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 going to be in Deuteronomy chapter 32. Deuteronomy 32, and
I want to begin reading in verse one. Give ear, O ye heavens, and I
will speak, and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. My doctrine
shall drop as the rain. My speech shall distill as the
dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers
upon the grass. Because I will publish the name
of the Lord, ascribe ye greatness unto our God. He is the rock,
his work is perfect. For all his ways are judgment,
a God of truth, and without iniquity, just and right is he. And I'm gonna stop right there,
because that's a mouthful. Now, this is known as, called,
the Song of Moses. Because these words were spoken
by Moses. But these words were spoken by
Moses at the command of the Lord. They are the words of the Lord
God. He tells us this, well, in chapter 31, excuse me, and
the Lord said unto Moses, verse 14, and the Lord appeared in
a tabernacle and the Lord said unto Moses, and he told Moses
in verse 19, now therefore write ye this song for you, teach it
the children of Israel. This is the song that God wants
known. Known. Here it is. First two words I'm gonna give
you. My doctrine. Now this is God's doctrine. Now
yes, it was Moses' doctrine also. But that's not the source. Moses
was not the source. Moses was the conduit that God
used. And my doctrine, What's that
mean? Well I'm gonna do my best to
proclaim the doctrine of the Lord. Because here it is, all
true doctrine is the Lord's. Is the Lord's. I am not and I
hopefully will not proclaim the doctrine of men. Because therein
lies trouble and heresy. All sound teachings are the Lord's. And I'll tell you this, I do
my best and have done my best, I'm gonna try and keep on doing
my best to stay away from the traditions of men. And to tell you the truth, I'm
not very fond of that word anymore, traditions. Matter of fact, sometimes
if you really want to get my back up, it's a tradition, it's
like, wait a minute now. You understand? Our Lord Jesus
Christ spoke against the traditions of men. Specifically in religion. The Jewish religion at that case,
at that time. I have a very, I have a reason
because here is what I have found a tradition generally to be.
A tradition is something that is done because we, men, have
done it before. That's generally the only reason
you have for doing most traditions. Now, in my opinion, and I think
the scripture's opinion also, that's a good reason not to do
something. That's a good reason not to do
something. As I said, our Lord Jesus Christ spoke against the
traditions of men. Here's my point. If Jesus Christ
ordained it, it's not a tradition. If Jesus Christ commanded it,
it's not a tradition. In this place, well, we are told,
we are told in the scripture to gather together. and to gather
together in his name, in his name. And we are told in the
scripture to pray in Christ's name, to sing praises unto God. What? One more thing, and to
preach the gospel, and to preach the gospel. Oh, wait a minute,
there's actually one more thing than that. We are told to hear
the gospel, to pay attention, to give heed to his word, And
that is what we do here. And we try to keep everything
else to a minimum. We baptize, we keep the Lord's
table. Why? Jesus Christ commanded it. He told him, go out into the
world and preach the gospel and baptize. That's what he told
him. He also told us to do this in
memory of me. Do this in remembrance of me. But Jesus Christ, God manifest
in the flesh, is the source of all doctrine. Doctrine comes
from the Lord. But here it says, my doctrine
shall drop as the rain. True doctrine comes from above.
It doesn't come from us. It comes from above. And it says
it shall drop as the rain. What's that mean? Well, here's
this. Man can't stop it, man can't start it. You understand? It's coming down from heaven
whether you like it or not. My doctrine's coming down. Matter
of fact, it's right here in written form in this book. In black and white and in English. Man has no say in it, man's opinion
is not asked, needed, or heeded. Man can't stop it and man can't
start it. What's that mean? Man has no
part in the doctrine of grace except for two things. By his
grace to receive it and by his grace to believe it. But then he goes on and says,
my speech shall distill as the dew, as the small rain upon the
herb and the grass. And I got a feeling That sort
of sounded familiar, and I found it. It's in Isaiah 55. Let's see, verses 10 and 11 is what
I got written here. Ah, there it is. For as the rain
cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither,
but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth in bud, that it
may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater. So shall
my word be. What'd he say? My speech shall
distill as the dew, as the small rain upon the herbs in the grass. So shall my word be that goeth
forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void,
but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall
prosper in the thing whereunto I sent it. My doctrine shall drop as the
rain. I like that. My speech shall
distill as the dew. Let me tell you something. I
said it just a minute ago, but God's doctrine has been given
to us in word and in print, right here. And his doctrine is just like
his word, because his doctrine is his word. It shall not return
unto him void. It shall accomplish everything
He sent it to perform. God's doctrine shall accomplish
that which God's pleased to accomplish. And it will prosper where unto
I sent it. It's gonna prosper. And verse
three says this, because I will publish the name of the Lord.
