for the next message. There is a fountain filled with
blood Drawn from Emmanuel's vein And sinners blood beneath that
blood Lose all their guilty stain lose all their guilty stain. And sinner's blood, beneath that
blood, lose all their guilty stain. The dying thief rejoiced
to see that fountain in his day. And there may I, O vile lessee,
wash all my sins away. Wash all thy sins away. Wash all thy sins away. And there may I, though vile
as he, wash all thy sins away. Thy precious blood shall never
lose its power. Till all the ransomed Church
of God be sang to sin no more, be sang to sin no more. Be safe to sin no more. Till all the grandsons Church
of God Be safe to sin no more. There since, by faith, I sought
the stream, Thy flowing loose supply. Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shout me till I die. And shout me till I die. And shout me till I die. Redeeming love has been my thing. And shall be till I die. When this poor lisping, stammering
tongue Lies silent in the grave, Then in a nobler, sweeter song
I'll sing thy power to save I'll sing thy power to save. I'll sing thy power to save. Then in a nobler, sweeter song,
I'll sing thy power to save. Now back to 154. 154. It's a good course. It's in our
handbook. 154. For God so loved the world He
gave His only Son To die on Calvary's tree From sin to set me free
Someday He's coming back What glory that will be Wonderful is love to me. Sing it again. For God so loved
the world, He gave his only son to die on Calvary's street, from
sin to set me free. Someday he's coming back, what
glory that will be! Wonderful is love to me. Thank you, you may be seated. Now we have a special treat for
Brother Chris and his wife Vicki. They're going to come and sing
a special chorus at this time. He was wounded for our transgressions For our sins in His body on the
tree For our guilt He gave us peace From our bondage gave release
And with His stripes, and with His stripes, and with His stripes,
our souls are healed. He was numbered among transgressors. We did esteem him, forsaken by
his God. as our sacrifice he died that
the law be satisfied and all our sin and all our And all our sin was laid on Him. We have wandered We all had wandered
Far from the fold Of the shepherd of the sheep But he saw us where
we were On the mountains bleak and bare And brought us home
And brought us home And brought us safely home to God Who can number His generation? Who shall declare the triumph
of His cross? Millions dead now live again
Myriads follow in his train Victorious Lord Victorious Lord Victorious
Lord and coming King. Well, our last speaker this morning,
my very, very dear friend, Pastor David Edmondson, pastor of the
Bible Baptist Church in Madisonville, Kentucky. David preaches here
often. It has become my habit to have
him be the last speaker in our conference. And David, we are
delighted you're here. You and Teresa are so thankful
that you're here. When you come, preach the message
of God's giving. I pray, Lord, bless you. First, let me say that there's
very few people that can bring me to tears when they sing. Those
two. And Chris, there wasn't a wasted
word of that message. Thank you. I was thinking as Frank made
that beautiful introduction to Chris and I about one time Brother
Todd Nybert went to the doctor there in Lexington and got to
talking to the physician and found out the physician was from
Henderson, Kentucky, my hometown. Todd said, I have a friend from
Henderson, Kentucky. You might know him. And the physician
said, what's his name? And he said, David Edmondson.
And the guy was taken back. And he said, I went to school
with him. We played baseball together.
He said, what's David doing now? And Todd said, he's a preacher.
And he said he thought he was going to have to help the physician. The physician said, of all the
people that I went to school with, I would have never thought
that he was a preacher. I told Todd, I said, next time
you see him, tell him that of all the people I went to school
with, I can't believe he's a doctor. But I can still. And I know you
feel the same way, Chris, Frank, all the men that preached here
this weekend just can't still get over that God would call
me to preach His word. What an honor and what a privilege. Turn with me to the book of Exodus,
if you would, chapter 11. At home, we've been going through
the book of Exodus and we've enjoyed it thoroughly. Exodus chapter 11, most everyone
is familiar with the story of Israel's miraculous deliverance
out of Egypt by the sovereign hand of God. Even the majority
of unbelievers in this world have seen the movie Ten Commandments
and are somewhat familiar with this story. Here in chapter 11,
Nine plagues have already passed. Nine. Warning after warning had
been given. Plague after plague had been
carried out. Yet the scriptures say that Pharaoh
hardened his heart. What folly it is to fight against
God. If I had the ear of every unbeliever
in this world, I would want to say what folly, how futile it
is to fight against God. Isn't that what Isaiah said?
