I'll welcome everyone back on
the live streaming. If you would turn to Deuteronomy
32. My subject will be mainly from
Deuteronomy chapters one through four, as most are probably well
aware, but I will begin reading from Deuteronomy chapter 32. No matter when we gather together
here to attempt to worship God in spirit and truth, if we miss
a Sunday because we had to call off because of weather or maybe
a few have been sick and couldn't make it, all of this is ordained
of God in his wise, sovereign purpose. And as I sent out my title to
those of you who got the text, my title which I have from Deuteronomy
chapters one through four, I have to say that a part of
me wondered if I should draw back from that title, especially
in light of recent events and circumstances when the Capitol
building of the US government was assaulted and rioters stormed
the Capitol. But then I knew, I knew deep
down in here, my God is who he is. And he remains who he is. And he is immutable in who he
is. And I dare not soften the blunt
of his truth. for fear of someone misunderstanding
what I have to say. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, and I state that because I want this to be clear. God
is the God of Ishmael, and God greatly blessed Ishmael and his
descendants, and they are still amongst us today. But the scripture
does not call him the God of Ishmael. It calls him the God
of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Not because Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob were better or more righteous than Ishmael, for they were not,
but that God Almighty in His sovereign purpose had established
His covenant amidst these men at His own sovereign prerogative.
The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob He is full perfection. I did not say he's full of perfection,
though I think that certainly would be a true statement, but
it's more profound than that. He is full perfection, Deuteronomy
32. Give ear, oh ye heavens, that's
everything that has an ear. Whether it's an angel with a
spiritual ear, if I can say it that way, Mason. I don't know
what, they got some kind of ears. Whether it's an angel or whatever
creatures there be in heaven, people who are redeemed and are
in glory with Christ, wherever they are. Give ear, O ye heavens,
and I will speak. And hear, O earth, that's everything
down here. Everything down here. And remember,
even animals have ears to hear. and they hear when their God
speaks because they do what he tells them to do. And I can't
explain that. And I can't go to an animal and
ask him or he or she that and they'll tell me back the positive
answer. But I know it's true nonetheless. Oh earth, the words
of my, hear the words of my mouth. My doctrine shall drop as rain
and my speech shall distill as the dew. And as the small rain
upon the tender herb and as the showers upon the grass. In other
words, it's not just a big deluge. But God Almighty brings his word
where it's needed, when it's needed, as it's needed. Now if
you need a deluge, if I need a deluge, bless God he'll give
us a deluge. But that's not what he's talking
about here. But he goes on. Because I will publish the name
of the Lord That's more than just pronouncing his name. There's
a group of people, a denomination, you might say, that pride themselves
in having the right name of God in the Old Testament, Yahweh.
And that's not all they ever talk about. If you ever listen
to them preach, and I would not suggest you do that much, but
if you do, it's always Yahweh this, Yahweh that, and they don't
know who Yahweh is. Because I listened to a few of
them to see if they knew who Yahweh was, and they said they
didn't. They know the name. but they don't know, they don't
know. To publish the name of the Lord is to describe who he
is. Describe who he is. Publish,
because I will publish the name of the Lord, ascribe ye greatness. You see it? 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. Notice, His work, and it's singular
there, because God's not just doing many works. God is doing
a work upon this earth. And all of the various things
that happen is still His one singular work, and that work
is what? Perfect. Perfect. Now, I mentioned
what I did, because this is the first Sunday morning after the
circumstances happened this past week at the capital of the U.S. I'm not even going to preach
about that, but I will say this. I guarantee you in many so-called
churches, from many podiums, many pulpits in America, there
will be a bunch of accusing and excusing preached on this day. But they will not be ascribing
greatness to our God. They will not be talking about
His work is perfect. You see, God The God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob is not the imagined God that is perpetrated upon
men and women today. Most people will leave their
places of worship probably more scared than they were a week
ago. And others will be more confused than they were a week
ago. I hope none of us leave this
place in either of those conditions this morning. But the God of
Abraham and Isaac and Jacob is not the imagined God that is
being perpetrated upon the men and women of our society today.
