One of the most intriguing things
to me in reading Scripture is to mark the precise prophecies
of the Old Testament with regard to our Redeemer and the accomplishment
of salvation by Him. Turn with you will to Micah chapter
5, Micah chapter 5. when men open the scriptures
and try to defend the scriptures from various outside methods,
try to prove that scientific statements are so, try to prove
that historic statements are so, or men try to disprove the
scriptures from outside things. Nothing stands to so firmly establish
the fact that this book God's Word. I don't mean it contains
God's Word, I mean this is the Word of God. Every word inspired
by God, written by the infallible inspiration of God the Holy Ghost. Nothing so firmly establishes
that fact as the specific prophecies given in the Old Testament Scriptures.
Here's one in Micah chapter 5, than 400 years, more than 400 years before the
Lord Jesus Christ took on Himself our nature and was conceived
in the womb of the Virgin Mary and came forth from Mary's virgin
womb at Bethlehem, God inspired His prophet Micah to specifically
tell us Lord Jesus would be born in one of the most insignificant
places in all the land of Israel, a little place called Bethlehem.
Not just Bethlehem, but Bethlehem Ephrathah. He gave that specific
note, Bethlehem Ephrathah the least in Judea. To distinguish
it from Bethlehem in Zebulun, Why? Our Lord Jesus was not the
Lion of the tribe of Zebulun. He was the Lion of the tribe
of Judah. He didn't spring from Zebulun's
tribe. He sprang from Judah's tribe. And Bethlehem is described here
as Bethlehem of Judah. Bethlehem Ephrathah, the least
little speck of a town in all the land of Judah. Let's look
at what he says, Micah chapter 5 and verse 2. But thou Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of
thee shall he come forth unto me, to be ruler in Israel, whose
goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." Don't
you find that remarkable? Now, you hear lots of things
about men who are supposed to have prophetic visions and have
made prophecies. But if you care to investigate
them, and I don't suggest that you should, if you care to investigate
them or if you care to listen to the nonsense on the Discovery
Channel or the History Channel about such things, you will find
that their prophetic statements were always terribly ambiguous. The ones who dared to make any
kind of simulance of a precise prophecy have always been proved
untrue. But here, 400 years before he
came into this world, Micah was inspired by God the Holy Ghost
to tell us precisely where the Lord Jesus Christ, God's incarnate
Son, would come forth from the virgin's womb. Out of thee shall
he come forth. As God the Holy Spirit will enable
me, I want us to go one more time to this passage of scripture
and tell you about the one who was born at Bethlehem, Ephrathah,
more than 2,000 years ago, our Savior, the Lord Jesus. Just
hold your Bibles open at Micah chapter five. We'll be looking
at verses one, two, and three. Now listen carefully. Here is
the message of Micah chapter five, verses one, two, and three. God sent his son into the world
through the womb of a virgin. He sent him the seed of a woman
so that he might make him a sinless man. A man who had no sin, did
no sin, and knew no sin. that he might make him sin for
us and punish him in the stead of his people to the full satisfaction
of his justice to accomplish our redemption. God sent his
son through the womb of the virgin, the woman seed promised back
in Genesis 3.15, to make him a man who knew no sin. had no sin and did no sin, so
that He might make this sinless man, the God-man, sin for us
to satisfy His justice in the sacrifice of His own darling
Son. Let's read Micah chapter 5, verses
1, 2, and 3 together. Now gather thyself in troops,
O daughter of troops. He hath laid sage against us,
they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek. But thou, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of
thee shall he come forth unto me, that is to be ruler in Israel,
whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. Therefore will he give them up,
the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth, then the
remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. Now let's look at three things
revealed here in Micah chapter 5. First in verse 1, Micah declares
that the judge of Israel, not a judge but the judge, judge
of whom all the judges, back in the book of Judges was a time.
