Join me, if you would, in the
Book of Numbers. Book of Numbers this morning.
It's so good to be with you. I'm looking forward to picking
up someone at the airport Tuesday. Book of Numbers, chapter 7. We tried to say a few things
about that verse 1 last week about the completion of the tabernacle
as it's being set up and what Moses was requested of God to
do with that tabernacle after it had been completed. It tells
us there in verse 1, And it came to pass on the day that Moses
had fully set up the tabernacle and had anointed it and sanctified
it, and all the instruments thereof, both the altar and all the vessels
thereof, and anointed them and sanctified them. He was used
of God to set this great place aside. And he used the term anointed
it and sanctified it. a process in picture what God
does for his people. He anoints them and sanctifies
them, and he's the only one that can actually do that. Now, we
have an interesting incident take place in verses 2 and 3. that the princes of Israel, and
if we go back a little bit, we can find their names. They're
representing the tribes. Each one is a representative
of one of the tribes. And it turns out that the first
one that is a representative is the tribe of Judah. It says
here, the princes of Israel, heads of the house of their fathers,
who were the princes of the tribes, and were over them that numbered
offered. And they brought their offering
before the Lord, six covered wagons, and twelve oxen, and
a wagon for two of the princes, and for each one an ox. And he brought them before the
tabernacle. And the Lord spake unto Moses,
saying, Take it of them, that they may be to do service of
the tabernacle of the congregation. And thou shalt give them unto
the Levites, to every man according to his service. And Moses took
of the wagons and the oxen, and gave them unto the Levites, two
wagons and four oxen he gave unto the sons of Gershon, according
to their service, and four wagons and eight oxen he gave unto the
sons of Mariah. according to their service, under
the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest, but unto the
sons of Kohath he gave none, because the service of the sanctuary
belonging unto them was that they should bear upon their shoulders. We want to spend some time on
verses two and three of this chapter. This is the gospel according
to Moses, and we call it the Book of Numbers. But it's the
gospel declared here. We find that that's what the
Lord spoke to those two on the road to Emmaus, and all the things
concerning himself in the Old Testament, because that's all
they had. And we find in this passage of scripture, these two
verses, a question was brought up to my mind. I like questions. Sometimes I don't have any answers,
though. But the Lord has many answers to this question found
in the scriptures. And the question is, how did
these folks know to do this? Here we are, tabernacle completely
set up, tabernacle anointed and sanctified, and lo and behold,
12 men show up and they have these covered wagons and oxen. How did they know to do that?
There is no command here for them to do that. And I could
find none in any of the other Old Testament books that there
was a command from God to do this very thing, to bring these
six covered wagons and these 12 yoke of oxen. So I said, there
must be an answer found in the scriptures. There is no written
record here. There's no written record that
I could find. Yet in other places in the Old Testament, we have
some wonderful clues of why these people brought these offerings.
Now this just goes hand in glove with the message we heard this
morning in the Bible class. I've had a lot of people tell
me that if they lived in the Old Testament times, or if they
lived in the New Testament times up to the time of the death of
Christ, they would have been a lot smarter than those folks,
and they would not have fallen into the same pit that they fell
in, and they would have really listened to the Lord when he
spoke about spiritual things. The answer to that is no. Men have not changed. Women have
not changed. Children have not changed. In
fact, if anything, we've gone a little downhill from that time.
But let's look into the scriptures and see why these men brought
these offerings to the tabernacle to be used as they moved that
tabernacle. So would you turn with me to
the Book of Exodus? Back up just a little bit to
the Book of Exodus in Chapter 35. We find this principle carried
out throughout the scriptures of how God does his business
and how he does his business with his people. As we heard
read there this morning, we could do nothing except to be given
of the Lord. And that really applies in this
situation about these 12 men bringing these offerings unto
Moses and for the use of the tabernacle. In the book of Exodus,
chapter 35, we have some instructions given with regard to the building
of the tabernacle. And when we read these things,
we say, my goodness, how valuable it was for someone to do something
for these people so they'd know what to do. There's an article in the bulletin
this morning and I liked what the man said, ignorance of ignorance
is really a real problem. That we're really ignorant, that
we're ignorant. We think we're pretty smart,
but in reality, we're just really ignorant. And we have to be instructed. We have to be taught. We have
to be brought to the information that God has us. And beyond that,
it must be revealed to us. It must be made alive to us.
