Keep your Bibles open there,
Matthew chapter 20. My text is just one verse this
morning. It's verse 15 of Matthew chapter
20, where the Lord says, is it not lawful for me to do what
I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil because I am
good? I've titled the message this
morning, can God do with you as he will? Now if God is God,
And God is in control of everyone, and he's in control of everything,
then he certainly can do with you and me as he will. Because
we belong to him. We're his creatures, he can do
with us as he will. Now that's God. That's God as
he is declared in the scriptures. The scriptures declare that God
is sovereign over everything. Everything. Now by God's grace,
that's the God that we preach and believe. Sovereign God, we
call ourselves sovereign gracers. Early on in my preaching, a man
told Janet, he sure preaches a strong God. Well, I'm glad
he at least got that. That's my aim. So that we know
who God is. I mean, you cannot say this strongly
enough. God is in control of everything. He's in control of everything.
He does with me as he will. Now that's not just a point of
doctrine that differentiates us from other groups. It's very
important for us to know the God who is sovereign. Because
the only way you and I will ever bow and ever worship God, the
only way we'll ever bow before him and beg him for mercy is
if we find out that God's sovereign and he's gonna do with me whatever
he will. Now when I say that God will do with you and me as
he will, this is what I mean. We're in God's hand, and he's
gonna do with us as he pleases. And whatever he does is right.
If God is pleased to save us, he's gonna make it right to do
it, and he's gonna do it. If he's pleased to save us, that's
what he's gonna do. If he's pleased to damn us, that's what he's
gonna do, and he'll make it right to do it by giving us what our
sin deserves. And there's nothing we can do
to try to manipulate God and get God to change his mind to
do something for us. And if I ever found that out,
that God's going to do what He will. He's going to do with me
what He will. There's one place that leaves
me. To follow at His feet and beg
Him to save me. Beg Him to have mercy on me.
God said, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. Then
I'm going to pray, Lord, would you be merciful to me? I'm not
going to ask God to change His mind. I'm not going to bargain
with God. Say, now God, I'll do this if you do this. Or if
you do this, I'll do that. I'm simply going to beg Him for
mercy. And that also is very important,
that we know to beg God for mercy. If you're here this morning and
you don't trust Christ and you know it, you don't know God and
you know it, you know that you're not saved and you wanna be, I'll
tell you what to do, beg God for mercy. Because nobody's gonna
be saved until they beg for mercy. And the only place a sinner will
ever truly beg for mercy is at the feet of the sovereign, who
always does as he will. If he's not sovereign, then we'll
bargain with him, won't we? If he's sovereign, we'll beg
him for mercy. God will do with me as he pleases. That's what
Rebecca found out, wasn't it? When she's pregnant with those
twin boys. Look over at Romans chapter nine. Rebekah was pregnant with these
twin boys, and even in the womb they were fussing and fighting
with each other. She didn't know what in this world was going
on, but she found out. Romans 9, verse 10. And not only
this, but when Rebekah also had conceived by one, even by our
father Isaac, for the children, being not yet born, neither having
done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to an
election might stand. Not of works, but of him that
calleth, of him that doeth what he will. It was said unto her,
the elder shall serve the younger. As it's written, Jacob have I
loved, but Esau have I hated. Rebecca found out almighty God's
gonna do with her boys what he will. Pharaoh found that out
too. Pharaoh found out God's gonna
do with him as he will. Look down at verse 15. For he
said to Moses, I'll have mercy on whom I will have mercy. And
I'll have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then
it's not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but
of God that showeth mercy. For the scripture saith unto
Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I
might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared
throughout all the earth. God's gonna get glory from Pharaoh
by destroying him. Therefore hath he mercy on whom
he will have mercy, and whom he will, he hardeneth. And Pharaoh
found out what's gonna happen if God hardens ya. He would destroy
the Red Sea, wouldn't he? Eli found that out, and Eli bowed
to it. Remember when the Lord told Samuel
that he was gonna kill Eli's sons, because they were using
the office of the priest so wickedly? And Eli had to force Samuel to
tell him what God said he was gonna do. And Samuel told that
old man, God's gonna kill your sons. Eli said, it's the Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good.
