I'd like for you to take your
Bibles and turn with me to the book of 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy chapter 1, verses 9 through 13. Now the
who that verse 9 begins with is talking about God. If you read the first several
verses, you'll see that what I'm saying is true. So I'm going to begin to read
it that way since we're not beginning in verse 1 with the word God. God hath saved us and called
us with an 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 now made manifest. Do
you know what the word manifest means? That's a mariner's term. That's a sailor's term. When
they loaded cargo on a ship, everything that went on that
ship, all the people, all the treasures, all the wine, the
food, everything that went on that ship was kept on a manifest. A manifest. It was a record.
It's made known exactly. It was an inventory. Everything
put on this ship, a manifest. But it's now made manifest. This
was on God's manifest. This is what God put on the ship.
It's now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus
Christ, who has abolished death and has brought life and immortality
to light through the gospel. whereunto I am appointed a preacher,
and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. For the which
cause I also suffer these things. Nevertheless, I am not ashamed,
for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able
to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day." Now,
as a preacher and a pastor, I get asked a lot of questions. Some
of them I can answer. Some of them I can't answer.
And some of them I won't answer. I get asked all kinds of questions. And most of the time, I get this
what we call parenthetical questions. What's that? That's a question
that's really not a question. It's more of a statement. More
of a statement. Somebody's going to make a point.
And so they asked the question to make the point. And let me say this. Not every question's worth answering.
It's just not worthy to answer. Sometimes it's best to just say,
huh, turn around and walk away. Sometimes it is. Paul told Timothy,
this young pastor, he was about to take pastorship of this church,
these Gentile believers. And mixed in with them were some
Jews. And some of these Jews were still in a fog about legalism and circumcision
and all kinds of things and genealogies and their blood relationship
with these patriarchs. And they just had a lot of questions.
A lot of questions. And Paul told Timothy not to
give heed to fables. You know what a fable is? I had
to go look it up. I didn't really know what it
was. A fable are the exploits of men of the past. And over
time, men exaggerate what these men have done and make them out
to be something they really weren't. I'll give you some examples.
Robin Hood. Zorro. The Lone Ranger. Stories passed
down from generation to generation exaggerating things way out of
proportion. Except with these men, it was
more of these old saints from days gone by. And some who, like
Gamaliel, and some of these men in the Jewish religion who were
just exalted above measure, but who didn't know God. Fables,
fables. This man did this, this man did
that, you know. These are fables. Stories passed down. And then
he loops us in with it. Endless genealogies. They're
endless, aren't they? Which minister questions. You
get into these genealogies, well, who was his mother? Who was his
father? Who was his cousin? What did
he do? And it goes on and on and on. Nothing profitable here. Nothing edifying, nothing substantial
to cause spiritual growth. Just questions that lead to more
questions. Then in 1 Timothy chapter 6,
flip over there for just a second. Paul tells this young pastor
this. Well, you don't have to turn to it. Let me just read
it for the sake of time. He said, if any man brings a
doctrine that does not teach godliness, that does not teach
godly submission, will not consent or agree to wholesome words. You stand up here and I tell
you like I did this morning in the Sunday school lesson and
open these treasures of grace to you and give you wholesome
words to encourage you and to allow you to enter into these
things. These men don't want that. It don't appeal to them. Wholesome words, words to encourage
and motivate and establish men in the faith of Christ. That
man, he said, is proud and he don't know nothing. That's what
Paul said. He don't know nothing. Oh, he's
smart. He's intelligent. Ain't nobody
can question that. Got a memory like an elephant.
