Are we on? As far as that part
goes? Okay. Take your books please. Turn
to hymn number 312. Number 312. Please stand if you
would. I was a wandering sheep. I did not love the folk. I did not love my shepherd's
voice. I would not be controlled. I was a wavered child. I did not love my home. I did not love my father's voice. I loved the voice. Our shepherds are his sheep,
the fathers of his child. We follow thee, O'er hill and
hill, through deserts, plains, and wild. ? He found me nigh to death ? ?
Where itch and pain and woe ? ? He bound me with the bounds of love
? ? To be safe, a wandering one ? ? Jesus, my shepherd is here
to stay ? Was he that loved my soul? Was he that watched me
in his blood? Was he that made me whole? Was he that sought the Lord and
bound the wandering sheep? All right, good morning everybody
I'm glad we're all here such as it is and I'm glad to be here
Y'all know Walter is a and I'm assuming all the rest of them,
too. He's at Wheelersburg, Ohio today, so remember a prayer for
him that he can hold forth the gospel. Hang on a minute here. There, okay. I sent him this song. This is
by Joseph Hart, and it's from John 14, Verse six, I am the
way, the truth, and the life. I am, says Christ, the way. Now
if we credit Him, all other paths must lead astray. How fair, so
e'er they seem. I am, says Christ, the truth.
Then all that lacks this test Proceeded from an angel's mouth
is but a lie at best. I Am says Christ the life Let
this be seen by faith. It follows without further strife
That all besides is death. I Kind of like that And it's a little appropriate
to what I'm gonna preach today I I don't know the dates of any
other meetings, although I know there's going to be some. You can text Walter and ask him.
I meant to, and I forgot. So it's been kind of a busy week. But I'll go ahead and announce
it here. I mentioned last Saturday. Lord
willing, and everything goes as planned, which is, you know,
Man proposes, God disposes. Hopefully, at the end of January,
I'm going to retire from work. I'm gonna put in for Social Security
and we're gonna go from there. I think we can make do and all
that other stuff, but I will have more time at home with Deborah.
And that's, you know, I need to, I have to. Unfortunately, she gets to have
more time at home with me. But we're getting along now.
She's not as mad at me as she was a few weeks ago, thank God. But I don't really have anything
else. Paul, are you going to Wheelersburg
anytime soon? Well, we'll go ahead and sing
another song, and then we'll get started. If you would, turn
to hymn number 37. Number 37. ? Hungry and faint and poor ? ?
Behold this Lord again ? ? A simple lamb by mercy torn ? ? By bounty
to obtain ? ? Thy word implies a smile ? ? For we know money can do good
? No righteousness to bleed ? How could our spirits want ? A hand
the Lord can give ? Oh, hear the prayer of Abraham Oh, uh, turn your phone down. I just, I just thought about
mine. So I figured I'll remind y'all. Okay. I got no church sign or anything,
so. Excuse me. If you would and you
wanna follow along, please go to Genesis chapter three. Genesis chapter three. I'm gonna
read the last two verses. Well, I guess since there's a
paragraph marker, let's read the last three. Verse 22 of Genesis
3. And the Lord God said, behold,
the man has become as one of us to know good and evil. And
now lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of
life and eat and live forever. Therefore, the Lord God sent
him forth from the Garden of Eden to till the ground from
whence he was taken. So he drove out the man, and
he placed at the east of the Garden of Eden cherubims and
a flaming sword, which turned every way to keep the way of
the tree of life. Hold on, sorry. Excuse me. All right. I don't have, I didn't have any
church signs this morning, but I do have a quote. This is a word for sinners, which
is us. You will never know the fullness
of Christ until you know the emptiness of everything but Christ. Charles Spurgeon said that. I
like that. It reminds me of that, I think
it's in Deuteronomy and maybe in First Kings or something where
he says, I am the Lord. What does he say? I kill and
I make alive. And he says it in that exact
order because that's the order he meant it. You're never gonna look to the
light until you figure out that you think you're in darkness. Jesus Christ was the light and
is the light, but the darkness never comprehends it. Anyhow,
I'm gonna start in verse 23. Therefore the Lord God sent him
forth from the garden of Eden to till the ground from whence
he was taken. Now, a little background. In
the garden, Adam had fellowship with God. And that fellowship
ended, ended. Now after Adam's sin, Jesus Christ,
I'm just going to say God, but Jesus Christ spoke with Adam
and Eve. As a matter of fact, he preached the gospel to them,
the very first instance. And I like this, I like this
very, very, very much. It's in verse 15 of Genesis chapter
three, and he says, and I will put enmity between thee and the
woman and between thy seed and her seed. And that is Jesus Christ. It shall bruise thy head and
thou shalt bruise his heel. Very quickly, very succinctly, He did. He did. He shall bruise your head and
you shall bruise his heel. That happened about 2000 years
ago. Now, this is both at this time,
prophecy and promise. It's both. Because this is the
promise of Jesus Christ bruising the head of the servant and bruising
his heel at the same time. And please understand, a bruised
head is much worse than a bruised heel. Understand this also, this makes
it also very clear, very plain, there is no competition between
God and Satan. There's no competition. Satan doesn't have a chance.
