Good morning. Let's all stand together and sing hymn number 42. Hymn number 42. All hail the power of Jesus' name. Let angels prostrate fall. Bring forth the royal diadem and crown him Lord of all. Bring forth the royal diadem and crown him Lord of all. ♪ Ye chosen seed of Israel's race ♪ ♪ Ye ransomed from the fall ♪ ♪ Hail Him who saves you by His grace ♪ ♪ And crown Him Lord of all ♪ ♪ Hail Him who saves you by His grace ♪ ♪ By His grace and crown Him Lord of all ♪ ♪ Let every kindred, every tribe ♪ ♪ On this terrestrial ball ♪ ♪ To Him all majesties cry ♪ and crown Him Lord of all. To Him all majesty ascribe and crown Him Lord of all. Oh, that with yonder sacred throng we at his feet may fall. We'll join the everlasting song and crown him Lord of all. We'll join the everlasting song Be seated. We'll sing hymn number 112. 112.

♪ Up Calvary's mountain ♪ One dreadful morn ♪ Walked Christ my Savior ♪ Weary and worn ♪ Facing four sinners Death on the cross, that he might save them from endless loss. Blessed Redeemer, precious Redeemer, seems now I see him. On Calvary's tree Wounded and bleeding For sinners pleading Blind and unheeding dying for me. Father, forgive them, thus did He pray, in while His lifeblood flowed fast away. Praying for sinners while in such woe, No one but Jesus ever loved so. Blessed Redeemer, precious Redeemer, seems now I see Him. On Calvary's tree Wounded and bleeding For sinners pleading Blind and unheeding Dying for me Oh, how I love Him Savior and friend How can my praises ever find end?

Through years I numbered on heaven's shore My tongue shall praise Him forevermore Blessed Redeemer Precious Redeemer Seems now I see Him On Calvary's tree Wounded and bleeding For sinners pleading Blind and unheeding Dying for me Luke chapter, let me look, chapter three, Luke chapter three.

A lot of folks out through sickness and Different things wrong with them, but it's a time of year, I suppose. I'm going to read from chapter 3 from verse 1 down to verse 6. Now in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being the tetrarch of Galilee, His brother Philip being Tetrarch of Attua, and of the region of Trachonotus and Lysianus, and the Tetrarch of Abilene. Annas and Caiaphas being the high priest, the Word of God, came unto John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness. And he came into all the country round about Jordan preaching. the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as it is written in the book of the prophet of Isaiah, the prophet saying, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his path straight, every valley shall be filled, every mountain and hill shall be brought low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

Oh, our Lord, our God, whose ways are past finding out, whose wisdom is untold, whose power is without end, whose mercy and grace never, ever fails, never runs dry, always full of mercy, always full of grace. And Lord, as a father pities his children, Lord, I'm grateful that you pity us, knowing that our frame, just dust, just dust, When we think we're strong, oh, how frail, how weak we really truly are. And Lord, you make us know our frailty, make us know the weakness of our strength in this world.

And Lord, we have to utterly and absolutely cast ourselves on you. You've got the strength, you've got the power, you've got the grace, you've got the mercy that we need in this life, that we need every moment not just every day or every moment. Lord, we can't make it without you.

Don't want to try. But we pray for those who don't know you, that come to these services and don't know you. God, cause the gospel to run well, cause it to go forth in some power, some liberty. And so that seed in a heart, take that incorruptible seed, that incorruptible seed, the word of God that lives and abides forever. soar it in that heart, soar it in that soul, and cause it to bring forth fruit to the glory of your blessed son.

And Lord, now we pray for those among us who are not with us through the frailty of their flesh and being sick and not able to come. And we pray for Doc and Janie. God bless them. Lord, you sent them a tough way to go the last few days, few weeks. God bless them, Lord encourage them, hold them up, meet the needs of their bodies, their homes, their hearts.

