Sovereign Grace Chapel, located
at 135 Annabel Lane in Beaver, West Virginia, invites you to
listen to a gospel message concerning Jesus Christ our Lord. If you'd like to follow along,
I'm gonna be in Deuteronomy chapter 32. And I'm just gonna read, well,
we'll go ahead and read four verses, beginning in verse nine
of Deuteronomy 32. For the Lord's portion is his
people. Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. He found him in a desert land
and in the waste howling wilderness. He led him about, he instructed
him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. As an eagle stirreth
up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth a broader
wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings. So the Lord alone
did lead him, and there was no strange God with him. My title today, Paul and others,
is The Lord Does for His People. The Lord Does for His People.
Before I get started, I do have another quote here from Spurgeon,
which I thought was real good. My faith rests not in what I
am, or shall be, or feel, or know, but in who Christ is, what
he has done, and in what he is now doing for me. I like that, I like that. And
that's kind of what we're gonna go into today. I was gonna share something else
with you. I was listening to Henry on the way up here last
week, and I thought, well, this is a great thing to hear, just
as you're coming up. He said, you know, do you know
what the scariest part of preaching is? The scariest part of being
a preacher and preaching? Well, if you don't know, I'm
gonna tell you anyway. Even if you do know, I'm gonna tell you
anyway. It's the fact when you realize that people are listening
to you. That's scary. They're paying
attention to what you say. I remember Earl talking about
it one time. Scott Richardson was coming down
and Earl was going up to preach and Scott Richardson looked at
him and said, now remember, you're speaking for God. And Earl said, That's a fine
thing to say when I'm going up there. And I thought to myself,
well, Scott knew how to cheer people up, you know. But anyway,
that actually is the scariest thing about preaching, when you
realize people are listening to you. But, be that as it may,
I hope we're listening today. Today I've got four things here
in Deuteronomy 32 and verse 10 that the Lord does for his people,
as he calls it, his portion. What the Lord has done, the Lord
is doing. What he's done for one of his
people, he does for all of his people. And that's just the truth
of it. As the psalmist said in Psalm
66 and verse 16, it says, come and hear. Come and hear all ye
that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul,
for my soul. Well, it starts in verse nine.
For the Lord's portion is his people, and Jacob is a lot of
his inheritance. Listen, the children of God,
his people, are important to God, to God. Now let's be clear,
not in themselves, not in ourselves, but they are important to God.
But that's because of who they belong to. His people belong
to the Lord, and specifically the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
why we are important to God. It's not anything of ourselves,
it's all in his son. It's all in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And the believers are the Lord's portion, his part. Oh, I like
that. Now here's the great thing about
this, if you think about it. We are and always have been his
possession. his possession. This is not a
new thing. Oh, it's not a new thing at all.
I know people talk about that old time religion. Well, usually
the people who talk about that nowadays have no idea what they're
talking about. Because the old time religion You could not get away from the
gospel of God's complete and utter sovereignty in salvation. And now it's, where'd you all
get that new doctrine? What are you talking about? I've
never heard that before. It used to be around. It used
to be around. It's not now. Not like it used
to be. But here, you know, an Arminian
used to be a strange thing. People who believed in free will
believed they got saved by their free will. I'm gonna tell you
something. That's not what the scripture says. And that's what
we're gonna go into right here. We are and always have been his
possession. First in covenant love before
the world began. Chosen in Christ before the world
began. From the foundation. Oh. then in real purchase, redemption,
and then in time, in bringing many sons to glory. In verse 10, we are told the
four ways God brings in the sons and daughters of God, what God
does for us in salvation, his salvation, not man's salvation,
his salvation. First of all, He finds his people. He finds his people. Now for
us, this is where it starts. We don't know anything about
God, truly, until he finds us. We don't care anything about
God, truly, until he finds us. That's the truth of it. In the
beginning, before the foundation of the world, chosen in Christ,
you know, God knew all about that. It's written in here. He
told us. But we didn't know anything about
it, not in truth, not in reality, until he finds us. That's the
first thing. And this is where it starts for
us. This is where it starts for all
of us, the believers. We are told what the Lord has
done for his portion. I like that. Listen, in Luke 15, verses one
and two, says this. Then drew near unto him, unto
Jesus, all the publicans and sinners, for to hear him. And you know what? Religious
people didn't like that. And the Pharisees and scribes
murmured, saying, this man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. Amen. You know? The only thing
I gotta say about that is thank God. You know? Because that's
where I am. That's what I am. Oh my. This man receiveth sinners. However,
right after these men said that, and Christ heard them. Christ
knew what was in their hearts when they said it. He didn't
need anybody to tell him what was in a man's heart. Oh no. But right after that, after the
Pharisees and scribes murmured, he spoke to them in a three-part
parable. The lost sheep, the lost coin,
and the lost son. I'm only gonna deal with the
first two, just for a minute. This is not gonna be long, it's
not gonna be deep theological thought or anything, the fact,
but here you go. The first two parts teach us
that he, the good shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ, has to find
his people. That's what it shows us. What
man of you having a hundred sheep, this is verse four, if he lose
one of them does not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness
and go after that which is lost until he find it. He find it. And when he hath
found it. Because I'm gonna tell you something,
when the Lord's looking for you, he's gonna find you. Matter of
fact, he knows where you are before he starts looking for
you. But there's a time, in the fullness of time. Oh my, and
when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders rejoicing.
