It never crossed my mind not
to come. I mean, it wasn't that big a
decision. Why would I want to stay home
sitting in the dark with no food? Why not come here? It's good to be with you. I told
Paul after he had finished preaching that I would just sort of pick
up right where he left off, especially the part where he said about
Matthew in closing his message, that Matthew never got over the
wonder of God's grace and mercy to him. He just never got over
it. I suppose that's probably one
of the things I pray and ask God not to allow me to do more
than anything else, don't let me get over it. Don't let me
get over your amazing grace. I'm capable of doing it. Are
you? Sad to say. Take it for granted. Oh God, don't. Don't let me do
that. Turn with me, if you will, to
1 Peter. 1 Peter chapter 2. Darvin, thank
you for having me. Thank you for inviting me back.
say ditto to what brother paul said about the honor of being
here and it is an honor i appreciate darvin having me back and as
he said our folks just love him love him they uh when i tell
them darvin's coming uh they're always happy happy to hear that
and Pray for me, pray for me. Nothing's changed since I was
here a year ago. I mean that I can't preach, Hanson. I still can't preach. David,
you know this. Unless God enables me to. So
you pray that he will enable me to. Let me get a drink of
this. 1 Peter 2. Let's read the first
seven verses together. Wherefore, laying aside all malice,
and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,
those are not proper for a believer, but this is, as newborn babes
desire the sincere milk of the word, that you may grow thereby. If so be, ye have tasted that
the Lord is gracious. to whom coming as unto a living
stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious. Ye also, as lively stones, are
built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood, to offer up
spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained
in the scripture, behold, this is God speaking, behold, I lay
in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he that
believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore
which believe, he is precious. But unto them which be disobedient,
the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made
the head of the corner. Three times, verse 4, verse 6,
and then again verse 7, which will be our text, that word precious
is used. And each time it refers to the
Lord Jesus Christ. He's precious to God, verse 4. He's precious in himself, verse
6. But let's consider verse 7. It should read like this, unto
you therefore which believe he is preciousness. That's how it
should read. Preciousness. Preciousness itself. And thank God that that's so.
He is precious, is he not, to every believing sinner. There's the question, rather
there is no question about The preciousness of Christ is there.
Not to the believer. Not the believer. No question
about that whatsoever. Unto you that believe, preciousness. Anything more precious to you,
David? Anything in this world more precious to you than Jesus
Christ? Again, verse 3. Unto you that
believe, unto you that have tasted, The Lord is precious. You that have tasted his grace,
you know that it's so. Last night, when we got into
Taylor, I had called Darvin earlier on the highway and invited myself
to supper. And he didn't turn me down, because
my wife was with me, I think. But he's a good cook. He's got
some skills. And after we had eaten, he took
out a... I asked about dessert, and he
brought out a pineapple upside-down cake. And he was complaining
about it, because it didn't come out just like it was supposed
to. It had a little blemish in it.
I didn't see a problem. But he was telling me as he flipped
it out of the pan, he said, well, I should have taken a knife,
and I should have went around it before I flipped it, and I
should have did this and that to the upside down cake. And
I said, Darvin, why are you telling me all this? I couldn't make
an upside down or a right side up. Just give me a piece of it. That's all. Just let me taste
it. Just let me taste it. And that's what Peter said. If
so be ye have tasted. You have tasted that the Lord
is gracious. If you've tasted his grace, you
know by your own sweet experience, you've been made a partaker of
that grace. You know, you know. It's not
a matter of secondhand knowledge. It's not hearsay with you. You
know that he's gracious. And him being gracious makes
him precious to your soul. In Revelation chapter 2, the
Lord talked about the church at Laodicea. And they said, you
know, we're rich, increased with goods, we don't have need of
a thing. And the Lord said, that's not
so. That's not true. The reality
is, though you don't know it, you don't realize it, you think
otherwise, the truth is, You're poor. You're blind. You're miserable. You're naked. All but to the church's summoner?