The judge of whom all the prophets spoke. The one who comes judge
for Israel and judge over Israel and to judge all things for Israel's
sake. He shall come who is the judge
of Israel. Now unto thee, now gather thyself
in troops, O daughter of daughter of troops, he hath laid sage
against us. They shall smite the judge of
Israel with a rod upon the cheek." Now without question Micah's
prophecy goes beyond the Babylonian captivity of the Jews and their
deliverance from Babylon. He's looking to the coming of
our Lord Jesus and the salvation of God's Israel by Him. Let's
read Micah 5-1 as it stands in its context. up to chapter 4,
verse 11, Now also many nations are gathered against thee, that
say, Let her be defiled, and let her eye look upon Zion. But
they know not the thoughts of the LORD, neither understand
they his counsel. I would suggest that you take
that 12th verse of Micah chapter 4 and post it somewhere so that
it's readily before your eyes in any time of difficulty brought
upon you by what men do. They know not the thoughts of
the Lord, neither understand they his counsel. These men who
gathered against Israel who gathered to destroy Israel, who gathered
to destroy those people called by the name of God in Israel,
didn't have any idea what God's purpose was, or they wouldn't
have come close. They had no clue what God's counsel
was, or they wouldn't have come close. For he shall gather them
as sheaves unto the floor. Arise and thresh, O daughter
of Zion, For I will make thine horn iron and thy hooves brass. I'll make you strong and mighty
to thresh your enemies like a man threshing wheat. Now that's not
talking about carnal physical weapons and carnal physical warfare. God's church has never been established
with the sword. Only the papist and the Muslims
attempt to establish religion with the sword, not God's church.
God's church is established with this sword, the word of God,
the gospel of God's free grace. And by the power of this sword,
The Lord God causes his church to triumph over all her enemies
and to gather all the substance of her enemies gathering his
elect out of the nations of the world. Read on. Arise, verse
13, and thresh, O daughter of Zion, for I will make thine horn
iron, and I will make thy hooves brass, and thou shalt beat in
pieces many people. and I will consecrate their gain
unto the Lord and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth.
But don't stop there, read on. Now, gather thyself in troops,
O daughter of troops. He hath laid sage against us. They, these troops, gathered
against God and God's Messiah and God's Christ and God's church.
They shall smite the judge of Israel with the rod upon the
cheek. In verse 13 of chapter four,
God's church has promised triumph over her enemies. Here God's
prophet calls for Zion to rally, to gather herself in troops against
her enemies. It is as though he had said this. Let me give you Don's paraphrase. Laugh them to scorn. The gates
of hell shall not prevail against us. We may be taken captive for
a while, but Zion shall triumph in glory over her enemies at
last. Babylon, not that land over in
the Middle East. Babylon, that great whore spread
through all the earth. Babylon shall be crushed beneath
our feet. There is a babe to be born at
Bethlehem. God in our flesh who shall conquer
and make us more than conquerors over you. God is with us. Emmanuel is his name. Jehovah
our judge, Jehovah our king shall save us. This one who comes,
Emmanuel, to save us. to accomplish this great salvation,
this one who is the judge of Israel, Jehovah our Savior, in
order to redeem us, in order to save us, in order to make
us more than conquerors by his grace, he must be smitten for
us. Turn, if you will, to the book
of Isaiah. You turn to Isaiah chapter 53. And when you found
Isaiah 53, go over to the book of Matthew chapter 26. The Lord Jesus says, I gave my
back to the smiters, my cheeks to them that plucked off the
hair. I hid not my face from shame and spitting. Jeremiah
said, he giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him. He's filled
with reproach. Now look at Matthew chapter 26,
verse 67. this to you many times when our
Lord Jesus was enduring His humiliation and men arrested Him and then
took Him to trial and then mocked Him and then beat Him and then
crucified Him. The things done by those men appear to have been
done this way. They would go back and read the
Old Testament Scriptures and just say, what are we supposed
to do next? And they did exactly what the prophets of God said
they would do. Look at Matthew 26 and verse
67. Then did they spit in his face
and buffeted him, beat him, and others smote him with the palms
of their hands. Look at chapter 27, Matthew 27
and verse 30. And they spit upon him and took
the reed and smote him on the head. Our Lord Jesus Christ,
who was smitten with the rod by men, was smitten on the cheek
with the rod by men in their hatred of Him, in their anger
for Him, in their malice against Him. The very men who today We'll
sing in churches all over the world, joy to the world, the
Lord has come. Took a rod and smote him on the
cheeks. How could that be? They like
us, fallen sinful men, did but express the enmity of their carnal
hearts against God in smiting the shepherd. They couldn't get
to God on his throne. God sent his son, said, this
is there, come, let's kill him and take over. And they smote
him on the cheek. But there's something far, far
more important for us to understand than that. When he was smitten
by men, he was smitten of God and afflicted. When he was made
sin for us. We're never given any indication
in scripture that we're to celebrate the birth of our Savior. Don't
you find that interesting? Nowhere, no. We don't have any
idea when He was born. This is December 25th, and folks
have been celebrating December 25th ever since pagan Rome decided
December 25th was a good day for the celebration of the birth
of the sun god. And that's how we got December
25th as Christmas day. never an indication, never an
indication that we should celebrate the birth of our Redeemer. We
don't know when He was born. One thing we know for sure, it
wasn't anywhere close to December, nowhere close to December. It
was in the spring of the year, probably in April, May, maybe
even into June. The Lord Jesus came into this
world, but He came here to accomplish something. When we take the bread
and wine of the Lord's table in just a little bit, He commands
us to remember and celebrate. And that's redemption. What is called Christmas, the
celebration of our Lord's incarnation and His birth would be utterly
meaningless, except we remember why He came. The Son of God came
here to be smitten not only of men, but of God as our substitute,
smitten to death under the rod of divine justice. Oh God, let
me every moment of my life remember why He came. To that end, let's
look again at this very familiar passage in Matthew 53. I'm sorry,
Isaiah 53. Surely he hath borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows. I like to read this more personally.
