Our first speaker today is Brother
Larry Criss. He spoke for us last night. He closed the service for us
last night, and today he's going to open the service for us. Pastor of Paramount Grace Church
in Sylacauga, Alabama. But before he comes, Brother
David Edmonds will go come and sing for us. I thought for a second he'd forgotten. Walter, I was intentionally going
to sing There is a Fountain, and Walter picked that one, and
I thought, well, Darvin had forgotten me, so it must be some kind of
conspiracy for me not to sing, but I'm wrong again. No, I'm
just teasing. Paul came in a while ago and
he said, you could always sing Come Thou Fount. I really do
appreciate that now. Come Thou Fount. of every blessing to my heart
to sing thy grace. Strings of words never ceasing
call for songs of loudest praise. Teach me, son, ? Sung by flaming tongues above
? ? Praise the Lord, I'm fixed upon it ? ? Bound to Thine redeeming
love ? ? Here I erase my eminence ? ? Hither by night, hell by day
? ? And I hope I find my good pleasure ? ? Safely to arrive
at last ? ? Jesus sought me when a stranger was near ? He, to rescue me from danger,
interposed His precious blood. Oh, to grace, how great a debtor! May He bind the betrayer! It's like a feather, like a wandering
heart to me. Going to wander, Lord, I feel
it. Going to leave the one that I
love. Here's my heart, oh, take it. Seal it for thy courts above. I fancy that I can sing until
I hear somebody that really can. Good morning. Good to be back
with you. And again, I covet your prayers.
Will you turn to 2 Timothy chapter 2. 2 Timothy 2. We're going to begin by reading
one verse. This is our text, verse 19. We'll consider it in the immediate
context in just a moment. But with all the uncertainty
that there seems to be in the world today, and all the bad
news that it seems we're constantly bombarded with, you'd have to
live in a cave not to be exposed to it. How good it is to hear
this sweet promise. Nevertheless, nevertheless, the
foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth
them that are his, and let everyone that nameth the name of Christ
depart from iniquity. Nevertheless, whatever precedes
that doesn't affect this blessed truth. The false teaching of
those two men in verse 17, Hymenaeus and Philetus, concerning the
resurrection, whether they denied whether there would be a future
resurrection of God's people, or whether they said there was
only the spiritual resurrection, the new birth, I'm not certain
what they taught. But as Paul said, nevertheless,
the foundation of God remains the same. It's unaffected. How Firm a Foundation, that's
the title. You recognize that, I'm sure,
from a hymn in your book, page 268. I did a little research
on that a few weeks ago and discovered what I didn't know. They don't
know who wrote that hymn. It was included in Rippon's Hymn
of Songs, Book of Hymns, in 1787, and it has a big K there at the
top of the page of the hymn, but they never did know who really
wrote the hymn. That seems like it makes the
verse even sweeter, doesn't it? Nevertheless, God knows those
that are His. God knows His sheep. The Great
Shepherd is always mindful of His sheep. And if I can recall,
the first verse is, how firm a foundation, ye saints of the
Lord, is laid for your faith in his excellent word. What more
can he say than to you he hath said, to you that for refuge
that Jesus hath fled? How firm a foundation. If a believer's If a believer's relationship
to God was determined by or dependent on anything, anything other than
his union with God's Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, there would
be no reason for this sweet word that introduces our text, nevertheless. There would be no foundation
for it. The success of God's salvation
is because of the Savior. The Lord is my shepherd. The
Lord. That was an excellent exposition,
Darling. The Lord. There's the foundation
of God that standeth sure. God's success, rather, he put
into the hands of his son. The salvation of his people is
not dependent upon his people. Aren't you glad that's so? Aren't
you glad that that's true? For example, here's another sweet
nevertheless. He need not turn there, but in
Psalm 73, now whether this was David that wrote the Psalm or
Asaph that wrote the Psalm, it doesn't really matter. It was
obviously a child of God. And he states the nature of a
temptation that he was in, and you know what it was? You know
what it was? He was envious at people who
didn't know God. That's what he said. I was envious
at the wicked. Here is a man that has the riches
of God's grace and he's envious at somebody that has some of
this world that's all going to perish and vanish away. How much
did he leave behind? He left it all behind. Left it
all behind. And David, Asa, whomever, said,
I was envious at them. And then when he has recovered
by God's grace from that temptation, he makes this confession, I was
a fool. So foolish was I, he says, and
I was ignorant." Not very flattering, but it was true. He was being
honest. And he went on to say, I was
as a beast before they. That's a believer, Russell? A
believer can act that way? Anybody here that's a believer
that hasn't acted that way, raise your hand. How do you do? Yes, we all have. We all have. We've been there. We've done
that. But David went on down and said,
nevertheless, like our text here, nevertheless, I am. Not that
I was a child of God, but now I've gone too far. I've crossed
the line. God's going to wipe his hands
and be done with me. Oh, no, nevertheless. Oh, what
a sweet song. That must have been to the psalmist.
