Says that don't ring your bell,
your clacker's broke. Grace is not for everybody, just
for certain ones. Grace is not for everybody, just
for certain ones. Turn to John chapter four and
I'll show you. If you read your Bible with your eyes open, not
many people do, but if you read your Bible with your eyes open,
you can't miss this. Grace is just for certain ones. We read in the scriptures of
a certain ruler by the name of Jairus, to whom the Lord Jesus was merciful.
He was in desperate need. The only one who could help him
was the Lord Jesus Christ. His daughter was dead. And the
Lord raised her to life again. We read of a certain woman as
our Savior was going to Jairus' house. There was a certain woman
who had an issue of blood. She had this issue of blood for
12 years and she heard of the Lord Jesus and she knew that
somehow she could touch him. She would be made whole of all
her plague. She had spent all her substance,
all her living on physicians of no value and still was no
better off. She was in desperate need. And
she came in the crowd and touched the son of God and he stopped
dead in his tracks. He said, somebody touch me. I
perceive that virtue is gone out of me. We read in the scriptures
of a certain man who was a lunatic. The Gadarene dwelt among tombs, scraping himself, cutting himself. leaping and screaming like a
wild beast in the tubes. Everybody scared to death of
him. He couldn't be tamed. He couldn't be held with cords.
He was possessed of devils. Oh, how desperately he needed
mercy. And the Lord Jesus came to him
and he's found seated at his feet, clothed and in his right
mind. Another man called a certain
man. had a son who was a lunatic. The devils seized him, threw
him on the ground, and tore him. Oh, how desperately he needed
mercy. And he came kneeling down at
the Savior's feet and cried, Lord, have mercy on me, for my
son possessed of the devil. And the Lord cast the devils
out of the man. There was a certain woman a Syrophoenician
by name, whose daughter was grievously vexed with the devil. She desperately
needed help and nobody could help but the Lord Jesus Christ. So she came to him in her desperate
need, but she was a Gentile, a Gentile dog. And it was not
right that the master should take the children's bread and
give it to dogs. And when she heard that, she
took her place as his dog under his table. and she'd be perfectly
content for any crumbs that he might wipe off the table in her
direction. And she went home with her daughter completely
whole. This book speaks of certain ones. That's the title of my message
this morning, Just for Certain Ones. Just for Certain Ones. In the parable of the Good Samaritan,
The Lord Jesus describes all his elect, every soul who has
been saved and shall be saved by his grace as a certain man,
a certain man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. And as
he went down, he fell among thieves who beat him and robbed him and
stripped him and left him for dead. but there was a good Samaritan. Isn't it a marvelous thing that
our savior identifies himself as a Samaritan, as a despised
Samaritan that he might come to save certain ones who are
like this Samaritan woman who's described in John chapter 4.
I repeat again, grace is not for everybody. just for certain
ones. Grace is for poor, desperate,
needy sinners. Grace is for people who've got
to have it. If you don't have to have it,
it's not for you. Christ is the Savior of people who must have
Him. If you can get along without
Him, He's not for you. I wonder if there's anybody here
who must have grace. In desperate need of mercy, you've
come in here this morning and you spent the night tossing on
your bed, crying in your soul, God help me or I'm called. Christ save me or I perish. If so, this message is just for
you. Just for certain ones. Joseph
Hart expressed what I want to say so very well in one of his
hymns. Leprous souls, unsound and filthy,
come to Jesus as you are. Tis the sick man, not the healthy,
needs the great physician's care. Oh, beware of faith ill-founded. Tis but fancied faith at most. To be cured and not be wounded
is to be found and not be lost. Let's read together John chapter
4 beginning at verse 43. Now after two days he departed
thence and went into Galilee. If you back up to The first part
of the chapter in verses 1, 2, and 3, you'll see in verse 3,
he left Judea and departed again into Galilee. But then he must
needs go through Samaria. The way down to Galilee was through
Samaria. But the Lord Jesus went through
Samaria because there was a Samaritan woman there. for whom the time
of mercy had come. And a great multitude of Samaritans
there, for whom grace time had now arrived, who must be saved. And the Lord Jesus was detained
in Samaria for two wonderful days. There in Samaria, he reigned
grace and poured out mercy from heaven upon multitudes for two
