Do you ever wonder why am I here? You come through some danger
safely. Why did I escape that danger?
Why has the Lord healed me of that disease? I think about those
things a good bit and that's what I want to talk to you about
in this message tonight. I want to speak to you my family,
people dearest to me of all people in this world. Ruth Peterson said to me last
night down in Harrisburg, she said, I'm glad for you to go
to these places, but don't you let any of these folks get you
away from us. And I appreciate the sentiment,
but be assured, I'm not going anywhere. Doesn't matter where
the church is, how large it is, or what offering they may offer
to give, I'm where I need to be and want to be. And this is
where I'll be when I draw my last breath, God helping me.
But I want to show you, my family, why the Lord has been pleased
to spare my life. And I'm convinced of it. I know
this. He has not left me in this world
because I need to become more fit for heaven. I have learned and proved by
long and painful experience living in this world won't make anyone
more fit for heaven. You're not going to get riper
for glory by staying here a little longer. The Apostle Paul speaks of his
life in this world in this language. I am carnal, sold unto sin. For that which I do, I allow
not. For what I would, that I do not,
but what I hate, that I do. If then I do that which I would
not, I consent to the law that it's good. Now then, it's no
more I that do it. But sin that dwelleth in me,
for I know that in me, that is, in this flesh, in my flesh, in
my natural self, dwelleth no good thing, for to will is present
with me. But how to perform that which
is good I find not, for the good that I would do not I do not,
but the evil which I would not, that I do. Do you find that to
be the case with you? constant warfare in this body
of flesh. Now if I do that, I would not. It is no more I that do it, but
sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law that when I
would do good, evil is always there. Evil is present with me.
For I delight in the law of God after the inward man, but I see
another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind and
bringing me into captivity to the law of sin. which is in my
members, so much then for living above sin. I don't have any trouble living
above outward acts of evil for the most part. I haven't been drunk since I
was a young man. I don't spend time in the porno
shops. But oh my soul, I can't escape
the evil that's in me. It doesn't get less, but worse,
the longer I live in this world. Oh, wretched man that I am. I know the Lord hasn't left me
here to make me more fit for heaven for another reason. Turn
to Colossians chapter 1 and I want you to see this. Not only is it impossible and
contrary to experience with every believer that we should get better
by living in this world, the fact is If we are His, we're
already fit for heaven. If we're His, we're already fit
for heaven. I'm ready for heaven now. How
can you say that after acknowledging what you just have about yourself?
My fitness is not me. My fitness is Christ. My worthiness
to stand before God is not me, but rather my substitute. Colossians
chapter 1 verse 12. Giving thanks unto the Father.
Now watch this language. Which hath made us. That is every one of us who are
His. Every one of us who've experienced His grace. Every one of us who
are born of God. He's made us, watch it, meet
to be partakers. The word is fit or worthy to
be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. What? Worthy to inherit heavenly glory
now? If you're not worthy to inherit
heavenly glory before you leave this world, nothing's going to
happen after you leave to make you worthy. We are made meet
to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light by virtue
of our union with Christ, by virtue of his blood shed for
us, by virtue of his grace performed in us. Watch it. Who hath delivered
us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the
kingdom of his dear Son, in whom we have redemption through his
blood. And by virtue of that redemption,
even the forgiveness of sins. Forgiveness. Blessed is the man
whose iniquity is forgiven. To whom the Lord will not impute
sin. Because the sin has been lifted
up, taken off of him, and put away. lifted up by the precious
blood of Jesus Christ, and put away by God's Son, so that all
who are in Christ have no sin before God Almighty. Christ is
the Lord our righteousness. His righteousness is ours, His
redemption is ours, and Christ dwells in us, as we saw this
morning by the new birth, so that we stand before God, one
with Christ, and Christ, one with us. I love the hymn. Near, so very near to God, nearer
I cannot be. For in the person of his Son,
I am as near as he. The next verse goes like this.
Dear, so very dear to God, dearer I cannot be. For in the person
of his Son, I am as dear Now, that's the whole of our
acceptance with God. With His spotless garments on,
I am as holy as God's own Son. If the Lord has not left me here
to make me more righteous, more holy, more fit for heaven, why
am I still here? Turn with me to Job chapter 1.
The Book of Job, Chapter 1. I told you this morning I'd been
preparing a message out of Haggai for tonight, and every now and
then my wife interrupts my plans, or God interrupts them by her.
Last Monday morning, we were headed to Lexington, and she
said, I've got to read to you what Hawker had to say this morning.