He has the right to do with my children what he will. Oh, King
Nebuchadnezzar found that out, didn't he? Nebuchadnezzar's the
most powerful man in the world. He thought he's something else
until God spoke and made him like an animal. Nebuchadnezzar
found out God's kingdom is from generation to generation. It
doesn't have a beginning and it doesn't have an ending. And
you put all the inhabitants of the world together at once, they're
reputed as nothing to God. He doeth according to his will.
In the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.
And ain't nobody can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest
thou? Nebuchadnezzar found out who's in control, didn't he?
And this morning I want to preach our God in His sovereignty as
powerfully and as clearly as I possibly can. Because the truth
of God's sovereignty is the only thing. The only thing that'll
ever make us bow, beg for mercy, is if we meet the God who's sovereign.
And I want that for you and I want it for me. that we'd be found
at his feet begging him for mercy. But now the truth of God's sovereignty
also comforts the hearts of God's people. Don't think I'm preaching
about God's sovereignty, you're trying to beat somebody up. The
truth of God's sovereignty comforts the hearts of God's people, doesn't
it? To know there's no accidents happening in the world around
us. There's nothing happening in my life that's an accident.
Everything that happens, out there in the world, everything
that happens to me, you know why it happens? Because God ordained
it to happen just exactly that way. So that he could work all
those things together, all those seemingly insignificant things
or all those seemingly unconnected things, God's working them all
together to accomplish his purpose of the redemption of his people
and to bring them to glory with him. That's what God's doing. Even if I don't understand it,
that's what God's doing. I was talking to a dear pastor
friend of mine a week or two ago. We were talking about this
very thing, how God does what He will. And all we do is bow to it. We don't bow to it if we understand
what God's doing. We just bow to it. I made this
statement to him. I said, well, I don't know about
you. Maybe your experience is different than mine. But this
almost never has God ever let me know why He's done what He's
done. He said, yeah, me too. I don't know why He's done it.
That's all right. He can do with His own as He
will. And to a believer, that comforts
our heart, doesn't it? That comforts our heart. Even
if it hurts me, even if I don't understand, I know this. God's
doing what He will so that He accomplishes the redemption of
His people. Now look over at John 6. That's the believer. Those folks who always rebel
at God's sovereignty, those are folks that don't know Him. They're
unbelievers. John 6, verse 59. These things said he in the synagogue,
as he taught in Capernaum. Many, therefore, of his disciples,
when they heard this, said, This is a hard saying. Who can hear
it? When Jesus knew in himself that
his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this
offend you? What, and if you should see the
Son of Man, Ascend up where He was before. You haven't seen
anything yet. You haven't seen anything yet. If just hearing about this offends
you, what are you going to do when you see me in my glory?
What are you going to do when you see me sitting on the throne
of God? On the throne of the judgment
seat of Christ? You know, the Lord's just been teaching these
people here. These are Jews that are steeped in this ceremony
and the ritual of their religion. Lord's been teaching them salvation
is not in the form and the ceremony. Salvation is not in your deeds
of the law. Salvation is all found in Christ. It's what Christ has done for
his people. Salvation is through union with
Christ alone, not our works. And many of his followers when
they heard that, when they heard, oh wait a minute, I can't do
something to earn a little bit of favor with God? I can't do
something to get God to save me? You mean to tell me God's
sovereign in salvation? I'm a Jew! And He can pass me
by if He wants to? Oh, they said, that's too hard
to listen to. That's just too hard. Who can listen to that?
And that's when the Lord said, that offends you? Well, you wait. You wait till you see me as I
am. You wait till you see me coming in the clouds of glory.
That sight will make the unbeliever call for the mountains and the
rocks and the hills to fall upon them. Look back at Matthew chapter
26. Here is, oh, I guess the preeminent
example of the unbeliever hating the sovereignty, the sovereign
kingship of Christ. And be careful, don't beg God
that you not be found bucking against this thing of God's sovereignty.