Perfection is not one among many of God's qualities. No, it's
not so. All of God's attributes, all
of God's characteristics, all of God's qualities are perfect. So again, perfection is not one
of his qualities. It's not one of his attributes.
It's not one of his qualities, characteristics, or attributes.
All of who he is is perfect. Let's consider a few of these
from our chapter text. And we'll do it in light of my
title. Most of you, as I said, should have that title, should
know that title. And it's not just a title. what I want to
try to speak about, God's dictatorial perfections. I will not be able
to cover them all. There was a few that once I had
my scribble notes, Mason and I read through these four chapters,
I had all kinds of things. And I thought, well, I can't
deal with all that. I don't have time to. Probably
don't have the ability to. God's dictatorial perfections,
and immediately I knew. My wife and I sat down and talked
about it. Not that I was seeking her advice
as whether I should or not, but I said, get on the internet and
let's see what dictatorial means. The word popped into my head,
and I thought, well, watch out. Think about what's just happened.
Is God a dictator? Yes. Yes. God is a dictator. Now he is not a tyrant. He is
not a tyrant. He is not unjust. But he is a
dictator. And God has dictatorial perfections. Some balk at this, I understand
that. But think about this, just a
couple phrases. Has God, God never suggests anything. Never, you read this whole Bible.
And I'll put it this way, Old Testament God or New Testament
God, now they are the same. Never does God ever suggest anything,
does he? He never suggests anything. God
never asks advice from anyone. But yet he barks out orders. He thunders them forth from a
mount called Sinai. and doesn't ask our advice or
our consideration on the matter. That's a dictator. That's a dictator. So, you say, I don't like this
message. Well, turn the TV off then. Shut down the internet, because
if you continue to listen, you're gonna hear me try to proclaim,
by God's spirit's help, God's dictatorial perfections. Here they are, just five of them
for this morning. God dictates human obedience.
God dictates the message. God dictates divine revelation. God dictates mercy and God dictates
humility. Number one, God dictates human
obedience, chapter four. Now we're gonna deal with our
chapters at hand. God dictates human obedience,
chapter four and verse five. Behold, you see it? Behold, I
have taught you statutes and judgments. This is Moses speaking. Even as the Lord my God commanded
me, not that he asked me. God didn't ask Moses to do this.
God told him, you do this. that ye should do so in the land
whither ye go to possess it. Keep therefore and do them, for
this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of
the nations, which shall hear all these statutes and say, surely
this great nation is a wise and understanding people. For what
nation is there so great who hath God so nigh unto them as
the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for? And
what nation is there so great that has statutes and judgments
so righteous as all this law which I have set before you this
day, only? He didn't tell you, don't worry
about the heathen though. You better straighten the heathen
out, is that what he told them? No, this ain't about the heathen.
Now they gonna hear. They gonna hear what? When you
do what you're supposed to. That's what he's saying. Now
somebody says, really preacher, you're preaching that? I'm preaching
what this says, right? Look, only take heed to thyself,
and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which
thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all
the days of thy life. And it ain't just for you, but
it's for your babies too. It's for your little ones, right?
Teach them thy sons and thy sons' sons, especially the day that
thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb. You know what
that is, don't you? When the Lord said unto me, gather
me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that
they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live
upon the earth, and that they may teach their children. And
ye came near and stood under the mountain, and the mountain
burned with fire in the midst of the heaven with darkness and
clouds and thick darkness. So there was no doubt we're talking
about what? Sinai here. Mason, we're talking
about the Ten Commandments here. That's what he says. And the
Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire. Ye heard the
voice of the words, but saw no similitude, only ye heard the
voice. Remember, we looked at it briefly
weeks, months ago. God spoke the Ten Commandments
out of Sinai first. Then Moses went up and God wrote
him down on tables of stone with his finger. Moses comes back,
the children of Azor are engaged in idolatry. Moses crushes the
tablets and then they are rewritten by God again at another time.
