1 Corinthians chapter 15. In verse 2, Paul tells the believers
in Corinth in his day, but believers in our day. This word is to you
and I too. God's word is always relevant. It's always in season. Always. And he tells them to remember,
to remember. Look at verse 2. Concerning that
gospel that Paul preached, he said, by which also ye are saved
if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you unless you have believed
in vain. Peter, concerning memory, said
he thought it was the right thing for him to do as long as he was
still alive in this flesh, to stir them up by reminding them
of things. Our Lord, in that familiar parable
that he spoke in Luke chapter 18 concerning the sower and the
seed. Remember what he said? Take heed,
therefore, in light of what he had previously spoken, explaining
that parable to his disciples, the meaning of it, he said, take
heed, therefore, how you hear. Be careful not only as to what
you hear, as Paul says here in verse 2, the Lord says, take
heed how you Many, many have the opportunity to hear the truth,
the glorious gospel of the blessed God. Why would anybody that professes
to believe that glorious message absent themselves from the opportunity
to hear it? Why would anybody do that? I
mean, I understand why the world would do it, but why would a
believer do it? Or when they are present, again,
take heed how you hear. Because when present, be careful
not to give it your undivided attention. Pray, God don't let
my mind wander. We all have 1,000 different things
clamoring for our attention. Don't forget this. Don't forget
that. God don't allow that to clutter our mind now, but help
us to give our undivided attention. Take heed how you hear. You may know this, Mr. Spurgeon, when pastor that great
church in London. One of the first things he did
when he began to pastor that church, had an orphanage for
young boys and one for girls. And the need was greater than
the supply. They took in as many as they
could. These little orphan boys, it was Spurgeon's delight to
meet with them, the girls and the boys. And there was one little
boy would sit on the front pew, Billy, at every service, like
this, just leaning forward like that. Have you heard this story?
And somebody asked him one time, why do you do that? What are
you doing? He said, because one of my teachers
told me. that if God speaks to me, if
God speaks to me, he'll do it while Mr. Spurgeon is preaching.
And he says, I don't want to miss it. I don't want to miss
it. That's a good attitude, isn't it? With that in mind, may God
be pleased to stir our memories and our hearts as well. Look
in this chapter, 1 Corinthians 15 at verse 9. Our text shall be verse 10, but
we have to include verse 9. Paul writing, he says, for I
am the least of the apostles. And this was no fake humility.
Of course not. He wrote under inspiration, but
at the same time, Paul was saying, this is exactly how I feel. I
am the least of the apostles that am not meet, fit, to be
called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. God forgave
him for that, but Paul never forgot what he'd done until he
saw Christ in glory and all tears were wiped away. But, oh, what
a glorious word. Verse 10, here's our text. Look
what grace does. Yes, I'm not worthy, I'm not
fit, I persecuted the church of God, but by the grace of God,
I am what I am. Look what grace has done. And
His grace, which was bestowed upon me, was not in vain. It accomplished what God intended
for it to accomplish. It wasn't futile. It didn't fail.
God's grace never does. But I labored more abundantly
than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was in
me. The title of my message is this,
A Grace Made Man. How do you like the sound of
that? A grace-made man. That's what I want to be. Don't
you, John? I don't want to be the product
of my own making. I don't want to be a reformed
man. I'm not comfortable around those fellas. With the legalism
and so forth. I don't want to be a reformed
man. Or just a church man. Or a five-point man. But I do
want to be this, which God's amazing grace can make. A grace-made
man. That's exactly what Paul was
talking about. I want to read a few sentences
from an article that dear brother Henry Mahan wrote. This was in
our bulletin several years ago. But the title of it is, Today's
Religion Questioned. And Henry wrote, anyone who is
serious about a knowledge, a knowledge of and relationship with the
living God, with the living God ought to question today's religion
which makes salvation only a profession and not an experience, which
operates only in a person's mind and not upon his heart, which
obligates God but does not glorify God, which designates Jesus Christ
as Savior but denies His Lordship. whose hope of eternal life is
based mainly upon what men do and think, and not upon what
God himself says. Doesn't that sound familiar?
