It's always good to hear them
sing. It's always such a blessing. If you would, go back to the
book of Matthew tonight, and we'll go once again to chapter
11. And if I may just briefly kind
of give you the gist of the message that I endeavored to bring this
morning. Any time we open the Word of
God, and especially when we're dealing with, when we're considering
what some people may call controversial issues, not controversial to
the people of God, but things that are controversial to religious
folks any time we open the scriptures. We should approach the Word of
God or whatever subject we're endeavoring to deal with, with
these three things in mind. one, and I'll just use myself
as an example. Whatever I read, whatever I seek
to get an understanding of in the Word of God, let me follow
this truth wherever God's Word leads me. I dare not go beyond
the Word of God. I don't want to do that, but
I don't want to lag behind either. I just want to follow as an obedient
child of God whatever God has to say in His book. I must not
be guilty of judging God's Word by my very fallible intellect
and understanding. I'm not to be a critic of what
God says. I need help to understand what
he says, and I want to follow the scriptures wherever they
may lead me. If it goes contrary to things
that I was instructed in in my youth, or in another church,
whatever I've learned in my youth and whatever I've learned in
another church, then that's, if it isn't according to the
word of God, that's got to go. It's very simple. It's just got
to go. We have one body of truth, and
that's the word of God. You see, this is the only source
we have for faith and practice. So, let's go wherever the truth
of God leads us. Don't go beyond it, and don't
lag behind it. And then the second thing I endeavored
to set before you this morning, and again I'll use myself, let
me believe that which God has to say. That is, I've got to
approach whatever the scripture says with the attitude of, or
in the environment of, faith. Now I know faith is a gift of
God. I can't believe unless God gifts
me faith. And so I ask God to give me the
ability to just believe his naked word, just as God says it. Oh Lord, give me the gift to
believe and embrace that which you say. Not which the old forefathers
said, not which the old theologians said, not what the Puritans said,
Not what this preacher said, not what that preacher said,
but let me believe, let me embrace that which God says. But the scripture says, the Lord
Jesus says, thy word is truth. That's not true of everybody's
word. You let a man talk long enough up here, I'll guarantee
he's going to say something wrong. He's going to slip with his words. I can give you an error I gave. I didn't mean to. I said something
wrong in my message Wednesday. Said it right out of the box.
I didn't even bother to go back and change it. I said 30 days
and 30 nights. Should have been 40 days and
40 nights. Well, when I didn't used to visit it, I already made
that blunder. You get up here and you talk
long enough, there's something's going to come out that's not
going to be right. But everything God says is right. It cannot be improved upon. Oh God, give me faith to just
believe that which you say. Thirdly, Lord, let me have a
teachable spirit. Let me, in approaching any subject,
any biblical subject, let me have the attitude of a little
child. Let me be like a sponge and just
soak up the truth. Let me, when it comes to the
things of God, let me be like a, Let my heart be like a blank. Lord, write your word on my heart. I don't want preconceived ideas. I don't wanna take what God has
to say and then put them in the mold of my understanding. You see, that's what too many
people do, and if it doesn't fit, then they just cast the
word of God aside. I must not do that because my
mold isn't good anyway. We're sinful people. We have
sinful minds. We have sinful understanding.
