Good evening. Let's all stand
together. We'll sing hymn number 268. 268. How firm a foundation These saints
of the Lord Is laid for your faith In His excellent Word What
more can He say than to you He has said, to you To pour refuge
to Jesus at last. Fear not, I am with thee, O be
not dismayed. For I am thy God, I will still
give thee aid. I'll strengthen thee, help thee,
and cause thee to stand. Upheld by my gracious omnipotent
hand ? When through the deep waters
I call thee to go ? ? The rivers of woe shall not be overflowed
? ? For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless ? When
sanctified to be thy deepest distress, When through fiery
trials thy pathway shall lie, My grace all-sufficient shall
be thy supply, The flame shall not burn thee, I only design
Thy draws to consume and thy gold to refine. The soul that on Jesus hath laid
for repose, I will not, I will not desert to his foes. That soul, though all ill, should
endeavor to shake I'll never, no never, no never foresee Be
seated. Just across the page we'll sing
hymn number 266. Faith, faith, each earthly joy,
Jesus is mine. Break every tender tie, Jesus
is mine. Dark is the wilderness, ? There's no resting place ? Jesus
alone can rest ? Jesus is mine ? Did it not my soul away ? Jesus
is mine Ever stay, Jesus is mine. Perishing pains of blame, Born
but for one brief day. ? Jesus is mine ? Farewell you
dreams of thine ? Jesus is mine ? Lost in this dawning cry ?
Jesus is mine My soul has tried, left but a
dismal void. Jesus has satisfied, Jesus is
mine. Farewell mortality, Jesus is
mine. Welcome eternity, Jesus is mine. Acts chapter 12, Acts chapter
12. Last week we've seen where Peter
was set free out of prison. But let's start reading at verse
20 to the end of the chapter. Acts 12, verse 20. And Herod was highly displeased
with them of Tyre and Sidon, but they came with one accord
to him, and having made Blastus the king's chamberlain their
friend, desired peace, because their country was nourished by
the king's country. And upon a set day, Herod arrayed
in royal apparel, and upon his throne, and made an oration unto
them. And the people gave a shout,
saying, It is the voice of a God, not of a man. And immediately
the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory. And he was eaten of worms, and
gave up the ghost. But the word of God grew and
multiplied. And Paul and Barnabas returned
from Jerusalem, when they had fulfilled their ministry, and
took with them John, whose surname was Mark. Our Lord and our God, in the
blessed, blessed name of your Son, our Lord, our Savior, our
Redeemer. Oh Lord, we're so thankful that
we can come into the holiest of holies, that you made a new
and living way for us, that you're the sacrifice that God accepted,
the blood's been applied, the mercy seats there, And Lord,
you made a way we could come into the, behind the veil itself
because of your blood. And oh Lord, in the presence
of God almighty, what a blessing, what a blessing, what a mercy,
what a privilege. And Lord, we thank you for it.
And we thank you for opening the door for us this evening
to gather together worship, put it in our hearts to do it. And
Lord, I ask that you'd please meet with us tonight in the preaching
of your blessed word and the gospel of the grace of God. And
Lord, we pray for those who are not with us. We pray for James
who has surgery tomorrow on his shoulder. God bless him. Lord,
strengthen him. And Lord, we pray for those others
that are not with us, Fran and Rick and Helen and those, Lord,
who are not with us because they Just not with us, and Lord, we
ask for your mercies, oh God, upon them all. Please meet with
us tonight. Have mercy upon our loved one.
Save your people in his place. We ask in Christ's name, amen. Amen. Hymn number 255. 255. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory
divine. Pair of salvation, purchase of
God. Born of His Spirit, washed in
His blood. This is my song, praising my
Savior all the day long. this is my story this is my song
praising my savior all the day long perfect submission perfect
delight visions of Angels descending bring from
above Echoes of mercy, whispers of love This is my song. Praising my Savior all the day
long. This is my story. This is my song Praising my Savior
All the day long Perfect submission Always at rest I in my Savior
Am happy and blessed Watching and waiting, looking above Filled
with His goodness, lost in His love This is my story, this is
my song Praising my Savior all the day long This is my story,
this is my song Praising my Savior all the day long. It says there in verse 23, Chapter 12, and immediately the
angel of the Lord smote him. Here's the title of my message.
