Open with me to Psalm chapter
73. Psalm 73. One of our beloved sovereign
grace preachers wrote this paragraph in regards to this psalm. I'd
like to read it. He said, I am a man like you
struggling with sin. At times my sinful thoughts and
my sinful deeds almost cause me to despair. But I'm reminded
by the gospel and by the Spirit of God that His grace is sufficient
even for me. Christ is the Lord our righteousness. He is all my assurance. I hang
all my hope upon Him. 2 Corinthians 12.9, our Lord
says, My grace is sufficient for thee. My strength is made
perfect in weakness. Look here at Psalm 73, verse
1. Truly God is good to Israel,
even to such as are of a clean heart. But as for me, my feet
were almost gone, my steps had well not slipped. For I was envious
at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked, for
there are no bands in their death. But their strength is firm, they
are not in trouble as other men, neither are they plagued like
other men. Therefore, pride compasses them
about as a chain. Violence covereth them as a garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness.
They have more than heart could wish. They are corrupt and speak
wickedly concerning oppression. They speak loftily. They set
their mouth against the heavens and their tongue walketh through
the earth. Therefore, his people return hither. and waters of
a full cup are wrung out to them. And they say, how doth God know?
And is their knowledge in the Most High? Behold, these are
the ungodly who prosper in the world. They increase in riches. Verily, I have cleansed my heart
in vain and washed my hands in innocence. For all the day long
have I been plagued and chastened every morning. If I say I will
speak thus, behold, I should offend against the generation
of thy children. When I thought to know this,
it was too painful for me, until I went into the sanctuary of
God. Then understood I their end. Surely thou did set them
in slippery places. Thou castest them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation,
as in a moment they are utterly consumed with terrors? As a dream,
when one awaketh so, O Lord, when Thou wakest, Thou shalt
despise their image. Thus my heart was grieved, and
I was pricked in my reins. So foolish was I, and ignorant
I was as a beast before Thee. Nevertheless, I am continually
with Thee. Thou hast holded me by my right
hand. Shalt Thou guide me with Thy counsel? Thou shalt guide
me with Thy counsel, and after receive me to glory. Whom have
I in heaven but Thee? and there is none upon the earth
that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
In 1 Peter 2, verse 7, it says, And to you therefore which believe,
he, Christ Jesus, is precious. For lo, they that are far from
thee shall perish, thou hast destroyed all them that go away
from thee. But it is good for me to draw
near to God. I have put my trust in the Lord
God, that I may declare all thy works. And I heard Brother Donnie
say one time, he said, thanks be to the Holy Spirit for working
in us what the Lord Jesus Christ worked out for us. Let us pray. Holy Father, in the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ, we come to you in his precious name. Thank
you, Lord, that you caused us to come here to meet here tonight.
We pray that you'd send the Holy Spirit, Lord, to Brother Donnie.
Cause him to tell us about our Savior. Open our hearts, our
eyes, and our ears. For these few minutes we're here,
Lord, cause us to see him, to hear from him, to see his will. Forgive us of everything that's
unlike him. We pray for the sick tonight,
Lord, that you be with them, heal them if it be thy will.
Thank you for what you've done for the one so far. Forgive me,
Lord, of my sins. And I pray, Lord, that if I don't
know you, that you'd cause me to start right now. In Christ's
name I pray, amen. Bibles together this evening
to Matthew chapter 12. Matthew chapter 12. Matthew chapter 12 And let's read start reading
at verse 13 Then said he to the man Stretch
forth thine hand and he stretched it forth and it was restored
whole like as the other and Then the Pharisees went out and held
a council against him, how they might destroy him. Here he is,
the Lord Jesus performed a great miracle. And then the Pharisees
went out and got together and took counsel among themselves,
how they might destroy the Lord Jesus Christ. But when Jesus
knew it, he withdrew himself from thence, and great multitudes
followed him, and he healed them all, and charged them that they
should not make him known, that it might be fulfilled, which
was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, Behold my servant, whom
I have chosen, my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased.
