You heard him. Of course, he told me yesterday,
I noticed he didn't have a clock back there, and he said, if you
see me look at my watch, he said, it's time to quit. Just don't
put a button in your mouth. I want to express our appreciation,
my wife and I, Pat, for your hospitality and just the privilege
of being here with all of you. I know many of you from this
congregation and some from others, but it's just a joy to be with
you. And Donnie and Shirley, we thank
you so much for having us in your home and inviting us to
come here. Donnie's been out to our church,
been several years, but it's always been a blessing when he's
been there and people love him and he relates so well with people. A lady in our church, we had
a television program for a number of years. She, a lady in our
church, told another lady about it and her comment was, does
that man ever smile? Well, she started visiting our
church, and she said, he does smile. But preaching to a camera
is not the easiest thing in the world to do. You're easy to preach
to here, very easy. If you will, let's open our Bibles
today to Acts chapter 20. Acts chapter 20 and beginning
in verse 17. And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus
and called the elders of the church. And when they were come
to him, he said unto them, you know from the first day that
I came into Asia after what manner I have been with you at all seasons,
serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears
and temptations which befell me by the lying in wait of the
Jews. And how I kept back nothing that
was profitable unto you, but have showed you and have taught
you publicly and from house to house, testifying both to the
Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God and faith
toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, Behold, I go bound in
the Spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall
befall me there, save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every
city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of these things
move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might
finish my course with joy. and the ministry which I have
received of the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace
of God. And now, behold, I know that
you all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God,
shall see my face no more. Wherefore, I take you to record
this day that I am pure from the blood of all. For I have
not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Take
heed, therefore, unto yourselves and to all the flock over which
the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church
of God which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know
this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in
among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall
men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples
after them. Therefore, watch and remember
that by the space of three years, I cease not to warn everyone
night and day with tears. And now, brethren, I commend
you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build
you up and to give you an inheritance among all them that are sanctified. I have coveted no man's silver
or gold or apparel. Yea, ye yourselves know that
these hands have ministered unto my necessities and to them that
were with me. I have showed you all things,
how that so laboring you ought to support the weak and to remember
the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, it is more blessed
to give than to receive. And when he had thus spoken,
he kneeled down and prayed with them all. And they all wept sore
and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him, sorry most of all for the
words which he spake, that they should see his face no more,
and they accompanied him unto the ship." To me, personally,
this has always been a very moving scene. As I have read it, thinking
about the Apostle Paul, being with the elders of the church
at Ephesus, and they all knew this would be the last time that
they should see each other in this world. And it was a time
of sorrow, a time of saying goodbye. And as the next to the last verse
tells us, they all wept sore. There were many, many tears that
were shed on this day. No one likes to say goodbye to
someone that we love. It's such a sad time. Someone
might say, well, didn't Paul know? Didn't these elders know
that surely they will meet again in heaven? Oh, yes. Oh, yes. They knew that. In fact, he wrote
to the believers in Thessalonica saying, we sorrow not as those
who have no hope. But he didn't say we don't sorrow.
We do have sorrow. And there was sorrow in the hearts
of these. This pastor, he was an apostle,
a missionary, but he had the heart of a pastor. And just as
you were speaking, being in the same place for a number of years
and seeing one generation, and then another generation, and
then another generation. There's such a love that exists
between a pastor and his congregation that to say goodbye is a sad,
sad thing. But that's not what I want to
speak to us about. I want us to think of the solemnness
of the scene, but to see in verse 32, this will be our text, that
what he did was to commend them to God He could do nothing better,
nothing better could he do to these believers the last time
that he would see them in this world than to commend them to
God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up
and to give you an inheritance among all them that are sanctified. I want to speak to us this morning
on the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to
give you an inheritance among all them that are sanctified. Two parts to the message. First
of all, the word of His grace, the Bible. The book that most
of you, I'm sure, have in your hands right now, this is the
Word of His Grace. Can you think, just imagine if
you may, in your mind, how different this book would be without the
truth of God's grace? If it were not the Word of God's
