Turn to Deuteronomy Chapters
27 through 30 actually be turning to Deuteronomy 29 if you wish
Deuteronomy 29 But the context the overall context
of these chapters that is Deuteronomy 27 through 30 is basically that
the cursing and the blessing And when you first begin to read,
if you read these chapters, you see that God separates Israel
into two camps on two opposing mountains. One, as the Levites
cry out about the law. Remember, the law is also set
upon stones that are plastered, and think how long it took them
to do this. They wrote every word of this
law on that big stack of stones that was plastered. Remember
reading that? So here the Levites cry out blessing and curses. And one group is to say amen
to the blessing. And the other group is not told
to say oh God forbid for the curse. They are to cry out amen
as well. This world is so deceived. especially that which calls itself
Christian, that they think God's wrath is an unfortunate consequence
of man's sin. God was a God of wrath before
man ever even existed. God is a complete whole. He is
who He's always been and has never become anything else. And
God had wrath before man was ever created or fell. And the book says, what if God
willing to show his wrath? He is. And listen, God will be
honored in his cursing as he will be honored in his blessing.
But to briefly sum up the context, Israel is told if you keep this
law, And remember, it's keep it all. You don't pick and choose
any of it, no matter how insignificant you think it is, if it's concerning
birds and their broods and their nests, or concerning thou shalt
not kill. A human being. You don't pick and choose which
one you think's more important. You keep this law, that's what
he told Israel, you keep this law, I will bless you in the
land. You don't, you read it, I will
curse you. Now let the dispensationalists
chew on that for a while. As a matter of fact, as you read
this, you will note if you read it seriously, God says you will
be cursed. Israel had spurts of blessing,
but they never ever got away from the curses. Why? Because you cannot keep this
law. And Israel never has and Israel
never will under law. And neither will you and I. I know, it's sad. It's sad that most people think
that God's grace and God's mercy and God's compassion is an emotion. But it's not an emotion, it is
a perfection of God. But so is his wrath and his hatred. So is his wrath and his hatred. Now, Deuteronomy 29, and I just
had to mention this one, but I hope I'll tie it in. Look at
what verse 29 says. The secret things belong unto
the Lord our God. But those things which are revealed
belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the
words of this law. Now is that what it says or not?
Now are you going to then practice a self-deception and say, well
then I'm keeping the law? Or can you be honest and say,
I cannot keep that law. even if it means I deserve the
curse. Yet, so-called Christian religion
today is teaching men and women through deception and lies to
lie about their keeping of the law. Well, we're not that bad. We're not, no, we're that bad.
I said we're, me and you and you. We're that bad. I'm not preaching down, I don't
mean to preach down to anyone this morning, but we're that
bad. Now since the secret things not
only belong unto the Lord, but since they are secret, then that means I don't even
know what they are. Right? Now, anyone here who's had any
kind of education in the English language knows, if it's a secret
thing, can I deal with it? I remember Henry talking about
a fellow come up to him after a message one time and said,
well, Pastor, we need to start dealing with some of those secret
things. And he said, well, tell me what they are. Because if it's revealed so you
can deal with it, it ain't secret no more. But this lets me know
there's some secret things that God has, and it's hands off,
folks. It's hands off. And don't even
try to figure out what they are, because you'll have your mind
on the wrong thing, rather than having your mind on what? The
things that are revealed. They belong to me, they belong
to my offspring, they belong to you, they belong to your offspring. Now let's park on one of those
clearly revealed things. Chapter 29 in verse four. Now yes, I realize that Moses
is speaking directly here to Israel, but remember, Paul says
in Romans three, I've proved before, we're all under sin.
The Jews not better than the Gentile. Well, those Jews, they
perverted God's law, so do we. God's law is written in our hearts.
We know, now we don't know all of it, but we know certain things
are right and wrong. Whether we do the right and wrong
doesn't matter. We know certain things are right and wrong. I
mean, you got a man that's a thief, but he don't want another thief
coming along and stealing his stuff, does he? Now does he? As I said, even the cannibals
don't eat their own tribe. They know you can't exist if
you do that. You only eat the enemy. Somebody
kicked you off. What does he say? Yet, think
of that, this is Moses speaking to Israel. Think of the solemnity
of these words. Yet the Lord hath not given you
an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear unto
this day. And yet, look at what he had
done for them. Delivered them from Egypt with
mighty miraculous miracles. Let them cross dry shahadah through
the Red Sea, and they seen the Egyptians dead upon the shores
behind them. They walked through the wilderness
for 40 years. We're at the end of this 40 years
now. And they walked through this wilderness for 40 years,
and their shoes and their shirts and their pants didn't wear out. Now you think that calls anybody
to say out to trust this God. Yet, the Lord hath not given
you in heart to perceive. and eyes to see and ears to hear
unto this day. Oh, how solemn those words are. That's my title of my subject,
Humanity's One Common Dilemma. This is all of our one common
dilemma. Let's see if I can illustrate
this and try to illustrate it based upon the truth of scripture.