Satan didn't have a chance. God said this is gonna happen.
And if God said it, guess what? That's what happened. That's
what happened. There's no competition. The Son,
Jesus Christ, did not come to compete with Satan. Again, there
is no competition. I'm reminded of 1 Samuel 17,
verse 47. And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth
not with sword and spear, for the battle is the Lord's, and
he will give you into our hands. And trust me, never forget, the
battle is the Lord's, always. And the Lord Jesus Christ did
not does not and never will require help from you or I. It's not necessary. It's not necessary. Now, but
after this gospel message of deliverance from the Lord, and
before he sent them forth, verse 21, unto Adam also and to his
wife did the Lord God make coats of skins. And here's the important
part here. and clothed them. He didn't make coats of skins
and say, here, put these on. No, no, no. He clothed them.
He clothed them. In coats of skin, he clothed
them. He dressed them. He covered their
nakedness. He gave them protection. He put
these coats on them. They didn't clothe themselves. Now I'm not gonna go into where
these coats came from. I don't think I need to because
I know where skins come from. All you need to understand here
is that Adam's fig leaves were bloodless and therefore of absolutely
no value, no value. Blood had to be shed, blood had
to be shed. Now this is the situation and
status of Adam and Eve before verses 23 and verse 24. Chastised
by God. Heard the prophecy, they were
told the gospel, and they were clothed in skins. Then, therefore
the Lord God sent Adam forth from the Garden of Eden. And this is what it says, what? Therefore the Lord God sent him
forth from the garden of Eden. Very plainly, Adam was sent away. Away. He was sent out of the
garden. He was sent forth from the garden
of Eden. But there's more. Because this
is what, one of the things that caught my eye when I was studying
this up. because you understand he was sent forth in verse 23,
then it describes it in verse 24, so he drove out the man. He drove out the man. Here's
the thing, Yahweh Elohim drove out Adam. Now this is a much different
word than sent forth. Now I've seen, I looked at a
couple of other translations and they use the same word in
both verses. No, no. Sent forth just means
basically he was sent away. That's what it means. Okay. The word drove out is much harsher
and much more final. Because here it is, what it actually
means is to drive out from a possession. Another word, divorce. Where a woman be forcibly sent
away, out. That's what the Lord did to Adam. Adam was the first divorce. In essence, the Lord God divorced
Adam from his presence and forced him away from the garden. And
so Adam and Eve left the garden never to return, never to return,
not to the garden, not to the garden now. Now let's be clear. This is one of the things I looked
at that Robert Hawker pointed out. Understand Satan, was cursed. The earth was cursed. But Adam wasn't cursed. He was
sent out, he was drove out, but he wasn't cursed. Adam fell. And Adam fell. And we, therefore,
coming from Adam, are born fallen. But Adam fell. Thank goodness
he was not cursed. Adam, the earth was cursed and
Adam was rightly condemned and fell. But then again, this is
still not all. A flaming sword which turned
every way to keep the way of the tree of life. You understand
there was a cherubim and then there was a flaming sword which
turned every way to keep the way of the tree of life. Now,
I don't know the location, okay, or the layout of the Garden of
Eden, and neither does anybody else. I don't know anything about the
tree of life either, except what the scripture states. It says,
if you eat of the tree of life, you shall live forever. And it says that that tree of
life was in the garden. That's all I know about it. Adam did not eat of the tree
of life while he was in the garden. And now Adam was divorced from
the garden and there was a flaming sword that turned every which
way. There was no way back into the garden. And I'm going to
tell you this today, thousands of years later, right now, there's
no way back into the garden. There's not. I know some people
want to make the earth a garden, and they want to reestablish,
oh, we'd like to make it like the Garden of Eden. Can't be
done, folks. It can't be done. This earth
is cursed. Things wither, things die, all
the time, every day, all around the globe. And understand, we're
in summer here, end of summer. They're hitting the end of winter
and going towards spring in Australia. That's the way the world works.
Sometimes there's always something dying. Always there's something
dying somewhere. This world is cursed. There's
no way back to the tree of life through the garden. That way
is blocked. It's blocked. There's no way. Here's the thing. We are not
going to re-enter Eden because that way is blocked. And the
way to the garden, that's what that means. And a flaming sword
which turned every way to keep, and that means to block access
to, the way of the tree of life. That way is blocked. But I do
know the way. I do know the way. Oh, I like
that. And here it is. Revelations chapter 2 and verse
7. I'll go ahead and read that. He that hath an ear to hear,
let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. To him
that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life which
is in the midst of the paradise of God. I like that. Now, I don't know
about you, but in my younger days, I don't know if you ever heard
an Armenian preacher read this verse or preach on it, okay?