grace, God's grace is like the blood of the lamb in this book. No matter where you read it,
you will always see Christ that is the Lamb of God and you will
always see God's grace. I read many years ago that the
British Navy, when they controlled the seas on all of their ships,
in every rope there was a thin scarlet line. If you cut the
rope of a British ship, you would always recognize this was the
king or the queen's ship. And anywhere you look in the
scriptures, you will always find the blood of Jesus Christ, the
lamb, and his grace. Someone said, squeeze it where
you will. It's like a tube of toothpaste. Squeeze it where you will. And
that's what's going to come out, the Lamb of God and the grace
of God. Without God's grace revealed
in this book, it may have been interesting reading for unfallen
creatures. The angels who never sinned,
they might have found it interesting. But for all of Adam's fallen
race, without God's grace, if we read this book, we would only
be reading our destruction. Because that's all it could give
unto us, without God's grace. God's grace permeates this book. And I want to mention several
things about it. First of all, this book, The
Word of God's Grace, this book speaks to us of the God of all
grace. And that's a title that the Apostle
Peter gives to our God when 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 10, he said
the God of all grace. He didn't say the God of most
grace, he said the God of all grace. You know, we associate
grace a lot with the Apostle Paul, and well, we should. As
he was apprehended that day on the road to Damascus, what a
picture of God's grace. But my friends, look and follow
the history of the Apostle Peter. Oh, if there was anyone who could
say the God of all grace after he had denied the Lord like he
had, and yet was restored by the God of all grace, and God
used him to preach the gospel. On one occasion, we know, on
the day of Pentecost, when 3,000 souls were saved. This Bible,
the word of His grace, first of all, it speaks to us of the
God of all grace. Remember when God brought the
children of Israel out of Egypt? Moses requested of the Lord,
show me thy glory. And think about all of the things
that he had witnessed. All of the signs in Egypt. About that rod he had in his
hand and he put it down on the ground and it turned to a serpent
and he took it back and it was a rod again. The many things,
the water turned to blood and the lice in the land and the
frogs in the land and the hail and all of that. But yet, He
said, show me thy glory. Show me thy glory. And God said
he would. And he said, this is the way
I will do it. I will make all my goodness pass
before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee,
and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious. and will
show mercy on whom I will show mercy." God's glory. God's glory is manifested in
this truth, His grace. On the way here this morning,
I passed a number of church buildings, even passed a kingdom hall. And I would imagine in all of
them, they speak of grace. And because they do, we have
to use the words sovereign, free, grace. Because to so many people,
they don't have a clue as to what the God of all grace, what
that means. That he will be gracious unto
whom he will be gracious. God will never be under obligation
to any of his creatures. He's the sovereign ruler. overall. This is the reason, no doubt,
that Satan and false religion hates this truth of grace so
much, because this magnifies and glorifies God, the God of
all grace. Second, it speaks to us of a
covenant of grace. This book, the Word of His Grace,
it speaks to us of the God of all grace, and it speaks to us
of a covenant of grace. You know this covenant is called
by different names. It is called the everlasting
covenant because it was made in old eternity, before there
ever was a star shining in the firmament, my friends. This covenant
was made before the earth was. It's called the covenant of life.
because it contains the promise of eternal life. Titus 1, 2,
in hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie promised
before the world began. Well, who did he promise eternal
life to? You were not there. I was not
there. Neither was any other person other than Christ. It's called the covenant of peace
because Because of our sin, men are naturally enmity with God,
at war with God. And there's only one way of reconciliation. There's only one way that peace
may be made between God Almighty and rebellious man. And that's
through this covenant of reconciliation. Christ is a surety. He's a mediator. He's a messenger of this covenant. And it's also called a better
and a new covenant. And there we see there's a contrast
between the covenant of works, which was first revealed to Adam
when God created him and placed him in the garden. So this word
of his grace speaks to us of the God of all grace. It speaks
to us of a covenant of grace. And number three, it speaks to
us of the channel of all grace. God's grace comes to men and
women through the person of His Son, Jesus Christ, and no other
way. The Father, or God, was under
no obligation to save men. This is what is so amazing about
grace, isn't it? They tell me amazing grace is
the most popular hymn in the English language, and no doubt
that's true. But so many people sing it, and
they know nothing about the amazing grace of God. God, He was under
no obligation to save men, and His dear Son was under no obligation
to come into this world to be made flesh, to come in the likeness
of sinful flesh. But because of His grace, God
sent His Son. The Apostle Paul says, for you
know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich,
yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty
might be made rich. Apart from the Lord Jesus Christ,
no one knows the saving grace of God because he is a channel
through which God's grace comes. And number four, this word of
His grace speaks to us of the gospel of grace. Notice just
above our text in verse four, 24 rather, in chapter 20 and
