In the fifth chapter of Luke's
gospel at verse 26, God the Holy Spirit inspired his servant Luke
to tell us about some people who had spent a good bit of the
day in the presence of the Lord Jesus. And this was a day of
great wonders performed by our Savior. The chapter opens with
the previous day The Lord Jesus came to Simon and his companions
in fishing business. They'd been toiling all night,
and the master commanded them to let the net down on the other
side of the ship. And Simon, whom the Lord Jesus
later named Peter, said, we have toiled all night and taken nothing. These weren't fellows who go
fishing like me just whenever somebody asked them to go and
didn't know what they were doing. These were professional fishermen.
They'd been toiling all night and had taken nothing. And here
comes one and says to them, cast your net on the other side of
the ship. And Peter responded this way. Lord, we've toiled all night
and have taken nothing, and it's not as though we didn't know
what we were doing. We've been at this a while. Nevertheless,
at thy word, we'll let down the net. Oh, God, give me such a
heart to obey his word. At thy word, I'll do it. And
when they did, they took up a great multitude of fish in the net,
so many that they called their friends in the other boat and
they pulled together and both boats began to sink for the multitude
of fish. There was a man with leprosy
who came and fell before the Lord. full of leprosy. And he said, Lord, if you will,
you can make me clean. And the Lord Jesus said, I will.
Be thou clean. And immediately, he was healed
of his leprosy. And then the Lord Jesus was ministering
to a great crowd of people, throngs around him, pressing together,
shoulder to shoulder, chest to chest. They were pressing together
to be around the Lord Jesus as he taught and performed his wonders. And some men brought a man sick
with palsy, paralyzed, laying on a mat, and they couldn't get
in to see the Savior. So they climbed up on top of
the roof where the Lord Jesus was, and began to rip apart the
roof of the porch. They tore the tilings off the
ceiling and they broke it up and let this man down before
the Lord Jesus. And he, seeing their faith, said
to that man who was sick of palsy, Thy sins are forgiven thee. And then he said to that man,
Take up your bed and walk. And he picked up his bed and
walked home. And when the day was over, we
read in verse 26, they were all amazed and glorified God and
were filled with fear saying, we have seen strange things today. Strange things. That's my subject. We have seen strange things today. The word that is translated here,
strange things, is found nowhere else in the word of God. This
is the only place where it's used. It might be translated
paradoxes. These are things contrary to
all human opinion, contrary to any reason or expectation, contrary
to that which is normally experienced. The word might be translated
mysterious. When I read this chapter again,
I couldn't help but to think of Calper's great, great hymn. God moves in a mysterious way,
his wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps in the
sea and rides upon the storm. deep in unfathomable minds of
never failing skill, he treasures up his bright designs and works
his sovereign will. Ye fearful saints, fresh courage
take. The clouds you so much dread
are big with mercy and shall break in blessing on your head. His purposes will ripen fast,
unfolding every hour. The bud may have a bitter taste,
but oh, how sweet will be the flower. Blind unbelief is sure
to err and scan his work in vain. God is his own interpreter, and
he will make it plain. I'm now 63 years old and I've
had considerable experience in the ways of God's grace, goodness,
and profits. And I am more convinced today
than I have ever been that God's ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. God never works like we think
he should. God never does what we think
he should do when we think he should do it. He is not ordered
by man or constrained by man. His ways are mysterious, strange,
unexplainable. higher than the heavens. His ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. Now, please don't misunderstand
what I'm about to say. People often hear me say something,
so you said, and I didn't say what they thought at all. Often
we ask folks to pray for us. We get calls Pray for us. I meet folks after the service
and somebody says, pray for me, pray for my son, pray for my
daughter, pray for my husband, pray for my wife. And this is
what we're asking most of the time, most of the time. If this
is not true of you, I beg your forgiveness. Pray that God will
do what I want him to do. Pray that God will work the way
I want him to work. Pray that God will perform the
thing I want him to perform. And I hurt when you hurt. And I want what you want. I want your health and your family's
health. When you're sick, I hurt with
you. When your family's sick, I hurt
with you. I pray for your children, your
sons and daughters. Those here present, that little
girl hugging her mama, I pray for you. I pray for you. Pray
for God's mercy upon you. Pray that God will have mercy
upon your sons and daughters and those who are out from under
your influence. I pray that God will intervene
for them and be gracious to them as I pray for my own daughter,
son-in-law and grandchildren. I pray for them. But sadly, Sadly,
we want God to do what we want. We ought rather to seek to know
God's will and pray for God to be gracious according to his
will and do that which is best for his glory and for his people. Yes, pray for your sons and daughters. Pray for God's mercy upon them.
