Open your Bibles, if you would,
to Psalm 27. Psalm 27. Psalm 27. The Scriptures declare the Psalm
of David The Lord is my light in my salvation. Whom shall I
fear? The Lord is the strength of my
life. Whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked even mine enemies
and my foes come upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and
fell. Though an host should encamp
against me, my heart shall not fear. the war should rise against
me, in this will I be confident. One thing have I desired of the
Lord, that I will seek after, that I may dwell in the house
of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of
the Lord, and to inquire in his temple. For in the time of trouble
he shall hide me in his pavilion, in the secret of his tabernacle
shall he hide me, he shall set me up upon a rock. And now shall
mine head be lifted up above mine enemies, round about me.
Therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy.
I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord. Hear,
O Lord, when I cry with my voice. Have mercy upon me and answer
me. When thou saidest, seek ye my
face, my heart said unto thee, thy face, Lord, will I seek?
Hide not thy face. far from me. Put not thy servant
away in anger. Thou hast been my help. Leave
me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. When my father
and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up. Teach
me thy way, O Lord. and lead me in a plain path because
of mine enemies. Deliver me not over unto the
will of mine enemies, for false witnesses are rising up against
me, and such as breathe out cruelty. I had fainted, unless I had believed
to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait
on the Lord. Be of good courage, and he shall
strengthen thine heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord. Today our message will be found
in verses 4 and 8, where it says, One thing have I desired of the
Lord, that will I seek after that I may dwell in the house
of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of
the Lord and to inquire in His temple. And in verse 8, When
thou sayest, Seek my face, my heart said unto thee, Thy face,
Lord, will I seek. Now the preaching of the last
hundred years has given generations a false hope. A false hope. A false foundation. Religion
cries, peace, peace, when there is no peace. But yet the gospel
of God's grace is still preached and proclaimed amidst all that. There's lies and traditions of
man and misconceptions of ourselves. And more so, misconceptions of
who God is. of who God is. Misconceptions of the truth of
salvation in Christ alone and through His atoning death on
Calvary's cross must be preached in the midst of these things
that are going on. And God's preachers, we get up
and we preach and we proclaim that salvation is only in and
through Christ alone. The character of God is not preached
nowadays in most pulpits. The holiness of God is not preached. And oh, how holy is our God.
Contemplate the holiness of God. Contemplate the fact that angels
who are holy have to cover themselves in his presence. And they cry,
holy, holy, holy. Lord God Almighty. That's the
God of the Bible. That's the God who saved we who
are his people. One who has all power and might. And as a result of the true character
of God and the glory of God not being preached, there's no fear
of God. In the eyes of most people, no
reverence for who God is. But God's people, We are in absolute
awe of who our God is, aren't we? We are in absolute awe of
His majesty. We are in absolute awe of His
holiness. And we are in absolute awe that
He allows us in His presence. And we know that's only by being
clothed in the perfect righteousness of Christ. And it leaves us in
awe that He saved us. That He did not leave us where
we were, And it leaves us in awe that
we have a reverence for who He is, an interest in the gospel. Our Lord said of the Pharisees,
He said, you know me, you neither know me nor my father. Now the
Pharisees read the scriptures and studied the scriptures, didn't
they? And the Lord said to them, you neither know me nor my father.
If you had known me, you should have known my father also. So
we know that fellowship with the Father only comes through
Christ, who is God. Again, the holiness of God is
not preachable. Turn, if you would, to Isaiah
6. We'll just look at these little few verses here, but this'll
give us a glimpse. This'll give us a glimpse, and
I mentioned these just earlier. These'll give us a glimpse of
the holiness of God. Just a glimpse. Isaiah chapter
six. The holiness of God is not preached
in most pulpits nowadays. But we trumpet the holiness of
God, don't we? It's incredible. God is holy. See, God is holy, he's righteous. He's a God of love, but he's
also a God of wrath, isn't he? He's a God of judgment, he's
a God of forgiveness. You gotta preach all of who he
is. We don't cherry-pick certain attributes of God and bring them
forth. No, we preach of who He is. He's absolutely sovereign
in all majesty and power. That's the God of the Bible.
