Turn with me back to Acts 22,
just for a moment. And it says there in verse 12, where
Ananias, when our Lord told him to go over to talk to Saul of
Tarsus, he says, Lord, he's a mean man, he's an awful man, and I've
heard a lot of things about him. He says, you go. Behold, he prayeth. He said, you go, he's mine. So
he went over there and he said in verse 14, he said, the God
of our fathers hath chosen thee. First thing God does, elect somebody. Second, that thou shouldest know
his will. This is the will of him. That every one that seeth the
Son hath life, he that seeth not the Son hath not life. And
here's the thing, see that just one. What they just sang about.
See that just one. The just for the unjust. The innocent for the guilty.
The righteous for sinners. And not only that, but that you
should hear His voice. Not go along to see Him, but
you go hear Him. And then he says this, for thou
shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and
heard. I want to talk about being a
witness and I can only tell what I've witnessed, what I've personally
seen myself and what I've heard myself. If you've ever been set
on a court in a jury and you have to get on the stand to be
a witness, you can't get on there and tell what You heard me say,
or somebody else say, you got to know these things for yourself.
So if they say, what did you see and what did you hear? And
so that's what I'm going to do, you know, and that's why Paul
says, I have a witness. We bear witness to God, our Lord
Jesus Christ, after his resurrection, he says, after he told them and
opened the scriptures to their understanding, he says, now you
are witnesses of these things, witnesses. And what I want to
talk about is about witnessing about three or four things this
morning. But I do know that until men and women come to the conclusion
in their hearts and minds that the God of this age, the God
of this world, the God that most people worship and call on is
not the God of the Bible. Don't even resemble Him. And
until they come to that conclusion and brought there by God himself,
like Saul of Tarsus was, they'll be confused, they'll be fearful,
they'll be unbelieving. And they'll make excuses for
themselves. They'll make excuses for their
family and friends who don't know God. They say, well, they
don't believe like we do. You know, he goes to another
church and they don't preach like you do. They don't believe
like we do. But I still believe he loves the Lord. I still believe
he knows God. I still believe he's saved. And I tell you what, there ain't
but one God, one gospel, one Savior. God made it very plain,
very simple. It's hard to get confused over
one. And you say, well, why would you make this an issue? Because
the Bible does. Look over in Acts 17. Let me
show you what I'm talking about. Look in Acts 17. That's why our
Lord Jesus Christ, He says, You know, this is eternal life, that
they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
Thou hast sent. And look what happens here now.
Paul in verse 22. Now he's standing on this place
where I mean folks are super religious. Then Paul stood in
the midst of Mars hills, that was at Areopagus, and said, ye
men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you're too superstitious. Too superstitious. to religious for as I pass by
and beheld your devotions the margin says the gods that you
worship these fellows were devoted people people get up and talk
about you know I have my devotions I have so I have this time set
apart from my devotions and this time and that and the other And listen, these fellas were
devout. I mean, they had their devotions. And look what it says.
And they found an altar. He says, when I walked around,
looked all over this place, I finally come to a big old altar. And
when I saw that altar, it said it had an inscription on it. To the unknown God. You go to the graveyard and everybody's
got inscriptions on their tombs. Says something about it. Well,
they say, well, we got a big old stone and inscription to
the unknown God. And then watch what Paul says.
Who therefore you ignorantly, ignorantly worship. This one
that's unknown, that's the one I'm going to tell you about. He said, you know all the rest
of them. You know all the rest of them, but there's one you
don't know. And that's the God of the Bible. I'm going to tell
you about him. And then look what he said about him. God that
made the world. And all things therein, seeing
He's Lord of heaven and earth. He don't dwell in these temples
you got built up here. He don't dwell in this great
old big temple where all you fellows gather and bow down before
your idols. Neither is worship with the works
of men's hands, as though He needed anything. Does He need
anything? Seeing He's the one that gives life. He's the one
that gives breath. He's the one that gives all things.