It must be made real to us. It is more than just words on
a page. It becomes real, alive. And with it, we trust God that
what He does is right. That it is not wrong. God has
never done anything wrong. He has always done right and
he's always done good. It takes the revelation of Jesus
Christ to our heart for us to even comprehend and a part of
it to even believe it, that God does everything right. That goes with what's gone on
in this world from the very beginning till the very end. God is going
to do right. He's not going to do wrong. Well,
here in the book of Exodus chapter 35, read with me, beginning with
verse 22. Exodus chapter 35, beginning
with verse 22, the scriptures say, and they came, both men
and women, as many as were, what does that say? Willing-hearted. Willing-hearted. As many as were
willing hearted there in the book of exodus chapter 35 and
verse 22 As many as were willing hearted and brought bracelets
and ear rings and rings and tablets all jewels of gold and every
man that offered offered an Offering of gold unto the lord and every
man with whom was found blue and purple. They're getting ready
to build something And someone impressed upon them the need
of the material. And those who had a willing heart,
as it tells us there. And verse 25, and all the women
that were wise-hearted did spin with their hands and brought
that which they had spun, both of blue and of purple and of
scarlet and of linen. And all the women whose hearts
stirred them up in wisdom spun goat's hair. Can you imagine? God giving them the wisdom to
do this, but also giving them the want to do this. Goes on
to tell us, and the rulers brought onyx stones and stones to be
set for the ephod and for the breastplate and spice and oil
for light and for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense.
And the children of Israel brought a willing offering unto the Lord,
every man and woman whose heart made them willing to bring for
all manner of work, which the Lord had commanded to be made
by the hand of Moses. So God made a commandment to
Moses to do this. And what does he do? He stirs
the hearts of people to want to do it. Now, that's the only
way it's going to get done. He stirs the heart. He's the
one that works in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
How come these 12 men brought these 12 oxen and these six wagons
and nobody said a word to them about it? God moved in them just
like he did in these people here. Let's look at another experience
over here in the Book of First Chronicles. The scripture is
filled with passages of scripture that share with us how and why
these men brought these offerings because it is not something new
that God brought on the subject at that time. It is just not
something new. He's been doing this for a long,
long time. He's been doing this with men
and women for a long, long time, in fact, since creation. Why
was it impressed upon Abel to take the first thing of his flock
and offer it as a sacrifice out there on that altar? Why was
it? And this other boy, he did everything he knew how to do,
but it was all wrong. You know, religion is all wrong.
I remember a preacher telling me one time, you cannot fire
the Lord's cannon with the devil's gunpowder. And when you do, you've
got a monstrosity, and it's all wrong. There's nothing right
about it. And so this young man, by the name of Abel, moved to
do the right thing. Why? Because he was stirred to
do that. Why? Because God gave him the new
birth. God opened his heart. God revealed
unto him the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And he was made
willing in the day of his power to do that very thing. First
Chronicles chapter 29. I'm getting way ahead of myself,
but this was just, it was just such a blessing to go through
here and find out how God does his business. I'll never forget
Brother Henry telling me one time when a preacher came to
him and he said, Brother Henry, I just cannot get my people to
give. You know what Brother Henry's
answer was? When they're saved, they will. That's the answer. All right. 1 Chronicles 29, verse 6. The
scriptures say this. Then the chief of the fathers
and princes of the tribes of Israel and the captains of thousands
and of hundreds with the rulers of the king worked, offered willingly,
and gave for the service of the house of God of gold 5,000. I
can't measure that amount. It's a lot. But notice that point
there, offered willingly. Now, what? What is it about natural
man's will that people want to credit to it more power than
it has ever had since the fall? These people, just like we read
over in the book of Exodus, these people here and the rest of the
readings that we're going to have did nothing willingly for
God until God moved upon them to do it. We cannot do that. We can do religious things until
we die, and people are going to do that. But when it comes
to spiritual things that honor God, we cannot do that in our
lost condition. We cannot honor God because we're
honoring ourself first. Let's look at another passage
of scripture in 2 Chronicles 35. Second Chronicles chapter
35, we have the same incident going on that we found here in
the book of Numbers chapter 7 with regard to those 12 princes of