And by nature, we have no spiritual understanding. We have no knowledge. So as I come to the Word of God,
I must approach it this way. Oh, God of grace, give me a teachable
spirit Let me be like a child. Teach me. Now these things are
true with regard to every biblical subject, but especially the subject
that we're dealing with today, the God of sovereign grace. God
is sovereign. What does that mean? God reigns,
you say, but the word sovereign is not in the Bible. Neither
is the word trinity. But that truth is taught in the
Bible, the truth of the Trinity. And the doctrine of God's sovereignty
is taught in the Bible. The root word is reign. God reigns. That's simply what sovereignty
is. God reigns. It's his absolute independent
right to govern that which he has made according to his own
will and pleasure. And he's made everything. And
so he says, cannot I do what I will with my own? Well, how much is his own? All
of it, everybody. God has the right and he exercises
that right to do as he wills with everything and everybody. To say that God is sovereign
is to simply say that God is God. and that he conducts himself
as God. Ask a heathen king. His name
was Nebuchadnezzar. And God taught him who reigns. God brought him down, that arrogant
heathen king. That monarch who thought that
he arrived at his greatness through his own ingenuity, and he built
a magnificent city due to his own great intelligence. And God
brought him down and showed him he's nothing. It's God who raises
up men, it's God who brings men down. It's God who raises up
nations, it's God who brings nations down. And after God dealt
with him in a very severe way, and his mind and his reason and
his intelligence came back to him. He said, at the end of the
days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes to heaven, mine
understanding returned to me, and I blessed the Most High,
and I praised and honored him that liveth forever, whose dominion
is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation
to generation, and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. And he doeth according to his
will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the
earth and none can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest thou? That's what Nebuchadnezzar said.
What does it mean to stay his hand? None can stay his hand.
You go out with your little grandson or granddaughter or your son
or your daughter. You go out with them to the store
and they see a toy. And they reach for it and they
get hold of it. Put that back. And they put it
back. Now don't you touch it again.
And then you're busy shopping or whatever. And you look over
there and there he goes again. I told you don't touch that. puts it back, and you go about
shopping. And then he starts to do it again,
but you're on to him now. And you're kind of looking out
of the corner of your eye, and he goes to reach for it again,
and you grab his hand. You can't do that. And you pull
it back in. Nobody's gonna reach out and
grab God's hand and pull it back and say, you can't do that. None
can stay his hand. His is the hand of might. His
is the hand of power. When God goes to do something,
He will do it. There's no power in heaven, earth,
or hell, and all of the powers combined cannot frustrate God
when He sets out to do something. And if your God can be frustrated,
if your God can be hindered, if somebody can stay His hand,
my friend, you've got the wrong God. Your God's not worth worshiping. He's not worth honoring because
he has no power. The scripture says of God, his
purpose cannot be defeated. His will cannot be frustrated. His authority cannot be overcome. He is the only potentate and
he is the Lord of lords. First Timothy chapter six and
verse 15. Now this is a glorious doctrine
loved of God's people. In times of suffering and times
of affliction, it soothes the soul. To know that our heavenly
Father, who loved us with an everlasting love, who in love
gave us to Christ Jesus in saving grace, and Christ Jesus pledged
himself to be our surety, God the Father joined us to the Son,
To know that this God who has loved us forever, to know that
He is governing all things in my life and these trials and
afflictions that come to pass, to know that He's behind them
all, is to soothe the heart. And to know that He is working
all things according to the counsel of His own will. Listen, if God
is not sovereign, if God doesn't reign in all things, will you
pray tell me how in the world can Romans 8, 28 be true? How can you find any comfort
there? How can you find any consolation
if God doesn't rule over everything in the heaven, in the earth,
and under the earth? How can you ever believe or find
any consolation in the fact that, and we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are called
according to His purpose. If He doesn't rule, if there's
something He doesn't rule over, well then how can He say everything
will work out for your good? The reason all things will work
together for your good is because the one who's working all things
is God. That's the reason. And when we
realize that, when we as a child, we come to the scriptures. And
we receive that, the Lord teaches us that, and we believe it by
faith. We walk down this road and we
see God Almighty, our Heavenly Father, governs all things. It's then that the worry ceases. That's when our own minds cease
to torment us with anxiety and doubts. and fears. In times of trial, a knowledge
and a confidence in the God who governs all things, it'll cause
your heart to be at peace. It may be a storm brewing all
around you, and others may be going to pieces. But yet if you know and understand
God rules, you can be calm. When they were taking Paul to
Rome and a nor'easter came up, the Lord sent a storm and they
were throwing stuff off the ship and everybody was so afraid.