But I have. And whenever anyone would read
this verse, here's what they would ask you. Are you an overcomer? And I always thought, no, I'm
not. I was wrong, because what they would then go on to say
is to actually lie to you about what an overcomer is, okay? Because the reason I didn't feel
like it is overcoming to these people, explaining
it, was living the full victorious life in Christ. And I have never
felt like that in my life. You understand? Walking in victory
and not sinning. Walking and talking just like
Jesus. Have you ever heard that? They
were first called Christians in Antioch, right? And somebody
explained that by saying, oh, they walk so much like Jesus
and they talk so much like Jesus, they thought they was, they called
them Christians. No, that's not what it was all
about at all. They were called Christians in Antioch because
Christ was the one they talked about. Christ was the one that
they preached. Christ was the, what? The Savior,
the Lord. But these people, oh, I mean,
I understand, and that really, it bothered me when I was a young
fella. Because I didn't feel full of
victory, and I didn't walk and talk just like Jesus. Because
here's the thing, I knew even then, Jesus Christ is always
right, and I'm not. Now, and I will confess right
here, and right now, and I've done it before, I have never
felt worthy of the life that Christ has given me. I've never
felt worthy of Christ. And I still don't. I still don't. But that's not what an overcomer
is. That's not what it means, he
that overcometh. And I found that in 1 John chapter
five, just a few pages back. In verse four and five. For whatsoever is born of God
over cometh the world. What? And this is the victory
that over cometh the world, even our faith. Now, the next verse. Whatsoever is born of God in
verse four, but then in verse five, who? is he that overcometh
the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God. And by his grace, this I can
do. By his power, I can believe him. Through the workings of his mighty
power, I believe him. Oh, I like that. By his grace,
through his faith, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son
of God. I did then, I do now, and by
his grace, I will tomorrow. What's that mean? I have overcome
the world. I'm not bragging. It's not because
of me. It's because of his faith. This
is a victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. I know
where our faith comes from. It came from the author and the
finisher of faith. It's his gift. By grace are you
saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it's the gift
of God. Not of works. What's that mean? Not of works. Your works, my
works, anybody's works except Christ's works. lest any man
should boast. I have overcome the world, not
by my works, but by his. By his power and his faith, because
here's the thing, his faith has made me whole, whole. I like that. Revelations 22 and
14 says that, blessed are they that do his commandments that
they may have right to the tree of life and may enter in through
the gates of the city. I know the way to the tree of
life and it's not through the garden of Eden. No, it's in Christ. It's in Christ. It's in Christ. What did Jesus Christ say? And I read you this song this
morning. Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and
the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. Jesus Christ is the way. There is no way back to the garden. That's blocked. But Jesus Christ
is the way. He's the way. Not only is he
the way, he's the life. Because without Jesus Christ,
there is no life. Period. Exclamation point, if
you want to put one there. There is no life without Christ. And Christ gives unto his people,
what? Eternal life. Never ending life. Perpetual life. It is in Him
we live, we move, and we have our being. Oh, let's say those
that are born again, those that are born from above, those that
are born of God are given the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit
of Christ. dwells in each of his people. Sometimes it may not feel like
it. I understand. I mean, sometimes I have felt
totally and completely alone, but I'm not. Thank God my feelings
don't determine the matter. That's all I got to say about
that. Because if my feelings determine the matter, I'd be
in a heap of trouble. My feelings don't determine the
matter. His power, his spirit determines the matter. And he
says, they dwell. He dwells in us, abides in us. Oh, I like that. Especially when I don't feel
like it. He said, I'll never leave thee.
I'll never forsake thee. And you may come home to an empty
house someday. It happens. It happens, it's
gonna happen more. But here's the thing, you're
never alone in that house if you know Jesus Christ. You're
never alone, you're never alone. Oh, you can sing and mean, how
tedious and tasteless the hours. Yeah, what, when Jesus no longer
I see. Sweet prospects, sweet birds
and sweet flowers, They're nothing to me. But he's there. He's there. Whether you feel like it, whether
you don't, he has never left or forsaken one of his children. And he never will. And let's
say the tree of life, what is it? We live because he lives. He gives eternal life to everyone
that the Father has given to him. Oh, excuse me. Now, I'm gonna tell you something.
This is thus saith Job, okay? Jesus Christ is the tree of life. He's the tree of life. He has
given unto us eternal life, perpetual life. And what'd he say? Everyone
that comes to me, I will in no wise cast out, but I'm gonna
raise him up at the last day. Oh my, that's good news. That's
good news. He'll never leave us. He'll never
forsake us. He'll never cast us out, even
though we may deserve it. That's not a joke. We do deserve
it. We're horrible people. even at
our best. And if you don't know that, you
don't know nothing. Sorry, double negative or something like that,
but it'll matter. If you don't know that you are
a sinner, Christ has never spoken to you. And I understand, oh, we're all
sinners, brother. That's not what I'm talking about.
Yes, we are all sinners. But do you know you're a sinner?
Do you know it? Well, I like what Walter says.
But are you an ungodly sinner? Christ died for the ungodly.
He didn't die for righteous people. He came not to call righteous
people, but sinners unto repentance. Because you understand, when
he calls a sinner, he's never going to leave them alone, ever. He chastises every son that he
has. And if you're not chastised,
you're not a son. And actually, the scripture says
you're a bastard and not a son. That's the words of scripture.
But afterwards, oh, it's a chastisement. Oh, chastisement? Chastisement
stinks. It's grievous. It bothers you. That's why it's called chastisement.