Matthew 26 verse 63. Let's look at verse 62. The high
priest arose and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? What
is it which these witness against thee? But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered
and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou
tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus saith unto
him, Thou hast said. Nevertheless I say unto you,
Hereafter shall you see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand
of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. He told him who he
is. He told him what you're going to see. Then the high priest
ran his clothes saying he has spoken blasphemy. What further
need have we witnesses? Behold, now you've heard his
blasphemy. What think ye? They answered and said, he's
guilty of death. The self-righteous religious
people, they hate the sovereign kingship of Christ so much. That's
the charge they had. They tried to use in putting
him to death because he said who he is. He is the Son of God. The power over everything. The power to judge you. The power
to save you. Or the power to damn you. And
the unbeliever is always going to rebel against a sovereign
God. But I want to preach our God
as strongly as I can. I want to pray that the Lord
use that revelation of Him. Who He is. Not so that we rebel
against Him. but so to break our stony hearts,
break our rebellious will. And once I've preached as best
as the Lord will enable me, once I've preached the sovereignty
of Christ, sovereignty of our Savior, as clearly and as forcefully
as I can, you just remember this, you ain't seen nothing yet. I
mean, I am begun to scratch the surface. Almighty God is so much
more powerful than even us sovereign christeners think we know. Now,
I got four points, before I get to them, let me say this, because
this can't be stressed strongly enough, so that we understand
what's happening to us in the world around us, our God is sovereign
over everything that happens. Everything that happens, He does. I don't know about this thing
people try to make, Explain it away. I don't know they talk
about the active will of God the permissive rule of God I
don't really know much about that. All I know is this if it
happens God did it. It's not that God allowed it
to happen God did it and I can give you a couple scriptures.
Look at Isaiah chapter 45 Isaiah chapter 45 And as you're turning
let me quote to you what the Prophet Amos said Amos 3 verse
6 Shall there be evil in the city? Hath not the Lord done
it? If there's evil in the city,
the Lord did it. Look what God says here, Isaiah 45, verse five. I am the Lord and there is none
else. There's no God beside me. I girded
thee, though thou hast not known me, that they may know from the
rising of the sun and from the west, there's none beside me.
I am the Lord. and there is none else. I form
the light and create darkness. Satan didn't do the darkness.
Satan didn't make darkness to happen. God said, I create the
darkness. I make peace and I create evil. I, the Lord, do all these
things. So, that cannot be more plain. Anything that happens in God's
creation happens because God did it. Now, it has to be so
because that's what God said. He is absolutely sovereign. And He will do with you and me,
yours and mine, as He will. Let me give you four points on
God's sovereignty on things that directly affect you and me. Number
one is this. God's sovereignty is earthly
gifts to me. Earthly gifts. You know, God
is the one who made us what we are physically. You know, if
you're tall or if you're short, you know why you're that height?
That's the way God made you. Our Lord said in Matthew 6 verse
27, which of you, by taking thought, can add one cubit to a stature?
I mean, can you make yourself grow another half inch? Believe
me, when I was 16 years old, if I could have made myself grow
seven more inches, I would have done it. I mean, I wanted to
be a basketball player more, I wanted to breathe. And I couldn't,
no matter what I did, I could not make myself grow. I couldn't
do it. We are the size that we are,
because that's what God made us. That's just so. The same
thing is true if we're rich or we're poor. We're white or we're
black. We're handsome or we're homely. We're intelligent or
we're a little bit slow. We're healthy or we're sickly.
Whatever it is, God did it. God did it. You know, you might
have the skills to be a carpenter. or a doctor, or a nurse, or a
musician, or a poet, but whatever those skills have that enables
you to do those things, I'm telling you, you only can do them because
God gave you that skill. That's exactly right. Don't be
all proud. Now, don't deny it. Don't deny
the gifts that God's given you, but don't be all proud about
it, because you only have them because God gave them to you, and he'd
take them away just as quickly as he gave them to you, couldn't
he? I watched an interview with a man a few weeks ago. He's a baseball player. And he
made this statement, I was put on this earth to hit home runs. That's what he said. And I reckon
it's so because he hit a whole bunch of them. He hit a whole
bunch of them. And he can do that because God gave him that
gift. I don't have the ability to hit
a hundred mile an hour fastball. I don't think I can even see
one. This man can just regularly just knock them out of the park
because God gave him that gift and he didn't give it to me.