So you heard the voice but you didn't see his similitude, you
didn't see what he looked like. And he declared unto you his
covenant, which he commanded you to perform even 10 commandments,
and he wrote them upon two tables of stone. You all probably remember this.
You remember, it's been a while back, he's mentioned it before,
but Joe correctly expressed this, that the 10 commandments are
the 10 commandments, they are not the 10 suggestions. God never asked this, is this
too hard for you? Did he? But you know what the
truth is? This is too hard for us. Jesus
said to some people, and they were the best among people of
his day, none of you keeps the law. Now folks, that's dictatorial. And that's a perfection. That's
a perfection. Hebrews chapter 7, though, verse
19, states these words. Hebrews 7, verse 19. For the
law, and it's all of it, not just moral law. Now, it's okay
to break those things down if you're trying to study various
aspects of the law, but God's law is one law. And all of it's
moral. There is not a moral law as opposed
to a ceremonial law. The ceremonies have their morality
about them. It's all God's law, but look,
for the law, it doesn't say the law was imperfect. God's law
is as perfect as God is. For the law made nothing perfect. Do you see that word? That one
little word, Mason, changes the whole thing. The law made nothing
perfect, but, oh, what a glory, but the bringing in of a better
hope did. By the witch that is this better.
Hope this better. Hope it makes something somebody
some people perfect and Perfect where it really matters before
God You and I can put on a show with one another some of us are
better at it than others I understand that and we can make ourselves
to appear really Loving and kind and compassionate and we can
hide all of the hatred Vitriol is down in here, and some of
us it just comes out on us. We can't help it Mm-hmm can't
help it, but the bringing in of a better hope did by the which
we draw nigh unto God God Almighty dictates human obedience. He
says you will live this way Or you're under the curse Is that
not what this whole book from Genesis to Revelation teaches
I? That's what it teaches. That's
what it teaches. Number two, number two. What
I've just said begs number two. It's one of the reasons why when
I started going through this list, Jack, I thought, okay,
some of these other things. God dictates time. God dictates time, but I thought,
well, I don't have time to deal with that. What was it, seven
days journey? from what was the Red Sea, or
maybe it's Horeb, to Kadesh Barnea. In the Kadesh Barnea, they were
poised to enter the land, right? Sit in spies, but the people
rebelled against God. Seven days journey. Mack, they
could have been in there, seven days! But they rebelled against
God, and God put them in that wilderness for 40 years. Do you
know that Shihon and Og probably wished to God they'd have made
it in the first seven days? Huh, you remember what happened to
Shihon and Og when you read these four chapters? Huh? But that's number one begs number
two. God dictates the message. Look
at chapter two, verse 26. Chapter two, verse 26. Now look
at this now. And I sent messengers out of
the wilderness. of Ki to both. Unto Shihon, King of Heshbon,
with words of peace. Right? Peace. I don't know, I
may have felt this way on my inside ear, but I don't know
that I've ever went up to somebody and said, you know, I don't like
you, I hope you just go to hell. Hmm? You ever tried to preach
the gospel to somebody and start off that way? Wouldn't go very
far, would it? Now would it? Well, let me tell
you, I got good news, but I hope you go to hell no matter what.
That'd go over like finding a hair in your soup. I sent messengers
out of the wilderness. I sent them to Shahan, king of
Eshbon, with words of peace, saying, let me pass through thy
land. I will go along the highway.
I will neither turn left or right. I'm not going to go out and mess
with your property. You know what they're saying? Thou shalt
sell me meat for money that I may eat, and give me water for money
that I may drink, and only I will pass through on my feet. We won't
even stop and stay, we'll just keep a-rollin'. We'll give you
fair money for food and drink. Isn't that what the message was?