verse 24, Paul speaks of the gospel of His grace. For none of these things move
me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might
finish my course with joy in the ministry which I have received
of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. When you think about the gospel
of the grace of God, I think this is the way to understand
this verse here in Galatians chapter 2 and verse 21. When
the apostle said, I'm sure you're familiar with
it. He said, I do not frustrate the grace of God. For if righteousness
come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. How is it possible
to frustrate the grace of God? I believe we're talking there
about the gospel of his grace. One old writer that I read recently,
he said, the Lord Jesus Christ has two quivers, two quivers
with arrows. And out of one quiver, he pulls
an arrow and he shoots at the center. The gospel comes, we
refer to this as a general call, the gospel just goes out to anyone
and everyone, going to all the world, and preach the gospel
to every creature. And man may fence that error
off. He may deflect that error. But
the Lord Jesus Christ has another quiver. And the errors from this
quiver are written with love. And when he shoots this arrow
into the heart of one of his elect, it gets the job done. There's no frustrating the grace
of God. When God intends to save a sinner,
He saves a sinner. Kind of like that scripture,
resisting the Holy Spirit. I remember years ago, people
used to argue and talk. I guess they still do. I'm not
in those groups anymore, I guess. But one old preacher said, yeah,
you can resist the Holy Spirit just like you could stand up
in front of a bulldozer and put your hand up there. You could
resist him. I doubt it would register much
on the scale of resistance on this gospel. The gospel of the grace of God. God has chosen to use it. And
it's amazing. Everything about the gospel is
amazing. About God's grace is amazing. But to think that God
would use men like myself and others to preach the gospel. And God would call his people. As the pastor said last night,
his sheep would hear his voice. The old preacher said one time,
if the only voice you hear tonight is my voice, I'll be sad. But if in hearing my voice you
hear His voice, you'll go away renewed. And number five, this Bible,
the word of His grace, I said it speaks to us of the God of
all grace. It speaks to us of a covenant
of grace. It speaks to us of the channel
of grace. It speaks to us of the gospel
of grace, and it speaks to us one after the other. If you could
line up all of the men that are named in the Old Testament and
through the New Testament, if everyone could be lined up here
on this stage this morning, and everyone was asked the same question,
did you merit, did you deserve to be saved? Everyone would respond in the
same way where sin abounded. Grace did much more abound. They would all say as the Apostle
Paul did, I am what I am by the grace of God. So Paul commended these elders
to the to God and to the Word of His grace. And I commend all
of us here this morning to God. As I sang just a moment ago,
this is my Father's world. It's all His. He owns it all.
I commend us unto God and to the Word of His grace. Now secondly, notice what He
says about this Word of His grace. He says it is able to build you
up. and to give you an inheritance
among the saints." Well, let's not forget that the
apostle is speaking to the elders of a local church. The church
at Ephesus, just like the church here at Lantana. The elders of
the church, the pastor and other men. He's speaking to the elders
of the church, to a local church. That's the point I want to make.
And he tells them, to this local church, that it is the word of
His grace which will build you up, which is able to build you
up. Now anytime we see the word build
or building, we always are reminded that every building and everything
that is built must be upon a foundation. And the foundation is Jesus Christ
our Lord. And not only is he the foundation,
but he is the master builder. Upon this rock, he said, I will
build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against
it. Now the gates of hell shall not
prevail against one or collectively of all of God's people. Why? Because we're all built upon
Christ. It's not our strength. Oh, we
would have perished years ago. We would have given up, turned
back. I've seen some do that. I'm sure you have too. And the
only reason I haven't, and the only reason you haven't, is the
grace of God. You're built upon the foundation,
upon Christ. Our Lord spoke of those two men. One was wise. He dug down and
built upon the rock. The other man built upon the
sand. And the trials come, they're
going to come. The rain's going to come down,
the wind's going to blow, the water's going to come up. And
if you're not built upon Christ, you're going to perish. This
word of His grace is able to build you up. There are two ways,
two ways that a church may be built up. Two ways. The local church. There are two
ways that a local church may be said to be built up. One way
is there are additions. There are people added to the
church. And in the book of Acts we read,
and as many, or rather as such as should be saved were added
to the church. Such as should be saved. But
notice it is the word of His grace that is able to do this,
to add people to the church, to build you up. It's not entertainment. Now that's what the world's gone
after, entertainment. And there's some, well you know
the story there. There's entertainment. But those
are not the, that's rather not the way that God builds His church.
He builds His church through the Word of His grace. The Apostle
told Timothy, preach the Word. Be instant, in season, out of
season. Like Milton said just a moment
ago, every time we meet together we do the same thing. We sing,
we pray, we read the Word of God, we want to worship God. God will use the foolishness
of preaching. Now preaching is not foolish
to those who are saved, But it's foolish to those who perish.