Lila can play volleyball like nobody's business. Ain't no use
denying it, she can. Landry, you oughta see this kid
with a basketball in his hand. It's like it's on a string. I
mean, he can dribble it, go anywhere, he shoot, I mean, he shoots the
lights out. You know why you can do that? God gave you a gift,
he didn't give everybody. Well, that's so. And listen,
this is just Frank talking here, and have fun with it. I mean,
have fun with those gifts. because they erode with age.
God gave them to you now. They won't be there forever.
Enjoy them while you got them. But isn't that true about anything
God's given you? I mean, anything God's given you, whatever it
is, enjoy it while you got it. Enjoy it because God gave it
to you. Enjoy and be thankful. Whatever physical gifts we have,
you know where they came from? From God Almighty. Nebuchadnezzar
said this, The Lord giveth it to whomsoever He will. He just
gives these things whoever He will. And Nebuchadnezzar said,
even the basest of men. God gives it. Now I tell you,
be thankful. Now look back at Proverbs chapter
30. Be thankful for what God's given
you. But listen, don't forget this. Also be thankful for what
you don't have. Be thankful for what you don't
have. You know, it could be a real blessing. if the Lord does not
give us something we want so bad. It could be a real blessing. That's right, Proverbs 30, verse seven. Two things have I required of
thee. Deny me them not before I die. Remove far from me vanity
and lies. Give me neither poverty nor riches.
Feed me with food that's convenient for me, lest I be full and deny
thee and say, who's the Lord? or lest I be poor and steal and
take the name of my God in vain. Now all of us would say, don't
make me poor so I don't steal and take the name of my God in
vain. But few of us will say, Lord,
don't make me rich. Don't make me poor. But you know,
if the Lord doesn't make us rich, it could be the best thing he
ever did for us to withhold that from us so that we don't deny
him. So we don't deny him. Whatever it is we have physically,
materially, we have it because God gave it to us. All right,
number two, look back at Romans chapter nine. God sovereignly
gives spiritual gifts to men. Romans nine, verse 15. For he sayeth to Moses, I'll
have mercy on whom I will have mercy and I'll have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then it's not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.
God gives salvation sovereignly to whom he will. Now salvation
is of the Lord. Jonah taught us that. Salvation's
of the Lord, isn't it? That means that the Lord saves
whom he will and he passes by whom he will. Now it's as simple
as that. The Lord saves whom he will.
He passes by whom he will. And the Lord has every right
to do that because he can do with his own what he will. Every
creature that's ever lived on this planet belongs to God. So
he can do with us what he will. Salvation is of the Lord in his
planning, in his purpose. Salvation began when the father
purposed to save a people by his grace and he elected them,
elected to save. Salvation is of the Lord in its
execution when the son came into flesh and he redeemed his people
from their sin. By his obedience and his sacrifice
for the Salvation is of the Lord in its application. The Holy
Spirit gives faith to whom He will. And you know who the Spirit
gives faith to? Everyone the Father chose and
everyone for whom the Son died. Salvation is of the Lord in its
ultimate perfection. The Lord's gonna bring all of
His people to glory and He won't lose one. He won't lose one. Now if the scriptures are true,
that's so. Now that truth, Instead of making
me want to argue with God about it and say it's not so, makes
me beg God for mercy. I cannot encourage you strongly
enough. Beg God for mercy. It's not like the Lord only has
so much mercy to go around. His mercy is not limited. It's unlimited. It's measureless. Then begging for it, begging
for it. He got enough for you, begging
for it. You know, Christ didn't come to make men damned. We were already condemned, weren't
we? We were already condemned in
Adam because of who we are and what we've done. Christ came
to enable God to be merciful to sinners. Now it is true, God
can do with his own as he will. And it's God's will to be merciful
to sons and sons of Adam, but God cannot be merciful to sinners. until Christ came to make it
right for God to be merciful to sinners. Christ had to come
and take away the sin of His people. Christ had to satisfy
justice so that His Father would be just and right when He showed
mercy to sinners. That's what Christ came to do.
