The title of my message this
morning is Clay in the Potter's Hand. Clay in the Potter's Hand. Turn with me, if you will, to
Jeremiah, the 18th chapter. And I want us to go with God's
prophet, Jeremiah, down to the potter's house and learn the
ways of God. The Lord God called Jeremiah,
his prophet, and said, go down to the potter's house. And there,
by observation and by inspiration, learn God's ways. Jeremiah chapter
1, verse, chapter 18, verse 1. The word which came to Jeremiah
from the Lord saying, arise and go down to the potter's house.
There, will I cause thee to hear my words. Then I went down to the potter's
house, and behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of
clay was marred in the hand of the potter. So he made it again
another vessel. as seemed good to the potter
to make it. The potter had a lump of clay. He's working it on his wheels. And he's working it with his
hand with the greatest of ease and feels something in the clay
that was not to his liking, a stiffness, a pebble, maybe whatever, not
to his liking. So he mars the clay, just smashes
it. Then he starts making it again.
With great ease, makes it into a vessel of his liking. And he
does this exactly according to his will, we're told in verse
four. The vessel that he made of clay
was marred in the hand of the potter. So he made it another
vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. Now, please
notice that the vessel was not marred by accident. It was marred
in the potter's hand. According as it was good in the
potter's eyes to march according to the potter's purpose If the
clay is not used for one purpose It will be used for another If
it is not molded into a vessel of great value and worth It will
be molded into a vessel of dishonor and that according to the will
of the potter. Once Jeremiah saw this, the Lord
God gave his message to his prophet. And I'm here to tell you that
no preacher will ever be capable of delivering
God's message, for he will never know God's message. until he's
been to the potter's house and has observed both the making
of the vessel and the marring of the vessels and the refashioning
of the vessels exactly according to the will of the potter. In
the midst of all the dangers and difficulties and discouragements
we deal with in this life, especially with regard to the work of the
gospel, especially with regard to those things that are most
dear to our hearts, those things about which we are most concerned.
Nothing is so comforting. Nothing is so satisfying as the
assurance of God's total sovereignty. total sovereignty. Now you hear
preachers and religious teachers and religious numskulls on television
and radio talking in their brilliant academic circles or on their
front porch religion wherever you hear them speak and they'll
talk about God being sovereign. And, you know, that's the Lord's
will. Somebody dies, well, this is the Lord's will. If they died
right, you know, if they died just the right circumstances.
If something else happened, that wasn't the Lord's will. No, no,
no, no, that was devil. Have something come to pass in
time, well, the Lord's will be done. They ascribe to God's sovereignty
where they want to. Sort of sovereign, you know.
God sort of rules. He kind of rules sort of like
the president rules Congress. Sort of like the president rules
the nation. He wants this or that. And he
has some power. But we're not talking about God
when we talk like that. We're talking about a God made
when we talk like that. The God we worship. The only true and living God,
He, beside whom there is none else, is the total, absolute,
sovereign monarch of all the universe. Let me tell you what
that means. That means God has His way, you
never do. God exercises His will, you never
can, except He use your will to exercise His will. Have you
got that? God's sovereign. He's sovereign. And that's the most comforting
thing in this world to my soul. If we give way to carnal reason
and unbelief, we're so quickly baffled. How we need to learn
the lesson God taught Jeremiah at the potter's house. As the
potter has the absolute right and absolute power to do with
the clay what he will, So the God of heaven has the absolute
right and the absolute power to do with this universe and
that includes you and me, yours and mine. He has the absolute
right to do with his own what he will. God can do with you
whatever he pleases and he will do with you whatever he pleases.
This is what our Lord said. Is it not lawful for me to do
with mine own as I will? Is it not lawful? We read it
in Isaiah 45. Woe unto him that striveth with
his master. Shall the clay say to him that
fashioneth it, what makest thou or thy work? He hath no hands. Listen to this. Nay, but old
man, Who art thou that replyest against God? Shall the thing
formed say to him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus?
Hath not the potter power over the clay of the same love to
make one vessel into honor and another into dishonor? Well,
brother Don, where did you read that? What philosopher are you
quoting today? You spent all your life in religious
nonsense all over this county, didn't you? all over the section
of the country. Did you ever hear anybody in all your life
read or teach from Romans chapter 9? I'll guarantee you didn't. Isn't it amazing? A man go to
a Baptist church all his life and never hear anybody read from
Romans chapter 9? That's where I just read from.