He gave not God the glory. He gave not God the glory. There's
no height, there's no depth, there's no breadth that man's
pride and self-righteousness will take him. I mean, it'll
take him so high, make him so proud, And the Word of God is
full of men whose price lifted them up to great, great heights. Darius, king over Babylon. Beldeshazzar, he got so high
and lifted up, he took the silver cups and the gold cups that he
took out of the tabernacle, out of the temple of God, and used
them, had a big party in it. We're using them to drink out
of. And then there's old Belteshazzar. Oh, my. And especially Pharaoh. Especially Pharaoh. And then
there's Nimrod. He was so proud and so full of
himself that he said, I tell you what we're going to do. We're
going to build a tower and we're going to build it all the way
to heaven. He thought we can build a tower and get to heaven
by it. Thought they could get to God by playing brick after
brick after brick and climbing up as the brick go. And I'll
tell you in history books, not only that, but history books,
Nebuchadnezzar, let me tell you about him. He had a statue made
60 foot high, 60 foot tall. And if you did, when you heard
music, if you didn't bow down to him, they'd kill you. They'd
kill you. Now I'll tell you, you feeling
pretty good about yourself, you make a statue of 60 foot high. Well, that's, you know, Oral
Roberts saw a 900-foot Jesus one time, told him to build a
hospital. He'd been in the healing business
all his life until he started building that hospital. But anyway,
the Word of God's full of men whose pride lifted them up to
great, great heights. And the history books, history
books are full. of the exploits of men whose
pride, whose arrogance and ego took them to great fame, took
them to great, great fortune. But they all have one thing about
their pride. They not only have their pride
and their self-righteousness, they have that in common, but
every one of them fall, every one of them fail, every one of
them went all the way down. And that's like this man right
here. And oh, and how grievous was their fall. The higher up
you are, the harder you fall. That's what they say. That old
saying is, the bigger they are, the harder they fall. Well, that's
the way it is, these fellows, so big and mighty and powerful.
But now I want you to look at old Herod here. First of all,
in verse 20, Herod was highly displeased with
them of Tyre and Sidon, and they came with one accord to him,
having made peace. The court made and blasted the
King's Chamber and their friend is desired peace because their
country is nourished by the King's country. He was a great man,
had great, great power. You know, it says in the margin
there, where you see that little three there, in the margin it
says they bear a hostile mind intending on war. He hated these
folks he's fixing to declare war on them. Well, they counted
the cost. You know, and he was a, he was
great in power. He had power over life and he
had power over death. You remember, he killed James.
He killed James, and I mean, he said it all had made the Jews
feel so good that he started on Simon Peter. And I tell you
what, he had, and there in verse 19, he had all the soldiers killed
that went looking for Peter and couldn't find him. He killed
all, every one of them, 16 of them. 16 men he killed because Peter could
not be found in the prison anywhere. It wasn't THEIR fault that God
took him out of there, it wasn't THEIR fault that God brought
him out of the prison, it wasn't THEIR fault that God done that,
but Herod being the wicked, evil man that he was, he killed them,
had them all slain, bring them here, kill them, kill them, kill
them. He was displeased with Tyre and
Sidon. It says they were fixing to make
war. He was intending war in them. And the scripture says
they came with one peace, seeking peace. Came with one accord,
desired peace. They wanted some peace. And he
was displeased with them. They came. What happened was
they counted the cost. I'll tell you what, that's what
our Lord told us. He said, count the cost. ain't
no man gonna build a tower, he don't sit down first and count
what the cost, what's gonna cause him to build it. And there ain't
nobody gonna go to war with 20,000 against 100,000 unless he sits
down and casts the cost. And he said, when he looks at
that, he said, I'm gonna send me an ambassador. That's what
they done here, they sent an ambassador. He said, oh, hear
it, hear it, hear it, please. Don't declare war on us. Save
us! Don't come and war on us!" And
they come to sign peace, and how they done it was the king
and all the kings, they do this, the kings in Rome, all wealthy,
wealthy people have what they call a valet, Well, this was
the king's ballet. He took care of the king's chamberlain.
