Let's turn together to Hebrews
chapter 10, Hebrews the 10th chapter. The law having a shadow of good
things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never
with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually
make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have
ceased to be offered, because that the worshipers once purged
should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices,
There is a remembrance, again, made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the
blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore, when
he cometh into the world, he saith, sacrifice and offering
thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me. In burnt
offerings and sacrifices for sin, thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, lo, I come, in the
volume of the book it is written of me, to do thy will, O God. Above, when he said sacrifice
and offering and burnt offerings and offerings for sin, thou wouldest
not neither hadst pleasure therein, which are offered by the law.
Then said he, lo, I come to do thy will, O God, he taketh away
the first that he may establish the second. He taketh away the
first that he may establish the second. The title of my message
tonight is a pattern of God's work. I didn't say the pattern
of God's work. God is infinitely, indescribably,
gloriously sovereign. And just as sure as you think
you've got him boxed in, he'll mess things up for you. God does
everything exactly as he will. But as a general rule, this is
the pattern by which God works in men and works in the lives
of men in this world. He taketh away the first. that
he may establish the second. He takes away that which is first,
and then gives that which is better. God's way is always this. He gives first that which is
good, and then that which is better, and at last that which
is best. The whole book of Hebrews is
an example of this fact. Turn back to chapter one. Just
skim through the book of Hebrews for just a minute. In verse 4,
we're told that Christ is much better than angels. The word
better is a good key word in this, these 13 chapters of the
book of Hebrews. The apostle writing by inspiration
is showing us that Christ Jesus, our Lord, is better than all
that preceded him. That the new covenant is better
than the old. that the gospel is better than
the law, that spiritual worship is better than carnal worship.
If you want to understand the meaning and significance of the
book of Leviticus, where all the ceremonies of the law are
given, read the book of Hebrews. The book of Hebrews is written
particularly to Jewish believers, Jewish men and women who had
been converted by the grace of God, who believed on the Lord
Jesus. But being Jews, they were perhaps
particularly susceptible to retaining the old services and ceremonies
of the law. particularly susceptible to the
teaching of many that somehow we must mix law and grace. And
so the spirit of God inspired the apostle Paul to write this
epistle specifically to the Hebrews, showing us that Christ is in
all things better. In chapters one and two, he talks
about the angels. The angels are good. Oh, the
angels of God sent forth to be ministering spirits to those
who shall be the heirs of salvation. People ask me, do you believe
we have guardian angels? I got a whole parcel of them.
More than I can imagine. They're constantly protecting
and caring for and ministering to God's elect, both before conversion
and afterwards. But Christ is indescribably better. There was a tradition that an
angel came to the waters of Bethesda and moved the waters so that
the first person there to touch the waters after that angel stirred
the waters would be healed. But the Lord Jesus comes, the
angel of the covenant, and he doesn't move the waters, he heals
the impotent man. Our Lord Jesus is the angel of
the covenant. All are messengers of God, but
he's the messenger. The angels come to minister for
God, he's God come to minister. Then in chapter 3, The apostle
tells us about Moses, Moses, who was a faithful son over his
own house, Moses, who was a faithful prophet. He was a good man, good
prophet, and be made so by the grace of our God. But Moses spoke
of another prophet. He spoke of another prophet,
one who would come. He said, like me and him, you
shall hear. You see, the Lord Jesus is our
prophet, priest, and king. He is our prophet to teach us
the will of God and the things of God. I stand here tonight
as a preacher, and I study, and I give out the lesson. But I
can't make you get it. When Christ teaches, you'll get
the lesson. He's the prophet you shall hear.