Look at this though in Isaiah chapter 6, verses 1 to 3. 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. However long a train
is of a king, it usually talks about his dominion. So if they
have a real long train, they have a large dominion. Well,
our Lord's train fills the temple. Because he rules over all and
over everything. Above it stood the seraphims.
Each had six wings and with twain he covered his face. Note that.
Now these are holy angels. They're sinless, right? And look
what they do in the presence of the Lord. 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. They covered themselves in the
holy presence of the Lord. And one cried unto another and
said, Holy, holy, holy, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Holy,
holy, holy. is the Lord of hosts. The whole
earth is full of His glory. But even these sinless angels
cover themselves in the presence of the Lord. Now think of this
for you and I, who are sinners while we're here on this earth.
We can boldly approach the throne of grace, can't we? While we're
here. We can approach the throne of
grace and petition our Father But the only reason we can do
that is because of Christ. Because of the righteousness
that we are covered in, beloved. That allows us to come into the
presence of God. And then one day we will be in
his presence. And all the saints are dressed
in the same, aren't we? the righteousness of Christ.
The pure spotless white robe which pictures the righteousness
of Christ. Oh my. You know what else is not preached
in modern pulpits is the sovereignty of God. The sovereignty of God. And I'm not just talking about
the sovereignty of God in creation, I'm talking about the sovereignty
of God in salvation as well. In salvation as well. The scripture
says, The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into
his hands. All things. That means the Son has all power.
That means the Lord Jesus Christ has all power. All power. And in the truth about sins not
preached in most pulpits. Sin is a nature. A principle
of the heart. We're all born sinners. Whether
people believe it or not, we're all born sinners. We fell in
Adam. When Adam fell, every one of
us fell. He's our federal head. We all fell in him. Turn, if
you would, to Mark 7. Mark 7. The scriptures declare
we know that we are conceived in sin. And what we do outwardly,
sin, we do because of what we are inwardly. What we do outwardly, sin, is
because of what we do inwardly. We're sinners. It's in our nature. It's in our nature. Mark chapter
seven, verses 14 to 23. And when he had called all the
people unto him, he said unto them, hearken unto me, every
one of you, and understand. There is nothing from without
a man that entering into him can defile him. But the things
which come out of him, these are they that defile the man. If any man have ears to hear,
let him hear. And when he was entered into
the house from the people, his disciples asked him concerning
the parable. And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding
also? Do ye not perceive that whatsoever
thing from without entereth into a man, it cannot defile him?
Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly,
and goeth out into the drought, purging all meats. And he said,
that which cometh out of the man, that defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart,
now he's getting to the matter, isn't he? He's getting to the
matter right here. Out of the heart proceedeth evil
thoughts, adulteries, fornication, murders, theft, covetousness,
wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride,
foolishness. All these evil things come from
within and defile the man. Oh my. He went right to the heart
of the matter, didn't he? He bought forth that we're all
sinners. We're all sinners. So a man or a woman who says
they are not a sinner, they're deceiving themselves. They're
deceiving themselves. And the truth is not in them.
James says this, and you got some folks out there that think,
well, I'm gonna keep the law. Well, good luck with that. Right? Good luck with that. Because
James wrote this. He writes this. For whosoever
shall keep the law and yet offend in one point, he's guilty of
all. We're all in trouble there. But praise be to God for God's
people. The Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled God's law in our place.
That's wonderful. That's good news, that's good
news. But if anyone says they're gonna
live by the law or they're gonna try to fulfill the law, just
take them to James 2, verse 10. For whosoever shall keep the
whole law and yet offend in one point. You ever have a bad thought? You ever use the Lord's name
in vain in your head, even if you did it in your mouth? See, when the Lord spiritualized
the law, we're all done. We're all done. Everyone is. Every person is topside of God's
earth. So we're all sinners. But it's
not preached in most pulpits. Now think of this too, the Lord
Jesus Christ didn't die as a reformer, did he? He didn't die as an example. No. He didn't die to make man
savable and now the rest is up to you. No, beloved. He died to save His people from
their sins. And praise God, He did it. He did it. He saved His people
from their sins. So all men and all women are
sinners. And Christ Jesus our Lord came to save His people
from their sins. And God's people are those who
have been saved from their sins by Christ alone. And we'll be
quick to tell Anyone who will listen and when the Lord opens
the door I always like to say when the Lord when someone asked
me a question. That's an open door That's an open door to tell
people the great things that the Lord had done for me, and
that's what we do don't we? We boast in him We boast in Christ
And we're quick to tell we're quick to tell people to that.
