Let's open our Bibles to the
Gospel of Isaiah. The Gospel of Isaiah, chapter
63. Everybody's all the time bragging
on Brother Bruce. I do too. I love him to death.
He's a choice friend. But sometimes Joe will put him
in order. Some of you haven't met Jo yet.
She's the lady who magnificently adorns Bruce's life. They were
at Kingsport, Tennessee about 10 years ago. And Bruce was watching
Brother Henry Mahan and his wife Doris walk across the parking
lot. And he kindly, humbly said, boy, when I'm 80
years old, I hope I look like that. And Jo looked at him and
said, I wish you looked like that now. So I hope I look that good. She
said, I hope you look that good now. Thank you for that message,
Brooks. I wouldn't take anything for
that. Thank you so much. Thank you. And I thank you for
your love, kindness, friendship, generosity, thoughtfulness, your
intercessions on our behalf. If you can remember four words,
You'll remember my outline, my subject, and my message to you
today. Four words, just four words. Afflicted, saved, redeemed,
carried. Those four words describe the
experience of God's people in this world, afflicted, saved,
redeemed carried Obviously, I'll pick up right where brother Bruce
left off This is how God the Holy Ghost Describes the people
of God in Isaiah chapter 63 and verse 9 In all their affliction
He was afflicted And the angel of his presence That's the Lord
Jesus Christ, our God and Savior, the angel of the covenant, the
messenger of his grace, the angel of his presence saved them. In
his love and in his pity, he redeemed them. And he bared them
and carried them all the days of old. I like that description
of our Lord Jesus, don't you? This is the Savior I need. That
remind you of a few things, just prominent things in this precious,
precious portion of Holy Scripture. The previous chapter, chapter
62, verse 11, it closes with the promise of Christ Jesus coming
into this world as God's salvation. Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed
unto the end of the worlds, say ye to the daughter of Zion, behold,
thy salvation cometh. Behold, his reward is with him
and his work before him. Thy salvation is a person, not
a creed, not a doctrine, not an experience, not a fact, a
person. Not a church, not historic events,
a person. Not a prayer, not a decision,
a person. Not a doctrine, a person. Thy salvation is God's darling
son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is in this book called Thy
Salvation. I love that picture of Simeon
when he's waiting for the consolation of Israel in the temple of God. And Joseph and Mary bring the
Lord Jesus in according to the law. And they brought him in
to identify him, give him his name, to circumcise him. And
Simeon saw them come in. And he walked up to the door,
and they had never seen that man before in their lives. He
had never seen them. He said, give me that baby. And
he took that baby in his arms, and he said, Lord, now that your
servant departed in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvage. Salvation is a person. He is the word of God. He's a
person. He is himself the light of the
world. He's a person. He is the revelation
of God, a person. He is the way, the truth and
the life, a person. He is the resurrection and the
life. He is the consolation of Israel. He is our redeemer and our redemption. Our sanctifier and our sanctification. He is our savior and our salvation. Now that's the first thing. Our
salvation is a person. And then we're told that his
reward is with him. What can that be? Look at verse
12. And they shall call them the
holy people, the redeemed of the Lord. and thou shalt be called
sought out, a city not forsaken. In verse 11, thy salvation cometh,
and his reward is with him. Here's the next statement. They
shall be called. His reward? His reward? What is his reward? His reward
is the people he saved. His reward is the people he redeemed. His reward is the people ransomed
by his blood. His reward is the people called
by his grace. His reward is the people of his
choice. They are called the holy people. The holy people. Not because
they're holy in themselves. They know that's not so. And
anybody who knows them knows that's not so. But because he
has made them holy. They are the redeemed of the
Lord. That's how he made them holy. They are sought out. They are not people who sought
the Lord. They're people who've been sought
by the Lord and the Lord seeking them causes them to seek him. You shall seek me, our Lord said.
And you shall find me when you seek me with all your heart. But I've been preaching a while. I've been preaching a while.
I preach all over the place. And I'll tell you what I've never
found. I've never found a dead, lost
sinner seeking God. Have you? You don't seek him. You seek
him when he causes you to seek him by seeking you. And they are called a people
sought out. Sought out. You ever start looking
for something, something just specific. My dear friend, brother
Bob Ponce, he's with the Lord now. If you needed anything,
Bob had it. He didn't throw anything away.