And our blessed Savior, we still pray for Rick and Helen and others among us that don't know you. And Lord, who are being tried and we don't know what goes on with them. But Lord, you know what goes on with them. And so we leave them in your hands. And oh, God, we don't want to fail to pray for our children. Oh, our children.

God, they live as if you don't exist. They live as if this world's the only world they are. They live as if time has no ending to it. So, oh, God, please, please send the Holy Ghost and convince them of their weak, frail condition. And this world has nothing for them or anybody else. And, oh, the end of it. All the wealth and all the riches and all the power and all the ambition and all the honor will just amount to nothing when it's all said and done. God have mercy on our children and on our grandchildren.

We ask these things in our blessed Savior's name. Amen. Amen. Let's all stand together and sing the hymn of the day in the bulletin. Great father of glory, how rich is thy grace. What wonderful love. is displayed in thy face. In Jesus thy image with brightness we view, and hope to be formed in thy blindness anew.

O wanderer of wonders, astonished I gaze to see in a manger the ancient of days. From sin to release us, let your so long born, by God, my creator, how fair he was born. For unworthy sinners my Lord bowed his head. For unworthy sinners he suffered and bled. My spirit rejoices the word. is all done my soul is redeemed my salvation is born great father of glory how rich is thy grace What wonderful love is displayed in thy face. In Jesus, beloved, we're washed in his blood. And with confidence come. Be seated. I get my subject. out of verse four, the voice, the voice of one crying. Who is he crying at? Out in the wilderness, out in the wilderness, the voice crying.

You know, last week we dealt with our Lord Jesus Christ, they supposing him to have been in their company. It'd be awful to get to the end and just supposed him to be in your company and find out he's not there. And they looked for him and found him not. But our Lord himself said this, he said, when you search for me with all your heart, search for me with all your heart, you'll find me.

It's with the heart God deals. It's with the heart that the issues of life come from. It's with the heart that a man believes. So I tell you, God is from inside this heart, this soul. That's where God deals with. He don't deal with this old sorry flesh. He deals with that. And it'd be awful to get to the end of the way and supposing him to have been in their company.

Well, I thought he was with me. Where's he at? Where's he at? I thought I knew him, but where's he at? I was looking for him, but I can't find him. That Shulamite maid said, my soul found him who my soul loveth. When you find him, your soul loves him, loves him, loves him.

And all this, this, we're going to start with the beginning of the ministry of John, the ministry of John Baptist, John the Baptist. And you know, there's a group, they're called Landmarkers. I don't know if you've ever heard of them or not, Landmark Baptists. They trace their lineage back to John the Baptist. That's where they want to trace their lineage back. And they say, you know, and I've heard several of them talk about it, and I know there's a whole denomination of that. And they're called Landmarkers. And they trace their lineage back to John the Baptist. And I heard a fellow say one time that only the only the landmarkers is going to be in heaven, and the rest of it's just going to be friends visiting. I heard him say that one time.

But I, you know, but listen, salvation's not with John the Baptist. He never gave anybody life. He never saved one soul. He was used mightily of God, the last Old Testament prophet. Salvation comes from Christ. Life comes from Christ. knowing God comes from Christ. And that's what, that's the difference in it. I don't, it'd be awful to trace your lineage back to John and miss Christ. It'd be awful for that to happen. But oh my, life is from Christ, not John.

And John came to forerunner of Christ and point men to Christ. And that's what the whole Old Testament scripture is about, is to point men to Christ. And Christ is coming. Well John the Baptist was the forerunner for the Lord Jesus Christ. He was the forerunner from Christ. And I tell you he was the last prophet of the Old Testament. The last prophet of the Old Testament.

You keep this looking with, and look with me in Luke chapter 16. Look in Luke chapter 16 with me about John. Luke 16, 16. He said, Our Lord said this, said, The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time, the kingdom of God's been preached. law and the prophets, and that means that John was the last Old Testament prophet, and the kingdom of God now is preached. And I tell you, he was the forerunner of our life. Graciously, God graciously sent him to point Christ to, point to the Lord Jesus Christ. And John bore witness of him. I want you to see also in John chapter 5. You know, he was, he come to bear witness of our Lord Jesus Christ. And God graciously, graciously sent him. And you know why he sent him to the Jews?