I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall show judgment to
the Gentiles. he shall not strive nor cry,
neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. A bruised
greed shall he not break, and smoking flack shall he not quench,
till he send forth judgment unto victory. And in his name shall
the Gentiles trust." I want to talk about this evening the character
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Here our Lord Jesus had a bunch
of men, got a council together to destroy. My Lord just withdrew
from them, and a great multitude followed. And it was said, the
reason that He charged them that they should not make Him known,
that it might be fulfilled that Prophet Isaiah said, and all
the things that He said about them. In these verses, verses
18 through 21, we have a beautiful, beautiful portrait of the character
of our Lord Jesus Christ. You know, in the scriptures,
we have our Lord Jesus, our master, set forth clearly and plainly.
Set forth clearly and plainly. You know, our Lord himself says
the scriptures, for they testify of me. They speak of me. He said,
if you believe Moses, you'd believe me. Moses wrote of me. And so
our Lord says the Old Testament and the scriptures concern me.
They're about me. And we're not left to our own
understanding. We don't have to assume or presume
who he is or what his character is. We're not left to that. I mean, we've been taught, those
who've been taught by the Lord Jesus Christ, by the Holy Ghost,
they can distinctly see the Lord Jesus Christ in his character,
in his personality, in his work, his person. We're not left to
assume that we know some things about Him, or not left to presume
whether we know some things about Him or not. And that's why, you
know, some of the disciples said to some people, said, would you
see Jesus? And then some came to them and
said, we would see Jesus. Would you see the Lord Jesus
tonight? I'd love to see the Lord Jesus tonight, but if we
see Him, we're going to have to see Him by faith, and we're
going to have to see Him in His Word. And here's the first thing
it says about Him here, what the prophet Isaiah said about
Him. This is out of Isaiah 42. He says, Behold my servant, whom
I have chosen, my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased. I'll put my spirit upon him,
and he shall show judgment to the Gentiles. First of all, He
says, Behold My servant whom I have chosen. That's the first
thing about our Lord Jesus Christ. He's the chosen one. God said
in Isaiah 42, Behold My elect. My elect. Our Lord Jesus Christ
was God's first elect. God's first chosen. And our Lord
Jesus Christ was chosen by God for a particular purpose. God
didn't look through eternity and try to find somebody able
to do it. No, no. Our Lord Jesus Christ
was God's elect from before the foundation of the world. And
He wasn't elected as you and I are elected. He was chosen
for a particular purpose, for a particular office, for a particular
things to do while He was on it. He was chosen to become a
man. He was chosen to come through
the womb of a virgin. He was chosen to live on this
earth as a man, like unto us. And when was He chosen? Before
the world ever was. Proverbs 8.23 said He was set
up from everlasting. And I tell you what, He was chosen.
He was chosen to do some things. And beloved, our Father gave
Him a work to do and He was chosen to be the Lamb of God. He was
chosen to be the seed of the woman. He was chosen to be the
only mediator between God and men. He was chosen to be our
representative in this life. He was chosen to stand in the
room instead of a particular people that was given to Him
in a covenant of grace before the world ever began. In fact, He was chosen to be
the head of a chosen race. He was chosen to be the head
of a body. A bridegroom for a bride. A savior for sinners. A sacrifice
for sin. And He was the one chosen that
the Father said, if you come unto Me, you got to come by My
Son. If you're going to have any dealings
with Me, you got to deal with My Son. Chose Him to be that
only mediator. I know how to get to God. I know how to approach God. I
know how to get into the holiest of holies with a high priest
which once a year not without blood. Now I get to go into the
holiest of holies and I don't go beloved with any blood but
I go pleading the blood that's already been put there on God's
holy altar. He's chosen. Behold mine elect,
my chosen. Chosen. Oh, look over here in
1st, keep Matthew 12. Look in 1st Peter 2. Look in
1st Peter 2. He's chosen. He's the chosen
one. My servant whom I have chosen. I tell you, you know, God's election,
And we're chosen to be predestinated. We're chosen to be predestinated
to the image of Christ. Chosen and we're predestinated
to be adopted into the family of God. And we were sinners chosen. But Christ was never a sinner.