He worked for the railroad. He was a general mechanic and
he chased trains down for a living to keep them running. And if
you needed anything, he had it. I can't tell you how many times
I've gone over in the morning or gone over in the middle of
the night because I needed a nut or a bolt or a screw and the
hardware store was closed or I just presumed they wouldn't
have it. Bob would have it. And I'd go over there and I'll
tell you where he had them. He had marvelous filing systems. He had five gallon buckets. And they were all, you seen them? They were all in those five-gallon
buckets. Every size, shape, age, length there is in those five-gallon
buckets. And you start to look for them.
That wasn't the way to look for them. I can't tell you, but I
go over there. I start saying, that's the one
I want. And before I can say it, Bob got it turned upside
down on the floor. You scatter them out, and here
you go. Here you go. Here you go. Here
you go. That's what I wanted right there.
That's what I came over here for. And you think he'd have
a big old coal shovel, and you shovel them up and put them back
in the bucket. Because that's the one I was
seeking. Look up in there. This is the one God came seeking. He take the coal shovel and put
the rest of them back in the bucket. You who are gods are called sought
out, sought out. A city not forsaken. A city not forsaken. That's the name of God's church.
A city not forsaken. Read on, chapter 63, verse one. Our Lord Jesus is described as
one glorious in his apparel. Glorious in his apparel. But
now he's described here as glorious in his apparel as our substitute,
our redeemer, our sin-atoning high priest, traveling in the
greatness of his strength, mighty to save. Who is this that cometh
from Edom, out from among the cursed people? with dyed garments
from Basra. Who is this man who comes up
from among a people called Esau whom God hates? That's who Edom
is, isn't it? Who is this? Who is this that
comes up from a cursed people with dyed garments from Basra?
This that is glorious in his apparel. traveling in the greatness
of his strength. I that speak in righteousness
mighty to save. Who is this? I that speak in
righteousness, mighty to save. Speak by my righteousness, speak
because of my righteousness, speak on the merit of my righteousness,
speak through my righteousness. I am by my righteousness, mighty
to save. Salvation is by grace. Thank God it is. By grace that
comes to us through righteousness. By grace, blessed be his name,
by righteous grace. By grace, we rejoice to declare
it, by just grace. God only saves sinners in righteousness. Our Savior is mighty to save
because he's the righteous Savior. Wherefore art thou red in thine
apparel and thy garments like him that tradeth the wine vat
Now remember he's talking about his glorious garments He's talking
about his beautiful garments Can you picture a man? stomping
grapes Can you picture a man stomping
grapes And after a day of stomping grapes, you look at him and say,
man, he's well-dressed. Not hardly. This man is. This man is. Watch him. I have trodden the winepress
alone. And of the people, there was
none with me. For I will tread them in mine
anger, and trample them in my fury, and their blood shall be
sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. What? Is this talk about our
Redeemer? Is this talk about the man who
died for us? He trampled you in his fury. He trampled you to death, justly
punishing you in his fury when he dread the wide breast of the
fierceness of the wrath of God alone. Read on, read on. For the day of vengeance is in
my heart. This is the day of the vengeance
of God. This is the day when fury is
poured out. This is the day when God poured
out all his holy, just, righteous anger and fury against sin at
one time, in one place, on one man, on all his elect and poured
out his wrath This is the day of the vengeance of the Lord. It's called the year of my redeemed
is come. The year of my redeemed has come. This is the year for which the
world was made. This is the day for which God
created the heavens and the earth. This is the day that Abraham
looked to and rejoiced when he said, my son, God will provide
himself a ram for a burnt offering. And I looked. and there was none
to help. And I wondered that there was
none to uphold. Therefore, mine own arm brought
salvation to me, and my fury it upheld me." Where did our
Savior get this glory, this strength, this might to save? It was at
Calvary. where he trod the winepress of
the wrath of God alone and stained his garments with our blood,
when he satisfied the vengeance of God against us and brought
in everlasting salvation by his own right arm. Look at verse
seven. In all this great grace, all
this great salvation in and by our Lord Jesus Christ is traced
to one fountain, I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the Lord
and the praises of the Lord according to all that the Lord hath bestowed
on us and the great goodness toward the house of Israel which
he hath bestowed on them according to his mercies and according