I'm thankful. I'm thankful God can do with
His own as He will. That means God has the right
to have mercy on me if He will. God can save me if he will. Then again, I tell you what I'm
gonna do. I'm gonna beg God, Lord, be merciful to me, the
sinner. Be merciful to me. Lord, wash
me in the blood of Christ. You said that the blood of your
son cleanses us from all of our sin. Wash me in the blood of
Christ. Call me. See me in Christ and
not in myself. Lord, I don't believe and I can't
make myself believe, but would you give me the gift of faith?
or don't lead me to myself. Whatever it takes, Lord, break
me so I'm found at your feet, begging for mercy. And many of you here this morning
trust Christ. You believe him, you trust him,
don't you? Why is the Lord giving you faith in Christ, not somebody
else? Why is the gospel spiritual bread
and water to your soul? Why does the gospel bless your
heart and bless your soul, but not somebody else? Why did God
do that? Why would God do that for you
when you consider all the people on this planet? Because God can
do with his own what he will. And he's chosen to be merciful
to you. Now while I'm begging for mercy,
tell you what, I'm also gonna thank God for mercy too, aren't
you? Oh, how thankful God's people should be. Then number three,
the Lord sovereignly gives gifts to His people in the church.
There are physical, natural gifts, but there are gifts that God
gives to His people in the church. Look at Ephesians chapter four.
In order for the local church to be able to run efficiently,
do the things that God's given us to do, There are lots of different
things has to be done, don't they? Primarily, there has to
be preaching. If we can't worship God without
the preaching of Christ, there has to be preaching. So God gave
us preachers. Look at Ephesians 4 verse 8. Well, look at verse 7. But unto
every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the
gift of Christ. These are the gifts he sovereignly
gives his people. Wherefore he saith, when he ascended
up on high, He led captivity captive, and He gave gifts unto
men. Now skip that parenthetical phrase, verse 9 and 10 there.
Look down at verse 11. He gave gifts unto men. He gave
some apostles, and some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors
and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of
the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we
all come in the unity of faith and of the knowledge of the Son
of God unto a perfect man, a mature man, under the measure of the
stature of the fullness of Christ. Then we henceforth be no more
children tossed to and fro, carried about with every wind of doctrine
by the slight of men and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie
in wait to deceive, but speaking the truth in love, may grow up
into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ. Now here's why the Lord gave
his church preachers. so that people would be saved
when somebody preaches Christ to them. He's gonna save his
people by the preaching of Christ. But he also gave pastors and
teachers so his people will be matured. So they'll be edified. I mean, we need to be strengthened
as we go through this journey here below, don't we? We spiritually
need to be strengthened just like we need to be physically
strengthened. We need comfort. This is a tough place to live.
This world is a tough place to live and these bodies are horrible
places to live. so full of sin, we need to be
comforted along the way. That's why God gave us pastors
and teachers. The Lord gave us pastors to keep
preaching Christ, to keep preaching the sound doctrine of Christ
so we won't be deceived by these false prophets who constantly
spew out their lies and their false doctrines. Now that's why
God gave us pastors and teachers. That's mighty important, isn't
it? Aren't you thankful God gives us pastors and teachers? But
now look back at Acts chapter 6. Acts chapter 6. Now, all of us aren't preachers.
All of us aren't preachers. But don't ever think, because
God hadn't called you to preach or gifted you to preach, that
that doesn't mean you can't serve the Lord. You don't have to be
a preacher to serve God. No, you don't. You serve God
in your everyday life. You serve God. And that doesn't
also mean just because the Lord hadn't called you to preach,
that doesn't mean that there's nothing you're supposed to be
doing in this ministry. in this particular local church.