So the Jews would be without any excuse whatsoever. The Jews would be without any excuse. Bruce and I were talking the other day, and in Romans 9, there's some things that's so hard to be understood about God shall save all of Israel. And there's going to be a time, I guess, when God will turn back and he'll call a bunch of Jews to himself. There'll be a revival among them.

But this is the only way he'll ever save anybody, never ever has saved anybody, is with the gospel. If the Jews, if there's any Jews saved, he's going to be saved by the gospel. The same way you and I are going to be saved, we're going to be saved by the gospel of the grace of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. But look what our Lord said here in John 5,

33. You sin unto John and he bear witness unto the truth. John said, I'm telling you the truth. He bear witness to the truth, which is Christ. There's another that bears witness of me, and the witness that he beareth witness of me is true. You're sent unto John, and he bear witness unto the truth. John bore witness to the truth. And so let's go back over to Luke 3 with me. You know, our Lord Jesus Christ, God sent John so that the Jews would be without excuse.

And he gave us his word so that we would be without excuse. Look at the time of John's coming, of John's preaching. Look in verse 1. Now in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius, Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being Galilee and his brother Philip and the region of and on and on. And then Annas and Caiaphas being the high priest.

You know when the time of John's coming and I mean it was a dark, dark day. John was the first prophet since Malachi. 400 years God never had a prophet. 400 years he never had anybody preaching. He had lots of religion. They had all kinds of religion, but God never split. This is the first time that God spoke through a man. Spoke through a man for over 400 years. And John was the one that he sent to do it. Look at the time it was. Look at the list of these men. Every one of these men are infamous for their wickedness. Every single one of them was awful for their wickedness.

Tiberius, Caesar. That's Nero. That's the one that used Christians to light up and use them for candles. That's the one that burnt down Rome. This Tiberius Scissor. He hated God. He hated Christ. And then there's Pontius Pilate. We all know what Pontius Pilate did. We all know that he listened to the mob and gave up Christ to the howling mob. And when they cried crucify him, he finally gave in and said, okay, I'll do it. I'll do it. And oh my.

And there's Pilate Herod. Herod was the very one that beheaded John the Baptist. This Herod here is the one that beheaded John the Baptist. This is the time that John came. And this very John, Herod is the one that beheaded him and had his head brought back for everybody to look at.

They're having a big party, a big birthday party, and they took his head and driven around in that birthday party. Look, look, look, look what I've done. Hold his head around. You think these, you know, you say, people can't be that wicked. Oh, yes, they can. You ain't seen nothing. Oh, John Whitfield used to say, man's half beast and half devil. And without Christ, I believe that's right.

And then there's Philip. Philip, that's Herod's brother. You know what Philip did? Herod did. He took Herod's wife. He took Herod's wife. Philip did. He took, or Herod took Philip's wife, and that's why Herod the Great, that's why he beheaded John, because, you know, his wife didn't like being called an adulteress. And he didn't like to be called an adulterer. So they killed him. They killed him.

And oh my. And then Rome. Rome was the one that divided this Jews, this Israel up into four little kingdoms. Four little kingdoms. They had little princes over. And they depended upon Rome to have their kingdoms and how things would go on in life. And then look at the high priests there. And that, Annas and Caiaphas. Annas and Caiaphas. Caiaphas was the high priest at this time. And Annas was his father-in-law.

And look what they did to our Lord Jesus Christ. These men hated Christ. They despised Christ. They hated Him without a cause. They found every reason under the sun to mistreat Him, disadvise ways to get their hands on Him. And all my, and all the rulers in this time were very, very, very, very wicked, wicked people.

And if the rulers were like this, imagine what the people are like. If the rulers are this way, what would the average person be like? You know, when that looks Well, we won't get into that, but I'll tell you one thing. You know, it seems that the wicked ruled the earth at this time. And I tell you, the wicked ruled the earth now. Things have not changed one iota. But I tell you what, and this is the darkest time in the history here going on.