Not all seeings S-I-N-S. Not all sins. When I say that,
I mean not all actions that are bad, not all actions that are
wrong, not all actions that are iniquities. You know what I'm
talking about. Not all sins are common to all. Not all sins are common to all.
I mean, not every man has to struggle and fight to stay faithful
to his wife. There are some men, some women,
They can say stay faithful to their spouse and never have any
difficulty with that whatsoever. But they'll lie like a dog. Right? You got other people that just,
they stick that needle in their arm, and this ain't something
the doctor prescribed either. And they just go on and on. And they just, Joe, they get
hooked on it, and they get stuck with it, and they can't just
change it when they try. When they go to rehab or AA,
they have to give them drugs to keep it from killing them
just by coming off the drugs. And yet some people have never
taken an illicit drug not one day in their life. But seeing
that is the condition, the state is common to us all. And here
we read that one common dilemma. No heart to perceive. No eyes
to see. No ears to hear. But perceive,
see, and hear what? Someone says the Bible, that's
not good enough. It's not good enough. And I've
heard people say, they talk about Judas went out and hanged himself.
Well, that's the gospel truth. No, it ain't the gospel truth.
The man committed suicide and went to hell. And he was an apostle. He was one of the 12. He preached
the gospel. Now, if that don't frighten you
some, your profession's out here on the iffy side. Judas, he was
so upright, at least outwardly. Nobody knew what was down in
here. but he was so upright outwardly, the other 11 had no problem with
him being the treasure. And all along the book tells
us he was a thief and was stealing money from it. Now you think
preachers ain't like that still today? You're looking at one. You're looking at one because
by nature, My heart is as desperately wicked as the next man or woman's. And I do not have that heart
by nature. I don't have it. I can't perceive. I can't see. I can't hear. Here's what's important. Somebody said, well, the Bible's
important. And you don't have to turn to it. These are the
words of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. This is not my opinion
or any other man's opinion. He was speaking to some very
religious people and he says these words. Search the scriptures. And some say it's, he said, ye
do search the scriptures. I actually looked it up in the
Greek and it's right. But it's still, search the scriptures.
For in them ye think ye have eternal life. Here were Bible
readers. Some of these men actually made the copies that everybody,
if you had one, you got a copy. And they were the ones who made
copies for the synagogues. And these were rolls, you know,
you didn't go out and buy one Bible with all the Old Testament
in it. Search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have
eternal life, and here it is, and there are they which testify
of me. You see, if you don't see Christ in all the book, then
you're not seeing what the book's really saying. As a matter of
fact, I'm not gonna read it, but if you will read chapter
30, verses 11 through 14, did you know that that is Jesus Christ
and faith in him? And yet his name, the name of
Jesus Christ, and the word faith is not mentioned one time. But
I know it's so because Paul, under the inspiration of the
Holy Spirit, actually quotes it in the New Testament, says
this is what it is. It's the word of faith which
we preach. Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. I thank God I see
it now. At one time I didn't see that,
but I see it now. Look, let's go on what Jesus
said. And they are they which testify of me, and ye will not. That's our problem. The will
is connected to what you are inside. When we say it's heart,
we don't mean the muscle, it's who you are inside. And the will
is connected to the heart and eyes and ears. And you what, will not come to
me. People cry, well, your free will
is your greatest hope. Your will is your worst enemy.
My will is my worst enemy. and you will not come to me that
you might have life. And I wish I could say this. I wish I could. Oh, I like to
think it of myself. I receive not honor from men. Jesus Christ was not worried
about what everybody thought about him. No, sir. But I know you, ooh,
that ye have not the love of God in you. They're Bible readers.