And just in case you think you're better than anybody else, just
in case you think you're more righteous, more dedicated, more
committed, and no more than anybody else, He's made one blood. Out
of one man, all nations of men to dwell on the earth. And He
determined the bounds of their habitation. He determined will
you live, will you be born, will you die before you ever got into
this world. And on He says, He said, for
in Him we live, move, and have our being. Now that's what I
want to talk about. I want to be a witness. That's
why I make an issue of these things. Now I tell you what,
beloved, I bless lots of days. I bless today. My cup runs over
today. God's been good. Oh, God's been
so good to me. But oh, I tell you, one day I
bless above all other days. That's the day that God in His
sovereign mercy opened my heart to believe the gospel, to trust
the Lord Jesus Christ with my heart and my soul and my eternal,
my whole being. And I bless God that He raised
up a man who knew that gospel and preached it fearfully, fearlessly,
faithfully, graciously, and lovingly and powerfully. But I'll tell
you what, I'm going to make a distinction. They heard they had this altar
to the unknown God. Let me say a few things here.
They say the God of today, He loves everybody. Oh, God loves
everybody. And just in case, you know, they're
afraid of offending somebody, they say, but I do too. But does
the God of the Bible love everybody? Does the God of the Bible love
everybody? The God of today is trying to
save somebody, even everybody, and will save them if they will
just let Him. Is this the God of the Bible? And the God of today saves men
at the permission of their will. He has to wait on them to choose. They say, God will if you will.
Does the God of the Bible have to wait for men's will to agree
with His will? The God of today won't punish
men's sin, won't punish sin. Everybody, everybody turns out
to be a good man when they die. Everybody turns out to be the
best fellow that ever draw the breath when they die. Though
they live like hell and meaner than Satan himself. mistreated
their wife, their children and their dogs. But God won't punish their sin
and they can't go to hell. But will the God of the Bible
punish sin? The God of today is trying his
best to control things. Control things. But if man doesn't
defeat him and frustrate his will, then Satan comes along
and does it. Satan is out of his control. Is this the God of the Bible?
And the God of this age, the God of this day in which men,
most men worship to keep from being offensive and keep from
being discriminating and be always morally relative. He lets a man
be saved any way he wants to. A Buddhist is saved just as much
as the average church member. Catholicism you can believe in
the Pope and kiss the Pope's ring or the Cardinals ring and
have some preach Throw water in your face and sue some hocus-pocus
over you and you can be saved You can go in a magistrate pool
and they'll say well when you got out there now you're fixed
up you obey the Lord now you get to go to glory And you can
even be saved by being good. Oh God won't you do it just be
good do the best you can and And oh, they'll even let you
be saved and continue in opposition to God. Oh, I believe God, but
I certainly don't believe in that election. I believe God
is God on His throne, but I tell you what, He can't do anything
unless you let Him. So you can be saved and still
be in opposition against Him. And I tell you something else,
He'll even let you bypass Jesus Christ. As long as you make a profession
on their altar. Oh my. And they say, I've heard
so many people say this, I do not believe that God would make
only one way to get there. There has to be lots of ways
to get there because God is too good. God is too loving. God is too merciful. He's a chameleon. He'll be all things to all men.
Is this the God of the Bible? Is this the God that Paul described?
The God of today is a pitiful, frustrated, defeated, as Henry
used to call him, a peanut God, defeated and despicable creature,
who has no will, who has no power, who has no rights, and he'll
just get weaker and weaker and more pitiful, for he's the creation
of men's minds, and man always makes his God, Less than himself. Less than himself. But oh, is
that the God of the Bible? God said in Psalm 50, 21, He
says, Did you think I was altogether somebody like you? Did you really
think I was like you? Oh, they! being vain in their imaginations. They've had this conception of
God and Paul said they're fools. Fools for that. And oh, but let
me tell you something. No human mind, no human mind
or no imagination could have conceived the God of this blessed
book. Couldn't have done it, huh? The
scripture said he's past finding out. How unsearchable are His
judgment and His wisdom. Oh, and it says the heaven of
heavens can't contain Him. It says He just speaks and it's
done and He commands and it stands fast. He said he works all things
after the counsel of his own will. He says, Job, where was
you, Job, when I put the stars in the heavens? Where was you,
Job, when I put the broad frost on the ground? Where was you,
Job, when I put the gold in the ground? Where was you, Job, when
I put the silver in the rocks? Where was you, Job, when I put
the whale in the middle of the sea? Where was you? And old Job
said, oh boy, I thought I knew something about you, but I'm
going to do this right now. And I'll tell you what,
and they certainly couldn't have conceived of him this way, a
just God and a Savior at the same time. Oh, and you know the heavens
can't contain him yet. He chooses and wills and purposes
to come down and dwell in His people. And dwell in their hearts
by faith. Huh? Oh my. And you know what? We have to be taught of Him or
we wouldn't know that. And if a man is confused about
which God is right, then he don't know God. He don't know God. And let me tell you one more
time, just some things that I've seen myself. That I've seen and
I bear witness to. And I would love to bear witness
to this every time I get an opportunity. I'd love to go to one of these
places that fill up thousands of people. And this is what I'd
bear witness to. This is what I'd bear witness to. That I've
seen God. And I've heard His voice. That's
what he said about Paul. He said, the Lord has chosen
you that you might see that just one. And I didn't see him in
a vision, but you know where I saw him at? In his word. saw him in his word in his word
and all this and he has attributes and I saw this and I bear witness
to this that I saw that he has attributes qualities that only
belong to him and nobody else in this universe look over in
Psalm 115 just a minute you know I could quote this and we've
quoted this so many times over the years Psalm 115 You know, He's the high and lofty
One who inhabits eternity. And He says, I am the Lord, and
I change not. Everything else changes, the
seasons change, we change. Presidents change, time change,
life changes. Life comes and life goes. Everything
changes. But you know there's one thing
that's constant in this world? That's God. Always the same. Never, never changes. And look
what He said here in Psalm 115. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto thy name give glory for thy mercy and for thy truth's
sake. Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God?