You understand? But here's the thing, the word
chastisement means punishment, yes, but punishment with correction. Why? Afterwards, this chastisement
yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness, of righteousness. God doesn't punish people just
because they're bad. He punishes you to teach you.
And trust me, folks, we need taught. We need to be taught. Oh, my. He is not a way. He is the only way. There is no other way, and all
other ways that people try to come up with lead on the broad
road to destruction. That's it. There's only two roads.
the broad way that leads to destruction, and the straight gate and the
narrow way which leads unto righteousness. Oh, I like that. And few there
be that find it. Sinners can call on Jesus Christ
anytime. Anytime was a Henry man said
honest people don't go to hell Because honest people know they're
a sinner and they'll confess it They know him here in my flesh
dwelleth. No good thing Present tense Even now Sinners
can call on him anytime because he came to call sinners to repentance
Because here it is Whenever they are laboring and heavy laden,
you can call upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Why? He'll give them
rest. When they're laboring and heavy
laden, He will give you rest. Whenever they know they are ungodly,
they can call upon Him because He died for the ungodly. Whenever they hunger and thirst
for righteousness, they can call upon Him because He gives us
His righteousness and He is our righteousness. Oh, I like that. He hath clothed us with both
the garments of salvation and the robe of righteousness, His
righteousness. Not ours, not ours. His righteousness. Now here's the conclusion of
the whole matter of salvation and eternal life. If Jesus Christ
has not given you life, if Jesus Christ has not done this for
you and to you, then you're lost. Then you're lost. And here's
what lost means. that at that time ye were without
Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers
from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God
in the world. That's what it means to be lost. Those without Christ, without
hope, aliens and strangers to God, oh, but if you know yourself
to be a sinner, an alien, Stranger from God. Oh, I like that. I
got a hope. I got a word of hope for you
The Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot say Neither is
his ear heavy that it cannot hear and I can tell you this
for a certain if you call any sinner that calls upon the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ He'll be saved He'll be saved. Thou shalt be saved. Ah, I like
that. He is the way, the truth, and
the life. And though the way to the garden
be barred, and blocked, and kept, the way is never blocked. No, it's not. No one blocks the
way, the truth, and the life. And no man comes to the Father
except by him. By him. He'll bring you in. Call upon the name of the Lord
and thou shalt be saved. Father, thank you again for this
time and this place. Help us, Lord. We know we're
weak. We know we're foolish. Some days,
Lord, we just know we're stupid. But thou hast all knowledge,
all wisdom, all power, and all glory. And you are working your
will. Known unto you are all your works
from the beginning. And we know what those works
are as whatsoever thou hast pleased. Be pleased to help us, Lord.
Strengthen us as we walk in this world. Make us feel your presence
and your Holy Spirit in our lives and in our hearts and in this
world as we are surrounded by nonsense and foolishness and
lies and everything else. Give us strength, Lord, to walk
in your paths. Make us to walk in your paths.
Be with Paul as he comes to preach here. Be with Walter as he's
in Ohio and all your preachers wherever they may be. We ask
in Jesus' name, amen. All right. And we're gonna take
a 10-minute break. About 11.20, we'll start back. Turn to hymn number 202. Number
202. It's been a little while since
we've sang it. I think everybody knows it. When the storm in its fury on
Galilee fell, And lifted its waters on high, And the faithless disciples were
bound in the swell. Jesus whispered, fear not, it
is I. It is I, it is I. Fear not, trembling
one, it is I. In the midst of the storm, in
the midst of the gloom, fear not, for trembling won't be his
sight. The storm could not bury that
word in the wake, T'was taught through the divas to fly. It shall reach its disciples
in every age, Saying be not afraid, it is fine. It is fine, it is fine. We're not trembling, why? It is fine. In the midst of a
storm, in the midst of a gloom, there my trembling one is I. When the spirit is broken with
sorrow and care, And comfort is ready to die, Then let darkness
shall pass, and the sunshine appear, While the light-giving
Word is high. It is I, it is I. Fear not, trembling
one, it is I. In the midst of the storm, in
the midst of the gloom, fear not, trembling one, it is I. When death is at hand, and his
body doth break, He is left with a tremulous sigh. The gracious Redeemer will light
all the way, saying, be not afraid. It is I. It is I. It is I. Fear
not, trembling one. It is I. In the midst of the
storm, In the midst of the gloom, Fear
not, trembling one, it is I. Good morning. And welcome to
all those who might be online or might hear the online later. But I know I've been in first Samuel
right now, but I'm going to stop that for a minute because I want
to go to this message that I preached at Bruce's and the recording
somehow got cut off in half, so I wanted to, some may have
wanted to hear the end, you know, the whole message, so I'm going
to do that again. So if you would, turn with me
to Romans 11. Romans 11. Romans 11 and verses 33 through
36 to start out with. Oh, the depth of the riches,
both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are
his judgments and his ways past finding out. For who hath known
the mind of the Lord or who hath been his counselor? or who hath
first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again.