days. Oh, how refreshed his soul must
have been. He said, I have bread to eat
you don't know anything about. And here it is, look at it. All
these whom he had come to save, now at once brought into his
kingdom by the great mighty hand of his grace, gathering flowers
out of his garden and crowns for his head, the Lord Jesus
spent two days in Samaria. And now he goes on his journey. Pick up in verse 44. For Jesus
himself testified that a prophet hath no honor in his own country. He's going back to Galilee, but
not to Nazareth. He's going back to Galilee, but
not to his hometown, because a prophet has no honor in his
own country. Verse 45, then when he was coming
to Galilee, the Galileans received him. How come? having seen all the things that
he did at Jerusalem at the feast, for they also went unto the feast. Verse 46, so Jesus came again
into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there
was a great nobleman, a certain nobleman, a certain one. This great certain nobleman had
a son whose son was sick at Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus was
come out of Judea into Galilee, he went unto him and besought
him that he would come down and heal his son for he was at the
point of death. Then said Jesus unto him, except
you see signs and wonders, you will not believe. What a reproof. What a reproof. Except you see
signs and wonders, you won't believe. You won't believe. The
nobleman saith unto him, sir, come down, ere my child die. Jesus saith unto him, go thy
way. Thy son liveth. And the man believed
the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way. And as he was now going down,
his servants met him and told him, saying, thy son liveth.
Then he inquired of them the hour when he began to amend.
And they said unto him, yesterday at the seventh hour the fever
left him. So the father knew. that it was at the same hour
into which Jesus said unto him, thy son liveth and himself believed
and his whole house. This is again the second miracle
that Jesus did when he was come out of Judea into Galilee. There are seven great lessons
stamped in bold letters upon these words. Seven lessons I
pray that God the Holy Spirit will inscribe on our hearts and
calls us to remember, to remember constantly as we go through this
world of time and trouble and pain and sorrow. I pray he will
speak now through this empty, dirty, broken pipe to your heart. Here's the first lesson. It's
a lesson about prophets and honor. Our Lord Jesus said, a prophet
hath no honor in his own country. John tells us that he had testified
to this repeatedly. God's prophets don't seek honor
and don't want honor from the world, yet none should be more
honored by men than those men who are God's messengers to their
souls, who are faithful to the souls of those trusted to their
care. I wrote this week to some friends
of mine who have a young faithful pastor who is serving honorably. I've been following the ministry.
God's given them together and I'm expecting even greater things
than I've already seen. I said, don't forget to honor
your pastor who faithfully serves you and let him know your honor
for him. Turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter
5. Our savior went back to Galilee
but not to Nazareth. Nazareth being his hometown,
but he was despised in Nazareth. The people of Nazareth looked
upon him with contempt. He was a hometown boy. And that's
the way it commonly is. I realize there are exceptions.
But commonly, a man can't possibly preach and serve God effectively
where he was raised. That's not often done. That's
not often done. We'd like to think, well, the
best thing to do is for a local church to raise up their own pastors.
It almost always leads to trouble, almost always. The prophet seldom
has honor among his own people. Gospel preachers somehow are despised and held
in contempt by people that they've been around all their lives.
I guess that's because men are proud. And proud men don't like
to be instructed by those they consider their peers. You can
teach them how to play golf, but that's about it. They don't
like to be much instructed by one they consider their peer.
And they're sure not going to be reproved by one they know
to be guilty of the same things they're guilty of. And they're
certainly not going to be instructed and reproved by someone they
look at as being less than they are. It's not going to happen,
not going to happen, not unless God does a wondrous thing among
them. The fact is that men much prefer
that which is fetched from a long ways off at a dear price. They
would far rather have a man with degrees than a man with knowledge
and dogmatism. They'd far rather have a man
with titles reverend, or doctor, or something else. Let a man
with tenderness and care, because men love the approval of men. Now listen carefully. God's servants,
I urge you children of God, I encourage you to write to our missionary.
