...handy today, because I'm going
to be looking at a lot of Scripture, a lot of Scripture today. But
down here in verse 22, it says this, "...and whatsoever we ask,
we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments and do
those things that are pleasing in His sight." How do we please
God? talks about pleasing God. Know
that we're well-pleasing in His sight. Well, how in the world
do we become well-pleasing in God's sight? How does the world
say that they are well-pleasing in God's sight? How does religion,
what do they say about it? They say about living right,
doing the best they can, praying, quit their sinning, change their
way of living. But whatever pleases God, I want
to know what it is. I want to know what it is. I
want to know what pleases God. I know Hebrews 11, 6 says this,
that without faith, without faith, it is impossible. to please Him. So if a man ain't got faith,
it's impossible to please God. And this word please could also
be the word satisfy. It could also mean that God looks
with you with complacency or satisfaction with you. And I
believe that if we want to know what it is to please God, we
need to find out what pleases Him, what He Himself says pleases
Him. And I know one thing that pleases
Him. Look what He said in verse 23, talking about keeping His
commandments. People talk about keeping the
commandments of God. When they talk about it, they're
talking about the Ten Commandments or the law or some ceremony or
some ritual. But this is His commandment.
You know what the first commandment is? that we should believe on
the name of His Son, Jesus Christ. That's the first thing. I know
that pleases Him. I know that when a man believes
on his Son, that's well pleasing in God's sight. And all this,
and love one another as He gave us commandment. And I'll tell
you what, he that believeth on God's Son, he that keepeth His
commandments, dwelleth in Him, and He in Him, And that's why
we know God has given us the Spirit by which He dwells in
us. He gives us the Spirit because we believe on the name of the
Son of God. But if we want to know how to
please God, we need to find out what God Himself says what pleases
Him. And this Bible tells us, God
Himself says, this is what pleases Me. This is what pleases Me.
And look in Matthew 3.17, and I'll show you the first one.
What pleases Him. Now I tell you what, if what
pleases God pleases you, then you'll be alright. And oh, if we want to please
Him, we've got to find out what pleases Him. And if we want to
glorify Him, we've got to find out what He says glorifies Him. But look what He said here at
Matthew 3 and verse 16. Let's look at verse 16. Our Lord
Jesus was baptized and went straight way up out of the water. When
he came up out of the water, John baptized him. John baptized
him just like we baptize somebody. John baptized him and dipped
him in Jordan's River. And then when our Lord Jesus
come up out of the water, and lo, the heavens were opened,
Heavens Himself opened, that happened twice to our Lord Jesus
Christ. And lo, the heavens were opened
unto Him, and He saw the Spirit of God, John did, descending
like the Spirit of God, like a dove, and gliding upon Him.
And listen, a voice came from heaven, saying, This is my beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased. You know, here it says, God loves
His Son. He calls Him the Son of His love.
And God sent His Son to do a work. Sent Him into this world to accomplish
something. To do a work that would honor
Him, satisfy Him, bring all glory to Him. And His all-seeing eye
looked down this day when His blessed Son was baptized of John. And I said, God says, this is
my beloved Son. He said, I love this man. I love
my Son. He's beloved of me. Beloved of
my heart. Beloved of my will. Beloved of
my pleasure. He's so beloved of me. And I'm
well-pleased in Him. And when a man finds Christ,
God's blessed Son, to be your beloved, and be your heart, and
your heart is well-pleased in Him in every way, then that's
well-pleased. If God's pleased with him, And
you believe Him, and trust Him, and find Him to be your Beloved. Just like He is the Beloved of
the Father. And He becomes your Beloved. And He becomes your
Savior. And He becomes your Righteousness. And in your heart, you're well
pleased in Him in every single way and thing about Him. Let
me ask you this. What's not pleasing about Him?
Find one thing that's not pleasing about the Lord Jesus Christ.
Can you find anything that's not pleasing about Him? That's what God, God Himself,
He sees everything. And He says this, I'm well pleased
in Him. And tell me what's not pleasing
about Him? Huh? Is His work not pleasing
to you? Is His person not pleasing to
you? Is His perfection as a human being, as a man, not pleasing
to you? Is His perfections as God Almighty,
is that not pleasing? Oh, everything about Him is so
pleasing to Him. No wonder they say, what manner
of man is this? What manner of man is this that
even the winds and the seas obey Him? What manner of man is this
that speaks like this? And we can't take it. Oh, so
I tell you what, God's well pleased in His Son, and I'm pleased with
Him. I'm satisfied with Him. Ain't
you? I am well satisfied with the
Lord Jesus Christ. I am well satisfied with Him.