Now there we go back. What God are you worshiping now?
Where's your God? And I tell you, when Paul got
through preaching there on Mars Hill and he preached the resurrection,
you know what they said? Let's come back and see what
this babbler says because he talked about a resurrection.
No, it's just God's different than the one we've got. And listen
to what he says. What? Where's now their God?
Now listen to it. But our God is in the heavens. Oh, that's
a wonderful place to be. But now listen to what else it
says about Him. He hath done whatsoever pleased Him. That makes me, that just makes
my heart rejoin. Whatever pleases Him, He does
that. Whatever pleases Him, that's
what He does. That's wonderful, isn't it, Brad? Oh, so that's why we say, Lord,
whatever pleases You, You do. Because He's going to. If we
just agree with what He does. Oh my, bless His name. Men today can comprehend their
God. They can manipulate Him. But
He's not the one that I've seen. Oh, no, no. We can't manipulate
Him. And I'll tell you something,
if we had the ability, some strange way, to make God different in
any way, if you've ever seen Him, you would never even have
that thought in any of your mind. God is so glorious, so perfect
in power and majesty and grace and all of these have to be so
perfect and I tell you there never was a time he wasn't never
will be a time that he won't be and he never thought of anything
never had to wait to do anything and this God oh bless his name
that all you can do is bow down and worship Some men claim to see their need
and then they go seeking the Lord. But let me tell you what
the scripture says when we talk about seeing God. I said talk
about seeing the Lord. Men say, well I see my need and
then they go seeking the Lord. But let me tell you, you won't
never see your need until you see the Lord. Men's got it backwards. Nobody's got a need until they
first see the Lord. Ain't that right, Gary? You didn't
have a need until you saw the Lord. I didn't have a need until
somebody told me God as He really is. And I tell you what, you
know what the scripture says? When the God of glory appeared
unto our father Abraham in Mesopotamia, you know what He did? He went
out. But not until the God of glory
appeared unto Him. When Moses was up on the mountain,
you know what God said? Put off your feet, Moses, because
you're fixing it in the presence of God. And I tell you something,
beloved, Isaiah. Man, you go through Isaiah five
times. He said, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,
whoa, whoa. And that's, that's fundamentalist
preaching. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Everybody's in trouble,
but me. Everybody's in trouble, but us.
But oh, Isaiah, the prophet, Isaiah, the preacher, Isaiah.