There's one man in the ship who wasn't afraid. What's the matter
with this guy? You lost your mind? No, I believe
God. I believe God, because God said,
the ship's going down, but there won't be any loss of life. I
believe God. That's what he said. That's what
I want to do. I want to believe God. Oh, we find great consolation
in this. And yet, as much as this truth
is loved by the people of God, even so it is hated by the enemies
of the gospel. I suppose no attribute of God
brings out the rebellious nature of man quite like this one does. The unregenerate man is quite
happy to have God dispensing his blessings from his heavenly
storehouse. But when God takes the throne
of sovereignty with regards to grace, that's when men get upset. If you don't believe it, read
again Luke chapter four. Our Lord Jesus Never a man spake
like this man. He goes into Galilee, and he
opens the Scripture when it's given to him, and the portion
of Scripture that was to be read was a portion that fit the Savior. The Spirit of God's upon me.
He read the Scripture, laid it aside, and then he began to give
a couple of illustrations, one related to Elijah, the other
one to Elisha. Before him were religious folk. These are church-going people,
synagogue-attending people, people who said they believed the Bible,
people who prayed, people who gave, people who fasted. These are not irreligious people. These are not non-religious people. These are very religious people.
And he began to set before them the sovereign grace of God. He
said, in the days of Elijah, there were many widows in Israel. And they could say, you know,
that's right. When our country had been to war, a lot of the
men had died, left their wives as widows. And they were poor,
they were needy. Amen, that's true. And then he said, but to none
of them was Elijah sent. Instead, he was sent to a widow
who was a Gentile. And boy, that took him back.
Didn't like that point so much. And he said, and furthermore,
not only did God show partiality to that Gentile widow woman in
meeting her need, but in the days of Elisha, there were lots
of lepers in Israel, but to none of them was God's servant Elisha,
to none of them was he sent, but to Naaman, who was a Syrian
general. Yea, even an enemy of Israel. And then all those fine upstanding
religious folks got all upset. And it's like they lost their
minds. Well, what would push them over
the edge like that? What drove them to madness? What drove them to vent their
anger and their hatred toward this preacher of whom it was
said, never a man spake like this man. Who earlier in the
book, they were astonished at his doctrine and now they're
all upset. What in the world has he said?
He has preached the sovereignty of God in grace. He has set forth distinguishing
grace. You see, you can preach grace
in general. Speak of it in generalities. Yes, we believe God is a gracious
God. But if you get specific, as the
Bible does, that God shows saving grace to one person and not to
another person, to these and not to those, that he has reserved
for himself a remnant according to the election of grace. Now, if you preach that, then
folks are gonna get upset with you. You see, The scripture says,
and I had Ron read for us this morning out of the book of Romans
chapter nine. And I deliberately asked him
to stop at verse 18. Because verse 18 of Romans chapter
nine says, therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy
and whom he will he hearteneth. In the context, it's about the
Lord raising up Pharaoh. The Lord raised him up. In fact,
if you go back in the scriptures, you will read in the book of
Exodus that the Lord told Moses to say this to Pharaoh, for this
same purpose, I raised you up. Who put Pharaoh on the throne?
The same one who had him formed in his mother's belly. The same
one who equipped him with whatever intellect and whatever gifts,
whatever leadership qualities that he would need to be Pharaoh
of Egypt. He's in the right family. And
then he's put upon the throne of Egypt. And then he gives vent
to his hatred of Israel. And God Almighty raised him up,
put him on the throne to use him, to use him. God hardened his heart. He hardened
his heart because God is going to teach a gospel truth. And Pharaoh will have to go through
some channels. There's some things he's going
to have to face before then God will reveal to Israel the way
he saves sinners, the way he spares people, the way he rescues
by killing a Passover lamb. And that picture of the Lord
Jesus, our Savior, the Lamb of God. So all of this fit into
God's eternal purpose. This morning I took you here
to Matthew chapter 11, and I want to show you the sovereignty of
God here. The sovereignty of God's grace.
This one who raised up Pharaoh. This one who does his will among
the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.