But wait for God to work in God's way at God's time. It is always the right time and
the best time. Pray and plead, pray and witness,
pray and bring them to hear the gospel, pray and urge them to
believe and wait for God to do his work. God's ways are not
our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts.
And as for natural men, natural men who are irreligious and natural
men and women who are religious, they do not know and they cannot
know. They do not understand and they
cannot understand anything about God's works. His judgments in
the earth are to the ungodly things that cannot be explained.
His judgments in the earth are to the unbelieving things that
don't seem right. Sickness and disease and hurricanes
and floods and tornadoes, death and war and famine and pestilence. These are things that men look
at and say, you can't say God's got anything to do with that. Merle Hart, God Almighty, does
everything that's done. If it's done, God did it. He
may have used the devil to accomplish it. He may have used wicked men
to perform it. He may have used your own wicked
hands to bring it upon yourself. But if it's done, God did it.
Of him and through him and to him are all things to whom be
glory forever. And God's ways are right. His
judgments are just. Both in the execution of his
grace and in the execution of his wrath. But the wicked don't
understand that. They don't know anything about
the character of God. They know nothing about the grace of God.
They know nothing about our Lord Jesus Christ, his person, his
work, his accomplishments. They know nothing about salvation,
about righteousness, about truth. The ungodly cannot understand. They cannot perceive. They cannot
know the things of God. So quit fussing with them about
it. Quit arguing with them about it. Well, don't you think we
ought to witness? Yeah. Witness to folks and leave them in God's
hands. Witness to folks and wait for
God to work Witnesses folks tell them the truth and pray for God's
mercy upon them But don't argue and fuss with things about the
with folks about things. They can't understand It won't
do you any good and it won't do them any good I've tried believe
me. I've tried and I found it to
be utter futility. I found it utter futility I'll
tell you what I have never seen there what I've never seen I
have never seen one person not even one of brought to the knowledge
of truth by argument and fussing and showing them the reason of
stuff. I've never seen it happen. I've seen folks confused. I've
seen them get mad. I've seen them say, I can't,
I can't tell you what I believe. I know that's not right, but
I've never seen one person convinced of anything spiritual by argument. It doesn't happen. Folks must
have Christ revealed in them. And God does that. by folks experiencing
what you're experiencing right now through the preaching of
the gospel. We, however, who are born of
God, all who are taught of God, all who experience his grace,
see God's ways and rejoice. See God's works and worship,
for we understand that this is God's work. Now let me talk to
you about strange things in the light of the text before us,
and in the light of our Lord's earthly ministry, and then in
the light of this gospel day in which we live and experience
his grace, and in the light of the last day. First, let's consider
the strange things of this particular day, which is mentioned in our
text. It was a day full of wonders.
So much so that when folks saw what the Lord Jesus did, they
were amazed. They were astonished. They said,
we have seen strange things today. Well, what did they see that
was so strange? Look at verse 17, Luke 5, 17. They saw four men acting in exceptional
faith. And it came to pass on a certain
day, as the Lord Jesus was teaching, that there were Pharisees and
doctors of the law sitting by. They were always around. They
were always around. Still so today. It doesn't matter
where I go, if there's more than two or three people there, I'm
sure to meet up with a Pharisee and doctor of the law who's got
something he's looking for. And he should have something
to say when I get done. They were sitting by watching the
master Which will come out of every town of Galilee and Judea
and Jerusalem now watch this and the power of the Lord Was
present to heal them But not one of them was healed Not because with the power Not
because the Lord couldn't do it. The power of the Lord was
present to heal them. Some of you here today will experience
in your souls the power of God healing your very soul. And others
will go out just like you came in. Some of you will hear God
speak and others will go out having heard nothing but my loud
voice. Some of you will have God touch
your hearts and others will go out having nothing done in your
hearts. Why? Because some of you need
him and some of you don't. Some were here who needed the
Lord's power. Some were here who needed his
healing but not these Pharisees, not these doctors of the law.