Let me show you another one. Talk about pleasing God. People,
you know, next time somebody tells you that they please God,
and they're trying their best to please God, just tell them,
say, I know what pleases Him. And I'm pleased with everything
He's pleased with. Look what He said here in Isaiah
53 and verse 10. God's pleased in the sufferings
of His blessed Son. Look what He said in Isaiah 53,
10. It says in verse 9, And He made
His grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death, because
he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
Yet, yet, it pleased the Lord to bruise him. When thou shalt
make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he
shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper
in his hands. God is well pleased in the sufferings
of his blessed Son. Now there's two pleasings here.
It pleased the Lord to bruise him, and the pleasure of the
Lord shall prosper in his hands." When it says, "...it pleased
the Lord to bruise him," that means that God had satisfaction. This was the will. And then it
says, "...the pleasure shall prosper in his hands." Now this
we just talked about. This is His beloved Son. This
is the Son of His love. This is His righteous servant.
This is His elect. This is the Son in whom He says
that He delighted in from all eternity. This is the Son who
lights up heaven itself. And our Lord Jesus Christ said,
He said, when He came into this world, I delight to do Thy will,
O God, Thy will I delight to do. And this is where God's will
brought Him to, till it pleased the Father to bruise Him and
make His soul an offering for sin. This is where the will of
God brought Him. This is why He says He pleased
Him to bruise Him, because this was done in the will and purpose
of God before the world ever began. This, that will that He
said He delighted to do, this is where that will brought Him.
It brought Him down to where He fell on His face in Gethsemane
and prayed and sweat until His sweat became, as it were, great
drops of blood. And He laid there before God
and He said, If there be any other way, let this cup pass
from me. But he says, nevertheless, not
my will, but thine will be done. And that's why he said, My God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Because he had to be bruised. And when it says here, God, it
pleased God, God never had no great pleasure in this. It meant
that this was the only way that God could be satisfied, that
God could be honored, and sin could be put away. And when it
says, "...he hath put him to grief, and thou shalt make his
soul an offering for sin, and he shall see his sin." You see,
this bruising, this bruising, God laid His hand to Him. God laid His justice to Him.
God laid His wrath to Him and bruised Him. It says it was for
us, for His seed. And He said His grief was for
us. God made His soul an offering
for sin. Whatever His soul was, I read
this week where it said that His offering was His soul and
then His soul was His sufferings. And His soul was suffering and
His suffering was His soul. And our Lord Jesus Christ here
poured out His soul. God made His soul. That part
that's inward, that part that's the heart, that part's the very
thing that feels when your soul becomes heavy in you. When your
soul becomes like it's dark. Our Lord Jesus Christ, when God
bruised Him and it pleased the Lord to do this. Now let me ask
you this, does it please you that this was the way God was
pleased to save sinners and put our sin away? Can you see the
agony of our Savior on the cross? Can you see the agony of our
Savior in the garden? And oh, listen, and look what
it said, it said, He shall see His seed. What seed? Us! His people, His grief was
for us. His soul was for us. His seed. And look what else it says that
pleased Him. And on He said, "...and he shall prolong his
days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hands."
Well, if He's suffering under death, and His soul was made
an offering for sin, you know when it says that He'll prolong
His days, that means God's going to raise Him again from the dead.