And let me say this, first of all, here's sovereignty and human
responsibility. Look at verses 20 through 24. He began to upbraid the cities
wherein most of his mighty works were done because they didn't
repent. Woe unto thee, Chorazin, woe
unto thee, Bethsaida, for if the mighty works which were done
in you had been done entirely in Sidon, they would have repented
long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, it shall
be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment
than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art
exalted unto heaven, shall be brought down to hell. For if
the mighty works which had been done in thee had been done in
Sodom, it would have remained to this day. Now, two times our
Lord uses the word if. If. Verse 21 and verse 23. If, if the mighty works had been
done there, some would have repented, and as it is with Sodom, some
would remain. But, listen to this, the works,
the works were not done there. They weren't done in Tyre and
Zion. They weren't done in Sodom. And
I think it would be safe to say neither was the word preached
in Tyre and Sidon and in Sodom. Well, why not? Why weren't miracles
performed there? Because God did not purpose that
the people of Tyre and Sidon and the people of Sodom should
have the same privileges as the cities and towns of Galilee. Don't tell me God treats all
people the same. He treats people according to
the way He purposes to treat people. He deals with us as He
will. He's under no obligation to you. He's under no obligation to me. He's only obligated to His own
covenant purpose. And that which is naturally owed
to us is no mercy, no grace, no blessing, no heaven, no salvation. That which is owed to us is death,
judgment, and hell. That's what we got coming to
us by nature. And the Lord Jesus, He specifically
says to these people, Listen, if I had done the things in Tyre
and Sidon that I've done here before you, things would have
been different for them, but I didn't. Well, why didn't you? Because I wasn't pleased to do
it. And if I'd done some of the things in Sodom that I've done
for you in Capernaum, it would still be in existence today,
but it's long gone, buried under the Dead Sea. And the reason
they're gone and the reason you still exist is the sovereign
will of God. You see, let me make this application. Don't take lightly the privilege
of hearing the gospel. You are responsible for what
you hear, what you had an opportunity to hear, and maybe what you chose
not to hear. Don't take it lightly. The Lord Jesus did not do miracles
in every city and town and village that he came across, and he did
not proclaim the gospel in every city, town, and village that
he came across. There were areas that were denied
his works. There were areas who were denied
his preachers. When he sent forth his disciples,
he said, do not go into the Gentile nations. That's what he said.
But everybody deserves a chance to be saved. That's what people
say. Well, first of all, salvation's
not but chance. It's on purpose. And it is not
true that everybody deserves to hear the truth. Nobody deserves
to hear the truth. And if anybody hears of Christ
and Him crucified, if anybody hears of the full forgiveness
of sins, if anybody hears of imputed righteousness, if anybody
hears of the sacrifice of the Son of God in order that God
might be just and justify the ungodly, that's God's sovereign
right to have them hear it and another group not to hear it. There's an excellent example
of this in Acts chapter 16. where Paul assayed his desire
to go into a certain area and preach, and the Spirit of God
said, No! He said, Well, I'll go over into
this area, and the Spirit of God said, No! You're not going
there either. You mean they're not gonna hear
the gospel? That's exactly what that means. And if they don't
hear the gospel, nobody's gonna be saved. If they don't hear
the gospel, the Lord's not gonna reveal himself any other way
except through the gospel. And the Lord said, don't preach
the gospel over there. That's God's sovereign will and
purpose. And how many, we have folks who
drove long ways down here, drove a long ways over here from St.
Louis? Why isn't there a gospel church
in that area or the other area, over here, over yonder? That's left to God's sovereign
purpose. He'll send His Word where He
will. You read in the book of Amos,
do you know what the Lord said? He said, the day will come when
I will send a famine. Who's gonna send it? God said,
I will. I'm going to send a famine. Not
a famine for bread, but a famine for the word of God. What, the
devil's gonna do that? No, not the devil. God said,
I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna do it. He doesn't have
to send the gospel to a place. He didn't send it to Tyre and
Sidon and Sodom. He didn't have the works done
there. It's up to the Lord. Look, turn over with me to Matthew
chapter 13. Matthew chapter 13. Here's the
sovereignty of His grace. Look at Matthew chapter 13. In verse nine, having given this
parable of the sword, he says, who hath ears to hear? Matthew
13, nine. Who hath ears to hear? Let him
hear. And his disciples came and said unto him, why speakest
thou unto them in parables? To them, to these enemies of
the gospel. while you speak in parables.