As the children of Esau, which dwelt in Seir, and the Moabites,
which dwelt in Ar, did unto me, until I shall pass over Jordan
into the land which the Lord our God giveth us. But Shahan,
king of Heshbon, would not let us pass by him. Right? Right? You remember what happened
to Shahan. They destroyed everything. What goes on to say that? Even
their little ones. What? Even their little ones. But look,
the next phrase, for the Lord thy God hardened his spirit and
made his heart obstinate. It wasn't that he was a good
guy. and God made a good guy bad. There's none good, no not
one. But nevertheless, what does it
say? For the Lord thy God hardened
his spirit and made his heart obstinate that he might deliver
him into thy hand, as is clear this day. You see that? Didn't
he dictate the message? He sent him in there with peace.
And if he'd have been peaceful, All things would have been well,
wouldn't they? All things would have been well,
but rebels can't bow to God no matter what. God's got a right
to even make it worse for them because he sent messengers of
peace to them and they rejected it. Yes or no? Now let me give
you a New Testament correlation to that. I'm gonna ask you to
turn to it. You'll know it as soon as I start reading it. This is Christ speaking. The
writer of the New Testament records it. And he said unto them, go
ye into all the world. Not just to the elect. We don't
know who they are, do we? We don't know who they are. Go
into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature,
right? Ain't that what he said? Yeah,
preach peace to them. Tell them there's peace. Salvation's
accomplished. The Lord Jesus Christ has accomplished
forgiveness of sins. And he that believeth and is
baptized shall be saved. And don't take either one of
them away. You don't have to become a Campbellite,
but let me tell you something, you really believe God, one of
the first outward manifestations of true faith is you're gonna
obey Christ's command, you're gonna go into the water and be
baptized. That's just the way it is. You refuse baptism, it's
cause you're a rebel against God. I said that one time, the man
told me I was a Calvinistic Campbellite. I was like, wow. Yeah. He that believeth and is
baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be
damned. But no buts. They went in, sent
messengers that said peace, peace, peace. And the rebels against
God said there will be no peace no matter what. Mother was when
their carcasses was laying on the ground. You tell me God don't
dictate the message? God dictates the message. Does this not cry out for my
number three? I gave it to you. God dictates
divine revelation. Chapter four, verse one. God
dictates divine revelation. Now, therefore, hearken, O Israel,
unto the statutes and to the judgments which I teach you,
for to do them, and yes, he's talking about the law, we've
already read from this chapter a few verses down, excuse me,
that you may live, and go in and possess the land which the
Lord God of your fathers giveth you. Now, but here it is, here
it is. Ye shall not add unto the word
which I command you, neither shall ye diminish aught from
it. that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God, which I
command you. Do you see that? God dictated
this to them. Didn't ask them their opinion
about it. Didn't ask them how it suited them. Didn't ask them
if they thought it might cause troubles on down the road. God
says this is the way it is. Now listen to me. This is true
of two things specifically. It's true of God's law. and is
true of God's gospel. Both. Both. Romans 7, you know
the passage, Romans 7. Let me read just a few verses
what Paul said in Romans chapter 7, verse 7. What shall we say
then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but
by the law. The law defines to us what sin
is. It calls it for what it is. I
had not known sin, but by the law, for I had not known lust,
except the law had said, thou shalt not covet. Now, the law,
none of the Ten Commandments says, thou shalt not lust, does
it? It doesn't. But Paul says, when you really
get the command, thou shalt not covet, it teaches you this about
yourself. You're a lustful person. But that's if you see what it
really says. Look what, but seeing? taking
occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all matter of concupiscence. For without the law, sin was
dead. Now wait a minute, the law was
already there when Paul came along. What's he talking about?
