Well, thank you, Norm. As always,
I have to say, you think too highly of me. I know that. A
whole lot too highly. But I'm just delighted to be
here, as always. It's just really good to see
you all and just have fellowship. And I'm thankful for that. And I'm especially thankful for
this time where we're seeking to give glory to God for His
goodness to you for 35 years. And I'll have a little bit more
to say about that later. But that's why we're here, isn't
it? To thank the Lord for His blessing
to you. It's a remarkable thing. And
anyway, let's get started. In 1 Kings, turn with me to 1
Kings chapter 19. 1 Kings chapter 19. And as I said
last night, I trust by the Lord's grace He'll allow me to bring
these messages to you in a way that you'll see some of, I think,
important threads of truth that are not only found in the Word
of God, but just Truths that I'm attempting in
my stumbling way to bring before you, and truths that the Lord
has always blessed His people with, and I know He'll bless
us, and I'm thankful for that, because it's His Word, and His
Word is always good. And tonight, let's consider,
I'd like us to consider that the grace of God revealed to
us in His Son is of such surpassing excellence that everything else,
everything else pales into nothingness in the light of His glorious
grace. if He's been so gracious to you and I to reveal that to
us. And we find that to be. The greatness of God's glory
is found most fully displayed not in His visible works of mighty
power, but in His grace. The actions of God's grace may
seem so little and so insignificant, but it's in these actions that
we find the fullest expression of God, the fullest expression
of God's infiniteness, His eternality, His unchangeableness, His perfect
wisdom, His power. His holiness and justice, His
mercy, His love, His kindness, His goodness, and I could go
on and on. All these are found to their
fullest in the operations of His grace demonstrated towards
us, a miserable group of people. The highest expressions of God's
glory too are not displayed in His awesome power in the creation
of the world. Nor in his mighty acts in the
material world, no. No, the greatness of God's glory
is displayed, and the one who grew up is a tender plant out
of dry ground. But here's the human tragedy,
and we know that, that natural man can't see this glory. They can't see, and neither would
you and I, except for God's mercy to us. cannot see the glory of
God's grace. The light is hidden from their
eyes, not hidden by God, hidden by their own sin. And when they
look upon the grace of God with natural sight, they see it as
such a small and insignificant thing. I know you know these things,
but I just want to remind us tonight that the greatness of
the glory of God's grace has never been displayed in the outward
things. It is true. The Word says that
the heavens declare the glory of God, but what is the glory of that
creation? compared to the glory of the
creation in Christ Jesus, the spiritual creation. I think I read somewhere that
the glory of the old creation pales to the new creation like
a candle in the noonday sun. And it's true. And the more the
Lord blesses us with an understanding of all that Christ accomplished,
the more we'll see that. This is demonstrated throughout
the scriptures in so many ways, and the prevalence of it should
tell us something of the importance of this truth. There is no greater
illustration, of course, than the response of the world to
the Lord Jesus Christ. The world not seeing the glorious
display of God's grace. In their eyes, seemingly small
and insignificant things. How did they look upon Christ
and his death upon the cross, accomplishing the eternal redemption
of all of his people? But there was abundant testimony
given in the Old Testament prophecies and types that this would be
so. They should have known. Of course, the great portion
in Isaiah 53 comes to mind where we read, Who has believed our
report? And to whom has the arm of the
Lord been revealed? For he shall grow up before him
as a tender plant. and as a root out of the dry
ground. He has no form or comeliness." That's how man looks upon this
glorious Son of God, the One who is the brightness
of His glory and the express image of His person. He shall
grow up before Him as a root out of dry ground. He has no
form or comeliness, and when we shall see Him, there is no
beauty that we should desire Him." That's how natural man
looks upon the glory of God in Christ. Men looked upon Him and
saw nothing, nothing that was desirable. Isn't that the whole
story of the Gospels? Where was His power? His position,
his influence, and his connections. Where was his military leadership
and strategic ability to fashion a following, a formidable force
like King David did? Isn't this what they were looking
for in a Messiah? A king like King David to defeat
all of our enemies, especially these Romans and restore us to
his prominence in the world as the people of God, a victorious
nation. That's what they were looking
for. Where was his kingdom? But even more egregious than
that, he didn't even know how to do religion. What was this,
going throughout all the land preaching the kingdom of God
with a group of unimportant and unlearned disciples? Eating and
drinking with sinners without a place to lay his head? That's
not how... I mean, you go up to Jerusalem
where the doctors of the law are. You sit under these people, and
here is the seat of power. This is where politics is. And
religion was married to it, wasn't it? I mean, this is how you do
religion. You work your way up to the Sanhedrin. This is the place of power. This
is the place of respect. But he didn't know how to do
any of it. Oh, how they despised him. And here was the grace and glory
of God in their midst, and they saw Him as a little thing. But
they didn't heed their own scriptures, and neither do men today. The
greatest revelations of the power and glory of God are always in
what appear to the natural eye to be nothing. Nothing. Worse than nothing.