We're still sinners aren't we? And we tell people that, sometimes
they look at us strange, because some religious people don't think
they sin anymore, but they're still sinners. But we're quick
to tell people we're sinners. I was talking to someone this
week, and they said, oh, you sound like you're holier than
thou. I said, you know me better than that. Oh, you know what
I think of myself. I'm just a sinner saved by grace,
and I give God all the glory. I give God all the glory. They're
taking my words the wrong way. Thinking I was being haughty
about something. I said, hey, haughty. Now we can all struggle with
pride, can't we? If we're honest with each other, we can. But
in this case, I was, no. No, I know what I am. I know
what I am. I know that I'm saved by grace.
And God's grace is sufficient, isn't it? And it's abundant mercy,
beloved. Covers all our sins. All our
sins. And we worship he who is the
God man. We tell about the great things that the Lord has done
to us. We tell people about who God is, who Christ is, that He's
God. Fully God and yet fully man.
The Word of God, the second person of the Trinity, incarnate in
the flesh. And why did he come here? Well,
Matthew 1.21 says this, And she shall bring forth a son, and
thou shalt call his name Jesus. For he shall. That's the key
word. He shall. It's not he died as
an example or as a reformer. No, he shall save his people
from their sins. He shall. And he did it, didn't
he? He did it, beloved. Oh, he did it. Praise his name.
He left the glories and the splendors of heaven. He came to the sin-cursed
world. He came to the sin-cursed world
to save His people from their sins. And He perfectly, He perfectly
obeyed the Father in all things. He obeyed the Father perfectly,
the law for us. He's sinless. He's doing it for
us as our substitute. And He did this all willingly.
He willingly did this. He perfectly obeyed the Father
as our substitute through his life. And then he died in our
place. That which was deserving us,
that wrath and justice of God that was deserving us, fell upon
Christ. And he bore it all, beloved.
He bore it all. He paid everything that God demanded. He redeemed His people with the
shedding of His own precious blood to declare, I say at this
time, His righteousness. That He might be just in the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. That's why He did it,
beloved. That He might be just in the justifier of him which
believeth in Jesus. Then He's raised for our justification.
He's raised for our justification. He's raised to show that God
is totally satisfied with the work that He's done. And let
this just sink in your heart, beloved. He has fully accomplished
our salvation. Fully. And God raised Him from
the dead to show that He was satisfied with the sacrifice
of Christ. It is finished. And beloved,
finished means finished. Hallelujah. Oh, when I was in
religion, there was no peace. Always had to do something. Always
had to do something. And it was never enough, wasn't
you thinking, when's it enough? When have I done enough? I read
my Bible all the time, I go pray, and I even tell people, I'm gonna
go pray now. You know, and off I go, right?
You know, just so full of self-righteousness. But now I have peace. Do you,
beloved? We can rest in Christ. We can
rest in what he's done for us. And this is the good news of
the gospel. That salvation's in and through Christ alone.
That He paid it all. Oh, praise God. All I have to
do is look to Him? Look and live. Look and live. He's able to save to the uttermost
all who come to Him. I don't care you say, oh, I'm
too much of a sinner. No, you're not. No. Christ saves all who come to
Him. All who come to Him. All. And the person who comes
to them has the forgiveness of all their sins. Past, present,
and praise God, future. What a Savior. What a Savior. Who was delivered for our offenses.
Christ was delivered for our offenses, our sins. And Scripture
goes on to say, and was raised again for our justification,
Romans 4.25. This is good news. The preaching of the gospel is
good news. Good news. Where is he now? Where is he
now? Well, turn, if you would, to
Romans 8, verse 34. Romans 8, verse 34. Look at this. Who is he that condemneth? Oh,
this is wonderful. This is wonderful. Romans 8,
verse 34. Where's our Lord right now? Romans 8, verse 34. Who is he
that condemneth? Well, who condemns the believer?
