You know, last night our two
preachers came to this pulpit with the big guns blazing. Here I am following you. You know, preachers are not in
competition. We're not in competition. When our country is at war, the
Army, the Navy, The Marines and the Air Force are all together
fighting the battle. And those Marines that hit the
beach, they're not angry because those heavy guns on the ships
bombarded the beach before they hit it. So I'm not a bit jealous. Matter of fact, I'm thankful
for these men. And I trust the Lord will bless us as we hear
his gospel one more time. We sing a song, it goes something
like this. Suffer a sinner whose heart overflows,
loving his Savior to tell what he knows. Wants more to tell
it, would I embrace. I'm only a sinner. Saved by grace. This is a Sovereign Grace Conference,
and that's a pretty good subject, I think. Turn to Psalm 106, if
you would, please. The 106th Psalm. I titled this
message, For His Name's Sake. In Hebrews, you don't have to
turn there, but in Hebrews 5.14, we read that strong meat belongs
to them that are of full age. No one enjoys a good, well-prepared
beefsteak any more than I do. I've heard my brother Don Fortner
say, I like my greens already processed into a good beefsteak.
And I understand what he's saying. But the strong meat in Hebrews
5.14 is referring to the meat of God's Word. The unconditional election of
God along with the total depravity of man and the particular redeeming
grace of God and the sovereign irresistible call of God and
the preserving and persevering grace of God. Those are deep
doctrinal truths, but I don't believe that's what is meant
by strong meat in Hebrews 5.14. Matter of fact, When God saved
Saul of Tarsus, the first thing Ananias said to him was, The
God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know
his will, and see that just one, and shouldest hear the voice
of his mouth. I believe all of God's Christians,
all His chosen people, all of those who are baptized in Christ,
need to hear these truths. That's what stirs our hearts,
to praise Him. knowing that this wonderful,
unspeakable gift, this eternal life through Jesus Christ, our
Lord and our Savior, is the perfect work of the great three-in-one,
God choosing us, God redeeming us, and God making this wonderful
grace known to us when He performs the miracle of the new birth,
delivering us from darkness into His marvelous light. So I believe
Strongly, at least in part, as reference to the absolute rule
of Jesus Christ, our Lord, over this whole universe and everything
in it. I believe God not only controls
everything, He purposed everything that He controls. You all believe
that? These hurricanes and tornadoes
and typhoons and hot scorching weather and freezing weather,
these ungodly preachers who are prophets of Baal say, God didn't
do that. But who did? Mother Nature? Lady Luck? Miss Fortune? Those are three
ladies God's children don't have anything to do with. Just get
that out of your mind. No such thing as luck. Misfortune. No such thing as Mother Nature.
That's a controlling thing. Our God is on His throne in everything
that happens. He's in sovereign control of
it. And He purposed it before this world was ever created.
Now God has not changed. He's the
same yesterday, today, and forever. He has always been in absolute
sovereign control over everything. He wouldn't be God if he wasn't.
But God was not always clothed in a human body. That same God that we read about
in the Old Testament is on His throne as the God-man, Jesus
Christ our Lord. And He's doing whatever pleases
Him. He works all things after the counsel of His own will. Now with that in mind, look at
Psalm 106 and verse 2. We read these words. Who can
utter the mighty acts of the Lord? Who can show forth all
His praise? Now just stop and consider, just
for a moment, what our Lord Jesus did while he was here on this
earth. Just in that little span of about 33 years, and in the
last three years of his life during his public ministry, what
our Lord Jesus did. The Apostle John said, and this
may not be a direct quote, but something to this effect, the
mighty acts that Jesus Christ did while he was here on this
earth, if all the books were written of the things that he
did, the world itself couldn't contain the books that should
be written. So who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord?
