One sat alone beside the highway
begging. His eyes were blind, the light
he could not see. He clutched his rags and shivered
in the shadows. Then Jesus came. and made his
darkness flee. When Jesus comes, the tempter's fire is
broken. When Jesus comes, the tears are
wiped away. He takes the gloom and fills
the life with gloom. For all is changed when Jesus
comes to stay. From home and friends, the evil
spirits drove him. Among the tombs, he dwelt in
misery. He cut himself as demon powers
possessed him. Then Jesus came and set the captive
free. When Jesus comes, the tempter's
bar is broken. When Jesus comes, ? The tears are wiped away ? ?
He takes a gloom and fills a life with glory ? ? For all is changed
when Jesus comes to stay ? ? Unclean, unclean ? The leper cried in torment. The deaf, the dumb, in helplessness
stood near. The fever raged. Disease had gripped its victim. Then Jesus came and cast out
every fear. When Jesus comes, the tempter's
power is broken. When Jesus comes, the tears are
wiped away. He takes the gloom and fills
a life with glory. For all is changed when Jesus
comes. you Their hearts were sad as in the
tomb they laid him. For death had come and taken
him away. Their night was dark and bitter
tears were falling. Then Jesus came, and night was
turned to day. When Jesus comes, the tempter's
power is broken. When Jesus comes, the tears are
wiped away. He takes our gloom. and fills our life with glory
for all is changed when Jesus comes to stay. So men today have found the Savior
able They could not conquer passion, lust, and sin. Their broken hearts
had left them sad and lonely. Then Jesus came and dwelt himself
within. When Jesus called, ? The tempter's
power is broken ? ? When Jesus comes, the tears are wiped away
? ? He takes the gloom and fills the life with glory ? ? For all
is changed ? when Jesus comes to stay. Thank you, thank you. I want you to turn back this
morning again to Genesis 24. Genesis 24. The message
doesn't necessarily have to have a title. We usually put one on the CD
label. And the title of my message this
morning is, Will She Come? Will She Come? If you remember from last week, Abraham has sent his servant
Eliezer to get a bride for his son Isaac. And as I told you last week,
this is a picture of God sending his spirit to call his people
to Christ by the gospel. But notice, first of all, the
question that he asks Abraham before he goes as he is receiving
his instructions. Verse 5, and the servant said unto him,
peradventure, the woman will not be willing to follow me unto
this land. What if she is not willing to
come with me? Must I need to bring thy son
again unto the land from whence thou camest? And Abraham said
unto him, beware that thou bring not my son thither again. Christ is not to be once again
brought into this world as He has come and sacrificed once. And the Lord God of heaven, which
took me from my father's house and from the land of my kindred,
which spake unto me and swear unto me, saying unto thy seed
will I give this land, He shall send his angel before thee, and
thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence. And if the woman will not be
willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this
my oath, only bring not my son thither again. What if she's not willing to
come? And that is the question that
many have asked concerning what's pictured here. Will she come? What if those that God has chosen What if those
that Christ has died for, what if they won't come to Christ? What if they want to exercise
their free will and not come to Christ? What if they choose
not to come to Him? You might remember and be reminded
that He is a total stranger to her. Not only is Eliezer a stranger
to Rebecca, but also Isaac particularly at a distance is a stranger to
her. He's from a foreign land. And the only thing that Eleazar
tells her is in verse 34 through 36. And he said, I am Abraham's servant,
and the Lord has blessed my master greatly, and he has become great. and he hath given unto him flocks,
and herds, and silver, and gold, and menservants, and maidservants,
and camels, and asses, And Sarah, my master's wife, bare a son
to my master when she was old, and unto him hath he given all
that he hath." All that God has to give in grace
all of the covenant of grace, all that is good and is a blessing
of salvation God has given to Christ, will they come? Will they go? But look down in
verse 58. And they called Rebecca after
this was all said, after the gifts were given. And they called
Rebecca and said unto her, wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go. I will go. There are no ifs. There are no
buts. There is no hesitation. She will come. She will come. And that is the case with all
God's sheep. That is the case with all that
Christ died for. All of God's elect, every one
of them will come to Him. Every one of them will be saved. Why? because of God's omnipotent
grace and power. You see, the triune God has engaged
himself to save every one of them. In other words, the Father
has done his part in the choosing, in the establishing, in the setting
forth of this salvation, choosing those, loving those that would
be saved. And the Son also has come into
this world and shed his blood for them, died for them, died
a substitute for them, And the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit,
the third person of the Godhead has also engaged himself to work
in them and give them life and faith and bring them effectually
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Look with me in Psalm 110. Psalm 110. The Lord is speaking to the Lord. In other words, God is speaking
to his king. And he is saying to him that
you will have a kingdom. And there is only one way that
you can have a kingdom that will be taken from amongst an unwilling
people. Verse three, he tells him, thy