Romans the 9th chapter. God said that. That's not a philosophy. I didn't dig it out of a theology
book. I didn't invent it. It wasn't out of some pagan religion.
God said that. Romans chapter 9. Turn to Isaiah
64. Stay in Jeremiah 18. Hold your
hands there. We're not going to leave there.
But Isaiah 64. Listen to this. Verse eight. Now, oh, Lord. Oh, try you, Jehovah. Oh, God,
who alone is God. Thou art our father. We are the
clay. Thou art our potter. Brother Don, you make it sound
like we're just robots in God's hand. No, robots have got moving
parts. You mean God's the potter and
we're the clay? Well, that means nothing's up
to us. And nothing's up to the foe.
And nothing's up to hell. and nothing's up to the devil.
Thou art our potter and we are the work of thine hands. Nothing
but the pride and unbelief of our own hearts keeps us from
the realization of this fact and prevents us from resting
in it with complete satisfaction. This is God's will. This is God's doing. This is
God's work. Now men have developed over the
years countless forms of philosophy, countless systems of theology,
designed particularly, designed intentionally to deny the free
grace of God and to darken the counsel of God and turn men away
from the righteousness of God in Christ to their own righteousness. And they attempt to limit God's
power, to limit God's sovereignty. Moral, a mortal, sinful man dares
lift his defiant fist in God's face. and say, hitherto shalt
thou go and no further. Lord, I'll let you have this
and I'll let you have that. I'll let you have control over
this element of nature and that element of nature, but you dare
not interfere with me. And you know what happens as
a result of that? Nothing. The throne of God is unmoved,
unshaken. Our God appoints and rules and
overrules all things in glorious, absolute sovereignty, exactly
according to his will, that never changes. He does all things according
to his purpose and declares everywhere, as it did to the house of Israel,
as the clay is in the potter's hand. So are ye in mine hand. That's our security for the presence. As the clay is in the potter's
hand, so are ye in mine hand. We know the judge of all the
earth must and will do right. Our God is too wise to err Too
strong to fail and too good to do wrong. If anything appears
to contradict that, and it often does, it often does. Matter of fact, Larry, most of
what we read in the newspaper and most of what we see around
us in day-by-day life seems to contradict that. seems to contradict
that. If it appears to contradict it,
there are two things you have to understand. One is we are
terribly limited in our knowledge. And two, we are limited in our
knowledge because God intends it that way. God does not give
account to man of his works. Now, he has shown us, as we've
read in Isaiah 45, that his intent is the salvation of his people.
And he's working the salvation of his people. He created the
earth for that purpose. He's ruling the earth for that
purpose. And when he gets done, everybody's going to know that's
the reason he made everything for the salvation of his people.
But he doesn't give account of his works. Now, I recognize that
I only have one child and he was a girl, so I don't qualify
for giving parental advice. I don't know much about raising
children. Don't don't pretend know much about raising children.
But what I did and what I didn't do. Whenever I chose to tell
Faith why she had to do something or why I was doing something,
it was totally my decision and I did it just for her comfort
or for her understanding. No other reason. No other reason.
But she didn't dare demand it. To use one of my wife's expressions,
if she had stood up and said to me, fussed to me, she said,
now tell me why are you doing this? I'd have smacked her down
a rat hole. I wouldn't have tolerated it.
I wouldn't tolerate it. I wouldn't tolerate it from a
son if he was 50 years old. I wouldn't tolerate it. And yet
we expect to deal with God that way? We expect to deal with God
that way? Well, that's nonsense. God doesn't
give an account of His affairs. What we see may seem to totally
contradict God's goodness and His sovereignty. He declares,
however, the end from the beginning because He's the only one who
knows the end from the beginning. And the time will come when he
will make known to the wonder of our adoring hearts and to
the wonder of hell's terror. Everything he's done is good. He hath done all things well. Here's our solace with regard
to all things future too. Behold as the clay is in the
potter's hand, so are ye in my hand. We see this now by faith
and rejoice in it, but oh, what it will be when we see clearly. Look back over the mountain ranges
of time and see clearly God did all this for me, for you, for
His glory, for His people, everything, everything. Now, let's go to
Jeremiah 18. There's much to be learned. I'll call your attention to four
things very briefly. First, the clay. The clay here
represents you and me. God speaks of the whole house
of Israel as the clay. The house of Israel had been
dug from the pit of Egypt, like clay is dug from a pit. God brought
them up into the land of Canaan, and there he graciously shaped
them and molded them, but they were a stiff, hard, unyielding
people. A heart of stone was in them.