Who can show forth all his praise? Well, this morning, I just want
to deal with one of the mighty acts of God. and the mighty deeds
surrounding this one mighty act, the deliverance of Israel out
of bondage to Egypt. Then I want to make the intended
application to our deliverance from spiritual Egypt. God himself setting us free from
the power of sin, power of Satan, power of darkness, power of self. That's a mighty act of God. And
here in Psalm 106, verses 7 and 8, I want to use these two verses
as our text for this morning's message. We read this, Our fathers
understood not thy wonders in Egypt, They remembered not the
multitude of thy mercies, but provoked him at the sea, even
at the Red Sea. Nevertheless, he, God, saved
them for his name's sake, that he might make his mighty power
to be known." That's just... That's just good, sovereign grace
Scripture. It just is. We can utter the
mighty acts of the Lord. Now let me give you five points
to consider from what we just read in the mighty act of God
in redeeming His people, setting them free from bondage to Egypt.
Just five hooks to hang your thoughts on. The deliverance
of Israel from bondage to Egypt was the purpose of God. It includes
the providence of God, by the power of God, for the people
of God, for the praises of God. Let me take you back to Genesis
chapter 15. Something that I want to read
in your hearing that I believe is very vital to this message
this morning. It was God's purpose. delivering
Israel from bondage to Egypt. Romans 8.28 says, And we know
that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are the called according to His purpose. That applies
to the Old Testament saints as well as it does to the New Testament
saints. They were called according to God's purpose. And when God
delivered Israel from bondage to Egypt, He did it on purpose.
Most people Especially, professing Christians have heard about Israel's
deliverance when God sent the plagues to Egypt and parted the
Red Sea and Israel went across without even getting any mud
on their feet. And God destroyed Pharaoh and
the whole Egyptian army. This story was told, has been
told, ever since that event took place. To every generation of
Israelites, it's told to Abraham's descendants to this very day.
But how many know, how many have been told the purpose of God? Why Israel was in bondage to
Egypt? The events leading up to this
mighty act of God. In like manner, most people,
especially professing Christians, have heard about Jesus Christ
dying on that cruel cross 2,000 years ago. Who could possibly
count the number of sermons, the number of Sunday school lessons,
the number of psalms that have been sung concerning that event
that took place at Calvary 2,000 years ago? But how many know,
how many have ever been told the eternal purpose of God in
delivering His darling Son into the hands of cruel men? Why God
purposed to bruise His Son? What was really accomplished
through the perfect obedience of Jesus Christ when He died
there on that cross at Calvary? How many have been told these
truths? God's people, that's what I said earlier, God's people
hear these things. God's preachers preach these truths. We believe
in the eternal covenant of grace. We believe the blood of Jesus
Christ refers to the blood of the everlasting covenant. We
believe what we heard last night, that this love of God is conditional. That what Jesus Christ did, met
all the conditions of the eternal covenant of grace. That He satisfied
the eternal justice of God. That Jesus Christ redeemed His
people with His own precious blood. He didn't try to save
us. He saved us. Amen? You can say amen. That
just means I agree with that. If you don't want to say it,
that's fine. But brethren, God did all of this on purpose. Now
listen to this. What our Lord Jesus told Abram
here in Genesis 15, verses 13 and 14. And he, that is God, said unto
Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger
in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them, and they
shall afflict them four hundred years. And also that nation whom
they shall serve will I judge, and afterwards shall they come
out with great substance. Now God made This known to Abram,
his purpose concerning Israel being in bondage to Egypt before
Abram even had a child, before Isaac was born, before Jacob
and Esau were born, before Jacob's 12 sons who are referred to as
the 12 tribes of Israel before they were born. All of this was
told to Abram concerning where they would be for 400 years,
how they would be afflicted, how God would deliver them, how
he would judge the nation of Egypt, and Israel would come
out with great substance. Now why? Why did God purpose
such painful trials for His chosen people? Well, our text in Psalm
106 says, for His namesake, that He might make His mighty power
to be known. Could there be any better reason
than that? So this was all purpose. Have
you ever wondered What might have gone through Abraham's mind
when God told him the things that would happen to his posterity,
his seed? We don't have to even speculate.
because we read in the scriptures the faith that God gave Abraham.