And he said, when I saw the Lord. Lift it up! He said, oh, I said the first
thing out of his mouth, instead of wars, everybody else, he cried
out, whoa, it's me. I'm the fellow that's undone. I'm the man that's unclean. Oh, Job, I told you, you know,
oh, he was, he said the most wonderful things about God, and
then he tried to defend himself, and God come to him. And he got
down and he said, I abhor myself and I repent. Where at? In dust
and ashes. Oh, Daniel says, my coming has
turned into corruption. And let me ask you if you've
ever had this experience. Have you ever been out at night
looking at the stars or looking at the moon and looking at the
evening and God made and you lay there and you wonder, Oh
my God, God made all this of that and you say how in the world
can a God like that and all this beauty and all this glory and
all this quietness and all this stillness be mindful of me, a
man? How can he be mindful of me,
a man? What would he even do to think
about me? There He is. I read the other day that I don't
know how many galaxies. Somebody said that there's millions
of galaxies out there. And every single one of them
is in God. Oh my. What is man that they aren't
mindful of Him? And oh my. And old Jeremiah said,
I'll tell you what you do. You want to find out about how
God deals with men? You want to find out how He deals
with men? Go down to Potter's house. You know, you buy pasta,
put your water in. You buy pasta, cook in. You buy
pasta to do things in. And he says, keep your flour
and stuff in. He said, just walk down to Potter's
house. And he said, well, go on. He went down there. And there
sat that Potter. over and got him a big old hunk
of clay and put that thing on there. Just went to work in that,
put a little mud, a little water, a little mud, a little water,
a little mud. He started shaping that thing, started shaping that
thing. He said, oh, and then all of a sudden his hand went
like that. Don't want that. I put it on there and he just
fit to make it, made this beautiful pod, you know. Just glorious
pod and everything. He took that offer and sent it
over. I said, boy, that son right there. You know what he said?
He said, now, that's the way God does. He said, he may make
you and throw you away. Then he may make you a vessel
of glory, a vessel of mercy, and a vessel of honor. Go to
the potter's house. Oh, my heart lifts up to Him
and I bless Him for that. The first issue that has to be
settled in every heart is who is God? Either we know and bow
and worship the one true God or else we're worshiping a false
one. And that's why Pharaoh, when Moses went down there and
said, who is the Lord that I should obey? Well, he found out And
he's still learning it in hell right today. And let me tell
you something else that I bear witness to is this. I've seen
and I bear witness and I know this from the scriptures and
from my own experience. I know really what happened in
the garden. I know really what happened in
the fall. Now when I talk about the fall, you all know what I'm
talking about. I'm talking about when Adam rebelled against God. What happened to him? Did he
just get sick? Did he get crippled where he has to walk hobbled?
Did he get deaf in one ear and blind in one eye? Did he still
get around good? Well, the scripture says that
he died. When we were dead in trespasses
and sins, the hour is coming and now he is with the dead.
Dead he shall hear the voice of the Son of God. You see, Adam
was driven from the presence of God, put out of the garden.
And when that happened, he lost the way to God. He could not
get back to God. He could not go back to God. He couldn't turn around and say,
now I'm going to walk back in the garden, and I'm going to
walk up to God, and I'm going to say, now, now, if you'll let
me, I'll just, you know, if you'll, I'll come around. He just, he
couldn't go back in the presence of God. He lost the truth of God. When
he walked out there, he couldn't tell you the truth about God.
He lost the truth of it. And he believed the devil's lie.
And he lost the life of God. The very life of God was pulled
out of him. And I tell you, he lost his righteousness. And let me tell you something.
Not only did he lose his righteousness, but he lost all knowledge of
what righteousness is and how it's attained. You know, let
me ask you this, why is man the way he is? Why is man so sinful,
so depraved, so wicked? And let me ask you this, why
is man so self-righteous? When we think about desperately
wicked, we talk about drinking, cussing, running women, and going
to bars, and just doing all kinds of stuff. But Adam did not do
any of those things. There was not a woman for him
to lust after. He had the beautifulest woman
that God ever made. He dwelt in paradise. There wasn't
nothing for him to drink but water. He didn't go to a bar. He never
got drunk. He never looked at pornography.
He never used, told foolish jokes. He never acted, he never done
anything that men say is sinful. Yet God drove him out of the
garden And we think about man doing all these wicked things,
but let me ask you this How come not always men do these awful
simple things, but wise men what makes him so self-righteous? And that's not a worse sin that
a man can commit in my opinion than being self-righteous and
You know what self-righteousness is? It says my righteousness
is acceptable to God the way it is without Jesus Christ. The
way it is the way I live. The way it is because it's mine.