He said, I know you're poverty, but you're really rich. You're
really rich. Rich in God's grace. If you have Christ, the preciousness,
now you can't put a value on that. What would you compare that to?
What is the worth of knowing the Son of God? What is the worth,
the value, of Jesus Christ passing your way and saying to you, you,
me, of all people, follow me? Oh my, my, how do you get over
that? That's the true riches. One old
hymn Writer, I don't think they know who wrote to him, it's an
old Irish hymn. Be thou my vision, expresses
it well, what I'm trying to say. One verse says, riches I heed
not, nor man's empty praise. Thou mine inheritance, now and
always. Thou and thou only, first in
my heart. Oh, high king of heaven, my treasure,
thou art. High King of Heaven. He's the
Pearl of Great Price, isn't He? He's the one of whom Paul spoke
when he said, I reach forward. I reach forward. I'm not apprehending
yet, oh, but I'm reaching, reaching for Him. Christ, in whom are
the unsearchable riches of God's grace. Moses, we read in Hebrews
11, was more than willing to forsake all the riches of Egypt,
all the treasures of Egypt, all those earthly riches, for what? For Christ. For Christ. And that's what I pray, that
God would be pleased to just, as another hymn writer, I use
old hymns a lot, Lord, draw back the curtain of memory now and
then. Show me where you brought me
from and where I could have been. Remind me. Remind me of that. Mr. Newton, old John Newton,
was visiting one of his members who had lost all of her earthly
possessions the night before in a fire. And Mr. Newton went in and he said, ma'am,
I've come to congratulate you. And she said, congratulate me,
sir. Congratulate me on the loss of
everything? He said, yes, ma'am, I've come
to congratulate you that you still possess that which you
can never lose. Jesus Christ, the preciousness. David Coleman used to sing a
song. Many of you have heard it. Remind
me, dear Lord. Remember I'm human, and humans
forget. So remind me, remind me, dear
Lord. Your son-in-law, last year when
he was with you and Don and preached at our conference in Sylacauga,
he sang a song that I think he wrote. I believe your wife told
me he wrote. Dear Lord, remember me. Remember me. The problem is not that he'll
forget us. No, that's not the problem. As
he said in Isaiah, can a mother forget her sucking child? Oh, perhaps she will, but not
me. I'll never forget you. The problem
runs in the other direction of me forgetting him. a story about Mr. Newton. He
was a friend of William Jay, and after Newton had gone to
glory, William Jay was visiting the house where Newton lived,
and he went up into the attic where Newton kept his study,
and over the desk, or opposite the desk, or rather on the wall
opposite the desk, in great big large letters, Newton had this
written. concerning his deliverance. He never wanted to forget it.
You remember what he wrote. Amazing grace, how sweet the
sound. Oh, he never got over, did he?
But this is what he had written over his desk. And thou should
remember that that was a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the
Lord thy God redeemed thee. God redeemed. That's worth something. That means something. These were
redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. Oh yes, remind me, dear
Lord. Peter wrote in his epistle, I
think his second epistle, it's proper, it's meat, it's the right
thing to do. As long as I'm in this tabernacle,
this flesh, get alive, to stir you up by way of remembrance. Old John Bunyan and his famous
allegory, Pilgrim's Progress, when Christian and hopeful were
nearly within sight of the celestial city, they came across what Bunyan
referred to as enchanted ground. And hopeful said, I feel so drowsy. All of a sudden, I'm just so
sleepy. Could we just lay down here and
rest a while?" And Christian said, oh, no, no. Remember, we
were warned about this place. We can't tarry here. Oh, let
us not sleep as do others. Yes, remind me, dear Lord. Brother Scott Richardson. And
you, brethren, remember this. He used to say, oh God, help
us never to get over that first love from Revelation 2 and 4. And Scott called it that sweetheart
love. That sweetheart love. Oh, the
freshness of it. The wonder of it. excitement of it, the first love. You mean Jesus Christ loved me? As Paul mentioned a moment ago,
He came on purpose. He loved me before the world
was with an everlasting love. He accepted me as the gift from
His Father. and agreed in the covenant of
grace to come in the fullness of time and to do everything
that God Almighty required, that justice demanded, to live for
me, to die for me, to arise for me, and intercede for me. You mean He did that for me? Wow. Wow. Oh, that sweetheart love. Oh yes, remember. Our Lord told
the church of Laodicea. Remember. That's the remedy. Just remember. Let's take a walk,
briefly, down memory lane. Especially this memory. Christ
is preciousness. Christ is preciousness. lady teaching a Bible class of
young children. And they read this text in 1
Peter 2 and 7. Christ is preciousness. And the
teacher asked them, what do you think that means? What's that
mean? And one little girl raised her
hand. She said, well, father told us this morning that mother
was precious, because where would we be without her? Where would you be without Jesus
Christ? Where would you be the night?