My dad could. He could tell you all these Old
Testament patriarchs, who their cousins and first cousins and
all. I just said, listen to him. He'd
just go on and on and on about it. He knew all their names and
where they come from and whose father they was and what tribe
they came from and all. But he didn't know God. And he
didn't know the Gospel. Nobody could question his studying. He studied. Nobody could question
that he didn't read this Old Testament. He read the Old Testament
and knew it. Knew it. Paul said, this man's proud and
he don't know nothing. He don't know nothing. You can
be a brilliant man and know nothing. Did you know that? You sure can. You can be a successful man and
know nothing. Just know nothing. In fact, the
Lord blessed the father. He bowed his head and watched
these highly, highly esteemed men come up to him with questions,
questions. meant to trap him, meant to tear
down, not meant to establish, not meant to encourage, not meant
to bring peace. They were evil questions. They were questions to trap him
and to trick him and to expose some kind of a false ministry,
to dirty up his name. Highly esteemed, educated men,
smart men, wise men of the world, well respected in the community,
feared, feared by the bleak. And he bowed his head and he
said, I thank you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because
you hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed
them unto babes. In 1 Timothy 6, verse 4, Paul
said he's proud knowing nothing but doting about questions. All he ever thinks about. That's the tenor of his life,
doting on question, stripes of words. And all that ever comes
from it is envy and strife and railings and evil surmising. See it there in verse 4? Verse
5, perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds and destitute
of the truth. supposing that gain is godliness. Now that's not just talking about
monetary things, although it is talking about that. But he's
talking about gain of recognition and gain of reputation. That's
why he says all that. That's why he does what he does,
to be seen of me. But Paul said, verse 6, godliness
with contentment is great gain. Godliness. True believers have
no interest in these things. I said something to Georgia this
morning, just in jest. I said, we're going to be here
a while this morning, because I'm going to get into this thing
of superlapsarianism. And she said, huh? She got no interest in superlapsarianism,
and neither do I. Do you? Huh? Who cares? Well, preacher, what about the
tribulation? I'm not interested. What about the end days, the
end times? What about these mysteries? What
about these wheels with all the eyes in them? I'm not interested. I'm not interested. That's not
what thrills my heart. Christ is what thrills my heart.
Christ. See what Paul's talking about?
That's godliness. Godliness. Great is the mystery
of godliness. God came into the flesh. That's
godliness. You want to know something about
godliness, study the godly. The only godly man I ever seen
was Christ. He's godly. Everything about
him is godly. Be content with that. True believers
have no interest in these arguments and these unanswerable questions
and these endless genealogies and these fables. They got no
interest in it. They might tolerate it for your
sake, but they're not interested. They're not interested. These
things don't speak to their hearts. They don't appeal to their needs.
And they don't contribute to their faith in Christ. You see
what Paul's telling Timothy? You're here to encourage. You're
here to feed. You're here to establish. Get
off these things and get on with the gospel. These kinds of questions,
they're called foolish questions throughout the scriptures. And
we're to ignore them and to ignore those who ask them. Just ignore
them. But you know, ever so often, I'm asked questions that are
good questions, questions out of the heart. Jesse used to call. We talked for hours on telephone.
He had good questions, good questions, a heart that seeks to know God,
questions out of need. He wasn't asking because he wanted
to be smart. He wasn't asking because he wanted
to go out and debate with the folks over there. He was asking
out of his heart. It needed answers. It needed cleansing. It needed
life. He had an interest. He had an
appetite. He asked good questions. And not too long ago, I was asking
questions. I want to share these questions
with you this morning and try to give you some answers. And
the Lord willing, speak to the hearts of you who ask these things,
but you never ask them out loud. Here are just a few of those
questions. How does a man know if he's elect
of God? Wouldn't you like to know that? Man, I want to know that. Now,
you're getting into my area now. My ears perked up. Tell me something
about, can a person know if they're a child of God? How does a person know? if they truly believe? How do you know? There are so
many who thought they believed but didn't. And some believed who didn't
know. I want to know. Can you know? Can you know? How does a person know if he
or she really believes? How does one know if the Lord
has begun a work of grace in their heart? In Philippians,
Paul said he was confident of this very thing, that he which
had begun a work in his heart would finish it. But how do I
know if it begun? Have I got your attention? Where do we look? Where do we
go for this true evidence of faith? Where can I go? Where's
the evidence? I want to know. I'm not playing
games. I want to know, don't you? I don't want to live my
life and wind up only to hear him say, depart from me, you
worker of iniquity. I never knew you. I don't want
that, and I don't want that for you. I want you to know. I want you to know. I'm going
to deal with these things one at a time. I'm not going to deal
with them one at a time, because I believe all these things just
one question. Don't you? It's just one question,
and there's just one answer. There's just one answer. So I'm
going to have a lot of points. I believe all these things have
one answer. How does a man or a woman determine
whether or not they are among the elect of God? Here in 2 Timothy
1, verses 9 through 13, the Apostle Paul gives us most of what we
need to answer any sincere seeker of the Lord. If you have something
to scribble on, take some notes. I suggest you do it. Give these
things some serious thought and attention and prayer. Ask God. I'm not afraid to submit these
things to God. You don't have to come back.