Well, sometimes we condemn ourselves, but our sins are forgiven, beloved.
There is therefore now no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus. who
walked not after the flesh, but after the spirit. But look at
this. Who is he that condemned? It is Christ that died. He died.
Yay. Rather, there is risen again.
Well, praise God. He's rose. He's rose. Who is even at the
right hand of the Father. That's where he is right now.
He's at the right hand of the Father. He's ruling in majesty.
He's right there right now. He's not waiting to rule. He
rules right now. Look what he did. Who else will
make an intercession for us? Oh, my. interceding for his people. Let me ask you a couple questions
here. Is eternal life a gift or an
offer? Is eternal life a gift or an
offer? Listen to what the scriptures declare. And ye will not come
to me that ye might have life. John 5, 40. So that scripture
declares that none of us We'll come to Christ on our own. And then it says this, though,
for by grace, Ephesians 2, verse eight and nine, for by grace
are ye saved. For by grace are ye saved through
faith. No faith's a gift, too, right?
And that not of yourselves. Remember the question, is salvation
a gift or an offer? For by grace are you saved through
faith, and not not yourselves. It is a gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should
boast. Just let that sink in your heart,
beloved. It's a gift of God. For by grace
are you saved through faith. It's a gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast. Here's another question. Is salvation
by chance or choice? Is salvation by chance or choice?
Turn, if you would, to James chapter 1 and then put your finger
in Ephesians chapter 1. James chapter 1. Is salvation
by chance or choice? Let's see what the scriptures
declare. James chapter 1 and Ephesians chapter 1. Oh, look at this verse, beloved.
Let this warm your heart. James 1, verse 18. And remember
what our natural state is. We looked at it already, right?
Our natural state was we were sinners by birth, nature, and
choice, right? And we saw the Lord said, you'll
not come to me. We know that the scripture says there's none
that seeketh after God, there's none that understand it. Look
what James 1, verse 18 says here. Of his own will begot he us.
Boy, we could just stop right there, couldn't we? Of his own
will, God's will. It's by choice, beloved, God's
choice. Of his own will begot he us with
the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of
his creatures. Now turn, if you would, to Ephesians chapter one.
Salvation's by choice, but it's God's choice. I was mentioning today in Sunday
school and things have been flipped around in religion. They talk
about decisionalism and that's your choice to come to God and
you can do this and you can bow your head and repeat this prayer
and I was mentioning in Sunday school how things have been flipped
around. Religion exalts man and brings
God down here. It says it's man's choice and
God's just waiting for you to decide. Well, the preaching of
the grace of God, the gospel of the grace of God exalts God
and says God has mercy on the sinner. It's his choice. He's
sovereign. It's all up to our great God,
beloved. Look at this though, in Ephesians chapter one. I know
we've read this many times, but I want us to read it again. Look
at this in Ephesians one, verses four to six. According as he has chosen us
in him, that's Christ. God has chosen us in Christ.
When? When? Before the foundation of
the world. before the foundation of the
world. I don't see us having any choice in that. It's God
who's done this. And it's God's mercy and grace
that's done this. Look at this though, that we
should be holy and without blame. That's wonderful. Without blame,
before him in love. Having predestinated us as us
unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, and
look at this, according to the good pleasure of His will. That's
why we give God all the glory, because we know we never would
have come to Christ unless He'd drawn us. It's all Him. Salvation's of
the Lord, beloved. Isn't this the cry of the believer?
To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made
us accepted in the beloved. We're accepted in Christ. And
we give Him praise for it, don't we? We praise His mighty name
for it. Oh, what a great God. Here's
another question. Is salvation by the will of God
or the will of man? Now, we know, and I'm not saying
that man doesn't have a will, because we do have a will. But
the problem with our will, Brother Matt, you read that book, Bondage
of the Will, by Luther. The man's will is bound by his
nature. So if man has a dead nature,
Oh, he's going to choose his sin. But if man has a new nature,
well now there's a battle going on between the flesh and the
spirit. Oh, now there's a war. Now there's
a war. Let's turn though to... Let's
turn to Romans chapter 9. We'll read one verse there, verse
16. And then I'll read John chapter 1, verses 13 and 14. If you want
to go there, I'll just read it. And these are good questions
to ask. These are good questions to ask, because what's it do?