And she read Hawker's Poor Man's Portions for me from Job, Chapter
1, and Verse 19. rejoiced in it and shared it
with a number of folks and tried to put it out of my mind and
knew even then I've got to come to this this evening. Job chapter
1. This book of Job describes the
life experience of a man who lived probably in the days of
Abraham, perhaps earlier. Job is probably the oldest book
in all of Scripture. This is the earliest of the writings
of the Old Testament Scriptures. Job 1, verse 1. There was a man
in the land of Uz whose name was Job. And that man was perfect
and upright, one that feared God and eschewed evil. Somebody said, well, I just don't
know whether Job was a saved man or not. I reckon he was.
God said he was perfect. and upright, perfect and upright. And if God says a man is perfect,
what do you reckon that means? That means he's perfect. He's
perfect. But pastor, nobody's perfect
in themselves. I think you know, I know that,
don't you? But God's people are perfect
in his son. We are one with his son. He's
perfect and upright, one that feared God and eschewed evil.
And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters.
He had a big family. His substance also was 7,000
sheep, and 3,000 camels, and 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 she-asses,
and a very great household, so that this man Job, this man who
feared God and eschewed evil, was the greatest of all the men
of the east. There was none like him. Verse
4, And his sons went out and feasted in their houses, every
one in his day, and sent and called for their three sisters
to eat and drink with them. And it was so, when the days
of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified
them. Ceremonially, he sanctified them
and rose up early in the morning and offered burnt offerings according
to the number of them all. For Job said, it may be that
my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did
Job continually. Verse 6, now there was a day
when the sons of God came to present themselves before the
Lord and Satan, came also among them. The angels of God came to give
a report of their activity to the Lord Jehovah, and Satan came
to give a report with them. You mean Satan has to report
to God? Looks like it. You mean Satan's under God's
control? Let's look and see. And the Lord
said to Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the
Lord and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from
walking up and down in it. And the Lord said to Satan, Hast
thou considered my servant Job? Notice, it is not Satan who brings
up Job to the Lord, but rather it is the Lord who brings up
Job to Satan. It is not Satan who takes the
initiative in this thing of striking and tempting Job. It is rather
the Lord who seems to hold Job before Satan and shakes him in
his face. Hast thou considered my servant
Job, he says, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect
and an upright man, one that feareth God, and hates evil,
escheweth evil. Then Satan answered the Lord
and said, Doth Job fear God for naught? Do you think Job serves
you for nothing? Do you think, God, that Job is
your servant because he wants to be? Oh, no. Job behaves like
he does because of what he gets out of you. because you protect
him and you keep him from any trouble or evil. Read on. Has not thou made an hedge about
him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every
side? Thou hast blessed the work of
his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But
you take away these things. and see how long Job will serve
you. Put forth thine hand now and touch all that he hath and
he'll curse thee to thy face. And the reality is that's true
of most people. That's true of most religious
people, not of God's people. He'll curse you to your face
And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in
thy power. Well, brother Don, that looks
like Satan has absolutely no power over anything except what
God gives him. It does, doesn't it? It sure does. He's God's
devil. Read on. All that he hath is in thy power,
only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth
from the presence of the Lord. And there was a day when his
sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest
brother's house. And there came a messenger unto
Job and said, the oxen were plowing and the asses feeding beside
them. and the Sabaeans fell upon them and took them away. Yea, they have slain the servants
with the edge of the sword, and I only am escaped alone to tell
thee. While he was yet speaking, there
came also another and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven,
and hath burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed
them, and I only am escaped to tell thee. While he was yet speaking,
there came also another, a third messenger, and said, The Chaldeans
have made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have
carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of
the sword, and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. While he
was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons
and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in the eldest
brother's house, And behold, there came a great wind from
the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and
it fell upon the young men, and they're dead. And I only am escaped
alone to tell thee." Now, there are many ways in which
those words repeated by these messengers to Job apply and are
applicable to my own experience of God's grace and his good providence. Looking back to the day of my
birth, I recognize that God sanctified me when I was yet in my mother's
womb and ordained me a prophet to your soul. and that's the reason I didn't
die from my mother's womb. Many did in those days, but he
that formed me in the belly ordained me to be a messenger to you,
and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. My childhood, like
that of many of you, was filled with perils and dangers, Diseases
common in those days that are no longer around cause multitudes
to drop like flies around us. Many with whom I attended school, and I attended school with most
of them for 12 years, first grade through the 12th, are either
in hell today or in prison. And that's where I would have
been, except for one thing. I have escaped alone to tell
you. That's all. As a youth, I lived with both
fists clenched, shoved in God's face, mad at
God, as mad as I could be, angry all the time. angry with every
representation of God, every symbol of authority, angry with
teachers, angry with law, angry with mom and dad, angry with
everything that represented any kind of authority over me. And
I lived on hell's edge all the time, courting God's wrath every
day, flirting with hell every night. And there's only one reason I
didn't perish in the way I chose. It's put like this in Jude verse
1. I was preserved in Jesus Christ. Preserved in Christ. Or preserved for Christ. Either way is alright. Or preserved
by Christ. That's all. That's all. Preserved from eternity. How do you know? Well, I know
because that's what it says in the book. And I know because
nothing else can give a satisfactory explanation why my actions didn't result
in my death before I was an adult. You don't need specifics. I played with hell all the time.