For of him, and through him, and to him are all things, to
whom be the glory forever and forever. Amen. What man born of Adam can figure
out God? And we just read right there
in that passage and get but just a glimpse of his majesty. We
are also told there is no way we can know what God knows and
we cannot figure out his ways. Which one of us will say to God,
let me tell you what I think. God needs nothing from us. He
is the self existent one. everything you can think of around
you, it's all for His honor and glory. He is in absolute total
control of all things. He has the right and the ability
to do as He pleases, so much so that the Apostle Paul tells
us in Romans 9, nay, but old man, who art thou that replies
against God? And say, why hast thou made me
thus? If you question why you are the
way you are, then you are replying against God. He is the potter
and we are the clay. And I want to give you a quote
from J.C. Philpott. Quote, man's religion is to build
up the creature. God's religion is to throw the
creature down in the dust of self-abasement and glorify Christ. End quote. We cannot preach Christ
that is God, Jesus Christ is God, but we cannot preach Jesus
Christ too high. His ways are high above our ways
and his thoughts are high above our thoughts. We see this in
Psalm 139 in verse six, and this is pertained to his work and
his purposes. 139, six says, such knowledge
is too wonderful for me, it is high I cannot attain unto it. He is all wise and his purpose
which never changes because he does not change. His purpose
has always been. But also we cannot preach man
too low. Just as we do not know the heights
and the depth of God, we do not know how low we are. I pray God
does not let me see how low I am. But think about this verse, and
you don't have to turn, but write it down for later. Galatians
6.3, it says, for if a man think himself to be something, I'm
guilty. I'm guilty of that, even now,
even today. For if a man think himself to
be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. There have
been times and are still times when I have thought of myself
as something. I deceive myself. If I ever get
to thinking that again, that is, that I am something, or have
actions that manifest for that thought, I am deceiving myself. If you would notice this when
it says here, when he is. For if a man think himself to
be something when he is, that word can be translated being. If you look at the word, you
can translate it being. Because some may see that and
say, well, there comes a time when I am something. Because
this is only when I am nothing. This flesh will think of anything
to deceive itself. We as believers know this world
thinks like this because we still have this old man with us. But
read it using the actual meaning of the Greek word. These three
words, when he is, as one word in the Greek, and it's translated
being, so we read it here. For if a man think himself to
be something, being nothing, he deceiveth himself. We are
nothing, but we sometimes think we are something. But we know
God tells us we are nothing, and He is everything. If a man
is sent of God, he will preach what God says. We know Paul the
Apostle tells us that he determined not to know anything among us,
but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And that's a good thing for everyone
who proclaims His word to go by. That's good advice. In preaching
this, we have to tell what man is as well. I know I cannot say
this the best way, so I'll let scripture do it, but if you'll
remember, Joe did a message on this, but turn with me to Isaiah
40, and this has to be said again. I don't mind copying off of somebody
else. When it comes to God's word,
so Isaiah 40, and I'm gonna read verses one through nine. Isaiah 40. Comfort ye, comfort
ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem,
and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity
is pardoned. For she hath received of the
Lord's hand double for all her sins. The voice of him that crieth
in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord. Make straight
in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked
shall be made straight, and the rough places plain, and the glory
of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. The voice said, Cry,
and he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the
goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. The grass
withereth, the flower fadeth, because the Spirit of the Lord
bloweth upon it. Surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower
fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand forever. O Zion,
that bringest good tidings, Get thee up into the high mountain,
O Jerusalem, that bring us good tidings. Lift up thy voice with
strength. Lift it up. Be not afraid. Say
unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God. So he is told to cry something.
He asked, what shall I cry in verse six? The answer is, all
flesh is grass. Here today, gone tomorrow. That is all flesh. Man is nothing. But that is not all, he cries,
because it also says, O Zion that bringeth good tidings, when
we preach all flesh is grass, that, that is preaching all flesh
is grass, is not good tidings. So what else is he told to cry
in verse nine? Say unto the cities of Judah,
behold your God. Man is nothing, and God is a
glory to behold. So let's look at today just how
low man is, the highness of God, and is there a remedy? So just
how, number one, just how low is man? Ecclesiastes 3.19 we
read, for that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beast. Even one thing befalleth them,
as the one dieth, so dieth the other. Yea, they have all one
breath, so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast, for
all is vanity. We have no more importance than
a beast as we are born in earth. We all die, even beast, and just
as a beast dies, we die. Man compared to man might look
pretty good depending on who is being compared to one another.
But sinful following man is not where the mark is. It is not
what we must attain. We must be holy for God is holy. The mark is the righteousness
of God and we miss that mark all the time. Compared to God,
we are nothing. Isaiah 40, 15 reads, behold,
the nations are as a drop of a bucket and are counted as the
small dust of the balance. Behold, he taketh up the isles
as a very little thing. Drop of a bucket. One drop in
a bucket isn't worth the effort to pick up the bucket. When you're
thirsting, one drop will not quench your thirst. We are counted
as the small dust of the balance. And what does that mean? We are
good for nothing as we are born in Adam. We don't make a difference. We add nothing to God and we
take nothing away from God. But it gets worse. Isaiah 40,
17 says, all nations before him are as nothing and they are counted
to him less than nothing and vanity. We are, in fact, nothing. In fact, we are counted to Him,
and this is what matters, is my count or worthiness to God. But this says we are counted
less than nothing and vanity. This is a hard pronouncement
to take. In fact, none of us would take this pronouncement.