And as long as our Lord lives, His days are going to be. And
then it says, "...the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in
His hands." Now that means that whatever He sets His hands to
do is going to come to fruition, going to prosper. And I tell
you what, His salvation is sure for those for whom He died. And
His work, God's work, God's will, God's power, God's wisdom prospers
in the hands of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Word of God prospers
in His hands. Salvation prospers in His hands. This idea that our Lord Jesus
Christ would ever lose one for whom He died? To think that His
work would not prosper? That if God prospers His people,
they are all prospered in Christ? And to think that Christ would
ever not prosper? And His salvation wouldn't prosper? His work wouldn't prosper? Oh,
it's unthinkable. It's unthinkable. Let me show
you another one. Oh, we want to know how do we
please God? Well, look in Colossians. Colossians
chapter 1. Colossians chapter 1, verse 19. Oh, I'll tell you this. I am so thankful and I am so
grateful And I'm so thankful that this is what it took to
save my soul, to save me from my sin. It took the Lord Jesus
Christ's soul being made an offering for sin. That this is the only
way that God could put our sin away, was to bruise His own Son. The one He said, I'm well pleased
in. The one that I love. The one that I love. that He
was willing to be forsaken of me, willing to make His soul
an offering for sins for me. And first God said it pleased
Him because it satisfied Him, it honored Him, it glorified
Him. And oh, listen, that's the first
thing about pleasing God. What honors Him? What gives Him
all the glory? And the way He chose to save
us gives Him all the glory. And look what else is said here
in Colossians 119. How do we please God? Well, this
is how it's done. For it pleased the Father that
in Him, in Christ, should all fullness dwell. What do you reckon all fullness
means? What do you reckon that means?
or full. If something's full, you can't
put nothing else in it. And not only does it say He's
full, but it says fullness lives in Him, dwells in Him, abides
in Him. Well, what do you reckon fullness
is? Well, John 1.17 says this, "...of
His fullness have we received grace for grace." Oh, the fullness of God's grace
dwells in Him. And you know how many people
He's been giving grace to since the garden? Do you know how many
people that God's grace abounds in? He said, we're sin abounded.
Grace did much more abound. Do you know how much grace God
has given His people since the first one that He showed grace
to? Do you know how much grace God
has given to His people. How much grace He has given us
since He saved us by His grace. In fact, He gave us grace in
Christ before the world ever began. And all the grace that
He's given us and given us is going to give us. And the grace
that will carry us home. And do you know He's as full
of grace today as He was the first time He ever gave any grace? He's not all as full of grace
today as He ever was. And oh, what about righteousness?
How much righteousness has He given His people? He has gave
His righteousness to His people from the first one He gave righteousness
to, when He closed Adam. When He slew the animal and He
clothed Adam's nakedness and He shed the blood for Adam, and
Adam was covered, how many of His people has He covered with
His righteousness since the beginning of time until the end of time?
In fact, once He covers you with His righteousness, you'll never
be uncovered with His righteousness. And everybody in heaven right
now, a multitude that no man can number, 10,000 times 10,000
times 10,000. Every one of them has the righteousness
of Christ. And He's still full of righteousness. And oh, He's full of mercy. And
oh, I love this. He's full of forgiveness. Oh
Lord, if Thou shouldest begin to mark iniquities, who in the
world would be able to stand? But you know where He marked
our iniquities at? He marked them in His blessed
Son before the world ever began. All of my iniquities on Him was
laid. And there is forgiveness with
thee, that thou mayest be feared. And oh, justification, full of
justification. Every time, you know I read there,
if our hearts condemn us. Has your heart ever condemned
you? Have you ever done something and immediately your heart speaks
to you? You say, oh, that's wrong. And
if your heart condemns us, he said, God is greater who sees
our hearts. If it condemns you, then he went
on to say, if our hearts doesn't condemn us, And beloved, I'm telling you
something, He is full of justification. His justification is so as eternal
like He is. People don't like eternal justification,
but justification is eternal. It started, we were justified.
It always says in the past tense. And justification has to do with
our standing before God. God Himself justifies us. And
that's not a sin. not an act, not a condemnation
that goes by you, or through you, or by you, or goes on in
your life, that God hasn't already justified you in His sight, and
treats you as if you never, ever, ever had any sin. He declares
you justified in the courts of heaven itself. Well, He's a murderer,
justified. He lied, justified. He used bad
language, justified. He got angry and told somebody
else, justified. How does that happen? Justifications
in Christ. Full justification in Him. He
would deliver our offenses and we're justified through Him.
And all of salvation from Alpha to Omega. dwells in Him. Do you reckon anybody for who
He died for will ever not get to heaven? Will not get to glory?
I'll tell you all something that's true. I know this is so. A woman
from dear, dear friends of ours, dear saints of ours, I knew her
husband very well and She committed suicide Tuesday. And do you reckon that a believer
that that's a sin that God wouldn't forgive? A man don't know what kind of
condition he's going to get in before he leaves this world.
And I used to worry about that. I worried about it an awful lot
because I went through four or five years that I I'd much, much
rather it went on and died than it still lived. I know what that
kind of depression is like. I spent several, lots and lots
of months in a mental hospital after I come back from Vietnam.