Nevertheless, I am continually with thee. You've not disowned
me, you've held me by your right hand. And not only that, he said,
thou shalt guide me with thou counsel, and afterward receive
me the glory. Nothing's changed. Nothing's
changed concerning his love for me and his purpose for me. That tells me Oh, that tells
me, again, that my standing before the Lord God is not determined
by me, but it's in spite of me. It's determined by the Lord Jesus
Christ. I'm with Him. Nevertheless, the
foundation of God standeth sure. Two things in the text. Two things. First, you have this abiding
foundation. It's the foundation of God. And
then you have this inscription stamped upon this foundation
by the omnipotent decree of God Almighty. It's this, the Lord
knows them that are His. You have the foundation and you
have the seal. First the foundation. The foundation
of God standeth sure. Well now, why wouldn't it? It's
God's foundation. Why wouldn't it be sure? I've
had folks say to me in conversation, and I hope they're not being
a smart aleck, but when something is obvious, has this ever happened
to you? They'll say, duh. Duh. It's obvious. This is obvious. If this is God's foundation,
it's got to be sure. Duh. Why wouldn't it? Why wouldn't
it be? Listen to what the psalmist again
said in Psalm 102 verse 25. Of old, speaking of God, of old
thou hast laid the foundation of the earth. God did that. In the beginning, God. That settles
it. That settles it. Big bangs, no,
God laid the foundation of the earth and the heavens are the
work of thy hands. Oh, how great thou art. How great
thou art. And the same thing is true about
this foundation that Paul speaks to Timothy about, the foundation
of his church. The foundation of God stands
sure. Isaiah 28, verse 16. Therefore,
thus saith the Lord God, behold, O child of God, behold, God says,
I lay in Zion. I lay in Zion. My church is built
upon this foundation, a stone, a tried stone. Who could he be
talking about? Only one. A precious cornerstone,
a sure foundation. He that believeth on him shall
not make haste. Just everybody calm down. Just
calm down. No need to be excited. No need
to bite our nails, no need to pace, pull out our hair, oh no.
No, no need to be in a hurry, just calm down. We're on the
foundation that God Almighty has laid. Can it be anything
other than sure? Could it be any more sure? 1
Corinthians 3 and 11, for other foundation can no man lay than
that is laid, past tense, which is Jesus Christ, there it is. There it is. Let's just get straight
to it. Jesus Christ is the foundation
that God has laid. In his eternal purpose of grace,
he commanded and put into the hands of that one who alone was
worthy enough to fulfill it. Remember John cried in Revelation
5? Because no one was found worthy? to take the book from the hand
of God Almighty, to fulfill his degrees and purpose. And John
said, oh, I cried and I cried, because nobody was found worthy.
And then the elder said, quit crying, John. Behold, behold,
dry your tears. Look at this, John. The lion
of the tribe of Judah hath prevailed. Glory to his name, he always
does. He always does, again. Your pastor, reading that 23rd
Psalm, he's the Lord. He's the Lord. He always prevails. He always, if he doesn't prevail,
pastor, he's not the Lord. Oh, but he's the Lord God Almighty. Therefore, the foundation of
God standeth sure. Simon Peter, whom do men say
that I am? Well, of course the Lord knew
exactly what men said. He drew it from Peter. Well,
some say you're a great prophet. Some say you're even John the
Baptist risen from the dead. But Peter, let's come down a
little closer to home. Who do you say I am? Who am I
to you, Peter? And you remember what Peter said.