to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses. This portion of the gospel according
to Isaiah speaks of the achievements of our blessed Savior upon the
cursed tree, the mighty conquest of the captain of our salvation
over sin and death and hell. It speaks of the consequent operations
of his grace, the consequent works of his mercy in us by his
blessed Holy Spirit in this gospel age in which we live. He calls
this this gospel age the year of my redeemed Here is our mighty
Savior who has made an end of all our sins brought in everlasting
righteousness and now before his father's face he speaks in
righteousness for us and by his spirit through his word he speaks
mercy to us revealing to us his infinite mercy loving grace through
the sacrifice of himself on the ground of his own perfect obedience
he speaks to the father for us and speaks to us for the father
and this is what it says it is It is finished. He, our savior, the son of God
is mighty to save. He saved us from eternity. Now I keep stressing that because
it needs stressing. It needs stressing. Folks need
to understand that God is eternal. Not that God is eternity. Eternity resides in God. God is eternal. God doesn't do anything first,
second, third, fourth, fifth, and 1000th. God does everything
in the eternal presence. And we were saved by God, the
triune Jehovah, before the world was in Christ, the Lamb of God,
crucified and slain, before the foundation of the world accepted
as our substitute, before time began, before ever he assumed
our nature in time and became one of us, he stood before God
as our covenant surety assumed total responsibility for our
souls, redeemed us, justified us, called us, and glorified
us in eternity past. And we were blessed of God in
him who hath saved us and called us with an holy calling, not
according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace
which were given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.
Now some ye who hears me say that, I presume he never read
the scripture because he fusses about it and he says, well, Mr. Fortner says we're saved from
eternity so there's no need for Christ to die, no need for us
to experience God's grace in time. Mr. Fortner didn't say
that. And God didn't say that. The fact that God's salvation
was accomplished eternally guarantees that it shall be accomplished
in time. But I'll tell you a little secret that folks just can't
stand, and I love it. Mr. Shakespeare said it, but
he got it directly from Scripture. The world is a stage. The world is a stage, and we're
all just actors on the stage of time. I'll say more than that. The world is a stage on which
God is unfolding before the eyes of creatures in heaven, earth,
and hell, the wonderful drama of redemption. So that everything
from the beginning to the end of time is but the public manifest
outworking of what God did in Christ from eternity for his
people. That's all it is. We are saved
by our Lord Jesus from before the world began, saved by his
shed blood at Calvary so that he finished the transgression,
he made an end of sin, he brought in everlasting righteousness,
he saved us with his blood. and we are saved by the power
of his grace in the sweet experience of grace when it is made manifest
in us that God has saved us and called us with a holy calling
not according to our works but according to his own purpose
and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began but is made manifest is made manifest in these last times
when Christ is born in you. When Christ, the son of righteousness,
rises up in you. Our Lord Jesus Christ has saved
us all by himself. Turn to 1 John chapter 2. I want
you to see this. 1 John chapter 2. I preached to our folks last
Sunday morning and used this as part of the text. I had several
texts from 1 John. The subject was Christian or
Antichrist. Christian or Antichrist. How do you tell the difference?
How do you tell the difference? Well, you get your Schofield
Bible and you read all the notes that they have put in the Bible
there and you find out Antichrist, he wears long hair and he pushes
hair up on his forehead. God appears to say six, six,
six. Oh, six, six, six. That's the dreaded number. Do
you know there's a house on the street where Brother Maurice
and Sue Montgomery lived most of their married life? I'm talking
about just three or four doors right up from where Maurice and
Sue lived. Fella built the house, moved into it, had to move, and
he put it up for sale. And it wouldn't sell. They lived
down there where the Happy Goodmans were, down in Madisonville, Kentucky.
If you don't know who the Happy Goodmans are, you don't need
to know. But they lived down there where those singing, shouting
Baptists lived. And they couldn't sell that house. They couldn't sell it. Do you
know why they couldn't sell it? The address was six, six, six. They had to go to courthouse
and get the address changed. House sold like that. Cause folks
were scared to death. Six, six, six. Let me tell you what the number
six, six, six is. That's the number of man. That's
the number of frustration. That's the number of failure.