What does the Word tell us? To them it's just foolishness. It's just foolishness. We find this truth illustrated
in a powerful way with God's dealings with Elijah. Let's just
remember, be looking in chapter 19, 1 Kings chapter 19, Let's just think back. We can't
read all of this. I'll just bring this to your
mind. We all know. We all know this
story, don't we? It's a great story. It's a dramatic
story. And Elijah appears, doesn't he? He appears in Israel out of nowhere,
seemingly. And Elijah was a great prophet
in the history of Israel. And like his anti-type, John
the Baptist, he is a voice of from the wilderness, preaching
repentance to a people who had turned away from their God. Through
this prophet, the Lord God had demonstrated mighty acts of divine
power. It would have seemed that this
prophet had the dominion of the heavens in his hands. He prayed
earnestly that it wouldn't rain. And what happened? It didn't
rain for three years and six months. And then in God's appointed
time, we see that tremendous event of historic significance,
where Elijah challenges the prophets of Baal to a contest of worship
on Mount Carmel. It's a scene of great dramatic
power and spectacle. I mean, you cannot read it without
just being awed by what What happened in that time? Here is
a lone man against 450 prophets of Baal. And we know what they
called upon God. From morning till the time of
the evening sacrifice, we read. Leaping about their altar, crying
out, cutting themselves until the blood gushed out of them.
You know, it's not much different than a lot of things we see today,
with the exclusion of cutting themselves until the blood gushes
out. But this is so part of false
worship. Crying out to their gods, and
we know that Elijah started to mock them. And we can't go through
all those stories. I don't want to detract from
where we're headed. But here they are, and what,
what? They cry out. The blood gushed
from them, but there was no voice. No one answered. No one paid
attention. In chapter 18 there, what is
it? Yeah, 29. When midday was passed, they
prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice,
but there was no voice. No one answered. No one paid
attention. Then Elijah said to the people,
look in verse 30 there, I'm back in chapter 18. Then Elijah said
to all the people, come near to me. So all the people came
near to him and he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken
down. And Elijah took 12 stones according to the number of the
tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord
had come saying, Israel shall be your name. And then Elijah,
he, He makes this simple prayer, listen now. Then with the stones
he built an altar in the name of the Lord. And he made a trench
around the altar large enough to hold two sayas of seed, and
he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, laid it on
the wood, and said, fill your water pots with water and pour
it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood. And then he said,
do it a second time. And they did it a second time.
He said, do it a third time, and they did it a third time.
So the water ran down all around the altar, and he also filled
the trench with water. And it came to pass at the time
of the evening sacrifice that Elijah the prophet came near
and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known
this day that you are God in Israel, and I am your servant,
and that I have done all these things at your word. Hear me,
O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that you are the Lord
God, and that you have turned their hearts back to you again."