It makes us go to the scriptures, right? And the scriptures are
our final authority. Not what a man says, but what
the scripture says. Romans 9, 16. So then it is not
of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that
showeth mercy. Very clear, eh? It's not of him
that willeth, nor of him that runneth, so it's not by our will
or by our works. But God, that showeth mercy. Now, if you want to turn to 1
John 1, you can. I'm going to read it here. Over
in 1 John 1, verses 13 and 14, it says this, of God's people,
which were born not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor
the will of man, but of God. But of God. And the word was
made flesh, here it comes, and dwelt among us, and we beheld
his glory. The glory is of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. It's all God. Salvation's by the will of God,
to the praise of the glory of his grace, beloved. Now here's
another question. Am I regenerated because I believe? Or do I believe because I'm regenerated? Ah. What do the scriptures proclaim? What does the scriptures? Turn,
if you would, to Acts chapter 13. Now, when I was in religion,
I used to think that because I believed, I was born again.
Well, how can a dead man make himself alive? He can't. You're born again, and then you
believe. Then you believe. Because salvation's
of the Lord. See, if regeneration was based
upon my faith, then it's me. No, salvation's a gift of God. Faith is a gift of God. Repentance
is a gift of God. Remember in Ephesians 2, we've
looked at that many times, you're quickened, that's being regenerated. You're born again by the Holy
Spirit of God. Look at this in Acts 13, verses 46 to 48. Then
Paul and Barnabas wax bold, and said it was necessary that the
word of God should first have been spoken to you, but seeing
you put it from you and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting
life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. For so the Lord hath commanded
us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that
thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. And
when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified
the word of the Lord. And as many as were ordained
to eternal life, believe they're born again, the Holy Spirit of
God. And then they believe beloved. They believed my false teaching and false preaching. bring people under the impression
that God has done all that he can do and now the rest is up
to you. How many times I've heard that? If I had a nickel for every
time I hear that, I'd be a rich man. My. That he's waiting in the wings.
You can't do anything until man lets him. That's not the God of the Bible.
That's not the God of the Bible. They proclaim that he's knocking on the hearts of people's,
the door of people's hearts. And you know what? To my shame,
I used to tell people this. Let me in, please. No. That's not the God of the
Bible. That's a God of error and false
teaching. They again have God waiting on man instead of man
waiting on God. What did the publicans say? God,
be merciful to me, a sinner. Oh my. Remember the Canaanite
woman who came to the Lord? Canaanite woman? Then came she
in worship saying, Lord, help me. Help me, Lord. The leper. The leper in Luke
5.12. Came to the Lord to be healed.
He fell on his face before the Lord. fell on his face before
the Lord, and he besought Him, saying, Lord, if Thou will, Thou
can make me clean. If Thou will. The dying thief, who is regenerated
by the Holy Spirit of God and looked to Christ, he just says,
Lord, just remember me. Just remember me, Lord. And Jesus
said unto him, Verily I say today, thou shalt be with me in paradise.
Oh my. The publican again, he wouldn't
even lift up his eyes, beloved. Remember the Pharisees over there?
And he's like, oh, I'm not like that guy over there. I pray and
I do all this and I do all that. And the publican, he wouldn't
even lift his eyes, beloved. He wouldn't even lift his eyes.
He'd say, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. God had mercy on him. God had
mercy on him. My hope is that you, if you do
not know Christ, oh, that you beg for mercy, that you beg for
mercy, that you flee to Christ. That you cast yourself wholly
upon him, because that's what we've done as believers. Just
cast ourselves upon him for mercy. And he's the one who shows mercy
to sinners. Oh, may God make you willing
to do so, to flee to him if you've not. In the preaching of today, in
some pulpits, in many churches, the very character of God is
being compromised, beloved, being compromised. Most men make a
joke of eternal life, spiritual things, and it's all
a result of erroneous preaching. They think God's weak. He's not
weak. He's awesome. He's awesome. He's all powerful. He's sovereign. He's not weak
at all. We're weak. We're frail. He's majestic. He's absolutely
sovereign. And through the preaching, false
preaching and wrong preaching, Man's told they can save themselves,
but we know the scriptures say man's unable to save themselves. He is able. We're not able. He's able to save them to the
uttermost that come unto Him, that come unto God by Him, seeing
the Ever-Living to make intercession for them. He's able. He's able to save anyone who
comes to Him. Oh, may God make you willing
to flee to Him. Oh, may He make you willing. Now, again, I'm
gonna mention this again. One of the most dangerous things
that have come from false preaching is this decisional regeneration,
this bow your head and repeat this prayer, and then you're
saved. We will never know the damage
that this has done this side of eternity. We'll never know
the damage that this has done. Beloved, whatever happened to
repentance? Whatever happened to conviction?