When he comes to teach you, you shall be taught of God and learn
of God. Then in chapter 4, the apostle
talks about Joshua. Joshua is the Old Testament name
that would be translated in the Greek, Jesus. He was a picture
of Christ, our deliverer and our redeemer. Joshua brought
Israel into the land of Canaan, but there was, while they were
in that land of Canaan, continual strife and conflict. The Lord
Jesus brings us into the rest of faith and will bring us at
last into the rest of our heavenly Canaan. Then in chapters 5, 6,
and 7, the apostle talks about the priest that the Jews had,
Aaron. Abraham, rather, paid tithes
in the loins of... Levi paid tithes in the loins
of Abraham as he worshiped God before that priest, Melchizedek. And our Lord Jesus is made a
high priest after the order of Melchizedek. Aaron was a priest
of God, ordained of God to offer sacrifice in the tabernacle of
God. But Christ is a better priest. This one who is made after the
order of Melchizedek, without beginning of days nor end of
years, without father or mother, he is God the son in human flesh,
touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but God over all
and blessed forever. Then in chapters 8, 9, and 10,
the apostle begins chapter 8, saying of the things which we've
heard, this is the sum. And he starts talking about the
covenant, covenant grace, God's covenant with Christ Jesus, our
Lord. The old covenant of the law was
good, but Christ is better. He's the surety of a better covenant. The law gave us the law of Moses. Christ comes and brings us the
law of his grace. The tabernacle of Moses was a
blessed great pattern of things to come, but Christ, our tabernacle,
is our salvation. The blood of animals offered
on the altars of the Old Testament as sacrifice to God were great
pictures of our Redeemer, but they could never take away sin.
Christ's blood is that by which our sins have been put away.
Then in chapters 11 and 12, the apostle talks about great examples
of faith. Great examples of faith that
show us the way to live in this world for God. You want to know
something about what it is to believe God, read Hebrews chapter
11. And then chapter 12 begins by
telling us that we are compassed about with a great cloud of witnesses,
referring to these who've gone before. Referring to God's saints
in heaven who were, as it were, urging us on in the race to persevere
unto the end, to run with patience the race that's set before us.
Those examples are great, but Jesus Christ is better He's the
author and the finish of our faith. He not only exemplifies
what it is to believe God He gives us faith and causes us
to believe God He not only shows us what it is to run with patience
the race set before us He causes us to run with patience the race
that's set before us and then in chapter 13. I The apostle
concludes this epistle telling us that the service of the law
was good, but the worship of Christ is better. This is the
principle then. He taketh away the first that
he may establish the second. It often happens that God gives
lesser blessings to prepare us for greater blessings. The law
of Moses was given and the ceremonies and sacrifices of the Old Testament
law of the carnal worship were given in the dawn of time to
prepare for the rising of the son of righteousness when the
true light would shine in the face of Jesus Christ, our Lord. But that which was first, once
it served its purpose, must be taken away. Otherwise, that which
is better cannot be given. That which was first, once its
purpose is fulfilled, is taken out of the way. Otherwise, that
which is better cannot come. This is the pattern of God's
work among his people. He takes away the first that
he may establish the second. I don't know that it's so, but
the Jewish traditions and rabbis pass along traditional things
that will pass from generation to generation, much like we do
things with word of mouth in our day. But one of the traditions
is that when Joseph was made prime minister in the land of
Egypt, During the years of plenty, when he was gathering corn and
storing it up for the years of famine, Joseph would take the
husk and the stalks and cast them into the Nile River so that
all the nations and all the cities down below, as they saw the husk
and the stalks floating down the Nile, would be made aware
that there was plenty of corn in Egypt. Now, whether that's
so or not, I don't know. But our great Joseph, the Lord
Jesus, cast into this world husk to draw our hearts to heaven
and make us know that in the world to come, everything our
souls have craved shall be satisfied. Tonight, I want us to look at
this, how that the Lord Jesus takes away the first that he
may establish the second. If the blessings that we enjoy
here are so amazing, What must that blessedness be that awaits
us in glory? If our Lord's footstool is glorious,
what must his throne be? If he provides for us so bountifully
in our pilgrimage through this wilderness, what must the provisions
of heaven's Canaan be at last? Remember this when our Lord turned
the water into wine in Cana of Galilee and They took the wine
to the ruler of the feast. He said every man at the beginning
doth set forth the good wine and When men have drunk well
that which is worse That's always Satan's way That's always the world's way I address the young folks particularly,
because mom and dad not likely paying attention to me. I hope
mom and dad will be listening too, and grandpa and grandpa
too. That's the world's way. The world gives that which is
enticing and good first, and then that which is worse. Satan
gives that which is enticing and good first, and then that
which is worse. Hear me, children of God. Hear
me, my friends. Christ has redeemed us from our
vain conversation, our empty, meaningless, worthless existence
in this world, and translated us into the kingdom of God Almighty
by His grace. Everything you chase in this
world, Everything you pursue in this world, everything you
can set your heart on in this world will prove to be vanity. Vanity. I don't care whether
it's riches or fame. I don't care whether it's political
fame, academic fame, athletic fame, it doesn't matter. Everything
the world can give is vanity and will prove at last to have
been not worth the chase. Everything. But then that same
ruler says concerning this wine that the Lord Jesus sent to him,
thou has kept the good wine until now. This is the way of our great
and gracious God. He never goes from good to worse,
but always from good to better, both in this world and in the
world to come. The Lord Jesus Christ, our God
and our Savior, gives the best things last. He taketh away the
first that he may establish the second. Now, let me show you
the meaning of that statement in this 10th chapter of Hebrews.