Brother Heller is going to be here in a couple of weeks. Let him know your appreciation
for his faithfulness. God's servants around the world
you had the privilege here every year conference time you hear
eight Gospel preachers and there are many others here Let them
know your appreciation for them for their work's sake look here
in first Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 12 We beseech you brethren
to know them know them Know your pastors. Know your missionaries. Know your evangelists. Know them
which labor among you. They're not freeloaders. Folks
who labor among you. If I were preaching to a bunch
of preachers, I'd talk to them about being freeloaders and not
laboring. But I'm not talking to preachers. I'm talking to
you. Know them that labor among you. Faithful men do. Know their
labor. Know their dedication. Know their
needs. Know them. and are over you. Oh, we're all
the same. We are. We're all sinners saved
by God's grace. But God has placed me over you. Over you. So I'm not here to
have you tell me how we serve God. I'm here to teach you how
to serve God. That's my responsibility. I'm
not here to have you tell me how to conduct the ministry.
I'm here to lead you in the work of the ministry together. If
you if you have a team of fellows working somewhere, you got somebody
who's in charge. And if you don't have somebody
in charge, you've got a bunch of folks playing, accomplishing
nothing. God has sent his servants over
local churches, over you in the Lord. over you as a husband is
head over his household, over you to rule and guide and instruct
and teach and care for and protect and to admonish you, to admonish
you, to teach you, to get you walking the straight line. You
step out of line to pull you back, to not go ahead and dragging
you back, no. No, but by the faithful preaching
of the gospel to admonish you. You want to know how you ought
to live, what you ought to do. Do you know the people that always
come up with those questions? Who always come up with those
questions? I'll tell you who does. Folks who always want preachers to
be counselors. Mother Dawn, can I come talk
to you? I've got some trouble. I need your help. Brother Don,
my wife did this, my daddy did this, my daughter did this. Oh,
Brother Don, what am I going to do? I'll tell you folks who
always do. Folks who don't come to church. Folks who, oh, I can, there we
go, church on Sunday morning, that's enough. We go once a month,
that's enough. Oh, we go, all right. Church
is always there. Get on fine without preaching.
Can you now? God's servants aren't given for
nothing. They're given to admonish you, to admonish you by the preaching
of the gospel. And I have discovered that folks
who addict themselves to the worship of God, to the preaching
of the gospel, they just kind of know which way to go. They
just kind of know which steps to take. They just kind of know
which doors to enter and what to stay away from. And to esteem
them, esteem them, very highly in love. How come? Because they
care for your soul. Because they're gospel preachers.
For their work's sake. And this will be an amazing result.
Be at peace among yourselves. Generally, generally you find
that a family that's well-ordered with a good man, loving a wife
and loving his family, caring for his children, providing for
everything, highly esteemed and honored by his wife and children,
it's amazing how well they get along. It's just amazing how
well they get along. Usually those kind of houses
have peace. And the same thing is true in a local church. Same
thing is true. Paul said in 2 Timothy, let the
elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially
they that labor in the word and in the doctrine." Now, look at what we're told
about these Galileans here, these country folk, these hillbillies,
these redneck hicks, these uneducated plowboys from Galilee. In verse
45, the Spirit of God tells us that they received the Lord Jesus. They welcomed him, not the folks
at Nazareth, not the folks in his hometown, but these poor
Galileans believed him and cheerfully embraced his doctrine. And the
reason is given, having seen all the things he did in Jerusalem. The Galileans lived down here
below Samaria. And in order to get up to Jerusalem,
they had to do what no Jew wanted to do. They had to go up through
Samaria to come to Jerusalem. They had to walk among those
infidel, mongrel, despised Samaritans. And no Jew wanted to do that.