He said, woe unto him that striveth with his maker. Verse one, and the Lord said
unto Moses, yet will I bring one plague more upon Pharaoh
and upon Egypt. And afterwards, He'll let you
go hence. When He shall let you go, He
shall surely thrust you out. Hence all together. He's not
going to just give you permission to leave. He's going to beg you
to leave. And He's going to be glad when
you do. He's going to be glad when you do. One more judgment
was appointed, and it would be the most devastating plague of
all, the death of the firstborn. And I find it very interesting
that the Lord had told Moses before Moses ever went to Pharaoh
that this is what it would come down to. Let me show you that. Turn back a few pages to Exodus
chapter 4 and look at verse 22. Exodus 4, verse 22. This is before
Moses had ever gone to Pharaoh, before Moses and Aaron had ever
stood before Pharaoh. In verse 22, the Lord says unto
Moses, And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord,
Israel is my son, even my firstborn. You see, in Christ, God's people
are His firstborn. And I say unto thee, this is
what you tell him, you let my son go, that he may serve me. And if thou refuse to let him
go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn. Pharaoh had
been warned since the very beginning of his rebellion what the Lord
would do if he did not let God's people go. And that's what had
finally come to pass. But not until nine plagues later. Nine plagues later. The nine
previous plagues were really nothing less than God's patience
and God's long-suffering against this hard-hearted, rebellious
man and his nation. You see, God finds no pleasure
in the death of the wicked. I don't know why folks think
that because someone believes in election and that God has
the right to have mercy on whom he'll have mercy, that we somehow
paint God to be one who just finds pleasure in sending wicked
folks to hell. That couldn't be further from
the truth. He's infinite in mercy. He's long-patient. He's long-suffering. And what a picture of that we
have here. Nine plagues, and yet Pharaoh continued to harden
his heart. Oh, may all the world take notice. Those that walk in pride, God
is able to abase. God's able to humble. God's able
to bring down. God is able to put all in the
dust that exalt themselves in pride against Him. Paul tells
us in Romans chapter 9 that it was for this very purpose that
God raised Pharaoh up. That He might show His power
in him. And that God's name might be
declared throughout all the earth. And again, I tell you that it's
futile to fight against God. If you're here this morning and
you have refused time and time again to bow to Christ is futile. It's futile. Pharaoh may have asked in the
beginning, who is the Lord that I should obey His voice to let
Israel go? Pharaoh may have said, I know
not the Lord and neither will I let Israel go. That's found
in chapter 5 verse 2. But now, it's a different story. It's a different story. And it
always is for those who oppose, resist, and harden their hearts
against the Lord. We read again in verse 1, one
plague more. This would be the most severe
of all the plagues. A mightier king than Pharaoh
was on the scene. And he'd visit the land of Egypt
that night and none can successfully resist the King of Kings. He'll have his way. Where? As
Chris said, in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants
of the earth and none can stay his hand. You know that word
stay there in the original Hebrew means arrest. Who's going to
arrest God? You can't put handcuffs on God.
People think you can. People say things, most ridiculous
things. I did a wedding not long ago,
walked in the church and there was a big sign right there as
you walked in that said, let go and let God. How are you going
to do that? How are you going to do that?
I've heard men say, oh, don't tie God's hands. How are you
going to do that? You can't arrest God. You can't
put God in handcuffs. Now look at verse four with me.
And Moses said, Thus saith the Lord, About midnight I'll go
out into the midst of Egypt, and all the firstborn in the
land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that
sitteth upon his throne, even to the firstborn of the maidservant
that's behind the mill, and all the firstborn of beasts. Now
first let me say that I can't find anywhere in Scripture here
that we're told that God sent out the angel of death or that
the grim reaper was on the scene here or that he sent an archangel
or an evil spirit or anyone else to slay the firstborn of Egypt.