I'm not going to pin you up back in the corner and say, now, what
did I say? I'm going to leave it up between
you and Him. You and Him. Now let me begin
here. And this is where you have to
begin. This is a hard thing. This is contrary. Paul said after
the way the religion of this world, after the way they call
heresy, that's the way I worship God. This is a hard thing when
you come out of with this old traditional understanding and
this old sinful bias of nature. These are difficult things, hard
things. But it's so. And when God begins
to shut us up to this book, we begin to see these things. God
hath saved us. Ain't that how that verse begins?
God hath saved us. I didn't save myself. I didn't
make myself savable. God hath. Past tense. Before I knew anything about
it. without me even being aware of it, without me seeking it.
God hath saved us and then in time called us. Ain't that what
that says? Had salvation come before the
calling? Yes, it did. This calling, this
holy calling, this effectual calling, this calling to be sons
of God and heirs of grace and blessed of God is not according
to our works. Not before, not during, not after. Your works can't bring it to
pass. Your works can't make it effectual. Your works can't preserve
it. And your works can't perfect
it. Not of works. It's not according to our works,
but it's according to His own purpose and grace which was given
us. Are you listening? In Christ
Jesus. before the foundation of the
world, before the world began. Salvation is of the Lord. It's
of the Lord in its eternal design and decree. And this eternal
design is to save a people in Christ, to manifest the glory
of His great name. Now that's where it all starts.
It starts in God. I can't regulate these things. I can't set the standard of these
things. It doesn't matter what I think about them or what seems
right to me. This whole thing's of God. I'm
going to have to go see what God designed, what God planned,
what God decreed. I wasn't around. He said, who
was my counselor? Who taught me about these things?
With whom took I counsel about these things? You don't know
anything about it. You're way down the line. I'm
going to have to go see what God says, what God decreed. And I tell you this, God's not
going to save any man at the expense of his glory. It ain't
going to happen. Because that's what this salvation
is all about. And any scheme that does not
yield all the glory to God is not of God's design. He said,
of God are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, that, according
as it is written, he that gloweth, let him glow in the Lord. If
I've got a righteousness and I don't glow in the Lord, I don't
have His righteousness. I've got mine. And I'm glowing
in myself. You see what he's saying there?
All this glowing, sanctification, You glory in a sanctification?
You better not. When you find out that sanctification's
in Christ, you'll quit glorying in yours and start glorying in
Him. Wisdom, what about that wisdom?
Where'd that wisdom come from? That wisdom's in Christ. It's
all in Christ. He that glorieth, let him glory
in the Lord. Salvation's of the Lord in its eternal design and
decree. And then secondly, it's of the
Lord in a sovereign act of election. I love Danny Parks had an article.
I tried to download it and it just wouldn't. This morning I
wanted to bring it to you and let you read it. But in this
article, and it's fairly long, he cites nearly every New Testament
scripture, including the four gospels. where God plainly says
that he has an elect, that he has chosen people, that those
people have not chosen him, and why he chose them, and how he
chose them, and so on and so forth. And he said, and yet preachers
tell me that this thing of election is not a scriptural doctrine.
He said, I cannot but determine one thing, they've never read
the Bible. After citing 60 some verses of scripture. It's of the Lord by a sovereign
act of election. And if the Word of God means
anything at all to you, if it has any bearing at all on what
you believe, you cannot overlook the election of God's saints.