First of all, let's consider this. The crooked stick. Only for the purpose of making
us appreciate more the straight stick. What I mean by that, what
a believer is not. He's not a self-made man. A Christian is not a self-made
man. I could not tell you the number
of times I've been in conversation with people, some of my very
loved ones, who think that salvation is something that they can be
educated into. If they read enough, if they
learn enough, somehow or other they'll evolve into a believer.
No, no, no. That's a self-made man. A Christian
is not that. We admire that expression as
it applies to other things. When a man or a woman, through
determination, through sacrifice and hard work, they make something
of themselves. That's admirable. They go from,
as we say, rise to riches. That's good. in a natural sense,
but not in a spiritual sense. No, you can't make yourself a
believer. Man-made religion produces man-made
Christians. Paul said, that's what I used
to be, but not now. That's all it can do. They're
Christians by name only. And I declare, it's probably
not a stretch right now, if I were to ask you, I bet you know some. I bet you know some. You know
many that are probably in your own family. I do too. I do as
well. I wish it wasn't so, but I know
it is. They're a professor, but it's
obvious by the life they lead, they're not a possessor. They're
a self-made believer, not a grace-made believer. Because a true Christian,
a real believer, can only be made, can only be made by God's
amazing grace. John, it's impossible with man. It's impossible with man. Most
people do not believe that. Most preachers do not believe
that. They think they can manipulate, sneak up on people's blind side
and make them a believer. Robin's granddaughter, This wasn't
in my notes, but it just now comes to mind. Sometime last
year, she was going to a church where her mother went, right
before her graduation from high school, and the pastor was baptizing
some people, and Abby, Robin's granddaughter, had asked the
pastor would he give her a good reference for a job that she
was going to work at over the summer. You know what he told
her? Sure, I'll be glad to, but let me baptize you. It would
look good on your resume if I baptized you. She called Robyn and said,
Grandma, I got baptized. Why, Robyn asked. Because the
pastor said it would look good on my resume. That's sad. He baptized her. She does, as
we say, she doesn't know God from a goose, along with many
of her friends, man-made believers. Brothers and sisters, that would
be sad. That would be a crying shame
if it only happened once in a while. Man, it happens all the time. Oh, God help us. As much as God help us to get
the gospel, the gospel, the good news of how God saves sinners
because we're living in a day when it's rare. It's rare. Let
me give you a couple of quotes. from two different men. Both
of these men lived in the 1800s. One was William Booth. Now, I
don't know what this man's theology was, but this quote that I ran
across I liked. He was the founder of the Salvation
Army. He said, this was in 1800, he
said, I consider that the chief dangers which confront the coming
century will be religion without the Holy Ghost. Christianity
without Christ. Forgiveness without repentance. Salvation without regeneration. Heaven without hell. Man, that was prophetic. He described
the day, didn't he? J.C. Ryle is the second one.
He said, whatever else we are in religion, let us be true. However feeble our faith, our
hope and love and obedience may be, let us see to it that they
are real and genuine and sincere. Let us abhor the very idea of
play-acting and mask-wearing in our Christianity. At any rate,
he said, at any rate, let us be genuine. Oh, God, don't allow
me to be deceived by a man-made Christianity. Oh, make me, by
your marvelous grace, a true believer, a grace-made man."
The same man, Paul, who wrote these words, was himself at one
time a self-made man. Wasn't he? I mean, you can read
his testimony. In many places, in the book of
Acts, in Philippians and Galatians, what he says here in verse 9,
and he was telling us, I was a self-made man. I was a very
religious man, a very indoctrinated man, a very learned man, but
I was a very lost man. I was a very blind man. The first
glimpse we have of Saul of Tarsus, Paul, The first introduction
we have of him, you remember where it was. Talk about first
impressions. Not much of a first impression.
Stephen. Stephen. God's servant. Has been drug out to be stoned. You know who's doing the stoning?
The religious leaders. Brother Henry again, I remember
him saying, you know who keeps the gospel out of most churches?
The pastors. They were stoning Stephen. Stephen
had preached the gospel. They preached that Jesus is the
Christ. And they stopped their ears. They couldn't stand that.