Will you allow that? And you read it the same way
for yourself. Surely he hath borne Don's griefs and carried
his sorrows. Yet Don did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for Don's
transgressions. He was bruised for my iniquities. The chastisement of my peace
was upon him. That which had to be paid before
there could be any peace for Don was on him. And with his stripes, Oh, blessed
be his name, I am healed. All we like sheep have gone astray.
We've turned everyone to his own way. The Lord hath laid on
him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth. He was brought as a lamb to the
slaughter, as a sheep before his shearers is dumb, so he openeth
not his mouth. He was taken from prison and
from judgment. Who shall declare his generation?
Who's gonna serve him? Who's gonna represent him? This
man who never knew a woman, this man who had no wife and no kin
other than his mothers and fathers, sons and daughters and his cousins.
Who's gonna declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the
land of the living. For the transgression of my people,
For Don's transgressions was he stricken. And he made his
grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death. Because
he had done no violence, neither was any deceit found in his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise
him. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. can that mean? It gave the triune Jehovah satisfaction
to bruise His Son. Hear me, you who are without
Christ. The Lord has no pleasure in the
death of the wicked. What does that mean? It does
not mean that God will not punish the wicked. It does not mean
that the punishment of the wicked is contrary to God's decree or
God's will. Nothing could be further from
the truth. It means that God will never get any satisfaction
by punishing you. That's the reason hell's forever.
Justice cannot be satisfied by the punishing of a mere man or
of all mere men. It pleased the Lord. Justice
was satisfied. God's holy, infinite justice
fully and completely satisfied by the bruising of his son. But you know, he hath put him
to grief. The Lord Jesus was crucified
by Romans, yes. Crucified at the insistence of
Jews, yes. Crucified by wicked men, yes.
But nobody did it except according to the will and purpose of our
God, whose justice could be satisfied alone by the bruising of his
son. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him, he hath put him to grief, when thou shalt make his soul
an offering for sin. Now the Apostle Paul writing
by divine inspiration as did Isaiah gives us God's interpretation
of that statement. He who knew no sin was made sin
for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in when
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin. The Lord who laid our
sin on him made him sin for us that he might die for our transgressions
and be bruised for our iniquities by the hand of God's own justice,
the sword of justice in the hand of God himself. Then when his
soul is made an offering for sin, he shall see his sin. Ah, here's the joy set before
him, for which he endured the cross, despising the shame. He
shall prolong his days. That is, he's going to rise from
the dead on the third day, and the pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of
his soul and shall be satisfied. He will be satisfied with all
he came here to accomplish. with all he suffered, satisfied
with the debt he paid, satisfied with the death he died, how can
that be? When thou shalt make his soul
an offering for sin. When he who knew no sin was made
sin for us, it was that we for whom he died might be made the
righteousness of God in him. That's exactly what Isaiah says.
He shall see the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied by
his knowledge, by his knowledge, not by our knowledge of him,
by his knowledge, by his knowledge of who he is, what he came here
to do and what he suffered to accomplish redemption for us,
the full satisfaction of justice by his knowledge. shall my righteous
servant make a whole lot of folks righteous, justify many. He will make us the righteousness
of God through him, with him, and in him, for he shall bear
their iniquities. That's the smiting of Israel's
judge. But our Lord Jesus, God's darling
son, could not die as a man upon the cursed tree, under the wrath
of God, as one made a curse for us, until he came into the world
in our flesh. So second, look at verse two.