He says it too many times. He tells his own disciples, he
said, you didn't choose me. You was fishing. You don't remember? You was on the boat. He fished
all night, didn't catch anything. You remember that? You remember
who said to you, come follow me and I'll make you fishers
of me? I chose you. You didn't choose me. You didn't
choose me. To establish this election of
grace, he said this to the mother of twins before either one were
ever born or ever did any good or evil. To establish this election,
he said, Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated. And I know
he's the firstborn, but Jacob's going to rule over him. That's
my decree. Why would you say something like
that, Lord? Because I'm going to establish my sovereign election. That's why. That's why. You can read about it over in
Romans chapter 9, verses 11 through 13. God is merciful and God is compassionate,
but this merciful, compassionate God is sovereign. And he said,
I'll have mercy on whom I will. And I'll have compassion. He
told that to Moses. Moses said, show me your glory.
He said, here's my glory. I'll have mercy on whom I will
have mercy, and whom I will, I'll be compassionate. And whom
I will, I'll harden. That's my glory. And I tell you, you can dance
in the street and build seminaries and fill the world full of universalism
and decisionism and free will, but God said it ain't of him
that willeth. It's not, not of him that willeth. Will all you want to. You can't
will yourself to be a child of God. It's things of God. And it's not of him that willeth,
and it ain't of him that runneth. Run till you can't run no more.
That woman with the issue of blood ran till she couldn't run
anymore. There's nowhere else to go. It
ain't of him that runneth. It's of God that showeth mercy. It's of God by sovereign act
of election. Read Ephesians chapter 1, 2 Thessalonians
chapter 2. Read the books of Peter. It's
according to the good pleasure of his will who worketh all things
after the counsel of his own will. And God determined before
the world began who would be saved, where, when, and how they'd
be saved. And that's the way it's going
to happen. It ain't going to vary from it, not one iota. Yeah,
but man failed, so what? So what? What about with all the kings?
I read that to you while ago in a book. What about with all
the people and all the kings and all the nations and all the
religion and everybody else gathers together against the king? Then
what's going to happen? God's determinate counsel is
going to be done. That's exactly what's going to
happen. It's of the Lord. And thirdly, it's of the Lord
and it's accomplishment. Salvation has to be accomplished
and we can't do it. You can't do it. You can't win
God's favor. What are you going to do to win
God's favor? He's God. We're the farthest
things from God there is. I told somebody one time, he
said, well, I just can't find the truth. I said, when you read
the scriptures, everything comes to your mind, choose the opposite.
That's what it'll be. You'll be really close, really
close. If it says black, it's white. If it says white, it's black.
Why? Because we're poles apart. Our
sins have separated us from God. We're totally opposite in our
nature, in our thinking, in our reasoning. Our name is totally opposite
from Him. Of the Lord and His accomplishments.
Man falling under the curse of sin, and man is ruined in his
nature, and sin reigns unto death, and that death is his cursed
legacy to his children. This death passed, he said, upon
all men. It passed. You go out here and
you take a stalk of corn and it grows and it's got seeds in
it and the seeds fall down to the ground and next spring another
corn stalk comes up. It's not going to eventually
evolve into a tomato. It's just going to keep on producing
corn. Its seed remains authentic. And it produces after its kind.
Here's what he said over in 1 Corinthians 15, as is the earthy such are
they also that are earthy. I thought it was going to come
up. There's another John. And that John, there's Johns
in our family on my mother's side. She was a Howard. And there's
been a John Howard, I think they said, for 15 generations going
back. That's all John can ever produce
is another John, ain't it? That's right. That's what he
said. Something has to be done to save them. Something has to
be done to break that curse. A man can't help himself, will
not help himself. He won't do it. To accomplish
God's eternal design and bring about the predestinated end of
God's elect, God Himself condescends into the flesh and breaks the
chain. He breaks the chain. God breaks
the chains of the dark curve with another head, a second Adam,
a man appointed of God who is in fact the Word made flesh. And as a man, He took the place
of His elect. under that spiritual holy law
of God and fulfilled the law and never jotted him. Obeyed
every form of authority, parental authority. The authority of an
employer. He worked in his father's carpentry
shop and he was obedient. He was obedient. The authority
of the tabernacle and all of those, of the temple, of the
priesthood. kings, magistrates, even the
prophet John the Baptist when he came to him as an act of submission
under that authority to be baptized. The Lord Jesus Christ who is
what baptism is all about. He came to the prophet John and
John said, no, no, no, no. He said, I ain't worthy to reach
down and unlace your shoelace. He said, suffer it to be so.
for it becometh you and I to fulfill all righteousness." He
was obedient. Obedient. This obedience is what constitutes
the believer's righteousness. And apart from this righteousness,
our smiling face and our ceremonial worship and our sacrifices and
the bowing of our heads and the waving of our hands and the holy
days and our public gatherings And our most solemn prayers are
just nothing more than an abomination before God. Isaiah talks about
it over there in Isaiah chapter 1. Don't he? God said, who called
you into my courts? What are you doing out there
waving your hand? Huh? I don't want to see your hands.