And so here he is, he does all of these things simply. Builds the altar, has them pour
this water all over it again and again and again. And then
he prays. A short prayer. A simple prayer. And at his prayer, to God, Elijah
utterly defeats the prophets of Baal. At his prayer, the fire
of the Lord fell down and consumed the wood, the stones, the dust. Have you noticed that? The dust
as well consumed the dust and the water in the trench. We focus
on the water. It burned up all of the water
as well as the timber and the dust. We witness then the bloody
execution. Look there in verse 40. And Elijah
said to them, seize the prophets at Baal. Do not let one of them
escape. So they seized them. And Elijah
brought them down to the brook Kishon and executed them there. Think of that. 450 prophets held. And it says Elijah executed them. Can you imagine the blood of
450 men slaughtered there at the Brook Kishon? We see then, as the story goes
on, We see the victorious prophet on the top of Mount Carmel, on
the summit, bowed to the Lord in prayer as we go on in this
chapter. I'm just refreshing your memory. And he prayed according to the
word of the Lord to bring relief to that parched and starving
land. And the heavens broke. They broke with an abundance
of rain. And then we see him when the hand of the Lord came
upon him. We read that he girded up his
loins and ran before the chariot of Ahab 16 miles through the
driving storm from Carmel to Jezreel. You can't help but feel the thrill
and the exultation of the spirit of Elijah as he runs before the
chariot of this evil monarch. Surely the Lord was going to
act in ways as he had before, in mighty signs and wonders,
turning Israel in repentance to him. But the next day, where
do we find Elijah? We find him running for his life,
at the threat of a woman. Why? Why? Because Elijah had
not yet learned something that I know I haven't learned yet,
and probably you haven't learned either, that God's ways are not
our ways. Elijah did not yet know that
the great work of God's grace and the redemption of his people
were not found in mighty signs and wonders." That simple. He still had to learn those words
that we echo so often in Isaiah. For my thoughts are not your
thoughts, nor are my ways your ways, says the Lord. For as the
heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your
ways, and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. For as the
rain comes down and the snow from heaven and do not return
there, but water the earth and make it bring forth and bud that
it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, now listen,
so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth. It shall
not return to me void, but it shall accomplish what I please
and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it." You see,
his thoughts not being our thoughts are particularly in reference
to what? To the reference of his will being accomplished. We think it's going to be accomplished
in one way, or should be accomplished in one way, but no, he's going
to accomplish it in an entirely different way than we think.
But the point is, it will be accomplished. Whatever he says
will not return to him void. Elijah expected through all these
mighty acts of God at Carmel that this would bring about the
return of the nation of Israel to the Lord their God. I mean,
that's what it sounded like, didn't it? Surely this would
bring about a great repentance and a dawning of a new age of
faithfulness for the nation of Israel, for the people of God.
This was Elijah's expectation. But he awakens to that message
sent from Jezebel, you remember, and found that things were still
the same. The king, that evil king, still
sat on the throne, and his evil wife still sought his life, and
caused Israel to go after all those false religions, it still
was the same. And he was greatly disheartened. Had this great triumph been for
nothing? Fire had fallen from heaven.
The blood of the false prophets had flowed like water. The rain
had come like a flood. according to his prayer. And
the Lord God had vindicated his name before all the people of
Israel. Were all these mighty works for
nothing? And Elijah loses heart. He just
loses heart. That's never happened to you,
has it? And he fled for his life. And
he prayed in despair that he might die. He said, it is enough. Now, Lord, take my life. Look over now in chapter 19. Chapter 19. And so God, in his
grace, leads the Prophet into the wilderness. And he goes. miraculously sustained for 40
days and 40 nights. Let's just read that in verse
5. There, then he lay and slept
under a broom tree. Then as he lay and slept under
a broom tree, suddenly an angel touched him and said to him,
arise and eat. Then he looked and there by his head was a cake
baked on coals and a jar of water. So he ate and drank and lay down
again. And the angel of the Lord came
back a second time and touched him and said, Arise and eat,
because the journey is too great for you. So he arose and ate
and drank, and he went in the strength of that food forty days
and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God." The Lord doesn't just take him
anywhere, does he? He takes him, miraculously sustained
for 40 days and 40 nights, and where does he end up? At the
mountain of God, at Horeb, the place where he'd spoken to Moses
face to face as a man speaks to a friend. That's what we read.
That's where he takes him. And it was at this place too
that the Lord granted that simple request of Moses, that request
of exquisite excellence, that I might see your glory. That was Moses' desire. That
was his request. And you remember that the Lord
put Moses in the cleft of the rock upon the mountain, and he
covered him with his hand, the hand of God, to protect him from
what? From the glory of God, that burning
righteousness and holiness. He covered him with his hand
and the Lord descended in a cloud and stood with him there and
he passed before him and proclaimed what? The Lord, the Lord God,
merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in goodness
and truth. This is where the Lord brought
him. And Elijah enters into a cave upon Mount Horeb. And there's
no question, Elijah, all of these things would have been brought
to Elijah's mind. He's a prophet of God. He knows the history
of Israel and the importance of these events. And these would
have been in his mind. And he enters into this cave
upon Mount Horeb. And the history and significance
of this wouldn't have been lost upon him. It doesn't say. I think that
in all likelihood this was the very place that the Lord put
Moses in the cleft of the rock on that mountain when he passed
before him. Don't think that this was unintended. This is all purposed by God to
communicate important truth to Elijah. So let's pick up in verse
nine there. And there he went into a cave
and spent the night in that place. And behold, the word of the Lord
came to him and said to him, what are you doing here, Elijah?