Christ was the Holy One of God. And He was chosen to do for men
and women a whole race of things that they could not do for themselves.
And if they were able, ever able, they would have failed sooner
or later. So our Lord Jesus Christ was God's blessed chosen one
for sinners like ourselves. And look what it said here in
1 Peter 2 and verse 4. To whom coming? Who? The Lord
Jesus that you tasted is gracious. to whom coming as a living stone,
disallowed indeed of men." Men said, we are not going to have
this stone. We're not going to build our
hopes on this stone. We're not going to have our foundation
on this stone. We're not going to look to this
stone. We're not going to trust in this
stone. Disallowed indeed of men, but
listen to it, but chosen of God and precious. Chosen of God and
precious. Now back over here in Matthew
12, look at another thing about our Lord Jesus Christ. He says, my chosen one, behold
my servant whom I have chosen. And then look what it says, my
servant, behold my servant. And as a servant, he was obedient. As a servant, he is obedient.
He is the servant who could not fail, neither be discouraged.
And Isaiah 52 called him Jehovah's righteous servant. The only righteous
servant that's ever been is the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, behold
my servant. He was, you know what our Lord's
delight was while he was in this world? Even before the turn,
he delighted to be, to do his father's will. But when he was
in this world as God's servant, as the son of man, As one who
came not to be ministered unto, but not to be ministered unto,
but to give his life a ransom for many. He was God's servant. It was his daily, daily delight
from all eternity. But when he became a man, it
was daily his delight to do his father's will. As his servant,
his righteous servant. He said, and he told his disciples
one time when they came and saw him with the woman at the well.
He said, oh, my means to do the will of him that sent me and
finish the work that he gave me to do. His own mother and
father came to get him after they missed him after three days
and come and found him sitting with the doctors and the lawyers
and they couldn't comprehend that at 12 years old he knew
more about anything than they ever dreamed to know about. And
his mother and mother said, what have you done to us? He said,
wish you not that I be about my father's business. I've got
a work to do here. I'm a servant of the great and
high, most high God." And in his final hours, he says this,
he says, I glorified you while I was on
this earth. I brought glory to your name. I got glory to your will. I brought glory to your word.
I brought glory to everything there is. I brought glory to
you, the eternal, infinite God. I brought glory to you. And I
finished the work that you gave me to do. He came here as God's
servant. And all night, you know what
he was obedient to? He was obedient even unto death,
the death of the cross. He says, Father, if it be possible,
let this cup pass from me, but nevertheless, nevertheless, not
my will, but thine be done. Oh my. His love for His Father's
will and His desire to fulfill His Father's will for His elect
people was stronger than death. He would die because He loved
His Father's will. And He loved His Father's will
so much that He was willing to be made sin who knew no sin. He loved His Father's will and
His people so much that He said, mine hours now come. Then He went to the cross, and
the last word He said was, it is finished. God's will was done,
God's will was glorified, and now God's elect to save even
the ones that don't know it yet. Ain't that right? And I'll let
me show his love was stronger than death. His love for his
father's will. And then back here, look what
else it says about him. He said, he's his servant, he's
his chosen. Look what else it says. He says,
my beloved. My beloved. Chosen, servant,
and my beloved. He says, my beloved one. You
know, Love is a very, very mysterious thing. It's a mysterious thing. You don't know when it's going
to come. You don't know who it's going to come from and who it's
going to go towards until it happens. But God called His Son,
My Beloved, My Beloved, My Beloved, and who my soul is well pleased.
Our Lord Jesus Christ was the Father's Beloved Son. And it
says over here in Matthew, look over in Matthew 3, verse 17. Matthew 3, 17. God spoke twice
about our Lord Jesus Christ. My beloved. My beloved. My son was talking
the other day, when his son was first born, when Aidan was first
born, he said, I finally understood what mom and dad felt. And he says now, it's even more
so than it was when he was first born. You know, love just gets
stronger and stronger and you just think you can't love them
anymore than they do. Well, our Lord Jesus Christ,
God loves like we don't even. But look what he said about him
in verse 17. And lo, a voice from heaven saying,
this is my beloved son. And you know what? He said, I
am well pleased in him. Never said that about another
soul on topside of God's earth. And I tell you, he was pleased
with the Son. He satisfied the Lord. And what
assurance, what a strong consolation for us that he pleased the Father. That he satisfied the Father.