They had everything sewed up. They had all their I's dotted
and all their T's crossed and they knew too much to be taught
anything. They didn't have any need so
they came with no need and left with nothing. But we're told
in Luke chapter 9 about folks who came one day when the Lord
was performing his miracles. And this is how the chapter ends. He healed them that had need
of healing. He still does. If you come with
a need, you will go away with your need satisfied. If you've
come needing mercy, you will obtain mercy. If you've come
to God's house, needing his grace, you will obtain his grace. If
you've come to God's house, needing his goodness, you will obtain
his goodness. If you need his power, you will
find his power. But if you don't need anything,
you will leave with nothing. Read on. The power of the Lord
was present to heal them. And behold, men brought in a
bed. not a four-poster bed, just a
mat, just a cot. A man which was taken with a
palsy, and they sought means to bring him in and to lay him
before the Savior. And when they could not find
by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude,
they went up upon the housetop and led him down through the
tiling with his couch. into the midst before Jesus.
Now here's a man completely paralyzed, but he had four really good friends. I've talked about real good friends.
He had four friends who believed God. Four friends who believed
Christ Jesus, the Lord. Four friends who knew the power
of God, the God-man, our Savior. Four friends who knew that if
somehow, by some means, they could get their friend in the
presence of the Savior, if he would, he could heal their friend. They cared deeply about the man. They had great love and pity
for their sick friend. And they were thoughtful. They
figured out a way to get him to the Savior. One of them couldn't
bring him. Two of them couldn't bring him.
Three of them might have, but rather awkwardly. But four of
them together, each one grabbing one corner of the mat on which
he lay, could carry that dead weight body to the Savior. And when they got there, they
couldn't get near him. They couldn't get near him. If
it had been me, I try to be a rational man. I try to be reasonable about
things. I know folks don't think so,
but I do. I try to act with rationality.
If it had been me, I'd have said, Mark, it must not be God's will
to take him home. Too many people. Obviously, this
is not what God intends. But they weren't like me. These fellows pushed reason aside.
And they did something that appeared just out of the way, just rude,
inconsiderate. They did something that disturbed
the whole meeting. The Lord's here under a large
porch, obviously, with a covering over it. And they said, let's
see if we can get him up there. And they found a way to get their
friend up on top of the roof. And Mark tells us they broke
up the tiling. I looked at this, I thought,
well, it must have been a fat shrew and they pulled it apart. No,
they broke up the tiling. This was a well-made place and
they broke up the tiling. You can imagine the commotion.
Here are pieces of tiling falling down all around the Savior in
the midst of a preaching service. And folks are looking at those
fellas. What on earth do they think they're doing? And they
let their friend down in the midst before the Savior. and they got what they wanted.
The Lord saw their faith and healed their friend. They were
successful. God honored their work. Oh, God make me such a man. God
give us such men. God make you such men and women. Caring about the souls of men.
Yes, they adopted strange methods. Folks who care do. Folks who
care do. Yes, they were crude and abrupt. Sometimes folks who care are.
You have a dying husband in the hospital, a dying wife in the
hospital, and the doctors can be so cold and calculating And
it's just the way things go. Is that correct, Brother Joe?