He made sure that the bed was made, his clothes was laid out,
that he was dressed right, that everything was done just exactly
right, according to protocol, according to the king. So they
made friends with him, and so they got a hearing from Herod. And oh my, they saved themselves. They wanted to save themselves
and their country. And that's why they did said,
Oh, our country is nourished. I mean, they, they lived off
of the, of Herod's country. And then look in verse 21. Oh,
he had great power, had great power. And it says here that
upon a set day, upon a set day, after these fellas came and desired
peace, they set a day. They set a day. I tell you what, you know, it's
the day that he's going to get up and he's going to make a big
speech, going to make a great speech. And up on a set day,
arrayed in royal apparel, he put on his king's robes, put
on his crown, had his throne setting up there for everybody
to look at. And he had his throne there, and he'd come out there
in his great royal apparel, and most royal apparel is royal blue
and scarlet, all made together. And here he was, he comes up
here, and he got on his royal apparel, and he gets up and sits
down on his throne. Oh, boy, look at my throne. And
all these folks are gathered around him, and oh, look what
he says now. And he made an oration. He began to, he was an orator,
made a great oration, made a great speech, and really impressed
everybody. If you've ever read Charles Spurgeon,
any of his messages, you talk about an orator. He was an orator. I mean, he used language and
flowery language, but he was used of God, but that was Elizabethan
English. But anyway, here he comes, and
he sits on his throne, and he makes oration unto him. And oh,
look what happens. And the people shouted, they
shouted. They gave a great, all the people
that's gathered around there from Tyre and Sidon and everybody
around there that day said, shout with a great shout. It's the
voice of a God and not of a man. Oh, listen, he accepted their
praise. They said, it's the voice of a God, not of a man. But really
it was the voice of a man and certainly not God. But look what
it says next. And immediately, immediately
when he gave not God the glory, God smote him, smote him. He gave not God the glory. And
I tell you, there's a consequences of God not giving God the glory.
There's a consequences of God not getting all the glory. And
God, he had a horrible death. I mean, he had a horrible death.
I was reading again about it today. And a fellow named Josephus,
the historian for Jews in Israel, he lived in these days. He lived
in the days of Christ. And it's a story of fact. He
wrote about Jesus. He wrote about the Lord Jesus
Christ. But he described this, what happened to him, what happened
to Herod. He described it in his history
book. And he said this man, after he gave not God the glory, he's
sitting there in his royal apparel, and everything was just so great,
so wonderful, that he said that the minute he was smoked, said
he got sick sitting there. And he got violently ill. And
when it says the worms devoured him, that means the worms got
in his gut. The worms got inside his body.
And the worms began to eat him from the inside out. And that's
what he, it took him five days. They said, history said it took
him five days of miserable, wretched, awful, painful death. All because he gave not God the
glory. You know, I tell you, that's
when the scriptures tells us, no flesh is glory in His Spirit.
If any man glory, let him glory in the Lord. Oh, it took him
several days to die. And he was smitten immediately
when he didn't rebuke these people. You remember when Peter went
to Cornelius's house and Cornelius bowed down, Peter jumped up,
get up, get up. I'm just a man like you. And
another time they come and they said, I thought he was an angel.