And our Lord as Jehovah's Servant in the likeness of men was well-pleasing
to God Almighty. And you know what it says? I
want you to look at this in Ephesians 1.6. In Ephesians 1.6. I could
quote this to you, but I want you to see this. And look what
it says. Look what it says. As our Lord,
as Jehovah's Servant, as His beloved Son, as the son in whom
he was well pleased, satisfied, and honored, and glorified his
father. And look what it says there in Ephesians 1, 6. To the
praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted
were I in the beloved. Wouldn't he make us accepted
there? It's the same place that He loves it. The same One that
is His Beloved, He put us in the Beloved. Accepted us in the
Beloved. And now He can say to us, My
Beloved, in whom I'm well pleased, because He sees us all in Christ. Beloved. Beloved. Now back over
to Matthew. Let's look at this again. Not
only is He the Chosen One, the Servant and Beloved One, But
he's the anointed one. He says, My beloved in whom my
soul is well pleased, and I'll put my spirit upon him. In verse
18, I'll put my spirit upon him. You know, he was the one anointed.
The spirit ascended upon our Lord Jesus Christ as a dove. And John 3.34 says this about
him. It says, God gave him the spirit
without measure. The Holy Spirit came on our Lord
Jesus Christ. God gave it to him without measure.
Everybody else gets a portion. Everybody else gets just very
little. You know, John the Baptist, he was full of the Holy Ghost
from his mother's womb. But our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Spirit of God anointed him, and the Spirit was on him without
measure. I mean the Spirit of God come
down on our Lord Jesus Christ, came down at His baptism, as
it looked like a dove, and it just, it looked like a dove coming
down, and it just descended on Him, and entered into Him, and
covered Him up. And everybody knew right then
and there, this is the Messiah. This is the Lord Jesus Christ.
This is the one that God said, My Son, in whom I'm well pleased. And I tell you that our Lord
Jesus, In Him, God the Father sealed. He sealed Him to the
work. Look in John 6.27 with me. He's anointed. And anointed to this blessed
office of being our Savior. And the Spirit of God, it sealed
Him. Set a seal on Him. In John 6.27,
look what it says here about our Lord. God sealed him there
to the work. When the Spirit of God descended
upon him, and God put the Spirit upon him without measure, that
was the seal. That was the seal the Lord put
upon him to identify him. Look what he said in verse 27.
John 6, labor not for the meat which perishes, but that meat
which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall
give unto him, For him hath God the Father sealed." Now what
does that mean, him hath God the Father sealed? It's the same
word as anointing. Sealed means to identify, it's
to approve, it's to honor. And that's what he said, he put
a seal on him, and the seal was this, the Holy Spirit without
measure, the dove coming upon him. And God identified him,
gave him these works to do, and anointed him, and gave him power
that nobody else ever had, that he might understand that this
is the Messiah, this is the anointed one, the one that come from God.
And let's look in Isaiah 61 with me. This is what our Lord Jesus
Christ, the first time when his ministry started, when he was
in Nazareth and he went in the synagogue, this is the verse
of scripture. He said they handed him the scroll
of Isaiah and our Lord stood up and this is the verse of scripture
that he read. And he said, this day is this
scripture fulfilled in your ears, in your presence. And he closed
the book and sat down because that day he entered into the
ministry that he entered in to the public ministry God gave
him. In Isaiah 61, the spirit of the Lord God is upon me. Why? The Lord hath anointed me first
to preach good tidings, unto the meek. He hath sent me to
bind up the broken hearted." And boy, he's sure binding up
all his... And I tell you, if he ever binds
your broken heart and if it ever gets broken again, he'll keep
on binding it up. He just keeps that broken heart... He'll take a broken heart and
he'll fix that broken heart and give you comfort in that broken
heart. Give you comfort and strength in that broken heart. And Lord,
He sent me in and honored me to proclaim liberty to the captives. You that are bound by sin, you
that are bound by justice, you that are bound by pride, and
you that are bound by self-righteousness, you that are bound by Satan.