the tribes. In 2nd Chronicles chapter 35
verse 7, and Josiah gave to the people of the flock, lambs and
kids for all for the Passover offering, for all that were present
to the number of 30,000, 3,000 bullets that were the king's
substance. Now, this is a wonderful picture
that our Passover is always provided by the king. We find over there
in the book of Exodus that they went out and got something out
of their flock. They went out and got the first
thing of the flock. Well, in this passage of scripture, we
find that the king provided all of the Passover, and that's exactly
what God does for his people. He provides the Passover lamb. We don't conscript him. We don't
go out and find him and bring him in. He is already declared
the Passover lamb before the foundation of the world in eternity
past. He was declared the Passover
lamb. And what did God the King say? I provide him. And no one
will ever come to this Passover and this Passover lamb. unless
I get interested in them and move upon them and cause them
to come to me. They will not come. You believe
not because you're not my sheep. Now, God has his interest in
this whole thing. What did he do when he moved
upon those 12 princes? His interest was going to be
provided. And what they did was going to
provide movement for that whole tabernacle. And the same continues
until our day. Pharaoh, after the children of
Israel left, Pharaoh left to himself. You know what he would
have done? Sit in his temple, or his capital building, and
said, oh my, turn with me to the book of Exodus chapter 14,
if you would, for just a moment. After the Passover, after the
children of Israel leave, we find in Exodus chapter 14, in
verse four, that God said something. Now God does this for his people,
but he also does it among unbelievers. Unbelievers do things because
God prompts them. Unbelievers do things because
God, and he doesn't necessarily, he doesn't save them. He just
uses them for his glory, his honor, and to show his power. He's going to show us as we read
in the book of Romans chapter 9 about Pharaoh, for this purpose
have I raised you up that I might show my power in you. God's going
to show his power because he is infinitely wise and gloriously
sovereign over all things. He is going to show his power
to Israel as he shows power over Pharaoh. In the book of Exodus
there in Chapter 14, we find that Pharaoh's probably in the
capital city. All the people have left and
God does something. Exodus chapter 14 verse 4 and
it says, and I, God saying, I will harden Pharaoh's heart that he
shall follow after them. Now left to himself. He would
have just said that's enough of them. But that was not God's purpose,
and he hardened his heart, and in that hardening he said, I
will go get them. What's it go on to say? The people
fled, and the heart of Pharaoh, excuse me, verse four, and I
will be honored upon Pharaoh and upon all his host, that the
Egyptians may know that I am the Lord, and they did so. And it was told the king of Egypt
that the people fled in the heart of Pharaoh and his servants were
turned against the people. And they said, why have we done
this? That we have let Israel go from
serving us. What happens? He gets in his
chariot. He gets all of his chariots together.
They head out there. And the next thing we know is
Moses is singing a song of sweet victory in God. What is this
that happens? We find in the book of Psalms,
Psalm 110. Would you turn there with me
in Psalm 110? I want to show you that this
principle is found throughout the scriptures. That it's just
not a sideline, but it is a way that God does his business. In
fact, it's a way that God saves his people. That he does not
leave them to themselves because they would never find the way.
They would never find the narrow gate. They would never find Christ. They would never turn to Christ.
They would never love God if God did not provide for them,
did not give to them, did not stir them, did not bring them,
did not call them, did not drag them, if you please. Here in
the book of Psalms 110, Psalm 110 verse 3, this wonderful passage
of scripture, thy people shall be willing in the day of thy
power. I've shared with you that I was
concerned for some time after the Lord saved me. Why didn't
he save me earlier? Why didn't he save me sooner?
Why didn't he save me from all the nonsense that I did as a
pastor and as a religionist? Well, he saved me in the day
of his power. In the beauties of holiness from
the womb of the morning until thou hast the due of thy youth.
The Lord's people shall be willing in the day of his power. Here
we are, 12 men. I don't know whether they've
ever sat down together before this. They'd been counted, but
lo and behold, they said, you know, two of us ought to get
together and provide a wagon. And every two people should provide
a wagon, and we'll have six wagons. Okay, that sounds good. And then
they said, every one of us should bring an oxen. Because we need
two oxen for every wagon. OK, let's do that. What stirred
them? What caused them to even discuss
it? What caused them to even bring it up? What was in them? They had nothing of themselves.
They had nothing that they would present to God in themselves.