He answered and he said unto them, because it is given unto
you. What does given mean? Granted.
It's divinely granted unto you. It is divinely gifted unto you
to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, to know the
gospel, to know how God saves sinners. to know that the need
of men and women of redemption and reconciliation and righteousness,
it's given to you to know. But to them, it isn't given. It isn't given. Well, who does He give it to?
Whomever He will. And then go back to Matthew 11
quickly. Let me show you the sovereignty
of God in the hiding and revealing of truth. Look at verse 25. At that time, back in Matthew
11, 25, at that time, Jesus answered, and I indicated to you this morning,
he is now praying to the Father. And I suspect, though I do not
know, I suspect he's praying just silently from the heart. Maybe he did pray out loud, I
don't know. But at that time, Jesus answered. It would appear
to me that, of course, he and the Father were continually in
communication and in fellowship. And in his mind and in his heart,
He giving forth the very word of the Father because he is the
obedient, righteous servant of God. The Father has spoken to
him and now he speaks back to the Father. At that time, Jesus
answered. Usually you answer somebody if
they've said something to you. Does that make sense? You answer
somebody if they've said something to you. So this would indicate
to me that the Father has communicated to the Son, and now the Son is
going to communicate to the Father. And he says, I thank thee, O
Father, Lord of heaven and earth. There's sovereignty right there.
Master of heaven and earth. Because thou has hid these things
from the wise and the prudent, from those who are intelligent,
from those who are smart, and has revealed them unto babes.
Watch, he thanked God, he thanked the Father for two things, for
hiding truth and revealing truth. Isn't that something? He thanks
the Father for those two things. I thank thee, look at the word
again. I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because
thou hast, number one, hid these things. from the wise and the prudent,
and hast revealed them unto babes. And then he gives the reason
for that. You know what the reason is?
Verse 26, even so, father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. Say, you who believe the gospel,
Do you have family members who don't believe the gospel? I do. Why is it that I believe and
others don't? Why is it that you believe and
your brother, your sister, your mother, your father, your husband,
your wife, somebody in your family, why is it you believe and they
don't? Well, here's the reason. because
it pleased God to reveal the truth to you and to hide the
truth from them. That's what I take away from
this passage of scripture. And listen, I'm going as far
as the scripture takes me on this, and I'm not gonna go any
further. And I trust by God's grace to
believe what he says and to receive it as a little child. Look at the parallel passage
to this in Luke chapter 10. Turn with me to Luke chapter
10. This is Luke's account of the very same instance recorded
back in Matthew 11. Our Lord has sent forth the 70, and he tells them what to expect,
and so I won't go into that. But he does say this to them
in verse 11. He says, well, sorry, verse 10. He said, but into whatsoever
city you enter, and they receive you not, go your ways out into
the streets of the same and say, even the very dust of your city
which cleaveth on us, we do wipe off against you. Notwithstanding,
be you sure of this, that the kingdom of God has come nigh
unto you. But I say unto you that it shall be more tolerable
in the day for Sodom and for that city woe unto thee, Chorazin,
woe unto thee, Bethsaida, for if the mighty works which had
been done in Tyre and Sidon, which had been done in, if they'd
been done in you, they'd have had a great while ago repented
sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it shall be more tolerable
for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment than for you, and
thou, Capernaum, which are exalted to heaven shall be thrust down
to hell. He that heareth you heareth me,
he that despiseth you despiseth me, and he that despiseth me
despiseth him that sent me. Now, verse 17, and the 70 returned
again with joy. saying, Lord, even the devils
are subject unto us through thy name. And he said unto them,
I beheld, in other words, I was watching. I beheld Satan as lightning fall
from heaven. I saw what was happening because
that which was happening was according to my will. He said,
behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions,
and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any
means hurt you, notwithstanding in this rejoice not that the
spirits are subject unto you, but rather rejoice because your
names are written in heaven. In that hour, in that hour, Jesus rejoiced. He rejoiced in his spirit, and
he said, I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that
thou hast hid these things from the wise and the prudent. He
rejoiced in the hiding of the gospel truths from some, and
has revealed them unto babes. He rejoiced in the revelation
of truth to others. And then he gives the reason,
even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. Do you see this? The Savior rejoiced
in his soul in the absolute sovereignty of the grace of God. He rejoiced. He rejoiced in the God who does
all of his pleasure. Do you? Let us rejoice. You see, this is where the scripture
leads us. To rejoice in the Lord who accomplishes
His sovereign purpose in those that are saved and in those that
are damned. And those to whom He reveals
the truth and in those to whom He hides the truth. And if He
hides the truth from somebody, there is no way They'll never
know the truth. He makes sure they stay in the
dark. Boy, I'm glad he made sure I'd
have some light. Aren't you thankful for that?