It doesn't say that. He said, about midnight will
I go out in the midst of Egypt. In chapter 12, verse 12, the
Lord says, for I will pass through the land of Egypt this night
and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man
and beast, and against all the gods of Egypt, I will execute
judgment. I am the Lord. Now this is the
God with whom we have to do. This is the God with whom we
have to do. Do you remember what Hannah prayed in 1 Samuel chapter
2? Boy, I wish folks knew what Hannah
knew. She said, it's the Lord. It's
the Lord that killeth and maketh alive. He who? The Lord. bringeth down to the grave and
bringeth up. The Lord maketh poor and maketh
rich. He, who the Lord, bringeth low
and lifteth up. He, who the Lord, raiseth up
the poor out of the dust and lifteth up the beggar from the
dunghill to set them among princes. Who does that? The God with whom
you have to do. And it's He that makes them inherit
the throne of glory. For the pillars of the earth
are whose? The Lord's. And He has set the
world upon them. And He, the Lord, will keep the
feet of His saints. You're going to be kept. You
know why? Because it's the Lord that keeps you. Kept by what? The power of God. How can we doubt? How can we
doubt? The adversaries of the Lord shall
be broken to pieces. Out of heaven shall be thunder
upon them. The Lord shall judge the ends
of the earth and He shall give strength unto His King and exalt
the horn of His anointing. In Isaiah chapter 45 verse 7,
the Lord says, I form the light and create darkness. I make peace
and create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things. He's not the helpless beggar
that men have made Him out to be. No, sir. Don't you believe. What many
call evil today is nothing more than God's sore judgments against
those who hate Him and refuse to bow and to obey Him. And I'm
telling you, whether it's famine, whether it's pestilence, whether
it's war or even death, it's God's judgment against sin and
unbelief. And these afflictions and adversities
and these calamities come under the name of God and they're of
Him. Secondly, from verse 5, I would
have you to notice that God is no respecter of persons. From
the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sits upon the throne, all the
way down to the maidservant who's sweeping behind the meal. God will smite and slay all that
have not the precious blood of the Lamb of God covering Neither in the giving of mercy
and grace nor in the delivering of judgment and wrath does God
consider the social or worldly status or standing of men and
women. It don't matter who you are.
If you're not covered by the blood, you're in big trouble. Big trouble. God saves only those
who have the blood of his dear son. as a covering, and God condemns
only those who do not believe and trust the precious blood
covering of Christ, the Lamb of God. Now look at verse six. And there shall be a great cry
throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it,
nor shall be like it anymore. In the atomic bombing of Hiroshima,
Japan, there were anywhere from 90 to 140,000 people total killed
that day, with many of that number dying days later. In the bombing of Nagasaki, there
were anywhere from 39 to 80,000 people who died either immediately
or soon thereafter. That's amazing. All ages, men and women alike,
children died. Teresa's mother, Teresa's my
wife, Teresa's mother was a young girl, 10 or 11 years old, who
lived in Nagasaki. That morning of the bombing,
she was sick and couldn't go to school. And she went to the
doctor instead. And while she was at the doctor,
the bomb was dropped. And every single one of her classmates
were killed. She was spared. And you know
what? I know why. I know why. I know one reason. Because there
sits my God select. Teresa's mom told me that the
cries that day could be heard all over the city. What a horrible sound that must
have been. But according to the Scriptures,
those don't even compare to the ones heard in Egypt the night
that God passed through the land of Egypt. Every house, every
family, where it was affected thousands upon thousands perished
throughout the land of Egypt. This serves as a great warning
to this unbelieving world in which we live. Our Lord tells
us there's coming another day when there shall be weeping and
gnashing of teeth, when we shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob
and all the prophets in the kingdom of God And he speaks to the unbelieving
and says, and you yourselves thrust out. According to Revelation
chapter six, there's a day coming when the stars of heaven will
fall to the earth and the heavens are going to be rolled up like
a scroll. And it'll be a time when every mountain and every
island will be moved out of their places. and the kings of the
earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains,
and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every freeman, everyone
that thinks themselves to be something and somebody, will
hide themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains.