I guarantee you one thing, you wouldn't be sitting here hearing
the gospel. It's Friday night. You'd be out there doing what
you used to do. What multitudes are still doing. It's Friday
night. My soul, this is the last place I would want to be. Oh, but Christ in his mighty
grace. Yes, he is precious. For instance,
for instance, remember when God first woke you up. What did old Barnard call it?
Getting men lost. Remember when God got you lost?
Oh, if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, oh, He first showed
you your need of Him. You had to be lost before you
could be found. That's just a fact. That's just
so. You've got to be stripped before
you were clothed. That's just so. You were brought
down. You were brought down. before
He lifted you up by His mighty grace, you say, well, Larry,
that's not news. Everybody knows that. When is
the last time, David, when is the last time you talked to a
lost man? When is the last time you talked
to anybody that said, I'm the sinner? When is the last time? Oh, as old Joseph Hart put it,
what comfort can a savior bring to those who've never felt their
woe? Oh, a sinner, a sinner is a sacred
thing. Only God can make him so. Only God can make a sinner. God brings you down. Oh, and how he can change your
My father, one of his favorite expressions, I probably told
you this, like Paul said, it's hard to remember what illustrations
you used when or where, but it's been a year, so you probably
forgot it if I did use it a year ago. But my father would say,
son, if I would balk at doing something that he would tell
me to do, and there was no go stand in the corner, Larry, we're
gonna have a timeout. My dad didn't subscribe to that
stuff. The timeout would be his belt
on my behind, and I'd be hollering for a timeout. But he would say,
son, I won't tell you twice. I've done told you, and I bet
I can change your tune. Oh, he could sure do. And God
Almighty, I'm so thankful that he changed my tune, aren't you?
I won't come. He said, you will come. I won't
bow. Oh, but you will bow. I'm not
willing. You'll be willing in the day
of my power. Thank God for his almighty grace
when he turned the light on. Oh, that's a painful business,
isn't it? Is that what Newton meant when he wrote, it was grace
that taught my heart to fear? What do you mean, Newton? You
never feared before. You wasn't afraid when you were
shaking your fist in the face of God on that ship at sea, when
you were the captain of a slave ship and afterwards a slave yourself. You didn't fear all that. What
do you mean you fear now? Oh, God. God woke me up, got
me lost, and I realized there is a God. Not the God like I
imagined Him to be. not the God that I would like
Him to be, not the God like myself, but God high and holy and lifted
up. And for the first time in my
life, I asked myself the question, how can me, a sinner like me,
be just with a God like Him? Yes, He taught my heart the fear. Come down, sinner. Then, don't you remember, then
it wasn't Well, I'm not as bad as my neighbor next door. He
changed your tune. It used to be before that, well,
I'm just as good as all those people down at the church. I
used to work with a fellow, he was one of the supervisors in
the shop that I worked at at the University of Kentucky. Every
year at our conference in Danville, I would invite him and bring
a brochure of the services and so forth. And he'd say, ah, nobody's
down there. Every church I've ever been to,
they're just hypocrites. They're all hypocrites. I've
been in there. They're all hypocrites. Man, that's all he'd ever say.