He said, I came to preach liberty. You can be free. And listen here,
an opening of the prison to them that are bound. I remember a
fellow saying one time, and that's where them girls used to go to
this fellow's Bible camp, and he told me one time, was talking
about man's free will, and he said, I tell you what, here's
the way it is. He said, God gave, you know,
free will's one of the greatest gifts God ever gave us. And he
said, what you do, he said, if a man's in prison, said he's
got the key to get himself out, all he's got to do is exercise
his free will and he can get out. His will is the key to let him
out of prison. Well, if they know they're in
prison, why don't they use the key? Nobody knows they're in
prison. And you know who's in prison?
Only the ones the Lord Jesus already set free. Yeah. Oh, listen, I can't set myself
free from nothing, but the Lord Jesus can. And look what he says
here now. And he goes on to say, to proclaim
the acceptable year of the Lord. What's the acceptable year of
the Lord? Every single day that a man comes to Christ. This is
the day, the year that God accepts all who comes unto the Lord Jesus
Christ. And the day of the vengeance
of our God, the day to all sins going to be paid for, the day
that all sins going to be put away, where God's going to wreak
vengeance upon all who sin and he put that sin on Christ and
his wrath fell on him. And listen to what he said, and
also, to comfort all that mourn. Oh my, to comfort all that mourn. And listen to what else he says
he's anointed to do. To appoint unto them that mourn
in Zion, those that mourn in Zion, that mourn in the church, to give unto them beauty for
ashes, to give unto them all of joy
for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness,
and I'll tell you, everything that's wrong, He replaces it
with what's right. And that they might be called
trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be
glorified. He said, that's why He said He
is the anointed one, to do all of that. to do all of that, our
Lord Jesus Christ. Now look back over here again
in Matthew 9, Matthew 12 excuse me, Matthew 12 verse 18 again. He's the one who has all judgment,
the one who reveals, look what he says in the last part of verse
18, and he shall show judgment. shall show judgment to the Gentiles,
shall show judgment. And you know what it means here
when he shall show judgment? It's like he is the judge and
he chooses what is going to be done. He's the one that sets
in judgment as to who will hear and who won't, who will see and
who won't, who will believe and who won't, whom he'll bless and
whom he won't, whom he'll do something for and whom he won't.
You think I can prove that by the scripture? John 5.22 says
this, he says, the father loveth the son and hath committed all
judgment into him. You keep Matthew 12 and look
in John 9.39. Our Lord Jesus Christ, this is what he says here, truth.
And this is the truth. He's the one who sets in judgment,
who will hear the truth and who won't hear the truth. He sets
as the judge. And that's why that's the same
thing as saying He's the sovereign one. That He has all power to
give eternal life to as many as thou hast given Him. And He
shall show judgment. Look what is said in John 9,
9.39. And our Lord said, For judgment I am come into this
world, and this is the judgment that I make. He said that they which see,
see not, might see. People that know that they're
blind, find out that they're blind. Find out that you know
they thought they saw. Job said it like this, he said,
I heard about you with the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees
you. And I repent and abhor myself. I abhor myself. And see, that's
why he takes truth. And he makes truth known to people.
He said, if you don't see, if you're blind and you find out
you're blind, he said, I'm going to give you sight. It's the people
that know. It's the people that see. It's
the people that say, oh, I see. I know that. I believe that.
Who in the world wouldn't believe that? We was talking about it
this morning, about me and Houston. You know, he's brought a couple
of young ladies to the services, and he says, one of them left
here so mad, she said, she was so mad, she said, I just, I thought
she was gonna explode before we got out. Said, oh, she was
so mad, I said, well, she listened. When you listen, you understand
what's being said, you get mad, and he said, another one's come
in here, said, oh, listen, that's what my preacher preaches, my
preacher, that's what, I said, I've always believed that, and
she goes, so that tells that they didn't hear nothing. And somebody says, well, I see.