Get up! I'm not an angel, I'm just a
man, just like you. These men, they wouldn't accept
that, but this fella accepted it. Oh, Herod accepted it. He
thought it was his due. He thought it was right. He thought
he was due of him getting all the praise and getting all the
glory and being treated like a god. Oh, my. Let me, keep Acts 12, and I want
you to go over here with me and Daniel. Look in Daniel chapter
four. Here's another situation. Here's
another situation of a person who gave not God the glory. Boy, it'd be an awful death to
die the way Herod died. I mean, you know, God didn't
wait 24 hours. He didn't wait a week. while
he was there bragging on him and saying, it's the voice of
a God, not of man. While he was doing that, the
words never got out of his mouth. And when he didn't rebuke them
and tell them, God came down and smote him. And you know,
it talks about, you know, God sending men to the place where
the worm dieth not, the fires never quench and the worm dieth
not. You know what the worm, I think
the worm is that man's going to have in hell. It's their own
conscience. IT WILL EAT AT THEM ALL THROUGH
ETERNITY, THE WORM OF THEIR CONSCIENCE WILL EAT ON THEM, AND IT WILL
MAKE THEM REALIZE, WHAT AN AWFUL THING I'VE DONE. AND YOU KNOW
AS IMMEDIATELY, HE TOOK HIM FIVE DAYS TO DIE, AND HERE'S THE THING
ABOUT IT, HE DIED A MISERABLE DEATH, AND THEN AFTER THAT HE
WENT TO HELL. GOD PUT HIM IN HELL. And hell's an awful place, I
don't even like to talk about it. I don't want nobody to go
to that awful place. That'd be a horrible place to
have to go. That's God's garbage dump. That's
where God puts everybody that don't give Him the glory. That's
where God puts everybody that don't own God or don't own Christ. And you know where God gets His
most glory? In His blessed Son. And people believing on His Son.
And this fella here said, I'll listen. Oh yes, I appreciate
y'all doing it. I wonder how many people God
smoked today. I wonder how many people God
struck them down with something today. You people don't understand
that our lives and our thoughts and our attitudes towards God
has a consequence to it. Had not God in sovereign mercy
crossed my path, you know what the consequence has been for
me? I'd have perished. The only reason I didn't perish
is because God passed my my path with the gospel of the grace
of God, and reveal Christ to me. And look what it says over here
in Daniel chapter 4 and verse 30, The king spake, this old Nebuchadnezzar
now, the king spake and said, Is not this great Babylon that
I have built for the house of the kingdom, by the might of
my power, and for the honor of my majesty? Oh, my, my, my, my! And then while the word was in
the king's mouth, when he was bragging on this great Babylon
that he had built by his power and his honor and his majesty,
While the word was in it, I felt a voice from heaven saying, O
King Nebuchadnezzar, I want to tell you this right now, and
I'm going to speak to you in the kingdom. You think it's yours? I'm going to take it away from
you. You think it's yours? I'm going to take it away from
you. Oh, my. And they shall drive thee from
men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beast of the field.
You're going to go out And you're going to stay out there for seven
long years. And you know what you're going
to eat? You're not going to get no meat. You're not going to get
no chicken. You're not going to get no steak. You're not going
to get no shrimp. You ain't going to get nothing.
You know what you're going to eat? You're going to eat grass. That's all I'm
going to let you eat. I'm going to put it in you that
you're going to eat nothing but grass. And then he said, until
seven times, seven years pass, and then you're gonna, this is
what you're gonna know, that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom
of men and gives it to whomsoever He will. Oh, the same hour was the thing
fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar, and he was driven from men, did
he? Grass as an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven.
His hair got so long, seven years, you know, imagine a fellow not
getting a haircut for seven years, got a lot of hair. You know how
long his hair was? Probably way down, way down,
about way down his back, and it looked like feathers. And
then his fingernails grew like bird's claws. His nails grew
like bird claws. Now watch what happens to him
now. Here's the difference in what happened to Nebuchadnezzar
and what happened to Herod. And at the end of the days, I,
Nebuchadnezzar, lift up my eyes unto heaven, and here's what
happened. Mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed
the Most High. And I praised and honored him
that liveth for ever and ever, whose dominion is an everlasting
dominion, and his kingdom from generation to generation." He
said, I know this kingdom ain't mine, I done found that out.
Now look what he says, and he said, All the inhabitants of
the earth are reputed as nothing. You know how he found out he's
nothing? Because God treated him like
he was nothing. God treated him like he was nothing.
And then look what he says, 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 save what thou doest to him.
You see, that's what God didn't do for Herod, but he did it for,
you know why? Because when his understanding
returned to him, he understood that God gets the glory. That
I'm nothing and everybody else is nothing. That he's the one
that's got all the power. He's got all the power. And I
tell you, let me ask you this. Do we have any talent? Any talent
at all? Singing, preaching, praying,
giving? If we have any talent whatsoever,
God gave it. We have any success in our life,
God gives it. Do we do any good to anybody
at any time, for anyone? God's the source of all of it.