And finally, I got tired and said, why don't you come anyway?
There's room for one more. Come on down. He'd never been
brought down. Oh, people that have been brought
down. that God's gotten lost. They don't talk that way. They
don't say, well, I'm just as good as everybody else. No, no,
no. Or they sing a different tune, like the publican. Lord, he didn't say I'm just
as good as that Pharisee. I'm worse than that Pharisee
ever thought I was. He's looking down on me, grateful
he's not like me. He doesn't know the half of it.
I'm the sinner. I'm the sinner. I won't argue
with him. I'm the sinner. There's not another one like
me. And you know what he looked to? Christ, his propitiation. God, be propitious. Be merciful
to me through your sacrifice. Oh, the sinner. And I suppose,
I suppose, that's what old Newton meant when God spoke peace to
his heart after stripping him Teaching his heart to fear, he
said, oh, how precious, how precious did that grace appear the hour
I first believed. Remember? Remember. Oh. A decision wasn't enough, was
it? You couldn't be satisfied like
the multitudes in our day. of just walking an aisle and
saying the sinner's prayer, many are satisfied with that. Oh,
but when God strips a man, that won't be enough. I've got to
have mercy. Nothing else will do. Nothing
else will satisfy. Nothing else will give me peace
within. Martin Luther said, if you see
yourself as a little sinner, you'll see Christ as a little
Savior. And I declare anyone that can find hope in a Savior
that needs their help must not need very much help. But we need
a mighty God and Savior, don't we? None else but a mighty God
and Savior, and that's exactly who Jesus Christ is. What happened? God who was rich in mercy. No
other explanation. God who caused the light to shine
out of darkness, shined into our hearts to give us the light
of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Oh, what a sight that was. If
someone would have asked me then, Larry, what's most important
to you now? What's most precious to you now? Right now. Who's your first love? There'd be no hesitation. No
need to think about it. No stuttering. Oh, it's Jesus
Christ. He's preciousness. Let me tell
you what he's done for my soul. There's a whole lot I didn't
know. There's still a whole lot I don't
know. But like that blind man that
our Lord healed, and was excommunicated by the Pharisees. He told them
before they kicked him out, well one thing I know, you fellas
are smart, you got your degrees, doctors of theology, but one
thing I know, I know I was lost, I know I was blind, But now I
see, I know that. Now y'all just have it. Y'all
can have it. And he went on his way. Oh yes, how precious did that
grace appear. I wonder how precious our Lord
appeared into the eyes of that leper. You don't need me to recount
leprosy, how horrible it was. They were outcasts. The priest
said, you're unclean. Get out. Leave family. Leave society. You can't dwell. If a stranger would approach
them, perhaps wasn't familiar with the laws, that leper would
have to warn them, wouldn't he? He'd have to shout, I'm unclean.
Don't come near me. I'm unclean. Hmm. I wonder how long it'd been,
that leper in Mark 1, I wonder how long it'd been since he had
felt the touch of another person's hand. I wonder how long it'd
been. And he came to Jesus and kneeled down before him and
said, if you will, there are not words to describe the sincerity,
the anguish, the longing, the turmoil, the fear, the struggle
going on within his breast when he said, oh Lord, if you will. And he's praying, oh, I hope
he will. I hope he will. He doesn't have
to. He doesn't owe it to me. There's
nothing I can do to earn it. It's all a matter of His mercy
and His grace. Oh, and he falls down in the
dust before Jesus Christ and says, oh, if you will, if you
just will, you can make me clean. How precious did the Son of God
appear to that man as he saw Him reaching out, touching him
and said, I will. Oh, I will. Be thou clean. How precious did that grace appear. How precious was he, the blind
Bartimaeus. And we could go on and on, because
all these miracles are just pictures of his saving of a sinner, his
great salvation. How about that woman with that
issue of blood? trying to make her way through
that crowd, the multitude. She had one desire, one need,
one motive, one ambition. I've got to get to him, Hanson. If I've got to get down on my
knees and crawl through these people, whatever, I've got to
get to him. Because I'm dying. I'm dying. Nobody else can help
me. They've tried. They failed. I've got to get to the great
physician. Or can you just picture her?