And they drug him out of the city to stone him. And while
they took off their robes so they could more freely stone
him to death, you know who guarded their robes? Saul of Tarsus. He held the robes. and felt it
was an honor for him to do it. Why he didn't actually partake
in the actual stoning, I really don't know. But he was more than
happy to hold the robes of those who bashed the head, as Stephen
called upon the name of the Lord. And then in the very next chapter,
we read, as for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering
into every house and hailing men and women, committed them
to prison. And after he chased them out
of Jerusalem, he heard there were some in Damascus, so he
got warrants, authority, from the chief priests that he might
go and drive them back to Jerusalem. In Galatians chapter 1, he gives
us some more insight as to what he used to be. For ye have heard
of my conversation, the way I lived. This is how I lived. This was
my life. In times past, in the Jews' religion,
how that I beyond measure persecuted the Church of God and I wasted
it. I don't think we can exaggerate
the hatred that Saul of Tarsus had for Jesus of Nazareth. He
hated Jesus of Nazareth. He felt it was his mission, like
Hitler thought it was his mission, to wipe out the Jews. He wanted
to spend his life and all his energy, all his power to kill
and silence everyone who ever said anything about Jesus of
Nazareth. Paul was convinced that Jesus
was an imposter, he was a deceiver, and he was going to make it his
life's mission to wipe his name off the face of the earth until
that day. Until that glorious day on the
Damascus Road. When he came face to face, not
with Jesus the imposter, not with Jesus the deceiver, but
Jesus the mighty God and Saul the Tarsus King. Isn't that amazing? Isn't that amazing? That all
the time that he was persecuting God's people, all the time that
he was giving his voice at their execution and being a witness
against them, all that time he was one of God's chosen. Isn't
that something? Would you have believed that?
If someone would have saw you that day when Saul went out to
Damascus Road, when he left to Jerusalem, did he pass by Calvary? Did he pass by that place where
the Son of God was made sin? Did he shake his fist and say,
I'll put an end to this? And someone would have come up
to you and said, you see that man? You see Saul of Tarsus?
He's one of God's elect. He's one of God's chosen. Pretty
soon he's going to preach that gospel that he's trying to destroy. Would you have believed that?
That's God's amazing grace. Philippians 3. Paul's biography,
again, when he was a self-made man, he said, though I might
also have confidence in the flesh, if any other man thinketh he
had whereof he might trust in the flesh, he said, I more. You've
got nothing on me. I was circumcised the eighth
day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, and Hebrew
of the Hebrews, my mommy and my daddy. Touching the law of
Pharisee, concerning the zeal, persecuting the church, touching
the righteousness which is of the law, I was blameless. I wonder, when our Lord pronounced
those terrible woes in Matthew 23, on the Pharisees. Remember that? That kind of clinched
them for the Pharisees. They said, oh, this is enough.
He's got to go. He's got to go. Did you hear what he said? Whoa,
you Pharisees, you hypocrites. You Pharisees, y'all may clean
the outside of the platter, the plate, and the cup, and inside
it's filthy. Whoa unto you, Pharisees. He
said, you're like a whited grave, sepulcher. Men walk over it,
not aware of it. But inside, it's dead men's bones. You stink. You're a stench in
the nostrils of a holy God. Do you think he might have thought
of Saul of Tarsus? I wonder when he spoke that parable
concerning some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous
in Luke 18 and despised others. That's the reason he spoke that
parable, to the self-righteous. I wonder if he thought of Saul
of Tarsus. when he said two men went up to the temple to pray
and one was a Pharisee and he stood and prayed thus with himself,
I thank you God that I'm not like other men. Did he think
of Saul of Tarsus? And I'm sure Paul knew and thought
of himself. That's why he could so much identify
with his brethren, his kinsmen after the flesh. when he wrote,
My heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they
might be saved, for I bear them record. They have a zeal of God,
but not according to knowledge. Paul knew that, because he was
the same way at one time. He went on to write, they being
ignorant of God's righteousness, going about to establish their
own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness
of God. Paul did that very thing when
he was a self-made man. Saul of Tarsus knew all about
his religion. If he was here, he would sit
down there and talk to you all day long. about the sacrifices? You could ask him anything about
it. About the furniture in the temple? About all God's laws? And there were hundreds. There
were more than the Ten Commandments. Paul would tell you all about
them. The tradition of the fathers? Oh, he would. He was proud of
that. He'd tell you all about that. He was a self-made man. Self-righteous. self-satisfied,
all about self. Again, I ask you, doesn't that
sound familiar? Doesn't that sound familiar?