Whatever happened to conversion? You must be born again. What
happened to having a living union with Christ? What happened to
take up my cross and follow me? What happened to Holy Spirit
regeneration? You must be born again. What
happened to that? Now they say, just repeat this prayer and you're
saved. What happened to being a new
creature in Christ? whatever happened to seeking
the Lord, to seeking the Lord, crying out to Him for mercy, knowing we're sinners. The scriptures are not about
an emotional altar call, and nowhere in this book, nowhere
in this book, beloved, nowhere, Do you see, bow your head and
repeat this prayer. Absolutely nowhere. It's not
in the scriptures. It's not in the scriptures. Turn
to Acts chapter 2. No, you know what you see? And
this is what you see. And I'm just praying, this is
the truth. You know what you see? You see
preachers pointing sinners to Christ. That's what you see. That's what you see. You see
preachers pointing sinners to the only hope for sinners. The Lord Jesus Christ. And that's
what gospel preachers do. We stand up and we're sinners
saved by the grace of God. Or we fumble with our words.
We pray that God will use them and He does. We're amazed that
He uses our words. But we just preach and point
you right to Christ. And we bring to, you know, I
read something by one of the grace preachers this week, or
last week. And he said, I thought this was
marvelous. He says, we don't preach anything
new. We don't have to come up with new things when we preach.
We bring to remembrance the things before God's people that you
know. That's true. We just keep preaching Christ,
Christ, Christ. And God's people rejoice. They
love it. We love it. We love the preaching
of the gospel. Look at this in Acts chapter 2. Listen to this.
Acts chapter 2 verses 36 to 38. Therefore let all the house of
Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus whom
ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. So he's preaching
Christ. He's preaching Christ to them.
Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their hearts,
oh, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, men
and brethren, what shall we do? They were pricked in their hearts,
oh, something going on there, isn't it? So they're born again. Listen, then Peter said unto
them, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name
of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive
the gift of the Holy Ghost. Oh my. So I exhort you. who are listening, to seek the
Lord. Seek Him in heart and purpose.
Those who know their sins, those who know God's holiness and justice,
seek the Lord. Flee to Him. Flee to Him. What did Philip do when he was
talking to the eunuch? Then Philip went down to the
city of Samaria and preached Christ unto them. He didn't say,
bow your head and repeat this prayer. He preached Christ. Preach
Christ. Preach Christ to the eunuch.
Turn a couple chapters over, Acts 8.34. We'll read 34 to 37. Look at
this. Philip preached Christ. He went
there and he proclaimed Christ to that eunuch. Look at Acts 8.5. Then Philip went down to the
city of Samaria and preached Christ unto them. Then look at
verses 34 to 37. And the eunuch answered Philip
and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this, of
himself or of some other men? He's reading the book of Isaiah.
Then Philip opened his mouth and began at the same scripture
and what? And preached unto him Jesus. He preached Christ. He preached Christ, the only
hope of sinners. And as they went on their way,
they came to a certain water, and the eunuch said, see, here
is water. What doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said,
if thou believest in all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered
and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He's
been born again of the Holy Spirit of God, beloved. And he believes. And he went down in that water.
He went down in that water, didn't he? He's already saved. Baptism
is just a an outward confession of an inward conversion. He went
down in that water, beloved. Turn, if you would, to Mark.