That's the number of Antichrist. It is a number given to represent
something. Frustration of man in his man-made,
man-worshipping religion shall fail. Babylon will be crushed
to hell by the hand of our God. Six, six, six. Most of this world in professed
religion is antichrist. The number over the door is six,
six, six. Look at 1 John 2. Little children,
it is the last time. You mean there's not gonna be
a secret rapture? No, no worse spoken of in this book. You mean
there's not gonna be seven years of tribulation? Nowhere spoken
of in this book. You mean there's not gonna be
a time when the Lord Jesus comes and sets up a millennial kingdom
over in Israel and he's gonna sit on that, oh man, he's gonna
abdicate the throne of glory and sit on that throne of glory?
Not hardly, not hardly. It's not in this book, it's not
in this book. John says this right now is the
last time. This is the last tick of the
clock. It began with Christ's incarnation. It concludes with
Christ's second coming. And as you have heard, that antichrist
shall come. That is false Christ, that which
is against Christ, pretend Christ, satanic Christ. Even now are
there many antichrists, whereby we know that it is the last time. Sherman and I arrived in Ireland
Monday night. Two weeks ago. Two weeks ago. I'm sorry, Sunday night. I got
in there late Sunday night and I went outside to have a smoke
and I was sitting there smoking my pipe and a fella came out
and I saw him go in. He went in with a bottle in his
hand. Pretty good Irishman. He went in with a bottle in his
hand and said I got to have breakfast in the morning. And he had already had Had three
bills out of that bottle already today, I was quite certain because
he was walking kind of wobbly But he had, man, he came and
sat down beside me. Apparently he had been in a fight
somewhere. He had a shot. This is a fella 50 years old
at least or better. Man, I mean, he had been in a
brawl. And he sat down and wanted to
talk to me. And I asked him what he was doing. I told him to come
over here. I bowed to him and said, Mr. Bishop, I'm a Baptist
preacher. He said, what you doing? Come over here and preach to
us. I said, because folks invited
me, folks need God. He said, what do you think about
the Roman Catholic Church? I thought, uh-oh. I said, he's
Antichrist. What do you think about the Pope?
He's Antichrist. And I could tell his teeth were
kind of grinding. And I said, before you're too upset, so is
all other religion where men are worshiped. and where man
is the center. And folks declare that man's
his own savior. What is this? This is the last
time. Antichrist done gone out, done gone out. They went out
from us, verse 19. They went out from us. This began
during the days of the apostles. This began just shortly after
our savior's crucifixion. It began while he was still on
this earth. They went out from us. They went out from us, for
if they'd been of us, they would no doubt have continued with
us. It's not talking just about folks who, they come to church,
they join up Fairmont Grace Church, and they're, man, they're just
a bolt of lightning, they're on fire, and soon they fizzle
out. That's not all it's talking about.
It's talking about folks who left Christ, left the gospel,
left the worship of God, abandoned things of God, and went to something
else. They went out from us, that they might be made manifest,
they were not all of us. But you, you who are God's, you've
got something they didn't have. You've got something that won't
let you go. You have an unction. The word is anointing. You have
an unction from the Holy One, Christ Jesus. You have an anointing
from God's darling Son, God the Holy Ghost, by which you know
all things. You have the mind of Christ.