But the Galileans were commanded of God, and they knew it, to
go up every year to Jerusalem, three times a year. And they
had been up to Jerusalem at the Passover, and they had seen what
the Lord Jesus did at Jerusalem. And having seen what he did at
Jerusalem, they were glad to have him. Hey, you remember that
prophet, the Messiah, the Christ? We saw up at Jerusalem and the
wonders he did there. He's come back to Galilee. And
they received him gladly. Oh, these Galileans, because
of their obedience to God's command, became acquainted with the Son
of God. And at Jerusalem, they saw his
wondrous works. Now, second, look at verse 46. And we're reminded that our Lord
performed his first miracle in Cana of Galilee. There he made
the water wine. He made the water wine. There's a lesson here about things
God transforms. things that God makes to be what
they were not before. He made the water wine. This word that's translated made,
there are two of them in the New Testament that are used,
two distinct words. The word that's here translated
made is a single act. Our Lord Jesus, by a single act,
made the water wine. It wasn't a process. By a single
act, he made the water wine. The word means caused to be or
caused to become. By a single act, at one time,
the Son of God, while he was in Cana of Galilee at that marriage
feast, made, he transformed, he caused to become the water
wine. He didn't make the water look
like wine. He made it wine. He didn't make
the water appear as though it were wine. He made it wine. He did not make the water taste
like wine. He made it wine. He did not make
the water have the appearance and color of wine. He made it
wine. He didn't treat the water as
though it were wine. He made it wine. Now turn to
2 Corinthians chapter 5. The Lord God is describing the
new creation of grace. Verse 21, He, God the Father,
hath made, guess what word that is? Hath made. by one act at one time has transformed
and caused him to become sin for us who knew
no sin. He didn't make him look like
sin. He didn't make it appear as though
he were sin. He didn't just treat him as if
he were sin. He didn't just make him bear
the consequences of sin. He made him sin. Because there's no other way
Ron would, he could be punished for our sin, except he be made
sin. He made Him sin for us. Now watch this. That we might
be made. I told you the two words translated
made. This is a different word. Altogether different word. Not
spelled even similarly. What's this word? This word made
means to generate. It means cause to be. It means to finish, to fill up,
or to fulfill. Christ was made sin for us that
we might be generated righteous, that we might be made to live
righteousness, that we might be caused to become in life righteousness. The only way any sinner can ever
live before God, having a righteous nature fit for heaven, is for
Christ to come into him who was made sin for us. And that's what
happens in the new birth. All right, back to our text.
Here's the third lesson. A lesson about faith and the
Word of God. Faith involves three things,
always does. It involves hearing, it involves
seeing, and it involves believing. The Galileans believed because
they saw all things that Christ did in Jerusalem. And everything
that he did in Jerusalem that they saw physically, was but
a representation of all that he did in Jerusalem that we see
spiritually when God reveals Christ in us. If ever God gives
you faith in Jesus Christ, he will cause you to see all that
Christ did at Jerusalem. when He was made sin for us and
laid down His life and atonement for sin, when He had by Himself
purged our sins, when He by the sacrifice of Himself put away
sin, Jesus Christ satisfied the justice of God. Jesus Christ
brought in everlasting righteousness. Jesus Christ, who was made sin
for us, put away our sins, and the sacrifice of himself, accomplishing
redemption. He, with his own blood, obtained
eternal redemption for us. This certain nobleman came to
the Savior for mercy, because we're told here he heard that
Jesus was come. Somebody told him, Jesus, Jehovah
who saves, Jesus, this one who was born the Nazarene at Bethlehem,
this one who is Jehovah's servant, this one who is the Christ of
whom Moses and the law and the prophets all wrote. Jesus is
come. Faith comes, you see, by hearing
and hearing by the word of God. Of his own will begat he us with
the word of truth. We're born again, not of corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God that lives and
abides forever. This nobleman came to the Lord
Jesus in desperate need because he heard that the Lord Jesus
was there. And hearing, he comes with his
desperate need to the Savior. But did you notice as we read
the text, in verse 48, our Lord Jesus says to him, except ye
see signs and wonders, ye will not believe. He comes and says, he's my son. He's at the point of death. Will you come down and heal him?