I'm trained to do so. You just have to push the emotion
aside. But man, for that husband or
wife or son or daughter, oh, do something! Do something! Do something. I've got to do
something. They were caring. They were caring. That makes folks abrupt. That
makes them do strange things. These men, were strange in their day and
such a strange in this day. I've told you this story many
times, but I didn't know for sure what took place until just
a few weeks ago. Back 35 years ago, 33, 34, 35
years ago, Paul Thacker called Brother Henry Mahan and said,
if I build a church down here in Pikeville, Would you come
down here and preach and see if God might raise up a church
in this place? Henry said, well, I'll be happy
to. And he kind of pushed out of his mind. He he didn't know
by the fact he called me, told me about it. And a little while
later we were together. He said he he was expecting to
see some kind of a little storefront shack somewhere on one of the
hillsides in Pikeville. But when he got there, as a matter
of fact, I was there and for the first service and Brother
Paul had bought a mountain on this side of the highway and
a swamp on that side of the highway. And he moved the mountain, filled
up the swamp, and built a church building about the size of this
one, a nice brick building, and built a parsonage, called by
the bay and said, here are the keys, see what God does. And
they called a pastor. I went up and preached one Sunday
morning. Normally, they'd have 20, 25 people on a good Sunday.
And I came up from the pastor's office I was astounded, Bobby. The building was full. It was
packed out. It was just packed out. When
I was in Alaska a few weeks ago, Paul's youngest son, Kevin, I
told him about that event, and I said, I've always wondered
what your daddy did. I wondered what he did. Did he
pay folks to come? Bribe them to come? Threaten
them to get them to come? Businessman impactful? I mean,
he had everybody in that town he knew in that church building.
And Kevin said he paid everybody there a full day's wages to come
hear you preach one time. Well, why would a man do that?
Why would a man do that? Because he cared for his sick
friends. That's why. That's why God saves
sinners by the preaching of the gospel. Christ meets with his
people in his house. And he said, I'm going to get
folks there once if I can. And did. And God blessed it to the
salvation of many in the day since. They saw men doing a rather
strange thing. And they saw a man who was a
sinner. freely forgiven of all sin by
the God-man. Look at verse 20. When he saw
their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee. Never before had any man come
upon the earth who claimed to have the divine rights, the authority,
and the power to forgive sin. Many had come pretending to be
Messiah. Many had come pretending to be
special messengers from God. Only one man had ever come on
earth, and this is the man who had the power and the right and
claimed it to forgive sin. You see, this God-man forgives
sin. He's the only one who can. He's
the only one who can. Go to priests and to the Pope
for abolition, absolution, excuse me. Abolition, another word.
Go for absolution of their sins. Want forgiveness. People come
to Baptist preachers confessing their sin, wishing for the absolution
of their sins, wanting forgiveness. People come to religious leaders
and wanting somebody to speak peace to their conscience. And
they get a little something to gratify them for a little bit
and they go home and know that there's no peace in their conscience
and there's no absolution from their sins. But men and women
who come to the Lord Jesus, to whom he speaks forgiveness, No,
they're forgiven. And no, they're forgiven. Like many of you, when I was
a boy, seven years old, Went to church one Sunday morning.
We didn't go much, but sometimes we'd take periods and go for
weeks and even months at a time. But went to church and folks
were persuaded to come to the front of the church and make
a profession of faith. And everybody was bawling, scared to death
of going to hell. And so I walked up front too. And I had somebody
to ask me if I was a sinner, and I said, I guess. They said,
well, did you ever tell a lie? Yeah, I've done that. Well, you
know, that's sin. Did you ever think bad thoughts?
Yeah, I've done that. You know, that's a sin. You're
a sinner then. Yeah. Well, Jesus said, if you'd believe
on him, you'd be saved from your sins. Would you believe in Jesus?
And I said, do what? Well, repeat this prayer. And
I prayed after them. And we got done with all of the
Witchcraft. That's right, witchcraft. Witchcraft,
that's all it is. Witchcraft performed in the name
of Christ. That well-meaning man, big man, he's bigger than
I am now, big fella. He's standing there, tears, or
kneeling beside me, tears running down his cheek, put his arm around
my shoulder. He said, now Don, you're saved. Don't let anybody
ever tell you any different. And at seven years old and went home,
still terrified of God. Little did I know about sin,
but what I knew, I knew was still there. My conscience still guilty. But here's a man who comes by
the power of his grace and speaks not with a word of the mouth,
but to your heart. And Bobby, when he spoke to your
heart, you knew your sins are forgiven. Sins forgiven, forgiven. This
man is God. They had a demonstration of this.
