Good morning. It's good to see
everybody. Hope everybody was able to find
a chair. That was our biggest concern. Somebody would take
somebody else's chair, but nobody seemed to mind this morning.
If you would, go ahead and open your Bibles to 1 Thessalonians. While you're turning there, I'm
going to do something a little unusual. We took a picture of
all these empty seats the other night to send to Frank so he
could see the seating arrangement. And he enjoyed that a bunch. And I thought when Jonathan talked
about it this morning, I thought maybe we'd get one of just everybody
and I'll send those to him. I think that'll mean a lot to
him and Janet both. A couple announcements. Lindy and Alec's shower that
was scheduled for Saturday has been canceled. The number of
cases in our county has skyrocketed, so we just feel like it's best
at this time to just cancel that. And then second, I had a chance
to talk to our pastor yesterday. I know everybody's had several
people ask. He got the results back of the
MRI, and he said it's an acute rupture. But he said there's
three fingers that kind of stick out of that rupture, and they're
curling back. And he said one of them, I think
it's like growing back, they believe it's kind of growing
back into a nerve. And that's causing him just a tremendous
amount of pain. So much pain, it's actually pushing
his blood pressure up. They were hoping to do like a
hospital to hospital transfer, but that's not going to be, as
of yesterday, that wasn't going to be a possibility. So it looks
like what they're hoping for Monday is at some point they
can maybe get an appointment down in Lexington. There's a
doctor down there that they would like to be seen by. He'll do
a combination, but he has to be released from the hospital
before he can go to the appointment. And then there's also some injections
that they can do. But again, that has to be outpatient.
So a lot of things going on right now. The good thing is they've
got the MRI completed and they can kind of see, you know, maybe
how to go about treating this. Just keep him, keep Frank and
Janet both in our prayers. He really wanted to write a letter.
He said, I wanted to just sit down and write some things to
the congregation. And the combination of the pain
and the pain medication has prevented him from doing that. But a few
things that he wanted mentioned. Right now, he really can't have
any kind of visitors, but he does enjoy, he said, I really
enjoy a text. He said, that just kind of warms
my heart to hear from folks. He misses being here, obviously,
to preach and to worship with us. He extends his love to each and
every one here. He said, I wish I could tell
him, I'd tell him myself. And he longs to be back soon. And
this was what he said. He said, when you pray for me,
he said, obviously, I would enjoy some relief from this pain. But he said chiefly, chiefly
that God would give them grace to endure this trial that the
Lord has set before them right now. And he said that I would
not bring reproach upon my Lord. But he said, you pray for me. Told him I would pass that along
to everyone. 1 Thessalonians 1. Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus
unto the church of the Thessalonians, which is in God the Father and
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be unto you. and peace
from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks
to God for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering
without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and patience
of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of God and our Father. Knowing, brethren, Beloved, your
election of God, for our gospel came not unto you in word only,
but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance,
as you know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.
You became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received
the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost, so
that you were Examples to all that believe in Macedonia and
Achaia and from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only
in Macedonia and Achaia but also in every place your faith to
Godward is spread abroad so that we need not to speak anything.
For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we
had unto you and how you turn to God from idols to serve the
living and true God. and to wait for His Son from
heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, which has delivered
us from the wrath of God. Let's go to the Lord's prayer. Our God and Father in heaven,
we thank you for this day. Lord, we thank you. How we thank
you that you've allowed us to gather here as a people. Lord, I pray we've not met together
in vain. I pray that you would be pleased
to be among us here this morning. Lord, that you would bless us
with your presence. That you bless the preaching
and hearing of your word. Lord, bless us to know more of
our Savior, bless us to know the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord,
we thank you for your grace, for your mercy, for your goodness. How we thank thee that salvation
is of the Lord. Lord, we thank thee for thy sovereign
hand. Lord, there's so many things
we do not understand, but we take comfort knowing that thou
art sovereign in all things. Lord, for those of our number
who are in a time of trouble, a time of difficulty, Lord, we
pray your hand be upon them. Lord, that you comfort and strengthen
your people. Lord, we pray for our pastor.