Mark, chapter 5. Mark, chapter 5. We see a woman with an issue
of blood. What does she do? She seeks the
Lord. She seeks the Lord. She seeks
Him. This is wonderful. This portion
here is a wonderful portion of Scripture here. I'm going to read those two verses
from Psalm 27 again. There's that one in verse 8. When thou sayest, Seek ye my
face, my heart, send unto thee thy face, Lord, will I seek. And in verse 4, one thing have
I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell
in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold
the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple. Now look,
this is the woman with the issue of blood. She's seeking the Lord.
Mark chapter 5, verses 25 to 34. And a certain woman, which
had an issue of blood, 12 years, and had suffered many things
of many physicians. Oh, she's went to all different
physicians to try to get healed. Now she's coming to the great
physician, beloved. and had spent all that she had, and was nothing
better, but grew worse when she had heard Jesus. When she had
heard of Jesus, came in, the press behind, and touched his
garment. Just touched his garment. Oh my. For she said, if I may
touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And straight away the
fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body
that she was healed of the plague. And Jesus, immediately knowing
that virtue had gone out of him, turned about him in the press
and said, Who touched my clothes? And the disciples said unto him,
Thou seest a multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched
me? Well, he already knew who touched
him. And he looked around about to see her that had done this
thing, but the woman fear and trembling, knowing what was done
in her, came and fell down before him and told him all the truth.
And he said, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole. Go in peace
and be whole of thy plague. She'd been born again of the
Holy Spirit of God. She had faith to reach out and
just touch the hem of the garment of the Lord. And she sought him,
didn't she? She sought him. So God's people
are made willing in the day of his power. We seek him. We seek
him. We're saved by him. And those
who truly seek the Lord, seek Him in truth. They seek Him in
the Word of God, in the Scriptures, which declare who He is. The
truth is the Son of God. The Lord is nigh unto all them
that call upon Him, and all that call upon Him in truth. Seek
the Lord. The unbeliever and the false
religionists do not receive the truth. No. No, they believe a
lie, and they have pleasure in their unrighteousness. Scripture
declares this, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that
perish, because they receive not the love of the truth, that
they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them
strong delusion that they should believe a lie. That they all
might be damned who believe not the truth, but had pleasure in
unrighteousness. But those who truly seek the
Lord, they seek Him sincerely. Sincerely. The scripture says,
and ye shall seek me and find me, and find me. When ye shall search for me with
all your heart, they seek the Lord. God's people seek the Lord. And we declare, we declare that
he's done everything for us. That he is the one who saved
me. He saved my soul. And we cry out, teach me thy
way, O Lord. I will walk in thy truth. And who's the truth? Christ. We walk in Christ, don't we?
We welcome Christ. Unite my heart to fear Thy name.
Psalm 86, 11. And those who seek the Lord,
seek Him continually. Those who have truly been born
again by the Holy Spirit of God, seek Him continually. Scripture
says, Glory ye in His holy name. Let the heart of them rejoice.
Seek the Lord. Seek the Lord in His strength.
Seek His face continually. 1 Chronicles 16, verses 10 and
11. Seek the Lord continually. God's
people are continually coming to Christ, aren't we? It's not
a one-time thing. We keep coming to Him. We keep
coming to Him. And beloved, we'll keep coming
to Him till the day we die. And then we'll see Him face to
face. Oh my. Listen to what the scriptures
say about Caleb over in Numbers 14, 22. It says, but my servant
Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, hath followed
me fully. And I will bring into the land
wherein he went, and his seed shall possess it. He sought the
Lord. He continually followed the Lord.
The scriptures declare this. For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord, shall be saved. Let's turn to Romans chapter
10. Romans chapter 10. Look at this. Romans chapter
10. Look at this. Now we're not afraid
of the word whosoever, are we? No. Not at all. No. Look at this, verse 11. For the
scripture saith, whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
Whosoever believeth on Christ will not be ashamed. For there
is no difference between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord
over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. That's what
the scriptures proclaim. How then shall we call on Him
in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in
Him in whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent? It
is written, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach
the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things.
But we have not all obeyed the gospel, for Isaiah saith, Lord,
who hath believed our reports? And that's what the gospel is,
it's a report. It's a proclamation of who God is, of who Christ
is, and what Christ has done. So then faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God. Look at this, though. This is
what I wanted to get to down here. But I say unto you, have
they not heard? Yes, verily, their sound went
out into all the earth, and the words unto the ends of the world.