And if you read Romans chapters 9, 10 and 11, you'll discover
that the Lord God marred them in his hand. And he cast them
off as a vessel of dishonor. And he sent the gospel into the
Gentile world. Satan was banned that he should
not see the nations any longer. And the gospel was sent into
the Gentile world for the gathering of God's true Israel out of every
nation, kindred, tribe and tongue for the saving of God's elect.
So that Japheth is called now to inherit the tents and to inhabit
the tents of Shem. And God's Israel is being gathered
in. The Apostle Paul tells us that
this is exactly what's intended in Romans the ninth chapter.
I want to turn there and read a good portion of that chapter.
Romans chapter nine. This is a divinely inspired commentary
on Jeremiah 18. And that's the best commentary
you can get. Hawker and Gill are good. I hope Fortner helps. But this is the best commentary
you can get on the book. The book. Romans chapter 9, verse
11. For the children being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil. Hmm. You mean what we're about to
read doesn't have anything to do with disobedience or obedience?
Even what we're about to read doesn't have anything to do with
good works or sin. Even what we're about to read
doesn't have anything at all to do, it's not in any way based
upon what God looked at in time in a long telescope time of omniscience
and saw Jacob and Esau would do. What does he say here? Having
done, having, neither having done any good or evil. And this is the reason he specifies
that. that the purpose of God according to election might stand,
not of works, but of him that calleth. Verse 12, it was said
unto her, the elder shall serve the younger. Verse 13, as it
is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. Now if
you can make a pretty word out of hated, that's good. Jacob have I loved but Esau have
I loved a little that's not what he said Jacob have I loved but
Esau have I loved less that's not what he said That's not what
he said Jacob have I loved but Esau have I hated and The word
as you read him explained it in Malachi chapter 1. It means
that I Didn't do anything for Esau. I Didn't do anything for Esau
I had no concern for Esau I was not in any way intending any
good to Esau. Jacob have I loved, but Esau
have I hated. Well, I don't like that. Take
it up with God if you dare. But that's what he says. What
shall we say then? Well, that's not right. That's not right. Every time
you heard some babbling fool say that, well, that's not right.
Who are you to even think you know what's right? To even think
you know what's right. Especially when you're talking
about what God does. Bobby, if God does it, it's right.
That's it. If God does it, it's right. What
shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? Well, that's foolishness. God forbid, that's blasphemy.
For he said to Moses, What did he say to Moses? I will have
mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on
whom I will have compassion. When did he do that? When he
showed him his glory, when he showed him his salvation, when
he showed him Christ. Verse 16. So then, this is the
conclusion of this matter. It is not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Well,
what part does man's will have in the matter then? It is not of him that willeth. Well, what does man's work have
to do with this thing? Nor of him that runneth. Well,
by the doubt of it, it looks like God alone does it all. But
of God that showeth mercy. Is that what it said? So then
it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but
of God that showeth mercy. This whole thing called salvation.
For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, just in case you need
an illustration, even for this same purpose have I raised thee
up that I might make a fine king out of you and make you be prince
over the great nation of Egypt and cause Egypt to prosper and
be a good place to live. No. I've raised thee up that I might
show my power in thee, that my name might be declared throughout
all the earth. So everybody in the world would
spend the next 4,000 years trying to figure out what happened at
the Red Sea. So everybody in the world, everybody in the world,
where is that written? Now you know that's a fable.
Everybody in the world would be scratching their head the
rest of their time trying to figure out what God did to Pharaoh
because God did that. And we just can't have that.
We just can't have that. We can't have God overthrowing
the Egyptian army in the Red Sea. We can't have the experienced
Egyptian army drowned by those slaves from Israel, fled across
the Red Sea, and walked by there without any mud on their feet.
No, we can't have that. We can't have that. I know. I
did it. So you'd be confounded forever.