My soul, it seems like every day this generation that we live
in gets more selfish. It's all about me. All about
me. People, they travel somewhere. Travel for hundreds of miles.
to go to a national park to see a beautiful mountain range, the
Smoky Mountains, the Rockies. The first thing they do when
they get there is take out their phone and take a selfie. You don't see nothing else but
their face. It's all about me. Forget what's
behind me. Forget God's creation. Look at
me. Look at me. Tell you what, Thanksgiving
day after the meal was finally set, I had got so sick and tired
of seeing people with their face in cell phones, I told them,
leave them in the living room. Don't you dare bring them to
the table. Every time I went to speak to someone, they was
doing it. Doing it. I wish they'd never invented
that thing. Or at least that it can't do everything that it
does do. My, so people don't talk to each
other anymore. Don't talk to each other. Staring,
staring. When I worked on campus, I don't
know how many times a student walked right out in front of
me, and I'm driving this big truck, staring at their phones.
All about self. Selfies. Selfies. Selfish. Sounds a lot like that too, doesn't
it? Today we have multitudes of self-made Christians. They
have no more evidence, and you know some. They showed no more
evidence of being a child of God than Hot Rod. That's Robin's
dog. They were converted without God's
grace. Larry, that's impossible. Exactly
so. Grace wasn't needed in their
experience. Think about that. A so-called
conversion that didn't require God's Holy Spirit. Am I lying? Am I lying? Am I making that
up? The average so-called conversion this morning that will take place,
I'm sure there'll be a lot of decisions made in Sylacauga.
What will there be for God to do? Why would there be any need
of God's grace or the Holy Spirit? because all that it involves
is taking a step, coming forward. You don't need God's Spirit to
do that. It doesn't require grace. Shaking a hand, say this prayer. If you're not willing to say
it, then let me put words in your mouth. Now, go your way.
You're a child of God. You're a sure for heaven. And
if you're already there, don't you doubt it. Man-made believers. God, thank you that you didn't
allow me to remain in that. That's what Paul was talking
about. I just love what Brother Henry said to a lady. Y'all have heard this, but it's
such a wonderful example. Henry was talking to a lady one
time, and Henry asked her, he said, Ma'am, are you a Christian? She said, Oh, Brother Henry,
Brother Mahan, I've been a Christian all my life. And Henry said,
Lady, that's too long. That's just way too long. And
that's the reason. That's the reason, I'm sure,
that what our Lord talked about, warned about in Matthew chapter
7, what an awful, awful picture. What a terrible, terrible picture.
But our Lord said, this is how it'll be. He said, many, not
one or two moonies, not one or two nuts, but many will stand
before me in that day and they'll call me Lord. Lord, we've done
many things in your name. We've done many wonderful works
in your name. We've cast out devils in your
name. We've done miracles in your name. We've built great
buildings in your name. Can you imagine the horror, the
absolute horror, that's going to grip their hearts when they
hear him say, I don't know you. Depart from me in outer darkness. How did that happen? If you will
read the remainder of that chapter, in Matthew chapter 7, our Lord
told us how it happened. They were never on the foundation.
They had built their hopes up on sand. They were self-made
men. That's how it happened. Oh, Matthew
Henry said, there are none sent away empty from Christ except
those who come to him full of themselves. He won't allow it,
will he? I know it's old-fashioned, but
God brings sinners down. There's such a thing as conviction.
conviction of sin, God gets people lost. And when he gets them lost,
when he gets them lost, you won't have to beg him to walk an aisle
or beg him to... God brings them down, God will
lift them up. Preach the gospel to them and
just leave them alone. The worst thing you can do is
encourage someone in a profession of faith. Buddy, if they come
to you and say, I'm lost, I'm lost, I'm lost, I'll pray for
you. Pray that God will show you mercy. Seek the Lord and
just leave them alone. Salvations of the Lord. I ran
across this article the other day by Brother Don. I think it
was an old, old bulletin article. But he gave a good example of
that, what I'm talking about, about man-made believers. It was this, and it was a title
of another man's article. You'll see what I mean as we
go along. The title was Armenian to Calvinist, Calvinist to Catholic. And Don said, but no salvation.