people shall be willing in the day of thy power. In other words, they are spoken
to as already belonging to Him. Thy people. In other words, a people was
given to Christ before the world began, and they are already His. They are already His as a possession. They are already His bride, pledged
to Him by the Father. They are already, as He says,
My sheep. They are already his as he speaks
of them in John 17 and says, they were given to him by the
father. They are not of this world. He says, I pray not for the world,
but those which you have given me out of the world, they are
all ready. He is. And so when the angel
announced what his name would be called, in Matthew 121, he
says, and she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his
name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. They are already His people,
and He shall save His people from their sins. Turn over and look at Hebrews
chapter 2. Hebrews chapter 2, beginning
with verse 11. For both he that sanctifieth
and they who are sanctified are all of one, for which cause he
is not ashamed to call them brethren." Saying, I will declare thy name
unto my brethren. In the midst of the church will
I sing praise unto thee. And again, I will put my trust
in him. And again, behold, I and the
children which God hath given me. the children that God has given
me. And if you notice what it says
here in Psalm 110, is there is one particular characteristic
that they all will share. Without a doubt, without any
hesitation, God says, thy people shall be willing. Willing. In other words, as a preacher
of the gospel, I'm not trying to get anybody to do anything
they don't want to do. I am not sent on an errand with
a message any different than that which Eleazar was, and every
one that I have opportunity to preach through, I wait until
God makes them willing. Willing. All of them will be
willing. It will not require outward coercion. It will not be that they are
brought under any pressure from the outside. It certainly will
not be as often has been the case that the kingdom of God
will be advanced by force. There will be no begging. There will be no need for other
enticements. There will be no need for things
to lure them in. There especially will be nothing
of methodology that is contrary to a holy God, such as the use
of gimmicks and tricks. Thy people shall be willing. In other words, they're willing,
made willing to believe all the word of God at the expense of
believing nobody else. I don't have to make the Lord's
people believe God. I couldn't if I wanted to, but
they will all be willing to believe all of God's word and they will
be willing to forsake their error and their old religion and the
old experiences and even the closest friend or love that they
have if necessary. They will be willing. Somebody said that faith could
be made to stand for something like this, forsaking all I take
him. And that's just about right.
Thy people shall be willing, just like Rebecca was willing. They'll be willing to be saved
by Christ alone. They'll be willing to be saved
God's way. They'll be willing to acknowledge
God's sovereign grace. They'll be willing for Him to
have all the glory alone. They want Him to have the glory. They will be willing. to cast
off the filthy rags of their self-righteousness for that perfect
righteousness in Christ. They will be willing that that
righteousness is an imputed righteousness charged to their account, though
they themselves are not personally righteous. They will be willing
to be saved by Christ alone. They're willing without any hindrance. Look back in Genesis chapter
24 again. In Genesis 24 and 25, It says, and her brother and
her mother said, let the damsel abide with us a few days, at
the least 10, and after that, she shall go. And he said unto them, hinder me
not, seeing that the Lord send me away. seeing that the Lord
had prospered my way, send me a way that I may go to my master. In other words, you don't hear.
You hear all those around Rebecca, all of her family, all of her
friends and neighbors and such as that. You hear them all say,
let her stay with us a little bit longer. Let her abide with
us just at least 10 days. But there's an urgency here. And the Spirit of God, as urgent
as is represented here, there will be no hindrances, because
they will be willing when? In the day of thy power. in the day of thy power." In
other words, they are not willing when they make their decision. They're not willing when they
exercise their free will. They're not willing when they
make a choice. Absolutely none of these things. They'll be willing in the day
of God's power. And that's what I pray for. That's
what I long for. That's what I wait for as I preach. Because I have no power, and
they have no power, you have no power, we none have any power,
and we are not willing of ourselves at any time to come to Christ,
but in the day of his power. In John 6 and verse 44, he says,
no man can come to me except the father which has sent me
draw him, and I will raise him up at the last day. Now, I don't pretend to know
a lot about words and English grammar, but there's one thing
I think I'm fairly sound and safe on. The word can has to
do not with permission, but with ability. And that's why Christ says, no
man can, has the ability to come to me. Why? Because he's a sinner. Because his mind is naturally
at enmity with God. Because he loves this world and
a host of other reasons that renders him in a state that he
cannot come to Christ. But he says, except, except the Father which hath
sent me draw him. Now that word draw there, It
doesn't mean something like we normally think in terms of influence
or persuade or something like that. It's used two of the times,
at least in Scripture. One, when it says that Peter
drew the sword, cut off the high priest's servant's ear. Well, what do you do with a sword?