Verse 18. Therefore hath he mercy, on whom
he will have mercy. Now you think it's been tough
so far? And whom he will, he hardeneth. Take the clay and
set it out there in the sun, watch it break and crack until
it finally turns to dust. Thou wilt say then unto me, Well,
if that's the case, how does God find fault with anybody? Why does he yet find fault? When
you when you talk to me about God's sovereign grace, God's
everlasting purpose of grace, isn't it amazing how they talk
in Bible language? Well, that's not right. Well,
if that's the case, that makes us robots. But if that's the
case, how can God find fault with anybody? Why does he yet
find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
That's right. Nay, but, O man, who art thou
that replyest against God? Shall the thing formed say to
him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the
potter power over the clay of the same lump to make one vessel
unto honor and another unto dishonor? And what if God willing to show
his wrath and to make his power known endure with much long suffering
the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction and have and that
he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of
mercy, which he had a for prepared under glory. Even us. Vessels of mercy. aforeprepared
by God unto glory. Clay is raw, infertile mud. You know what it's good for?
Nothing. It's just raw, infertile mud
made useful only by the skill of the potter. That's us. Doug, like Egypt, like Israel
was from Egypt. Out of the red clay of the earth.
Out of our father, Adam. God's elect or sinners chosen
to eternal life. Vessels of mercy. Prepared by
God. to be filled with his mercy. Afore prepared unto glory. All who believe on the Lord Jesus
are vessels of mercy. Nothing but mercy comes to God's
elect. Nothing but mercy pursues God's
elect. Nothing but mercy do God's elect
have. But there are some men and some
women in this world who are vessels of wrath. I intend to talk more about that
in a minute, but I want you to look in Scripture. Look in Scripture.
Turn to 1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2. We read it in Romans
9 already. 1 Peter 2. Just because I might not understand
all God's purpose and all God's will, I'm not going to back up
on declaring it. You believe in double predestination.
You believe in this, that. I don't care what you call it.
I believe there are some vessels of mercy and some vessels of
wrath, because that's what the book says, what the book says.
First Peter 2, unto you therefore which believe, verse 7, he is
precious. But unto them which be disobedient,
the stone of which the builders disallowed, the same has become
the head of the corner and a stone of stumbling. and a rock of offense, even to
them which stumble at the word, and watch the next word, being
disobedient, whereunto also they were appointed. Jude, verse 4. There are certain men, crept
in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation. You mean they were ordained to
this condemnation as false prophets? Ungodly men, turning the grace
of our God into lasciviousness and denying the only Lord God
and our Lord Jesus Christ. All right, that's the first thing
with a clay. Back in Jeremiah. Chapter 18.
In verse 3, we're told that he wrought
a work on the wheels. Isn't it interesting that by
divine inspiration, Jeremiah tells us that he saw the potter
working with a hand, singular, because Christ is the right hand
of the Lord. because Christ is the hand of power, because God
does all things by Christ, the hand of the Lord. And he wrote
this work on wheels, plural. Not on a wheel, but on wheels.
Now, honestly, I've been to just a couple of places to watch potters
work. I've never seen a potter work on more than one wheel at
a time. They may be potters who do, I don't know, I don't know.
But I've never seen a potter work on more than one wheel at
a time. And that takes both hands. But we're talking about men.
And now we're talking about God here. With his hand, he works
the clay, the clay on wheels. Because the wheels, Jeremiah
saw, represent the purposes and promises and providence and power
of God Almighty. Everything, everything. We know
that all things work together for good. To them that love God,
to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did
foreknow. Them that he loved from eternity. He also did predestinate. eternally
destined them for glory. Whom he did predestinate, them
he also called, named the sons of God. And whom he named the
sons of God, them he also glorified as the sons of God. His purpose. Everything works according to
his purpose, in his providence, by his promise, and by his power. I quoted this for you just recently,
Tuesday or Sunday a week ago, but it's worth repeating. The
best explanation, the best commentary I know of in describing God's
wheels was written by Mr. Cowper. God moves in a mysterious
way. His wonders to perform. plants
his footsteps in the sea, and he rides upon the storm. Deep in unfathomable minds of
never-failing skill, he treasures up his bright designs and works
his sovereign will. Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take. The clouds
you so much dread are big with mercy and shall break in blessing
on your head. Judge not the Lord by feeble
sense, but trust him for his grace. Behind the frowning providence,
he hides a smiling face. His purposes will ripen fast,
unfolding every hour. The bud may have a bitter taste,
but sweet will be the flower. Blind unbelief is sure to err
and scan his work in vain. God is his own interpreter. He
will make it plain. Now, the third thing, I've already
stated it, and I won't say any more about it, is the potter.