So he said, I've been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts, for
the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, torn down your
altars and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left
and they seek my life. Now, in this searching question,
what are you doing here, Elijah? That's the Lord's call for Elijah
to examine his own thoughts. Why are you here? What are your
thoughts? What's your understanding? And
in doing that, when the Lord gives him the divine response,
It'll teach Elijah. It'll teach this despairing prophet
things that he needs to know, things that you and I need to
know. We could ask that question of
ourselves so often. When we're in places in life,
just sit down and ask yourself, what are you doing here? What
are you doing here to cause us to draw our thoughts and our
minds back to what? God's ways and God's thoughts,
not our own. This is where I go so wrong all
the time. What are you doing here? And
you know in his answer we see distrust of God. A hint of bitterness that he's
left Elijah alone? That doesn't sound like you or
me, does it? Almost as if the cause of God
and his covenant had been left upon his shoulders. But how gracious the Lord is
with his prophet. He gives no rebuke. The Lord
is about to demonstrate to Elijah the mysteries of his grace. Look
there in verse 11. Then he said to him, go out and
stand on the mountain before the Lord. And behold, the Lord
passed by in a great and strong wind, tore into the mountains
and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord. But the Lord
was not in the wind. And after the wind, an earthquake.
But the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake, a fire.
But the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire, a still small
voice. We want to see the Almighty God
come down like a great wind. Tear the mountains, smash the
rocks, shake the earth, send down fire. This is what Elijah
wanted to see. This is what Elijah visited upon
the children of Israel, for they had broken his covenant, torn
down his altars, killed his prophet. And it seemed to Elijah that
the purpose of God for Israel hung in the balance. They've
broken your covenant. And Elijah was jealous for his
name. And he wanted God to reveal himself to Israel once again
in mighty signs and wonders as he'd done when he delivered them
out of Egypt, you remember. In Romans 11, we read, listen,
In Romans 11, we read that Elijah pleaded against Israel. He pleaded against Israel. And
it's so often our way of thinking. We're like the disciples when
the Samaritan village refused to receive the Lord Jesus Christ. When James and John saw this,
they said, Lord, Do you want us to command fire
to come down from heaven and consume them just as Elijah did? You know, we might have expected
that from Peter, but John? No, but you know, really, that's
our natural response, isn't it? And here the disciples had witnessed,
just before this, they'd witnessed the transfiguration of Jesus
on the mountain, the remarkable things that occurred there. And
as Peter said, they'd heard the voice from, I like this, the
excellent glory. They'd just experienced all of
that. And now they're going up to Jerusalem,
and in their minds, what better way than to enter with a marvelous
demonstration of the might and power of God, and the judgment
of God against those who reject His anointed. That's no doubt
what they were thinking. Now, wouldn't that be a triumphant
entry? Were they in for a surprise?
Here he comes lowly and riding on a donkey. But he turned. You remember what Christ said.
He turned and rebuked them, the disciples. He turned and rebuked
them and said, you do not know what manner of spirit you are
of. For the Son of Man did not come
to destroy men's lives, but to save them." And Elijah is about to learn
that the Lord God is above all, the God of grace and mercy. We
read, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore
into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the
Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind,
an earthquake. But the Lord was not in the earthquake.
And after the fire, after the earthquake, a fire. But the Lord
was not in the fire. Now, that may seem a little confusing
because the wind, well, it was of the Lord, we know that, right?