He wants to see his sons. He said, it's obnoxious to me.
It's a smoke in my nose. And God's justice demands retribution. Sin has to be paid for. It has
to be paid for. Justice demands a penalty equal
to the deity that's been offended. Now, don't you think about that
for a minute. And for every man to suffer for
all eternity would not be sufficient to satisfy offended deity. Only deity can satisfy deity.
You can't do it. You can't do it. It requires
a lamb without spot or blemish. And we're full of spots and blemishes.
It requires the God-man to suffer and die in our room instead.
It demands a perfect, a perfect repentance. And you can't produce
it. And having died for His elect,
honored and exalted the law, satisfied divine justice. God
raises him from the dead declaring all for whom he died justified. I know the curse has been taken
away. Righteousness established and justice satisfied because
God raised him from the dead. My sins which were laid on him
must be gone because God raised him from the dead. He must have obtained God's favor
and blessing. God raised him from the dead. Salvation is of the Lord in its
accomplishment. And salvation, forcefully, is
of the Lord in its application. Now listen to me, because here's
where your problem is. Here's where your problem is.
You're asking this question, how can I know? How can I know? Here it is. The success of his
accomplishments is not left to chance and circumstance. What
he purchased, he's going to have. You see what I'm saying? He didn't
just make salvation possible, he made it dead sure. He paid
the price. It belongs to him. How do I know
that? Because God raised him from the
dead. The reward of His work is not
left to sin-biased will of captives, but the ascended, glorious, victorious
Christ sends the Holy Spirit of God to the objects of that
salvation. Salvation is the reward of Christ's
person and work. It's His reward. He's going to
have it. He's going to have it. He deserves it. He's going to
have it. In that last and glorious day when God sends His Son back
into this world in the glory of heaven, the heavenly host
at His side, all those who died before with Him, with Him. And He comes and calls His saints
up out of the ground. Here's what He calls that day,
the redemption of the purchased possession. It belongs to Him
and He's going to have it. He purchased for us the right
and privilege to become sons of God. Turn with me over to
John 1. John 1, verse 12. John 1, verse 12, as received Him. Received Him
as He was appointed of God. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. You see that
up there in the above text, verse 1. Received Him as God set Him
forth. Huh? God set Him forth. How did He set Him forth? He
set Him forth on that burning altar. He sent Him forth as a
propitiation for our sins. He sent Him forth as an object
of faith of that coming Redeemer. He sent Him forth as that seed
that's going to break, that seed of woman that's going to break
that chain of darkness passed on from father to son, father
to son. Received Him as the promised
Redeemer in Christ. Received Him as the end of the
law for righteousness. Received Him as a sin-atoning
sacrifice. Received Him as the way, the
truth, and the life. To as many as received Him, put
their trust in Him, committed themselves to Him, rested the
weight of their souls on Him. Received Him as their life, put
Him on as the new man. Received Him as He's declared
and described of God throughout the Scriptures. Received Him
while Everybody else in the world turned thumbs down on him. He
was in the world. The world was made by him. See
that in those preceding verses? The world was made by him, but
the world didn't know him. He came unto his own. He came
to Israel. They weren't any part of him. But to as many as received him. Received him. received him while
everybody else, that's how Paul said he knew the election of
the Thessalonians, because they received him in spite of what everybody else
was saying. Everybody, all their friends, all their relatives,
all the country, all the churches and synagogues around them were
saying, you're nuts. You're nuts. That's a cult that
man don't know anything at all about. You're crazy. Yeah, but
we believe. We believe. Paul said, that's
how come I know your election of God. Received Him while everybody
else in the world rejected Him. Even His own nation, His own
tribe, His own people. To as many as received Him. Are
you listening? To them. To them. Gave He power. Gave He the right, the privilege
to become sons of God. They didn't earn it. They didn't
deserve it. They're no different than the ones who rejected Him.