And then God came to bear witness with John in this terrible, terrible time. And you know, Elias said one time, Elijah said, there ain't nobody left, Lord, but me. And John's the first prophet that spoke in 400 years. And Elijah said, ain't nobody but me. And John's by himself. Nobody but me. And God said, listen, I've got 7,

000. Ain't even about the need to bail yet. And he always never left himself without a witness. And oh, my. And let me tell you this. If we regard the times around us, the thing that's going on in this world right now, if you regard all the wickedness that's going on in this world, All the rebellion, all the insurrectionists, and all the treason, and all the kings, and princes, and powers, and principalities of this world, if you regard them without regard to God, you know what'll happen to you?

You'll stay so depressed, you'll stay so discouraged, you'll stay so upset. But you cannot boo this world, if you're a believer, without viewing it as regard to God. God raises up kings and he sets down kings. You imagine what this world would be like if God didn't restrain people. If God didn't restrain people. But if you look at this world and this is the difference thing. You know if you look at this world and what's going on just in America.

Without regard to God, you would be so messed up in your mind that you say, how in the world are we going to make it? And that's why our Lord says so many things are going to come upon the earth that men's hearts would fail them for fear. For fear. Oh, my. And that's why He says the Scripture, you won't be a strong witness. That's why the Scripture said, if a man regards the wind, he'll never sow. And if he regards the rain, he'll never reap.

So this is the time that John came. This is the time that John came. The dark times, the wicked Roman Empire, which it was the ruler of the whole world at that time. There was ignorant priest. And they had no idea that the Lord was coming. They was looking for the lamb to come. But now look, that's the time that John came in.

That was the time. And you know, we're living in these times. We're living in these times right now. And I guess every generation said we're living in the worst times ever was. But now it really is bad. But you can't regard it without God. But look what happens now.

Look at John's preaching. John's call. In the last part of verse two, the word of God came unto John. the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. This is how God always calls his people. The word of God came. He didn't send for it. He was out in the wilderness and the word of God came to where he was. The word of God came to him. The word of God came to him and him alone. And that's what has to happen. The word of God has to come. And the Word of God came to him. Where did it come to him at? Out in the wilderness. Out in the wilderness.

And the Word of God came. It's not a vision. There wasn't a vision given here. It wasn't a dream given. It wasn't tongues being spoken. But the Word of God came. And that's what has to happen right now in this wilderness that we live in. The Word of God has to come. You know, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by how? By preaching, by the word of God.

Now, you keep Luke chapter 3, and look over in Jeremiah chapter 1. Look over in Jeremiah chapter 1. You know, Paul says, that which I received, I gave unto you. We handle not the word of God deceitfully. We're not hucksters. And oh, listen to what he said here in verse four. Jeremiah chapter one, verse four. Now listen to what it says here.

Then the word of the Lord, that's what you always gotta be at. Then the word of the Lord came. You know, the word of the Lord came. John's been born already. I mean, Jeremiah had been born, he's already a prophet, but the Word of the Lord came. The Word of the Lord, that's what I want you to understand, the Word of the Lord came unto me.

And it was saying, but before I formed you, Now he's already up preaching, see. Then the word of the Lord came unto me, before I formed thee in the belly, I knew you, and before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified you, set you apart from myself. I ordained you to be a prophet unto the nation.

Look down verse 11. Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me, came unto me. Look in verse chapter 2 and verse 1. Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me, say. And that's what I'm trying to tell you. The word of God came. And the word of God came. And I'm telling you, the word of God's gotta come.

You know what? I've told, I don't know how many people I've told over the years that wants to make professions and things like that when they first come and hear the gospel. Sit and listen. The best thing that anybody can do for their own soul is to come and hear the gospel. Come and hear what God has to say. The Word of the Lord came. And I tell you what, I'm very grateful that the Word of the Lord came to me. Ain't you glad it came to you? Ain't you glad that God in His sovereign mercy sent the Word and He came to you? Oh my.