He's talking about in his experience. Paul was a keeper of the law
and still didn't even know what the law really was saying. For
I was alive without the law once. But when the commandment came,
oh, sin revived. And I died. Now sin was there
all along. Once he said, I begin to recognize
what sin really is. And it's more than that. It isn't
I begin to recognize. You are. No, he began to recognize
in here. In here. For I was alive without
the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived. And what is
it that happens? I died. It ain't about. Now it's true. We've all sinned
and come short of the glory of God. But when God begins to save
a man or a woman, he will teach them, I have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. And the commandment which was
ordained to life, that is at least from his teaching and training,
that's what he thought the commandment was, I found to be unto death. For sin, taken occasion by the
commandment, deceived me and slew me. Wherefore the law is
holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. We don't
get to pick and choose what parts we want about the law. You got
people, and I'm not picking on just any one group, but this
is a specific point I want to make, just to prove many other
points that I don't even have to mention. You got a specific
group of people that call themselves Seventh-day Adventists, and they
hammer on gathering together on the Sabbath day, not the first
day of the week. They hammer on that. They hammer
on that. And they hammer on that. And
you know what? There's nothing wrong if you want to gather on
the last day of the week. If you don't want to gather on
the first, there's nothing wrong with that. But when you tell
a man that's where his righteousness comes from, then you also better
tell him this, if somebody in your congregation blasphemes
God, what's the law tell you to do? Take up a rock and bash
his head in. And that's the moral law as well
as the Ten Commandments. So you don't take one word, you
don't, we don't, we don't, we, me included, we don't get to
pick and choose what we want about the law. A man that lives
in the law got to live by it all or he's under the curse.
But the same thing is true of the gospel. You can turn to this
one if you will. Galatians chapter two. Bill,
you may have turned to the other one. I told you about it, didn't
I? Galatians chapter two. Then 14 years after, I went up
again to Jerusalem with Barnabas and took Titus with me also.
And I went up by revelation. In other words, what he's saying
is, he didn't have some special dream, but God just said, you
need to get up there. Trouble's going on. Get up there. I went
by revelation and communicated unto them the gospel which I
preach among the Gentiles. Not what we ought to say, but
what I've been preaching. I'm gonna communicate to him
the very good news that I've been preaching among the Gentiles,
but privately to them which are of reputation, lest by any means
I should run or had run in vain. Paul did not try to skirt the
authority that was established there. You understand what I'm
saying? He didn't try to go in and get a couple folks from the
back pew over here, and here's the way it really is, and then
start some insurrection. Because when it comes to the
gospel, it's either the truth or it's a lie. and you might
as well bring it in the front door, it's trying to sneak it
into the back door. That's what he's talking about.
But look, but neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek,
was compelled to be circumcised, and that because of false brethren,
unawares brought in, who came in privately to spite our liberty,
which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into
bondage. To whom, now here it is, to whom we gave place by
subjection, no, not for an hour. You see that? Paul said I won't
tolerate error when it comes to the gospel. Right? Look, why? That the truth of the gospel
might continue with you. Now God's gospel will go on in
this world. But if we try to start sneaking
it in, Mason, hiding it, It'll depart from us. It'll depart
from us. We'll be in a world of hurt.
We'll be in a world of hurt. So again, God dictates human
obedience. God dictates the message. God dictates divine revelation.
But by nature, now listen to me. But by nature, we can no more
believe the gospel than we can keep the law. You see God didn't save people
by the preaching of the gospel and By having them believe it
because that's easier than keeping the law. That's what some people
are teaching That's what the dispensation is for teaching.
So God was really a tyrant back yonder No, God is a dictator God is
a dictator, but he's not a tyrant. But again, by nature, we can
no more believe the gospel than keep the law. And I'm not even
gonna argue for that this morning and give you passages, that's
just so. Here's number four, God dictates
mercy. Deuteronomy chapter two. Deuteronomy
chapter two, we've already read it. Deuteronomy chapter two.
Verse 30, but Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by, and
God disheartened him. Do you see it? Now wait a minute. How many other, I hear a man
called Saul of Tarsus that held some men coats in his hand while
they stoned a saint of God to death for preaching the gospel.
