Thank you, Bruce. Man, you drank
my water and it took my seat. I guess anybody that can get
a conference canceled by not making an appearance can drink
my water and get by with it. Not much I can do about it, is
there? Donnie's never said that to me. And you don't have to. You don't
have to. He's invited me back. I'm thankful
for that. Last year was my first time preaching
in the conference here, although I preached here many times. Last
year Donnie finally invited me. You may recall me saying that
I I felt very fulfilled in that regard because I'd been waiting
about 35 years. And now he invited me back a
second time. This might be the last time. It's a delight to be with you.
Pray for me. Pray for me. Bruce, that was
an excellent message. Thank you so very much. I hope
I can continue along that same line. Will you turn with me to
1 Peter? 1 Peter. The people that Peter wrote both
of his epistles to, at the time he wrote them, were suffering
some severe, severe persecution under the tyrant Nero. Many of them, God's people, had
lost all their earthly possessions, property, their homes, and even
Thousands had lost their lives. Look here in verse 1 of chapter
1. Peter says, and an apostle of
Jesus Christ to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus,
Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and by Athenia. But Peter goes on
to remind them of that which they could never, ever lose. Nero or any other man could never
take this away from them. Look at verse three. Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according
to his abundant mercy, have begotten us again unto a lively hope by
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance
incorruptible. They had lost their earthly homes,
but Peter said, you have a home in heaven. can't be touched,
and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved, reserved
in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith
unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. And then in
chapter two, Peter speaks of that which is most precious. Most precious. Three times in
four verses, which make up three sentences, Peter uses that word
precious. And every time, every time, he's
talking about the Lord Jesus Christ. Every time. Look at verse 1 of chapter 2.
Wherefore, laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies,
and envies, and all evil speakings, as new-born babes desire to see
and sear milk of the word that ye may grow thereby, if so be
ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious, to whom coming as
unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of
God, and precious." That's the first. He also, as lively stones,
are built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer
up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore,
also it is contained in the scripture, behold, this is God talking,
behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious. And he that believeth on him
shall not be confounded. Unto you, therefore, which believe,
he is precious. But unto them which be disobedient,
the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made
the head of the corner. the preciousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Verse four, he's precious to
God. Verse six, precious in himself. Precious in himself. And verse
seven, unto you that believe he is precious. The word there
is the preciousness. It could have very well been
translated that way. Unto you therefore which believe
He is preciousness itself. Is that not so? You see, it's
all about Him. Isn't it, Mike? It's all about
Him. You, I'm sure, have seen the
sign. It was more popular at one time
than it is now on church buildings, on their marquee. I saw one just
the other day, so it hasn't died out. But remember this, you can't spell church without
you. You would be gone. We can't spell
church without you. It's all about you. No, it's
not. No, it's not. It's all about
him. God can easily do without you
and me. Oh, but not without Him. Not without Christ. He's precious
to God, precious to those who believe. I remember years ago,
Brother Tim James was preaching at one of the conferences in
Danville, Kentucky. And he referred to that, which
I just did. You can't spell church without
you. And Tim said, hmm, I guess that's right. But you can't spell
stupid without you either. You can't spell dumb without
you either. He's got that right. Verse four. Let's start where God starts. Let's start where God starts.
Unto whom coming as unto a living stone disallowed indeed of men
But that's not the end of the story, is it? What men do is
not the end of the story, but chosen of God and precious. I remember hearing Scott Richardson
say on more than one occasion, before God can do anything for
you, he's got to do something for himself. That's what Bruce
preached about. Before God can forgive any sinner,
he must do it upon the grounds of satisfied justice. Mercy always comes on the wings
of satisfied justice. Unto God Jesus Christ is precious. To whom, we read in verse 4,
to whom coming? I'm just going to pitch tent
right there. To whom coming? Not to what? Not to what? Yes, he was disallowed of men. In verse 7 we're told, the builders. He was disallowed by the builders. The religious leaders. Christ
said to them, referring to Psalm 118, He said, have you never
read in Scripture, speaking to the Pharisees, the scribes, the
priests, have you never read in Scripture that the stone which
the builders rejected, the builders, the same has become the headstone
of the corner? This is the Lord's doing, whether
they liked it or not. And it's marvelous in our eyes. Yes, the builders said, concerning
the Lord of glory, We'll not have this man rule over us. He just doesn't fit in. We don't
need him. We've got Abraham, Moses. We don't need Jesus Christ. What
should we do with him? Crucify him. Crucify him. What a sorry testimony that is
concerning man. Luke says Pilate delivered Jesus
to their will. Their will. My soul, so much
talk in our day. Most preachers talk about the
freedom of man's will. Yeah, can't spell stupid without
you. Not so, not so. Their will was
to crucify the Son of God. But they didn't have the final
word, did they? Still chosen of God and precious. When I was a young boy at home,
and my father would tell me to do something, and I would kick
against it, Donny. I was stupid. My father would
say, son, do that, and that's final. That's the final word. And if you've got a problem with
it, son, he would say, I bet I can change your tune. I never won that bet. Never won
it. He could change. God Almighty,
concerning his son, they said, we'll not have this man rule
over us. But God highly exalted him, this
one that is precious to God, precious to believers, and given
him a name above all names. Who has the final word? Son of God, they said. Well,
that's a lie. He's a deceiver. Why do you even
bother to listen to him? The religious leaders, the builders
said. But God said, this is my beloved
son. in whom I am well pleased, hear
ye him." Let me read something to you from the Psalms. This is what the builder said. I'm reading from Psalm 2. Let's
break their bands asunder, verse 3, and cast away their cords
from us. That's what the builder said.
