Greetings, friends, and welcome
to another broadcast of the Old School Primitive Baptist with
Elder Don Martin, Sr. Stay tuned for another Gospel
message of God's free and sovereign grace. I have been blessed this
week, weekend, to travel up here to be with Brother Michael and
travel to Georgia to be at Pilgrim's Rest annual meeting yesterday.
and to be asked to stand in their pulpit as Brother Michael and
I both were blessed to have that privilege. And we pray that what
was shared there would be profitable to those who were there present,
which was a good number among those folks in that rural church
up there. And we were blessed to have had
the mercies of God given to us in our travels to and fro, with
which I praise God's wonderful name. And I beseech and covet
your prayers that I might share something here in the next moments
that might be profitable as well. In my attempts to stand before
the assembly yesterday, I was making reference to some scriptures
found in the 20th chapter of Acts. And in regarding Paul being
in the city of Miletus, and that he was requesting that the elders
from Ephesus be summoned, and he's spoken to them, and regarding
his farewell message as he was leaving the region. And he says,
of all the things that I've been through in the 20th chapter of
Acts, and he says, of all the things that I've encountered,
he says, neither count I my life dear to myself, so that I might
finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have received
of the Lord Jesus, and to testify the gospel of the grace of God. That was his main emphasis and
that was his primary thoughts to convey to the brethren there,
which he was addressing was that that he was confident and that
he was content in everything that he was confronted with as
far as being persecuted for the propagation of the gospel of
Christ in various aspects, being rejected, being of course turned away by the
Jews of which he was representative of in times past, as one born
out of the tribe of Benjamin, a Jew and a Pharisee. that was
converted on the road to Damascus and made a new creature in Christ
Jesus, and now he was preaching another gospel that was the true
and the only gospel that can bring any hope to needy and poor
sinners, and that's the gospel of grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.
They said, but none of these things that I've been through
have moved me or altered me from the position by which I have
been put in by Christ. that I have been faithful to
minister to that which God has given me and which I have received
of the Lord, and that was to testify of the gospel of the
grace of God. Now, the gospel of the grace
of God is the only gospel that will have any sweet sound in
the ears and the mind and the heart of a child of God. A gospel that is not of grace,
but has duties, obligations, and works attached to it, does
not bring a joyful sound. It brings a labor of sound, of
ball and chains tied to one's feet as we drag around in this
low ground of sin and sorrow, brother Michael. That the gospel
of grace sets us free from these balls of chains of the law and
the commandments and the duties and the obligations that set
forth in the old covenant under the Old Testament. And yes, the
gospel of the grace of God. For the Bible says in Genesis
6 verse 8, for even Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. He found the unmerited favor
of God. before Him chosen. Yes, does
God show favor? Yes, He does, and I'm glad He
does, because if He didn't, none of us would be saved, brother,
or have a hope in Jesus Christ. But He has shown favor upon those
of His elected family, those of the heirs of grace chosen
in Christ before the foundation of the world. And the Bible says
that, Paul says that, I have been given this ministry, I've
received it of God, and I've went forth. And he goes on to
say, he says, take you and bring to record
this day, he says, that I am pure from the blood of all men."