And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and his
neighbors, saying unto them, rejoice with me. For I have found
my sheep. Oh, there's the whole point.
It's my sheep, it's my sheep, which was lost. And I say unto
you that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that
repenteth and over the 99 just persons that needeth no repentance.
And then the next part of this parable is exactly the same,
only more so. And what woman having 10 pieces
of silver, if she lose, One piece doth not light a candle and sweep
the house and seek diligently till she find it. And when she's
found it, she rejoices. Oh my. Likewise I say unto you,
verse 10, there is joy in the presence of angels of God over
one sinner that repenteth. Oh, now. I don't know if you noticed in
those two parts of that parable, because this is just one parable. But in those two parts of the
one parable, repentance is inextricably tied to him finding you. Repentance is not of man. Repentance
must be granted. That's what the scripture says.
her adventure that he should grant them repentance. That's
what it means, grant them, give them. You understand, the lost coin is an inanimate
object. It couldn't find anything. It
had to be found by the owner. The owner, I like that, you know?
And the lost sheep is a dumb animal. I'm not being disrespectful
to sheep. I'm not being disrespectful to
you. That's what we are. We were so dumb, we didn't know
we were lost. We were so dumb, we didn't know
we were dead. And nothing with that changes
until he finds you. But when he finds you, it changes. You understand that sheep rejoiced
to be back in the fold, to be in the fold, carried there. Why? I mean, he didn't tell the sheep,
go over there, you dumb thing. He picked it up, put it over
his shoulders, and he carried it home. That is the picture
of what it means when he said he found Jacob. That's what he's talking about.
Not only that, he found him in a desert land. Not even in the wilderness, in
the waste-howling wilderness. Excuse me. That's the world,
folks. That's the world, a waste-howling
wilderness, a desert. Where does it say Mephibosheth
used to be? Lodabar. What? A place of no
bread. That's where you are before Christ
finds you. That's where every single one
of us is. Because I'm gonna tell you something, there is no sheep
food in the world. There's plenty of goat food.
You understand? I'm not gonna go into that. There's
a lot of sheep trying to eat goat food right now. That's what
I'm afraid of. But you understand, that's the
fault of the shepherd. But it's no fault in our Lord
Jesus Christ. When he goes out to find his
sheep, he brings it in. It is, and it is in. You understand,
the lost sheep cannot find the shepherd. The lost coin cannot
find the woman that owned it. They have to be found. And who
finds us? The Lord's portion is his people. And what does it say? He found
him. God's got to find his people.
God's got to find his people. Or they'll never be found. And
that's just the truth of it. And the opposite of found is
lost. That's just the way it is. I
mean, you know, the shepherd, God bless his word. The shepherd knows his sheep. He said, which one of you fellows
having a sheep? And it gets lost, won't go find
it. He said, I have found my sheep. That's what the good shepherd
says. I found my sheep. It was mine
when it was lost. and it's mine thou has found.
It always was my sheep. And I'm gonna find my sheep.
Oh, I like that. The shepherd knows his lost sheep
and he goes looking for that sheep. And I love how it says
it, when he finds it, he's gonna find it. He's going to find it. He is going to find every one
of his sheep. Oh, and thank God for that too. Oh my. The sheep aren't seeking
the shepherd. They're too busy being sheep.
They're just trying to eat. Wherever they are, that's what
sheep do. They're trying to eat. Oh my. And he brings it to the
fold. And here's the glorious part.