And it was in the wilderness where He's at. Where you think we live at? This is about as wilderness as you can find. You know, you get out in the world, you sure enough feel like you're in the wilderness. And all of them, listen, in the wilderness. And let me tell you something, he was out there alone. He was out there alone in that wilderness, almost like a hermit living out there alone. And I'll tell you what, he didn't take this ministry upon himself. He said, I don't think, I think I need to go be a prophet. I think I need to go be a preacher.

I think I ought to enter the ministry. I'm going to go join, I'm going to go to this seminary. I'm going to go to that seminary. I'm going to go to this Bible college. I'm going to go to that Bible college. I'm going to learn to speak Greek. I'm going to learn to speak Hebrew. Though there ain't no Greeks or Hebrews among us, but I'm going to learn it anyway. Show them how smart I am. No, no, John come, and he came. God called him. He didn't say, I'm gonna be a prophet, I'm gonna be a preacher.

And oh, I would that God would give us some men like John. Oh, give us some men like John. Oh, we need, there's, God send some preachers. God raise up some preachers. God call some preachers. God calls some men that can stand on their hind feet and tell people the truth without fear, without favor. To honor God more than they interested in winning somebody to Jesus. Somebody that would go out and I mean tell the truth on God. Oh, God raise somebody up. Raise somebody up. There's been some prophets, there's been some men that's gone on. We've lost some wonderful men. Wonderful men over the years. Great old preachers that God used greatly.

And all I tell you, we're down and we're down to where we got all of most all preachers are over 70. Almost all pastors are over 70 or in their 60s. So we need God to pray, pray, pray. God send some laborers into this, into the ministry, send some laborers into this harvest. some men in their 20s, send some men in their 30s. I don't care if they're in their 40s. God, raise up some preachers. Preachers. And oh, my.

And the Scriptures tells us John was filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb. Well, what did he do when God, the Word of God came unto him? And verse 3 says this, And he came into all the country about Jordan. He was around the River Jordan preaching.

That's what he's doing. He's preaching. He's preaching. Well, I want to share some things with you today. That was not what John said. He said he came preaching. I'm going to make, I'm going to suggest to you. No, he came preaching. Listen, Let's share some things today. John came preaching. Well, I would suggest, no, John came preaching. You know, I want to tell you, no, he came preaching.

He didn't come socializing. He didn't come with jokes. He didn't come with entertainment. He come out of the wilderness preaching, preaching. Jeremiah, after a while, he was so mistreated, he said, I'm not even gonna speak God's name anymore. I'm not gonna preach anymore. Then he said, it's like a fire in my bones. It's like a fire in my bones. It had to come out. It had to come out.

And then what did he, what preaching did he do? Look what it says here. He preached the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. Baptism of repentance. You know, The baptism of repentance, and repentance is the outward sign of a repentant heart. Repentance, you know what repentance is? Most preachers think that repentance is turning from your sin and turning to Christ. But if you ever tell anybody that they got to turn from sin before God will ever save them, then you'll never be saved. Repentance is a drastic change of mind.

That's what repentance means. It means that God changes your mind. God does that. And He comes and He changes your mind. And the first thing He changes your mind about is who God is. God's not a pretender. You know, when He changes your mind, He changes your mind about the God that you thought you knew, and, oh, I thought He was like me, but no, no, I see He's not like me at all. And then He changes your mind about who salvation is. Not in your works, not in your righteousness, not in your merit, not in your law keeping.

No, he changes your mind about how God saves a sinner. He changes your mind. You understand that Jesus Christ is the only savior in this world. And then he you know, then when you see that, if you see Christ in all of a sudden, you say, oh, woe is me.

Woe is me, what an awful wretch I am. How could God possibly have anything to do with me? I'm too sinful, I'm too dark hearted, my mind is so corrupt. How could I have ever believed a God like that? How could I have ever trusted my own righteousness? How could I have ever trusted my flesh? How could I have ever been such a legalist? How could I have been so proud? That's what repentance is. It's not you saying, well, I'm going to quit my sin and start doing better. That's not what it is.