Lord, as he's away from us right now, Lord, I pray that your hand
would be upon him and the doctors that provide care for him. Lord, encourage him in these
times. Lord, strengthen him, comfort
him. Lord, if it be thy will, Lord, return him to us speedily. Lord, be with him and Jan in
a special way. Lord, for our young people, Thank
you for these many little ones. Lord, we pray that you would
hedge them about, protect them, keep them, defend them in these
perilous times. Lord, above all things, we pray
you'd be merciful to them. Lord, you'd be pleased to save
their souls. Again, we thank you for your
many blessings. We pray again for your presence
this day. set aside the thoughts and cares
of this world, those things that so easily catch our minds, Lord,
set them aside for just a little while and let us see Christ.
In his name we pray and give thee thanks. Oh, how sweet the glorious message
simple faith may claim! Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus
is the same. Still he loves to save the sinful,
heal the sick and lame. Cheer the mourner, calm the tempest,
glory to his name. Yesterday, today, forever Jesus
is the same All may change, but Jesus never Glory to His name
Glory to His name Glory to His name All may change, but Jesus
never Glory to His name He who pardoned erring Peter Never needs
thou fear He who came to faithless Thomas All thy doubt will clear
He who let the love disciple on his bosom rest Bids thee still
with love as tender lean upon his breast Yesterday, today,
forever, Jesus is the same All may change, but Jesus never Glory
to His name Glory to His name Glory to His name All may change,
but Jesus never Glory to His name He amid the raging billows
walked upon the sea Still can hush our wildest tempest as on
Galilee He who wept and prayed in anguish in Gethsemane Drinks
with us each cup of trembling in our agony Yesterday, today,
forever, Jesus is the same All may change, but Jesus never Glory
to His name Glory to His name Glory to His name All may change,
but Jesus never Glory to His name As of old he walked to Emmaus
with them to abide So through all life's way he walketh ever
near our side Soon again shall we behold him hasten, Lord, the
day But we'll see the same Jesus as He went away. Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus
is the same. All may change, but Jesus never. Glory to His name. Glory to His name. Glory to His name All may change,
but Jesus never Glory to His name Let's turn back in the Old Testament
to Isaiah 45. Isaiah 45, want us to look at verse 22. Look unto me, and be ye saved,
all the ends of the earth. For I am God, and there is none
else. I read a while back about Charles
Spurgeon, said he was walking to church one morning, and a
storm had prevented him from going where he would usually
have went to worship that morning. He said he ended up walking into
just a little primitive Methodist church. He said there were probably
10 or 15 people gathered together at that time. The pastor hadn't
made it that day. He was out for, the storm probably
prevented him from being there. Isn't it something to see how
all these things work together, and said the fellow was probably
a tailor or a shoemaker. He would have been considered
an unlearned man. And he walked up to the pulpit
to preach, and Spurgeon said the man stuck to the text. Said he had to. He said he really
had nothing else to say. This was the scripture. Look
unto me and be ye saved. All the ends of the earth for
I am God and there is none else. Spurgeon later said the man didn't
even pronounce all the words correctly. But he said it didn't matter.