Recently I read an article about Mr. James Aiken, a man who has
changed religions again. He first converted from Arminianism
to Calvinism, and this is a quote of this man. because Calvinism
traditionally has been found among the more intellectual.
How about that, Billy? You feel like an intellectual? And the purpose of his article
Don wrote was to help Catholics make a better understanding or
have a better understanding of Calvinism so he might help Calvinists
make the jump to Catholicism. Make the jump. I like what Don
said here. With such brilliant intellectualism,
it will not at all surprise me if Mr. Aiken becomes a Hindu
next week and a Muslim the next. He might work his way all the
way back to a totem pole within a decade. Well, Mr. Aiken, what he has done is simply
swapped religions. That's all he's done. And Don
said, understand this. And if you do, if you do, child
of God, if you're a child of God, I know you do. Raise your
hearts in gratitude to God who has made you to differ. Understand
this. Christianity is not a system
of religion. It's not Calvinistic theology
as opposed to Arminian theology. It's not Catholicism or Catholicism
or Baptist. Salvation is a person. Don went
on the right. Salvation is not a system of
doctrine. Salvation is a person. It's the
Lord Jesus Christ. If a sinner is ever taken up
in the arms of Christ, he will never make the jump into the
abyss of false religion. Thank God for that. Now let's
go down. Look at our text again. Verse
10. Here, let's talk a while about
a grace-made man. Turn from what Paul used to be,
and most religious folks are in our day, and talk about a
grace-made man. But by the grace of God, I am
what I am. This is always true. To whomever
God bestows his matchless grace, this always follows. And his
grace, which was bestowed upon me, was not in vain. I like how this poem, these lines,
put it this way. It took a miracle to put the
stars in place. And it took a miracle to hang
the world in space. But when God saved my soul, cleansed
and made me whole, it took a miracle of love and grace. Hmm. Is that not so? Nothing
else could. There's no other explanation.
That's what a real Christian is. Somebody that God Almighty
has dropped into their heart the gift of faith that enabled
them to behold His Son, the Lamb of God, and they were saved in
beholding the Lord Jesus Christ. That's America. That's a miracle. People again today believe they
can repent and believe anytime they want to. It's simple. It's
simple as A, B, C. Oh, no. No, it's a miracle of
God's grace. Consider some of the ways in
God's Word that a believer is described. I mean, those very
things are sufficient to tell us it must be of grace, because
these things are beyond the power of man. But a believer, we're
told, is born again. He's born again. He's born from
above. He's given a new life. Now, who
can do that but God? Nicodemus was a smart man. He
was a teacher of teachers, but he was ignorant as he could be
concerning the new birth. He thought the Lord meant he
could go into his mother's womb a second time and be born. Remember
what the Lord said in Nicodemus? The wind bloweth where it listeth,
where it willeth. You don't control it. You can't
tell the wind what direction to blow. You can't make it come
up. You can't make it subside. And He said, so is everyone that
is born of the Spirit. It's God's work. Remember what
He said in John 6? It is the Spirit that quickeneth.
The flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak unto you,
they are spirit, and they are life born again." That's a miracle
of grace. We're told that a believer is
a new creation. Now who can create? Paul, the
same man that wrote these words in our text, said in his second
epistle to the Corinthians, if any man be in Christ, he's a
new creature. He's a new creation. Only God
can create. Only God Almighty can create.
I heard Tim James preaching along this line one time, and he said,
my soul, people today think they can create a new heart? They can make themselves a new
creation? He said, man, you can't even
make soup. How are you going to make yourself
a new heart? Another thing, we're told in
God's Word that a believer, a grace-made man, a real Christian, has been
raised from the dead. Now, Billy, did you do that?
Did you raise yourself from the dead? You better shake your head
no. No. No. You had he quickened. Child of God, did you hear that?