The way it is because I'm a good man. The way it is because I
think I'm alright. The way it is because I treat
my wife right. The way it is because I've done
all these wonderful things. And I tell you that's why Paul
said, if righteousness come by the law, then the death of Jesus
Christ was absolutely unnecessary. But if Jesus Christ was crucified
on a cross and bore our sin in his own body on the tree, and
there ain't but one righteousness whereby we could come into the
presence of God, and that's the righteousness of Christ. Then
you tell me how sinful it is to try to come to God in your
own righteousness. Man, a lot of you just go ahead
and get in your septic tank. Waller in it. Waller in it. Take the lid off of it. Jump
right down the middle of it. Waller in it. Then come out of
it. And then come around us and tell you, Sue, old boy, I smell
like a rose. This is the sweetest perfume
you ever smelled. Whoa, look at this wonderful
outfit I got on. That's what self-righteousness
is in the sight of God. He said, our righteousness is
ours, a filthy rag. Now, I tell you, that's what
it is. Oh, this sin is not just something
we do with our hands, not something we do with action, but it's a
nature. It's a principle that we have.
It's a state of the wheel. And that's why, you know, our
Lord said, you will not come to me. Why will not men come
to the Creator? What holds men back from coming
to Christ? What holds men and women back
from acknowledging a relationship with Jesus Christ? What keeps
a man or a woman from saying, yes, that's the God I want. Yes,
that's the Christ I worship. Yes, that's the gospel I believe. What is it about our heart and
our nature that causes us to get farther away and farther
away? and feel comfortable far away
from God. Feel comfortable in our sin.
Feel comfortable in our fallen natures. And I tell you what, this is
the starting point of theology. You miss what happened in the
fall, you'll miss it all. If you're not a sinner, you won't
meet a Savior. If you're not dead, well, either
a man is dead or he isn't. Either a man needs life or he
don't. Either a man can please God or he can't. Either a man
needs a new heart and a new nature or he doesn't. And all the old
hymn writers said it like this, it take a miracle of God's grace,
God's justice to save. It took a miracle to put the
stars in place. It took a miracle to hang the
world in space. But when He saved my soul, cleansed
and made me whole, it took a miracle. of love and grace. That's what we are. Everybody
that hears saved by the grace of God, it's a miracle. And the
longer you live, the more of a miracle you understand it to
be. It's an absolute miracle. Bruce, ain't it an absolute miracle
that you're saved today? It is for you, James. It is for
you, Ruby Anne. It's just a miracle. You see,
he told me before service, he said, I'm like that old woman
who said, since you saved me, Lord, you ain't never going to
hear the last of it. You're not going to hear the
end of it. You're just not going to hear
the last of it. And I've seen and heard. I've seen this, and
this is what I bear witness to. I've seen God. I've seen God. Seen Him in His glory. Seen Him
in His power. Seen Him in His majesty. And
He does whatsoever He pleases in heaven, earth, and the sea
and all deep places. I've seen man in all of his fallen
nature. I've seen man so wicked and so
depraved and so self-righteous and so self-reliant. And I've seen God give life to
dead men with that miracle. But I've seen, and I bear witness
to this, that God purposed from all eternity to save a people. The God of our fathers, what
did He do? Had chosen thee. You know who
that lie showed about? Paul. Everybody else saw the
results of it. Saw him fall. But it was only
on that one man. And I tell you what, do you know
what the scripture says? As many as were ordained to eternal
life, they believed. I'm not on a fool's errand this
morning. And when you get time to witness to somebody, we're
not on a fool's errand. Known unto God are all his works
from the beginning. For whom he did forego, them
he also did predestinate. Them he did predestinate, them
he also called. Them he called, he also justified.
Whom he justified, he also glorified. What are we going to say to these
things? If God be for us, who would be against us? Who should
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's Christ that
died. Oh listen, the Lord Jesus Christ
was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. And God gave us
grace, gave us grace in Christ before the world ever began.
Before God ever created the world, Christ stood as that Lamb's Lamb.
And He made this world. And the design of it was to make
a new creation. And when He created man in His
fallen state, the reason He created man was to bring glory to the
praise of His grace in making new creatures in Christ. And
He did that and gave us grace before He ever started the world. He said there's going to be 4,000
years. There's going to be a boy born
in Dayton, Ohio to Don Bell and Edna Bell. And they're going
to name him Donnelly Bell. And he's going to be all just
a mess. But you know what? I gave him
grace before he ever was. I didn't give it to his daddy. I didn't give it to his mama.
I didn't give it to his granddaddy. I didn't give it to his brother.