Acts six, verse one. In those days when the number
of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the
Grecians against the Hebrews, the Greeks against the Jews,
because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. Then
the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them and
said, it's not reason that we should leave the word of God
and serve tables. Wherefore, brethren, Look ye
out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost
and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business, but we'll
give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of
the word. And the saying pleased the whole
multitude, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the
Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Procorus, and Nicaidor, and Timon, pair
of Manius and Nicholas, a proselyte of Antioch, whom they set before
the apostles, and when they had prayed, they laid their hands
on them. And the word of the Lord increased, and the number
of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly, and a great
company of the priests were obedient to the faith. Now the Lord, according
to this passage of scripture, gives some people in the church
the ability to wait tables. And you know what that phrase
wait tables means? It means take care of one another. It doesn't
mean like a waiter at a restaurant. It means to take care of one
another. And when these men that they appointed over this matter
to look out to take care of one another, to take care of the
believers who were in need, they did what the Lord gave them to
do. The Lord didn't call these seven men to preach. He called
on them to wait tables. Now you think, well, that's not
very important. I mean, you know, to wait tables
and you go kind of watch out for the folks and help folks
and stuff. Well, I'll tell you what, when they did that, the
preachers could give their time to the word. The apostles could
give their time to prayer and study of the word, and the church
grew. The church grew. You know, the
Lord gives people here many different abilities, things we can do to
help this local church. He gave Sean the ability to lead
the scene. Now, he didn't give that ability to everybody. There's
several of you here. If I ask you to lead the singing,
you'd leave. A few Wednesday nights ago, I asked Brother Wayne
Kennell. He came in and I asked him if
he would read in Scripture and lead us in prayer that night.
He was a little surprised because I always, or almost always, take
care of the reading and praying on Sunday. You men have been
out working hard. I just want you to be able to come rest and
sit and listen. But Sean couldn't be here that night and I was
leading the singing. one of the men, you know, to read Scripture
for me. And I told Wayne, I said, you got a choice. I said, you
can either read the Scripture and lead us in prayer or you
can lead the singing. And he did turn and started walking
out. He said, if you're asking me
to lead the singing, Wayne wasn't even here tonight. Now, Wayne may
feel like he can't lead the singing, but he sure can read the Scripture
and lead us in prayer, can't he? The Lord's given some of
us the ability to be faithful. I mean, just show up at every
service, just show up and show up and show up. Now that's an
encouragement to one another. It's an encouragement to me,
I can tell you that. I remember as a young man, I
always tried to watch older folks and kind of figure out, you know,
I figure if I watch older folks, I figure out what I'm supposed
to be doing. And I watched older believers. You know what I found
out? They're so faithful. They were so just at every service,
they're so faithful. Well, that's a good example to
me. I thought, well, I can do that. If I'm not too sick, I
can try to show up. The Lord's given every last one
of us, every person here, the Lord's given us the ability to
give an offering. Some more, some less, but He's
given us an ability to give an offering. Now you think, well,
that's not really all that much. Well, let me tell you, having
lights on is kind of nice, isn't it? Here in a few months, we're
going to be mighty glad the heat's on. It helps pay for things so
we can Preach the gospel to us, and we can preach the gospel
to our community. It's mighty important. The Lord's
given some of us humility. He hasn't given us as much as
we want, but he's given us some humility to be able to help keep
the peace. He's given us some wisdom to
be able to deal with things. He's given some the ability to
be such a comfort, such a help to others. And you might think,
you know, I'm nobody. I can't really do much of anything.
Nobody sees me. Nobody notices me. Oh, wait a
minute. Think again. Think again. That's
not true if you're part of the body of Christ. Let me show you
that in 1 Corinthians. No, first, first, let me show
you where you're there in Acts. Look first at Acts 9. Acts 9. You might think, well, I can't
do anything. What I do is not noticed. Look
here at Acts 9, verse 36. There was at Joppa a certain
disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas. This woman was full of good works
and almsdeeds, which she did. And it came to pass in those
days that she was sick and died, whom when they had washed, they
laid her in an upper chamber. And for as much as Lydia was
night at Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there,
they sent unto him two men, desiring him that he would not delay to
come to them. Then Peter arose and went with
them, When he was come, they brought him into the upper chamber.
This is where this woman's body was laying. And all the widows
stood by him weeping and showing him the coats and garments which
Dorcas made while she was with them." Now you think, well, a
little bit of knitting, a little bit of needlework, and these
little things that she gave out to these widows, that's not much.