Ascribe ye greatness unto our God. I will call out the name
of the Lord. I will preach the name of the
Lord. His name is Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God. Oh, his name
is the Lord of Hosts, the Holy One of Israel, the Redeemer. His name is Jesus Christ, our
Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ. I'll publish his name. This is what is not being done today. There are a lot of people using
the name Jesus. They may use the name Jesus Christ.
They may even say the Lord Jesus Christ, but they are not publishing
his name. Because you understand, they
don't see him, Walter liked that song, as the sovereign God of
sovereign grace. of the one who works his will
among all the armies of heaven and all the inhabitants of the
earth, and none can stay his hand or say unto him, what are
you doing? He's doing as he please. Our
God is in the heaven. He hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased. He's there. and he's working
his will, he's give us his doctrine, he's give us his word, and he's
doing exactly as he has purposed. In heaven and in earth and everywhere
in between. I will publish the name of the
Lord because you can't publish the name of the Lord without
publishing his character. And our God is a sovereign God. And if you're not preaching that,
you're not preaching Christ. Oh. I'm not gonna go into that. Then he says this, ascribe greatness
unto our God, which I love. Ascribe greatness unto our God. Great is the Lord our God. And let his praise be great. That's a song we sing. He makes
his churches his abode, his most delightful seat. My doctrine's
gonna drop like the rain. And it's gonna water just like
the herbs get watered, the grass gets watered. And you know what
happens when herbs and grass get watered? They grow. They grow. And when his word
is published and his greatness praised, His people grow in the grace
and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Great is our Lord, you know? You can't preach God
too great. That saying we said, you can't
preach God too high and you can't preach man too low. You can't
preach God too great. We can't do it. We can't do it
because we don't have the comprehension of how great he is. We've got what he says. I'll
get into that in just a minute. We've got what he says, we don't
understand that. I'll just say that. He says,
because I gotta get to my message here. Excuse me, verse four,
he is the rock. The Lord God Almighty is our
rock. He is the rock. What's that? The only rock. Our rock, the
rock, is God. And Jesus Christ is God. He is the Lord Jesus Christ,
and Paul said it, He's the rock, the rock. This rock is permanent,
that's what it means. This rock is unchanging. This
rock in the Old Testament was the source of water from the
Lord. Moses spoke to it, or smote it the first time, was supposed
to speak to it the second time. But that's where the water came
from, and Paul tells us in the New Testament, that rock was
Christ. That rock was Christ. He's the
source of water from the Lord. And here's the thing, our rock
is a person. He's a person. As a matter of
fact, he lifted us up out of the miry clay and he planted
our feet, what? On the rock. This rock, he's
our rock, he is the rock, and he planted our feet on this rock,
and he not only that, he ordered our goings and our comings. Oh,
I like that, I like that. He is our foundation, our cornerstone,
the precious cornerstone of God. He is the beginning of his salvation. He is the permanence of his salvation. He is the completion of his salvation. Oh, I like that. Oh. And here's
my title, Paul. This statement here is what got
me. His work is perfect. His work is perfect. His work
is perfect. The Lord's work is perfect. I like saying that. I do, oh
my. No error. No misstep, no correction,
no recalculating. No, none's needed. His work is
perfect, perfect. This is the thing that does mess
up some people, and I don't want anybody here to fall for this,
or anybody out there, that matter. The law and the tabernacle were
not the first try. You understand, there are people
out there who are preaching and I've heard them say it, that
he tried with the law in the tabernacle and that didn't work.
So he went to Christ. No. Christ was the plan all along. Christ was the purpose all along. Oh my, the commandment is holy,
just, and good, and righteousness never came by the law. Righteousness was never intended
to come by the law. Righteousness lived in heaven
and Jesus Christ is his name. The tabernacle was the ordained
means of sacrifice and as told us in Hebrews, that tabernacle
and every one of those sacrifices and all of them put together
could never take away one sin. One sin. Because that tabernacle
and the offerings and sacrifices and all of it pointed to and illustrated
the perfect sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. And we are
sanctified, not by the tabernacle, not by those sacrifices, no.
We are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once, once, once. They offered them year after
year, day after day, some of those sacrifices were offered.
They had a burnt offering every morning and every evening. which
pointed to the complete offering of Christ to God. Everything
from the burnt offering went to God. None of it went to the
priest, none of it went to the people who brought one. It all
went to God and it pointed to, they did it twice a day, every
day, all the time. Pointed to Christ, it pointed
to Christ. We're sanctified by the offering
of his body once, once. It was offered once and never
again. And by that same offering, by that one offering, he perfected
forever them that are sanctified. What am I saying? I'm saying
his work is perfect. His work is perfect. You understand? He doesn't need our help. He
doesn't want our help. Matter of fact, we are told to
stay out of his business. Praise and worship and believe
him. That he has what? Accomplished
the work that he came to do. Oh, I like that. By one offering
he perfected forever who? Those that he sanctified with
the same offering. Oh, I like that, I like that.