But He gave it to them. He gave them what He purchased.
He gave them the right and the privilege to become sons of God,
even to them that believe on His name. Do you believe on His
name? Huh? Can you believe on His name?
Can you see in Him the manifest glory of God? Verse 14, John chapter 1, look
at it. And the Word was made flesh and
dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the
only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Can you see that? Have you received
that? Do you see what this world does
not see? Do you see God's justice being
satisfied in him? God's mercy being distributed
through him? God's grace freely given? Can
you see that? Then you've received him, and
God gives you the right and privilege to become a son of God. That's
what he says here. How came they to believe while
the rest of the world, religious and heathen, despised gathered
together against Him. Was it their decisions and free
will that made the difference? Was it their willingness to react
that made the difference? Was it some emotional stirring
within that made the difference? How come these to believe while
the rest of the world continued on the way they were? It tells
you in the very next verse. Which were born. which were born, not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of
God. The new birth is the earnest
of our inheritance. It's the down payment of what
is yet to come. It is the true evidence and earnest
of our relationship to God. Are you looking for evidence?
Here it is. Here it is. The new birth. That
is the evidence. This is the earnest, he calls
it. Sealed. Those who believe, he
sealed with the Holy Spirit upon them. It is described in John chapter
3 as necessary to even begin to perceive the Kingdom of God.
Necessary to enter that Kingdom. And this new birth is said to
come through the preaching of the Gospel. Paul told the Corinthians,
he said, I have begotten you through the Gospel. Now, he didn't
mean that he did that in the power of the flesh. He just said
according to the will of God and according to the means that
God has decreed, you were begotten through the Gospel that I preach.
Peter also says something very similar in 1 Peter 1, verses
23 through 25, identifying the seed of regeneration as the Word
of God preached, preached to those people and received. And James said, of his own will
begat he us with the word of truth that we should be a kind
of firstfruits of his creature. James 1 verse 18. Verse 19, wherefore,
my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to read and study.
I don't know what that says. I don't know what that says. Let every man take deep thought,
search himself with it. I don't know what that says.
It says let him be swift to hear. That's what that says. And slow
to speak. This new birth opens our understanding
and causes us to see God's glory in Christ, to see the glory of
His name, the glory of His mercy and grace to center, manifest
His love and kindness to the lost. This new birth shuts us
up to Christ, takes away every avenue, takes it away. There's nowhere else to go. I
can't find it within. I can't find it without. I can't
find it in religion. I can't find it in a bar. I can't
find it in a woman. I can't find it anywhere. Where's
it at? It's in Christ. It's in Christ. The gospel shuts you up to Christ.
Is that what's being preached out here? Is that what you hear?
Not what I hear. I can't even find it on the signs,
let alone in the pulpit. turns us to Him out of desperation
and frustration and inability. And we embrace Him because we
have nothing else to embrace. That leper had nowhere else to
go. He was dead while he lived. He threw himself at the feet
of Christ. The demoniac came to Christ because
nobody else had the power to cast out the demons. And the
woman with the issue of blood came to Christ because He was
the only hope she had to stop that polluted flow. And when
we shut up to Christ, we suddenly discover His glory, His completeness,
His willingness, His wisdom, His beauty, His majesty, His
gentleness, His gracious spirit. We find it all because that's
where it all is. Huh? That man that found the
treasure and bought the fields, I know that's got a lot of meanings,
but I preached on this one time and I told them that it has an
application to the Word of God. A man preaches, he hears the
Gospel, he goes in this book, and suddenly he discovers a little
treasure sticking up here out of the field. He'd never seen
it before. You know what he does? He buys the whole field. He buys
the whole field. And he begins to look in the
field. Look in the field. And it's everywhere. It's on
every page, and the more he looks, the greater the treasure. He
sees it throughout the Word of God. He shuts us up to Christ
and we discover His glory. Do you look for evidence? Look
to Christ. That's where it's at. That is
the evidence. That is the evidence. What greater
evidence of the love of God do you require than the willing,
loving sacrifice of His only begotten Son? Do you demand more
than that? What greater evidence of mercy
can a sin-sick soul require than the reconciliation of God accomplished
in the life and death of Jesus Christ? Everything about Him
cries mercy. His appearance in this world
cries mercy. The life He lived cries mercy.