He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but
was strong in faith, giving glory to God. He was fully persuaded
that God was able to perform what he had promised. Therefore,
it was imputed to him for righteousness. I don't understand all of what
took place during this relationship with God and Abram before Isaac
was born, but I know this, God called him out of the land of
Ur of Chaldees and he left everybody else there except those that
came out with Abram. That's God's distinguishing grace, whether
you like it or not. You like it, I'm sorry I said
that. But he called him out. He gave
him faith before he called him out. Abram would never have gone
out of the land of the Calvary if God had not given him faith,
if he had not believed God. And he went out not knowing where
he went. He just went out knowing that God had told him to. And
if somebody had asked him where he was going, he would have probably
said, I don't know. And they would have said, you crazy fool. You
can't just go and leave and not know where you're going. But
he did. Now, I want to take you over to Genesis chapter 50. The
last chapter in this book of Genesis, I want us to consider
the providence of God. We've looked at the purpose of
God. We know it was God's purpose that Israel would be in bondage. He told Abram that before Israel
was even a nation. But the providence of God that
led up to that great deliverance. Now many events took place between
what we just read in Genesis 15 and what we're about to read
in Genesis 50. Isaac, God's promised son to
Abraham, was born. I want to ask you something. What did Isaac have to do with
his physical birth? His inheritance that he received
from his father Abraham? Well, what did we contribute
to our physical birth? What did we contribute to our
spiritual birth? Same thing we contributed to our physical birth.
Nothing. And the scripture tells us in
Galatians chapter 4 verse 28, Now we brethren, as Isaac was
of the children of promise, God promised us to Christ before
this world was ever created. He purposed. He purposed us. He purposed for us to be His
adopted sons. To come into a living union with
God Almighty. This is God's purpose. And His
providence brought it all about. And we'll get to that in just
a moment. But these events that led up to Israel's bondage to
Egypt included Isaac. included Isaac's wife. Abraham
sent his servant to get a wife for Isaac. Her name was Rebekah. And who would even doubt the
divine providence of God that led Abraham's servant to Rebekah's
home? Who would even doubt that? And
Rebekah, she fell in love with someone
she had never seen. But I'll guarantee you she heard
about Isaac. Because Abraham's servant told
her all about it. He even showed ten camels laden
down with some of Isaac's riches. Well, isn't that what happens
to us? The Holy Spirit is sent from
God to fetch the bride of Christ one at a time, by the way. And
we hear about Him. We hear about the unsearchable
riches of Christ, His grace and His mercy and His love, His redeeming
work, all of these things that point to Him. And Peter put it
this way, he said, Whom have ye not seen ye love? In whom,
though now ye see Him not yet, believing ye, rejoice with joy
unspeakable and full of glory. So, Rebecca went. She was a willing
person, made willing by what she heard and what she saw concerning
the riches of Isaac. And Psalm 110 verse 3 says, Thy
people shall be willing in the day of thy power. We don't preach
that we come against our will. rank Armenians who are preaching
free will, saying, I don't want to be a robot. Somebody just
told our daughter in Tennessee that very thing when she was
witnessing to it. Robots don't have any feelings. If anybody's
a robot, it's a man who believes in free will. But folks, listen. We fall in love with Jesus Christ. Love is a feeling. He's our peace. Peace is a feeling. We have a
joy that cannot be put into words. Joy is a feeling. We've been
made alive in Christ. We're not robots. We're His enlightened
children made willing in the day of God's power. Now, in time,
Rebekah gave birth to twin boys, Esau and Jacob. God loved Jacob,
but He hated Esau. It doesn't say he loved Esau
as it says he hated Esau. You know what is more of a wonder
than that is that he loved Jacob. But he did. And the Word of God
says that. He loved some sinners. I was
just talking with John Reeves about this this morning. That
bumper sticker that we read, smile, Jesus loves you. You don't
know that. You don't know if Jesus loves
you. He loved sinners. He died for sinners. He loved
Jacob. That thrills me. I know if he
loved one, he might love another sinner. I know he loves me, but
that love is based upon his own perfect, everlasting love found
in himself, not in any sinner that comes into this world. And
we love him, like we heard last night, because he first loved
us. Now speaking of Jacob and Esau, we read this in Romans
chapter 9, verses 11 and 12, neither having done any good
or evil, that the purpose of God, according to election, might
stand not of works, but of him that calleth. It was said unto