That's what the religious leader said. But listen to what God
said. Look who has the final word.
He that saideth in the heaven shall laugh. The Lord shall have
them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them
in his wrath and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet, yet
even though he was disallowed of the builders, yet God says,
have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion, I would declare
the decree, the Lord has said unto me, thou art my son, this
day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, God says to his son. Ask of me and I shall give thee
the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the
earth for thy possession." The very fact that God Almighty speaks
thus concerning his son shows the preciousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ. There's none like him. The word
precious Means, I'm sure, among other things, but it means rare,
doesn't it? Indispensable, Frank. Can't do
without. One of a kind. That describes him so much more. The Lord Jesus Christ. He is
the preciousness. Oh, child of God, where would
we be, Gary, without him? Bruce referred to it a moment
ago, Matthew 7, there will be people stand before God in that
day. Jesus Christ taught this. And
the only mediator they have between them and an absolute just God,
a God that's not easily satisfied, a God that demands perfection,
and the only foundation that they have that they're trusting
on is their own works, their own doings. My, so what a horrible,
horrible thought. But it'll be a reality. Lord,
have we not done things? We've done many marvelous things
in your name. They talked about things, but
not whom. To whom coming? Salvation is
in him. A young woman, a couple months
ago, waited after the service at our church, wanted to speak
to me. And after everyone left, she
said, I'm wondering what process, she'd been visiting other churches,
And she said, I'd like to know what process do you use for salvation
here? That's her exact words. What
process do you use for salvation here? And I said, young lady,
salvation is not a process. Salvation's a person. Salvation
is having the Son of God. Salvation is not obtained by
learning a process or finding some kind of secret formula,
and then you have it. Oh, no. Again, look at it. To whom coming? Paul said, I
know what. No, he didn't. He said, I know
whom. I know whom I have believed.
And that's what gave him peace when he sat in that lonely cell
in Rome, hearing the footsteps of the executioner at the door.
He said, Timothy, it's not a problem. I know whom I have believed.
I'm ready to depart and be with him, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the preciousness. Simeon,
what a blessed example that is. That old man is led by the Spirit
of God into the temple at the very time that Mary and
Joseph are carrying in that little dark-skinned Jewish
baby boy. Looks like any other Jewish baby
boy. David, that's God Almighty. That's God in the flesh. That's the one who in the beginning
made everything that is made. My soul. When Simeon came in,
He wasn't looking for a thing. He was beholding someone. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself
will never be saved by looking to anything or anyone but Him. And when Simeon saw Him and the
Spirit of God whispered in his ear, that's Him. That's him. And that old man said, this is
what I've been waiting for all my life. And he walks over and
takes that babe out of the arms of his mother and says, Father,
God, let me die. Let me die. There's nothing else
in this world worth seeing. I'm ready to die. Why, Simeon? How can you say such a thing?
How can you say you're ready to depart in peace and stand
before God? How can that be possible? Because
I've seen thy salvation. And he was looking at the Lord
Jesus Christ and nothing else. Oh, to have eyes only for Him. Oh, Donnie, it doesn't take a
whole lot to say that. Oh, for his grace to really want
it. Oh, to have eyes only for the
Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is in whom? The preciousness. I read this
comment by old John Newton. He read, or rather he wrote,
I endeavored to renounce society that I might avoid temptation.
How'd that work out for you, John? But it was a poor religion. So far as it prevailed, it only
tended to make me gloomy and stupid and unsociable and useless. Oh, but then Then, like Simeon,
Newton came to home. Came to home. He saw God's salvation,
and that changed his tune. When he looked unto Christ, the
just God and Savior, then he wrote, Oh, how precious! God, draw back the curtain of
memory now and then. Show us, remind us, what you
brought us from and where we could have been. Except for the
Lord Jesus Christ. How precious. Do you remember,
child of God, do you remember when you couldn't explain it
at the time. But suddenly, this world lost
its attraction. Those things you once grasped
for, those things you once thought, if I just have that, if I can
just get hold of that, I'll be satisfied. Then all of the sudden, You thought, it's nothing. It's
nothing. I went to my dear grandmother,
one of the few people I knew that professed to know God, and
I said, grandmother, I'm lost. I'm lost. Grandmother, if somebody
walked in here right now and laid a million dollars at my
feet, what would it matter? I'm thirsty, grandmother. What
must I do? I was a hippie in those days.