You know all things. What's he talking about? Boy,
if you're born again, you get to be a genius and you can be
a nuclear scientist. You can do anything. Got nothing
to do with all this stuff. Nothing at all. I've not written
to you because you know not the truth, but because you know it
and that no lie is of the truth. Who is a liar? Who is antichrist? He is Antichrist that denieth
that Jesus is the Christ. He is Antichrist that denieth
the Father and the Son. Look at chapter five, first John
chapter five, verse one. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ, he's born of God. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ, whoever it is that believes that that man,
Jesus of Nazareth, who walked on this earth for 33 years, and
was crucified by the hands of Romans at the insistence of Jews
by the hands of wicked religious men and rose again the third
day whoever in this world believes that that man actually did accomplish
everything God in the scriptures said that Christ would accomplish
he's born of God He's born of God. Whoever believes him, that
is, whoever trusts him alone for their salvation, bowing to
him as their Lord, the Christ of God, committing their souls,
their lives to him, he's born of God. Anybody who says Christ
didn't do all that, he just made it possible for sin to be put
away. He just made it possible for you to be saved. He just
made it possible for you to be redeemed. He provided the opportunity,
but you've got to make the decision. He provided the groundwork, but
you've got to finish it. He laid the foundation, but you've
got to build on it. He's anti-Christ. He doesn't
know God, Father, Son, or Holy Ghost. But you, you have an unction
from the Holy One. You know it's so. This man redeemed
us. This is God, our Savior. He is
mighty to save. Are you deep in a dungeon of
despondency? Christ is mighty to save. Are
you crushed beneath the horrid load of sin and guilt? Christ
is mighty to save. Are you harassed with doubt and
fear? all the time. Christ is mighty to save. Are
you troubled and tossed upon the billows of a raging sea of
trouble? Christ is mighty to save. Do
you cry like the patriarch of old? Sometimes you just get,
you throw your hands up and say, all these things are against
me. Christ is mighty to save. Are
you like Peter Fallen Christ is mighty to say Are you compelled
to confess with the bride in sorrow I sleep Christ is mighty
to say I The Lord Jesus Christ is mighty to save us from our
sins, our sufferings, and our sorrows. From all the evil that
the world gives us, and by which we are grieved, and from all
the error that would deceive us, and from all the corruptions
that rage within us. His salvation, someone said,
is a salvation which God could not mend and devils can never
bar. That's his salvation. He's mighty
to save. This Savior and this salvation
doesn't depend on you or me in any way. He carries with it no
conditions. It's his work alone. His salvation. is not bestowed on us according
to the measure of our faith, but rather according to the measure
of His grace, of which there is no measure. His salvation
is not given by the merit of our works, but by the merit of
His obedience. His salvation is not sustained
by the length of our faithfulness, but by the length of his faithfulness.
We are not saved by our goodness, but by his great goodness. Not
by our power, but by his mighty power. I'm weak and you're weak. I'm sinful and you're sinful.
I can do nothing and you can do nothing. But my brother, my
sister, my God shall supply all your need according to his riches
in glory by Christ Jesus. He who is mighty to save says
to every sinner who looks to him acknowledging his weakness
and sin, my grace is sufficient for thee. And he's proved it.
He's proved it. He's proved it 10,000 times,
has he not? My grace is sufficient for thee. Then in verse eight, back in
Isaiah 63, we come across a strange, strange statement. I had to scratch my head and
do some praying and search the scriptures to find out what this
means. For he said, surely, These sinners whom I've redeemed, these
holy ones sought out, not forsaken, surely they are my people, children
that will not lie. So he was their savior. Who on earth is that talking
about? Ain't talking about you. It ain't
talking about me. We lie all the time. We lie all
the time. Why do you think fellas do that
creative coping, cover up the bald spots? We lie all the time. We lie about everything. We put
on a show and pretend about everything. There's not any exceptions. You
and I lie all the time. What's he talking about? Children
that will not lie. These are God's children looked
upon by God as God always sees them. Not in their Adam state and in
union with Adam. Because God never sees them in
their Adam state in union with Adam. Never, never. Brother Scott Richardson
had some liberty to preach one time. He and I were preaching
together years ago. And he got to a text in Romans chapter 8.
He said, they that are mine in the flesh don't please God. They that are after the flesh
cannot please God. Carnal might is not subject to
the law of God, neither be can be. They that are after the flesh
cannot please God. And then he got to this statement.
But you're not in the flesh. And he paused for a minute, and
all of a sudden, I heard what Paul said. I heard what God said. You're not in the flesh. You're
in the spirit. Now, wait a minute. Feels like
flesh to me. Looks like flesh to me. This
is not my life. Christ is my life. The life which
I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God,
who loved me and gave himself for me. That's my life. That's
my life. And God always sees us as we
really are in union with his son. Now, this is a shocker to
folks. It's a shocker. I know you'll have a tough time
with this. I know because I do. However
God sees things, that's how they really are. Brother Bruce, God sees me in
His side. You know why? Because I'm really
and truly one with His side. God sees me holy! How can that
be? Because I'm in His side. God
says, I'm righteous. How can that be? Because I'm
in his son. He says, now, likewise reckon ye also yourselves to
be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God. Romans chapter
six, verse 11. He says, he says, Lester Buckner,
it's high time for you to quit reckoning like Lester Buckner
reckons. It's high time for you to quit reckoning like your neighbor
reckons. It's high time for you to quit
reckoning like Bob the Buckner reckons. It's time to start reckoning
like God reckons. I reckon he's right. I reckon
he's right. Now look what it says about them.