But we find that they did exactly what God intended for them to
do. They were called on to provide, and they did. Now, they didn't
balk about it, they didn't argue about it. They just said, let's
do this, and that was the thing to do. The Lord God Almighty
will have his way in, he will have his way in the army of heaven
and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay
his hand or say, what doest thou? That's God's business. That's
how he saves his people. He will have his will in the
army of heaven. Among all the angels, he has
his way. He has sway over all the angels
that did not fall. I had someone ask me recently,
why did some of the angels fall and some of them not? The scriptures
tell us that the elect angels didn't fall. That's the only
difference. God had an interest in delivering
them before the foundation of the world, and they were delivered.
What about the rest? He had no interest in delivering
them, and they followed after Satan and fell. A third of the
angels fell. They're bound in chains at this
present time, waiting to wait for the judgment. We find that
God has his way, his sway in all things. That Nebuchadnezzar
came up with those words as God revealed them unto him, whether
he ever saved him or not, he was confessing the truth about
Almighty God. He will, he shall, he has his
will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the
earth. Yes, Mr. Putin, you don't know who you
serve. Yes, Norm, sometimes you don't
know who you serve. But he will have his will in
the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth,
and none can stop his hand from moving or say, What doest thou? Aren't you thankful that God
sorts out our words before they get to him? that he blocks them
before we ever get them out of our mouth sometimes because we're
no better than anybody else except what's been given to us. Only
God has been given to us and he prevents us from doing some
really stupid things. And when we do stupid things,
those sins are on the Jesus Christ on the cross. Ezra chapter one,
would you look with me back up to Ezra chapter one. Now Ezra
is after, what happened at Ezra and Nehemiah took place after
all the rest of the Old Testament. But they go back to Jerusalem
in Ezra chapter one and verse one. What an astonishing verse
of scripture this is. This is about Cyrus, Cyrus king
of Babylon. And if you've read anything about
Babylon and about the kings of Babylon, you find out that they
were not really nice guys. Here in the book of Ezra, chapter
one, we have the prophet Ezra, we have the preacher Ezra, we
have the evangelist Ezra, we have the preacher of righteousness
preaching this message. And this is exactly why those
12 men got together and brought those gifts to the tabernacle
and the Lord said to Moses, take them. Ezra chapter 1 verse 1
and now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia that the
word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled. The Lord stirred up the spirit
of Cyrus king of Persia that he made a proclamation throughout
all his kingdom and put it also in writing saying let the people
go back to Jerusalem. After 70 years of captivity,
we find that Cyrus had been prophesied of by the prophet Isaiah years
before he ever came to power, and by name he is named that
he would be the ruler that would allow the children of Israel
to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. and Cyrus at the
appointed time was moved upon by God Almighty to do exactly
what God said he would do before the foundation of the world and
in time as Isaiah brings it out. In the book of Ezra chapter 6
and verse 22, we have this passage of scripture about how God does
his business. This is how he saves people. He imposes himself upon them
or we would not be saved. I told a young man the other
day, you always look at things so negatively. If I believe that,
I'd have a God that twisted my arm up behind my back. I said,
if you're out in the Columbia River and you're drowned and
someone comes along and pulls you out of the river and breathes
life into you, are you going to be angry because he went against
your will? We're thankful that God went
against our will and made us willing in the day of his power. Without it, we wouldn't have
it. Here in the book of Ezra chapter
six and verse 22. The scriptures share this. It says, and they
kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy, for
the Lord had made them joyful and turned the heart of the king
of Assyria unto them. Can you imagine that? Another
pagan king whose heart is turned by God in favor of God's people? Well, I hope you can because
that's what came right out of the scriptures. That's what the
Bible says about it. It says there that God stirred
him in Ezra chapter 6 and verse 22, for the Lord had made them
joyful and turned the heart of the king of Assyria unto them
to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God
and the God of Israel. No, it's strange that God would
even move upon these kings to give them finances to go. It's
strange that God would even move on them to give them gold and
silver to make things as that once was. God does that so often
through the scriptures. We find in Proverbs chapter 21
and verse 1, that king's heart is in the hand of the Lord and
he turns it whithersoever he will. Now that just wasn't Solomon. That's every ruler that has ever
been from dog catcher up, The king's heart is in the hand of
the Lord. Why did he do that? Why did he
do that? You know, we find Jesus born
in Bethlehem as a result of the decree of Caesar Augustus. Now the Bible tells us that's
where he's going to be born. I'm not sure that Mary and Joseph
understood that passage of scripture when they headed down to Bethlehem
because their interest was going to fulfill the law of the land. And that was that everybody from
the house of David was to go to Bethlehem and be enrolled
for some taxation. Can you imagine? a woman very
nearly to be delivered a child and her husband going down to
Bethlehem at the behest of Caesar Augustus to be enrolled for taxation? And they did. During the time of Caesar Augustus,
a decree went out that everybody was to be, all the world was
to be taxed. And this decree went out and
touched the ear of Joseph and touched the ear of Mary and they're
in the right place at the right time so that the Son of God,
the Son of Man could be born in the right place as God intended
it to happen. Why? God moved on Caesar Augustus
many hundreds of miles away in Rome. You remember the words of Pilate?