Sword doesn't have life in itself. The sword didn't leap out of
the sheath, didn't come into Peter's hand in any other way.
Peter reached in and he drew the sword. And it's used again
with respect to the drawing of the nets. When the nets were
drawn in at Christ's command and the fish were in the nets,
the nets didn't draw the fish in and the fish didn't draw themselves
in. But those who took hands upon
it, they drew the net in. No man can come unto me except
the Father draw him. And then he says, and I will
raise him up at the last day. Evidently, the father is going
to draw some people. Whenever Christ spoke to the
Pharisees, he said of them, he said, and you will not come to
me that you might have life. You might, you will not will
to come to me that you might have life. but it's in the day of thy power. In other words, in a time appointed
by God. That's not to say that a day
is simply a literal day. It may be more than one day,
but it's in a time that has been appointed by God. Turn over to John 6, and look
at John 6, verse 37. Now, the Pharisees were rejecting
Christ's message. They were rejecting Him and His
rule over them, even in that hour. And they would not come
to Him, but look at what He says in verse 37. All that the Father giveth me. In other words, that actually
has a two-fold meaning. All that were given to the Father,
and all to whom the Son was given, all that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. And him that cometh to me, I
will in no wise cast out. Do you see that? And it's important
that we note every word almost of that, and it begins with all. Men and women, they like universalism. They like to say that Christ
died for all. They like to say God loves all.
They like to say that the Holy Spirit is trying to call all.
The Bible doesn't say any of those things. But it does say
this. It says that all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. And when we come to Christ, he
says it just as plain as it can be said, and him that cometh
to me, I will in no wise cast out. And I believe that is in
that negative where it's like an affirmation of negativity
there, and I will never, I will never, never in no wise cast
out. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. I just happen to love God's shalls. Because God's shalls surely will
override all of the so-called free wills of men when he determines
to save a people. He shall. Now you look at God's
shalls in the scripture. Here's one in Isaiah chapter
60. Thy people also shall be all
righteous. They shall inherit the land forever,
the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may
be glorified." That's God. In Jeremiah 24. And I will give
them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord, and they shall
be my people, and I will be their God, for they shall return unto
me with their whole heart. Did you notice in our reading
in Isaiah 35? It says, the ransomed of the
Lord shall come. In other words, those for whom
Christ became a ransom, gave himself a ransom for many, those
all shall come to Zion singing and rejoicing and happy. Jeremiah again. And I will satiate
the soul of the priest with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied
with my goodness, saith the Lord. Hebrews 8. For this is the covenant
that I shall make with the house of Israel after those days, saith
the Lord. I will put my laws into their
mind and write them in their hearts, and I will be to them
a God, and they shall be to me a people. And that is not even
scratching the surface. I'll be to them a God. I'll be to them their God, and
they shall be my people." When? In the day of his power. Whenever David, after he had
risen to the throne, It says that David said, is there not
one of the house of Saul I can show a kindness to for Jonathan's
sake? In other words, the house of
Saul was David's natural enemy. But he loved Jonathan, who is
a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when he came to the throne,
he said, is there not one in Saul's house, in my enemy's household,
that I can show a kindness to for Jonathan's sake? And they said, there's one fellow. His name is Mephibosheth, which
means destroying shame. And he lives down in the land
of Lodabar, which means the land of no pasture. And he's lame
in both of his feet. He's totally depraved. He can't
do anything for you, King. Don't even bother to think about
him. He's worthless. He's helpless.
He's nothing you would want to associate with. But it says in 2 Samuel 9, Then King David sent and fetched
him out of the house of Makar the son of Amiel from Lodabar. He sent and fetched him. Now how do you imagine that took
place? Did he send him a golden invitation? Did he send an ambassador just
to say, the king would love to have your presence? The king
would love to have your company? The king would like for you to
visit him in Jerusalem? It says that David sent and fetched
Mephibosheth. In other words, he sent his soldiers. He sent his servants. You remember,
this was a time when they were in uproar in the kingdom, and
David had come to power, and Saul and his men had been all
put down, and he's fearful of... And I can just see Mephibosheth. Oh, no. the king sending for me, he's
surely gonna take my head off or hang me or it's sure that
I'll be done with just like it's been done to Saul and Jonathan
and every one of his sons. Surely I'll just be treated like
they will. What he didn't know was the affection
that David had for Jonathan. He didn't know what David would
do for Jonathan's sake. Just like men and women in their
natural state do not know what God will do for people that Jesus
loves, that Jesus died for, they do not know and they're blind
to it. so they have to be fetched. And
so Mephibosheth is fetched back to Jerusalem. I don't know how
long a ride it was, but he must have quivered and quimmered and
Bit afraid all the way until he got back. And it says that
Mephibosheth ate bread at the king's table continually as one
of the king's son, even though he was still lame in both his
feet. Why did he go? Why did he enjoy those blessings? Because David fetched him. David knew just exactly how Mephibosheth
would respond. He knew how he would feel. He
knew how there would be a natural resistance to anything he offered
him. So he didn't offer him anything.