I didn't give it to his sister. I gave it to him. And I didn't know anything about
it until somebody told me. That's good news when I heard
it. That's good news. Oh my. And I tell you, why do men, you
know we talk about election. We love election. God chose the
people. He said, I've chosen you. I've
ordained you to eternal life. Why do men hate the doctrine
of election? Look over at 2 Thessalonians with me just a moment. Here's
some of you fellas that outlined it. That you could preach it. Very, very simple. Look at 2
Thessalonians 2.13. This is a whole different, this
would be a whole message in itself. But look here, 2 Timothy 3.13. Why do men hate the doctrine
of election? They despise it. They don't want to hear about
it. Because they say that means that you think you're something.
No, no, God did. God says I love them. God said
I chose them. God said they're mine. And they
say, well, you think ain't nobody saved but a bunch like you. I
know everyone for whom Christ died is going to be saved. I
do know that. But look what it says about election
here. And oh, it's a blessed doctrine,
a wondrous doctrine, a glorious doctrine. Doctrine of praise,
and that's the first thing it says. Brethren, we're bound to
give thanks to God for you. That's the first thing about
it. It's a doctrine of thanksgiving, a doctrine of praise. Thank God! Thank God. And listen, it says,
then it's a doctrine of love. Beloved of the Lord. God loved
you with an everlasting love. Oh, God chose us and loved us
in Christ. And look what else it says here.
And it's a doctrine of grace because it says God has from
the beginning chosen you. And if He chose us from the beginning,
that means that He didn't look for anything good in us, didn't
see good or bad. He didn't wait until we got better.
He didn't wait to see how sinful we was. He chose us in the beginning. It's the doctrine of grace. And
look what else it is. And it's the doctrine of salvation.
It's the doctrine of salvation chosen you to what? Everybody
says, well, it's a service. You've got to serve the Lord.
You know, God, you know, if you save, you serve. And that's not
what it says there. He's chosen you to salvation.
And you know what salvation is? That means once you got it, you
just always got it. Salvation is salvation. And look
what else it says. And then there's a doctrine of
sanctification. Them folks over there, they believe that they
can sin all they want to and still go to heaven. Well, I believe
that Christ bore all my sins and I'm going to glory. I believe
He bore all my sins in my past, I believe He bore all my sins
in my present, and I believe He bore all the sins that I'm
going to commit. Does that mean you're going to go
out here and just water His sin? God forbid, how can we that are
dead to sin continue any longer there? But all through sanctification
of the Spirit. I mean, God made us holy in Christ. And look what else it says. And
this is a doctrine of means. Belief of the truth. You know
why you're going to believe the truth? Because God chose you
in Christ before the foundation of the world to salvation. And then He makes you holy, sets
you apart, makes you holy in Christ. Saves you. And then, you know what you do?
You believe that truth because He did all that for you. And
because He done that, that's why you believe it. That's one
thing about God's sheep. This is one thing that only God's
sheep know. They may hear something that
they never heard before. They may hear, they'll hear truth,
and reason why they know God's sheep will say, that's right,
that's right. I never heard it before. That's
right, that's true. When you hear truth, you just
automatically acknowledge that it's true. Alright, here's the last let
know let me give you this one real quick Now I've seen and
heard this that the gospel Gospel is a person is a person now. I'd show you that to look over
in Romans chapter 1 Look in Romans chapter 1 the gospel is a person
and Oh, you know, I'm preaching the
gospel, I'm using words. It's the gospel about a person,
it's about a person. We talked about God and His glory.
And oh, look what he said here in Romans 1-3. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ,
called to be an apostle. Now listen to this, separated
under the gospel of God. Now we're talking about the gospel
now. and he had promised this gospel for by the prophets in
the holy scriptures this is God's gospel and what is this gospel
about it concerns his son Jesus Christ now listen to this our
Lord which was made of the seed of David there he is after the
flesh And all beloved there is gospel is summed up in a person. I know that it's a person. We're
not asking you to trust a doctor, to believe a doctor. We tell
you to come to a person, trust a person, believe in a person,
embrace a person. But the gospel summed up in two
words, substitution and satisfaction. Christ was made to be a lamb. And he came here and the Lord
bruised him, laid on him, wounded him, chastised him, made his
soul an offering for sin. And he, beloved, stood in our
room instead as a substitute to bear our sins, to bear our
iniquities, to bear our wounds, to bear our transgressions. And
he paid a debt And we sang that song, He paid the debt, I just
owe part to Him. No, to Jesus all I owe, for He
paid it all. All to Him I owe. And I tell
you what, and when He died as our substitute, He rendered satisfaction
to God Almighty, His own Father. Justice said slave were sins
found. Rats that punish were sins found. And when law and justice and
wrath was expended on the Lord Jesus Christ, and our Lord cried
out, it is finished! God Himself, when Christ entered
into that holy place, made without hands, with His own blood, God
smelled and said, That's a sweet Savior. And I tell you, I accept
His payment in full and I accept it for everyone He paid it for.