Well, that's ridiculous. You mean to tell me that after
2,000 years, things haven't changed? The message hasn't changed? The
way of preaching hasn't changed? No, no. It hasn't changed. And God still uses the same word
of His grace to save His people. build up, to add to the congregation. And then secondly, another way
that the local church is said to be built up, not by addition
only, but also each individual member, we are to grow in grace
and in the knowledge of the Lord. And how is that to be accomplished? How is that possible? By the
word of His grace. We're not going to outgrow this. I told someone, I'm sure you've
heard others say the same thing more or less, but when I go to
the doctor, and sometimes I have to, I want a doctor who studied
medicine out of a book that was probably written in this century,
not one that was written in the 15th or 16th century. Things
have changed and hopefully improved. But when it comes to my soul,
I want to hear a preacher who preaches this book, the word
of His grace. That's what I want to hear. And
that's the only thing that will build me up. That's the only
thing that will build any of us up, is the word of His grace. I want you to look in Hebrews
with me just a moment, Hebrews chapter 13. And I won't be long. Someone sends me every day email,
Grace Jims. Some of you may have received
that. And there's always an article there every day. I'm not sure
who sends it out, but a few weeks ago, I guess it was, I was reading
one, and it was a letter by John Newton. And as I was reading
it, it really got my attention. I mean, really got my attention.
You say, why was it? Because when he was writing that
letter, he said, I am, and what he said, his age, is my age. And he said, I can still preach
as long and as loud as I ever could. And I still have hearers. Well, I don't know if I can still
preach as long or as loud, but I do thank the Lord. I do have
people come, still come to hear me preach. But I know this, Hebrews
chapter 13 and verse 9, be not carried about with diverse and
strange doctrines, for it is good, and it is good. It is a good thing that the heart
be established with grace, not with meats, which have not profited
them that have been occupied therein. You know, under the
law, there was a lot of dietary rules as to what you could eat
and what you could not eat and so forth and so on. And that's
what he's speaking of here. It's good that the heart be established
with grace. That's the only thing that will
establish the heart, not with strange doctrines. Doctrines
in the scripture always are doctrines of men or doctrines of demons.
The doctrine is singular, the doctrine of Christ. The doctrine
of Christ, the doctrine of grace. It's good, it is a good thing
that the heart be established with grace. You learn to hear
this message and it doesn't take you long You're somewhere and
someone begins to preach a message, and this is the way you usually
identify it. If it detracts from God's glory
and gives glory to men, you can be pretty sure that's not the
doctrine of Christ. That's not the doctrine that
will build you up, that your heart will be established with
grace. But what lifts him up and what
brings us down. And it seems to work that way,
doesn't it? It does. I mean, think about it. If we
build up man the way we're going to do it, if we talk about man,
how great he is and how much God needs you and how much he
needs me, what are we doing? We may be building up man, but
at the same time we are bringing God down. No, no. Let's bring God up. We cannot
lift Him up too high. And in lifting Him up, we bring
ourselves down before Him. Notice the second thing. This
word of His grace, not only is it able to build you up, but
the apostle tells them it is able to give you an inheritance
among them which are sanctified, those who are set apart. You have to notice when he says
it's able to build you up, but then he says and to give you.
and inheritance. Now this inheritance is what
we would speak of under the big term of heaven, of being with
God, eternal life, with Him forever, being made like Christ. This
is an inheritance that we are given. We don't build up to the
place, you know, like some of the old writers used to say,
we are like a shuck of corn, you know, as it fills in and
tassels come out and then it just kind of wilts over. Now,
believers, we just get better and better and better, you know,
until we're ripe for heaven. Now, when we see Christ, when
we go to be with Him, it will be a free grace gift. an inheritance unearned and undeserved
by ourselves, but one which he gives us. It is given to us because
the Lord Jesus Christ, as I said a few minutes ago, he is a testator
of the covenant. But not only is he the testator
of the covenant, which simply means that, like you have a will,
and until you die, you could change that will, you could make
some changes in it, but once you die, it's it. It's it. But here's the problem. You name someone to be your executor
in that will. And after you're gone, it all
depends upon that executor. if he or she follows your desires. Not with Christ. He's the testator
of the will, the covenant, that's true, and he died to put it into
force, but my friends, he lives as the executor also to make
sure everyone who is named in this covenant receives the inheritance. Not one will be cheated out.
Not one. I trust the Lord will bless this
word to us this morning. And I could do nothing better,
could I, than to commend you to God in the word of His grace.
Thank you, Don.