She presses through, keeps pressing through. Finally, she's close
enough. She's close enough to reach out.
Just barely, barely reach with all her strength and touch the
hem of his garment and bam, she's made perfectly whole. You know
why? Because Jesus Christ is able
to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him. Didn't
you? Didn't you, believer? Oh, my
soul, what a savior. She touched him, but it wasn't
what flowed from her. No, no, no. It's what flowed from him. Her
was disease and pollution and uncleanness. Oh, but from him,
from him, grace, full of grace, full of truth, flowed into her
diseased body, and she was made whole. Oh, the vilest offender
that truly believes That very moment from Jesus, a pardon received. Do you think she went skipping
down the road singing something like this? Oh, he touched me. You think maybe, did she know
that song? I think she did. He touched me
in all the joy that floods my soul. Something happening now
I know. He touched me. The Son of God
touched me and made me whole. He is preciousness. Notice now. He is. Present tense. Christ has grown not less, but
more precious, hasn't He, child of God, with the passing of time.
He's not changed. He's still altogether lovely.
You can't say that about anything else or anyone else. He's lost
none of his beauty, none of his merit, none of his worth, none
of his power. He's altogether lovely with everything
else in life. We have to say, change and decay
all around I see. Oh, but thou who changes not,
abide with me." John Flavel wrote this. He said, the beauty of the rose
of Sharon is never lost or withered. As his body in the grave saw
no corruption, so neither can his love or any of his excellencies. Other beauties have their prime,
and then they fade. You were talking about a picture
when you fellows were young. All flesh is grass. I was young
at one time, too. We all fade, not Jesus Christ. He abides forever the same. Our
delight in creatures is often most at first acquaintance. When
we come nearer, when we get to know them better, our delight
is abated. But the longer you know Christ, and the nearer you
come to him, still the more do you see of his glory. Every further
prospect of Christ entertains the mind with fresh delight.
Blessed be God for Jesus Christ, Flavel wrote. His worth, his
merit, his preciousness, his person never loses its value,
does it? It's the efficacy of Christ's
sacrifice, who he is, the dignity of his person that gives value
to everything he did. Who died? Who died? Oh then, no wonder his blood
is precious. No wonder he redeemed us to God. No wonder he bore our sins in
his own body on the tree. No wonder he's God. and he's
man, he's the God-man mediator. Notice again verse four, to whom
coming? To whom coming? A lot of folks,
religious folks, they can tell you about the what they've come,
the what they arrived at, what they know, but not whom, not
whom. What did not suffer and die? What wasn't made sin? Flesh of
our flesh and bone of our bone, one may liken to his brethren.
When that mob came in John 18, to take him in the garden, and
the great shepherd of the sheep steps forward in front of his
fearful disciples, and he says, Whom seek ye? He didn't say,
here's my word, take it. Here's my teaching, take it.
Here's my doctrine, take it. No, he said, here am I, take
me. Take me. Whom? Whom? Here am I, take me. Once in the end of the world
hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Oh. Larry, how can you get over that?
He loved me and he gave himself for me. Oh, child of God, does
he not grow more precious in your sight after every trial,
after every storm? When your little vessel is just
being tossed, wave after wave after wave, we've all been there.