I'm telling you. He said, without me you can do
nothing. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto thy name be glory. And you know what humanism is?
Nebuchadnezzar was a humanist. He said, I built this Babylon. I accomplished this. And humanism
gives every credit to ever happens in this world to man. Man is
the greatest thing. He's got all the power. He's
got all the glory. He's got all the rights. He's
got all the authority. And I'll tell you, man worships,
humanism worships man. And you think, listen, it's happening
right now in our very, right in front of our eyes, men are
worshiping men. Humanism has got, it's the greatest,
listen, they've placed man so high, I don't care how depraved they
are. I don't care how wicked they
are. I don't care how they think and how they believe, but a man's
got everything. God ain't got no part in nothing.
And that's what humanism teaches. But oh my, oh of him and through
him and to him are all things to whom be glory both now and
forever, amen. And go back over to Acts 12 now.
No matter how great No matter how great a king becomes, or how small
anybody is in this world, I tell you what, let us not be guilty
of not giving God the glory. You remember when we was going
through Revelation when it said, oh, how the mighty are fallen.
The captains of the kings of the earth have fallen. They've
fallen. I mean, you know, God don't,
you're talking about not a respect of persons. He's not one. I mean, if you're being a king,
don't impress God. May impress men. You may, and
I said, I thought this other day, I'm going to say it. If
money is all a person has in this world, they're the poorest
people on the planet. If that's all you got, huh? You can have a multi-million
dollar house and have more money than you spend in 15 lifetimes. And you're a sorry, sorry person
without God and without Christ. And that's why old Nebby couldn't
have, he's the king. God said, I don't care. If you don't give
me the glory, I'll kill you. I'll kill you, I'll kill you,
graveyard dead. I'll make you a miserable wretch.
I'll make you so sorry. I'll make you so sick that you
wish you could die and be over and done with it. Then look what
it said here in verse 24. I've got to hurry up. But the
word of God grew and multiplied. How can the word of God grow?
How can it grow? How can the word of God grow?
How can the Word grow? I'll tell you how it can grow.
Because it's alive. It's living. It's living. Ain't that what I said? The Word
of God grew and multiplied. The Word of God's not bound.
You know, Paul told Timothy, he said, Timothy, I'm bound.
I am bound. I'm in prison. I'm bound for
the gospel. He said, but I'll tell you one
thing. I may be in jail. I may be bound. the word of God
s not bound. No, no, the word of God s not
bound. And I tell you, you can t bind it up, either. The gospel
has ALWAYS had great enemies, but it GROWS and it MULTIPLIES,
just like this chapter. It opened up with Herod killing
James with a sword. And it opened up with Peter in
prison and God come and setting him free. And Herod was triumphant,
sitting on his throne, sitting with his apparel, sitting with
his throne, sitting there giving a great oration. But oh my, it
opened up with James dying. Peter in prison, Herod triumphant.
It closes with Herod dead. Peter is free, and the word of
God's triumph. Oh, listen. God, listen. There's no doubt about it. You
know who's gonna win this thing? God, listen. God's already won. We understand that. He gotta
teach other people that. But oh, God always vengeance
is mine, saith the Lord. And old Herod wanted to strike
down the gospel. and strike down his preachers,
but he was the one that was struck down. And Pharaoh didn't want
to let Israel go, but he did, but he did. When God wills something
to happen, it's going to happen. And let me tell you, let's go
over here now in 2 Timothy, it's chapter 3. Let me say a few things
about 2 Timothy chapter 3. Go over to your right till you
find it. Over to Thessalonians and then Timothy. Second Timothy
three. You know, talking about the word
of God not bound. You know, the word's not bound.
Preachers, you know, I was talking to a dear preacher today and
I asked him how things went and he said, oh, he said, I didn't
have no liberty at all. Just didn't feel like I had no
liberty. They may not have no liberty. We may feel bound up
in all kinds of ways. God's Word is never bound. It's
not our liberty that's going to make God's Word effectual.