her, unto Rebekah, the elder shall serve the younger, as it
is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated." Before
they were even born, before they even came into this world, actually
before this world existed, Before a star ever twinkled in the sky,
God set his love upon Jacob and all of his chosen people. And
the scripture goes on to say in that ninth chapter of Romans,
What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? God forbid. For he said to Moses, I will
have mercy on whom I will have mercy. and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion, so then it is not of him that
willeth, not your free will, nor of him that runneth, not
your works, but of God that showeth mercy. Now as I take you through
these events that led up to Israel's bondage to Egypt, I'm not just
giving you a history lesson. We're talking about the purpose
of God, the providence of God, the power of God, the people
of God, and the praises of God. Now time won't allow us to go
through all of the things that took place that leads up to what
I'm about to read here in Genesis 50, but let me share these things. Esau sold his birthright to Jacob,
and Jacob stole the blessings intended for Esau. And Jacob,
he went back to his Uncle Laban's home, back to the land that God
delivered Abraham out of. He went back over to, what was
that? Danaram, I guess. And he also
went back to get a wife. He got more than what he bargained
for. He got two wives and a couple concubines. But this is all purposed
by God. God purposed all of this. This
is what we're talking about. God's purpose and His providence
leading up to what we're talking about in His deliverance of His
people. After gaining a little wealth
and having several children, Jacob went back to the land of
Canaan, back to his daddy Isaac and his mama. And he went back. Not only because it was God's
providence, because his father was a little mad. Well, that's
another story. But anyway, on his way back,
Jacob wrestled with the pre-incarnate Christ. And prevailed. And God changed
his name to Israel. Prince with God. And from Jacob
came 12 sons. His wives gave him 12 sons. That's why they're called the
12 tribes of Israel. Not because he lived in the land
of Israel, because Israel begat him. Jacob begat him. The 12
tribes of Israel. And one of those boys' names
was Joseph. And Joseph being one of the young
ones, was just absolutely hated and despised by his older brothers.
Well, he told one of them a couple of times, that's probably why.
But anyway, he had dreams, saying they were going to bow down to
him, and they didn't like that. Well, they were out tending their
father's sheep, and Jacob sent Joseph out to see
how his brothers were doing, and when they saw him coming,
he had a coat of many colors, you know the story. They plotted
to kill him. They were going to kill him.
But Reuben, the oldest one, he prevented that, and so they threw
him in a pit. And when Reuben had left, and
go on probably ought to look at the sheet, a band of Ishmaelites,
imagine that, on their way down to Egypt, those wicked brothers
pulled Joseph out of the pit and sold him to those Ishmaelites,
and he's on his way to Egypt. Now, wonder why? Because God
purposed for his people to be in bondage. This is all God's
providence leading up to that. And we know the story. How Joseph
was sold to Potiphar. How Potiphar's wife made up a
lie about Joseph. How he was thrown into prison.
How he interpreted the dreams of two of the officers of Pharaoh's
court. How Pharaoh had two dreams and
nobody could interpret those dreams. The officer that was
lifted up back into his position in Pharaoh's court remembered
He thought probably getting a little feather in his cap if he remembered
Joseph now. And they brought Joseph before
Pharaoh. He interpreted the dreams he
told Pharaoh. He said they're the same. Both
dreams are the same. God is telling you what he's
about to do. There's going to be seven years
of plenty. And then seven years of famine. And during the seven years of
plenty, choose you out of wise men to lay up much grain, store
up much food for the seven years of famine. And Pharaoh was so
elated that he exalted Joseph to the position of prime minister
over all of Egypt. There was none in Egypt that
was more powerful than Joseph, except for Pharaoh. This is God's
purpose. Pharaoh was just a pawn in God's
hands. It was God who exalted Joseph
to the throne. And during the seven years of
famine, Joseph's brother, Jacob, Joseph's
father, sent his brothers down to Egypt to buy corn and eventually
Joseph made himself known to his brothers. And then the whole
family, just a small band, a little over 70, men and women and children
moved down to the land of Goshen. Now this is history, but it's
all so important as to what we're talking about. Because this leads
up to this great deliverance. God had told Abram that his children
would be down in Egypt for 400 years. Well, this is the start of that
400 years. Now listen to this, with all
of that in mind, here in Genesis chapter 50, Jacob has died and
Joseph's brothers are afraid that Joseph's going to kill him.