You're the Christ. You're the Messiah. You're God's
anointed. You're the one that all the prophets
have been telling us about. They all talked about Moses and
all the rest. It doesn't matter to me what
the rumor is about you. I know who you are. I know who
you are. You're the son of the living
God. Wow. And you remember what the Lord
said to Peter, and put your name in that. Child of God, put your
name in there. Blessed art thou, David, Darwin,
Paul, whomever. Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona. Flesh and blood didn't teach
you this. My Father's done something for you that only He could. He's revealed to you who I really
am. You're a blessed man, Simon.
You're a blessed man, blessed that is happy. The foundation
of God, thankfully, doesn't rest on man's decisions. Can you imagine
that? Some feeble, weak worm has the power to make God's purpose
succeed or fail? Duh! Are you kidding me? Thank
God the foundation of God doesn't rest on man's decisions, or man's
religious rituals, or man's will, but Jesus Christ, and God said,
behold my son, look at him, get your eyes fastened on him, now
hear this, he shall not fail. Never. Never. Thank God that
that's true. Matthew 24, Our Lord, in answer
to the disciples' question about the end of the world and the
destruction of Jerusalem and so forth in the last days, the
sign of his coming, the Lord said first of all and throughout
his answer this, there shall arise false Christ and false
prophets and shall show great signs and wonders. Doesn't that
sound familiar? These hucksters, that's one of
their favorite expressions. Come on down. They're signs and
wonders. The greatest sign and wonder
this world has ever seen is when God, by His mighty grace, saves
a sinner. There's nothing, nothing compares
to that. But Christ says that's what they'll
say. And if it were possible, He said, they shall deceive the
very elect. My soul. But it's not possible. It's not possible to deceive
one of God's elect because the gifts and the calling of God
are without repentance. The gift of faith that He gives
to a sinner in order that they might behold His Son, He never
retracts. Oh, a child of God can't quit
believing. He may, like Peter, curse and
try to deny and convince enemies of the Lord that he doesn't know
Jesus Christ. He may fall so far that he won't
even say his name, but he never quit believing. Even while he
was cursing and said, I don't know that man. Don't you put
me with him. Don't identify me with him. I'm
never associated with him. In his heart, he was lying. He
believed. That's why he ran out into the
darkness weeping, broken hearted. He couldn't quit believing. Thank
God. Nevertheless, the foundation
of God standeth sure. Down through the centuries from
time to time, there's always been smart alecks that have come
forth. Usually they're reverends, doctors,
philosophers. Brother Don, and I'm sure y'all
heard it, Brother Don Fortner, he said there was a man, a reverend
Twiddley, and he got a Doctors of Divinity degree, and he was
Dr. Twiddly-dee-dee after that. But such is that. Men who don't
know God arise and claim that they've proven that Jesus Christ
was not truly God. A good man, yes. A prophet, even
yes. But the Son of God? God in flesh? How can that be? That just can't
be. And here's his answer to all
those so-called intelligent fellas. I am the Lord. Here's the answer. This is what he declares. I am
the Lord and there's none else. Put that in your pipe and smoke
it. There's no God beside me. I girded thee, though thou hast
not known me. I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things. Whether you believe it or not,
whether you like it or not, I am the Lord. Thank God, and because
that's so, the foundation of God standeth sure. Another man,
stands and says he has disproven the substitutionary atonement
of the Lord Jesus Christ, redemption by his blood, the very heart
of the gospel. And they say, well, now that
just can't be. That just can't be. He died as
an example. He just died to express his love,
but taking away sin, sin can't be transfer to another? My sin couldn't be put upon Christ?"
And here's his answer to that. God made him sin, who knew no
sin, that we might be made the very righteousness of God in
him, glory to his name. The foundation of God standeth
sure, and no amount of rhetoric or logic, no matter how much
it may appear to be Well, it's just not so. They can do nothing to change
the reality. It doesn't phase this foundation
that the church is on, does it? The wind blows. Oh, the waves
rise. But the foundation of God stands
sure. His sheep will never, ever, ever
be swept off the foundation, Jesus Christ being the chief
cornerstone. I remember reading about Rolf
Barnard. He said that when he was in college,
and I think, Paul, you referred to something about this in your
own experience, that he belonged, he was the president of an atheist
club. He would, is that right, is that
right? And he would stand and young men would gather around
him and he would debate, thought he was proving the non-existence
of God. And you know what? He said at
night he would pray to that same God to have mercy on his soul.