I know what it's like. And I used to really, really
be concerned about that. If I was to take my own life
and I was a believer, would God forgive me of that sin? I'm going
to tell you something. There's only one sin that Christ
said that will not be forgiven to man in this world and the
next. And you know what it is? The sin against the Holy Ghost.
Attributed to the Spirit of God. Works of the devil. But if Christ died for your sin,
He died as much for that one as He did for any. Now that's the truth. That's the truth. That still
won't change you. That still will not change what
God did for you and what Christ did for you. The first thing
I'll think about, how dark that day must have been that somebody
would do that. How tough that life must have
been for somebody to do that. But that sin was as much atoned
for as anything you or I ever done. How often have we prayed,
Lord, would you just take me home? That means we're ready
to go. That means we'd just as soon
die. So is it wishing to die and wishing
to be going home as bad as So Christ, and I'm telling you,
that's why I'm saying all fullness dwells in Him. All the fullness
of every sin you've ever done has been put away by His blessed
blood. Ain't that right? Now how could
we trust a Savior that would not do any less than that? And I know this, whatever fullness,
whatever fullness is in God's will and is God's purpose is
in His Son. I know that pleases Him. Let me show you what else pleases
Him in Isaiah 55, 11. Isaiah 55, 11. And oh, and the
sorrow and grief that the poor family goes through. But I'm telling you, Christ loves His people and He's
not going to let them perish Look what He said in Isaiah 55,
11. So shall my word be that goeth
forth out of my mouth, it shall not return unto me void, but
it shall accomplish that which I please. And it shall prosper
in the thing whereto I send it. Now wait a minute. Well, God
says that He said, wherever I send my word, It goes forth out of
my mouth. It ain't going to come back to
me empty. It ain't going to come back to me void. It ain't going
to come back to me unaccomplished. He said, It shall accomplish
that which I please. Now, it sometimes pleases Him
to send salvation by that word, causing it to prosper, to bring
grace, to bring life, to bring light, to bring new understanding,
to bring regeneration, to bring righteousness to a soul, to bring
life to a dead soul. And sometimes it pleases Him
to bring just judgment. And sometimes it pleases Him
to bring reprobation. Sometimes it pleases Him to leave
a man sitting in his seat. And I know it, whatever, if it's
for judgment, it's going to accomplish judgment, just as sure as God's
on His throne. If it's going to accomplish life,
it's going to accomplish life. If it's supposed to bring rebuke,
it will bring rebuke. Whatever He means for it to do,
that's what it's going to do. And that's why it's so wonderful
about preaching the gospel. I'm not up here on a fool's errand,
and I know if I use God's Word, and I stay true to God's Word,
whatever God says, and whatever comes in His message, it's going
to do exactly what He means for it to do. You say, well, I wish
somebody had been here today, or so-and-so had been here today
to have heard that. God's Word is going to accomplish what He
means for it to do, whether you're here, or I'm here, or whoever's
here. You know, when He sends it, It's
going to do one of two things. It's going to harden you or save
you. No middle ground. He's going
to leave you in darkness or He's going to bring you to light.
He's going to leave you in death or He's going to bring you to
life. He's going to give you grace or He's going to give you
justice. He ain't going to leave you sitting
indifferent. God don't do that thing. God's
not playing games with men. Oh, people would understand that.
And God said it's going to accomplish what pleases Him. Do you ever come to the service
and say, Oh Lord, I need to hear something today. I need to be
fed today. I need a word from you today.