And they shall say unto the mountains and the rocks, fall on us. fall on us and hide us from the
face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of
the Lamb. For the great day of His wrath
has come, and who shall be able to stand? God says there will be such a
great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, and there was. And God is telling us in the
Scriptures that there's a day coming again, and the day of
His wrath is coming. And He asked that question, who
shall be able to stand? Will there be any who can stand
on that day of judgment? Yes, my friends, there will be
some. There will be some. And it's
here that we have the gospel. Look at verse 7. but against any of the children
of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue." Against man or beast. Why? He tells us, that ye may
know how that the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians
and Israel. Did you hear that? It's the Lord. that put a difference between
the Egyptians and Israel. In the fourth plague, the Lord
sent a multitude of flies. I'm telling
you anymore, I don't know what it is, but if a fly gets in my
car, I freak out. I don't want that nasty thing
near me. Got to stop and kill a fly, or
get him out of the car one. But can you imagine flies upon
flies upon flies? Everywhere you looked there were
flies. They were everywhere. They were throughout the borders
of Egypt. Everywhere in Egypt. But, throughout
Goshen, where Israel dwelt, not a fly was to be seen. You know
why? Because it's the Lord that put
a difference between the Egyptians and Israel. In the fifth plague,
the Lord sent a disease upon all the cattle of Egypt. And
the few that didn't die from that, actually in the seventh
plague with a great and enormous hail, God killed the rest of
them. But upon the cattle of Israel
in Goshen, there'll no disease or no desolating shower of hail
and fire from heaven. Do you know why? Because it was
the Lord that put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel. In the ninth play, the Lord sent
a darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness that for three days
could be felt. You know, that's like six nights.
Twenty-four hours of darkness, three days in a row. And these
Egyptians, it's said that no man or woman moved. It was so
dark they just groping around. What a picture of this world
in which we live. There was darkness, there was
darkness that could be felt where the Egyptians could not see or
move. But there was light in every
dwelling in the land of Goshen. I don't know what, who that light was.
I don't know who that light was. Why? Because the Lord put a difference
between the Egyptians and the Israelites. And because of all
the chaos, you know at this point Egypt is in total devastation. Excuse me, it's a mess. Egypt
is just in ruins. And because of the devastation
and the death, dogs were howling and barking all over the land
of Egypt. But against the children of Israel?
Not a dog moved its tongue against man or beast. I wonder why. Because it's the Lord that does
put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel. Who puts
the difference between them? The Lord does. It's still the
same today. Still the same. Here we're told
that there are two distinct types of people that dwell upon the
earth. The first type, the Egyptians, who picture so well the unbeliever. Those who are dead and trespasses
in sin as Chris so ably told it. Enemies of God who by their
wicked works are said to be aliens from the commonwealth of Israel
and strangers from the covenant of promise. Having no hope and
without God in this world. And then there's the second type,
the Israelites, God's people. who have by and through the grace
of God believed in Christ, the Passover lamb. They've taken
that blood and they've applied it to the doors and the lintels.