What about that? No truth of God has ever been
destroyed by all the fires that it's ever passed through. And
it never will. As a matter of fact, it just
shines all the more brighter, doesn't it? I like this little
poem. I don't even remember where I
found it, but listen to this. the anvil of God's word. Last
eve I paused beside the blacksmith's door and heard the anvil ring
a clear chime. Then looking in I saw upon the
floor old hammers worn with the beating years of time. How many
anvils have you had, I said I, to wear and batter all these
hammers of Just once, said he, and then with a twinkling eye,
the anvil wears out the hammers, you know. And so I thought the
anvil of God's word, for ages skeptic blows have beat upon.
Yet though the noise of falling blows are heard, the anvil is
unharmed, but the hammers are all gone. Heaven and earth shall
pass away, but my word shall not pass away. The foundation
of God's eternal decree must be sure. Look here in 2 Timothy
1, verse 9. Oh, I like this. I don't see any
uncertainty in this, do you? Who has saved us? and called
us with the holy calling, not according to our works." Oh,
thank you. Oh, I like that, don't you? Not
according to our works. Well, then according to what?
According to God's own purpose and grace, which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began. That's why David said
on his deathbed, Though my house be not so with God yet, yet it
doesn't change this. He hath made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things insure this is all my salvation,
all my desire. In the song of Moses in Deuteronomy
chapter 32, listen to this. Give ear, O ye heavens, and I
will speak. And hear, O earth, the words
of my mouth. My doctrine shall drop as the
rain. My speech shall distill as the
dew, and as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers
upon the grass, because I will publish the name of the Lord.
Ascribe ye greatness unto our God. He is the rock. Our God is the rock. His work
is perfect. For all his ways are judgment.
A God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He. It is sweetness itself, is it
not, to feel that there is something under your feet? Nothing can
touch. Nothing you pass through can
affect. Nothing can change it. The foundation of God stands
sure. The psalmist said in Psalms 46,
though the earth be removed, be cast into the sea, O my soul,
yet the foundation of God stands sure. The Lord setteth upon the
flood, he just setteth king forever. In sweet, sovereign serenity,
he's not worried. I love that time we read of in
John 6, There's a multitude in a desert
place. The Lord says, Philip, where
are we going to buy enough bread to feed all these people? And
this he said to prove him, because Jesus knew what he would do. How often I've said, oh, Larry,
what are you going to do? What am I going to do? I just
don't know what I'm going to do. And he's brought that to
my heart. Jesus knows what he will do. Child of God, I don't know what
you may be going through. I don't know what trial, what
burden, what heartache you're going through right now. But
Jesus knows exactly what he's going to do. And the foundation
of God will stand sure. God has a grand purpose from
which he has never ever swerved. and he never will. I love this
sweet nevertheless. Never less grace, never less
grace. He giveth and he giveth and he
just keeps giving more grace. Never less mercy, has there never
been less mercy? Because his mercies are new every
morning. Never less love, never less love. For God loves his own with an
everlasting love. Never out of his hand, never
out of his heart. I know when my children were
little and my grandchildren, how often have you made the statement,
fathers, mothers, man, boy, I can't let you out of my sight. I just
can't turn my back on you for a minute. You know what child
of God? He never lets us out of his sight,
never. Never. Not for one moment. Now here's the second thing,
this seal. The foundation of God stands
ashore, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his. I read that in the days of the
pharaohs in ancient Egypt, when they were commanded to build
a pyramid or whatever, In the bricks, they would stamp
the signet of that pharaoh so they would know who commanded
that. It would be made to his honor,
distinguished it from other pharaohs. God Almighty has stamped the
foundation of his church, the foundation that's on the Lord
Jesus Christ with that blessed, blessed inscription, he knows. He knows those that are his. Listen to this. Now thus saith
the Lord that created you, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel.
He's talking to believers. Fear not, for I have redeemed
thee. Fear not. Why? Why not? Because I've redeemed
you thee. Oh, then redemption must be successful. I mean, that would not be a reason
not to fear if it's what so many people say it is. You mean, if
he redeemed people that go to hell, then I have all the reason
in the world to fear. If that's so, then I will too.