But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke
you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by foolish
nation, I will anger you. Look at this, look at this, beloved.
Just let this sink into your soul. Because we know by our
nature and by our birth, we'll never seek God, right? But God's
people are made will in the day of his power. And again, we continually
seek the Lord now, continually. But look at this. These are marvelous
words right here. But Isaiah is very bold and said,
I was found of them, that sought me not. That was us. That was us before the Lord saved
us. Look at that. I was found of
them that sought me not. I was made manifest unto them
that asked not after me. Can you say, I know you can say
the same as I. I did not seek the Lord before
he saved me, and I did not cry out to him. I cried out to God
when I was in trouble, but I didn't know who he was. Look at that,
those are marvelous words, beloved. Marvelous. I was made manifest
unto them that ask not after me. To Israel he saith all the
day long, I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and
gainsane people. Look at that. I was found of
them that sought me not, I was made manifest unto them that
asked not after me. That is mercy. That is boundless
mercy there. And grace right before us in
that verse, beloved. That is boundless mercy distinguishing
grace right there too. Because think of this. I was
found of them that sought me not, and I was made manifest
unto them that asked not after me. Now think of our loved ones.
who are still left in the same state and friends. But God had
mercy on us. Isn't that amazing? Makes your
heart sing. Because we're no more deserving
than any of them. No. No. Turn if you would to Philippians
chapter 2. We're close soon here. Philippians
chapter 2. Let's read verses 6 to 11. The
name of the Lord signifies The Lord Himself, His name reveals
who He is and what He's done and why He did it and where He
is now. And He is the one we seek, beloved. He's the one we
seek. We seek the Lord. We seek the
Lord now. Philippians chapter 2. Listen
to these wonderful words. Who being in the form of God,
thought it not robbery to be equal with God, this is speaking
of Christ, but made himself of no reputation and took upon him
the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of man.
He was fully man and yet fully God. And being found in fashion
as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. He was obedient to God's law
in our place and he died in our place before the law and justice
of God. Wherefore God also hath highly
exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, that
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven
and things in earth and things under the earth, and that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of
God the Father. There is coming a great day when every single
knee will bow, believers and unbelievers, will bow to the
majesty of the Lord Jesus Christ and will confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord. My. Seek the Lord. Seek Him. Again, His name tells
you who He is. Jehovah Jireh. The Lord will
provide and all has He provided for us. What a salvation He's
provided Jehovah Jireh, Jehovah Rapha, Lord that healeth. Jehovah
Nissi, the Lord our banner. Jehovah Shalom, the Lord our
peace. And we have peace, we believers
have peace with God through Christ Jesus our Lord. Jehovah Raha,
the Lord our shepherd. Oh, he's the great shepherd and
we are the sheep of his pasture, beloved. Jehovah Sekindu, The
Lord, our righteousness. He's our righteousness, beloved.
In Jehovah Shammah, the Lord is present, ever with us, promising
to never leave us nor forsake us. Oh, what a name! Our name tells us who He is to
His people, doesn't it? What a great God we have. Oh,
to call upon His name is to humble ourselves before Him, beloved.
to humble ourselves before him, to recognize his majesty, to
believe his promises, to hope in his mercy, to seek him. If you do not know him, may God
give you grace and mercy to seek the Lord. Oh, what a Savior. What a Redeemer is Jesus Christ
our Lord. Heavenly Father, we thank you
again for allowing us to gather together, to worship Thee, to
look in Thy scripture, to see who You are, Lord, God over all,
absolutely sovereign in majesty and power, and yet You have mercy
upon animated dust like us. Oh, Lord, truly, truly, You are
gracious. You are merciful. Lord, we pray
that this message would build up Thy people, help us to look
to Thee and seek Thee. And Lord, we also pray that if
there's one who does not know You, oh, that You grant faith
to believe, that they be born again of Thy Holy Spirit and
You give them faith to believe on Thee, O Lord, and that they
would seek Thee. To You be all the glory and honor
and praise, in Jesus' name, amen.