And then I'll give you some examples of it in the scriptures. And
then I will talk about our experience of it just a little bit. And
then the hope that's set before us in it. First, let me show
you the meaning of this statement in its text. He taketh away the
first that he may establish the second. In this 10th chapter
of Hebrews, God the Holy Spirit is showing us how that all the
carnal ordinances of worship in the Old Testament pointed
to Christ. How that all those sacrifices
pointed to him but were themselves never effectual, were never efficacious
in putting away sin. That simply means that the sacrifices
never could purge the conscience because they could never put
away sin They could never make the worshipper comfortable with
himself and his relationship with God. They could never satisfy
the law, justice, and righteousness of God. So Christ Jesus comes,
that one to whom the sacrifice is pointed. And he says, Lord,
I come to do thy will, O my God. And when Christ came and finished
all the will of God, he took away the law and the ceremonies
and the sacrifices and the ordinances of carnal worship and established
the second and that which is final, and that is righteousness,
redemption and forgiveness by his blood. He brought in that
which God had willed from eternity, the redemption and sanctification
of his people. For by one offering he hath perfected
Forever them that are sanctified first God gave Israel the law
the priesthood and the tabernacle the Sacrifices and the services
of that carnal age so that they might have pipes and pictures
of the Lord Jesus then Christ came to do the will of God and
Now the pictures are gone when I went off to school in Springfield,
Missouri, I Shelby and I had just been engaged just a little
while, and I knew that it was God's purpose for me to leave. I went hundreds of miles away
to college out in Springfield, Missouri. I didn't see her, but
twice the year we were engaged. But I took with me a picture.
Man, I was the envy of the campus. Every boy came in and saw that
picture sitting on my desk. I looked at it all the time.
Every time I sat down to study, I'd picture that woman. I'm going
home, going to marry her. Every time I come in in the evenings,
there's that picture. Last thing I see before I go
to bed. First thing in the morning, that picture, that beautiful,
beautiful lady carried the same picture in my wallet. And I've
still got them. I don't have a clue where they
are. I haven't looked at them in years and I don't need to. In fact,
if you were to see me sometime sitting over here in the office
and you happen to walk in and I'm sitting in my chair and I've
got a picture of my wife just hugging it up to my chest and
she's sitting right behind me, you might call somebody and have
me locked away. Because I messed up. I popped
a cork. Something's wrong. Why would I hug the picture when
I can hug her? The picture now is pushed aside. The real thing is here. Do you
understand the picture? The law and the services of the
Old Testament, all those carnal ordinances were pictures foreshadowing
Christ. We have Christ himself. We don't
revert to the pictures. Look at Hebrews chapter 10, verse
9. Then said he, lo, I come to do
thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that
he may establish the second. He took away the old covenant,
that which was revealed first, and established the new covenant,
that which is revealed last. By the witch will, that is by
this accomplishing of Jehovah's will, We are sanctified, made
holy through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once
for all. That is not once for everybody
in the world. That's tomfoolery. That's nonsense. Once for all
means once with finality. And every priest standeth daily,
ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can
never take away sins. They can never take away sins.
All the sacrifices that Aaron offered couldn't take away one
sin. All the sacrifices offered by Aaron's sons couldn't take
away one sin. All the sacrifices offered throughout
the Levitical age for 2,000 years, every day, morning and evening,
every Sabbath, every week, could not take away one sin. But this
man, this one man, after he had offered one sacrifice, four sins
forever, sat down on the right hand of God. Sat down. Cause there's nothing else to
be done. Sat down, cause his work is over. From henceforth
expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. Now watch
verse 14. For by one offering he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. Now I know your modern translations
will translate that he has made complete them that are sanctified.
Complete. when something's complete, what
is it? It's perfect. It's perfect. Maybe the original
translation is better. He is perfected forever than
the sanctified, those who were set apart and declared holy by
God Almighty before the world was in Christ Jesus. Christ has
come and made perfect by his obedience unto death. Read on.