And God saw the travail to be sold and was satisfied. And I
tell you, there's three people satisfied. God the Father was
satisfied. He ain't looking for nothing
else. Not another sacrifice. God the Son was satisfied. to
do God's will, delighted to do God's will and accomplish salvation
for us. And when we hear the gospel and
see Christ ourself, our souls are satisfied and never ask for
anything else. I ain't asking, my conscience
don't ask for nothing else. Does yours? It just is at rest
as it's ever going to be. And oh, I tell you, our Lord
Jesus didn't come to make men savable. to help somebody save
themselves he didn't come to make salvation possible he came
to save thou shalt call his name Jesus and he shall save his people
from my sin all that the father gives me shall come to me and
I ain't never ever ever gonna cast him out and all bless his
name And you know what I am? I heard old Henry Mahan say this
one time. He's got a message on it. Y'all look it up on Sermon
Audio. On the trail of God's sheep. That's a good name. That's what I am. I'm on the
trail of God's sheep. I don't know who they are. I
don't know where they are. I don't know what they look like. But
I do know that when I run across one of them, them ears perk up. You know, there may be a goat
come through every once in a while and he won't hang around because
he got too many butts. You know, he butt there, but
I don't believe that, but I don't believe it. I don't, but, but,
but. We don't want no butt. We just, we all hear his perc
up say, woo wee. Listen, I hear my shepherd's
voice. And he says, oh, lay down here
beside this green pasture. Drink that still water. Oh. Come in here in my soul. I'll take care of you. Oh, bless
His name. And last of all, this is the
last thing, I have seen and I bear witness to the means God is pleased
to use and to call these people out for His glory. And you know
what it is? It's the gospel. What I've preached
this morning. That's the meaning that God uses
to call out his people for his glory. It pleased God by the
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Save them
that believe. Every good and perfect gift cometh
down from the Father of lights, in whom is no variableness or
shadowness to turn. And by his own will begat he
us. gave us life, put his seed in
us. You know, when you look at a
genealogy, it says, so-and-so begat, so-and-so begat, so-and-so
begat, so-and-so begat, so-and-so. You and Steve begat those two
children sitting there by you. Ruby there sits two of your daughters.
You and Ed begat them. Well, that's what God does. He
comes and puts his seed in our heart, and He begats us. We are born again. Not by corruptible
seed but incorruptible by the Word of God which liveth and
abideth for ever. And you know what happens to
people that's forgotten? They have to be born. And that's
what happens. Being born again. You know the
first thing we start doing? We start crying out. We start
crying out. Start crying out. Oh listen, I witnessed this morning, do
you agree with my witness? I was on the stand, did you all
agree with my witness? If you was in a courtroom and you say
I believe everything that fella said, so I'm going to whatever
he said and says needs to be done, that's what I'm going to
do. Oh, what a gospel! What a wonderful
Savior is Jesus my Lord! What a wonderful Savior to me!
He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock, and covers me there with His
hand. He hideth my life in the depths of His love. Oh, what a Savior! What a Savior! Our Father, in the blessed, blessed
name of our Lord Jesus Christ, the gospel just fills us up,
overwhelms us, makes us adore you and worship
you, bow in our hearts before you. Thankful, thankful, thankful
hearts that you've made yourself known to us. You taught us these
wondrous things, and this is what we bear witness to, Lord.
These are the things that we want to tell men and women about.
God in His glory. Man in his waywardness, fallen
condition. Christ who came to save a people. Oh, blessed be Your name. God
save Your people here, for Christ's sake. Amen. Amen. This is Psalm 127. 127. I think that's hallelujah one savior.
Is that what that is? That's what we want to say. Let's stand together. For the Son of God who came Ruined
sinners to reclaim Hallelujah! What a Savior! When we see the
scoffing crew Guilty Spotless Lamb of God was He!
Hell atonement can it be! Hallelujah! What a Savior! Lift
me up! Oh, listen to this one. Our glorious king. All his ransom. Then anew this song we'll sing.