It didn't matter for there was a thought. He said I had a thought
in my mind. There's a glimpse of hope. for
man. And it was through the preaching
of this passage of Scripture that Almighty God was pleased
to reveal Himself to one of His lost sheep. I pray this morning
that God would be pleased through the preaching of His Word to give us a glimpse, a glimpse
of hope, that He might even be pleased to call out a lost sheep. Wouldn't we rejoice in that? So just for a little bit here
this morning, let's look at this passage of Scripture. And I want
us to look at it in four parts, divide it into four parts. First,
look unto me. Look unto me. There's a lot of things in this
world to look to. But Almighty God says, look unto
me. Don't look to an idol. That's
what a lot of folks look at. They look at idols. In Psalm
135, we read this. Idols, they have mouths, but
they speak none. They have eyes, but they see
none. Ears have they, but they hear
not. Neither is there any breath in
their mouth. There's no life in them. There's
no life in an idol. They that make them are just
like them. They're like unto them. So is
everyone that trusteth in them. Turn over to 1 Kings. Chapter 18. My brother Jonathan brought a message
from this passage here just a little bit ago. 1 Kings 18, look beginning with
verse 26. Now this is when This was when Elijah
challenged those prophets of Baal. And he said, if God be God, worship
him. If Baal be Baal, worship him.
And he said, let's do this. Let's take two bullocks. We'll
divide it. And you guys, you offer your
bullock. And then I'll offer mine. And the God that answers
by fire, let him be God. Look here beginning with verse
26, and they took the bullock. These prophets of Baal, they
took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it. And
they called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon,
saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any
that answered. And they leaped upon the altar
that was made. And it came to pass at noon that Elijah mocked
them. And he said, Cry aloud, for he's
a god. Either he's talking, or he is
pursuing, or he's in a journey. Prepared venture, he's sleeping.
Maybe he's taking a nap, and he must be awakened. And they
cried aloud, and they cut themselves after the manor with knives and
lancets till the blood gushed out upon them. And it came to
pass, when the midday was past, that they prophesied until the
time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. And there was neither
voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regard." An idol has
no ears. An idol can't see. An idol can
do nothing. But look here, verse 30, Elijah
said unto all the people, he said, Come near to me. And all
the people came near unto him, and he repaired the altar of
the Lord that was broken down. And Elijah took twelve stones,
according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob,
in whom the word of the Lord came, saying, Israel shall be
thy name. And with the stones he built
an altar in the name of the Lord, and he made a trench about the
altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed. And he
put the wood in order, and he cut the bullock in pieces, and
he laid him on the wood, and he said, Fill four barrels with
water, and poured on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood. And
he said, do it the second time. And they did it the second time.
And he said, do it the third time. And they did it the third
time. And the water ran round about
the altar and he filled the trench also with water. When this thing
comes to pass, there's going to be no question about it. This
wasn't the work of a man. These things are covered in water.
There's no way Naturally speaking, this is going to be consumed
with fire. And it came to pass at the time
of the evening, of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that
Elijah the prophet came near and he said, Lord God of Abraham,
Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art
God in Israel, that I'm thy servant, that I've done all these things
according to thy word. Hear me, O Lord, that this people
may know art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart
back again. Then fire. The fire of the Lord
fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood and the stones and
the dust and licked up the water that was in the trench. When
all the people saw it, it fell on their faces. They said, The
Lord, He is the God. The Lord, He is the God. The people saw. Something was
revealed to them. And listen, despite all the activity,
and despite all the sincerity, they called on Baal from morning
until evening with no voice and no answer. They leaped on that
altar, they cried aloud, they cut themselves, they poured out
their blood on themselves and on the altar. From midday to
the time of the evening sacrifice, no voice, no one to answer, no
one that regarded. They prayed to an idol. They
prayed to a God that cannot say. And despite their... Men are
sincere about their religion, aren't they? Men are very serious
about it. I mean, they'll fight for these things, but listen. It's not in the man. It's in
the God. The God. They prayed to a God
that could not save them. But Elijah... Elijah prayed to
the Lord God of Isaac, of Abraham, of Israel, And that fire fell
and consumed the sacrament. It consumed everything there.
The water, even the dust that was in that pit, it consumed
it all. And the people saw it. And they declared the Lord, He
is the God. He is the God. We look unto Him. That's the God we look unto.
We don't look to an idol that can't save. We look unto Almighty
God. What else is there to look to? Maybe we should look to the works
of our hands. That's what men look to the works of their hands.