His work's perfect. Because from the beginning, through
the end, he declared it. He declared it from the beginning
all the way through the end. Oh. The life of Jesus Christ
is perfect. Almost said was perfect, but
he still is. But his life on this earth was
perfect. And his life right now is still
perfect. Throughout his incarnation, what? He never sinned. I can't imagine that. I can't
imagine that. My mind goes astray so fast and
so often, it scares me sometimes, Walter. It will. Jesus Christ
never sinned once. By commission? Or, omission. You understand, a lot of people
think they do the law. They think they keep the Ten
Commandments. There are people who do. Somebody told David years
ago, a lady at the cafeteria or whatever said, I haven't sinned
in 17 years. I remember what Earl said, he
said, you just sinned right then, because you lied. You understand, They think they can
keep those commandments, but they don't say, you don't omit
anything. You understand? If you're not
loving the Lord your God with all your strength, all your soul,
all your mind, at this very moment, that's a sin of omission. You
have omitted it. You haven't done it. Oh. We are sanctified by him. He
was perfect and he still is perfect throughout his incarnation. This
is something hard to say. His death was perfect. The death of Christ was perfect.
As a sheep before his shearers is done, he opened not his mouth.
He opened not his mouth when he was before the high priest
in them. He stoically took all of the
abuse and the beatings and the scoffings and the more, and never
said a word against him. And he told his disciples before
they took him, he said, you know, I can call out now and there'll
be 12 legions of angel down here so fast, it'll make your head
spin. But he took it. and he took it perfectly, perfectly. Oh my. He opened not his mouth. His precious blood purchased,
purchased our perfect, plenteous, eternal redemption. His work is perfect. His work
is perfect. His resurrection was perfect.
His resurrection was bodily. He bodily rose from the dead.
I know there was discussion about that in times past, and they
talk about it, saying, oh no, that was a spiritual body. No,
he said, touch me, handle me. He ate fish with him. You understand,
spirits don't eat fish. His resurrection was perfect. What does it say? The grave could
not hold him. It could not hold him. Oh, I
like that. And here's the other thing, his
ascension was perfect. Bodily, bodily. What did the witnesses tell him?
He's going to come again in like manner as you've seen him go.
He ascended up into the clouds and was taken up out of their
sight. He went up bodily, he's coming back bodily. His return's
gonna be perfect also. Oh, he's coming back just like
they saw him go. Perfect, perfect. His intercession
is perfect. He ever liveth to make intercession
for us. Second Corinthians 1.20 says
this, for all the promises of God in him are yea, yes, and
in him Amen. Unto the glory of God by us. His work is perfect. His work
is perfect. Oh, I like that. His work is perfect. It is so
perfect. I've said this before and I'll
say it again. We don't understand most of it.
We don't. We are incapable. What did Paul
say? We at best see as through a glass
darkly. We can see glimpses of things.
We have this word. We comprehend so little of this
that it scares me sometimes. You understand, I've been reading
this thing, this Bible here for 30 some years now, 35 years,
whatever it is. I still see new stuff every day,
Walter, that I know I've read before. I've read this scripture
before and never paid much attention to it. And then I see these four
words. His work is perfect. And I realize,
well yeah, it is. It is. All of his work is perfect. All of his work is perfect. We
comprehend little of what he has given us in his own words,
just those four gospels. but I do know this, and I can
tell you this, his work is perfect. And his work is perfect even
when I don't know it. Even when I don't see it. Even when you don't see it, his
work is still perfect. You understand, Jesus Christ
has never chastised the wrong person. Never happened. You understand? He has never
quickened the wrong soul. Oh, he has never, when he was
a potter, made a vessel unto honor that
will not be honored. You understand? Our Lord's perfect
and his work is perfect. Oh, even when sometimes you don't
want to hear it, His work is perfect. And I will say this, and this
is another wonderful, glorious thing because it's good for me
and it's good for you if you think about it. His work doesn't
depend on me believing it. It doesn't. I want to believe
it. I desire to believe it, and I
think I do believe it some days better than others. But here's
the thing, his work's not dependent upon us at all. It's his work. It's his work, and it's perfect. And I'm gonna tell you something,
his work is perfect all the time. Past, present, and future. You know how I can say that?
There's scripture for it. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday
and today and forever.