He fetched him. When Christ hung on the cross,
there were two thieves, one hanging on each side of him,
both of them railing on him. It says both of the thieves were
railing on him, say, you saved others, save us, come down from
that cross, all these various things. But something happened
to one of them. Finally, he was brought to say,
Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. What happened? Why was he always, and at that
time, just like he was, just like the other thieves, but all
of a sudden now, he's calling him Lord and saying, remember
me when you come into your kingdom. It's the day of God's power. It's his last day. Somebody said
there are two thieves that we have as an example, one with
which we ought not ever do any presuming, and one by which we should never
despair. Remember me. What happened? It's
the day of thy power. Turn over to 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians chapter 6 and look
at verse 14. Here the apostle Paul is admonishing,
is calling for for us to come out from the idolatry of this
world. He says this in verse 14. Be ye not unequally yoked together
with unbelievers? For what fellowship hath righteousness
with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light
with darkness? And what concord hath Christ
with Bediel? Or what part hath he that believeth
with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple
of God with idols? For you are the temple of the
living God. As God hath said, I will dwell
in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they
shall be my people. As God hath said. I will dwell in them, and walk
in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore, come out from among
them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean
thing, and I will receive you." They're not going to be. There's not any doubt about it.
He says, they shall come to me. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. It doesn't say here that they
will come to religion. It doesn't say here that they
will come to the front of the building. It does not say that
they will come down the aisle. It doesn't say that they'll come
to preachers or to man-made organizations or to the baptismal pool or to
another Jesus. They'll come to me. They'll come to Jesus Christ
as he is revealed and declared to be in the scriptures, and
they'll come to be saved by me. They'll come to the truth about
me. Rebecca, when all was said and
done, when all was told to her, She came to Isaac. She came to Isaac. John 1 says, He came unto His
own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received
Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even
to them that believed on His name, which were born, not of
blood, nor of the will of flesh, nor of the will of man, but of
God. When do people come to Christ?
When they're born of God. Jesus said to Nicodemus in the
darkness of the garden, he says, you must be born again. Except
a man be born again, he cannot see, he cannot enter the kingdom
of God. And this is how he's born again. No. Billy Graham might have written
a book on how to be born again, but Jesus Christ never said how
to be born again. As a matter of fact, he said
it's like the wind. You can't see the wind. You can't
control the wind. If there's ever, ever an example
of sovereign power, it is the wind. All those places in Georgia,
when you look at them on a map, where all those tornadoes stopped
and did damage, and here, there, there, there, there, and the
other, where? Just where he willed. And the work of the Spirit is
an unseen work whereby God, the Spirit, gives us life and faith
and enables us to believe the gospel. Believe on Christ. You can't see His work. You can
see the result of it. He said, the wind bloweth where
it listeth. And we see not the coming and
the going thereof, but we see the evidence of it. What is the
evidence of new birth? Well, here's what people say
the evidence of new birth is of. People quit sinning? Pray not. People won't do this, won't do
that, won't do the other. Pray not. But I'll tell you what
the evidence of being born again is. It's believing in Christ. Only Christ. Trusting only Christ. Trusting only His righteousness. Trusting only His blood. Trusting
Him for all and everything in salvation and not one other person. and especially not our own self. Philippians 2 says it is God
who works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. And then there is 2 Peter. Chapter 3. 2 Peter chapter 3. Peter says there's coming a judgment
just like the one that came the first time in the flood, but
it won't be a flood this time. It'll be by fire. But he says in verse eight, but
beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with
the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. Man can chart it all he wants
to, but his chart won't matter because God's timetable is different
from him. But he says, the Lord is not
slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering to us. Who does Peter write this to?