The sin-sick souls that came to Him and the sick and the diseased
and the demon-possessed, doesn't that cry of mercy? His appearance
on this earth, His parables, His teachings, his faithful,
loving obedience, his willing surrender, his promise from the
beginning and throughout the pages of this book. Who dares
believe some merited man called down the sun to this suffering
and shame? Huh? Man don't know he's doing
that. He wouldn't preach that. Who
would dare do that? Who dares to declare some merited
man to add to the sufficiency of this work and make it effectual? Who dares to question the meritorious
worth of His blessed sacrifice to redeem the vilest sinner out
of hell. What greater evidence of God's
free and sovereign grace can a bankrupt sinner hope for than
that which was manifest in the dying substitute? He manifested
that love to us. That's what He said. This is
that great stone cast aside by Israel. who sought after signs
and evidences. The Jews require a sign. Ain't
that what he said over there in 1 Corinthians 1? And the Greeks
seek after wisdom. Oh, here's that great stone,
and they came to this stone, and they just looked at it and
pushed it over there and went on about their business. Put
it aside. God made him the head of the
corner. Acts 4, verse 12. Neither is
there salvation in any other. You can't find it anywhere else.
You can't find any evidence anywhere else. Because salvation is nowhere
else. It's in Him. It's in Him. There's none other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Preacher, how do I know? How
do I know if I believe? I won't hurt your feelings. Well,
here's the answer. When you quit asking. Think about it. When you quit
asking. When you gonna quit asking when
you find it? You don't ask anymore once you found it, do you? Huh? Here's salvation. Here's salvation. I found it. I found it. Old Simeon picked up that baby.
And with a spiritual understanding and revelation of God in his
heart, he said, now, thank God, I've seen thy salvation. Now
I'm ready to go. No more questions asked, was
there? I've seen what I need to see. I found it in him. One
of the old Nashville music stars from years ago, I believe it
was Chet Atkins. I heard this illustration some
30 years ago. But he was out carousing around
the bars and playing music the way the old country western music
stars got their beginning. And he was out there on one of
those lonely roads and ran out of gas. Got confused, didn't
know where he was going, just kept driving around looking for
something familiar up in them mountains. Boy, you can really
get turned around. And he got turned around and
run out of gas. So he got out at 2 o'clock in
the morning. He's wandering around those roads,
and it's dark. And he looks up there on the
hillside, and there's a little light, and it looked like a little one-room
cabin. There's a light on. And so he
hustled up there and knocked on the door, and this old fellow,
he's still awake. And there he had his radio on. He come to
the door and recognized him. Told him his name, invited him
in, and told him what happened with the car, and so on. They
made the call. He said, boy, he said, I really
like your music. He said, I listen to you all
the time. He said, I play the guitar. He said, you do? He said,
yeah. He said, would you like to hear
it? Well, what are you going to say to a fella that just let
you use his phone? Yeah, he said, I'd like to hear
it. So old guy went over the corner and drug out this old
guitar. And he brought it out, and he come over there, and he
started drumming on it. And it just hit one note. Boom.
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. He just kept going about 10 minutes.
Finally, Ted Adkins couldn't take it anymore. He said, wait
a minute, friend. He said, see these little metal
things going back and forth across the neck? He said, those are
called frets. He said, if you just take your
fingers and put them below them, he said, you can move your hand
up and down and hit different notes. Oh, he said, I know that. But he said, that's for folks
who are still looking. He said, I found mine. You see what I'm trying to tell
you? We're looking for evidence. God's give you all the evidence
there is to give. It's all in Him. All in Him. When you find Him, and you see
that glory in Him, you embrace Him. You embrace Him. You rest the weight of your soul
on Him. You rejoice in Him. You ain't
interested in questions anymore. Don't have any questions to ask
because you found what you were looking for.