They will not lie. Not about God, nor about themselves. If we walk in the light, As he
is in the light, we have fellowship one with another. And the blood
of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanses us from all sin. If we say we
have no sin, that's what religious folks do, I'm not sin, I'm good.
I've made some mistakes, but I'm good. I know I've messed
up a few times. I'm not like that fellow that
lives next door to me. Do you know what he did? If we say we're not sin,
we deceive ourselves. The truth is not in us. You don't
know God from a billy goat. If we confess our sins, what's
that say? Well, if you come down to the
front of the church and tell everybody you cheated on a test
in school and they say how you graduated, that's confessing
your sin. No, no. It's easy to go to some
priest in a closet somewhere and confess your sin. It's easy
to come to the front of a Baptist church and talk to a preacher
or a congregation and confess stuff you've done wrong. We're
talking about doing business with God. What do we do? We rip open our
hearts before God and hide nothing. I wouldn't show that to you for
the world. I'm not about to let you see
what goes on in there. Not if I can help it. Not for
the world. but before God, I ain't about
to lie. If we confess our sins, God,
this is what I am, this is my name, this is my nature, this
is my game, this is me. He is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Therefore,
because he said, Surely they are my people, children that
will not lie. We read, so he was their savior. Now, let's look at our text.
I'll wrap this up with these four words. In all their affliction,
he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them. In
his love and in his pity, he redeemed them. and he bared them
and carried them all the days of old afflicted that's the first thing God's
people in this world are afflicted but blessed be his holy name
forever in all their afflictions he was afflicted here is affliction with infinite
sympathy from a man who is God God's elect redeemed and regenerate
sinners are called by the Lord himself an afflicted and a poor
people in all their affliction. We must look at this in the widest
possible sense. In all, not some, in all their
affliction. To understand this, we must know
this sympathizer, this savior, this redeemer, this carrier.
He who is God, in undivided union with the Father, became one with
his tempted and tried brethren so that he might forever be touched
with the feeling of our infirmities. So that in all their affliction,
he was afflicted. He, as God, could never truly
sympathize with us. He, as God, could never really
feel pain or hurt or injury or sickness or death. Not God. God is infinite spirit. but for
God, the triune Jehovah, to show forth his glory to all his creatures
for his everlasting praise, the Son of God became one of us. You know how that our Lord Jesus
Christ, though he was rich, yet for your sakes became poor, that
you through his poverty might be made rich. in love and condescending
mercy for us the Lord Jesus became one of us that he might be touched
with the feeling of our infirmities in all our afflictions in all our afflictions I couldn't imagine this, let
alone say it, if I didn't read it in this book, in all our afflictions. He's afflicted. He's afflicted. He, we have not in height, priest
cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was at
all points tempted like as we are yet without sin. And now
we have a priest in heaven who is able to sucker them that are
tempted. Sucker, what a good word. We don't use that word much.
You'll hear some of the older Southern ladies still use the
word sucker, sucker. What's that talking about? Sucker.
That means hell. No, it means a heapsite more
than that. It means a heapsite more than
that. I've had a little sickness, and I've been in the hospital
sometimes for weeks at a time. And I've had good care, good
help, folks taking care of me. And nurses would come. Embarrassing, you know, just
embarrassing, but they'd do what they could to help. And they
were nice, and I appreciated it. But I had somebody there
all the time who would sucker. That means to help with feeling. To help with care. Hear me, my
brother. Hear me, my sister. Whatever
your affliction is, the Son of God has gone before you and he
knows it by experience. He bear our sicknesses in his
body on the tree. He knows what it is to be bereaved
of friends. misrepresented by his own kinsmen,
misunderstood by the people who he loved and people who loved
him. He knows what it is to be abandoned.
He knows what it is to be betrayed. He knows what it is to put confidence
in a man only to have that man use it against him. He knows
it. He knows what it is. to be forsaken of God. To cry, oh God, how long will
you forsake? Are your mercies clean, gone
forever? Will you not remember mercy?