These were the elite of that day. the most Bible religious
people you could find. Moral people who tithed, even
down to the mint, the spices in their house. Fasted three
times a week, twice a week, four times, whatever it was. They
did these things. But you have not the love of
God in you. That's me by nature. That's you by nature. But I know
you that you have not the love of God in you. I am come in my
Father's name and you receive me not. I don't mean he just
used the Father's name. He came under the authority of
God the Father and was declaring exactly what God the Father sent
him to declare without prejudice or deceit. I hold things back
sometimes. Sometimes I say things I should
not have said. He never did. When he got angry
and planted a whip and hit people with it, hit people with it,
ran them out of the temple, turned over their tables with their
animals and their money there. And he said, I'm running you
out because you've made this a den of thieves. This is my
father's house. It's to be a house of prayer.
Sweet little Jesus boy. This is the Christ of God. I'm
coming in my father's name and you receive me not. If another
shall come in his own name, him you will receive. And by nature,
we do that all the time. I remember one pastor saying,
we will get on our phones and we will listen to that gal that
tells us to turn right at 100 foot. And we'll turn right, not
having any idea where we're going. Now, won't we? But this word's
been around for thousands and thousands of years, but men will
not bow and say, I better trust this. That's how lacking I am of a
heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear. Oh, look,
how can you believe which receive honor one of another? You see,
it's not until God Almighty causes you to quit worrying about everybody
else, and you start worrying about yourself before God. Not until then. God ain't done
nothing for you. Now, I give this example, I won't
use the name, because I'm not trying to embarrass anybody at
the moment, and it's not really embarrassing. Overall, a person
can be in their teenage years, be under the sound of the gospel,
and make a profession of faith, and it can look real, and seem
real to everybody else. So real that the pastor of a
church baptizes you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Ghost. But as time goes on, it's nothing more than a
profession. and you just live your life as
you, you couldn't be convinced of anything other than sovereign
grace for anything, but you've never had a heart to perceive,
and eyes to see, and ears to hear. All you've ever had is
what you can get naturally, because she's either brought up in it,
or you're a very susceptible person, you just decide you're
gonna believe this too, and maybe nobody can change their mind
about it, but until God Almighty gives you a heart to perceive,
eyes to see, and ears to hear, you're lost. And if you die in
that state, you'll go to hell. I don't care how much truth you
profess. How can you believe which receive
honor one of another, and seek not that honor that cometh from
God? O-N-L-Y. only. Do not think that I will accuse
you to the Father. He had the right to. He is the
lawgiver. He's the one Moses was hearing
speak when Moses was getting all these words that we read
about in Deuteronomy. Do not think that I will accuse
you to the Father. There is one that accuseth you, even Moses. What do you mean? Moses has been
dead for years. He's talking about this Old Testament,
this law. And what's that law do? It accuses
you, and it accuses me, and it says, curse, curse, curse. As a matter of fact, God said,
if you'll keep this law, I'll give you a heart to perceive,
eyes to see, and ears to hear. But we can't. You see, when God said that to
Israel, I'm sure many of them say, well, I'm gonna put forth
my best effort. It didn't work. It didn't work. For had ye believed Moses, ye
would have believed me. Here it is, for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings,
how shall ye believe my words? You see, this is what God gives
a heart to perceive for. Eyes to see and ears to hear
is to see the person of Jesus Christ. First his person. A lot of people believe he was
born virgin, lived a good, perfect life, died, buried, rose again,
and went back to heaven. Now don't they? They're drunks
in the gutter that believe that. Right? There's whores selling
their bodies for money that believe that. Right? Is that what it's
all about? It's to know him. To know him. Not just about him,
but to know him. But consider this, the sober
deacon has the same dilemma as the sodded drunk. No heart, no
eyes, no ears. I mean, God didn't say you be
a deacon and I'll save you. You better hope to God if you're
a deacon, he saved you first. Because if he didn't, then you've
got double blindness. Now you've got something else
to hang on to. I often wonder, am I here, do I come to this
place only because I preach? What if I didn't preach? Would
I really be there? Would I get up and make that
effort to come every Sunday? Now you sit back there, maybe
you can help me with that, but you've never been here and had
to do this. I've done it for 30 some years,
David Wright, and I wonder, am I here only because of this?
It's already been mentioned. Lord, I preached in your name,
done many wonderful works in your name, cast out demons in
your name. Christ, I didn't know you. You're a worker of iniquity.