The potter is our God. The Lord God says, cannot I do
with you as this potter? Behold, as the clay is in the
potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand. Now the fourth thing that
we see here is the potter's message. Stay right here in Jeremiah chapter
18 verses 5 through 11 and let's look at this potter's message.
What did God intend for Jeremiah to learn at the potter's house?
Two things in particular. His sovereignty and his justice. His sovereignty and his justice. The first is his sovereignty. None can stay his hand, Daniel
said. He said he has his way in the
armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth and
none can stay his head are saying to him, what doest thou? That's
what he declares in verse 6, O house of Israel, cannot I do
with you as this potter, saith the Lord. God's will, God's purpose, God's
plans, God's works are irresistible. Irresistible You're not gonna
you're not gonna stand against God You're not gonna hinder God
You're not gonna You're not gonna change God You're not going to
Influence God it's not gonna happen. It's not gonna happen
God's will God's power God's work God's salvation God's judgment
are matters of irresistible force. Irresistible force. Well, Brother
Don, if you'd tell folks that God always has his way and not
use those strong words, it'd go over a lot better. I know.
That's the reason I don't use those pretty words. My intention
is to confront you who are rebels. My intention is to confront folks
who hate God, not to coddle them. My intention is to say bow or
be damned. There's no in between. Bow or
be damned. There is no in between. You'll
either bow to God or you'll be crushed by him. But you're not
going to change him. You're not going to mold him
to you. You're not going to get him to do things your way. You're
not going to prevent him from having his way. The God of this
book, the one true and living God, the only God men worship. Men play with other gods. They
bargain with other gods. They made them for that purpose.
And they pray into a God that cannot save. Who do you know
who does that? Tell you what, you go to a restaurant,
just take your pad. Somebody go to a restaurant,
if you dare, if you dare, just take your pad and ask anybody,
anybody who came from church and they got them a bulletin
to get a 10 cent discount on their lunch. You just ask them,
say, do you believe God saves folks exactly as he will? Oh, yeah, yeah. You mean man's
will got nothing to do with it? Oh, no, I didn't say that. I
didn't say that. Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no, no. We're not robots. We're not robots, no, no, I didn't
say that. No, I wouldn't say that. What
fool do you know who believes that? I never heard of any fool
in this town who believes that except that nut out on the hill out there.
Never heard anybody believe such a thing. Boy, that's, that's,
that's hard-shelled doctrine, that's fatalism, that's Calvinism,
that's Hinduism, Buddhism, I don't know what to call it. I don't
know what to call it. It's what God says. It's not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.
Christ died for you. The Holy Spirit's calling you. God's long suffering to you.
Oh, won't it be a shame that God's done all this for you and
you go to hell after all, cause you won't let Jesus save you.
Come, come down to the front here today and let's pray together
to a God who cannot save. Larry Brown is sheer idolatry. I'd rather worship a 10 cent
rabbit foot. Oh, you're mad. Yeah, I am. I am. God rules everything. Absolutely. And this is especially
true in the exercise of his sovereign mercy. Oh, how I thank God that
he has mercy on whom he will have mercy. He's gracious to
whom he will be gracious. He calls whom he will call. God chose a people and said,
I'll be their God. They shall be my people. He sent
his son into this world who paid the debt we owed to God that
we could not pay satisfying divine justice for us by the sacrifice
of himself. And then he called us by his
blessed Holy Spirit. gave us life. He didn't just
call us, say, will you come and live? That's kind of idiotic,
isn't it? Lazarus, would you like to get
up out of that grave and come and live? I'll tell you what,
boy, if you'll float on out of there somehow or another, I'll
give you life. No. No, he called. Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth
bound in great clothes. He called by irresistible force,
by the irresistible force of his will, the irresistible force
of omnipotent mercy. What do you do with the sovereign? I'll tell you what you do with
him. You bow down. Keep silence, all created things,
and wait your maker's nod. My soul stands trembling while
she sings the honors of her God. Life, death, and hell, and worlds
unknown hang on his firm decree. He sits on no precarious throne,
nor borrows leave to be. Chained to his throne, a volume
lies with all the fates of men, with every angel's form and size
drawn by the eternal pen. His providence unfolds the book