And we're thinking, this is it. I'm a goner, darlin'. This last
one's got me. I'm gone. I'm goin' down. I'm at my wit's end. I've talked
to everybody I know to talk to. I've sought advice. I'm gone. Nobody can help me. And then
here he comes. The son of God. The preciousness
that has his way in the whirlwind. He comes walking up on the sea
and says, it is I. Don't you be afraid. He spoke that verse to me on
more than one occasion. Oh, what a storm was raging within
my heart. Larry, it is I. Don't be afraid. Preciousness. We learn to trust
him more, do we not? He said, My sheep hear my voice,
and I know them, and they follow me, and I give them eternal life,
and they shall never perish, period. No exceptions. No exceptions. They shall never
perish. Once in Christ, in Christ forever, nothing from his love
can sever. While his power and grace endure,
all who trust him are secure. He's most precious because he's
the only door. Only door. He's one of a kind. He's the only way to the Father.
He's the only mediator. He's our righteousness. God made
Him to be sin for us that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. Paul says He's our only acceptance
before God Almighty. Oh, I want to be found in Him,
Paul said, not having my own righteousness, which is of the
law, but the righteousness which is the faith of Christ. I want to be with Him. I remember when God first spoke peace to
this sinner's heart. Darwin, I remember lying in bed
that night And I thought, my soul, did he
really say that to me? Larry, thy sins which are many
are all forgiven thee. I thought, can it be? My soul, am I dreaming? Is this real? Oh, the wonder
of that first taste. of His grace and His mercy. My old friends began to spread
the rumor, did you hear about Larry? Haven't seen him lately. He's not doing the things he
used to do. He's not running with us anymore. I think he got
religion. No, Larry didn't get religion. Larry tasted God's grace. Christ got Larry. It's what happened. And you know what? In John 17, in his high priestly prayer,
we're wrapping this up. In addition to everything else
he said, sort of adds the icing to the cake when he said, Father,
I will also that all those that you've given me be with me where
I am." David Edmondson, he wants you with him where he is. If he wills it, it'll be there,
we'll be there. If he wills it, if he wants Larry
Criss with him in glory, Satisfied, awaking in his likeness. I'll be satisfied when I see
him and he's going to be satisfied when he sees me. To develop his
soul. If he wills that I be with him,
who's going to stop it? Who's going to hold me back?
Let me close this with a quote from another old hymn. Jesus,
precious, says the word. What comfort does this truth
afford? And those who in his name believe, with joy this precious
truth receive. Not health, nor wealth, nor sounding
fame, nor earth's deceitful empty name, with all its pomp and all
its glare, can with the precious Christ compare. He's precious
in his precious blood. that pardoning soul cleansing
flood. He's precious in his righteousness,
that everlasting heavenly dress. And as they draw near their journey's
end, how precious is their heavenly friend. And when in death they
bow their head, he's precious on a dying bed. When the books are opened and
death and hell are given up the dead that are in them, And there's
no hiding place. And all men are ushered into
the presence of a thrice holy August God. And every name, everyone
rather whose name is not written in the Lamb's Book of Life are
being cast out into everlasting darkness. How precious will Christ be. Brother Lindsey Campbell, the
brother in the church at Danville, many of you know him, and Larry
can relate to this especially. During his family reunion that
he would have once a year, it would include getting together
to play a golf tournament. Whoever he could arrange to play
against his family, the Campbells. Is that right, Larry? And one
time he was scheduled to play at the country club, a private
club in Danville. I got there early. I'd never
been there. I wasn't a member. Paul, they wouldn't let me in.
But I was there waiting for Lindsey to show up, and this guy kept
eyeballing me. And finally, he swallowed up
next to me. He says, how you doing? I said,
I'm doing all right. He said, what are you doing here?
I said, I'm going to play golf. He said, you're playing here? I
said, well, I plan to. He said, are you a member? I said, no,
sir, I'm not. He said, you can't play here. You've got to be a
member. About that time, Lindsey comes through the door, and I
said, I'm with him. That guy said, oh, OK then. And when this sinner's brought
in the presence of God, I looked at Jesus Christ and said, I'm
with him. I'm with him. We'll then enter
on in to the joy prepared for you from before the foundation
of the world. God bless you. God bless you.