Get out of here. That's scary. Why? Here's why. Because they
were building on those efforts and not on Christ Jesus himself. And that is told in the text.
Sandy ground, house built on sandy ground. A rock, a house
built on a rock. Every house built on the sandy
ground will fall, no matter how beautiful and great that sand
is. You'd be on the picturesque beach, beautiful place, but it's
on sand. When the storm comes, it's gonna
fall, and great will be the fall of it. But if that house is on
the rock, let me tell you something, there will be some drunks in
glory. At least those who've been drunk
on this side. I don't know what God's gonna let us do if we get
around that side. He did say we're gonna drink some wine like
we ain't never drunk before. Did he not? Now come on, I'm
not trying to, I'm not trying to encourage you about why I
get drunk today, but I'm telling you, he said, this wine and this
bread, he said, I'll drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.
Is that what he said? And we ain't drinking grape juice. When we have the table, we take
wine. Why? Because that's what God's people
do. There'll be a lot of sober deacons
in hell wondering what went wrong. Think about this, that church-goid
elderly lady. You know the one I'm talking
about? You see them on TV sometimes. And they're dressed nice. They
would not dare wear a dress up to here. You know what I'm saying,
up to here. Wouldn't dare, uh-uh. Wouldn't dare do it. Wear sleeves
down to here. have on that nice hat, and they're
sitting in the pew, and they got their white gloves on, they
got their Bible open in their lap, and they're praying, and
they're reading God's word. That woman has the same dilemma
as the street prostitute. The same dilemma. People think
if you believe in God, you get to go to heaven. That's a lie.
Now you wanna hear what Christ said about it? Now, it's his
word, this ain't mine, Matthew 21, if you wanna, I will read
it if I get no further than this. You see, so-called Christian
religion is lying to people today. They think that faith in God
and morality gets you to heaven. Everything else makes you go
to hell. That's not so. Look at what Christ himself said,
Matthew chapter 21, we begin in verse 23 so we can have the
context. And he was coming to the temple.
It's speaking about Christ. You can read a little further
back, you'll see that. And he was coming to the what?
The temple. You ever notice Jesus, remember
that there was a woman. Christ was wherever he was. It
fails me. But he was doing something. They
knew he was around. Well, they knew it was this one
old gal. She liked to sleep around. And
they knew she'd be sleeping around. So they went and caught her in
the very act. Now why didn't Christ go stop
her from doing that? Do you think he had the power
to do that? He could tell the waves were billowing. Peace! Be still. And immediately there
was a great cause. There was a man that was infested
with demons. He was naked, running through
the tombs and they would bind him with fetters and chains.
He'd break them! A wild man! Christ came along and tamed him.
Now did he not? He tamed him and set him free. But Christ didn't go stop that
gal, did he? He knew what was going on. He knew, and he let
things stay right like they were. Did he not? And they called her
like they knew they would. And they brought her to him and
said, Moses Law. They didn't realize they were
speaking to the one that gave it to them. Moses Law said this
woman's supposed to be stoned. One thing, if she's in the act,
where's the man? There are a bunch of male chauvinist hypocrites
is what they were. But they were not after her.
Go back and read it. They were after him. That's the
problem. You know what Christ did? He
forgave that woman. Right there on the spot. She
never cries for mercy. but did not the book sound found
to them that sought me not? As made manifest to them that
asked not after me. Anybody here ever been there?
Look and let's read on. It was come to the temple, the
chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as
he was teaching. They interrupted him. You see
that? As he was teaching and said,
by what authority dost thou these things? And who gave thee this
authority? You ever hear anybody say, well,
all you gotta do, you ask Jesus, you ask Jesus what you want,
he'll give you the answer. Well, let's look at what happens.
And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one
thing, which if you tell me, I and likewise will tell you
by what authority I do these things. I wish I had the prowess
to do this, I can't. He could. Remember, he's the
one that when people came to arrest him, and they said, who
are you? He said, I am. And they fell
down backwards. And yet he stood right there
till they got back up, arrested him, and took him off to be crucified.
Look, I'll tell you what authority I do. He said, the baptism of
John, whence was it? From heaven or from me? And they
reasoned with themselves. Notice they don't go looking
at the book. They don't go to the book, the one they were so
busy reading all the other time. They reasoned among themselves,
saying, if we shall say from heaven, he will say to us, why
do you not believe him? Why do you not then believe him?