All the time. And I only am escaped alone to
tell thee. Oh, the wonders of God's distinguishing
love and mercy and grace toward me. as the highly favored object
of his care, of his devotion. He hedged me about. Hosea 1, verse 6. He put a hedge
around me. Put a hedge around me. So I couldn't
get out and nothing could get in. That's what he does for his elect.
He hedges them about and preserves them unto the appointed hour
called the time of love when he will call them by his grace.
Robert Hawker commenting on this asked with astonishment, who
shall count the sum of distinguishing mercies in preserving and upholding
providences during the whole of an unconverted state. And I only am escaped alone to
tell thee. Then, after he called me by his
grace, giving me life and faith in Christ, granting me salvation
and forgiveness of sins through his darling son. Oh, how magnificently
he has continued to preserve me from evil. This little child of his has
played on the cockatrice den and never been hurt. And it won't happen tomorrow.
continually performing all things for me because of his grace upon
me, sparing my life in the midst of one sickness and then another. Why? Why has he spared me? Why do I still reside in this
tabernacle of clay? I'm convinced there is no reason
but this. I only am escaped alone to tell
thee. That's all. That's all. God's servants. I'm speaking
now of gospel preachers. I realize all God's people are
his servants. God's servants have one task, and they're useful
for just one thing. They are like that pole on which
the brazen serpent was attached. They hold up Christ crucified
before men. That's the only reason for my
existence. God give me grace to devote myself
to it. All around me I see multitudes
dying and dead in trespasses and sins. unawakened, unconcerned,
unregenerate. I understand. Oh, Spirit of God,
remind me constantly that I've been spared, that I live to declare
the wondrous works of the Lord. I only am spared to tell thee. God, give me grace to proclaim
with earnestness the glorious gospel of Christ, to tell all
who can be reached. to tell all who can be reached
by my voice or by my pen, by any means given at my disposal
of the wondrous works of God. I say with the psalmist, come
and hear all ye that fear God and I will declare what he hath
done for my soul. Now, either take your pen out
and write down the references Open your Bibles to the book
of 1 Samuel. 2 Samuel, I'm sorry. I'm going to tell you what the
Lord has done for me. And I'm going to give it to you
in 12 statements taken directly from the pages of Holy Scripture.
And these 12 statements themselves are self-explanatory. And you
will find As I read these 12 statements of what God has done
for me from this book, an echo. Your own heart. Oh, I didn't
know exactly how to put it. That's what God's done for me.
And I promise you, if you're God's, this is what he's done
for you. Number one, second Samuel chapter
six. David is bringing up the Ark
of God to its proper place in Jerusalem. And David understood
what the Ark of God represented. It represented Jesus Christ crucified. It represented blood atonement. It represented the sinner's only
acceptance with God. It represented the forgiveness
of sin by the precious blood of God's darling Son. And as
he comes up before the ark, leading the way, he's leading the band
of worshippers, carrying the ark of God, and David is just
leaping and dancing. And his wife, Michael, Saul's
daughter, looked out the window and saw her husband, the king
of Israel, humbling himself, dancing and leaping like a schoolboy
before the ark in the streets of Jerusalem. And she despised
him. She said, what are you doing?
making a fool of yourself. Verse 21, And David said to Michael, It was before the Lord which
chose me before thy father, and before all his house, to appoint
me ruler over the people of the Lord, over Israel. Therefore
will I play before the Lord. He said, Michael, being Saul's
daughter and obviously acting like Saul's daughter, I don't
expect you to understand this, but I'll tell you the source
of my joy and my genuine humility before God, he chose me. Oh, how I rejoice in God's electing
love. He chose me. I don't know. I may be the only
blood relative I have in this world to this generation. I trust in the days to come others,
but I don't know of anyone else in my family previously who ever
knew God. But He chose me. How I thank God for that choice
He made of me in eternity, which fixed my place in eternity with
His Son. God hath from the beginning chosen
you unto salvation. Why is it you're here? Why is
it you're here worshiping God rather than running around in
Africa with a bone through your nose worshiping a stump? Are
running around at some freewill altar, worshipping a stump? Why? Because God hath from the beginning
chosen you. 2 Samuel 23. Now I'm not giving you these things
in the order in which they're experienced. That's not needful. But rather for ease, I'm giving
them to you in the order in which they appear. in these 12 statements. Here's the second one. David
is on his deathbed. He's about to leave this world.