and makes his counsel shine. Each opening leaf and every stroke
fulfill some bright design. Here, he exalts neglected worms
to scepters and a crown, and there, the following page, he
turns and treads the monarch down. Not Gabriel asks the reason
why, nor God the reason gives, nor dares the favorite angel
pry between the folded leaves. My God, I would not long to see
my fate with curious eyes. What gloomy lines are writ for
me, or what bright scenes may rise in thy fair book of life
and grace, oh, may I find my name recorded in some humble
place beneath my Lord the Lamb. But God doesn't just arbitrarily
damn men. God doesn't just Say, well, I'll
save that piece of clay and I'll damn that piece of clay. He doesn't
just arbitrarily send men to hell. We are often accused of
teaching such doctrine. Oh, no. In the exercise of his
justice, God is always just and right and true. Vessels of mercy,
we're told in Romans 9, are men and women of four prepared under
glory. Vessels of wrath, however, are
people who are fitted, fitted by their own rebellion for destruction. Look here in Jeremiah 18 verse
7. I'm the potter, you're the clay. At what instant I shall speak
concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom to pluck up and to
pull down and to destroy it. If that nation against whom I
have pronounced turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil
that I thought to do unto them. Now tonight I'm going to talk
to you about God's immutability, the Lord willing. God repent. Repent. That means to turn around. That means to change your mind.
To change your course of action. To change direction. Does God
do that? Of course not. But it says it
does here. God speaks to us in human terms. And He warns of judgment. He
warns of eternal damnation. And if you continue in your rebellion,
God will send you to hell. But if you believe on the Son
of God, if you trust the Son of God, God will repent. God will repent of the judgment. In your apprehension, in your
experience, Let me see if I can illustrate
it for you from personal experience. Tell me if you identify. Hell
was crushing me down. The heavy hand of God's just
wrath pushing me into hell. And suddenly, God takes that hand and lifts
me and sets me on a rock. I found myself believing on his
son. You see, you're turning to him. You're believing on him. That's
not your work. No. That's the fruit of grace. That's the work of the spirit
in you. That's the evidence that life is there. That's the evidence
of redemption. That's the evidence that your
name written in the Book of Life beneath my Lord the Lamb of whoever
the world was made. God seems to repent when he gives
you repentance. Read on. Verse 9, and at what instant
I shall speak concerning a nation and concerning a people, a kingdom,
to build it The planet, if it do evil in my sight, that it obey not
my voice. Oh, what good God's done to you. My daughter was raised all her
life under the sound of the gospel. Your sons and daughters raised
all their lives under the sound of the gospel. I've been telling them, you've
been telling them, God delights in mercy. He that believeth on
the Son of God hath everlasting life. If you refuse to believe the
gospel, you're going to hell. a vessel of wrath fitted for
destruction because you fully deserve it. You've heard and refused to believe.
You're going to hell with your fist in God's face and nobody's
going to feel sorry for you or weep when we bury you. I preached my mother and dad's
funerals with a broken heart, and my heart breaks for them
now. But when God gets done, when God gets done, there'll
be no weeping over them. No pity. Nobody's going to hell except
folks who fully deserve it. All right, look at verse 11.
Therefore, go speak to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants
of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I frame evil
against you, and devise a device against you. Hell has enlarged itself for
you. Return. Oh, return. Return ye now, everyone, from
his evil way. and make your ways and your doings
good. Make them good. Make them good. Make your ways good. Make your
doings good. My brother Don, nobody can do
that. You're right. But what's impossible
with men, possible with God. Believe on the Son of God and
believing the book of God says we establish the law. Believing we establish the law
so that believing now you go home because I'm his and he's mine. I'm going home with every confidence
that my ways and my doings are good before God. Because I belong
to Christ, and Christ belongs to me. I urge you, trust the Son of
God. You say, well, I don't know whether
he'll accept me or not. Him might have put it this way. He said,
I can but perish if I go. I am resolved to try, for if
I stay away, I know I must forever die. But if I die with mercy
sought, when I, the king, have tried, this were to die, delightful
thought, a sinner never died. God give you faith in his son. I ask for Christ's sake. Amen.