He didn't have to do it. You have he quickened. And if
he hadn't have quickened you, you'd have still been in your
spiritual death. You might have been sitting in
a church, you might have been singing how I love Jesus, but
you wouldn't know God unless he came and put the life of God
in your heart. Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord Jesus. You have he quickened who were
dead in trespasses and sins. What changed that? Why am I still
not in that condition? But God, but God, just like our
text says, but God who is rich in mercy, for his great loveworth
he loved us even when we were dead. hath quickened us together
with Christ, for by grace are you saved, and raised us up together,
and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that
in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of
his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." You
know, in John 11, there's a good picture of what we just read. to you from Ephesians chapter
2. You have he quickened? You want
a visual demonstration of that? You remember what happened in
John 11? The Lord of glory, the mighty God, he who was the everlasting
father and the prince of peace, he said, I'm the resurrection
and the life. Lazarus, he told his disciples,
just as they left for Bethany, Lazarus is dead. He's dead. Lazarus can't help himself. Lazarus
can't believe. Lazarus can't repent. Lazarus
can't come to Christ. Lazarus can't do anything, and
neither could I, and neither could you. He's dead. He's dead. What's he gonna do?
He's gonna remain dead except for this. You remember what our
Lord said? But I'm going to wake him up. Didn't he? But I go that I may
awake him out of sleep. I'm gonna wake Lazarus up. He woke Larry up. He did the same thing for Larry. He didn't attempt to do it. When
he went to the Lazarus tomb, he didn't say, Lazarus, you do
your part and then I'll do mine. My soul. You take the first step
and if you don't, there's nothing I can do for you. You got to
initiate this thing, Lazarus. Man, Lazarus is dead. That's
what stupid preachers say. But God didn't say that. Christ
didn't say that. He didn't say, Lazarus, please
accept my offer. Please, Lazarus, let me help
you. Hogwash. That's not what happened. That's
not what happened. Glory to his name. This is what
happened. When Jesus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus,
come forth. That's what happened. With that
word went the very life into the heart of Lazarus, and he
that was dead, we read in the next verse, he that was dead
came forth. Look at that. He was dead. I know that's him. He was dead. He'd been dead for four days.
His sister said he'd been dead so long he was thinking. And
now there he stands, alive. There's a picture of a grace-made
man. You hath he quickened who were
dead in trespasses and sins. That's exactly what happens to
a sinner. But by the grace of God, I am
what I am. Remember what our Lord said,
barely, barely I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and
believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life, and shall
not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life.
I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall
hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall
live. Oh, aren't you glad you heard
that voice? The voice of the Lord God Almighty. The voice of the resurrection
and life came to where you were and said, live. Live. Isn't that something? Isn't that
something? Isn't that marvelous mercy? Isn't
that amazing grace that he would come to where you were and where
this sinner was dead, dead? Take the first step. Yeah, right. Live. Lazarus, come forth. Larry, come forth. All to him
I owe. Jesus Christ did it all. And every believer, every true,
a man is not a Christian. Nobody's a true Christian if
they can't say the same thing Paul said, by the grace of God,
I am what I am. There's no other explanation.
No other explanation. Our Lord told his disciples,
you're not of the world. You're not of the world. Even
as I'm not of the world. The reason is I've chosen you
out of the world. You're in the world. But you're
not of the world. Every hour we live, every hour
that a believer lives in this God-hating, Christ-rejecting
world is a miracle. It's due to God's miraculous
grace that any child of God can live in this world, in this religious
dark world, without being murdered. He's a miracle of God's grace.