And I tell you what, and then he gives you that new heart. And that new heart, bless his name, when God gives you that new heart, makes you that new creature, you're never the same. You're never the same. It changes you drastically and dramatically. Oh, ain't you grateful? You know, you know, Acts 5 says he granted them repentance. If you have, God has given you repentance and changed your mind, that's the most blessed thing God could do for you. Oh my, change you, change you. And oh, what a change it is. And oh my, you know, you have a change of mind. You have a change of emotions.

When you're baptized, this is something that's never, you know, you do that to show that God's changed your heart. Show that God's gave you a new nature. Show you that baptism is not just to get wet. If somebody said, listen, I've repented, God changed my mind, God changed my emotion, God changed, gave me a new heart, and I want to confess my Lord Jesus Christ in water baptism.

That's what that amounts to. And oh my, new life, new heart. And then he says it's for the remission of sins. When God does this for you, you know what he does? He wipes the slate clean. Nothing left. Well, what about my sins? Gone. Where'd they go? Christ put them away. Oh my.

And then look what it says in verse 4. This is the fulfillment of prophecy. As it is written. Oh, whenever you see that word, it is written. That means it come from some Bibles, come from the Old Testament, come from some scripture. And as it is written in the book of the word of Isaiah, which is Isaiah, the prophet, and this is out of Isaiah 40, and look what he says.

The voice, just the voice, just the voice. And oh, but what a voice it was. The voice. The voice of one crying in the wilderness. Oh, what a voice. But what a voice it was. What a voice it was. God's voice. God was in that voice. The word of God was in that voice. Power was in that voice. Oh, my. And I tell you, he was in that voice.

Look what I, look what, keep Luke 3 and look over John, first, John chapter 1. Look in John chapter 1 with me. Talking about John Baptist. John chapter 1. Look what he says. First start in verse 19. And this is the record of John. And he's talking about John the Baptist now, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, who are you? Who are you? You're preaching. You're baptizing people. People are having dramatically changed lives.

And he confessed and denied not saying, but confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him then, who are you? Are you Elijah? He saith, I am not. Art thou not that prophet, talking about Christ that should come? And the answer says, no, I'm not that prophet. Then they said unto him, who art thou, that we may give an answer to them that sin us? They want to know who you are and what you're doing preaching. Who are you? What do you say about yourself?

The answer said, I'm a voice, just a voice. I'm crying out. Why are you crying, John? Crying out all flesh is grass. Flesh thinks it's something, thinks it's really something, like a beautiful flower in bloom. But God says, no. You look at yourself, grass. That's so sorry, grass. All flesh is that. And oh, my.

And he said, I'm the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. And oh my, you know, it was a fulfillment of prophecy. And oh, look what it says back over in our text now. Prepare, prepare you, verse 4, prepare you the way of the Lord. How in the world is he going to prepare the way of the Lord?

And what he's going to say is there's coming by somebody right after me. There's somebody coming. There's somebody coming. And he's going to have all the power. He's going to have all the salvation. He's going to be the Son of God. He's going to come. He's going to be the Lamb of God. And I'm not fit to get down and tie the shoelaces off of his feet. Oh my.

Prepare you the way of the Lord. His message was to glorify Christ and to make people understand that Christ was coming. It wasn't his way. He said the way of the Lord. The Lord's coming. The Messiah is coming. The Christ is coming. Oh look what he says now.

You know, make his path straight. Now what does that mean? Make Christ's path where he knows where to go? Is that what you think is what he says? Well, listen, he's going to show Christ the path he's got to get. No, that's not what he's saying is. He said, you make it plain that when he comes, people will know who he is.

You make the way so plain that men cannot miss him when he comes. They know the Messiah was coming, that's why they went to John. And oh my, make the way of Christ plain. You know, Christ is the imminent one. And look what he says here now. And oh, thank God that he gives us these words right here.