Verse 15, whereof the Holy Ghost also is witness. The Holy Ghost
testifies to this to us. For after that, he had said before,
this is the covenant that I will make with them after those days,
saith the Lord. I'll put my laws into their hearts and in their
minds. Will I write them and their sins and iniquities? Will
I remember no more? I'll come and make them new creatures.
I'll give them a new nature and I will declare to them that their
sins are forgiven and I will remember them no more. Verse
18. Now, where remission of these is, there's no more offering
for sin. No more offering for sin. Now
listen to me. Listen to me. I am a debtor to God's sovereign
grace. I owe God everything. Gladly
I acknowledge it. I owe Him everything. My life,
my breath, everything. Everything. It's right that I
should give everything to him. But I don't owe God anything. Did you get that? Ron, we don't
owe God anything. There's no more offering for
sin. No more offering. Christ paid my debt. That means
I have no debt. Christ satisfied my obligation,
that means I have no obligation. Christ put away my sin, that
means sin can't be charged to me. Christ is my righteousness,
that means I'm the righteousness of God in Him. Christ is my sanctification,
that means I'm holy in Him. Everything God demands, God gives. Everything God requires, God
performs. And He gives it and performs
it in His Son. Read on, verse 19. Having therefore,
brethren, boldness, boldness. That word means confidence, not
cockiness, confidence, confidence. A fellow who is confident is
as bold as a lion. A fellow who's confident is bold. We have boldness to enter into
the holiest. We have boldness to enter back
yonder behind the veil into the holy of holies, that place of
separation where God said to Aaron, you don't go back there
but once a year and then only with blood and you go the way
I prescribe. You go and your sons go only
once a year, then only with blood in the way that I prescribe.
You can't go otherwise on penalty of death. His sons went in and
offered strange fire. And God said, I told you, I'll
kill him. And he killed him. And he said, don't you weep for
them? Don't you even act like you're sorry for them? They deserve
to die. They brought strange fire in
before the Lord. Oh, we can't go in there. Not unless you've
got what God requires. Senators now can approach God
almighty in all his holy, glorious righteousness. with no fear,
with no terror, with no dread, one way, with the blood of his
son. That's all. We have boldness
to enter into the whole list by the blood of Jesus, by a new
and living way, which he has consecrated for us through the
veil. That is to say his flesh and
having a high priest over the house of God. What's this? Let
us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith. Having our hearts sprinkled from
an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. A very
dear friend of mine, an old man, he's, I guess, 90 years old now,
said to me the other night, tears in his eyes, as he has said to
me many times, almost ever since I've known him, he said, Brother
Don, pray for me. I have such a struggle with assurance.
And I said, me too. And I'll tell you what's the
cause of the struggle. This is a conversation he and
I have at least once a year and have had for 18 years. Me too. And I tell you what the cause
of struggle is. Every time I start looking for something in here
to give me assurance. I said, George, your problem
is every time you start looking for something in you to give
you peace. I said, did you ever go out in
a fishing boat and have to have an anchor? He said, yeah. I said,
what do you do with the anchor? He said, well, you throw it overboard
and hold the boat steady. I said, it won't do any good as long
as you got it in the boat. The anchor of our souls is in heaven. It's Jesus Christ the Lord. And
that anchor in glory is sure and steadfast. And trusting Him,
coming to God, casting aside every confidence in ourselves,
trusting Him alone. My only plea is that Christ lived
and died for me. That's all. Trusting Him, come
near with full assurance of faith. full assurance of faith. He'd taken away the first that
he may establish the second. Our Redeemer took away the old
ceremonies and sacrifices and priesthood and ordinances of
carnal worship that he might do the will of God. And while
those things lasted, they were holy and just and good. During
that age of infancy for his church, that age of ceremonial worship,
they were wonderful. But now that Christ has come,
he took those things away. The law was our schoolmaster
unto Christ. But now that faith in Christ
has come, we're no longer under schoolmaster. See if I can illustrate
it. I have my friend, Brother Bob
Spencer. He's been here a number of times.