Oh, no, no, no. He redeemed me. He redeemed me. He purchased me. I bought and
paid for. And glory to his name, he's not
going to lose something that cost him so dearly, his own life's
blood. I've redeemed thee. I've called
you by your name. You're mine. You're mine. Oh, I like that, Paul. I like
that. I tell you what, it tickles me
that I'm hers. That little lady sitting there,
my dear wife. Oh, honey, I'm yours, aren't
I? Shake your head to help me out. This way, honey, not that
way. Oh, but my soul, what about this? The God of heaven, the Lord God
Almighty says, Larry, you're mine. You belong to me. I bought you. I've loved you
with an everlasting love. The Lord shall never ever forsake
one of his own. This knowledge God has for his
church is an everlasting love. When we read, he knoweth them
that are his, it means he's loved them. He's loved them with an
everlasting... Never been a time my little gray
matter, what little I've got, cannot get a grasp of that. I
just bow before it and rejoice in it. But there's never been
a time that God didn't love me. You mean after He saved you?
No, no, no. Before He created the heavens
and the earth, He loved me. He loved me. He gave me to Christ. He, Larry Criss, that's like
two first names, isn't it? Nothing eloquent about that.
I mean, Larry Criss. People say, you got two first
names. I say, well, I'm sorry, nothing I can do about it now.
Who's your daddy, James Criss? You never heard of him. Who was
he? He's a coal miner back in the mountains of West Virginia.
Who would have ever thought that God Almighty said his love
upon the son of James Chris. Larry Chris, having loved his
own which were in the world, he loved them. until the end,
and he'll keep me. Glory to his name, he'll keep
me till the waters rose, or what is it? The river rose its water
at my feet. And then he's gonna bear me safely
over where my Savior I shall meet. Why? Because he loves me. He loves me. He's redeemed me
with his own precious blood. The Lord knows those that are
his. Let me. Skip over a little of
this. The comfortable conclusion from
God's everlasting love in our election to salvation is this. What should we say to these things,
Paul said in Romans 8? Of what use should we make of
them? What shoe-leather theology, walking around every day sort
of comforting hope, well, how about this? What should separate
us from the love of God? which is in Christ Jesus. How's
that feel, Darwin? Boy, you can wrap yourself up
in that, can't you? What a warm, warm feeling. Here's God's promise to Jacob
in Genesis 28, verse 15. And behold, I am with thee. Oh, Jacob, that conniver. And to the sons of Jacob, you
and I. Behold, I am with thee. And I
will keep thee in all the places whither thou goest. And I will
bring thee again into this land, for I will not leave thee until
I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. Someone said
if God brings you to it, he'll bring you through it. And thank
God that he will. Not a couple of years ago, my
mother, turned 90. She's still here,
she's 92 now. But a couple of years ago, on
her 90th birthday, my sisters, I got four sisters, four brothers,
nine of us, all still living, all still living. So they play
a man, we've gotta do something for mom. We just, you know, 90
years old, might be her last birthday. So, Man, we were kind
of spread out over the country. But everyone came home. We stayed hid from mom. Didn't
want to give it away. And then on her birthday, one
of my sisters brought her to the country club. It was a golf
course. I used to caddy at when I was a kid. I'd never been in
this big dining room before. They wouldn't let the caddies
in there. I mean, it was OK to carry their bags, but we couldn't.
But they rented that place for my mom's birthday. And she thought
she was just being taken out to lunch. But my four brothers,
Ohio, Alabama, Idaho, Virginia, just spread out. They're all
there. And a lot of friends. Oh, just
so many friends. There was a lot of people there,
weren't there, Robin? And my sister brings mom up the
stairs. She's clueless. And she walks
in. And they're, her four sons, her
four daughters, standing in front of that crowd. And she just,
she's overcome. You can imagine, she just, she
just, and I walked up and got her, I thought she might succumb.
Oh, the look on her face when she came into that room. Child of God. The captain of our salvation.
The Lord Jesus Christ. He shall see it through the veil
of His soul. And He's going to be satisfied. He's going to bring
all of His redeemed multitudes, multitudes of redeemed sinners
around the throne of God. And he's going to say, Father, here's all the children that
you gave me. All those that you put in my
hands and I promised to bring back home to glory, here they
are. I didn't lose a one. Oh, my soul. And we're going to throw our
crowns down and sing hallelujah. What a savior. What a savior. That soul that the Jesus had
leaned for repose, he will not, he will not desert to its foes. That soul, though all hail, should
endeavor the shake. He'll never, he'll never, he'll
never forsake. God bless you. Darbyn, thank
you for having me.