I've got things going on in my mind, I've got things going on
in my life, and Lord, you know what it is. Would you bless the
preacher to say something, to speak to me today, to comfort
me today, and give me light today, or reveal your will to me today,
or what you intend to do in my life, and give me some direction. And has God ever failed to do
that for you? And you know, if He hasn't, He
won't now. He won't now. And oh, His Word. Thank God that His Word accomplishes
what He means for it to. I mean, even when we witness
to somebody, His Word is going to accomplish what He wills for
it to do. And it's going to prosper. It's going to prosper. Let me
show you another. And over in 1 Corinthians. You all know this one. Oh, how
do we please God? Look in 1 Corinthians 1.21. Now you know if it's my opinion
or your opinion, it ain't going to amount to nothing. But if it's His Word, and look
at all the times His Word, what has His Word accomplished? He
sent His Word and healed them. It says that He used His Word
to make the world into existence. He called Abraham out of the
Ur of the Chaldees. He sent forth His Word. What
did Abraham do? I ain't going? No! It accomplished just exactly
what God sent it to do. And He sent His Word to Pharaoh. The difference in what God did
for Abraham and what God did for Pharaoh is two different
things, but it's the same Word. It's the same word. And Moses,
God called Moses and sent him to be delivered. But Pharaoh,
he said, I raised you up just for one reason, to destroy you. His word towards Ishmael and
his word towards Jacob was the same word. One of them was the
flesh, one of them was blood. He had two sons, Jacob and Esau. God's word was sent to both of
them. And Esau said, I'd rather have, what's my birthright going
to do me? What's it going to do me? Here
I am, I'm so hungry, I think I'm going to faint. I think I'm
going to starve to death. And he said, well, Jacob said,
here, I'll give you this bowl of pottage if you give me that
birthright. And he said, well, what good's
it going to do me but that? Just because he's hungry. You
know what? If a man gains the whole world
and loses his soul, he lost his soul over a bowl of porridge. And over in England and Ireland,
you know what they call porridge? They can say, you know, I want
a bowl of porridge this morning. They bring them a bowl of oatmeal. And oh, listen, and God said,
he saw I ever hated him. Jacob hath a lot. But the same
God, the same Word. Oh, look what He says now. It said in verse 21, For after
that in the wisdom of the world, and the wisdom of God, the world
by wisdom knew not God. Has the wisdom of man ever figured
out anything about God? Uh-huh. And listen to this, It
pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe. And how do you know when, what does he mean by the
foolishness of preaching? It means that God takes one sinner
to preach to another sinner. It means that God takes a man
to preach to another man. Angels could have done this,
but God chose people just like you. People, men and women, that's
exactly, you can't turn your hands breath. or the difference
in me and you. Except this is what God called
me to do. And that's the only difference. Is that I'm called
to preach the Word. And the very fact that people
say, well, I don't want you to preach to me. That shows you
that preaching to them is foolish. And I tell you, it's the Word
preached. Look what it says there. It's
the Word preached. The foolishness of preaching
to save them. that believe. It didn't say them
that work, but them that believe. He uses the gospel in the foolishness
of preaching. And they'll say, oh my goodness,
that just, what he's saying don't even make sense. And I've been
told that. You know, I remember one time
years and years and years ago, Steve remembers this too. There
were some people living right across this corner from them
up in Indiana when they lived in Springport. They were Wesleyans. And boy,
we'd get to... Tom and somebody was their name.
Tom and whatever her name was. But they were very, very religious.
Oh my goodness, they was religious. Of course, everybody was up there.
Of course, I was too. I had me a good dose of it too.
I took two doses. But anyway, we was up there and
God was teaching me the Gospel. And I began, sitting there in
Steve and Janet's living room, we began to talk about the Gospel.
God's electing grace and God loving His people. Christ dying
for His people and how a sinner could be just. how God could
be just and how He could put all of the sin of His elect upon
His Son and all the sin of His people on His Son. And when He
done that, that man believed on Christ, God would justify. And they sat there and said,
that is just too good to be true. They said, that is foolishness
to us. We've got to dress a certain
way. We've got to wear our hair a
certain way. We've got to go to church so
many times. We've got to pay all of our tithes.
We've got to pray so much and read so many Bibles. And we've
got to separate ourselves from the world. We've got to be peculiar
in the way we look, the way we think, the way we talk, the way
we go, and where we live, and who we associate with. And they
walked away from the Gospel. Because God in their wisdom,
they said, this is foolish. But when God is pleased by the
foolish, not foolish preaching, but preaching, preaching, God
uses the preaching of the gospel to save capital T-H-E-M, them,
that believe when they hear that gospel. Now, God's not pleased with foolish
preaching. What's foolish preaching? Well,
it's man exalting man, making man to be something he isn't,
and belittling God, making God to be smaller than he is. And that's why it says, Faith
cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. So I tell
you, this preaching business... Whenever you're going to ask
somebody to come to a service, just don't say, come to church.