And God said, when I see the blood, I'll pass over you. The difference and the only difference,
and I want to reiterate only difference, is the act of God's
eternal and sovereign grace found only in the Lord Jesus Christ. This distinction between the
righteous and the wicked was ordained of God from before the
foundation of the world. In the eternal covenant of grace,
God wrote the names of his elect in a book Christ entered into
the engagement of being their surety and their substitute to
suffer in their room instead, and covenant promises were made
for them and for them only. Their names were recorded in
the Lamb's book of life and engraved upon the breastplate of their
high priest, the Lord Himself. Psalm 4 verse 3 tells us that
the Lord has set them apart for Himself. While the whole world lay dead
from the fall of Adam, their federal head and their representative,
these precious jewels of whom I speak, the elect of God, were
selected and taken from the dung heap and set among princes. Were they better than other men
and women by nature? No. Were they? No. They certainly weren't. But God
in sovereign mercy and grace elected them to be what? Vessels
of mercy. Boy, I like that title, don't
you? I'm a vessel of mercy. whom Christ would show forth
not only His long-suffering, but also the plentifulness of
His grace and His riches in love. Before the foundations of the
earth were dug, the Lord made a difference between the Egyptians
and Israel. And the Lord made a difference
between Jacob and Esau. And the Lord made a difference
between Peter and Judas. And the Lord made a difference
between the believing elect and this unbelieving world. And people
say, that ain't fair. Listen, God has never claimed
to be fair. He doesn't have to be fair. He's
God. He's holy and He's just. And He has the right to do what
He will with His And I tell you, a child of God will say, that's
the best news I ever heard. The unbelieving world say, that
ain't fair. But God's people say, that's
right. And that's good. And we love
it, don't we? God by His infinite power has
quickened His people and He's given them a new nature, made
them new creatures in Christ. And they now love the things
that they once hated and hate the things that they once loved.
Who made them to differ? Turn with me to Ephesians 2 and
look at verse 1 with me. I won't be much longer. Look at verse 1, Ephesians 2. Written to the elect of God,
Paul wrote, and you hath he, speaking of God, and you hath
he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sin, but not anymore. Not dead anymore, he's quickened
you. He's made you alive. Why? Because the Lord made a
difference between you. Look at verse two, where in time
past you walk according to the course of this world, according
to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now
worketh in the children of disobedience, but not anymore. Why? Because the Lord hath put a difference
between. Verse three, among whom also
we all had. Notice the tenses of these. We
all had our conversations in times past in the lust of our
flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind,
and were, were by nature the children of wrath even as others,
but not anymore. Not anymore. Why? Because the
Lord made you to differ from another. Verse four, but God
There's the answer. Who is rich in mercy for his
great love wherewith he loved us. Verse five, even when we
were dead, were dead, not dead anymore, dead in trespasses and
sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace you're
saved. For the Lord hath put a difference
between you and the lost. We live in a religious day, don't
we? We live in a religious world
where we're told that we make the difference. Again, as Chris
so very well pointed out, we're told we make the difference.
Religion tells us that it's our decision that makes the difference.
Don't you believe it? The world teaches that we've
got to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps. They say that's the difference. Don't you do it. Preachers claim
that we need to let go and let God. I saw it on the sign myself. They can't deny it. Let go and
let God. Make Jesus Lord of your life.
You're a little late on that. God made Him Lord over all before
the foundation of the earth. According to the holy justice
of God, God deals with all rightly and justly. And those who endeavor
to stand before Him in their own righteousness are going to
be dealt with according to their filthy rags. Because that's what
our righteousness is. The law requires perfection. I'm convinced that's something
we don't know a lot about. The Lord requires perfection. Perfection. And so that sins
shall surely die. Why? Because the wages of sin
is death. But those justified in Christ
Jesus through the righteousness of Christ washed in His blood
God didn't deal with him as a criminal anymore. Not as a king does with
his subjects, but as a father with a child. Child of the king. What privilege,
what an honor. This distinction is carried out
in God's providence according to his own will and purpose to
the righteous man and woman. Every act of providence is a
blessing. Every act of providence because
God is working all things together for the good of them that love
him. Those who are thee called according to his purpose. But
to the sinner, to the unbelieving world, the Egyptians of this
world, all things work together for evil. Why is that you might
ask? Because it's the Lord that doth
put a difference. between the two. And I know that
the difference will one day be seen more clearly in the judgment
when the Lord shall sit upon the throne and divide the sheep from the
goats. And the sheep will hear these words, enter in thy good
and faithful servant. And the goats are going to hear,
depart from me ye that work iniquity. This is all according to the
distinguishing mercy and grace of God. It's all according to
His sovereign choice and purpose. And the child of God loves that.