That is, we wouldn't be okay with this pronouncement on us,
and we wouldn't bow down to this truth if it were not for His
power and His will. We would actually deny it and
think we are something and deceive ourselves. If it were not for
God intervening, there are some who will never accept this pronouncement
about themselves, even though the Creator tells us this Himself.
The scripture is inspired of God. Men wrote as the Holy Spirit
directed them. He says we are less than nothing. Some might say, I don't think
anyone here would say this, but some who hear me say this might
say, I'm not less than nothing. I'm something before God. Okay,
let's see what scripture says we are before him. Here is man
being something, and if you would, turn with me to Job 25. Job 25. Job 25 in verses four through
six. From your passages, I've, you
know, went to a lot of these already before in other messages,
but Job 25 verse four. How then can man be justified
with God? Or how can he be clean that is
born of a woman? Behold, even to the moon, and
it shineth not. Yea, the stars are not pure in
his sight. How much less man that is a worm,
and the son of man which is a worm. We do not shine in his sight,
and we are not pure in his sight. Man as he is born in Adam, and
let me be clear, I mean mankind, so this is men and women. But
man is not justified with God. He is certainly not clean. But
this says we are a worm. And as I've said here before,
the word here for maggot means, worm means maggot in the sense
of breeding. So we are worms and all we do
is breed other worms. And these maggots feed off of
death. That's all they do, feed off
of death. Because of what man is, he will do nothing, nothing
that will gain him any merit before a thrice holy God. But
let me show you a picture of what we do from scripture. Now
if you would, you all turn to Jonah 1. I've got it right here
in my notes. So if you want to, Jonah 1, verses
3 through 5, I'm going to read. Hopefully I won't take as long
this time. Jonah 1, verse 3-5. Ellen had just mentioned this
about Earl Sagan this one time and I just, I love this. But
let's look at it. Let's see what common theme we
can look at this passage here in Jonah. 3-5. Jonah 1, 3-5. But Jonah rose up to flee into
Tarshish. from the presence of the Lord,
and went down to Joppa. And he found a ship going to
Tarshish, so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it,
to go with them into Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there
was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to
be broken. Then the mariners were afraid
and cried every man unto his God and cast forth the wares
that were in the ship into the sea to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into
the sides of the ship and he lay and was fast asleep. So what is the common theme here
when it comes to man and his way and his doing? Man goes down,
down, down. Man is not seeking God. He is
doing just as Adam did and Jonah did here. Man is always trying
to flee from God, trying to hide himself from God. But God be
thanked, some who flee from God are running smack dab into God. Jonah thought he was running
from God. Had he succeeded, things would
have been different. But God be thanked, God's will
and purpose will stand. because his ways are high above
our ways and his thoughts are high above our thoughts. Had
he not exercised his sovereign control on me, I would still
be running from God. Shaking my fist at him saying,
I will not have this man reign over me. But our God is sovereign,
but let's look at some of his glory in scripture. Can we see
the highness of God? Number two, the highness of God.
Back in Isaiah 40, when we are told that we are less than nothing,
what does it say in the next verse, Isaiah 40, 18? To whom
then will ye liken God? Or what likeness will ye compare
unto him? There is no one to compare to
God. We are, that is mankind born
from Adam, we are less than nothing and worms. How high is God? He is much higher than we can
even imagine. In fact, we can't really know
the heights of his thoughts and his ways. Our text in Romans
tells us he is unsearchable and his ways past finding out. There
is no one to counsel him. None can stand before him. What
did Isaiah find out in Isaiah 6? So turn back with me to Isaiah
6, if you would. And in a lot of my messages,
I'm just repeating things that people have told me. Joe, we
were talking out on the porch one day, and Joe pointed this
out to me, and I just, it was good. So, Isaiah 6, one through
five. In the year that King Uzziah
died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted
up, and His train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims. Each one had six wings. With
twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet,
and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another and
said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth
is full of his glory. And the post of the door moved
at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with
smoke. Then said I, Woe is me, for I
am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell
in the midst of a people of unclean lips. For mine eyes have seen
the King, the Lord of hosts. In Isaiah 5, we read Isaiah pronouncing
woes on them. And back in the previous chapter,
he's pronouncing woes on them. And this is what Joe pointed
out to me. Woe to them, he says. But then we get here in Isaiah
6 and he sees who God is and what is his pronouncement now.
Woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell amongst
a people of unclean lips. What does he mean? I'm bad and
they are bad. Put us all together and there
is no good that will come from it. God is holy, there is no
one like unto him. He is totally separate from anything
we can think of. God says to Job, he says, where
were you when I laid the foundations of the world? Mankind did not
exist. Who made it all work together
as it does? Not man, we were not even there. What holds it all together? Not
man. and man does not know how it
is done. What does Nebuchadnezzar say?