Nobody noticed that she did it. Oh, yes, they did. Oh, yes, they
did. It mattered a great deal, didn't
it? Now look at 1 Corinthians chapter 1. Or 1 Corinthians chapter 12,
excuse me. 1 Corinthians chapter 12. You know, whatever it is
that the Lord's given you to do, and wherever it is He's put
you to do it, do it. Do it. Do it to the best of your
ability, because it matters. It matters if you're part of
the body of Christ. 1 Corinthians 12 verse 12. For as the body is one and hath
many members, all the members of that one body, being many
are one body, so also is Christ. For by one spirit are we all
baptized into one body, we're all put into the body of Christ,
whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and
have been all made to drink into one spirit. For the body's not
one member, but many. Now, if the foot shall say, because
I'm not the hand, I'm not of the body, is it therefore not
of the body? And if the ears shall say, well,
because I'm not the eye, I'm not of the body, is it therefore
not of the body? If the whole body were an eye,
where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where
were the smelling? But now hath God set members, every one of
them, in the body, as it hath pleased him. See, he did with
his own what he pleased. Whatever he will, he put them
in the body where he would. And if they were all one member,
where were the body? And now are they many members,
yet one body. And the eye cannot say into the
hand, I have no need of thee. Nor can the head to the feet,
I have no need of you. Nay, much more. Those members
of the body which seem to be more feeble are necessary. And those members of the body
which we think to be less honorable, upon these we bestow more abundant
honor. And our uncomely parts, have
more abundant comeliness. Everybody can't be a preacher.
Everybody can't be the mouth, but that's okay. That's okay. We sure need hands and feet and
eyes and toes and fingers and toenails and we need the whole
body, don't we? Now I'm thankful that the Lord
does with his own what he will. He can make you and me good stewards
of the grace of God in our generation. So whatever it is that the Lord
has gifted you to do, enabled you to do, and where it is He's
put you, do it. Be glad to be a hand, or a knee,
or a foot, or a toe, whatever it is. It could be that the Lord
would be pleased to give you more. We start out small and
maybe the Lord will give us more. But if He doesn't, who cares?
This is what God's given me to do. And if we all do that, the
Lord just may make his word spread in our area like he did back
here in Jerusalem. All right, here's the last thing. Look at Psalm 31. Really right here, the robber
meets the road. The Lord sovereignly gives the
time of our life and of our death. Psalm 31 verse 15. My times are in thy hand. Deliver me from the hand of mine
enemies and from them that persecute me. My times are in thy hand. My times are in the hand of him
who has the right to do with his own what he will. All my
times are in his hand. The time of my life is in his
hand. The time when I'm born, the time
that I live, that's in his hand. The times of my blessing, The
times of my mountaintop experience, that's in his hand. He's given
those things to me because he would. And the time that I'm
in the valley of trial and trouble, that's in his hand too. The times
of my happiness, the times of my sorrow, they're in his hand. And the time of my death, that's
in his hand too. And I'm quite thankful to have
it there, aren't you? I'm more thankful that it's in
his hand than mine because he'll do right. He'll never do wrong. I would do wrong, but he won't.
And nothing he does will ever cause any harm to his children. Now it might hurt. It might be
bitter. It might be something we wish
we weren't going through, but it will never harm any of his
children. Never. Now that enables me to
rest in the providence of God for me. How about you? I hope
so. I hope so. All right, let's bow
together. Our Father, how we thank you
that you can do with your own what you will. And how thankful
we are to be in your hand. Father, I pray, I beg of you
that you'd use your mighty hand to lift us up from the deep miry
clay. How we pray you'd use your hand
to create a new heart in us. How we beg that you'd use that
mighty hand to put faith in Christ in our hearts. How we pray that
you'd use that mighty hand to hold us and preserve us, that
no man can pluck us out of thy hand, that you'd use that hand
to preserve us by your grace. That you'd use that hand to,
Father, enable us to serve you by serving one another, by serving
our generation and preaching the gospel to our generation.
that you may be pleased in your time to take us out of this place
and bring us into your presence father how we thank you all these
things are in your hand and we pray for the grace to be just
right happy that it's so father we ask you bless your word as
it's been preached that you might show us your glory of course
in christ's name for his sake we pray amen all right sean