Say, well, I'd love for you to come hear our preacher or come
hear the gospel. Come hear the gospel. I remember
years ago, Eleanor worked with some ladies, and we was having
a meeting, They said, well, and Eleanor
told them to rest straight up before they come. She says, you
know, now our services is not like what you're used to. They're
used to singing a whole lot, and the preacher would get up
and say it a few words. She said, when you come to our
services, our emphasis is on preaching. Our emphasis on preaching, as
you know, that's what she told them. And when they came, they
came, some people she worked with, and this has been, oh my
goodness, way back 30-something years ago. And they came, and
they said, yeah, that's different. That's different. You know, the
services is different because our emphasis is on the gospel,
is on the scriptures. Not on singing. We could have a penny march up
here. You know, people say, let's have a penny march and use all
of our pennies to help the missionaries. Keep your pennies! We're going to have a birthday
celebration for so-and-so today because, you know, they had their
day. Oh, who's the oldest in the crowd today? And that's the
foolishness of preaching. But oh my, we come here to hear
what? We come to our conferences to
hear what? Preaching! Preaching! And that people go
out here and say, boy, that's, oh, everybody goes to every conference,
and I believe that's the best conference I've ever been in.
Because they love preaching! People go miles and miles and
miles to hear preaching! Because that's what God is pleased
to save men with. Well, let me show you another
one over here in Galatians chapter 1. Oh, we're talking about how
do we please God. Oh, if you don't feel like you've
pleased God today, come up here and get on the front. Come up
here and get on the altar. If you feel like you failed God
this week, come up here and pray through and repent. Come up here
and get right with God. Tell Him, ìYankel, you know youíre
going to do better next week.î But look what He said here in
Galatians 1.15, ìBut when it pleased God, who
separated me from my motherís womb, and call me by His grace,"
listen to this, "...to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among
the heathen. Immediately I confer not with
flesh and blood, but it please God to reveal His Son in me."
Now you think about that. Christ revealed not to us, Paul
said here, Christ revealed in us. Christ revealed in us. Huh? Reveal His Son in me. Now, when you look at yourself
and think about yourself, do you see Christ in you? Huh? I do. I see Christ in you. Not like
I'm going to see Him in you when you get to glory. But as you
grow in grace, I see more and more of Christ in you. Shirley and I do this all the
time. We start talking about people in the congregation, how
much we love them, how gracious they are, and how generous they
are, and how loving they are, and how encouraging they are,
and how comforting they are, and all the things that they
say to be a blessing to you and try to help you. be an encouragement
to you and how you're delighted to be in their presence and that.
You know why that is? Because Christ is in you. Christ is in you. Oh, this is
our hope of glory. Christ in us. Oh my, what a revelation
that God gave us. Christ revealed in us, not just
to us, but in us. Why does He reveal Christ in
us? He reveals Christ in us in all of His glory. Christ in us
is all of our salvation. Christ in us is our only hope.
Christ in us is our all in all. Christ in us is our only righteousness. Christ in us... Who do you think
answers to Christ when I'm preaching the Gospel? It's Christ in you
answering to Christ from the Scriptures. That's why it's such
a blessing to your heart and soul, the Gospel is, because
Christ in you answers to Christ from the Scriptures. And you're
delighted in it because Christ in you says, yes, that's right,
that's true. And all that Christ is in His
power, in His glory, in His beauty, in His wisdom, in His righteousness,
all of those things are revealed in us. He's revealed in us. And when God looks at us, that's
why He says He don't see us, He sees His Son! It's hard for us to see it, but
I see it in you, and I don't see it in myself. I've got two
more, and let me show you them real quick, and I'll be done. Look over at 1 Samuel chapter
12. How do we please God? 1 Samuel chapter 12. How do we
please God? Well, I'm telling you how. I'm
telling you how. Is everything I've said this
morning, is that pleasing to you? Is that pleasing to you? Does that satisfy you? It does God. Look what He said here
in 1 Samuel 12, 22. For the Lord will not forsake
His people for His great name's sake." His name's sake is His
Son. "...and because it hath pleased
the Lord to make you His people." Here's how God regards His people.
It pleased God, the Lord, to make you His people. You know
how many times in the Scriptures we're called His people? Thou
shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save who? His people
from their sin. What people? The one the Lord
was pleased to make His people. And I tell you what, He made
us His people in electing grace, And I'll tell you another story
on Steve back there. He was over at Muddy Pond and
putting in some carpet. If you don't mind me telling
this, Steve. And he was putting in some carpet
for a midnight. And the midnight asked him where
he goes. And he told him. And he said, Are you a Calvinist? And he said, Well, I believe
in Sovereign Grace. And he said, You're one of them
people who believes the Lord just forces himself on people.