They, uh, The Pharisees murmured among themselves and they said,
who is this that pretends to forgive sin? And Luke tells us
that Jesus perceived their thoughts before they spoke a word. And
he said, which is easier, to say to a man, thy sins be forgiven
thee, or to say to a man who's laying here like this, sort of
paralyzed, take up your bed and walk? But that you may know that
I'm God, that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth
to forgive sin. He looked at that fellow and
said, take up your bed and go home. And he picked up his bed
and walked off and thus demonstrated his deity before an unbelieving
crowd who were enraged that he should dare forgive sin of such
a man. Here's a message they saw. Perhaps in our minds, this is
the strangest of the things they saw. These people saw one man
who was forgiven because of the faith of four men. Look at it, Larry. Verse 20.
When he saw their faith, not the paralyzed man's faith,
their faith, The faith that calls them to care for their friend. The faith that calls them to
pick him up and carry him. That's no easy task. That's not
like asking somebody, how about going to church with me Sunday
morning? That's not like saying to somebody, come go hear the
word of God with me today. That's not like saying, I'll
come by and pick you up in my air conditioned car, or this
time in my heated car. No, no. They so believe God. that they went and picked this
man up and carried him in their hands to the Savior. When they got there, they so
believed God. that they climbed up on the roof.
And how they got him up there, I have no idea, but carried that
man up on the roof. They so believed God that at
the risk of being ridiculed, scorned, and even run away, they
tore up the place and let this man down in the presence of the
Savior. That's called believing God.
And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to that man, thy sins
be forgiven thee. What does this mean? Can we believe
God for others? No. No. You can't believe God
as a substitute. Folks bring their babies to preachers
and they slosh a little water on their head and call it baptism
and claim to bring them into the kingdom of God and the church
of God and the covenant of God's grace. That's a bunch of hogwash.
You can't believe God for your baby. You can't believe God for
your sons and daughters. You can't do it. Try as you may,
you can't do it. But you can believe God to do
what he said he'd do. I read this passage. I've read
it countless times these past couple of weeks. Something keeps ringing in my
mind. I heard Brother Rex say standing here one day as he read
scripture. He got done reading and then
he prayed and he said something like this. Lord, we never read
in your word of anyone who brought their needy children to you,
who didn't obtain your mercy for their child. You can do that if you believe
God. You got your children here. God
made you a savior because of my daddy's faith. He may just
do that. He may just do that. The Lord
Jesus is honored by faith. And he says him that honoreth
me, I will honor. They saw a man. They saw a man
who could lift neither hand nor foot. A man totally incapable of doing
anything to change his condition. A man totally without power to
assist himself. A man who, if it's up to him,
must lay the rest of his days on that mat and be carried around
wherever he went. They saw such a man made whole
immediately by the Son of God. Oh, what a strange thing. They
saw a man completely healed by the power of the Lord Jesus.
Hear me now. The Son of God still makes sinners
completely whole by his omnipotent mercy. He still saves sinners
by his grace, completely forgiving the wicked, completely putting
away sin, completely blotting out transgressions, making the
sinner righteous before him by his almighty mercy. The Lord
Jesus still makes sinners whole. Believe him. Believe him. But
pastor, I can't believe him. You've told me that all my life.
You're right. You can't, but you must. And
if right now you believe him, you will go home whole, forgiven
of all your sin. Like that publican who cried,
God, be merciful to me, the sinner. He went home justified. So you
may this day, if you believe. Oh, no, that's wrong. That's
wrong. So you will this day. if you believe on the Son of
God. Hear Him, ye deaf, His praise
ye dumb, your loosened tongues implore. Ye blind, behold, the
Savior come, and leap, ye lame, for joy. Secondly, let me show
you some strange things revealed in the gospel of God's grace.