There's no other explanation. And think about this. Not only
concerning the descriptions of what we are by God's grace proves
that it must be only due to His mercy and grace that anyone is
a believer, but consider what it involved to make us so. Consider
what was necessary for God Almighty to bestow His grace on sinners. Remember what it required? It
required God Almighty, the same One who created everything, everything
that now is, that One who without Him wasn't anything made that
was made. That mighty God, that mighty
God was made like His brethren. Had to. Had to. In order to bring
many sons to glory, he had to be made like his brethren. To
be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to
God. Think about that. Huh? You think you're smart? Think
about that. You think you got a lot of great matter? We all
like to think that. Think about that! That little dark-skinned
Jewish infant in that manger, in that stable that night is
God Almighty! Wow! Wow! But that's not all. Not only did he have to live
a life of perfect obedience to God's holy law as our representative
and satisfy it, to fulfill it, somebody had to pay the penalty
for our sins. Somebody had to redeem us, and
not just anybody could. God made Him to be sin for us
who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him. Oh my soul, this great salvation
reflects on Him. The greater the salvation, the
greater the saving of a sinner, oh, the greater the Savior that
does the saving. And this is also true. The more
you belittle or lower this salvation, the more you belittle and lower
the Savior. Like this religious world does
when they tell poor blind sinners, it's easy as A, B, C. That's
why it's no big deal. It's no big deal. People profess
to be Satan, and it's no big deal. But I'll tell you what,
when God Almighty reached out His hand for me, and He brought
this sinner out of that horrible, dark pit, when He reached out
His hand for me, it was a big deal. It was a big deal. The grace of God that brings
salvation requires a great Savior. And with Paul, I rejoice to confess,
but by the grace of God, I am what I am." Josiah Condor wrote
these words, "'Twas sovereign mercy called me and taught my
opening mind. The world had else enthralled
me, the heavenly glories blind. My heart owns none before thee. For thy rich grace I thirst,
this knowing if I love thee. you must have loved me first."
And that's just right. That's just exactly so. Let me
wrap this up. If we are what we are by the
grace of God, if we are grace-made men, so what? So what? Give God all the glory. Thank the God of all grace, from
whom you received this gracious, gracious salvation. I think this is profitable to
do sometimes. See law. Pause. Get alone. Turn off everything you can,
all the gadgets. And think about this. Where would
I be without Jesus Christ? Where would I be? I'd be without
God. I'd be without hope. The only
thing I'd had to look forward to, Billy, was an eternity in
hell. That's what I had to look forward
to. But God. But God. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto thy name give glory for thy mercy and for thy truth's
sake. Brothers and sisters, Little
flock, let's pray that God would be pleased to bestow his amazing
grace on sinners in this place. As he enables us, let's do what
he instructed that poor demoniac to do, that he crossed the sea
and cast out 2,000 devils from. And that man wanted to be with
Christ when he was departing, when he was asked to depart.
that place. He wanted to remain with the
Lord. That's understandable. But do you remember what the
Lord told him? No. He said, you go home. Go home. Go home to your friends and you
tell them how great things the Lord has done for thee and has
had compassion on thee. And he departed and began to
publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him
and had mercy. upon Him, and all men did marvel. By the grace of God, I am what
I am." And isn't this encouraging? Child of God, the very glory
of the triune God is wrapped up in the salvation of His people.
How about that, Les? If every child of God chosen
by the Father, redeemed by the Son, kept and preserved by God's
Holy Spirit. If they're not brought before
the throne of God Almighty in everlasting glory, the reflection
won't be on them, it'll be on Him. It will reflect on Him. God will be robbed of His glory,
and that's never going to happen. That's never going to happen.
Glory to His name. I think about this a lot. When the Lord Jesus Christ brings
multitudes upon multitudes, hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of
thousands around the throne of God, he says, Father, I and all
the children that you gave me, here they are. I lost none. And you know what all the children
will do? They're going to cast their crowns at his feet. and
say, worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb, and so shall
we ever be with the Lord. Let me close, read a few verses
from Isaiah chapter 60, verses 21 and 22. God speaking to his
church, thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon
withdraw itself, for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light,
and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. Joy is coming
in the morning. Thy people also shall be all
righteous. They shall inherit the land forever,
the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may
be glorified. There was a man years ago named
William Gunther, pastor of the church, and he was asked to go
see this lady who was dying, an unbeliever. He went to her
house and went in. He preached the gospel to her.
And God, by His mighty grace, opened her heart. And she believed. Before William Guthrie left that
house, that woman died. He went home and told his family,
he said, I've seen a strange thing today. A woman whom I found
in a state of nature, I saw in a state of grace, and I left
in a state of glory. How about that? It was grace. first inscribed my name in God's
eternal book. It was grace that gave me to
the Lamb who all my sorrows took. Grace taught my soul to pray
and made my eyes overflow. It was grace which kept me to
this day. No other explanation. It was grace which kept me to
this day. and will not let me go. Grace, all the work shall
crown through everlasting days. It lays in heaven the topmost
stone and well deserves this praise. Oh, let thy grace inspire
my soul with strength divine. May all my powers to thee aspire
and all my days be thine. God bless you. God bless you.