Now, some folks reprove the fellow and say he's not willing to just
take the Lord at his word. And so he wanted him to come
physically. He even thought he had to be there physically to
do so. No, that's not faith. That's not faith. He asked him
to come down and heal him. Lots of folks did, and that's
what the master had generally done. But the Lord seizes this
opportunity to give us an instruction about faith. He said, you will
not believe except you see signs and wonders. And then he spoke
a word to him. He said, going home, your boy
is living. Everything's all right. Go thy way, thy son liveth. And this fella believed. He started home. Good enough? Here we go. The master said,
my son's living. Everything's all right. Let's
go home. Got what I came for. With the
word that Christ spoke, God the Holy Spirit came in mighty power
and calls him who could not and would not believe to believe. That's how faith comes. Maybe,
maybe, oh God make it so. As you hear the word, not from
the lips of this man, but from the lips of God himself, you
will be caused to believe and you will find yourself right
where you are believing him. Children of God, how often Has
that proved to be so with you? How often? Brother Lindsay was teaching
the lesson this morning. I was sitting there and he got
to that seventh verse. Made some comments about believing
God. Oh, God, thank you for at least for now, for this brief
moment, for this sweet, blessed moment here. once more speaking
faith into my soul and causing me to believe. Faith cometh by
hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Learn this now as well. Our Savior's Word His Word. What do you got in your hands? What you got there? His Word. His Word is as good, no, no,
better than his presence. His Word, as good as his presence.
This nobleman, he said, he said, Lord, come home with me. My son needs you. And the Lord
Jesus gave him something better. He gave him his word. And the
man went home with something better. Now, listen to me. Listen
to me. Turn to Psalm 138 and I'll show
you. He went home with something better if he had been walking
hand in hand physically with the Son of God. He went home
with something better. He went home, Rex, with his word.
His word. Now this gives meaning to every
promise of God in this book. This gives meaning to everything
he said he would do. This gives meaning to every promise
he made. He's able and He will perform
all that He said. If you build your hope on His
Word, you build your hope on a rock that will do you good
forever. You rest your soul on that which
is revealed in His Word. Take God at His Word. That's called faith. And you
rest your soul on that of which David spoke when he said, thou
hast caused me to hope in thy word. You see, he's magnified
his word above his very name. Psalm 138, verse 1. I will praise thee with my whole
heart. Before the gods will I sing praise
unto thee. I will worship thee. I will worship
toward thy holy temple. And praise thy name for thy lovingkindness
and for thy truth. Here's the reason I will. Here's
the reason I'll praise you for your lovingkindness and your
truth. Here's the reason I'll bow before you and sing your
praise before all the gods of the heathen. For thou hast magnified
thy word above all thy name. Wow. Now, let me tell you, One
or two things the Savior said. Him that cometh unto me, I will
in no wise cast out. Bob, I'm coming to him. I have
come to him and I am coming to him. I'll never be cast out. Doesn't matter how I feel. Doesn't
matter what my emotions are. Doesn't matter how dark my days
or how bright. Doesn't matter how cold my heart or how full
of life. I'll never be cast out. I come
to him. I come to him. This is what the
master said. He that believeth on me hath
everlasting life. Well, I don't know whether I
believe on him or not. I don't believe that for a second.
I don't believe that for a second. Do you believe that's paper?
Well, yeah, Don, I'm not stupid. You got my point? You know what
you believe and don't. You know whom you believe and
don't. He that believeth on the Son
of God. What does it say? Hath everlasting
life. I don't believe him, Merle, like
I want to. I don't half trust him like I ought to, but believe
him, oh yes. What's that mean? I have everlasting
life. There's a lesson here too about
parenting. Mom and Dad, our sons and daughters must have
the Savior. They must have grace. They must have mercy. And Bill,
there's not anything else they must have. Well, I want mine to be well-educated.
Teach them Christ. I want mine to be well-clothed.
Point them to the robe of His righteousness. I want mine to
be healthy. Show them the fountain of life.
I want mine to live forever. Teach them Him who is life everlasting. I want mine secure. Show them
the covering they can wrap themselves in, the bed on which they can
stretch themselves, the foundation upon which they can be built. They've got to have Christ. Good
parenting is to bring them to Him. Bring them to Him. Bring them to Him with a heart burning for their
souls, begging just one thing, mercy. And don't take no for an answer.
You won't believe. You got to say, you won't believe. Lord, my son's at the point of
death. Come heal him. You're one of these Jewish noblemen,
you're looking for signs and wonders. You won't believe. You
can't believe. You won't trust me. Lord, my
son's at the point of death. Come home with me. Go home. Your son's living. That's it. That's called good parenting. There's a lesson here about providence. and grace. We read the 107th
Psalm. Our God teaches something there,
and he illustrates it here. Judgment will never bring faith.