It's God the Holy Spirit that makes His Word effectual. And
I tell you the Word is effectual. Look what he said here in verse
16 of 2 Timothy chapter 3. All scripture is given by inspiration
of God and is possible for doctrine, for reproof, for correction,
for instruction in righteousness. That's why we're saying the word
of God is effectual. Oh my. How many times have we
heard many useless, empty messages in our life? How many have I
preached myself and been better off going somewhere and doing
something else? But God's word is never useless, never. We need
to be taught. And what he does is he teaches
us. Oh my, teaches us. It's profitable. It's profitable
for us. Oh, how profitable God's word
for us. We need to be taught and it teaches us. And you know,
the first thing it teaches us is like Nebuchadnezzar, the most
high ruler in heaven. The first thing you learn is
God is not who we thought He was. God's got all the power.
God's got all the authority. God's will, everything He does,
He does on purpose. He's not waiting on nobody to
do anything. He does what He does, and ain't
nobody can do anything about it. And who would want to? Who
would want to? And I tell you, when you see
God, you learn about God, you know the next thing you learn?
You learn like Nebuchadnezzar. I'm nothing. I thought I made
Babylon, I thought I was really, he said, but you know, I'm nothing.
Did you learn about God and the inside of God? You know what
you are? Zero. You know what a zero is? Nothing. That's what we are. The only
time a zero has anywhere in your birth port is you have a digit
in front of it. Well, the only way in the world
we're worth anything is Christ. And Christ is the only one who
makes us worth anything, even to Himself. Oh, my. And I tell
you what, and then we say, Oh, Lord, if I'm saved, you've got
to save me by grace. If you're going to save me, you've
got to be the one to do it. And then it says here, you know,
it's for correction, for reproof. Sometimes we need to be rebuked.
Have you ever been rebuked while the preacher's preaching? It rebukes us. It rebukes us
about our thoughts, our attitude, our sin, about our pride, our
self-righteousness. It rebukes us. And then it says
it corrects us for correction. Oh my, we need correction. It
corrects us. Where we were wrong, it corrects
us. When we're doing wrong, thinking
wrong, acting wrong, it corrects us. We need instruction. It instructs
us, what does it say, in righteousness. What righteousness is, the righteousness
of Christ in God and where righteousness is at. God has to give it. It
belongs to Him. And we got to have His. Ours
ain't worth spit. A fella asked me yesterday, I
was throwing the garbage away and he brought up kind of subject
and he said, what do you think that's worth? I spit on the ground
and I said, that's what it's worth. He said, I believe you're
right. That's all that, listen, and
the word of God, I tell you what, the word of God's penetrating.
I love it, I mean, you know, we're talking about the word
grew and it multiplied. And the word of God grows because
it's living. And the word is quick and powerful,
sharpened in two edges short, and it cuts you. It cuts you. And it cuts you from side to
side, top to bottom. And it lays you bare, where at? Before God. It opens you up,
opens up your thoughts. Opens up the intents of your
heart. Opens up your motives. Oh my. And I tell you what, God's
Word gets through to us. I mean, it gets through to us.
It gets through to us, not like men's words do. It penetrates
through our armor of self-righteousness and pride and tradition. It cuts
through our armor of our false notions and all the false doctrines
we add. You know why it does that? Because
it's living. God said, as the heavens are
above the earth, so is my word above your, my thoughts above
your thoughts and my word above you. And when I send my word,
it'd be just like the dew, it'd be like the snow. It'll come
down and it'll accomplish what I sent it to do. Oh my. And then, and let me, God's word's
eternal. Talking about the word grove,
God's word's eternal. HE SAID HEAVEN AND EARTH SHALL
PASS AWAY, BUT MY WORDS SHALL NEVER PASS AWAY. EVERYTHING I'M
LOOKING AT TONIGHT, EVERY PERSON I'M LOOKING AT TONIGHT, THIS
RIGHT HERE, THESE PEWS, EVERYTHING YOU, WHEN WE GO TO OUR HOMES,
EVERYTHING, EVERYBODY I'M LOOKING AT, WE'RE ALL TEMPORARY. WE'RE
TEMPORARY. EVERYTHING YOU CAN TOUCH, TASTE
AND HANDLE IS TEMPORARY. PEOPLE, BORN, LIVE AND DIE. And even God said He's gonna
destroy the Earth. Huh? And oh my, even the Earth
shall be destroyed. Nothing, nothing in this world
lasts except one thing, and that's God's Word, and it's eternal.