Well, they're not going to see. And somebody says, oh, my. Do
you remember when you struggled over, do you remember when you
struggled over the grace of God? Do you remember when you struggled
over a particular redemption? Do you remember when you struggled
over everything that you had ever believed and all that house
that you had built, that false foundation you had built on the
house you built on it with? And that house started being,
God tore it down, He took down the stack, He took down the roof,
He took down the fireplace, and he took down the flue, and he
took it off, board at a time, board at a time. Then come a
wall, here come a wall, there went a wall, here come a wall,
and you're left standing there, and there ain't nothing around
you. And then he reaches down and gets the foundation, whoop! And he breaks that foundation
out of you, and you say, oh, oh. You know who decided to do
that? He said, oh, he goes on to say
this. I have come into this world that
they which see not might see, and that they which see, go stay
blind. Go stay blind. Go stay blind. They say, I see that what you
believe is not true. And oh my, He is the judge to
what men see, what men hear, and what men learn. Back over
here in Matthew 12, and look at verse, chapter 11, we're at
12, and then look right there at 11, 25. He's the one, He's
the judge, He's the revealing one. I mean, He's the one that's
got to make people see, and know, and understand. You know, that's why people won't
come hear the gospel. A lot of people won't come hear
the gospel because they already see. They already see. They already see they're alright.
They already see that they're okay with God. They already see
that their heart's pretty good. They already see that they're
not pretty bad people. They already see that, you know,
I'm a good mother, I'm a good father, I'm a good son, I'm a
good worker, I'm a good, you know, something good about them.
And so they don't need the gospel. They already see. And our Lord
said, I'll just let you stay like that. I'll let you stay
blind. But I run across folks that cannot
see, they're blind as a bat. He said, them's the people. I'm
gonna give them something to see. And I mean, I'll really
give them something to see. And look what he said here in
Matthew 11, 25. At that time, Jesus answered and said, I thank
thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast
hid these things from the wise and prudent." God hides things. He does. Who's he hiding from? People's too wise. The wisdom
of this world. Men is too wise to see their
need of Christ. They're prudent. They know how
to get on in this world. They know how to make decisions.
They know what it takes to be successful. They're alright with
what they're doing in this world. And then he says, but look what
else he said, you hid them from the wise and prudent, but you
revealed them to babes. Babes. Anybody here feel like
they're a grown up person in the Lord? No, we all feel, you
know, oh my, you know who needs somebody to take care of them?
Babies. Babies. And I'll tell you what, if the
Lord don't take care of us, we're gone justice. And look what he
said. For even so, Father, for it seemed good in thy sight to
do this. Now listen to what our Lord said. All things are delivered
of me, of my Father. And nobody knows the Son but
the Father. neither knoweth any man the Father,
only the Son. And you know who will know the
Father? He, to whoever the Son will reveal him. And since I've
got this power and I've got this authority, you know what you
need to do? Come unto me. Come unto me. Just come to me. Come to me. Now back here in Matthew 12,
look what it says here in verse Verse 19, He's the lowly one. Oh, and it says here, He shall
not cry. He shall not strive nor cry.
You know, here, these Pharisees got together to hold a council
together, how they might destroy Him. Instead of our Lord Jesus
Christ striving with them, arguing with them, trying to outdo them
or them outdo Him, our Lord didn't have to strive with anybody.
Because He already had all power, already had authority, had all
the glory and honor. But He withdrew Himself. You
see, He committed Himself unto Him that was able to keep Him,
so He would not strive nor cry. Our Lord Jesus Christ never made
Himself of no reputation. And that's why He charged Him
to tell no man these things. He didn't want people running
around telling what he, you know, he was not one of these fellows
that say, Jesus, I'm coming to town, everybody line up, I'm
fixing to do a healing line here. That's not the way our Lord did
it. No, no, there was lots of times,
beloved, if people followed him just because of who he was and
his ability to do things. And oh, what would he strive
for? Would He strive for exaltation? Would He strive for power? Would
He strive for authority? Would He strive for glory? What
would our Lord Jesus strive for? And what would He cry out about? What would He do? That's why
I said this morning, all those Jews were murmuring at Him. He
said, don't bother me. You're the ones with the problem.