It won't happen. You're not going to get me to
chase ambulances. Folks get preachers that go, so-and-so had an accident.
They got trouble in their house. I believe they're ready now.
Go talk to them. No. I'll wait right here. I'll be
preaching next Sunday morning. If they're interested, they can come hear the gospel.
And come hear the gospel. Tell them the gospel's here.
Bring them to hear it. But no, I'm not going to try
to talk folks into the profession of faith. Judgment never brings faith. But God in
his wise providence does use all things, specifically adversity
and trouble and sorrow. And especially the adversity,
trouble, and sorrow we heap upon ourselves by our own foolishness
and ignorance and rebellion against him. All these things he uses
to graciously shut us up to Christ. and force us into His arms, and
thereby brings us to our desired haven, the haven of rest, the
refuge for our souls, Christ Jesus the Lord. We will look back over the mountain
ranges of time, and we will say then, As we can't begin to say
now, when on Resurrection Day we see all things clearly, it
is good for me that I have been afflicted. Thereby have I learned
your goodness, your grace, and your mercy. is the wondrous loving kindness
of our God. And this nobleman, he's going
home and his servants met him. And they said, we caught you
just in time. Your boy's all right. No need
to bother trying to get him healed anymore. And nobleman said, when
did you get better? They said, Sunday morning, 20
minutes to 12. Oh, that's just exactly when
the master said, thy son liveth. And I began to believe him. And thus, God proved himself
gracious. in the experience of his providence. Oh God, give us eyes to see the
proof of yourself in our experience of your providence. Learn this. Riches and distinction are not
things to be sought. They're not things to be sought.
I suspect some of you, maybe many of you, have in the last
two months seen lots that you had planned on using until you
got to be an old man or an old woman, take wings like a bird
and fly away. Just go. Go. Been saving it up for years,
gold. Been planning it for years, gold.
Gold. This nobleman was a very wealthy
man. And when it says he was a nobleman,
we don't understand anything about that in our American culture.
Our British friends who were here recently, they could tell
us a little bit about it. That means he was born to nobility. Man, he was somebody. He wasn't
a farm boy. He was somebody. He was a nobleman. Why, they only married other
folks who were born to nobility. And if they didn't, they got
in trouble. He was rich, born that way, and noble, born that
way. And his son was dying. And there
wasn't one thing he could do about it. can't buy off pain. Nobility
can't ward off trouble. But this man now, who was brought
to utter poverty and nothing. What would it take to save that
boy's life? Give you a shirt off my back.
A shirt off your back won't do any good. Who do I have to see to get something
done around here? I'm a nobleman. Your nobility
is not going to do you any good. Lord, here I am. Nobody like
that dog, that Syrophoenician woman, like that dog under your
table. Like that woman who spent everything
she had I've got nothing to offer. I've got nothing I can do. I've
got to help you. Go home happy. Everything's all
right. Now you're sure enough rich. Now you're sure enough noble. And there's a lesson here about
life and death. Here's a father. preparing to bury his son. Just ought to be the other way
around, shouldn't it, Bob? Sons look like ought to bury
their fathers. But if you visit cemeteries,
I don't know how they get their statistics with regard to life
expectancy. I think they ignore everything
except, except, death as a result of old age. You know, I visit a lot of, wherever
I go, I visit cemeteries. Usually there's some historic
things to be found there. Do you know what I've observed? Most people in the cemeteries
died when they were young folks. Not many died at old age. Not
many. I thought, the youth, man, you
got How many times have you said to somebody, you've got a lot
of days ahead of you? Not a day. Not a day. The first man to die in this
world was a son, not a father. The first grave was for one who
was young, not one who was old. The fact is there's a day appointed
when you're going to meet God. and you're going to meet God
in judgment, prepare then to meet your God today. And the only way you can be prepared to meet God
is to meet God in this one whom the nobleman met and believed. Jesus Christ the Lord. God give
you faith in Him. Amen.