Every valley shall be filled. You get down in these valleys, you know, we talk, going down, we know, going, well, I'm in a valley. Oh, I'm in such a, people used to talk all the time, them old valleys, you know. But you know, and we're going through the valley of the shadow of death. That's all it is, is a shadow. Cause he makes that, he makes that valley and brings it up. Oh my.

And then all these mountains that we think's great mountains, things that we can't climb, things that we can't deal with, things that's too big for us to handle and everything. He said, I'll make that mountain come way down here. I'll make that mountain come down where you can just walk right across, no problem. And this is for his people now. And oh, look what he said. And every hill shall be brought low.

He said, you know, when you start up that hill and you think you ain't gonna make it, he said, I'm gonna bring that thing down. I'm gonna bring that mountain down to where it's just a little old mole hill. I'm gonna bring it down where you don't even see it. You don't even see it. That's what he does for his people. And look what else he says. And I love this. Oh, bless his name. and the crooked shall be made straight.

How crooked were we? That word crooked means the same as perverse. How crooked were we? Crooked in our thinking, crooked in our views, crooked in our lives. And Erno, that's one thing we'll say about people, said he's a crook. He's such a crook. That means he's just twisted and all. Can't trust him. But oh, you keep this. And look with me, look with me over in Philippians chapter two. Philippians chapter two.

Talking about crooked. Our nation is crooked. It's hard to find somebody that's not crooked. It's hard to find somebody that's not crooked now. Oh boy, and I tell you what, I was crooked. I was all twisted up and bent over and couldn't straighten myself up, couldn't do anything. My life was crooked, my mind, my thinking was crooked, my heart was crooked, everything about me was crooked. But oh, look what our Lord said here about crooked.

You know, he says in verse 15, that you may be blameless and harmless. The sons of God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation. Peter says, save yourself from this untoward or this crooked generation, this crooked and perverse nation among whom you shine as light in this world.

Anybody here don't believe this world's crooked and perverse? Oh, how crooked and perverse it is. You know, Kyle's a deputy sheriff. He sees some of the awfulest stuff probably to have to deal with. You think crooked people, perverse people, has no regard for their self or anybody else.

But oh, my. And then look what else he said. I love this. I thought of this this morning. Brought tears to my eyes. And then the last thing in verse five. And the rough ways shall be made smooth. Back over in Luke chapter three. And the rough ways shall be made smooth. Everybody in this building has went through some rough ways. Rough, rough ways. The disciples were caught on rough seas. And we all go through rough, rough ways.

I was at a home yesterday with a woman sitting there. All of her hair was gone. She's going to have breast removed real soon. She's took chemo and chemo and chemo. And I get around somebody like that, and it just makes my heart weep. It makes my soul weep. It hurts me rough ways. And everybody here goes through rough ways. You lose children, lose husbands, sick children, sick grandchildren, all rough ways.

But our Lord says, you know, I don't care how rough it is. I'm going to smooth it out. I'm going to smooth it out. I'm going to smooth it out for you. And he does. That rave gets so rough sometimes. It gets so rough sometimes. The roughest thing you deal with is with my own self, my own heart. But God said, I'm gonna smooth it out for you. I'm gonna smooth that out for you. Ain't you grateful that that's there? I'm gonna smooth that out for you. I don't know how I'm gonna get through this. I'll smooth it out for you. Be still. Oh, boy.

But in His time, He'll smooth it. He'll remove the obstacles out of the way. And look what it says here, last of all. Oh, all these things are so wonderful that He made these promises to us. The valleys are going to be filled. Mountains and hills are going to be brought low. Crooked, oh, he's going to make all this crooked stuff straight. He's going to make our rough way smooth. Oh, my. Going to make them smooth for us. And then look what he says.

All flesh shall see the salvation of God. Now when he says all flesh here shall see the salvation of God, he's not talking about everybody in this world. He's talking about his elect. When we get on down through here, you'll see that. He's talking about all of his elect shall hear and see God's salvation. Our flesh, this whole body that we live in, God said they're gonna see salvation.