He only kept us alive because of our daddy Jacob. Now that
he's dead, he's surely going to kill us. Well, listen to what
Joseph says here in verses 19 and 20 of this last chapter of
Genesis. Joseph said unto them, Fear not,
for am I in the place of God, which I think means vengeance
is the Lord. He'll repay. But as for you,
Joseph said in this 20th verse, but as for you, you thought evil
against me, but God meant it unto good to bring to pass as
it is this day to save much people alive. God intended it for good,
even though those wicked brothers sold Joseph into captivity. And we don't know what Joseph
endured on the trip down to Egypt. Those Ishmaelites had no love
for Abraham's posterity. They had no love for Isaac's
children. And they don't to this day. So
we don't know what Joseph... We don't know what he went through
when he was in prison. But all of this was purposed
by God. And just imagine Jacob thinking
his son Joseph was dead when he saw the coat of many colors
with the blood of a kid going on and his other sons making
up a lie. Just imagine what he went through.
The pain and sorrow. All purposed by God. Brethren,
we go through a lot of difficulties, a lot of pain, a lot of sorrow,
a lot of trials, but all of these are purposed by God on our road
to our heavenly home. And we better not murmur. God
has a purpose for everything. I want you to go over to 2 Timothy
chapter 1, if you will. And let me hurry, because What
we have just read concerning the events that led up to Israel
being in bondage to Egypt points to our great deliverance. Now God in time, after 400 years,
Israel became a nation, millions of people, at least over 2 million,
and a wicked Pharaoh was concerned, fearful that the Israelites might
overpower the Egyptians. And they had imposed hardships
upon the Israelites, even killing some of the male boys that were
born, a lot of them for that matter. And Israel's cry went
up to God. God sent Moses to deliver them. This is all part of God's plan.
And the plagues that came upon Israel. You would have thought
that they would have been willing to let Israel go away before
they did. But God hardened Pharaoh's heart
time and time again. And listen, all God had to do
was just withdraw His restraining hand. His heart was already hardened.
But anyway, God hardened his heart. It says so. And after
our Lord Jesus in the person of the Holy Spirit killed the
firstborn, You say, wait a minute, God didn't do that. God says,
I kill and I make alive. Whatever instrument He used,
it was God who did it. The firstborn in every house
in Egypt were the blood of a substitute, a lamb, where the blood was not
sprinkled. Even in the home of the Israelites,
the firstborn was killed. And it's substitution in that
little lamb. But in all those other homes,
where that blood wasn't sprinkled on the doorpost, at midnight,
God killed the firstborn in every house. I don't know how old,
some forty-some, way down to four years, way down to four
days. There was a cry that went up
that could be heard throughout the whole land of Egypt. Then
Pharaoh said, take your people and go. And that's when the Israelites
spoiled Egyptians, just like God told Abraham they were going
to do. But after they left, Pharaoh decided, no, I don't want them
to go. His heart was hardened again.
And he took off after the Israelites. God sent a cloud to keep them
from getting up to the Israelites before they walked over on dry
land. But when that cloud was lifted,
here they came after them. Have you ever thought about going?
Would you have gone down into that water between those two
walls? I told Jimmy that day we were talking about this. I
said, you know, I think I'd want a wall. I'd have taken off my armor and
said, hey guys, I'll swim. You go ahead and go through that
way. They might try to get away from me down the bank on this
side. I'll just swim over. I'll meet you on the other side. No,
I wouldn't. You would not have either. We
would have done just exactly what God had purposed. Pharaoh
and that whole Egyptian army went down between those two walls
of water because God purposed it. He raised Pharaoh up. That
whole Egyptian army, He raised them up for that very purpose.
All to grace, how great a debtor daily I am constrained to be.