But if we shall say of men, we fear the people, for all hold
John as a prophet. And they answered Jesus and said,
we cannot tell. And he said unto them, neither
tell I you by what authority I do these things. Well, wait
a minute, Jesus, just help them understand. Yet the Lord, hath
not given thee a heart to perceive, eyes to see, and ears to hear
unto this day. Now look, but what think ye? Now here he continues on, but
what think ye? He's gonna let him off the hook
that easy. But what think ye, a certain man had two sons, and
he came to the first and said, son, go work today in my vineyard. And he answered and said, I will
not. And ain't that usually what we do when we read something
from God? Well, I will not. I'll do my thing. I don't care
if that hair, lips, God, hell, the devil, and everything else.
I'm gonna have my way in this world. All right, go ahead. Go
ahead, but look. He answered and said, I will
not. But afterward, he repented and went. And he came to the
second and said, likewise. And he answered and said, I go,
sir. Oh, he's ready. You gotta be careful with people
that from the get-go are ready. God, Paul dealt with it. Now
I'm not gonna go back. God Almighty will bring you down before he
ever lifts you up. God will put you in the dust,
spiritually speaking, before he ever lifts you up in Jesus
Christ. If you ain't never been in the dust, you don't know the
Christ of God yet. And I say that not because I'm
mad at you, but because I love you and wanna tell you the truth.
If you've never went through Holy Spirit conviction, And God
showed you how horrible you are. And you fought with it hour after
hour, maybe day after day, maybe week after week, before God ever
gave you relief in Christ. You've never been there. Don't
care how much you profess free grace. And you say, I don't remember
that's ever happened to me. Then you're in trouble. But look
at what he says. They won, the one said, I go
sir, and he went not. Whether of them twain or the
two did the will of his father, they said to him the first. Of
course, right? But look, Jesus saith unto them,
truly I say unto you, that the publicans and the harlots go
into the kingdom of God before you. Now this old harlot likes that. This old publican is glad for
that. Does that make me want to keep being a publican and
a harlot? No, it makes me want to quit. But I know in myself,
in my flesh, still dwells no good thing. And sadly, all too
often, it raises up its ugly head. And it's like you least
expect it, but I know it's there, but it's still like it blindsides
you. Most people that profess to be Christians think they're
moral enough for God himself. That God ought to be glad to
have somebody like them on his side. God said, if I needed something,
I wouldn't ask you. That's in the book. That's what
he said, if I needed something, I wouldn't ask you. We all have the same condition.
There is none righteous. He didn't say there's none that
doeth righteousness, though that's true. He said there's none righteous.
That's a down-and-here problem, not an out-here problem. The
out-here problem comes from a down-and-here problem. Christ said this to a very moral,
religious man. Except ye be born again, ye cannot
see. see the kingdom of God. You gotta
be born of God first. And I know this world doesn't
like that because it leaves it up to God, not up to them. And
this professing Christian world wants it left up to them, and
it ain't up to us. You must be born again. The spiritual
absence of heart, eye, and ear is not just the dilemma of the
immoral. It's the dilemma of the moral,
and the religious, and the wise, and the ignorant as well. None
of us by nature has escaped this one dilemma. No heart to perceive. No eyes to see. No ears to hear. So preacher, how could I change
this condition? Two thoughts first before I try
to answer that. The Lord must give these. Is that not what
our text said? Yet the Lord hath not given.
Isn't that right? Yet the Lord hath not given.
Secondly, it lets me know this. The Lord does not have to give
these. Now, as I said, you could earn
them if you keep God's law. So I tell you today, go out here
today and start keeping God's law. Repent, he even said that. Repent and keep God's law. Let's
see how far you get. Do that, Mason. Go out here and
repent. Go out here and start keeping God's law today. He'll
give you a new heart, new eyes, new ears. He said that. What's
that there for? To prove to those he gives a
new heart, new eyes and ears? I can't do it. I can't do it. And he's gotta give you that
before you realize you can't earn it. He's gotta do it for
you before you realize you can't do it for yourself. I can't teach
you that. He's got to put your face at
the feet of his son, bowed in fear because of Sinai and his
holy law. And say, King Jesus, if you don't
save me, I'm a goner. I deserve to go to hell. How
many people do you really meet that say, oh, we say it, oh yeah,
I ought to go to hell, and then just, huh, nah. Once you realize
you really deserve to go to hell, you won't be able to sleep good
at night. When you do fall asleep, you'll wake up in the morning
because God Almighty's there in the midst of it, and you won't
be able to get away from it. And you'll feed yourself more on
your sin, trying to soothe the conscience. You take more of
this and more of this, whatever it is, Or maybe more of this. Rather than bowing down to God's
Son and saying, God, if you don't save me through Christ, I'll
perish. You see, the blessing is outside of man's ability.