Look at what I've done. I can't remember who said this. It was either John Chapman or
Henry, but he said, you rest assured that your mansion in
glory is not going to be built with any material you sent up. It's not the works of our hands. not to our own righteousness.
Isaiah wrote this, he said, we're all as an unclean thing and all
our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. We fade as a leaf and our
iniquities like the wind have taken us away. Back in the book
of Daniel, Daniel 4, remember King Nebuchadnezzar? God had
God took his kingdom away from him. And he dwelt in the beast
of the field. He ate grass like the oxen. We read that his hair, it grew
out, looked like the feathers of an eagle. And his nails were
like bird's claws for seven years. He said, seven times will pass.
Daniel had told him what was going to happen. This had been
foretold. And one day the king walked in
the palace, and this is what he spoke. He said, is this not
the great Babylon which I have built? This great Babylon which I have
built. For the house of the kingdom
by the might, he said, I built it by my power. And he said, I did it. for the
honor of my majesty." Look at what I've done with my hands. And before he even finished that
sentence, listen here, it says in Daniel 4.31, while the word
was in the king's mouth, still in his mouth, there fell a voice
from heaven saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken, the kingdom,
is departed from it." And he didn't say, your kingdom is departed
from you, did he? He said, the kingdom is departed
from you. Oh, may God deliver us from looking
at the works of our hands. He said, I'll be merciful to
whom I'll be merciful. I'll be gracious to whom I'll
be gracious. Don't look to other men. We do that sometimes. We look
to other men. So-called priests who would raise
themselves up as mediators between man and God. Over in the book of Acts, Cornelius,
he met Peter and we read that he fell down. He fell down to
worship him and Peter said, get up. I imagine he just kind of
like grabbed a hold of him and lifted him up off the ground.
He said, I'm just, I'm just a man. I'm just a man. In Jeremiah 17,
5, Thus saith the Lord, Cursed be the man that trusteth in man,
that trusteth in another man, and maketh flesh his arm, and
whose heart is departed from God. A man who would rest in
another man, his heart is departed from Almighty God. We don't look
to men. We look to Christ. We look to
Christ and Christ alone. There is one God. This is what
the scripture says. There's one God and one mediator
between God and men. The man. Christ Jesus. Turn to Psalm 146. Psalm 146, let's begin with verse
3. Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of
man in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth
to his earth, and in that very day his thoughts perish. Happy
is he, happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help,
whose hope is in the Lord, is God. Back in our text, back here
in Isaiah 45, look unto me. Our hope, our confidence, our
rest, our salvation is in the Lord God. We look unto Him, the Son of God, whose glory is
the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. We look to the Lamb of God who
takes away the sin of the world. We look unto Him as our mediator,
the only mediator between man and God. We look to Him as the
Savior and Redeemer of lost sinners. Look unto And then we read, and
be ye saved. Look unto me and be ye saved.
Look to Him. Seek Him. Believe Him. You know,
John 3.16 is probably one of the most recognized scriptures
in God's Word. For God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him
should never perish, but have eternal life, everlasting life.