Now what he was saying was, in simplicity, that I am free from
the blood of all men because I have come and preached the
gospel of grace, which I have received of the Lord, and I have
not failed to do that, for that is the only gospel. The sinner
has any hope of being rescued from sin's degradation, is the
gospel of grace. And Paul says, I have the blood
of no man on my hands because I've come to preach the truth
as it has been shown and revealed unto me. And I leave this place
and go on. in his ministry with clean hands. And so shall it be to we that
have been called of God even in this day that preach this
gospel of grace, that we might preach it as to have our hands
clean from the blood of men, that we would set forth Fourth,
this beautiful gospel of grace, the emergent favor of God towards
undeserving sinners, that God in His infinite mercy has chosen
to save some, as called the elect church, the bride of Jesus Christ,
the ordained and appointed heirs of grace, that God has chosen
to redeem out of all of the tongue-tendered nations upon the earth. And I
have made it clear also in my efforts yesterday that God did
not come and give his lifeblood on Calvary's cross for the sins
of the entire world of mankind, but it was particular And that
is to the elect church of Jesus Christ. That's who Christ came
in to give his lifeblood for. And not another single person
outside there. And only those that have been
called of God to be redeemed by that blood shall experience
that gracious redemption through his precious blood. It's been brought to mind in
the Scripture. Brother Michael had mentioned yesterday in his
discourse, and it is found in the 33rd chapter of Exodus, and
it's about when Moses went upon the mount. He went upon the mount,
and he went up there to visit and to see God, and desired to
see Him and talk with Him face to face. and to find what God
wanted him to do, and to give the actual command and direction
from God Almighty personally and privately on the Mount Sinai. He goes up into the Mount, and
I'm reading from, I'll start at Let's see here. Let me start
at verse 17 of chapter 33 of Exodus. It says this, And the
Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou
hast spoken. For thou hast found grace in
my sight, and I know thee by name. Now God said to Moses that
what you've come up here and requested, to talk to me and
to get the directions from me in a divine, personal, intimate
manner. God says, I'm going to do this
for you and to you because you have found grace in mine eyes.
Oh, the gospel of grace, I keep repeating to you. The unmerited
favor of God is the key to the truth of the gospel. And Moses
had found the favor of God, because it says that he found grace in
the sight of God, and I know thee by name. And in verse 18,
and he said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. And he said,
I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim
the name of the Lord before thee, and I will be gracious to whom
I will be gracious and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy
just as he said in the book of Romans regarding Pharaoh. He
said that I'll have mercy on whom I'll have mercy and whom
I'll harden if I will harden them. It's by the mercy of God.
that has been given to those elect heirs of grace that are
chosen in Christ by this wonderful good news gospel of grace and
grace alone. He goes on to say in verse 20,
and he said, For thou canst not see my face. God said to Moses,
Thou canst not see my face. He says, And there shall be no
man see me and live. And the Lord said, Behold, there
is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock, and it shall
come to pass that while my glory passes by, that I will put thee
in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while
I pass by, and I will take away my hand, and thou shalt see my
back parts, but my face thou shalt not see. God said, I'm
going to put you in a place, on a rock, in a rock, a perfect
rock, and I'm going to put my hand over your face and you can't
see me until I pass by. And after I pass by, I'll remove
my hand and you shall see my back parts, he said, because
you cannot see my face. Moses could not see the face
of God. The brilliance of his ultimate
almighty glory. But let me tell you something,
I've got good news to bring for you today. Oh, I've got good
news to bring here to Grace Chapel this morning. That in this gospel
of grace that Paul talked about, and in this grace that Noah found
in the eyes of the Almighty, and in this grace that Moses
found in the eyes of the Almighty, is also found by the electors
of God in this time realm in this New Testament dispensation,
in this New Covenant era, and we can now see the face of God,
and let me show it to you, in the 17th chapter of Matthew.
17th chapter of Matthew, look at it with me. Jesus had taken
after 6 days, verse 1, He had taken Peter, James, and John,
and he had taken them and he'd bring them up into a high mountain.