We read in verse two that the sent one of God must be born
at Bethlehem Ephrathah. But thou Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of
these shall he come forth unto me. That is to be ruler in Israel,
whose goings forth had been from of old from everlasting. Now, let me call your attention
to four things in this one verse. First, Micah identifies the place
of our Savior's birth as Bethlehem Ephrathah, a tiny insignificant
village in Judah. No place on earth could have
been more suitable. Let me remind you what took place
in Bethlehem. In Bethlehem, Rachel gave birth
to Benjamin and died. Before she died, she called the
name of her newborn son, Benoni, the son of Sorrow. But his father,
Jacob, called his name Benjamin, the son of my right hand. thus
giving a prophecy and a picture of our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus
Christ, the man of sorrows, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of
God's right hand, the hand of power, of majesty, of might,
and of honor. In Bethlehem, we read about a
woman named Ruth who met Boaz, her kinsman redeemer. And Boaz,
a picture of our Savior and a picture of redemption by him, redeemed
Ruth out of her lost estate and redeemed for her all the heritage
that she had lost through the conniving and the evil of her
father-in-law, Elimelech. Thus our Lord Jesus Christ, like
Boaz, our mighty Boaz came into this world and redeemed us from
our lost estate and brought back that which he took not away.
And he did that by the sacrifice of himself. David, David, the
great king of Israel was born in Bethlehem. The man chosen
of God to be the specific picture of our savior as king. our blessed
Savior, the King of Kings, our Lord of Lords, David's son was
born in Bethlehem. Unto you is born this day in
the city of David a Savior, Christ the Lord. Bethlehem means house
of bread. What more fitting place could
there be for Him to be born who is the bread of heaven, the bread
of life? He says that You must eat this
bread. And if you eat this bread, you
shall never die. Eat this bread and you'll never
hunger and never thirst. What's that mean? You come to
the Lord Jesus Christ, believing on the Son of God, and take Him
as your Savior, trusting Him, His obedience, His sacrifice,
His death, His life, trusting Him alone, Him alone for salvation. You will never hunger for anything
else, and you will never thirst for anything else. When I was a young man, like
most young fellows who study theology and try to study scriptures
and get to know anything about the book of God, I was real interested
in all the cults. I've got probably a dozen books
on myself back there on cults I've read back many, many years
ago, many years ago. And you want to know what all
those fools believe. Why do they believe that stuff?
You read the nonsense. You read the nonsense. And when
you go to a Bible college or seminary, you're required to
study the cults. God gives a specific command
not to do it. He says, don't do it. Back in
the book of Deuteronomy, he said, don't seek to know after their
ways or you'll fall after their God. Don't even fool with them. But aren't you interested? No,
not anymore. Not anymore. because I'm not
looking for anything to eat and I'm not looking for anything
to drink. I have no hunger and I have no thirst except for Christ,
the bread of life and the water of life. Eat this bread and your
soul is satisfied. Drink this water and your soul
is satisfied and you will never find that satisfaction anywhere
else. You won't find it anywhere else.
Bethlehem also means, or Bethlehem Ephrathah, it means fruitfulness.
The house of bread that is fruitful, that is fruitful. This is a picture
again of our Savior. He says, from me is thy fruit
found. Pastor, I sure would like to
have the kind of faith you're talking about, ask him for it.
I sure would like to have the kind of peace you're talking
about, ask him for it. I sure would like to have that
satisfaction. Ask him for it. Now, he may break your back to
give it to you. Ask him for it. He promised seek
and you shall find. Knock and it shall be opened
to you. Ask and it shall be given you. That's what he promised. That's
what he promised. And I'm here to tell you God's
as good as his word. I've been seeking. I've been knocking.
I've been asking. That's exactly how the Word is written. Seek
and seek and seek and seek and seek and you'll find. You'll
find. If you don't give up the search.