He was my sixth grade teacher. And on more occasions than one,
he calls me pain posteriorly. back in the days when teachers
were allowed to do what teachers are supposed to do. He executed
wrath on my backside that I fully deserved. And I didn't dare go
home and tell Mama. Because I knew if she found out,
I was going to get worse at home. I didn't dare tell her. If it
got told, somebody else told it. And that was the way things
were and ought to have been. But now, He wouldn't dare pull
out his paddle and go after me. He wouldn't think about doing
it. He no longer has any dominion over me. And the law was our
schoolmaster unto Christ, to push us into the arms of Christ,
to control us until we come to Christ. But now that we've come
to Christ in faith, we're no longer under the schoolmaster.
It has absolutely no authority, no dominion, no rule over us
of any kind. You are not under the law, but
under grace. When our Lord Jesus took away
the types, He brought in and established something better.
He brought in perfect and complete righteousness and forgiveness,
the end of transgressions, the end of sin, the end of iniquity. He took away the first that he
might establish the second, and the second is far better. In
Christ, we have a priest better than David. In the simplicity
of the gospel, we have a worship that's indescribably better than
the complications of the Old Testament ceremonies and ordinances
in the law. If ever a sinner enters into
the holy place, he'll never try to sew up that veil. If ever
you experience the glorious liberty of the sons of God, you'll never
seek to return to bondage. Read the words of our text again.
Here the Spirit of God gives us both a word of assurance and
a word of warning. He taketh away the first that
he may establish the second. Here's the assurance. Justice
is satisfied. Redemption is accomplished. Sin
is pardoned. But be sure you hear the warning.
We dare not seek to reestablish the ordinances of the law. lest
we build again that which God cast down. We dare not seek to
establish again any ordinance of worship which God has not
established in his word. To do so is to be guilty of idolatry. And we dare not tolerate any
notion that the second can fail. He shall not fail. The blood of Jesus Christ shall
not fail to atone. His righteousness shall not fail
to satisfy. His intercession shall not fail
to prevail. And His grace shall not fail
to save. All right, here's the second
thing. I want to show you some examples of this from the scriptures.
He taketh away the first. that he may establish the second.
There are numerous, numerous examples I could give you. Let
me call your attention to four. The earthly paradise had been
taken away by sin. And I'm glad it was. I'm glad
it was. Oh, happy fall, the fall of our
father Adam. Had the earthly paradise never
been taken away, The Lord God Almighty would never have given
us this thing called salvation in Christ Jesus, the Lord. But
he took away the first and established the second. He said, I restored
that which I took not away. We fail in our first father,
Adam, because we sinned in our first father, Adam, and we died
in our first father, Adam. But Christ, the last Adam, is
he in whom we have life everlasting, in whom we stand forever. That
brings us to the second thing. The first man, Adam, failed and
failed miserably as our representative. But Christ, the last Adam, has
represented us perfectly and still does. And we're saved in
him. Now, people often object to this
matter of representation, this matter of covenant heads, this
matter of substitutes. Well, there's nothing to object
to. Nothing to object to. Adam represented all men on this
earth. All were in the loins of Adam.
Not only was he our seminal head and representative, he was our
federal, our legal head and representative before God. So that whatever
he did, we did in him. And whatever he experienced,
we experienced in him. And whatever was brought to him
as a result of his actions was brought to us as a result of
his actions. That's the way God arranged it. I don't like that. Well, you
haven't done any better on your own. You haven't done one bit better
on your own. But rejoice in that God arranged it that way. For
we're told in Romans chapter 5 verse 14 that Adam was a figure of him that was
to come. James, he was a type of Christ.
God created him and established a covenant with him and dealt
with him as a type of the Lord Jesus, another representative
man. In fact, in a sense, God only
deals with two men, the first Adam and the last Adam. And it
deals with all men in the first Adam or the last Adam. He doesn't
deal with you any other way. Adam, representing all the human
race, chose deliberately to plunge himself and his race into sin
and death under the wrath and curse of God Almighty, because
he would not be separated from the woman he loved, his wife
Eve. Now that's Adam's blame. That's
his fault. But oh, what a picture. The last
Adam, representing God's elect, plunged himself into sin. and death, and the curse of God's
law, and guilt before God, and judgment, because he would not
be separated from the woman of his love, his church, whom he
espoused to himself before the world began. And when he died,
we died in him. And when he arose, we arose in
him. And by his obedience unto death,
all who were in him lived, just as all who were in Adam were
plunged into death by him. He taketh away the first, that
it may establish the second. God took away the first covenant,
that covenant of works, given an example in Genesis. Back yonder
when he spoke to Adam, it was a covenant of works. All Adam
had to do was obey and he wouldn't die. That's all. He gave it to
Moses at Sinai. All he had to do was obey and
he wouldn't die. He wouldn't die. He said, this do and thou
shalt live. The covenant of works is law. Law. And then he took that away
and brought in another covenant. The covenant of free grace. A
covenant of free grace. All of which depended on the
doing and dying of the Lord Jesus. And there's a picture of it.