When my understanding returned unto me, what did he see? Him
that liveth forever, he doeth according to his will, and none
can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest thou? What does
this tell us? If you have understanding, what
will you confess? He, that is God, doeth according
to his will. And none can stay his hand or
even say unto him, what doest thou? But man will do nothing
to get back to where he was with God before the fall. He has no
strength of his own. He doesn't know where the garden
of Eden is to get back to the tree of life, right, Joe? This is where the but God comes
in. What is the remedy? So number
three, what is the remedy? In short, the answer is the glory
of God is the remedy. He is an infinite, holy, just
God. We are the earth earthy, nothing
finite. But not only that, we have trespassed. We have trespassed this holy,
just God who will not at all acquit the guilty. Scripture
says we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. He
is not making his pronouncement on our guilt or innocence now.
That great judge has made his decision, and from that, judgment
is certain. The sentencing will be carried
out to its fullest extent one day, although it has already
been decreed death. He told Adam, in the day that
you eat thereof, you shall surely die. And he did. We know he did
not die physically, although his body did begin to die, but
he died spiritually so that there was no more communion with God.
In his flesh, that is, in Adam's flesh, this flesh is what we
have. Light has no communion with darkness. The two cannot exist together. Being in death, we offend the
holy God of heaven. And not only will we not do those
things that please him, we cannot do those things that please him.
Romans 3.10 says, as it is written, there is none righteous, no,
not one. And verses 11, 12 says, there
is none that understand us. There is none that seeketh after
God. They are all gone out of the way. They are together become
unprofitable. There is none that doeth good,
no, not one. The problem is we are below,
he is above. There is a great gulf between
us. We cannot go to him for scripture tells us no man will look up
on him and live. He cannot come to us for he is
spirit and we are flesh. He is life, we are death. We
have trespassed and sin will not just be swept under the rug.
God is holy and just. And here is where the good news
comes in. A kinsman redeemer. We have a
kinsman redeemer. We have one that is likened to
us. The scripture puts it this way, Romans 8, 3. For what the
law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending
his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned
sin in the flesh. We have a man. This man is flesh
and blood. He sweats like I do. He grieves
like I do. He feels pain like I do, yet
without sin. This is how high God is. What
he would do magnifies his name even further. So how high is
God? How high is that one who has
created everything? That one where it is said in
Genesis 1, in the beginning God created, and it goes down the
list. We are told in Colossians that
he created all things. So how high is God? Here it is,
here's how high God is. He was made a little lower than
the angels. His thoughts are high above our
thoughts, and his ways are past finding out. Jesus Christ came
down, he took on our flesh, he walked on this earth, and he
perfectly obeyed the holy law. He did not struggle to do this.
He did this because it was in his nature, because Jesus Christ
is God. He said, I and my father are
one. He had to do something, something
that you and I could not do. The scripture says, the soul
that sinnetheth shall die. This death we are talking about
is a death suffered under the judgment and wrath of God. And
we need mercy. But the only way to do that is
for someone to pay the price so that we might go free. And
we are told in Habakkuk 3, Habakkuk 3, 2, O Lord, I have heard thy
speech and was afraid. O Lord, revive thy work in the
midst of the years, in the midst of the years. Make known in wrath,
remember mercy. Our Lord, the Son of God, God
Almighty, manifest in the flesh, suffered the wrath of God in
our stead. That which was meant for us,
he took our place. Awake, O sword, against my shepherd,
against the one that is my fellow. The sword has failed. Wrath has
been poured out on him, this being done for those chosen from
before the foundation of the world in him. So much so that
he cried out, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? This
he did in my place. I will never be forsaken of God.
Because he cried, it is finished. What he did was for certain and
sure, and it accomplished what he came to do. What he did was
take my sin. This he done in his own body
on that tree. he carried them far away so that
God no longer sees our sins or our sin. Salvation is done because
of all of this we read in Colossians 1, Colossians 1 verses 17 and
18, and he is before all things, this is Christ, and by him all
things consist. And he is the head of the body,
the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things, he might have the preeminence. So let's look at what we've went
through. And I want to show you one more thing after that. Man,
our preeminence is like a beast. Man is low. We proclaim to those
who know God that man is grass. Here today, gone tomorrow. But, you know, let's make this
real. You know, this is, I just wanna
give this example, and all of you know of this, all of us have
had this same similar type of experience and stuff as well,
but back on July 4th, 2020, Paula and I were sitting at home in
our living room, and all the neighborhood was setting off
fireworks and stuff, you know, and of course, Clyde was there,
afraid of the fireworks, so he's, jumping up in the chair with
us, and I got a call from Pam, from my sister. And she called
and said, Paul, Daddy's gone. So Paul and I arrived down there,
and I seen Daddy sitting there in his recliner, and he looked
like he was asleep. Of course, I'm checking to make
sure. Daddy, Daddy, wake up. But nothing. He was gone. Now we do have a
good hope, and there's a lot of us have a good hope for some
of our loved ones, but we are grass. We are all grass. Here
today, gone tomorrow. What do we read in James 4.14?