You know, we just dealt with Simeon a little while ago, and he is an old, old man. He picked up a 40-day-old baby, and he looked at him and said, Mine eyes have seen thy salvation. He saw it in his flesh. He saw it in his body. Then he was able to go depart with the Lord. All of his elect have and will see it. Oh, we see the salvation of God. That's what I thought John the Baptist came preaching. So there's C, the salvation of God.

Who are you, John? The voice of one crying in the wilderness. One day, walking by Jordan, and our Lord Jesus come, said, John, I need you to baptize me. He said, why come to me? Why come to me? I have need to be baptized of you. And then when he saw him, he said, there he is. There he is. I've been telling you he's coming. See that salvation right there. See that man right there.

That's God's lamb. That's God's sacrifice. That's God's substitute. That's God's one that'll hang on a cross. That's the lamb of God. That's the lamb that was led to the slaughter. That's the lamb was hung on a cross. That's the lamb that bore our sins in his own body. That's the lamb that God says, when I see the blood, I'll pass over you. There's God's lamb. God's lamb. Oh, bless his name.

If he hadn't have said we'd see it, we wouldn't see it. You know why we see it? Because he said we would. He said we would. If what he says is so, it's going to happen. But the hour is coming. One of these days, it's going to happen. Every eye shall see. Every tongue shall confess, and every knee shall bow, and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God. I see it now, but one of these days, everybody's gonna see it. Everybody's gonna see it. Oh, my.

And when you see this, you'll see, you know, he says, You shall see, listen to this, I love this right here, the salvation of God. Not the salvation of the Baptist, not the salvation of free will, not the salvation do the best you can, not the salvation of I'm good. You know, people say all the time, said I'm as good as anybody else. Well, that absolutely don't mean nothing when you say that because ain't nobody good anyway.

Oh my, shall see, The salvation of God. What does that mean? Salvations of the Lord. This is God's salvation. This is what God does. This is God's work. Huh? Oh, they'll see that there's only one way of salvation, and God provided it. Oh, God send us some people with a voice. In this old wilderness we live in, send some people with a voice. Send somebody with a voice. I want to be one of them voices. I want to be one of them voices in this old wilderness.

Our Father, our blessed, blessed Savior, thank you for your great, great mercy. Thank you that you caused our eyes, our eyes, to see your salvation. Thank you, Lord, for all the blessed promises you gave us about the hills being brought low, the valleys being brought up, the crooked being made straight, and the rough ways being made smooth. And when all these things happen, and they happen in our hearts and happen in our lives, Lord, we see then that the salvation of our heart and our souls is of you.

You did it. You did it, Lord. You did it all. All to you we owe. Lord, bless these dear saints. Cause the gospel to have some power and liberty to it. Save people. Save sinners. Save the hopeless. Save the helpless. Save the weak. Save the foolish. Save the crooked. Save the perverse. Save those, oh Lord Jesus, who need saving. We ask in his holy name. Amen. Turn to 126. We'll say this and you'll get liberty to go.

126. Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe. Nope, nope, that's not, 125. 125. 125. I hear the Savior say, Thy strength indeed is small, Child of weakness, watch and pray, finding me thine all in all. Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stone, he washed it white as snow. Lord, now indeed I find Thy power and Thine alone Can change the leper's spot And melt the heart of stone Jesus made it all All to Him I owe Sin had left a crimson stain, he washed it white as snow.

Oh, this is hard to come. Think good, have I. where by thy grace to claim I'll wash my garments white in the blood of Calvary's Lamb. Jesus, thank you Lord. Hey, all of it. All to thee am I owed. Sin, sin, sin. Sin, sin, sin. He washed it white as snow.

This is where we'll end up, ain't you grateful? And when before the throne, I stand and pay him complete. Jesus died my soul to save, my lip shall still redeem. Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow. Well, I'll see you Wednesday, God willing. Lord bless you.