Now, this is that wisdom we talk about in Proverbs. He says, No,
I don't. I believe the Lord makes His
people willing in the day of His power. Shut his mouth just
like that. Oh, how are you going to overcome
it? He makes His people willing in
the day of His power. Oh, bless His name. It pleases
the Lord. You weren't better than anybody
else. Who made you to differ? And he goes on to say here, and
look what else he says, and this is because he pleased Him to
make you His people, He will not forsake you. He will never
forsake you since you're His. He said, I'll never forsake you.
There's no way God would ever forsake you. I'll never, never,
never, no never, no never leave thee nor forsake thee. And we'll always pleased Him
to make you His people. Sometimes that gets on my mind,
on my heart, and I just get absolutely overwhelmed with it. I do. My mind just gets overwhelmed
with it. That I'm one of His. One of His. Out of all, not one soul in my
whole family. Asked my daughter this morning,
said, I hope you have a good service. I said, why don't you
come? Why don't you come to the service? But of all the people here, look
at your own family. How many people in your family,
mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters, as far back as you
can look? God said, I'm going to make you
my people. You know, here's the covenant,
and I've told you this before. This is the long and short of
the covenant. I shall be your God, and you
shall be my people. That's the covenant of grace. The long and short of it. Next
time I preach on the covenant of grace, that's all I'm going
to do, babe. You know what I'm saying? I shall be your God and
you shall be my people. Amen. Let's go down. Let me show you one more and
then I'm done. Look in Luke 12. Look in Luke 12. This is for
our future. God's pleasure for our future.
What pleases God for our future. Luke 12, 32. Luke 12, 32. This is our future. What pleases God for our future. Luke 12, 32. Fear not, little flock. For it is your Father's good
pleasure to give you the kingdom." Well, when was this kingdom prepared?
Our Lord said a kingdom prepared for you before the foundation
of the world. Oh, it's your Father's good pleasure, little flock,
to give you the kingdom. He didn't say earn it. I'm going
to give it to you. It pleases Him to do this. I'm going to
give you the kingdom. And our Lord Himself says, My
kingdom is not of this world. And also in Hebrews 12, 28 says
that we receive a kingdom that cannot be moved. You know, we're
fixing to have an election and we're going to change presidents.
And kings come and kings go, and nations come and nations
go. And I'll tell you what, God gave us a kingdom that nothing
in this world can ever move it. We got a King that lives forever
and ever on His throne, reigns forever and ever, and His dominion
is from everlasting to everlasting. All power belongs unto Him. And He dresses His people, feeds
His people, and gonna give them a kingdom, and that never kingdom
will never be moved. Huh? Won't never be moved. I said that was it, but I want
to show you one more in Ezekiel 33. That's our future, but in
Ezekiel 33, in verse 11, I'm going to show you something that
doesn't please Him. Doesn't please Him. I forgot about this. I'm about
to run over it. But this one doesn't please Him. Look in verse
11. Ezekiel 33. Say unto them, As I live, saith
the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Of
all the things that pleases God about His Son, about His Word,
about His Gospel, about His people, I have no pleasures. Don't please
me, the death of the wicked. The wicked turn from his way
and live. Turn you, turn you from your evil ways. Why will
you die? Why will you die? God gets no
pleasure in a man dying in his sin. He gets no pleasure in it. Before all the things, how do
we please Him? We found out what pleases Him. And everything that
pleases Him, It fills my heart with joy and peace and contentment. Amen. Our Father, in the blessed, glorious
name of Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, Father, we're so thankful
that we see in Your Word what pleases You, what satisfies You,
what brings glory to You. what You love in this world,
what You love in Your Word. Oh, we bless You that You made
us to see it, know it, believe it, rejoice in it, find great
comfort and assurance in it. Lord, may the Word find... I know it's going to do what
You will for it to do. I know it will do what You will
for it to do. Keep us today. Bless us as we
come this evening. Bless and keep you, dear saints.
We ask these things in Christ's name. Amen. Amen. He's the Savior of my soul Jesus,
my Jesus He's the Savior of my soul He's the Savior of my soul. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, He's
the Savior of my soul. He's the Savior of my soul. See you tonight, six o'clock,
God willing.