Well, listen to this. Here in 2 Timothy chapter 1,
starting at verse 8, we read this. Be not thou therefore ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but be
thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God. We're talking about God's purpose,
God's providence, God's power, God's people, God's praises. We read in verse 9, Who has saved
us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our
works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given
us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Don't be ashamed
of the gospel of God's grace. Paul said, I am not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believes. Don't be ashamed of that. Don't
be afraid to testify of His power of delivering us. Don't be backward
when it comes to the purpose of God. He chose us in Christ
before this world was ever created. He saved us and called us, not
according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace,
which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.
Is that sovereign grace enough for you? It is. It's all sovereign
grace. Look at the next verse. Look
at verse 10. "...but is now made manifest
by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who hath abolished
death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through
the gospel." The order is right in verse 9. God saved us and then He called
us. Jesus Christ is God's Lamb that
was slain from the foundation of the world. This was God's
purpose in sending His Son to this earth to die for our sins. God purposed it all and He, in
His divine providence, executed it right at His own appointed
time. The power of God was demonstrated in Mary, God's chosen instrument,
to be the woman who would give birth to the Christ child. His
providence brought her into this world. As a young virgin, it
was God's power that formed the Christ child in her womb. She
was a virgin. That's important. We better believe
that. Our Lord had no sin, no original sin. No man had touched
Mary. That was God's Son that was formed
in Mary's womb. So God's providence is seen in
all of the life of our Savior. Him born in Bethlehem, that had
to come about, it was prophesied. Him fleeing down to Egypt, that
was prophesied. Him going back up to Nazareth,
that was prophesied. All of these events came to pass
by God's divine providence bringing them to come to pass. And then
when our Lord Jesus went to the cross and suffered and bled and
died, He went there as a perfect Lamb of God. He had no sin of
His own. He did always that which pleased
His Father. Everything He did was good and
perfect. But our Heavenly Father made
our Savior who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might be
made the righteousness of God in Him. So when He went to the
cross, wicked and cruel hands did crucify the Lord of glory,
but it was by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of
our God. So all of these things that led
up to that event that took place at Calvary 2,000 years ago, and
that's when God's people were saved. That's when God saved
us. And I believe this. You all believe
this. In my message last Sunday, I made these statements. I believe
that Jesus Christ died according to the Scriptures, the Old Testament
Scriptures and the New Testament Scriptures. And I believe that
He rose again according to the Scriptures, the Old Testament
Scriptures and the New Testament Scriptures. I believe That God
laid on Him, on His darling Son, all my iniquities. You all believe
that? I believe Jesus was wounded for my transgressions, that He
was bruised for my iniquities. I believe that by His stripes
I am healed. God moved his prophet Isaiah
to write these things in Isaiah chapter 53. I believe when it
pleased my father to bruise my savior, when he put his son to
grief that he, the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who loved me
and gave himself for me, saw me when he was making his soul
an offering for my sin. I believe that. And I believe
when Jesus Christ saw of the travail of his soul that he was
satisfied, knowing that he had justified me when he bore my
iniquities. You all believe that? This is
salvation that took place at Calvary 2,000 years ago. I believe
Jesus Christ. by Himself, purged my sins. I believe Jesus Christ, when
He shed His precious blood, made me clean in God's sight forever.
I believe that. I believe His blood washes away
every spot and stain. I believe that Jesus Christ,
He sanctified me and perfected me forever by that one offering
that He gave at Calvary 2,000 years ago. I believe that. Why
do I believe that? Because that's what the Word
of God says. Now folks, the life that our Savior gave is ours. If we believe that we died in
Christ, we are to reckon ourselves alive unto God through Jesus
Christ our Lord. We were in Christ when He arose. And when He entered into glory,
not without blood, with His own blood, He had already obtained
eternal redemption for me. And when He sat down, denoting
a finished work, we were made to sit in the heavenlies in Christ
Jesus our substitute, in our surety. We were made to sit in
Him. In Christ I'm alive. I'm going
to live forever because I'm in Christ. Why did God do that? Why did He send His Son to die
for me, for my sin? We better make it personal. He
died for all of His elect. But if we don't make it personal,
if we don't see that He died for me, we've missed it. Why
did He do that? For His namesake! that His power
might be made known. Do you believe? Do you believe
in the divine providence of God, like we heard last night, His
pervenient grace that kept harm from coming to us? There was
an appointed day when the Lord Jesus Christ would bring us unto
the sound of His gospel, that appointed time of His love, when
He would make His word effectual in our hearts and raise us from
that state of spiritual deadness to live forever with Jesus Christ
our Lord and our Savior. Do you all believe that? That's
the gospel, folks. That's wonderful news for a sinner.