He commanded it. It came according to His will
and purpose and tore the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces
and the same was true of the earthquake. It was according
to His will and His purpose. It came at His command in the
fire. But the Word of the Lord says
He wasn't in these things. Why? Because His grace and purpose
of redemption are not found in these things. But more than that, the presence of the Lord God
Himself is not found in these things. You hear that? The presence
of the Lord God Himself is not found in these things. And that's
what we're concerned with, isn't it? That's what we're interested
in, to know God, to be in His presence with acceptance. That's
all that matters. And then, what do we read? A
gentle stillness, a delicate, literally, a delicate whispering
voice. More awesome than 10,000 terrible
storms, or the quaking of the foundations of the whole earth,
or a consuming fire. This is the word from the mouth
of God. The voice of God. Elijah doesn't
need to be told where the Lord is to be found, does he? Elijah's
in the presence of the Almighty, and this is the voice of God
speaking to him. It doesn't need volume, does
it? God's purpose, and we know the
rest of the story, he tells Elijah his purpose is never in jeopardy. He has a people, everyone, whom
he has chosen in eternity and set his love upon in Israel,
is there. 7,000, he's reserved them. They
haven't bowed the knee to Baal. The purpose of God there in Romans,
what do we read? The purpose of God according
to election will stand. It will be accomplished. The
Lord will be found by His covenant people, everyone. And He'll be
found not upon the wings of the wind, with darkness canopies
around Him, but He'll be found in the gentle stillness of grace. Well, can there be any doubt,
any doubt, that this still small voice typifies the Gospel of
our Lord Jesus Christ? Turn over to Isaiah, Isaiah chapter
40. Isaiah chapter 40. We've got to move along here
quickly. Isaiah chapter 40. And there we read, there we read
of another prophet crying in the wilderness, another Elijah.
Another Elijah, similar but different. Isaiah chapter 40, and let's
read a few of these verses which speak of of the ministry of the
forerunner of Christ, the forerunner of the Messiah. In verse 3, here
it is, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the
way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our
God. Every valley shall be exalted
and every mountain and hill brought low. The crooked places shall
be made straight and the rough places smooth. The glory of the
Lord shall be revealed. You see, that's what we're interested
in, isn't it? That's what matters. That's what
is of deepest concern. That's what Moses longed to see,
isn't it? Show me thy glory. Well, his
glory is going to be revealed. And here's his message. Look
in verse 9. Skip down there to verse 9. Oh, Zion, you who bring
good tidings, get up into the high mountains. Oh, Jerusalem,
you who bring good tidings, lift up your voice with strength.
Lift it up. Be not afraid. Say to the cities
of Judah, behold your God. If anything, Elijah as a forerunner,
that was one of his primary ministries, wasn't it? to say, as Christ
comes, behold your God. Behold the Lamb of God who takes
away the sin of the world. And we could look in John 3,
and I intended to, but we need to move along. But in John 3,
we have all the, just in a few verses, we have all these things
spoken by John the Baptist with respect to Christ. We read, Behold
the Son of God. Behold the one whom God loves. Behold the one who comes from
above and is above all. Behold the one whom God has given
the Spirit without measure. Behold the one who speaks the
words of God. All of that, all of that John
preached and prophesied with respect to Christ and much more. Behold your God. Listen. Listen to his still small
voice. Behold your God. That was the
work of John the Baptist. Now turn over to John chapter
11. Keep your place here in Isaiah 40. We'll come back and finish
there. Isaiah 40. But turn over to John chapter
11 and I want you to see Something that I think is remarkable. John 11 in chapter two. John 11 in verse two, rather. John 11. No, not John 11. Where is it? Luke, must be Luke
11, where John sends the disciples to Jesus.
Let's see. Well, let me just read these
to you. I've written them down here and
must have marked it wrong. Let's see. Well, let me just read this.
So, when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he
sent two of his disciples and said to him, are you the coming
one or do you look for another? You remember that, don't you?
And the parables are unmistakable, aren't they? Here we have the
prophet of God, John the Baptist, and he's imprisoned by a wicked
king. who finds him troublesome. And
the king is married to an evil woman who seeks the life of the
prophet. And in John the Baptist's case,
she was successful, wasn't she? We could say here is another
Jezebel, another Elijah, but another king and another Jezebel. And like Elijah, the faith of
John fails. And from prison, he sends word
to Jesus. Are you the coming one? Are you
the coming one? Or do we look for another? And
Jesus answered and said to them, go and tell John the things which
you hear and see. The blind see, and the lame walk,
the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear. The dead are raised
up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed
is he who is not offended because of me." Now listen to the words
of Jesus concerning this prophet, John the Baptist. As they departed,
Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John, what did you
go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see?
A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who wear soft clothing
are in kings' houses." What's he saying? He's saying, you think
John and his ministry were of little significance, do you?