This is just amazing to me. He rejoices. He rejoices. And he wants others to rejoice. calls his friends, family, says,
hey, I've got my sheep. Oh, what? For the Lord's portion
is his people, is his people. Oh, I like that. The Lord Jesus
Christ is finding his people, and the Lord Jesus Christ is
happy when he finds his people. Deuteronomy 32, that's where
we're at. The Lord Jesus Christ is happy,
listen to this, the found child of God is happy. You might not even know your
loss, but I'm gonna tell you something, you're gonna be happy
when you're found. Isn't that a thing? I was found of them that sought
me not. I know what that means. It means
he finds his people. That's what it means. I was found
of them that sought me not. Oh my, I like that, I do. Because
that gives me hope. That he's gonna find me. He's
gonna find me. What did he say? For I have found
my sheep. My sheep. That was lost, but
it's my sheep. And I found it. Oh my. What did Jesus Christ say about
that? When he said, I am the good shepherd in John 10, he
says, other sheep I have, which are not of this fold. Wait a
minute. Them also I must bring. So what's he gonna do? He gonna
bring in his other sheep in? There he is. Other sheep I have,
which are not of this fold, them also I must bring, and they shall
hear my voice. And there shall be, no question
about this, one fold and one shepherd, and that's it. You can take your denominations
and throw them out the window. They don't mean a thing to God. They used to mean something as
far as doctrine went. They don't mean much of that
anymore. You know? I got tickled. I was listening
to Henry talk about confessions of faith. You know, the London
Confession of Faith, the Philadelphia Baptist Confession. He said,
all these confessions are great. They're perfectly worded. We
could use them right here except for maybe throughout the thing
about baptizing kids, you know, babies. But People don't believe
them. They don't preach them and the
people being preached don't want to hear it. And that's just the
way it is. And here's the thing. True doctrine
will follow being found. Not the other way around. Doctrine
without being found is just dead and dry as everything else. But
after you're found, oh my, his doctrine starts to be music to
your ears. Oh, here's the thing. What Christ was telling those
Pharisees and scribes in Luke 15, you know, this man does receive
sinners. But that ain't all. This man
finds sinners. I like that. He finds his people. He finds his people. In verse
10 of Deuteronomy 32, he leads his people. The Lord Jesus Christ
leads his people and they follow me. It's what he said, they follow
me. Psalms 37 and verse 23 says this,
the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. and he delighteth in his way. Oh, that's good. You understand,
the Lord leads us whether we see it, whether we feel it, whether
even we know it. He leads his people. He leads
his people. He finds his people and he leads
his people. You understand, What is it? For as the body is one and hath
many members, and all the members are of that one body, being many
are one body, so also is Christ. And he's the head of his body. Guess what? His body is gonna
go exactly where the head says it's gonna go. whether we know
it or not. He's the head of the body, he
leads his members, all of his members, and he puts his members
exactly where he wants them. That's in 1 Corinthians 12 and
verse 18. But now hath God set the members,
every one of them, I like that too, every one of them, every
one of them, Oh, in the body as it has pleased him. So, now ye are of the body of
Christ and members in particular. That's 1 Corinthians 12 and verse
27. Members in particular. You know
that old question philosophers still ask? Why am I here? Well, here's your answer. If he's found you and he's leading
you, you're exactly where he wants you. You may not know why
you're here. I said it last week. I wasn't
planning on being up here preaching. That wasn't part of my plan such
as it was or such as it wasn't. But this is an easy question
for believers. I'm where God wants me. And that's
the truth. Sometimes you don't like your
circumstances, but you're right where God wants you. And I thank
God for every one of you. I'm glad you're here. I don't
know what circuitous route you had to take to be here or even
to stay here. Because most of us have been
together for a few decades. Well, everybody that's here.
I've known for a few decades. And we're still here. And you
know why we're here? Because here's where we want
to be. He put us here. He put us here. Oh my. What'd he say? John 10 and verse
27. My sheep hear my voice and I
know them. I know them and they follow me. Oh, I like that. Yes, by his
word and by his power, he leads his people. Now the third thing,
he instructs his people. He instructs his people. I got
to thinking about this and I thought about something that I'd heard,
I remember it was one of the first things that struck me when
I first started reading the gospel 30 some years ago, whatever it
is, 35, 37. Anyhow. God, no, this is 2023, right? This is 41 years ago, wow. Anyhow, this phrase struck me. It's recorded in the scripture
eight times. Three times in Matthew, three times in Mark, and two
times in Luke. And the phrase is this. He that hath ears to
hear, let him hear. I like to say let him hear. Not
just let him hear, no, let him hear. because the implication
from this statement is clear. Not everybody has hearing ears. You understand, Christ said he
spoke in parables so that some people wouldn't understand. Now I've heard the exact opposite
preached many times and some yahoo put it in a song in the
middle. Now the Lord spoke in parables so that all might understand. That's not what he said. He said,
I speak in parables so that some will not understand. And religious
people don't like that. But I do. I do. That's what he said. And you
know the reason he said it? Is because that's what he meant.
Oh, it's what he meant. Deuteronomy 29 and verse four. Yet the Lord, wondering who we're
talking about. Yet the Lord hath not given you
a heart to perceive, eyes to see, and here we go, ears to
hear, unto this day. Where you get ears to hear? They
have come from God. Stephen preached that and got
stoned. You uncircumcised in heart and ears, what happens
to those who are uncircumcised in heart and ears? What happens
to those who don't have ears to hear? You do always resist the Holy
Ghost just like your father.