Grandmother told me to go get a haircut. Things. Things. Oh no. Point this thirsty sinner to
the water of life. Point me to whom. Let me hear
him say, come unto me all ye that thirsteth. And drank. And
drank. The Lord Jesus Christ. My prayer
has been ever since Donnie invited me up, and especially driving
up here today. God, be pleased to meet with
us. Bless these services. Bless every
preacher that stands up to preach. Grant him the grace and the liberty,
the power of your Holy Spirit. Enable us to exalt the Lord Jesus
Christ. Let it be our heart's desire
to make Christ the main attraction. Nothing else matters. Nothing
else matters. He's the preciousness. The apostles
didn't go around preaching a plan of salvation, did they? I saw
that on one of these signs. I told Frank about it when I
was driving around Huntington. I declare I thought I saw one
of them big churches with the sign that the name of it was
the church of what's happening now. I saw one that said, are
you lost? Try God's GPS. God's plan of salvation. Oh no. May God enable us to uphold
the person of his dear son. He may be pleased to open some
blinded eyes to behold the Lamb of God. Wouldn't that be something? Wouldn't that be something? The
last time I was here, October the 5th, preached on a Sunday
night, went out and visited with Donnie the next morning before
I drove back home. And he was telling me about this
fellow who put in writing, and I wasn't surprised, this theologian. Paul, he had cut me off a long
time ago. But he wrote that if any sinner
is saved, he must be saved intellectually. Remember that conversation, Don?
Must be saved intellectually. Got to know, know, know. You ever heard men preach like
that and get the impression, man, I've got to have a degree
to be saved. I'm too stupid to be saved. If
what he's saying is so, the only thing I must know is
this. Him. Whom. Having him I have everything,
everything I need now, tomorrow, and for eternity. I'm complete
in Him. Complete. Complete. That means I don't lack anything. I hear, like the fellow, Mindani,
discussed the article he wrote, It reminded me, my daughter was
young at home. I let her get her hamster. And it was in a cage and it'd
get in that little wheel and just go round and round and round
and round and never go anywhere. And I hear these guys and they
say, man, you gotta know this and this and this and this. And
I just don't get anywhere. It just makes me dizzy. Show
me Jesus. Show me Jesus. As Paul said to
that Philippian jailer, sirs, this sinner said, sirs, what
must I do to be saved? Paul and Silas didn't say, first
of all, you've got to get Gil's body of divinity. No. No, he didn't. You've got to be indoctrinated.
No, you know what they said. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. They pointed him to the only
Savior, the only mediator between God and man. I like the way Christ
preached to sinners. Wish I could learn to preach
like the only preacher that there really is. Christ himself can
only make it effectual. But he looked out at a multitude
of people who were following him because they got hungry again.
Because just not long before that he had fed the multitude.
And they followed him across the sea. And he looked at them
with a heart full of compassion. and mercy. And he looked out
at that multitude and he said, is anybody really hungry? Is
anybody hungry? I'm the bread that came down
from heaven. Come and eat of me and live forever. Is anybody thirsty, he asked. Is anybody thirsty? Let him come
to me and drink. Does anybody really want to know
God? Does anybody want to know God? I'm the way to him. Christ says,
I'm the way. No man comes to the Father but
by me. Come unto me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. This is what Paul wrote up. Well, I think it was Paul. In
Hebrews 4, didn't he? Listen to this. Hebrews chapter
4, verse 10. For he that is entered into his
rest, he also hath ceased from his own works." Ooh, I like that. I like that. You mean it's not
do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do? It's not don't touch this and
don't taste that and don't go there and don't wear that? No,
no, no, no. Cease from that nonsense. As God did from his, let us labor
therefore to enter into that rest. That rest, His rest. Oh, it's just so sweet to trust
in Jesus. Is it not? So sweet, just from
sin and self to cease. I don't get any rest when I look
at self. It does the opposite. It does
the opposite. like that hamster in the treadmill.