Turn with me if you would to John 19. John 19. Now Pilate is not just being
stubborn here. Pilate has been moved upon. Pilate has been impressed. Pilate
has been stirred. God has something he wants up
on that cross. The accusation held against his
son and the reason he was taken out and crucified. He's pilot
is questioned about this pilot is strongly questioned by his
advisors He's strongly questioned about by the Jews the religious
people here in the book of John chapter 19 verse 19 the scriptures
say this and pilot wrote a title and put it on the cross and the
writing was Jesus of Nazareth the king of the Jews and Now,
if you read all three of the Gospels, you'll find out the
complete message that Pilate put up there. This is just part
of it, but you read them all, you can find the complete message.
This is the accusation. This place, it says, Jesus of
Nazareth, the King of the Jews. This title then read, many of
the Jews, for the place where Jesus was crucified was night
of the city, and it was written in Hebrew and Greek and Latin.
all the languages of the people that were around there. It was
read by the Romans, it was read by the Greeks that were around
there, and it was read by the Hebrews that were around there.
Many of those Jews still used the Hebrew language. A lot of
them had adopted the Greek language, and so it's there, so they could
all read it. And now we notice here, and said
the chief priests, of the Jews to Pilate, write not the king
of the Jews, but that he said, I am king of the Jews. And Pilate
answered, I love this. What I have written, I have written. Why did he do that? Same reason
those 12 men brought those offerings to the tabernacle. God moved
upon him a lost man. without help, without hope, and
without God in this world. The only thing he saw was a religious
squabble. When they brought Jesus to him,
it was just a religious squabble, and he'd been dealing with this
for a long, long time. But when it was finally over,
he washed his hands of the whole thing. But when it came time
to put up on that cross in three languages, the accusation, and
then he says, what I have written, I have written. To the believer. Would you turn
with me to the book of Philippians chapter 2. Philippians chapter
2. Philippians chapter 2, we find
God directing his wonderful preacher Paul. to write a letter to the
church, the saints at Philippi. Excuse me, I was corrected to
what I was over in Greece, it's Philippi. The guide we had on our tour
corrected me several times when I spoke. It's Philippi. And here in chapter two, verse
nine, wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given
him a name which is above every name. That's the Savior, the
Lord Jesus. That at the time, at the name of Jesus, every knee
should bow of things in heaven and things in earth and things
under the earth. And that every tongue should confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Wherefore, my
beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but
now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with
fear and trembling. for it is God." Now how did these
people do what he wanted them to do? How was it that they bowed
and how was it that they confessed? There was a whole bunch of people
that saw Jesus Christ in the flesh and they were stiff-kneed
and would not say a positive word about the Lord of Glory.
How is it that there is a people that will confess? Their knees
will bow and their confession will be made. How is that? Well,
it tells us right here. For it is God which worketh in
you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Now at that
great day, all those on the left hand are going to bow and they're
all going to confess. the Lord Jesus to the glory of
God the Father. But they're going to have to
have double help. In this life, those who bow to Jesus Christ,
he has given that to us, both to will, our will is so, it is
so dead that if we're not giving a will by God, we will not be
willing. But when he gives that will to
us, we are caused to both will and to do of his good pleasure. We're willing to worship. a thrice
holy God because he has revealed himself to us as the only Savior. The only Savior. All everything
else that we'd ever trusted is just a farce. He is the only
Savior. You know, we find in the book
of Luke chapter 18, We've looked at this passage many times, Luke
chapter 18, it's the Pharisee and the publican, but I want
to look at one facet here for just a moment. Luke chapter 18,
verse 10. The scriptures share this, two
men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and
the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed
thus with himself, God, I thank thee that I'm not as other men
are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. Now
he's comparing himself with others, and the scriptures tell us that
they that compare themselves with others are not wise. It's
just a fallacy, because we're no better than anybody else.