I'll be very brief, but I can't leave it alone. We have seen God become a man. The creator of all made the servant
of all. A man willing with his journey. A man tempted at all points like
as we are, yet without sin. We've seen him, the God-man.
bearing our sin in his body on the tree. And when he was made sin for
us, having our sin imputed to him, so that he stands chargeable
before God's justice with all the iniquity, transgression,
and sin of all his people, justly so. so that God in justice looks
on his darling son and swears his son in the fury of his wrath
just as so because he was made sin for us who knew no sin that
we might be made the righteousness of God in him. You know the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ, how that though he was rich, yet
for our sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might
be made rich. Truly the strangest, most mysterious,
most unexplainable thing in all the world is the death of Christ
at Calvary. God came into this world through
a virgin's womb. God walked on this earth as a
man performing all righteousness. God at the apex of his obedience
to his father is abandoned by his father and slaughtered in
justice because he made sin for us. And he rose again, justified
in the spirit, because by his accomplishments, we are made
the righteousness of God in him. well might the sun in darkness
hide and shed his glories in when God the mighty maker died
for man the creature sin. Why? God commendeth his love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. You have any idea what that is?
God commends his love toward us. And while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us. I remember when I went to purchase
the ring Shelby wears on her finger. I was 17 years old. I walked in a jewelry store in
Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and I was looking at diamonds.
Not big ones. And the fella wanted to sell
a diamond. He wanted to sell it almost as
bad as I wanted to buy it. And he took out a piece of black
velvet. I can see it right now. And laid
it on the counter. And they got those, even back
in those days, they had those bright lights shining right on
top of that jewelry case. And he laid that little diamond on
that black velvet by itself. And it sparkled like the sun.
Man, it was pretty. A thousand times prettier than
it was in that case with all those other diamonds on that
white background. God so commends his love to us
against the black backdrop of our iniquity, transgression,
and sin. against the black backdrop of
His holy justice, against the black backdrop of wicked men
with their wicked hands, crucifying the Lord of glory. Here God shows
His love to sinners. Amazing love. How can it be that
thou, my God, shouldst die for me? So thirdly, Let me show you a little something
about strange things seen in our day. In this gospel day, years ago, I read an event in
the life of one of the Puritans by the name of William Guthrie.
He was asked to go see a dying woman in his parish. who was
ignorant of the gospel, unconverted, but about to be ushered into
eternity. And Guthrie preached the gospel to her, and she joyfully
believed God, like the penitent thief. And when Guthrie got home
that afternoon, as he sat down to dinner with his family, this
is what he said to his wife and children. I have 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. For the woman who believed died
almost as soon as she believed. A woman I found in a state of
nature, I saw in a state of grace, and I left in a state of glory,
that's the wonder of God's grace. That's the wonder of God's grace. Sinners born of God are brought
immediately from a state of condemnation in their consciences to a state
of no possibility of condemnation in their consciences. Sinners
who have you who've come in here this morning without the Redeemer?
Oh if God's pleased to drop his mercy into your heart giving
you faith in Christ, you will go home today Forgiven of all
sin through the precious blood of his darling son and the Lord
Jesus graciously preserves and keeps those whom he saves by
his grace and I know in my own struggles with
my sin and unbelief and all the religious trappings that all
of us experience before God saves us, I'd made a profession of
faith and I'd gone, and if I'd get in trouble, real bad trouble,
I'd go to church and rededicate up, as if that was going to help,
and I'd go away and They told us everything's all right now,
and I knew nothing was right. And Satan whispered in my ear,
you're a fool to do this again. You're a fool to make a profession
of faith. You're a fool to pretend to serve
God. You know it won't last. It won't last any longer than
anything else has lasted. You're a fool to do this. And I heard God speak, he that
hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day
of Jesus Christ. The Savior says, I give my sheep
eternal life and they shall never perish. And there's no possibility,
no possibility because he put away our sin, Bill. He's made
us righteous and God can't punish a sinless righteous man. It won't
happen. Won't happen. I've seen sinners
saved by God's grace, preserved in the midst of great trial,
heartache, trouble. And I've seen sinners saved by
God's grace fall horribly. fall horribly fall horribly and be restored
by God's grace you see he will not suffer his
own to perish his glory is at stake his name his honor is at
stake and I've seen evil turn to good. Oh, how many times I've seen
God turn evil to good. Surely the wrath of man shall
praise thee, and the remainder of wrath wilt thou restrain. If I could do it without calling
too much attention to myself, I'd write a book about things
God's done for me, just for me. Many of you can do the same. I can mark it on calendars. I
can show you the place. I can show you how it happened.