Good news for a sinner. This is the war I was talking
about. We're in a war. God's preachers
aren't in competition. We all preach the same message.
And when we're preaching, If it pleases God to bring some
of His elect into our fellowship, and He turns the light on and
saves them under our preaching, that's God's providence. God
brings us, as it pleases Him in His own appointed time, to
hear a preacher preach His gospel. That's what we're talking about
in verse 10 is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior
Jesus Christ who hath abolished death and hath brought life and
immortality to light through the gospel. God commands the
light to shine in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. We see him by
faith like Rebecca saw Isaac by faith. We love him. Because
God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, and the
love of God is shed abroad in our new heart, and we love Him
with joy unspeakable and full of glory. I married my wife, and she'll
probably get mad when I say this. Back in 1968, we celebrate 50 years together
this June. When I married her, she was going
to an Armenian church in a little, it was called Trinity Baptist
Church, a little church up in Northern California, north of
Reading, a little place called Central Valley. And her pastor
was a rank Armenian. For 10 years, she followed me in misery, thinking
she was a Christian. Now it was God's divine providence
that brought us together. What I'm sharing with you right
now is God's divine providence. When God started dealing with
me, I wanted to go to church where she used to go to church.
She's always been a dedicated, faithful wife with a meek and
quiet spirit, which has got a great price. I'm so thankful for her.
So she gave me the impression that she was a Christian and
so I wanted to go to church where she went to church. But between
the time that we left that church after we got married, or she
left the church, and we started going, God had sent another pastor
by the name of John Schultz who preached the five points of Calvary,
preached the gospel, preached the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. And God delivered me. Oh, he
set me free. The first time I heard that man,
I told Judy on the way home, I said, that makes more sense
than anything I ever heard. I've got to go back and hear that
again. Now, why? That was God's Spirit working
in me. But He delivered her at the same
time. That's God's providence. We've
been serving the Lord together for the last 40 years. I was
29 when the Lord delivered me. So now you know how old I am.
Don't bother to mention that to Jude. But anyway, that's God's
providence. I don't know where you were when
the Lord delivered you. But I know this, He's in control
of everything. And He brought you right where
He wanted you so that you could hear His glorious gospel that
gives His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, all the glory. Let me
say that again. God has ordained that His Son, the Lord Jesus
Christ, receive all the praise and all the honor and all the
glory. You're not going to make God
the Father jealous by giving His Son all the glory. That's
what God has determined. And like we heard last night,
in Him, in Christ, dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
And when you bow down to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, you're
bowing down to our Heavenly Father, the Blessed Holy Spirit. And
we better bow down to Him. God has highly exalted His Son,
given Him a name which is above every name, that at the name
of Jesus, every knee should bow, of things in heaven, things in
earth, things under the earth, and every tongue should confess
that He is Lord. Do you know what that word means?
The Greek word is kyrios. It means supreme controller.
That Jesus Christ is Lord. He's Lord of all. If He's not
Lord of all, He's not Lord at all. And if you don't see Him
as your sovereign Lord, He's not your Savior. God has done
all of this. Purposed all of this. Brought
it about by His divine providence. And His power working for His
people. For the praises of His darling
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Brethren, we're a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people. He said, I
knew that, not in his purchase. A peculiar people that we should
show forth the praises of Him who has called us out of darkness
into His marvelous light. And like we heard last night,
if God has already given us His Son, which is the greatest, will
He withhold any good thing from us? God gives us all things that
pertain unto life and godliness. And we'll never be taken out
of the hands of our Savior. Jude put it this way, Now unto
Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present
you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,
to the only wise God, our Savior. Be glory and majesty, dominion
and power, both right now and forever. Don't wait till you
get to glory to praise Him. And we will praise Him for all
eternity when we're around the throne, when we're in the presence
of the King. Let all of God's enlightened people give Him all
the glory right now, amen? Let's sing to Him.