Now when Paul asked in 1 Corinthians 4, verse 7, when he asked, who
maketh thee to differ from another? That word differ there means
to separate. It means to distinguish. It means
to discriminate. Religion says the difference
has to do with man's will, and man's work, and man's worth. But the Bible says that it's
according to the riches of God's grace. I believe I'm going to
believe God. That word according means specified,
given, granted, dependent upon the distinguishing, discriminating
grace of God. Turn back a page to Ephesians
1 where our dear brother read, and I promise I'll finish. Who makes you to differ from
another? God does. What do we have that we did not
receive? Absolutely nothing. Why do we glory as if we had
not received it? God's people don't. Not unto
us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name. Look at verse 5. having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself. Why? According to the good pleasure
of His will. Look at verse 7. In whom we have
redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. Why? According to the riches of His
grace. Look down at verse 9, having
made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His
good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself. Look at verse 11,
in whom also we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated,
predetermined, determined beforehand, according to the purpose of Him
who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will.
Look at verse 19. God makes known unto us what
is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe
according to the working of his mighty power. This book is full
of that, isn't it? Child of God. The only reason
you believe and trust in Christ is because God has put a difference
between you and those with whom you once had your conversation.
Truly, every child of God will say what I just quoted, not unto
us, but unto thy name. Give glory
for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake. It has, it is, and it will
always be God who makes us to differ from another. The only
difference between Noah and the rest of the world that God destroyed
was that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. The Lord
made him to differ. Same thing. The only difference
between Abraham and all the other idol-makers in the land of Ur
was that God called him out. God told Abraham, he said, I
will make of thee a great nation. I will bless thee and make thy
name great. And thou shalt be a blessing.
You see, it was God who made him to differ. The only difference
between Jacob and Esau was the difference that God made. God
said before the children were born, before they had either
done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election
might stand. Not of him that will. Not of works, but of him that
call. What was the difference? Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated. Child of God, what is the difference
between you and your unbelieving brother? What is the difference
between you and your unbelieving mother? What is the difference
between you and your unbelieving spouse? It's the difference that
the Lord had put between. Salvation, all of it is by the
grace of God. Faith is according to His gracious
gift. None of it is according to your
works. If it was, you know what we'd
do? We'd boast. Just what Paul said we'd do.
Oh, may God enable you who are yet without Christ to bow to
Him. Only He can make the difference. I was thinking about this as
I was looking over these notes this morning. He's the only one
who, as Clay said, can make you to see that you're needy. He's
the only one, as Brother Donnie said, who can cause you to trust
in Him as your substitute. He's just the only one that can
do that. He's the only one, as Frank said, who can enable you
to see that He died and He rose again according to the Scriptures
to pay you a sin debt. Gotta be paid. As Chris said,
He's just. He can't just sweep our sins
under a rug. They've got to be dealt with.
They've got to be paid for. He's the only one, as Todd said,
who can enable you to repent and believe on Him. He's the
only one. O lost one, Christ is the only
one. As our brother Chris just told
us, who has the power to heal your withered hand of dead works. He's only, only the Lord can
put a difference between you. May God enable you to trust in
Him. In Him, Christ, the only one
who can make a difference between life and death. This is serious business. Serious,
serious business. Well, let me say again, thank
you so much, Patrice and I both. Echo everything Chris said. We
know a little about how much work it takes to put on a conference.
And you ladies, man, I'm telling you, y'all are amazing. I'm glad men aren't in charge
of that stuff. We'd have pizza and pretzels,
brother. That'd be about it. And it'd
all be store bought. Thank you, Frank. Thank you. Appreciate it. I was thinking yesterday I don't
know if this will be as profound to you as it was to me, but it
overwhelmed me for a little bit. There's not a single doubt in
my mind that the spirit of Almighty God has been here this weekend. And that filled me with such
awe and reference, thanksgiving, And then I thought this, I love
a conference. I love a Bible conference. But
you know what I love more? I love the weekly feeding of
God's sheep in the local church. And what made me so thankful
is, when you go home Wednesday night, you know what you're gonna
hear? The exact same gospel you heard this weekend. Tracy, you
go to Madisonville, Wednesday night, did you take care of your
pastor? The exact same thing you just heard. Same thing is
true about Wheelersburg and Lexington and Fairmont and everywhere God
has a people. How merciful God is to his people. Doesn't that make you thankful?