Galatians chapter 4 you can read it later Abraham and his wife
Sarah were promised a son God said to Abraham I'm going to
give you a son and in that son I will give the blessing by whom
all the nations of the earth shall be blessed I'm going to
give you a son who shall be the son who's the seed of woman the
Son of God and Abraham believed God But Sarah, they waited a
while, waited a while, waited a while. And finally, Sarah said,
Abraham, honey, this just ain't going to happen. It just, you
know, God, God wants us to do something. You know, God wants
us to do something. Anytime you hear somebody say
that, hang on, you're fixing your head for trouble. You know,
God wants us to do something. Something's got to depend on
us. And she reasoned like this. I'm an old woman. And there's
no possibility I'm going to get pregnant and have a boy. That's
just not going to happen. You know it and I know it. But
God promised us a son. Now Hagar, my young handmaiden,
she could bear a son. And this must be what the Lord
would have us to do. You take Hagar and go into her
and she'll bear a son and it'll be our boy. And he did. And they
had a boy and they were just happy as they could be. They
had Ishmael. Oh boy, this is it. This is it.
until the Lord came and gave him Isaac. And then all hell
broke loose in Abraham's house. Ishmael and Isaac were at war.
And Sarah and Hagar were at war. And finally, Sarah comes to Abraham
and says, you made this mess, you fix it. She said, cast out
the bond woman and her son. For the bond child of the bond
woman shall not be heir with the child of the free woman.
And Abraham, he wasn't about to do that. And God said, Sarah's
right. Cast them out. Hagar and Ishmael. Because these things are an allegory. They're a picture. They're a
picture. The son of works, of legal bondage,
cannot be heir with a child of promise. And Don Lanier and Don
Fortner are children of promise. born of God by promise, covenant
promise. David understood it. He said,
the Lord hath made with me an everlasting covenant ordering
all things insure. And this is my salvation and
my desire, although he make it not to grow. It is this very
covenant that Paul's talking about here in Hebrews eight,
nine, 10, 11 and 12. This covenant of free grace.
When God says their sins and iniquities, I will remember no
more. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Here's a fourth example given in scripture. God built a temple. Oh, what a magnificent temple
David's temple was. That temple built by Solomon
after David's decease. What a magnificent temple. Oh, the glory, the grandeur of
that temple. And the Lord Jesus destroyed
it completely. Destroyed it completely. Completely. Not one stone left to put another,
he said. He destroyed it completely. Because
he's building another temple. A holy, spiritual temple. You are the temple of the living
God. Christ is building his church,
a temple. His kingdom. And he who is our
mighty Zerubbabel shall bring the headstone to the corner with
shouting grace, grace unto it and nothing shall stand in his
way. Blessed be his name. This temple
he will build and he will finish who laid the foundation stone
with his own hand. All right, here's the third thing.
I'll be very brief. Let me talk to you about our
experience of this. He taketh away the first. that
he may establish the second. In the experience of it, it is
a painful, painful, painful ordeal, but completely necessary. I've told you this many times.
I was 19 years old over visiting my friend, Brother Harry Graham.