And this mountain was apart from the city. and it was separated
from the masses around about him, and was transfigured before
them. And now listen, and his face
did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. They saw the glory of God Almighty
in the face of Jesus Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration
that Moses was not allowed to see. But in this new covenant,
by a new and living way, they build upon better promises, upon
a new covenant. Jesus Christ is now revealed
to us, as it says over in the book of Colossians, that now
Jesus the fullness of the Godhead bodily, the very image of the
invisible God is revealed to us, Brother Timothy, and we can
see Him with face-eye and see His glory and His face as it
shines in the brilliance as it does the sun. And we see with
face-eye the glory of Christ and all of His majesty. And yet
we shall see Him in all fullness. When we have an immortal body,
an incorruptible resurrected from the graves and brought up
in that grand resurrection day and see him as he is, we shall
be like him as well, brother, brand new. We're new creatures
in Christ now through the work of regeneration and the new birth,
but we're going to be newer creatures in Christ then, brother. We're
going to be immortal and incorruptible then. Oh, it's going to be a
glorious thing, brother Al. I'm telling you that the gospel
of grace, there's no end to it. It's inexhaustible. This is the
gospel that Paul preached about. The gospel of God's unmerited
favor is now revealed to us in the totality, in the person,
in the sufficiency of Jesus Christ. He is God manifested in the flesh. He is deity. He is God clothed
in mortality. He is God. It took God himself
in the flesh of man to come among the human race and to heal the
sick, raise the dead. make the lame walk and do the
mighty miracles that He did and go on to the cross of Calvary. He gave that power to man. Listen, God gave the power to
men by the determined counsel and by the determined purpose
of God. God caused His Son to be taken
by the wicked and cruel hands of men and put upon the cross
of Calvary for our sake. The Father caused the Son to
be taken and nailed to that cross for our sake, and His blood that
flowed from His veins was particular in its application to those to
whom the gospel of grace is a sweet-sounding savor of hope and love and joy
and peace. And that is the truth of the
matter. That is the only gospel I know how to preach about, is
the gospel of grace through the person of Jesus Christ. That's
the new covenant gospel. And I ain't bringing no law to
you today. The law is wrapped up in Christ. You said it today. He came to
fulfill it. He came to take and set us free
from it, and though it's written on our hearts and our minds,
and the Holy Ghost works in us, causing us to see ourselves as
we really are. And in conclusion, let me say
this, that there's a couple of aspects of the operation of the
Holy Spirit of God in the believer. Not getting into the vastness
of it, because that's another inexhaustible work that man cannot
ever complete, because all things are of God and by God. One of
the key things, the Holy Spirit of God that indwells the believer
in Christ upon a born-again experience is that it begins to teach one
as they bathe in Christ and as they mature in the things of
the Lord, as they grow in the grace and the admonition of Christ
Jesus, they learn more about themselves. And they learn more
about how they are weak in their own strength, how they are inadequate
to ever have any works of righteousness that would appease the Father.
They are taught all the more how they fail daily, and how
Christ is all sufficient to satisfy all of God's desires on behalf
of His bride church. That's the Holy Ghost teaches
us as we grow and grace the knowledge of Christ about how wicked we
really are. I'll tell you, in my own experience,
and I think you can identify with me, that when I was first
brought to the understanding of Christ who died for me, I rejoiced in that sweet gospel
message. And I was broken over my sinful
condition. But yet I was not really revealed
how sinful I really am. But here I am 41 years later. Beloved sisters and brothers
in Christ Jesus, I stand before you as a poor, needy sinner. that continually needs an intercessor,
a mediator, and a propitiation in my behalf, who is seated at
the right hand of God the Father right now making intercession
for me as my great high priest. I need him all the more this
day than I did the first day I believed, brother, because
I see myself more needy of a Savior than I did the first day I believed. You say, how could that be? It's
a miracle of the work of grace and regeneration and the new
birth, but it is also an ongoing miracle of the work of God's
grace in revealing this, our sinfulness, as we go along the
Pilgrim Way, isn't it, Brother Tim? Oh, it is, I'm telling you. And all I can say to you, as
the Apostle Paul said, oh that I might go away with my hands
clean from the blood of men, as I have preached the gospel
of grace. It's God's favor that he's chosen
to save some out of the ruin of mankind. Why he has desired
to pass over us others, I have no idea why, other than that
it's his almighty divine choice, because God is in the heaven
and does whatsoever he pleases. He will continue to, to the end
of time and on into eternity. He shall rule and reign over
all things, for He alone is almighty, and to Him be the glory, praise,
and honor forever and ever. Amen. God bless you. Thank you for your kind attention.
And may God bless the partaking of the elements as we view In
mind and heart, through these elements, the body and the blood
of our Lord Jesus Christ this very morning, that he be glorified,
exalted, and praised, is my humble and my earnest prayer.