He didn't leave you. He didn't leave you in your natural
estate. He could have, but he didn't. You say, well, why is it the
Lord hides the truth from some and he reveals it to others?
Well, the answer is given. Even so, Father, so it seemed
good in thy sight. Of course, that doesn't make
sense to me. Oh, there's that human reasoning
again. You see, I tell you, in Romans
chapter nine, that passage you read this morning, and even further
down about the potter and the clay, our Lord led the apostle
to answer these objections. Well, if this is the way it is,
how can God find anybody accountable? Who are you to reply against
God? Well, it doesn't make sense to me. It doesn't have to make
sense to you. In fact, it won't make sense
to your polluted, ungodly, wicked mind. The ways of God are infinite
and past finding out. Romans chapter 11 says that.
If you want a God you can figure out, if you want a God that you
can wrap your mind around, it'll be a God about this big. And
he can't help you. Only the infinite God, the God
of eternality can save you. Now, maybe somebody might say,
well, he hides it from some people because they're just, they're
too hard-hearted and just enemies against his truth and they just
refuse to believe. Well, to that sort of reasoning,
and there you go reasoning again. To that sort of reasoning, I
would reply this way. Is there anything too hard for
the Lord? I read about a man in Acts chapter
nine, tough guy. And he was mighty in his intellect. He went to seminary. He sat at
the feet of Gamaliel, main Jewish rabbi, teacher of that day. He
hated Jesus Christ. I mean, he despised him. In fact,
if you go back a little bit in the scriptures, when they stoned
Stephen, he said, let me hold you, coach. Get a better shot
at him. Give it to him, boys. And all the while, Stephen was
saying, lay not this sin to their charge. And he didn't lay it
to Saul's charge. Christ had already paid for his
sin. And in Acts chapter 9, that self-righteous
Pharisee, he's the tallest tree in the forest of Phariseeism. He got chopped down. Don't tell
me there's somebody too hard, too far gone, too lost, but what
the grace of God can't find. He just cut that man, he cut
the roots. He went right down to the roots. Now, it isn't that the reason
he hides the truth from some is because they're just too far
gone. He hides the truth from some
because even so, Father, so it seemed good in thy sight. And
He reveals the truth to some, even to you. Because even so
Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. It's the only reason
you believe. It's the only reason any of us
in here, it's the only reason anybody has ever believed the
Gospel, is because even so Father, for so it seemed good in thy
sight. He goes on to say this. Look
in verse 23, still in Luke 10. He turned him unto his disciples
and said privately, blessed are your eyes which see the things
you see. I tell you, many prophets and
kings have desired to see the things that you see and they
hadn't seen them and to hear the things that you hear and
they haven't heard. Blessed are your eyes. You're
blessed. And those to whom the truth is
hidden, they're cursed. He's the God who curses. He's
the God who blesses. Do you hear and love and believe
the gospel? Or to know it, or to express
it another way, do you know the Lord? Do you know the Lord? You know what eternal life is?