He knows what it is. He knows what it is. He knows
what it is to be in darkness. darkness darkness bearing guilt
in your conscience before God because of your sin he knows
he said oh God thou knowest my guiltiness My sins are more than
the hairs on my head. They cannot be numbered. I dare
not look up. Oh my God, why hast thou forsaken
me? There's no adversity. You and I endure in this world. He doesn't know my experience. And know my infinitely greater
infinitely more tender experience and feeling that you and I can
ever imagine. So next time you want to grumble
about a hangnail, remember it. And I'm talking to me. Oh, Don
Fortner, learn to shut your mouth and look to him who in all your
afflictions was afflicted. He's there to help. The angel
of the Lord encampeth round about them that are his. He's always like a fire round
about us to protect and care for his own. He keeps us as the
apple of his eye. In all their afflictions, he
was afflicted. While we go through this world,
understand there hath no temptation taken you. but such as is common
with man but God hath with the temptation
made a way of escape that you may be able to bear it and that
way is Jesus Christ Jehovah our Savior who in all our afflictions
was afflicted second and the angel of his presence saved them The angel of his presence saved
them. Christ is described as an angelic
being countless times in scripture. In the Old Testament, whenever
you see the word angel of the Lord, it's always talking about
Christ. Mark it down, that's always a
pre-incarnate human manifestation of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer,
as the angel of the Lord. He is that angel of the Lord
who stood by in Zechariah chapter 3, where Joshua The high priest
coming out of Babylon was clothed with filthy garments because
he had married a Babylonian woman and he wasn't fit to be God's
high priest. He married a Babylonian woman.
He wasn't fit to be God's high priest. He got comfortable there
in Babylon. He wasn't fit to be God's high
priest. He had become a Babylonian, but he was God's high priest.
And you, Bruce Crabtree, are made a holy priest unto God. Sort of said, isn't it? You are a generation, a royal
generation, a holy nation, a royal priesthood, you who are gods. But you're not fit to be God's
priest. To be God's priest, you've got
to be sanctified. To be God's priest, you've got
to have the robes of priesthood. To be God's priest, you've got
to have white linen garments. To be God's priest, you've got
to have an effort and you've got to have a miter right on
the front of that thing that says holiness to the Lord. To
be God's priest, you've got to be clean. To be God's priest,
you can't have any blemish in you. You can't have any scars,
no blemishes, no deformities. Not if you're God's priest. Not
if you're God's priest. And so here's Joshua and Satan standing
there. Joshua, oh boy, you think you're
gonna be accepted? You think God's gonna have you? And the angel of the Lord stood
by. Isn't that wonderful? The angel
of the Lord stood by. He said, take away his filthy
garments from him. Put a change of raiment on him.
And so he took away the filthy garments and he put on a robe
of perfect righteousness. Set a fair binder on his head,
and be sure to put that effort right there in the front, that
binder right in the front. It says, holiness to the Lord. Because Joshua was accepted,
and he stood before the Lord. And the Lord says, so I will
do with my people in one day, shall I remove the iniquity of
the land. One day, one day Christ Jesus
came here in our flesh and by his obedience unto death, bearing
our sin in his own body on the tree, he bore them away. He bore them away. I'm trying
my best to learn to be a correct theologian. And that means I
mess up theology statements all the time. I have it all the time.
How many times have you said or heard somebody like me say,
to be justified means it's just as if I'd never sinned. That
ain't at all what it means. That ain't at all what it means.
That means I'd never sinned. Ask God. Ask God. I'd never sinned. But brother
Don, you've told us these three days about all the sins in you.
I ain't never sinned. I ain't never sinned. Ask God, not my
wife, not my daughter, not my friend Larry, ask God. His only
opinion that counts. Christ by his blood purged away
my sin in one day by the sacrifice of himself. When something's
purged away, try to find it. I don't know that I'm wearing
the shirt. We'll pretend I am. And I always carry a pen just
in case I think of something that needs to be written down
and remembered. Sometimes I'll take that pen that my daughter
got me. It's a good writing pen. I like it. I wish I could write
good because it's a good writing pen. I've been a good writing
pen. But you've got to turn it out like that to write with it.