But turn with me to John 3. There's two verses before that
that are often left out. John 3, beginning with verse 14, and it's Moses, lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of God be lifted up,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life." You remember the account from God's Word back in Numbers
21. God had hearkened to the voice
of Israel. He delivered up the Canaanites
to Him. And the children of Israel, they journeyed from Mount Hor
by way of the Red Sea. And we read they became discouraged
because of the way. They were grieved. They were
grieved because of the way. That sounds familiar, doesn't
it? Don't we quickly become grieved
because of the way? Even the smallest things it seems
like sometimes that are set before us. We're grieved, we're grieved
over them. And they spoke against God and
against Moses. They said, why didn't you just
let us die in Egypt? We see He just left us there
to die in Egypt. And this is a frequent comment. I went back, I didn't write them
all down, but how often when they encountered a little difficulty,
that was their go-to comment. Why didn't He just leave us to
die in Egypt? At least there was food there. Over and over
again, that's what they said. Despite the fact that God continued
to deliver them. Every trouble that He brought
their way, He delivered them through it. And I don't want
to get off on a rabbit trail here, but I think we can learn
something. I think there's definitely something
there for us to take from that. Paul writes, he said to the Romans,
he said, Whatsoever things were written aforetime, they're written
for our learning. There's something there to benefit
us. That we, through patience and
comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope. Wherever God had led the children
of Israel, think about this, it was the path that he had chose
for them. Wherever it was, it's where he
had led them. And wherever Moses led them,
he did that under the... God led him to go here, to go
there. So when they were murmuring against
Moses, they were murmuring against God. God put Moses in that place
to lead them. So when they murmured against
Him, they murmured against God. And that's no difficult in our
day. Oh, that God would deliver us,
that He would deliver me from being so quick to find fault.
and to murmur. Well, God sent those fiery serpents.
You know what happened. God sent those fiery serpents
and much people, many people died as a result of that. God's
judgment for sin. And, you know, it was the serpent,
it's interesting, it was the serpent that appeared in the
garden. It was, and God gave Adam, He gave him that garden
to dress it and to keep it. But Adam, Adam chose his own
way. He said, he chose death. He said, we'll not have this
man to reign over us. God said, dress the garden, keep
it. Don't eat of the tree. And in
a short amount of time, he took that fruit. Eve took that fruit
and Adam willingly ate it. Well, the people came to Moses
and they said, we've sinned. We've sinned. We've spoke against
the Lord. We've spoke against you, Moses.
And they asked Him, You go intercede on our behalf. Intercede on our
behalf. Pray unto the Lord that He might
take away these serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the
people. He went and interceded for the
people. And the Lord told Moses, He said,
You take a serpent of brass like unto this serpent that had been.
And He said, You put it on a pole and it'll come to pass, everyone
that is bitten, when he looks to that serpent of brass, when
he beheld that serpent of brass, he'll live. Everyone, everyone
that looks will live. You know, I wonder, were there
men and women, and I suspect there were, were there men and
women who refused to look There's the remedy right out there in
front of us. Were there those who refused
to look? Men and women who were dying
and knew they were dying, that refused to look at that serpent
of brass. Were there those who would not
submit to His command? Look and live. What a simple command. Look and live. Maybe there were those who thought,
there's got to be a better way than this. There's got to be
something more complicated. Maybe I should go out and make
my own serpent of brass. Or maybe I'd rather look at a
pear or whatever. Maybe I'd rather do something
different. But that was not the command, was it? The command
was look and live. Those ignorant of God's righteousness
seeking to establish their own righteousness, would not submit
to the righteousness of God. Those who would not look because
of unbelief, serpent or brass, there's no way that's going to
heal me. I suspect there were those who just said, that's not
for me. I just don't believe it. Those
too proud to look, I don't need. I don't need no serpent or brass
to save me. those who refused to believe
they were dying. That venom was in their blood,
in their body, just like sin is in ours. And they probably
said, I'm going to die. It's not going to happen. It's
not going to happen to me. Men do that, don't they? We do
that. Men do it today. They did it when our Lord walked
this earth. You know, there were those religious
Jews. They'd seen a man that had been
healed, that had been in terrible shape for 38 years. 38 years. And our Lord looked
at him and He said, take up your bed and walk. Take up your bed
and walk. And He did. He took up that bed
and He walked. And wouldn't you think, wouldn't
you think they would have just rejoiced? This man that's been
in this horrible condition for these 38 years, look at him.