What did you go out into the wilderness to see? Were you looking
for someone great in the eyes of men? Were you looking for
someone of noble birth? Were you looking for spectacular
signs and wonders? He continues, but what did you
go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you,
and more than a prophet, for this is he of whom it is written,
behold, I send my messenger before your face who will prepare your
way before you. I don't know if you've ever thought
about this before, but did you know that John the Baptist didn't
perform a single miracle? Not one. Not one. He was the forerunner of Christ
to prepare his way. Not one miracle. Here's the testimony
of Jesus regarding John. Assuredly, He says, he continues,
"...Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women, there
has not risen one greater than John the Baptist." That was the
testimony of the Lord with regard to this prophet. And then in
the following verse he says, "...and if you are willing to
receive it, he is Elijah who is to come." He tells them plainly,
doesn't he? He's the Elijah who is to come,
the forerunner. He who has ears to hear, let
him hear. Well, look back there in Isaiah
40, and we'll finish up there. Here we have this prophecy of
the glorious message of grace, which is to sound forth from
this Elijah who is to come. Look in verse 10. Again, we can't
read it all, We read, behold, the Lord God shall come with
a strong hand and his arm shall rule for him. Behold, his reward
is with him and his work before him. Will he come? How will he come? Will he come
with a strong hand like a great and strong wind and tear away
this rebellious nation like rubble? Will he come with a strong hand
to shake the foundations of the earth? Will He come sending down
fire upon His disobedient people? No, no. He comes with good tidings,
good tidings. How does this chapter start?
Comfort, yes, comfort my people, says the Lord. Speak comfort
to Jerusalem and cry out to her that her warfare has ended. Listen
to this, that her iniquity is pardoned. For she has received
from the Lord's hand double for all her sin." Behold your God. He's come with a strong hand
to finish the iniquity, to finish the transgression, to make an
end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in
an everlasting righteousness. Now listen, 35 years. 35 years in the Tao's. And we've
come together to thank the Lord for what He's done here. I want you to think now, just
a few things. He chose you, this group of believers
in the Tao's. He chose you before you ever
were, before the world began, from
eternity. He loved you with an everlasting
love. And He said, He said, God said,
I have loved you with an everlasting love and with loving kindness
I will draw you. And that's what he's done for
each one of you, hasn't he? He sent his son, his only son,
the son of his love, the one in whom he delighted, who was in his bosom, to bear the unimaginable horrors
of the curse of sin for you. He's justified you, clothing
you in that glorious righteousness of His Son, washing you in the blood of His
Atonement. And He's qualified you to be
partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He sent His Spirit to deliver
you from the the power of darkness, and translate you into the kingdom
of His Son, the Son of His love. You've been born again by God,
and you remember that day when you opened your eyes in that
kingdom of God, in the light. And what did you see? The glory
of God. in Christ. This is what God has done for
you here in the Dalles. He's pardoned all your iniquity,
forgiven your transgressions and sins, accepted you in the
Beloved, and He's brought you into fellowship. Those glorious
passages in 1 John, accepted you into fellowship so that you
have fellowship with the Father and with his son, and with one
another, and with all the people of God. And he's gathered you as his
people, as his saints in the Dalles. Think of that. His saints
in the Dalles. And he sent you a faithful gospel
minister for all these years to care for your souls, to preach
Christ to you, the glory of God. Isn't that what the disciples
said? We beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten
Son of the Father, full of grace and truth. That's what God has
done for you. You're a chosen generation, a
royal priesthood. His own special people. Think of that. Is this a small thing? To men
it is, but not to God. Not to God. He's made you to
lie down in the green pastures of His work of redemption. He's revealed to you the Gospel,
to feast upon Him the bread of life. No, no, this is not a small
thing. This is not a small thing. And
you rest in hope beside the still waters of His grace and look
there in verse 11. He will feed His flock like a
shepherd. He will gather them with His
own arm and carry them in His bosom and gently lead those who
are with young. He gathers each of you in His
arms. He carries you in His heart and in His bosom. He gently leads you into the
path of life, into the presence of the Lord, where there's fullness of joy and pleasures
forevermore. Surely our voices then, when
we consider these things, not just you, that me and every one
of the Lord's people, when we consider these things, and, you
know, I could go on all night, couldn't I? Of all the things
that God has done for you and for me. Surely, we'll raise our voice
with David and with the whole host of the Lord's people And
in harmony and adoration and praise to our Lord God, we can
sing with David, your gentleness has made me great. Amen.