He said, that's what I told you. No man can come to me except
the Father which sent me drawing. So you go ahead and keep on murmuring.
And I'll tell you what, my Father's going to draw some people. And
my Father's going to teach some people. And those people are
going to learn and they're going to come to me. He never argued
with them. He never strove with them. He
never tried to prove to them anything. He didn't have to prove
anything. He don't have to prove anything
to anybody. But when he does save you, he don't have to prove
anything. He does it because he wills to
do it. And then you see his glory. And all look over in 1 Peter
2.23 with me. Look what it says about our Savior.
Oh my, he committed himself to him that was able to keep so
he wouldn't strive or cry. He never sought the favor of
men for his own sake. He never sought the favor of
men and the honor of men in this world. His whole purpose was to glorify
his father. And look what it said here about
him in 1 Peter 2.23. talking about our Lord Jesus
Christ, who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth,
who, when he was reviled, he did not revile again. When he
suffered, he did not turn around and threaten anybody, but committed
himself to him that judgeth righteously. Old Pilate said to him, says,
you know, answer me. Answer me. He was astonished
that the Lord Jesus Christ wouldn't say anything. He said, answer
me. He said, don't you know I've
got the power to crucify you? I've got the power to let you
go. Our Lord just said one simple thing. He said, you don't have
any power at all, except it's given you of my Father. Never argued with him, never
strove with him. Just stood there and took what was given to him. And oh, listen. And that's what
our Lord Jesus Christ said, He says, He that glorifies the Father, knows He's of God. You know,
that's what He said. He said, I come here to glorify
the Father, and I didn't come here to argue with men, debate
with men, and fuss and fight with men, and I'm not going to
do that either. If a man wants to believe the Gospel, I hope
and pray he does, but if he don't, I'm not going to fuss and fight
with him. Are you? You're just wasting your breath.
As old Floyd used to say all the time, save your breath to
cool your coffee. As argued with somebody over election, that's
the worst thing going on today. You all believe that babies even
go to hell. They accuse us of all kinds of
stuff like that. How in the world can you, you all believe that
you're the only people in the world that's elect, you're the
only one saved. No, no, no, no. There's a multitude that no man
can number that God saved. We just happen to be in that
number. And I say, listen, you want to be in that number too?
Come hear the gospel. Don't argue with them over election
or predestination. Just don't do it. Just don't
do it. Don't get down on their level. This gospel's too precious. Don't take that that's holy and
feed it to dogs. Don't take this glorious gospel
and cast your pearls before swine. Huh? And oh, let me give you
something else. So he didn't cry. He didn't strive
nor cry. And oh, look what it says down
there in verse 19 again. Shall not cry nor strive. And
oh, listen. In verse 20. Oh, he was a sympathizing
one. He said, a bruised reed shall
he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench. Oh, my. You know, a bruised reed, bruised,
and it just wouldn't take nothing to make it fall open. Smoking flax, you're just smoking. And it looks like the fire's
just, all the smoke's left, that's all it looks like. It looks like
the bulls have no hope whatsoever. The fire's gonna go out, and
the reed's gonna break. But a bruised reed, he's not
gonna break it. And wherever he finds some smoking
flax, he's not gonna quench it. You see, beloved, he's the shepherd
of the sheep. He's the shepherd of the land.
And He cares for the weakest, and there's times that we feel
like we're that bruised reed we were just fixing to break. Sometimes we feel like that smoking
flax where the fire is just almost out. And our Lord Jesus Christ,
He comes and takes care of the weakest and the frailest And
those who think they have no light and so frail that they
think they're going to break, know he is faithful, he is gentle,
he is caring, he is loving, and he'll take you up in his arms
and he'll take you into his blessed presence and he'll make you understand
that no matter how weak you are, how frail you are, how close
you feel like you'll never take another step, how close you feel
like you can't even get your breath, that your heart is so
heavy, and you feel like that you're just fixing to break like
a, just snap, and the fire's going out. And the Lord Jesus
Christ will flame that fire, and He'll take that bruised reed,
and He'll strengthen it and make it stand up straight. Oh, what
a gentle Savior. He takes, the scripture said
He takes the lambs in His bosom. You ever been that way? You ever
felt like you was the Bruce Reed smoking flash? But he ain't never let you fall
over yet, and he ain't let the fire go out, has he? Huh? No, no. That's how gentle our
Savior is. That's how he looks out. I saw
a thing today about a man who's got two disabled little children. They're both in wheelchairs.