Ask and ask and ask and ask and it'll be given you if you don't
give up the need. Knock and knock and knock and
knock. Just keep on knocking and the
door will fly open if you don't cease to knock. This is our Lord's
declaration. I'm the bread of life. Thy fruit
is from me. This Bethlehem is described here
as the little one. Our Lord Jesus didn't come to
Hebron's high hills or to Jerusalem's royal palace, but he came to
the little village. So it is to this day. Our Lord
Jesus doesn't ride upon the mountaintops, but in the low places among the
brokenhearted, the humble, the meek, the lowly in heart, the
contrite ones. This is what he says. To this
man will I look, even to him that is poor. Poor. I used to be physically poor. Very poor. So poor I had trouble
getting enough to eat. And when Shelby and I were dating,
If we went to McDonald's one time too often, sometimes she'd
have to slip me a dollar under the table. Poor, poor. Now, I about always have a few
dollars in my pocket. But that's not the kind of poverty
this is talking about. Poor. Empty. Nothing in your pocket, nothing
in the bank. Not physically poor, spiritually
poor. Poor in spirit. Nothing to offer
God. Nothing to present to God. Nothing,
nothing, nothing. Not a feeling, not a deed, not
a choice, not a decision, nothing. To this man will I look, even
to him that is poor and of a contrite heart. or a contract spirit. Now, I want to tell you something
about a poor man. I'm talking about a really poor
man. A poor man. A poor man who's
got nothing to eat and no way to get any. A poor man who's
out in the cold and can't get two sticks rubbed together to
make a fire. I'll tell you something about a poor man. You talk about
contracts. You talk about contrite. Now
I realize he may be very proud inwardly, but before you, he's
gonna be contrite. Because you might can help him.
And he'll grovel, and he'll beg, and he'll stoop down at your
feet. He's poor! He's got nothing! He's got nothing! He's gonna lose life itself unless
you help him. He'll be contrite. If you find
me a poor man, I'll find you one who's contrite in his spirit,
contrite before God, brokenhearted, and trembleth at my word. The
man who takes God's word in his hand, recognizes who God is and
what he is, and he's poor and contrite. God said, I'll look
to him. I'll dwell with him, I'll come to him. Here's another
marvelous picture and display of God's sovereign absolute rule
of all things in providence by which he accomplishes the redemption
and salvation of his people. Our Savior was not born in Nazareth
of Galilee, the place where Mary and Joseph resided, but rather
he was born in Bethlehem of Judah. A good ways off. A good ways
off. How come? Because there was a
fellow who had been made emperor on this mighty kingdom called
the Roman Empire. And this fellow Augustus said,
I got to hunt. I got an idea. Rather than sending
tax collectors around everywhere to collect taxes, rather than
setting up a local IRS office in Danville, let's have everybody
in the whole country to go back to the place where he was born
and pay his taxes this year. That sounds brilliant, doesn't
it? We've got politicians like that.
That's a brilliant idea. How come Augustus did that? Because
men in power, as they think they have power, political and civil
rulers who think they're so mighty, cannot wiggle or move or even
think except by the direction of our God. He has power over all flesh. Civil rulers do, we're to look
upon as the oracle of God, for it is the oracle of God. The
civil ruler comes and is set over us by the power of God for
the well-being of his own people. But that man who sits in power
is but the instrument of God by which God accomplishes his
will for the saving of his people. That's all, no more. That's true
of every man in the world and of all the demons of hell and
of Satan himself. They are but instruments used
by God to accomplish His will in time. God graciously and wisely
rules and overrules the good and evil of this world to accomplish
good for His own and glory for His name. Oh, what a God our
God is. What a Savior our Savior is. Our Heavenly Father's providential
rule of the universe ought to quieten our hearts while we sail
through this troubled world. If we believe God, we ought not
be greatly disturbed by anything, the affairs of this world as
conducted by men. are but the outworking of God's
purpose of grace for the saving of his people. Let us learn to
regard all men and all devils too as creatures and instruments
of the Almighty to serve his glory and our good. Second, Micah
describes the incarnation and birth of our Savior, God sent
one. Out of thee shall he come forth
unto me. Oh, let us never fail to see
and rejoice in the workings of the triune God for us. Our Lord
Jesus came here as the sent one of God, sent by divine purpose
and decree. sent as Jehovah's servant, sent
on a specific mission to save his people from their sins, sent
in everlasting love with this promise, he shall not fail. This is the sent one, the Messiah,
the anointed one, who's come from God to save his people from
their sins, and save them he will. Now, Nebuchadnezzar tells
us that our Lord Jesus The Christ of God was sent here to be ruler
in Israel. You don't need to turn there,
but in Matthew chapter two and verse two, we're told that our
Savior, the Lord Jesus, was born king. Not born to be king, but
born king. There's never been a mere man
who was born king. Lots of men who were born to
be kings. Christ Jesus was born king. He was king from eternity
for he is God from eternity. He was born in this world as
king who had been king by God's appointment as our mediator from
everlasting. He was born king and he is the
king in Zion, his church. All who are his are those who
bow to him and worship him as king and savior. Now look at
the last line of verse two. Here we're told of our Savior's
goings forth. They have been of old from everlasting. He who was born at Bethlehem
2,000 years ago was coming to Bethlehem from
everlasting. His goings forth are from everlasting
of old. He stood forth from eternity
as our covenant surety and assumed total responsibility for our
souls. And he took the stylus of divine
purpose and signed his name to the compact of grace called the
covenant of grace in which he pledged himself to redeem and
save His people for the glory of God, and for which the Father
trusted to Him all things. He went forth from eternity.
