righteous man.
No, Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. He was a sinner. He was drunken
naked just a few months after he got off the boat. He's a sinner. Noah found grace. The only reason
Noah was saved, Noah found grace. God was gracious to Noah. And
on and on it goes. But that's good enough for me.
Huh? Is that proof enough for you? God saved an old boy like
Abraham. Jacob. What about Jacob? Oh,
man. We could go on about the life
of Jacob. You son of Jacob, you. Yeah, you, John Davis. You're
a son of Jacob. You ain't no better than that
Jacob. A cheat, a sinner, right? But you sons of Jacob aren't
consumed. That's proof enough, isn't it? Because God said that. God said
it. Let me give you the greatest
reason of all. The greatest reason of all. How
do I know that all things work together for good? to them that
love God, who are called according to his purpose, and will be joint
heirs unto no condemnation. How do I know for sure? How do
I know that all things are going to be well with my soul? How
do I know? Verse 32 says, He spared not
his own son. Can you get a hold of that? What
that means? You remember when Abraham went
up on the mountain to offer his son unto God? Do you remember
what God said to Abraham afterward? Remember, Abraham took that boy
up there, a three-day journey, a long journey, excruciating. He was in turmoil and burdened
by it all. He took him all the way up there,
his only son, whom he loved, and laid him on that altar and
put the wood unkindled. or put the wood under it and
took that knife to slay his son. And the Lord, there was a ram
caught in the thicket behind him. And the Lord said, Hold
it, hold it. Abraham, don't kill it. Lay not
thy hand on your son. He said, Now I know you love
me. Didn't he? Now I know you fear
me. Why? Because you've not withheld
your son. How do I know God loves me? Do you get the picture? Because
he spared not his own son. He spared not his own son. God
sent his only begotten Son down here to this earth, not as an
example, although he was, not as a Reformer, not as a Reformer, not as just a
martyr, but as a Redeemer. As a ram caught in the thickets,
as a redeemer, as a federal head. The scripture says in Adam all
died. We are all Adamites. You know that? We all come from
Adam. Adam's loin. In Adam all died. But it says
in Christ. See, we're all represented by
Adam. Who's the first man. Every other man or woman that's
ever been born. down through the years, came
from that first man. Okay? He was our federal head
in the flesh. But it says the second Adam came. Another man came without sin. The second Adam, who's not just
a man, he's a Lord of glory. He came as a federal head of
not all, but of some people. Some people. And he came down
to represent those people. Christ became, listen to me now,
every eye on me, he came down as a righteous representative
of these people. He came down as a substitute.
God didn't send him down as a reformer, as an example, but a substitute,
a ram. God's about to kill us. We're
hanging over hell on a shoestring. The wrath of God abides on the
ungodly, right? But there's a Lamb! A Lamb! Behold the Lamb! Have you beheld
the Lamb? You'd better, oh my God, show
me the Lamb! You've got to have the Lamb.
Isaac said that day we're going out to worship God. Here's the
fire, here's the fire, here's the wood. Where's the lamb? God requires blood, Daddy. Blood, where's the lamb? Where's
the lamb? Isaac knew that. Isaac started
getting worried, didn't he, Henry? Huh? We better start getting
worried, Henry. I wish more people started getting worried about
their religion. Say, where's the lamb here? God's holy. I wish some people would get
worried about their souls. I could grab some people and
shake them. Do you have a lamb? How are these kids? Do you know what Christ came
for you and why? Is this just some kind of game
we're playing here? No, your soul's at stake. You've
got to have a lamb. And poor widow Isaac heard, saw
that lamb, caught him, ah, ah, caught in the thick of death.
He's got a lamb. Substitute, take my place, my
sin, my guilt, my shame, my death, my hell, my separation from God.
That's why Christ came. God spared not his Son. Listen
to me just a few more minutes. God spared not his Son. He didn't
have to. I mean, he didn't have to put
Christ through all this. Oh, that's why I want to spit
on religion. It makes so little of the person
and work of Christ. It makes him out to be a beggar.