And John is clear with that. John 1, verses 10 through 13. He came into the world, let's
talk about Christ. Came into the world, the world didn't know
him. Came into his own, his own believed or not. or received
him not, but as many as received him. So somebody did, right? Right, somebody did. But as many
as received him, they gave him power, that is the ability, the
right to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on
his name. But how do you get there? Which were born. But you're not born of blood.
That is, if you're, I don't care if both of your parents were
Christians, they can't pass the kingdom of God down to you in
the bloodline. Not of blood, nor the will of
the flesh. You can't will it for yourself.
Nor the will of man. Nobody else can will it for you.
But of God. That's how you're born, and you
have to be so born before you can ever believe. Why? Because
you've got to have a heart to perceive, eyes to see, and ears
to hear. You know, I don't know, I don't
know. There's no way I'm gonna stand
here and tell you, well, I'm gonna do this in the judgment. You're a fool
if you believe that. You know, I wonder, when I stand
there, Joe, will I start bragging on what I've done? You ever wonder
about that? I preached for 36 years at Salva
Grace Chapel. I'm part of the mascot. Huh? You ever think about that? Paul,
I moved all the way from Colorado to come out here to a little
place and be the guy. Lord, look what I did. How about you, Mason? The people that brag on themselves
are the ones that are gonna be on the left hand. The ones on
the right hand, which are called the sheep, for whom the kingdom
was prepared from the foundation of the world. And Christ said,
well, you did this for me, you did that for me. I said, why
did we do that? Now is that what our Lord taught? The other part,
other groups said, you didn't feed me, you didn't clothe me.
They said, well Lord, we did this all the time. What are you
talking about? He said, you depart, you cursed. That lets me know this. I need
to throw it all down and cling on to the feet of Jesus Christ
like that old whore did and bathe his feet with my tears. When God does this work on you,
to you, and in you, you won't be able to get away from it.
You won't. My God saves sinners. When he
sets his mind to save a sinner, in time, those things you're
talking about, Paul, in time. He purposed to do it before the
world was, but Mason, it takes place in time. If my God ever
lays hold of you, you will not escape his hand. But he has the
right to leave you where you are. Moral or immoral? Religious or
not? Scott Richardson wrote this.
So great is the depravity of unregenerate man. That's what
unregenerate means. No heart to perceive. No eyes
to see, no ears to hear. When God regenerates someone,
he gives them a heart to perceive, eyes to see, and ears to hear.
So great is the depravity of unregenerate man that, although
there is nothing that he needs more than the gospel, there is
nothing that he desires less. How do you know if God's ever
done this? Here's the way you know he hasn't. Stephen preached. and they resisted. They resisted,
didn't they? We don't believe that. We will
not believe, and it's more than that. We don't believe that man
Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ. That's the problem. And Peter
said this to him, you stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and
ears, you do always resist the Holy Ghost, just like your daddies
did, so do you. That's a sign of not having a
heart to perceive, eyes to see and ears to hear, but a sign. a manifestation, I don't mean
the sign, it's something out here. That manifestation, that
sign that God's given a heart to perceive, eyes to see, ears
to hear, that old, remember that silver purple named Lydia? Lived
in the city of Thyatira, but she wasn't in Thyatira at that
time, but she went down to the riverbank where prayer was wont
to be made. So she was a religious woman. And it says she worshiped
God. Wait a minute, ain't that enough?
Right? If you met some elderly lady
and she's taking care of her family, she's a seller of purple,
she goes where people praise and she worships God, she got
to be fixed up. She ain't out running around,
she ain't smoking cigarettes or drinking beer. This is a fine,
upstanding Christian woman. But it said the Lord opened her
heart. so that she attended, she listened
to the things that were spoken by Paul. And you will hear God's
man or you'll never hear from God. And she heard because God
opened her heart. And you know what happened then?
She said, y'all come home with me. You're not leaving yet. She constrained them. You are
not leaving yet. I gotta hear more about this
man. I know a little bit about that.
That gives me some hope. David, would you close us in
prayer, please?