The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world went forth from
eternity in all His works to save His people from their sins. And so He comes in time to accomplish
His purpose. Our Lord Jesus. loved us with
an everlasting love, took us in his hands from everlasting,
laid us in his heart from everlasting, assumed responsibility for us
from everlasting, made us his from everlasting, came in time
to live and die as our Redeemer. Do you imagine that he will let
us go now or slip from his hands? Impossible, impossible. The Lord
Jesus Christ would not have loved us for so long if he were going
to leave off loving us now. He would not have been my Savior
for so long if he were going to leave off being my Savior
now. But pastor, you don't know me. You don't know what I've
done. You don't know what I've been.
You don't know what I am. Let me tell you something. He
knew what I am by nature. before I was ever born. He knew
how utterly worthless this man is. He knew what I would be today. After being in the blessed sweet
experience of his grace for nearly 50 years, he knew what I'd be still. And he knew what he would make
me to be by his grace when time is no more. And he never tired
of loving me. Never tired of rejoicing in me. Never tired of saving me. And I'm pretty confident this
morning, he never will. I'm in the grip of his grace. And all hell can't break the
grip, let alone me. That's where we are. In his hand,
whose goings forth were of old from everlasting. will be to
everlasting. Now, look at verse 3, just a
minute. Here the prophet Micah assures
us of the result of these things, Therefore will he give them up,
until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth,
then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children
of Israel. Israel was cast off into Babylon
and then delivered. Like their bondage in Egypt and
their deliverance, it was all done to be a picture of something
else. A picture of the day when God
would cast off the nation of Israel and send his gospel into
all the four corners of the earth. And from the four corners of
the earth, gather his true Israel, his elect out of the Gentile
nations. remnant, the remnant embraced
in his heart from eternity. And so, as the result of the
coming, the incarnation, the birth, the life, the death, the
resurrection, and the rule of Christ our King, all Israel shall
be saved. All Israel shall be saved. All
God's elect, that's His Israel. Every sinner redeemed by the
precious blood of Christ, that's His Israel. Every sinner called
by God the Holy Spirit, that's His Israel. Boy, I sure would
like to know I'm one of those. Me too, me too. I'll tell you
how I know I am. I come to Christ. I just keep coming to Him. To
whom coming? I just keep coming to Him. And
my coming is proof that God's chosen me. My coming is proof
that Christ redeemed me. My coming is proof that the Spirit
has called me. Otherwise, I wouldn't come. Otherwise,
I wouldn't. Oh, Satan roars and he says,
you can't come, you're too dirty. You can't come, you're a reprobate.
You can't come, you're not been chosen. You can't come, he didn't
die for you. But my coming proves Satan a
liar again. Nobody's touched that. Nobody's
touched that. But it was put there for me.
My name's not on it. But I've seen it there a lot
of times. I've drunk out of that same glass a lot of times. I'm
pretty sure it's there for me. But I'm not absolutely positive. I suspect Shelby put it out there
this morning before anybody else came over here, but I didn't
see her do it. If she did it, I'm sure she did it just for
me. I'm sure she did. But I ain't certain. I ain't
certain. Let's see if I can prove it.
I wonder if I can prove that water is mine. I wonder if I
can prove it was intended for me. Let's see. Yes sir, that was for me. How do you know? I've got it.
You want some? You want some? Take a drink. If you can get it, it's for you
too. Oh, God, give you grace to come
to the Savior, eat the bread of life, drink the water of life,
and go home with God's salvation, yours. Amen.