His wife, Nola, and Shelby were sitting at the kitchen table
talking and Harry would preach to me. He was my theology professor,
because the one I had was worth spit. He's still where he was,
and he still teaches the same nonsense. But Harry, oh, what
a teacher. I was sitting on his hearth,
and he said to me, Don, he said, when God begins to work in a
man, if you could see what's going on, you'd think I wouldn't
treat a mad dog like that. I wouldn't treat a mad dog like
that. He said, now leave him alone. God knows what he's doing. Leave him alone. God knows what
he's doing. Before God saves you, he's going
to make you know that you're lost. Before he clothes you,
he's going to strip you. Before he fills you, he's going
to empty you. He takes away your first righteousness. That's hard to lose. I don't
care who the man is, I don't care who the woman is, it lends
you to give up your own righteousness. I recall back years ago when
Brother Todd Nyvert and folks over in Lexington started meeting
on North Limestone. And he said to me, he said, you
know, I really thought meeting down there where all the winos
and drunks and dopeheads were, we wouldn't have a problem dealing
with self-righteous people. He said, they're just as self-righteous
as anybody else. They're just as righteous in
their own eyes as anybody else. I said, surprise, surprise, surprise. Yeah. You see, all men think
they're righteous. All men think that no matter
what they do outwardly, really, if you're down deep inside, we're
all basically good. Isn't that wonderful? It would
be if it wasn't a lie. Down deep inside, we're all basically
corrupt. Damn deep inside. We're all nothing
but evil. Damn deep inside. We're all nothing
but wickedness. And until God takes away your
righteousness, he will never give you the righteousness of
Christ. Oh, I pray, then God strip us of our righteousness.
Blessed, blessed, blessed is this comforting work of the Holy
Spirit. The comforter, our Savior said,
will not come, will not come except I go away. And then he
said, when this comforter comes, he's going to do strangest thing
to comfort folks. He'll convince you of sin. He'll
make you know what you are. There's no comfort in the gospel
until you're made to know your own guilt before God. Then all
men enjoy a measure of peace until the Lord God comes in the
power of his grace and dashes your peace to pieces like a broken
vessel. He shatters everything. He shatters
everything. Everything. Got everything all
planned out, all fixed, and he comes and smashes everything.
But we now find real peace in the rock of ages. Brother Lynch
has often told you a story of Charles Wesley standing out on
a balcony one evening and a storm was brewing. A little bird flew
into his gown right here. Wesley went inside and sat down
and wrote these great words, Jesus, lover of my soul, Let
me to thy bosom fly, while the nearer waters roll, while the
tempest still is high. Hide me, O my Savior, hide, till
the storm of life is past. Safe into the haven guide, O
receive my soul at last. Our Lord comes in saving grace,
and he takes away all that carnal joy. I was, by all the opinions of men around
me, the happiest, most happy-go-lucky fellow alive. I was doing what
all 16-year-old boys want to do, raising hell and having a
good time, just having a good time. Nobody knew what was going on
inside. And God stepped in. And there was no joy in anything.
No happiness in anything. Nothing. Until he gave me the
blessed joy of faith in Christ. And now there's nothing but blessedness.
He takes away our natural carnal strength. And he is now our strength. giving us faith in his blood
and his righteousness, his providence and his promises. We walk before
God in confidence, with peace, with hope and with joy. Christ
took away our endless, meaningless, wandering, vain existence and
brought us into the way of life and peace and everlasting salvation. One more thing. He taketh away
the first, that he may establish the second. The Lord, our Savior, has taken away all those former
carnal hopes we enjoyed, thinking we were good, and has given us
the blessed hope of everlasting glory with him. I don't know
where I read it, but years ago somewhere I read that Alexander
the Great went on one of his expeditions, and just before
he left, he gave away all of his gold. And of course, that
shocked people. And someone asked him, why would
you do such a thing? Alexander answered, for the hope
of greater and better things. For the hope of greater and better
things. Oh God, give me such a heart. Give me grace to let go of everything
here in hope of greater and better things. For we know that if our
earthly house and this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building
of God. house not made in the heavens. House not made with hands eternal
in the heavens. In this we grow not desiring to be unclothed
but clothed upon that mortality might be swallowed up of life. So Bob Duff all weakness and
fear and everything that has the least trace of sin upon it
gonna be gold. We'll raise to life, immortality,
life in Christ Jesus. I recall years ago, that's been
a long time ago, Mother Mahan was about 54, 55 years old and
he went in one Sunday evening and one of the older men in the
congregation, late 80s, sitting there waiting for services to
start. He'd come early, and Henry sat down and talked to him a
little bit. And Henry asked him, said, how you doing? He said,
oh, I'm doing fine, Brother Henry. He said, I think we've got things
backwards. Henry said, how's that? He said,
we rejoice and we're so happy when a baby comes into this world.
And we weep and we're so sad when an old man leaves this world.
He said it ought not be that way. He said that baby's coming
into a world of woe and struggle and heartache and pain. He said
I'm an old man. I'm getting ready to leave all
that behind. We ought to weep when the baby's born and rejoice
when the old man in Christ dies. In hope of greater and better
things. Amen.