How God did things that affected everybody around me. Did things
that affected the society in which I live. Did things that
affected schools I attended. Did things that affected family
and friends and enemies. And it's obvious he did them
just for me. Just for me. I mean, just for
me. Nobody benefited from them except
me. Just me, just me. Oh, how God
works in his providence and in his grace. And the two always
work together, always. Before God saved me, Look back. And I weep. I weep. Because of what I am and what
I've done. But I wouldn't change a thing.
For God worked it for good to bring me to his son. Since God
saved me by His grace, oh, how much, how much there is for which
I must weep. The foolish things I've done.
You too? Foolish things. Foolish things. And God Almighty overrule them
as if I'd performed the wisest thing on the earth. And when he gives me faith to
do so, I fully expect him to do it again
tomorrow. I don't know why we're surprised
when we see God do strange things. I don't know why we're surprised
when we see God Destroy a nation and raise up another I don't
know why we're surprised when we we see God turn sickness into
a time of great joy Turn bereavement in a time of great profit turn
sorrow into a time of great benefit. I don't know why we're surprised
God does all things well for our souls Strange as they may
seem at the time Strange as they may seem I have said often to friends
in correspondence and face-to-face, and more difficult to say it
face-to-face because I tend to get a little emotional. The thing you're going through,
the thing that's breaking your heart, the thing that's troubling
you, I wouldn't allow that to happen to you for anything in
the world. I can't tell you how many times
This dear lady has said to me, honey, if I could, I'd take that.
I'd take that pain. I'd take that sickness. And she
would. And she would. Of course, she loves me. Of course, we wouldn't wish that
on her, those we love. Who would wish for a loved one
to get sick, to have cancer, to suffer and die? Who would
wish that? Nobody but God. who loves his own infinitely
more than we can imagine. Who would wish for a father or
mother to have a son or a daughter run away and never hear from
them again? Who would wish that on anybody they love? Nobody
but God, who loves his own infinitely more than we can imagine. God
sends every heartache and every joy Every pain and every pleasure. Every sickness and every recovery. Every death and every birth. God sends them to his owner from
a heart burning with love. To do us good. Nothing but good. That's what he does. And it's easy to preach that. And impossible to believe it.
Unless God works faith in man. Easy to preach it. Easy to talk
about it. Easy to write books about it. But to believe God?
Only as God works faith in man. And we're gonna see strange things
in the last day. In the last day, there'll be
men and women, good, upright, moral, religious, devoted men
and women, trusting their own righteousness, cast into hell forever, there to suffer God's horrid
wrath and justice, to whom the Savior says, depart from me,
you cursed. I never knew you. While men brag
about their goodness and their righteousness and their works
for him and for other men, brag about all they've done and did,
the Savior says, you workers of iniquity. Why? Because your righteousnesses
are just filthy rags. just fill up the rags. And sinners,
sinners who have never done anything good, sinners who find it impossible to even think
good, sinners who can't lift their hands to do good and can't
move their feet to do good, sinners believing on the Son of God brought
into everlasting glory by the merits of His blood and His righteousness. Who? Sinners who believe on the
Son of God. Now here are two very strange
things with which I'll send you home. Your unbelief is strange. Why will you perish? when there's
life for a look at the Son of God. Why will you refuse to believe
when he says, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life. And Lindsay, I reckon the strangest
thing on this earth that I can imagine is how little love and gratitude
and devotion and consecration and faith he gets in return from
me for all his benefits and his goodness. God bless his word
to you for Christ's sake. Amen.