Notice this, I fast twice in a week. I give tithes of all
that I possess. You know, as I read that this
last time, I said, how much would he have given on his own if it
was not part of the law? Now, Pharisee is going to obey
the law. And in the law, there was a article there about tithing. Now, he wouldn't have given a
dime if it wasn't in the law. But you know what we find out?
God loveth a cheerful giver. Those men that brought those
oxen and those carts up there were saying, hallelujah, we get
to do this for God. They're not going to go about
bragging about it, but they're doing it because God has moved
upon them to do this. And he did the same thing for
each and every one of them that were saved by the grace of God,
that he moved upon them. He drew them, he revealed unto
them the Lord Jesus Christ. He caused them to be born again
by the spirit of God, just like he does today. And that's why
they could go on their way rejoicing and giving what they gave. The
Lord is pleased to do this. There is that lady that we read
about. The Lord Jesus is in the temple
with her. And she walks over there. As Mike brought out one
time, there's a lot of clinking going on in there because there's
metal funnels. And this guy, he throws in a
bunch of his abundance. And you know, there's one lady
that came up there and she threw in two mites. Now, I don't know
how much that is, but that's about two cents. You know what
the Lord's comment was? She of her penury hath cast in
all the living that she had. Why? Because God moved on her. You know, she realized something?
That it's not just the money that God owns. It's all of her. Every bit of her belongs to God. This is just a simple offering
when you consider that every bit. of those 12 men that took
those wagons and those oxen before Moses to be given to the use
of the tabernacle, that every bit of them from the top of the
head to the bottom of their feet belonged to Almighty God. He
was their ruler. He was their counselor. He was
their lover. He was the one that had put them
in the position that they were in. God has a purpose and that
purpose will be carried out. Every man therefore that hath
heard and learned of the Father cometh unto me. Isn't it interesting
that God would take time to teach us something about Christ? Boy,
I'll tell you when I was teaching, there are some kids I just didn't
want in class because they didn't want to learn a thing. It was
the ones who wanted to learn. Why did they? Well, I know this
about salvation, that the only reason that we want to learn
about Christ is he's done something for us. He's moved in us to both
the will and to do of his good pleasure. He saves people on
purpose. He delivers them on purpose.
He has a role in them to play on purpose and they are his. In the book of Second Thessalonians,
would you turn there with me? Second Thessalonians chapter
one and verse 11. Second Thessalonians chapter
one and verse 11. As we think about those 12 men,
unprompted by men. Moses didn't walk up to them,
boys, you got to give this. No, God moved on them and they
wanted to give it. It wasn't a law. The only reason
that God gave the law of tithing in the Old Testament was he knew
they'd do nothing unless he made a law about it. When it comes
to salvation, people want to serve the Lord. They're not forced
to serve the Lord, they want to serve the Lord. Why? We're
a new creation in Christ Jesus, a new creature in Christ Jesus. We don't do near what we want
to. We don't do near what we should. But we're doing what
we are called on to do by God Almighty. And he is pleased with
the service of his people. Welcome thou good and faithful
2 Thessalonians chapter 1 verse
11. Scripture says, wherefore also we pray always for you that
our God would count you worthy of his calling and fulfill all
the good pleasure of his goodness. Isn't that interesting? That
God would fulfill all the good pleasure of his goodness and the work
of faith with power. You know, in the book of Ephesians,
chapter 2, verse 10, it says, for we are his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works. I can just see people, as they
saw these 12 oxen going by, and these six wagons going by, and
these 12 men just being happy about taking them down there,
said, you know, those could have been sold, and the money given
to the poor. We had a man do that. He carried
the bag. He was a liar and a thief and
a devil from the beginning. And the rest of them said, I
like the smell, don't you? I like the smell, don't you? That's a wonderful smell. Sure,
fix this place up. And that smell was carried to
the cross. It's the sweet smell of a saving
Savior saving His people from their sins. Brother Mike.