It makes it out to be a needless thing. If righteousness comes
by the law, we're all silly Sunday school peons. Christ died in
vain. He spared not his son the lowest
birth. Stephen, his boy was born in
a cow stall. Yours was born in silk sheets
over at the Nice Hospital. This boy came up through hard
work, sweat, calluses, menial tasks. world persecution, if
God spared him not any of these things. He didn't have to do
any of this. Would any of you go out and work your fingers
to the bone if you didn't have to? Huh? He didn't have to, but God spared
him not. world persecution. He was despised. Would anybody be hated and persecuted
and ridiculed and scoffed and mocked? Don't you want to be
liked by everybody? Sure you do. Nobody wants to
be disliked. Christ was not spared that. The Son of God, who angels praised,
who had nothing but love and peace and joy and adoration and
worship and glory for an eternity, took it left it all, laid it
down and came down into a hell hole. Would anybody get down
in a cesspool in the muck and the mire if he didn't have to?
He did. Temptations, the devil, would
you go through temptations if you didn't have to? The devil,
he ain't never been tempted Rick, you have never been tempted like
Christ has. He's tempted in all points, it
says. Satan tried to wring him out,
sift him as wheat in every area. Religious rejection he went through,
he was not spared. How would you like to be kicked
out, and nobody accepts you into their church, huh? We've kicked
you out of here now, and everybody turned down. We don't want you
around here. That's what happened to him. pain and suffering? He said,
Behold, and sorrow? Would you go through any sorrow
if you didn't have to? Huh? Would you? Everybody wants
to be happy. He said, Behold, and see if there's
any sorrow like unto my sorrow, for with the Lord has afflicted
me. Loneliness? Would you live alone if you didn't
have to? Huh? He didn't have to. God spared
him not. Loneliness. He, God finally left. And that's when Christ said,
My God, my God's left me. Everybody, my own familiar friends,
my bosom buddies whom I did things for for three and a third years,
did everything for them. They've all left me. And now
my God has left me. And I'm not trying to make you
feel sorry for Jesus. I'm trying to show you that he
walked the path that every one of his sheep walked. There ain't
no path you've ever walked down that he didn't walk, and walk
it longer and walk it harder. No trial he ever been through
that he didn't suffer more, greater. No temptation has betaken you
but such as is common, uncommon to him. No trial his chief experienced
that he did not experience, and he didn't have to. Why did he
do it? Because he was becoming a high
priest, touched with a feeling of our infirmity. Who can have
compassion? I can't tell this like it. I
can't grab ahold of you. It's grabbed ahold of me right
now. I'm glad. I'm preaching to me. He spared not his own
son, for this maggot But delivered him up. Do you know what it means
to be delivered up? Oh, my. Have you ever felt like
you were delivered up to Satan? Huh? Left to yourself? Huh? Have you? I have. He was delivered to Satan. He
was delivered into the hands of men that spit on to mock him. He was delivered into the wrath
and the judgment of God. God didn't spare him. The only
reason we are delivered The only reason we are delivered
from God's utter hatred and wrath and eternal punishment is because
Christ was delivered up. Because Christ was delivered.
You see, the death of Christ was on purpose. And that's the
reason I despise religion today. They make it up. Christ said,
He said, I came for this hour. Peter one time said, Lord, don't
go to Jerusalem. He said, what do you mean? That's when he said, get behind
me, Satan. You're trying to keep me from
what I've in all eternity have been intending to do. Don't go to Jerusalem, Lord.
They're trying to kill you. What do you mean for this reason I
came? According to the eternal purpose
of God, the order didn't In the Council Halls of Eternity, for
this hour I came to die. If I don't go, Peter, you're
going to die. I came for this hour. I've got
a work to do. That's when he cried in the garden when he was
praying that high priestly prayer, the work you've given me to do.
And it was a tough one. Oh, it was a tough job. You ever
done a job you thought, I'll never get this done? It's too
tough for me, huh? This thing right here is too
tough for me, but Christ said it was tough. Oh my, the weight
of the world was on his shoulder. He said, you've given me a job
to do and I've done it. I've done it. And he went to the cross with
a price to pay. It was his final act. By him
shed his blood for God to slit his throat. worked for thirty-three and a
third years to establish our righteousness. He didn't have
to go through all of that just so he'd be touched. He didn't
know anything about it, Dan, so he had to be touched with it in
order to have compassion on you. And he went through all that
on purpose because he loved you with the joy that was set before
him. of getting you to glory, what wouldn't you do for your
children, Joe Park? You'd climb the highest mountain.