Oh, my. I don't want to step over David's
message, but I want to say this about those who who claim we're
too narrow in preaching the message of God's electing grace. And
they're just, they're so afraid that somebody is going to want
to be saved and can't. Because God didn't choose them. Let me
tell you something. Nobody ever has wanted to be saved on God's
terms unless God chose them first. Are you willing to be saved on
God's terms? I mean, right now, are you willing
to be saved on God's terms in Christ alone? Are you? If you
are, you know why? God chose you first. He made
a difference in you. No difference in us. There's
no difference. We've all sinned to come short
of the glory of God. The only difference that can be made in
us is God's grace. I'm thankful. Now, our ladies
have prepared for us another wonderful meal to eat. And I
have to tell you, I apologize. I did not me to schedule our
conference on Mother's Day, and I hope you'll just stay and eat,
and those are to clean up, clean up, and we'll get out of here
and go take care of Mama afterwards. But when I first did this, Janet
said, you know, it's Mother's Day weekend. I said, oh, no.
I said, well, maybe on Sunday the men could cook and serve
the food. And Janet looked at me. And we've
been married a long time, so I know what she's thinking. She's
thinking, I'm going to say this in a way that won't belittle
him. And she said, well, she said,
why don't we just let the professionals take care of that? So that's
what we did. I've learned to listen to her.
So that's what we did. They prepared for us a wonderful
meal. And I hope you all stay and enjoy it and have a time
of fellowship together. Mike's going to lead us in singing
a closing song. When we finish, let's remain
standing. I'll dismiss us in a prayer, OK? Turn to page 509,
509. Stand as we sing, please. The sands of time are sinking,
the dawn of heaven breaks. The summer morn I've sighed for,
the fair sweet morn awakes. Dark, dark hath been the midnight,
The day-spring is at hand, And glory, glory dwelleth In Emmanuel's
land. O Christ, He is the fountain,
the deep, sweet well of love. The streams on earth I've tasted,
more deep I'll drink above. There to that ocean fulness His
mercy doth expand, And glory, glory dwelleth in Emmanuel's
land. He brings a poor vile sinner
into his house of wine. I stand upon His merit, I know
no other stand, Not in where glory dwelleth in Emmanuel's
land. The bride I stand her garment,
but her dear bridegroom's face. I will not gaze at glory but
on my King of Grace. Not at the crown he giveth, but
on his pierced hand. The Lamb is all the glory of
the man. Our Father, we bow. We bow in reverence and worship
before your almighty throne of grace. Father, we thank you. How we thank you for your mercy
and your grace to your people that you eternally reserved for
us in the Lord Jesus Christ. How we thank you that you sent
your darling son to be the sacrifice for the sin of his people, to
obey the law, to give us a righteousness, a perfect righteousness that
we could never earn our own, that he give himself, that he
make his soul an offering for sin, shed his blood to pay for
our sin, to wash us white as snow. Father, how we thank you
that you send your spirit and power to come to the hearts of
your people when he will, with whom he will, and give us faith,
give us life and faith to believe the Lord Jesus Christ, to hear
the gospel, and to believe, to see, hear Christ in the message. Father, how thankful we are.
We know we've got a pretty good idea where we'd be without your
mercy and your grace. And Father, we're thankful. We're
thankful that you would condescend to bless our meeting this weekend,
to bless these men who have come and given them a message to preach. Father, we're thankful and pray
that you give us hearts to believe it and to rejoice in and feed
upon the things of Christ we've heard this weekend. We ask for
traveling mercies for those who are traveling. Bless them as
they are brothers and sisters as they travel back home. Father,
we thank you for this food. We thank you for the dear ladies
that prepared it for us and we pray you bless it to our bodies.
Father, forgive us, we pray, of our many sins and our constant
prayer that you would see us and hear us only in our Lord
Jesus Christ. It's in his name's sake, for
the glory of his name, we pray.