And you know sometimes I'll forget to turn it back in and stick
it in my pocket. And I look down there, uh-oh. Because I have
a black blob down there about the size of a quarter before
I realize it. Just black ink on a white shirt. Look real close. You see it lying
there? You see it? You know why you
don't see it? I see it. She takes that shirt,
soaks it in, and in that real strong cleaning stuff, I forgot
what you call it, gets blood out and all that stuff. The fellow
used to, before he died, used to advertise it on television.
He was a good salesman. Anyway, she was soaking that
stuff. And then she'd take it and start
to wash clothes. And she'd get it under the water
in the washing machine and scrub it. I've seen her scrub my shirts
till her knuckles were raw. She'd scrub it and hold it up,
scrub it and hold it up, scrub it and hold it up. And then she'd
hold it up, there's not anything there, and she'd drop it in the
washing machine. God, my Savior, purged away my
sin in one day. And then one day, called the
day of grace, called the time of love. He came by his mercy
and by his spirit and purged away my sin from this horrid
guilty conscience of nature and declares me clean. right with
God, righteous and holy, saying your iniquities are gone. Put a new change of clothes on
him. Put on him the best robe, put
on the family ring, put the family crown on his head. This is God's
high priest. His name is Jehovah Zedkinu,
the Lord, our righteousness. But brother, that's God's name.
Read Jeremiah 33 verse 16, you'll find out he gave me his name. Saved, saved. That word saved
is one of those big, big words that we contracted down to, cause
we like to be able to understand stuff. Let's get it down here
where we can understand it. If you get down where you can
understand it, you got it all messed up. That word saved takes in
everything involved in bringing us from the pit of hell to the
possession of heaven's glory in the very perfection of Jesus
Christ. He saved us. And then he has
another word, redeemed. Redeemed. Redeemed. In his love and in his pity,
he redeemed them. Who can comprehend the wonders
of redeeming love? No wonder Zechariah said concerning
these, he's delivered from going down to the pills. He snatched
them as brains from the burning. He said, they shall be called
men wondered at. Redeemed! I'm redeemed by God
my Savior. Redemption comprehends everything
salvation comprehends, but it explains more. Redemption involves
complete deliverance by blood and by power. Complete deliverance
from all sin and all the evil consequences of sin by the blood
of God's darling son and by the power of God's omnipotent grace
so that the very last act involved in redemption is called the redemption
of our bodies when we are raised up from the dead in the glorious
likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ in resurrection glory. Redemption. Oh, redeemed. Old Dr. A.J. Gordon pastored the Clarendon
Street Baptist Church in Boston, I believe it was. Went out one
winter from his office, he walked around the corner and he saw
some boys down the alley And they were playing with something. And he was a little curious what
they might be up to. So he walked back there. He saw
they had a couple of blackbirds in a homemade cage, just sticks
tied together. He said, boy, what you doing?
Oh, we're playing with these blackbirds, preacher. He said,
where'd you get them? He said, we caught them. He said,
what you going to do with them? I said, we'll play with them
a while. I reckon they will kill them. And he stood there for a second
while they were picking those blackbirds, poking at them, carried on. He
said, I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll give you two dollars
for them. And they looked at one another,
looked at the birds, thought that was a pretty good deal.
And they took the two dollars. And they walked around the corner
and he picked up the cage, took the door off of that thing
and kind of shooed them out. He said, I bought you, you're
mine, and now you're free. And he said, I could almost hear
them as they sang up into the sky. I could hear them singing,
redeemed, how I love to proclaim it, redeemed by the blood of
the lamb, redeemed through his infinite mercy, his child and
forever I am redeemed. Oh my God, I thank you for redeeming
me, redeeming me. And then one more word, carried,
carried, carried. He bare them and carried them
all the days of old. He who saved us and redeemed
us carries us. He, who is mighty to save, carries
us. He carries us. On his broad shoulders,
he carries us. He carries us. A good shepherd
comes and finds us and picks us up and lays us across his
shoulders, holds us in his bosom, and carries us. he carries us until at last he
presents the one lost sheep of all the host of his elect described
as one lost sheep before the presence of God and the angels
in heaven and God the triune Jehovah with the holy angels
and all those one lost sheep break out into singing Glory
to God in the highest. Amen. Amen.