You'd swim the steepest ocean if you could. If you could, Christ
could and did. You'd go to the cross. You'd
die in their place. You'd cast your body out in front
of a truck if they were going to get hit. Christ did. He said,
Father, don't spare me, spare them. Spare them. kill me. I've done all this for
them now, I've worked this life out for them, give it to them
now, and now here I hang on a sitter in the place of that wretched
bum called Terry Kinsley. Go ahead, hit me between the
eyes, God. Here I am. I deserve it." Does that put the cross a little bit
of light to you? Cross of Christ. Christ's pay
of great cost. He sat down for eternity and
considered the cost. I'm not going to go down there.
He looked at that like us looking in a garbage can. Open the garbage
can, you see maggots crawling on the dustbin? That's what we're
called. That's what the Bible calls us. Worms. It means maggots.
Look, God opened the trash can lid and saw that they were all
corrupt. They're all filthy. Isn't that what it says? In Psalm 19? Oh, Christ is looking
at me. Oh, I can't see my nostrils. I mean, I don't have to go down
there and live in that. Father says, yeah, if we're going
to redeem them. If we're going to have any of
those, he's going to have to do it. And he's thought about it. Do you love them? Father said, it
doesn't seem possible, does it? Yeah, I do. I do. Spirit, if you're going to make
sure they all come back, I don't want to do this in vain. Yeah,
you die for them, you suffer their death and their punishment,
and I'll transform them. I'll make them butterflies. These
worms will turn into butterflies. I'll transform them into angels
of light, beings of light, just like the sunset. It's a great
cost. Nevertheless, at thy will, at
thy word, with your glory, and I love who you love, I'll do
it. Here I go. Spirit of God, penitentiary,
who is this killing? crucify and get him out of here,
to hell with Jesus." And then he hung on that cross
and said, after a long time of that, a lifetime of that, it's finished. That was tough. That was a hard
job, but I finished it. Father, I'm coming home, I'm
coming back." And he took off those work clothes, Joe, laid
them in the grave, and walked back in the glory. And the angels
gave him a standing ovation. And those Old Testament saints
who saw all those lambs and everything killed, all those types and pictures,
and they knew then, we see, we see. They gave him a standing
ovation. And they're right now saying, under him, under him,
under him, look what he's done! And we can't sit here for an
hour and pay attention to it! How do I know that all things
work together for my good? God spared not his Fared not
his son, delivered him up." You know, somebody said, you know that I am now, I am
worth something to God. Now, listen to me. I saw somebody
raise their eyebrows just now. This tells me the value of a
human soul, or those that, at least those that God places value
upon. Somebody said the value of a
thing is determined by what a wise man is willing to pay for it.
Right? The value of a thing. I've been
around cars. Let's take Steve Parks. He's
a car man, and he's been a service manager and all. Steve Parks,
I came to him with an automobile, used cars. I said, Steve, is
this worth $3,400? And he'd look it over real good,
and he's an expert. He's a wise man about cars. He'd
say, no, I'd only pay, they're asking $34,000. Yeah, no, no,
it's not worth, it's only worth about $25,000. It's only worth
what a wise man is willing to pay for. Fool now might pay $10,000.
Good wise man, he knows the worth of it, OK? He knows the worth
of it. What did my soul cost? It cost
God. He spared not his own son. That's
what it cost. So you see what I mean? Then
I must be worth something. So don't you tell me now that
he that spared not his own son that delivered him up for us
all, how shall he then? Not. With that cost, freely give
me all things." Huh? Am I going to go hungry? He's
better than I deserve. It's like a man giving me a million-dollar
mansion, and I say, well, the grass needs cutting. You got
a lawnmower? Hey, forget that. You're asking a little much,
aren't you, bud? Lawnmower? They don't give you no lawnmower. Aren't you satisfied? Oh, sure. They give you everything that
went with the house. Well, Henry, why are we worried
about the next meal? Does that put Romans 8.28 in
the next line? Why am I worried about my next
meal being fed? He spared not his son! Are you
getting a hold of that now? Does that mean anything to you
now? Why am I worried about being fed? Why am I worried about anything?
He spared not his son! How shall he not with him, also
freely give us all things? Is that proof enough? Well if
it isn't, I haven't got anything else to say.