He writes this to the people of God. He says he writes this
to the elect. The Lord is not slack concerning
his promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering
to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should
come to repentance. All the us-worth, all the sheep,
all those given to Christ, all those loved of God, all those
Christ died for, he's long-suffering to us-worth, not willing that
any of them should perish, but that every one of them should
come to repentance. Will she come? Rebecca came to Isaac, whom she
had not seen, on the basis of Eleazar's message concerning
him. She believed the message. And she believed that she would
see and have for her husband and Isaac and all he had. And when she came to him, she
found out it was all true. And that's what all God's people
find out. They'll find out it's all true. It is written in the Prophets,
it says in John 6, and they shall all be taught of God and every
man therefore that hath heard and hath learned of the Father
cometh to me. Every one of them, every one
of the sheep. There'll be one such as Lydia
down by the river whose heart the Lord opened. There'll be one such as that
woman with an issue of blood. You can't stop her from getting
to Christ, though there is a tremendous crowd. There'll be one such as
a short man by the name of Zacchaeus. He'll climb a tree if he has
to to see Christ. Look with me in Genesis 24 again. I love a story with a happy ending. All this drivel that's written
today, all these TV programs, all these stories that they just
have awful endings and leave you in wonder. I like a happy
ending. Genesis 24, verses 62. And Isaac came from the way of
the well, Lahora, for he dwelt in the south country. And Isaac
went out to meditate in the field at even time. And when he lifted
up his eyes and saw, and behold, the camels were coming. And Rebekah lifted up her eyes,
and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off her camel. For she had said unto the servant,
what man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant said, it is my
master. And therefore she took a veil
and covered herself. And the servant told Isaac all
things that he had done. And Isaac brought her into his
mother Sarah's tent and took Rebecca, and she became his wife,
and he loved her. And Isaac was comforted after
his mother's death. That's a happy ending. She loved Isaac. Isaac loved her. And so it is
with all of Christ. They lived happily ever after. Oh, this is the story of all
of God's elect. This is story of his bride. This is a story of all who believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. I couldn't help but think of
some hymns. Look over in the hymn book to
number 300. Oh, Joseph Hart, what a hymn writer. Says, come ye sinners, poor and
needy, weak and wounded, sick and sore. Jesus ready stands
to save you, full of pity, love, and power. He is able. He is able. He is able. He is
willing. Doubt no more. He is willing. Doubt no more. Him that cometh
into me, I will in no wise cast out. Come ye needy, come and
welcome, come, God's free bounty glorify. True belief and true
repentance, every grace that brings you nigh. Without money,
without money, without money, come to Jesus Christ and buy. Let not conscience make you linger,
nor of fitness fondly dream. All the fitness he requires is
to feel your need of him. This he gives you, this he gives
you, this he gives you, tis the spirit's glimmering beam. Come ye weary, heavy laden, come
bruised and broken by the fall. If you tarry till you better,
you will never come at all. Not the righteous, not the righteous,
not the righteous, sinners Jesus came to call. Lo, the incarnate
God ascended. Pleads the merit of his blood.
Venture on him, venture wholly. Let no other trust intrude. None but Jesus, none but Jesus,
none but Jesus can do helpless sinners good. Then look at 344. Out of my bondage, sorrow, and
night, Jesus, I come. Into thy freedom, gladness, and
light, Jesus, I come. Out of my sickness, into thy
health, out of my want, into thy wealth, out of my sin, and
into thyself, Jesus, I come. Out of my shame for failure and
loss, into the glorious gain of thy cross, out of earth's
sorrows, into thy balm, out of life's storm, and into thy calm. Out of distress to jubilant psalm,
Jesus, I come. Out of the fear and dread of
the tomb, into the joy and light of thy home, out of the depths
of ruin untold, into the peace of thy sheltering fold, ever
thy glorious faith to behold. Jesus, I come. That's what Christ said. Come
unto me. all ye that labor and are heavy
laden, and I'll give you rest." Nobody can come, but some do
in the day of His power, in the day. And you know what
is the amazing thing? That thief I mentioned that came
to Christ, he did so nailed to a cross.
He did so without moving a muscle. But when the Spirit of God gave
him faith, he said, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy
kingdom. And you know what Christ said? Today shalt thou be with me in
paradise. There's only one way that that
man could be saved. He had no baptism. He had no
good works. He had no joining the church.
He had no fellowship. He had nothing but Christ. But if you're ever saved, it'll
be the same way. Nothing but Christ. Will she come? Yes, she came. And she'll come. Father, we thank you for such
a beautiful picture. We thank you for such an encouraging picture. We thank you for such a gracious picture for sinners. May this day be the day of thy
power for one of your sheep. We pray and ask it in Christ's
name. Amen.