It says this, whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow,
for what is your life? It is even a vapor that appeareth
for a little time and then vanisheth away. Our God is supreme. He is excellent and full of glory. He is higher than we can even
imagine. He created all things. There
is not anything that was created that was not created by Him. All things were created for Him. I cannot attain this wisdom and
knowledge. It's too wonderful for me. Man
being so low and God being so high. There is that great gulf
between us because we have offended, we have trespassed against this
excellent and full of glory God. The soul that sinneth, and we
have certainly sinned against God, but the soul that sinneth,
it shall die. But then God himself filled the
gap. It was the only way and he was
the only one who could do it. the only one who could touch
man and not be defiled, and touch God and not be consumed, bringing
them together in himself, the God-man. Jesus Christ is God,
Jesus Christ is man. We being dead in trespasses and
in sin cannot get to God on our own, but he, doing what we could
not do, did for those whom he loved with an everlasting love. He did what was needed to take
our place. He is our substitute, our kinsman
redeemer. He became a man. You put all
of our righteousnesses together and they are filthy rags in God's
sight. We are in fact a stench in God's
nostrils as we're born in Adam. What are we told in Isaiah 6,
and you don't have to turn to this, but Isaiah 6, from the
sole of the foot even unto the head, there is no soundness in
it. But wounds and bruises and putrefying
sores They have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mullified
with wind. He is the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world, but He came down in time to do that
which was agreed upon by the three in one. He came down and
performed that great transaction, that which would make me clean
before Him, the transaction being done which caused Him to be forsaken
of God, God forsaking Is there anyone that can understand that?
God dying, but yet he ever liveth. Can we understand that? His ways
are truly high above our ways and his thoughts high above ours.
But we are not just left to ourselves to wonder who he is in light
of what we are. He will let us know that we are
saved. We are not just left to see ourselves
in the dust and how high He is. We are brought into Himself where
we become one with Him. And what am I trying to say here?
Jesus Christ has satisfied the Father. He has satisfied that
which would condemn my soul. Those who are His, not all of
them know this yet. He will in time come to them.
And he must come to them in time to let them know this. I think
of it kind of like this, but someone's passed out in a fire.
They're passed out and as far as they're concerned, their last
thought was, I'm dead, I'm gone. But someone comes and rescues
them and gets them out of the burning building. They have received
the needed medical attention and are in the hospital. They're
going to be fine. They just don't know it yet.
They finally wake up and realize they have been saved. We are
dead, D-E-A-D dead, spiritually. Jesus Christ has already pulled
us from the fire. He just has to wake us up, so
to speak, and let us know we're saved. He has promised to send
his spirit, and that spirit giving his chosen people life. He sends
someone with this gospel. One sinner to another sinner
telling what he has done. Telling what he has done for
those whom he chose from the foundation of the world. But
there is that time of love where he will come to an individual
and woo them into himself through this gospel. That gospel breaking
down those walls of rebellion built up by this dead flesh.
Through His Spirit and by His gospel we see what we are. We
see who He is and we see what He has done. We are then forced
to Him and He takes those who are like this, those who are
unclean by nature, those who hate Him by nature, He forces
them to Himself by showing them that there is nowhere else to
go. And I want to show you this from scripture, so if you would
turn with me, I will end with this, but turn with me to Mark
1, Mark 1. Mark 1. And Mark 1, verses 40 through 41. Mark 1 verse 40. And there came
a leper to him. And remember this leper, he is
supposed to say unclean, unclean, unclean. But he did not. He broke the law to come to Christ. And just think about that. And
there came a leper to him, beseeching him and kneeling down to him
and saying unto him, if thou wilt, He did not say, I think
I want to accept you in my heart as my personal savior, did he? No, he said, if thou wilt. It
is totally up to you. I deserve for you to walk on
by and leave me forever. And then he says, thou canst
make me clean. And Jesus moved with compassion. And Christ always will for those
whom he loves. But he moved with compassion
and put forth his hand and touched him and said unto him, I will
be thou clean. There is nothing else to be done.
Lay down your arms against God. Do you want to do, do, do? The
work is done, done, done. Can you bow down to him? If he
wills, he can make you clean. Beg for mercy. He saveth such
that be of a broken heart, a broken and contrite spirit are the kind
of people he saves. Those who know they are nothing
and that Christ has the preeminence because of who he is and what
he has done, come to him. It just might be that he wills
to make you clean. Amen. Dear old God, thank you for allowing
us to gather here today, dear Lord, to hear words of your son.
Dear Lord, we are nothing. You are even more than we can
imagine, dear Lord, and we know that all things come from you.
It all comes from your hand by your grace, dear Lord, and we
must be giving all these things from you, dear Lord. May it be
you allow us to know your presence,
dear Lord, Joe said earlier, dear Lord, we're two or three
are gathering in your name. You're there in the midst of
us. Be with Walter and Penny and
whoever else might be with them as they travel, dear Lord, that
they may get back home safely so that we might see them again,
if it be your will, dear Lord. It's all up to you and your will,
dear Lord. But you know what is right. what
to do right. Be with those who are not here
for other reasons, dear Lord. Comfort them. Make them well
if that be your pleasure, dear Lord. And I just want to say
about Dee, dear Lord, please look down on him if you're pleased
to at least give him comfort where he doesn't have any pain
in these last days as we see them, dear Lord. all these things
we ask in Christ's name. Amen.