To know God and Jesus Christ, whom God has sent. Well, here's
another question. Why doesn't everybody have eternal
life? If eternal life is to know God
and Jesus Christ whom he sent, that's John chapter 17, verses
two and three. Why doesn't everybody have eternal
life? Because everybody doesn't know
God. Everybody doesn't know Jesus
Christ. Well, who does know God? those
to whom He reveals Himself. Go back, let me just show you
this real quick, and I'll quit. Gone too long again. Matthew
chapter 11. Watch this. Matthew chapter 11. Look at verse 27. All things are delivered unto
me of my Father. Literally, all things have been
delivered to me of my Father. And no man knoweth the Son, but
the Father. Neither knoweth any man the Father
save the Son. Now, we've just talked about,
established this from John 17. Here's eternal life, to know
God and to know Jesus Christ. And the Savior says, No man knoweth
the Son, but the Father, neither knoweth any man the Father save
the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. The
only way you'll know God is by revelation. And he hides the truth from some,
he reveals it to others. Well, That means salvation of the Lord,
that's what that means. And then I'll give you this and
quit. Here's the sovereignty of God in coming to Christ. Verses
28 through 30. Coming to me all you that labor
and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. Who you reckon
will come to Christ? Those that are made to labor
under the heavy burden of sin. Who would those be? Those who
are taught of God. Those who revealed their need.
The Savior says, that's who will come to me. He says, take my
yoke upon you and learn of me. Not the yoke of the law, take
my yoke. I'm meek and lowly in heart.
You'll find rest for your souls. My yoke is easy, my burden is
light. That's what it says. And I'll wrap this up. Are you willing to follow the
Word of God? What it says about the sovereignty
of His grace? I think I've led you down today
a straight path. I've stayed with the Word of
God. I haven't gone beyond what the scripture says, but I haven't
stopped short either. By the grace of God, I am willing
to go where the word of God leads me. And secondly, are you willing
to receive what you've heard by faith? And I say, Lord, I
believe, help thou mine unbelief. And thirdly, are you willing
to have the mind and attitude of a teachable child? Speak,
Lord. I'm ready to hear. You say, Jim,
how is this going to help me? What kind of application can
I make of these two messages today to me? Well, first of all,
I hope it leads you to worship, and that's the most important
thing of all. I hope it leads you to worship God, to have high
thoughts of God. Oh, oh, how glorious He is. How gracious He is to us for
this God who made all things, who governs all things to speak
to a worm like me, to you, by His Spirit that He would send
His Son to redeem us. Isn't that marvelous? I hope
it leads us to just bask in the wonders of His free and sovereign
grace to you and to me. And I hope it leads us to be
thankful. Why you? Why you? Why should the truth be revealed
to you and it's hidden from your brother, hidden from your sister? Hidden from your neighbor. Here
you get the word of God out. Your neighbor sees you and you're
getting in your car. Where are y'all going? Going
to worship God. Well, y'all have a good time.
We're going down to the park. Okay. Who made you to be different?
Oh, that's a question Paul asks. Who made thee to differ from
another? And I'll tell you this. It'll help you to rejoice in
time of trial. It's the Lord. Let him do what
seemeth him good in his sight, because I am assured in his word,
though I can't comprehend it, I can't figure it out. I've given
up trying. But I am assured that all the
things that he brings to pass in my life, it's gonna work together
to fulfill his purpose and be for my good. I can't figure it
out. Ain't no use for me to try. My
little peanut brain, I don't use but just a very small percentage
of that. Now, I can't comprehend his ways,
but I do believe he knows exactly what he's doing. I rejoice in
the Father's love, the Father's grace, the Father's wisdom. Don't you? I know you do. Let's sing a closing song. Let's
sing praise to the Savior. Majestic sweetness sits enthroned. That's number 52. Number 52. Had to preach long
this morning and tonight because I'm not going to be preaching
to you for a while. I'm going to cram it all in here in two
messages. I hope I didn't lose you along
the way, and I hope it's been food for your soul, and mainly
I hope it's been glorifying the God. 52, let's stand and sing.