And Mason, God showed him mercy. Now didn't he? God Almighty dictates mercy,
folks. He dictates mercy. Chapter one,
verses 34. The Lord heard the voice of your
words and was wroth and sware saying, surely there shall none
of these men of this evil generation see that good land which I swear
to give unto their fathers. That's when they rebelled at
Kadesh Barnea and wouldn't go in on that seventh or eighth
day, whatever it was. Caleb, the son of Jephthah, he
shall see it, and to him will I give the land that he hath
trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath wholly followed
the Lord, W-H-O-L-L-Y. Also the Lord was angry with
me for your sake, saying thou shalt not go in thither, but
somebody else will lead them in, a man named who? Joshua. He'll enter them, and they will
possess the land by Joshua. And do we not then read the New
Testament equivalent? Romans 9 verse 18, therefore
hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy? And whom he will,
he does what? He hardens. Somebody says, I
don't like that. I understand that, I've been
there. There's still a part of me, Mack Hatfield, that don't
like that either. But it's true nonetheless. That's
number four, God dictates human obedience, God dictates the message,
God dictates divine revelation, God dictates mercy, and God dictates
humility. Chapter one, we've already begun
to read it. Verse 37, this is Moses speaking.
Also the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, saying thou
also shalt not go in thither. Did you see it? You're not going
in. Now that's amazing, it's one thing to hear it, and hear
Moses testify about it. And when you're in numbers, you
don't get all the story, as we say. Now, as the old one guy
used to say, let me, what is it, here's the rest of the story.
That's chapter one, verse 37. Look at chapter three, verse
23. Chapter three, and I besought
the Lord at that time saying, O Lord God, thou hast begun to
show thy servant thy greatness and thy mighty hand for what
God is there in heaven or in earth that can do according to
thy works and according to thy might? And he's giving God honor,
is he not? Is he not? And I believe Moses
meant this. I believe he meant this, but I also know Moses was
doing something else too. He tried to butter God up. Look, I pray thee let me go over. You don't read about that back
here in Numbers, do you? Let me, he begged, he asked God to
go in after he'd done been told no. Look, I pray thee let me
go over and see the good land that is beyond Jordan. He'd been
working at this for years. Mason, this was his ministry.
Wasn't it? This was his ministry. That is
beyond Jordan, the goodly mountain, and Lebanon. But the word, but
the Lord was wroth with me for your sakes, and would not hear
me, and the Lord said unto me, let it suffice thee, speak no
more unto me of this matter. Now is that some dictation or
what? Huh? Now here's a man who's said to
be the meekest man among men in his day. And he put up with
rebels like us for 40 some, 40, a little over 40 years. And God
basically, when he begged him to let him go in, said just shut
up about it. I've dictated how it's gonna be. That's how it's
gonna be. So then we read Moses, say one
more time, chapter four, verse 21. Furthermore, the Lord was angry
with me for your sakes, and swear that I should not go over Jordan,
or that I should not go into the good land which the Lord
thy God giveth thee for inheritance, but I must die in this land.
Look, I must not. Now, I must not go over Jordan,
but ye shall go over and possess the good land, take heed to yourselves,
lest ye forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made
with you, and make you a graven image or a likeness of anything
which the Lord thy God forbid thee, for the Lord thy God, now
he knows our Lord thy God is a consuming fire. Even a what? Jealous God. Now, we talk about
the green-eyed monster jealousy, but you know where that comes
from? Ego and us. Ego, yeah, down in here. God
has the right to be jealous because he's perfect. He is perfect. God dictates humility, and I'm
not gonna say a lot about it. Paul actually mentioned this
part. Ask a man called Nebuchadnezzar. Proud people. Look at my kingdom. And God drove
him into the field for, what was it, was it seven years? Big long fingernails and toenails
and hair growing. Chewing on grass. But then he
says, now I, Nebuchadnezzar, after his mind was restored to
him by God, I praise and extol the God of heaven. And he said,
the man that walks in pride, He knew by experience. This wasn't
some doctrine he was taught, was it? This wasn't one of the
five points he needed to know. This is what he needed to go
through. And the man that walks in pride, he that is God, is
able to abase. Paul puts it this way, 2 Corinthians
10, three through five, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal,
but they are what? They are mighty, but mighty how? Not because Walter's tough, no. Mighty through God. to the door,
pulling down of strongholds. So when we preach the gospel
to someone, when you witness to someone of what God's done
for you and your soul, and their castle wall still stands, it's
only because God's been pleased to leave it there. But if it
falls down, it's because God's been pleased to break it down.