He took up his bed. He's walking down the street. But instead of rejoicing, they
were all tore up because the fellow was carrying his bed on
the Sabbath day. Our Lord said this, He said,
you will not come to me that you might have life. And back
in Numbers 21, 9, we read, it came to pass that if a serpent
had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of
brass, he lived. That's what the scripture we're
reading here declares this morning. Look and live. Look and live. Our text back here again in Isaiah
45, look unto me and be ye saved. He says all the ends of the earth. Where will this gospel be preached? In Romans, 10 verse 18, have
they not heard? Yea, verily the sound went out
into all the earth and their words until the end of the world. In all the ends of the earth,
Christ has a people. A people given him by the father,
a people purchased by his own blood, a people for whose sins
he became a propitiation, an offering for their sin. A people
for whom he sends forth his gospel wherever they may be found, calling
them by the Spirit of God unto himself. We read he is able to
save to the uttermost them that come to God by him. We read of
harlots, republicans, absolute worst of society, the most vile
of offenders. But listen, that's not the question. It's not, am I a publican? It's not, am I an adulterer?
Am I a harlot? I can answer that question for
you. Yes. Yes, you are. Yes. I am. To offend in one point of the
law is to be guilty of the whole law. Here's the question. Am I a sinner? Am I a sinner? If so, if so, there's good news. There's good news for sinners.
Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. He's able to save to the uttermost
all that come to God by Him. All the ends of the earth. By
His blood for which our sins are pardoned. His blood which
cleanses us from all sin. By His righteousness we're justified
from all sin. By His sacrifice He has put away
our sin as far as the east is from the west. They never touch
each other, do they? Put away. He's able to save,
and listen, He will save. That's what His Word declares. All that the Father hath given
me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no
wise cast out. Not one, not one of His sheep
will be lost. Our Lord, speaking to the disciples,
He said, Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every
livered creature. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
dead. He sends his gospel calling forth
his sheep, a people out of every kindred, nation, tribe, and tongue,
and those that refuse to believe. for that excuse. Isaiah 45 verse
22, look unto me and be ye saved all the ends of the earth for
I'm God. I am God and there is none else. Let me read just a few passages
of Scripture in closing in this final point. Isaiah 63, 1. Who
is he that cometh forth from Edom, with dyed garments from
Basra, that is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness
of his strength? I that speak righteousness, mighty
to save. Almighty God is mighty to save. Over in Hebrews 7, we read this
earlier. He's able to save to the uttermost. There's no hard case with God.
He is able to save to the uttermost them that come to God by Him. We sing that hymn, the vilest
offender who truly believes. At that moment, that very moment
of pardon, Jesus receives. In prison? Where does he find
them? In prison? Up a tree? By the
roadside begging? Ashland, Kentucky? No matter
where they're found, there he is. He knows where they are.
And he sends forth his word, calls them to himself. Jude chapter
1 verse 24, Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling,
and present you faultless before the presence of His glory with
exceeding joy." Faultless. Has that word ever been... I
mean, other than maybe a grandparent describing their grandchild,
could that word be used about any of us? Faultless. Without
blame, without blemish. Let me ask you this. Why would
a sinner Look anywhere else. Why would a sinner look to anyone
else? Not anywhere, but to anyone. A true sinner will look to Him
and Him alone. Look unto me and be ye saved. All the ends of the earth. For I am God and there is none
else. We thank God for His Word. Let's go to our Lord. Let's go
to our Lord in prayer. Almighty God, we thank Thee for
this Thy Word. The Lord calls us to look to Thee,
to rest in Thee, in Thee alone, not to idols, not to men, not
to ourselves, but to look to Thee by faith and rest in Thee. Oh, how we thank Thee that salvation
is of the Lord. Lord, we pray that You'd cause
Your Word to go forth in power. Lord, convict men of sin Lord,
edify and comfort your people. And in all things, Lord, glorify
your name. Get glory to thy name. Lord, bless us this day. Continue
to watch over us and protect us and keep us. Lead us and direct
us in all things. Bless us this day and in the
days to come. or above all, teach us of Christ.
Teach us of our Savior. For it's in His name we pray
and give thee thanks. Thank you. You're dismissed.