two little boys, and they're in these wheelchairs. And this
fella made these costumes for them boys in them wheelchairs,
hooked it to the wheelchairs, and they're sitting in their
wheelchairs, little old boys, seven, eight year old, nine,
and he put these, built these things to go on their costumes.
One of them was some kind of a an airplane or something, I
don't know what it was, but he put it on there so that when
they went out, just going out in their little wheelchairs and
running them, they had costumes on just like any other kids did.
Daddy loved them so much. He went to great, great labor
to take care of them two little boys and make them feel, you
know, how much he loved them to do all that. Made them boys
feel special. Made them look special. And if
a man takes care of his children like that, that's so weak and
so frail, what would our Lord Jesus Christ do for us? Huh? And you know what he dresses
us with? His righteousness. His righteousness. And then look
what it said. He's the conquering one. Here
in verse 20. Not only a bruised wreath shall
he not break, a smoking flag shall he not quench, till he
send forth judgment unto victory." You know what that means? He's
going to win. That means he's the victor. That
means that he shall show judgment unto victory. When he sends forth
judgment and he makes all things over and done with, his truth
shall triumph. His power is going to triumph.
His word is going to triumph. His judgment is going to triumph.
He shall see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied. Look
in Revelation 6, Revelation 6, look at this. Y'all know, know
that Psalm 24 about opening up you
everlasting gates. But look what it said here in
Revelation 6 too. And we'll look in verse one.
And I saw the Lamb, open one of the seals, and I heard, as
it were, the noise of thunder. One of the first four beasts
says, come and see. And I saw, and behold, a white
horse. And he that sat on him had a
bow, and a crown was given unto him. And he went forth conquering
and to conquer. He done conquered. I mean, you
know, we see all things put under his feet. And that's why the
psalmist says, lift up your gates, you everlasting doors, and the
king of glory shall come in. They said, well, who is this
king of glory? He says, the Lord, strong and mighty in battle. So lift up your gates, you everlasting
doors, and the king of glory shall come in. that won the Lord
strong and mighty in battle. Long, strong, and mighty in battle. And let me give you one other
one, and I'm done. I'll tell you, I didn't know
it'd take, look, here's the last one in verse 21, talking about
our Lord Jesus Christ, Matthew 12, 21. And in his name shall the Gentiles
trust. He's the one that's trustworthy.
Now, in His name shall the Gentiles trust. His name is as a nail
in a sure place. And it'll bear all that hangs
on it. He's that nail in a sure place. Hang your soul on Him. Hang your
eternal destiny on Him. Hang your life on Him. Hang everything
on that nail. And He's that nail in that sure
place. And He'll bring glory to Himself in that. And that's
what it means in Romans 10, 11, that whosoever believeth on him
shall not be ashamed, will not be confounded. Oh, he's trustworthy. In him and in his name shall
we trust. He's that nail in a sure place.
What a wonderful Savior is Jesus our Lord. What a wonderful Savior
to me. Our Father, oh, our Father, thank
you for the gospel. Thank you for the truth. Thank
you for our Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, Lord Jesus, thank you. Blessed
be your name. Oh, for such a salvation, for
such a savior. God bless, strengthen, encourage
us, dear saints of God, here. Meet Kathleen's needs, her home. Strengthen her, encourage her,
continue to bless Jim. And Peggy, oh Lord, please have
mercy and pity upon Peggy. Oh Lord, we continue to pray
for Darren and Kim that you'd continue to bless them. We thank
you for them. And Lord, bring glory to yourself
through this body of believers, for Christ's sake. Amen. Amen.