And we will be brought to humility and say, thus so be. Two things in conclusion. All
the glory is God's. Especially in his dictatorial
perfections. Oh, it's easy for us to praise
God for some love that we think that's just, oh, God just loves
me. Like Earl used to say, I mentioned
it on TV this morning, that people love God this day like they love
chocolate ice cream. That ain't it. That ain't it. And that's blasphemous. That's
blasphemous. You see, what men consider to
be, they won't, now there are a few who say, well, I don't
like that God. That's God, but I don't like
him. I don't love that God. No, that's not who God really
is. Now don't they do that? They deny who he really is because
they're trying to appease their conscience, still believe in
a God that'll take them to heaven, but not bow down to who he really
is. Now, here's my second point. And let's let inspired, the inspired
word of God speak this conclusion far better than I ever could.
If you want to follow along, turn to Romans chapter 11. Romans
chapter 11. Let's just begin in verse 25. I know we're kind of coming into
the middle of the context. For I would not, brethren, that
ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise
in your own conceits. In other words, I want to spell
this right out to you because I don't want you to think about
yourself that you're something. That may not be the best way
to state it, but don't you think something great about yourself.
Some folks were broken off. You were grafted in. That's a
context, but don't you brag about yourself. Unbelief was the reason
they were broken off. and you're grafted in, you stand
by faith. Now don't you be high-minded, but you fear God. Look, for I
will not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery,
lest ye should be wise in your own conceits, that blindness
in part is happening to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles
be come in, and so all Israel shall be saved. Note it does
not say, and afterward all Israel shall be saved. It does not say,
and after that, all Israel shall be saved. It does not say, and
following that, all Israel shall be saved. It says, and so, in
that manner, all Israel is going to be saved. By God calling out
the elect Jews, and God calling out the elect Gentiles, and grafted
them into the Jewish blessing. A Jewish blessing. Let's go on. And so, or in that manner, all
Israel shall be saved. As it is written, there shall
come out of Zion the deliverer and shall turn away ungodliness
from Jacob. Jacob. Not Israel. Jacob. Why? Because by nature,
even the elect are what? Jacob's. Yeah, Jacob's. This is my covenant unto them,
when I shall take away their sins. As concerning the gospel,
they are enemies for your sakes, but as touching the election,
they are beloved for the Father's sakes, for the gifts and the
calling of God are without change. Without repentance. Now here
now we're getting to it. For as ye in time past have not
believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief,
even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy
they also may obtain mercy. For God hath concluded them all
in unbelief. That's all the elect. That's
the whole context. Not every Jew, just because he
or she's a Jew. But all the elect, he's concluded
them in unbelief that he might have mercy upon all. And here
is the crescendo. 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. That's why God has
to be a dictator. We don't know nothing about these
matters. We got the wrong ideas. We would bring the wrong things
to the table. We'd bring what to the table?
Me. Me. I might try to sneak a few
of y'all into it if I really liked you, and you don't tick
me off. Oh, the depths, both the riches
of the wisdom, knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments
and his ways past finding out. For who hath known the mind of
the Lord? And there it is. We don't. We don't know the mind of the
Lord. We're given little bitty snapshots
of the mind of the Lord. Did you know that? Just little
bitties. We don't know the mind of the
Lord. Even today, we don't know the mind of the Lord, do we?
We don't even know what to pray for as we ought, do we? We don't
even know what to pray for as we ought. For who hath known
the mind of the Lord, or who hath been his counselor? Now,
some dictators in this world have had counselors, right? But not this dictator. Not this
dictator. For who hath been his counselor,
or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto
him again. You ain't gonna earn God's mercy. For of him, and
through him, and to him are all things. To whom be what I say,
the first point in conclusion, glory forever. And what's he say? Amen. Amen. Mason, would you close
us in prayer, please?