Oh, but it's so sweet when we, by God's grace, can cease from
sin and self and simply take from Jesus life and rest and
joy and peace. When I'm traveling, sometimes
traveling for many miles, interstate, you've seen one,
you've seen them all. Pretty much, pretty boring. Start
to get tired. See a sign, rest stop ahead. Rest stop ahead, oh yeah, yeah. Sounds good to me. Is there a lost, heavy laden
sinner here tonight, hmm? Jesus Christ is the rest stop. come unto me, and you'll find
rest unto your souls." A couple of months ago, a lady called
me. I don't know that I've ever spoken
to a more distraught woman or anyone. She was nearly out of
her mind. She'd been listening to Our messages,
yours Bruce, yours, on Free Grace Radio and Sermon Audio. And she said, she first said, what should I
call you? I said, Larry. Call me Larry. She said, I've
been listening to some of your messages and others. And she
said, and she was just sobbing, she said, I was baptized made
a profession of faith three times, three different times, and I
didn't know God. And I went to my pastor that
baptized me the last time, and I said, pastor, I'm not saved. I'm not saved. And she said,
he told me, yes you are. Yes, you are. He either had to
do that or admit that he'd been telling lies on God, one or the
other. Because she went through the
hoops that he told her to go through. And she said, it didn't
bring peace to my heart and said, Pastor, I'm lost. He said, oh
no, you're all right. You're all right. I must have
spent an hour with her on the phone. And she said, now, now. She'd been sent home in a hospital
bed. And she said, now, Larry, I'm dying. I'm dying. And I'm afraid I'm going to hell. What should I do? I said, old
lady, stop going. They've been telling you, go,
go, go. Stop going and come. Christ says, come unto me. The Spirit and the bride say,
come. Let him that heareth say, come. And whosoever will, let him come
and take the water of life freely, freely. And I pray God gave her
grace to do so. Old Joseph Hart wrote, Come ye
sinners, weak and weary, weak and wounded, sick and sore. Jesus ready stands to save you,
full of pity, love, and power. Come ye thirsty, come and welcome. God's free bounty glorify. True
belief and true repentance, every grace that brings you nigh. Come
ye weary, heavy laden, lost and ruined by the fall. If you tarry
till you're better, you will never come at all. Oh, by His grace, may some sinner
join in the chorus, I will arise and go to Jesus. He will embrace
me in His arms, in the arms of my dear Savior. Oh, there are
10,000 charms. It's all about Him. He said,
search the Scriptures. They testify of me. Take Him
out. And what would you have left?
Hmm? I'll tell you what you wouldn't
have. You wouldn't have God's purpose to save sinners. Listen
to this. God who has saved us and called
us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. How does that grab you? Oh, it
grabs me good. Bruce, like that article I read
of yours, I can't mess it up. I can't mess it up. It's in His
hands, in the arms of my dear Savior. All there are, 10,000
charms. Without Him, there's no hope
because there's no mediator, no redeemer, no Savior, no justification. May God enable us, my brother
preachers, to do as old John the Baptist did. Before he was
even born, Gabriel went to his father, Zacharias, and said,
Elizabeth, I have a son. He shall be great in the sight
of the Lord. A few months later, he went to
Mary and said, you're going to have a son. He shall be great. He is the Lord. He is the Lord. And John said, He's greater than
me. He's greater than me. Are you
the Messiah, John? No, no, no. I'm not the bridegroom,
He is. I'm just a voice, but He's the
Word made flesh. He that had the Son, the preciousness,
has life. Once they came to John and said,
This doesn't seem fair. You were first. Now everybody's
going to Him. And John said, man, that's the
best news I ever heard. That's great. I told you before,
I'm not the Christ. It's all about Him. He must increase,
and I must decrease. May every preacher, by God's
grace, endeavor to do that. That'd be okay, wouldn't it,
Mike? Wouldn't it, Paul? Everyone that followed the other
preacher would endeavor by God's grace to exalt him more than
the fellow did before him. That'd be okay, but he must increase. And God may be pleased. God may
be pleased. This is the means he's pleased
to use, the preaching of the gospel, to open some poor, blind
Bartimaeus' eyes. Wouldn't that be marvelous? He
may be pleased, before these meetings end this weekend, to
come to the tomb of some dead Lazarus. Oh yeah. You really believe that,
Larry? Oh, if I didn't, I wouldn't be
here. He's the resurrection and the
life. He might come to the tomb of some dead Lazarus, Some sinner,
dead in trespasses and sins, and say, come forth. What will
happen? Well, he that was dead came forth. And the Lord said, loose him
and let him go. And the next picture we see of
Lazarus, Six days before the Passover,
Jesus came to Bethany where Lazarus, which had been dead, whom he
raised from the dead, there they made him a supper. And Martha
served, but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with
him. He went from the tomb to the
dining room Suppin' with King Jesus. Isn't that something?
May God be pleased to do that. When the last message is preached
this Sunday morning, may we leave this place singing praises to
our God and Savior. Like on that same occasion, Mary
came and took some very costly ointment and anointed our Lord's
feet wiped them with her hair, and we read, the whole house
was filled with the odor of the ointment. May this house be filled
with the sweet odor of our adoration, gratitude to Jesus Christ, who
is the preciousness. May God grant that for his glory,
for the glory of his dear son. and every one of his redeemed.
God bless you. Thank you for your attention.