And I tell you what, it'll never pass away. The Word of God, He
said, Thy Word, O Lord, is forever settled. Where at? In Heaven.
And I tell you, he said he magnified his word above his name. Now,
let me tell you something. What does it mean that he magnified
his word above his name? Well, without him honoring his
word, without him keeping his word, without him keeping all
of his promises, without him keeping all of his judgments,
that he'd have no name whatsoever. But He is faithful to His Word,
faithful to His promises, faithful to His purpose, faithful to His
will. And I mean He's faithful and
He's true, and that's why He can magnify. You see, He can
make another world, but He ain't gonna make another word. And
all the psalmists said it like this. We worship and praise His
loving kindness. Why? For thy truth, for thy truth. It s His Word that created the
world. It s His Word that begot us again
and made us new creatures in Christ. It s His Word that gives
us life. It s His Word that restrains
us. It s His Word that comforts us. It s His Word that instructs
us. And you know what? The most blessed
thing about it? The Word was made FLESH! And
that's why it's a living Word. That's why it's a living Word,
huh? And then there's such an opposition
to the Gospel. There always have been enemies
of the Gospel, enemies of God's Word. They sought to stop it
and destroy the church. You remember the first opposition
in Acts 3 and 4? Then they stoned Stephen to death.
Harriet, he said, you preach and I'll execute you, and he
did. Martyrs by tens and tens of thousands in the 14th and
15th and 16th century were slaughtered, slaughtered, burned at the stake,
heads chopped off, put on the rack, thousands, tens of thousands,
and yet the word grew. Men oppose it, ridicule it. What
kind of fool would believe Christ? What kind of fool would call
himself a sinner? What kind of fool would say that
they need a gospel? What kind of fool says they have
to have God's word? Great philosophers attack it.
Intellectual pygmies attack it. They ridicule it. Oh, how can
you believe that you're in sin? How can you believe that you're
elect? How can you believe God's sovereignty? I heard a fellow
say today, If God is really, really, really on our side, then He'd never
let another war be. God's not never been a God of
nations. He's a God of individuals. He's
a God of elect people. He's a God who redeemed people.
And I tell you what, people say, well, where's Christian country?
Never have been a Christian country. Never has been such an animal.
Never. I don't care who started this
country. They were just like everybody else. They didn't know
God, unless God made them know it. Never have been. And then
they opposed it by putting a substitute in its place. Oh, I don't mind
religion. Just don't take it too serious. Oh, I like going to church. but
I don't wanna be a priest too. I'll go to church, but I don't
wanna hear nothing about cross. I don't wanna hear nothing about
atonement. I don't wanna hear nothing about
sinners needing saved. I don't wanna hear nothing about
that. And you know who men used? It
says there that Paul and Barnabas returned from Jerusalem after
they finished their ministry there. God uses men, uses men. Give God the glory. God killed
him because he gave not God the glory. God is worthy of our glory
10,000 times 10,000 thousands. And one of our greatest graces
is we can't give him the glory that we want to and can't attribute
everything to him the way we'd like to. Our Father, thank you for meeting
with us tonight. Thank you for your precious word.
Oh Lord, oh Lord, I remember when I didn't give you the glory.
I remember very well when I thought I was smart, thought I was intelligent,
thought I didn't need anything but my own will, my own power,
my own thoughts, my own opinions. Oh, Lord, thank you, Lord, that
you crossed my path. Thank you, Lord, that you came
and sent the word of God, sent it by the Holy Ghost, gave me
assurance that it's the truth, that it's the gospel of God's
grace. God bless you, dear people, as
they leave here tonight. Bless them, strengthen them,
encourage them, and uphold them. Meet their needs, and those who
are not with us, but through sickness and affliction, Bless
them, we ask these things in Christ's name, amen, amen. There is a name I love to hear. I love to sing its worth. It sounds like music in my ear. The sweetest name on earth. Oh, how I love Jesus. Oh, how I love Jesus. Oh, how I love Jesus. Ain't you glad he did? I'll see
you Sunday. No, no, I won't. I won't see