This man after God's own heart, the sweet singer of Israel. And
he says in verse 5, although my house be not so with God. Perhaps he's talking about the
church of God. God's Israel. Perhaps he's talking
about his physical house, his own family. Things are not as
I had hoped. Things are not as I had expected. I've got Bathsheba and Abigail
and Solomon and all the rest of my house is a house full of
rebels. Things are not like I had wanted.
They're not like I prayed. My sons and daughters hate me
and hate God and hate one another. Although my house be not so with
God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant. Oh, how sweet to fall back on
covenant mercy. This everlasting covenant made
with me in the person of my beloved surety, His own dear Son, the
Lord Jesus Christ. He made a covenant with me. Not
a covenant in which I had something to offer or contribute, but a
solemn, sovereign disposition of His grace, ordered in all
things and sure, covenant of grace and salvation made with
his son on the basis of his son's obedience it is ordered in all
things and sure and this covenant that which God has done for me
in this covenant from old eternity is all my salvation and it's really all I want I want what God has ordered,
no more and no less. Number three, Psalm 13. Verse six, I will sing unto the Lord because
he hath dealt bountifully with me. All my life, all my days, when
I knew it not and when I have known it, he has dealt bountifully
He has dealt in abounding, constant mercy and grace with me. He's dealt bountifully with me
in His secret providence. He's dealt bountifully with me
in His forgiving grace. He's dealt bountifully with me
in His saving mercy. He has dealt bountifully with
me. How can I expound on that anymore. Children of God, go back over the pages of your
memory and read again the experiences of your life and understand He
has dealt bountifully with you all your days. And never has
he dealt niggardly with you, only bountifully. He's never
been sparing. He's never been tight. He's never
been tight-fisted. He's never been one to refuse. He's dealt bountifully with me. Psalm 30, verse 2. The Lord my God, in his bounteous mercy, is he
of whom I must sing, O Lord my God, I cried unto thee, and thou
hast healed me. With his stripes we are healed
of all our crimes, because he was punished for us. With His
stripes we are healed in our souls because His grace flows
freely to all for whom He died. And He has healed me in body
as well countless times. Here's the fifth statement, verse
2. O Lord, Thou hast brought up my soul from the grave. Thou hast kept me alive. that
I should not go down to the pit. He's healed me and he's kept
me alive. I think I told you this shortly
after I came back from the hospital. Shelby and I were sitting one
morning reading together. She read a portion from John
17. where the Lord Jesus prayed,
I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world. And that may seem insignificant
to you, but for me on that particular day, it was like God opened the heavens. and poured
out blessedness upon my soul. I pray not that thou shouldest
take them out of the world. He kept me alive so that I might
tell you of his wondrous works. Psalm 31 verse 5. Of all the things God has done
for my soul, none more distinct, none more special, none even
comparably glorious with this. Into thine hand I commit my spirit. Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord
God of truth. Now I could spend a long time
here The redemptive work of Christ,
brother Ron, is useless if it's not particular. It's meaningless if it's not
special. It's worthless if it's not effectual. I say that because most everyone
in the world has the foolish notion that Christ died for folks
who go to hell as well as for folks who are saved. If he did,
his blood doesn't make any difference. If he did, his death is useless.
He died for nothing. Oh, but he redeemed me. He redeemed me from all my iniquities,
from all my sins, from all my guilt, from all the plague of
my heart. from all the corruption of my
being. Redeem me so that now there is
no crime left against me, nothing with which God Almighty himself
shall charge me. He redeemed me. Psalm 52, verse
7. Psalm 57, verse 2, I'm sorry. I will cry unto the God most
high, unto God that performeth, performeth. You got the ETH ending,
didn't you? This is something he's been doing
throughout the ages of time. And this is something he's doing
now. And this is something he will
not stop doing. unto God that performeth all things for me. Everything. Everything. Everything. Every pleasant thing and every
painful thing. Every secret thing and every
known thing. Every adverse thing and every
advantageous thing. He performeth all things specifically
for me. And He does that specifically
for you, if you're His. Psalm 119, verse 16. This is my comfort in my affliction,
for thy word hath quickened me. We're born again, not a corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God that lives and
abides forever. And by that same word that quickened
us in the beginning, we are quickened continually. Oh, how often He
has revived my languishing soul. How often He's raised up my dead
spirit. How often He's quickened my dying
heart by His Word. I have one word of counsel I
give to myself and all who will hear me. Whenever you come to
me and you've got trouble, heavy hearts, go home and bury yourself in
this book. Bury yourself in this book and wait for God. He will quicken
you with his word. Isaiah chapter 12, verse one. In that day thou shalt say, O
Lord, that is in the day when the Lord visits you in his grace.
I will praise thee, though thou wast angry with me, and rightly
so. Thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortest me. Oh, sweet consolation is this. God's anger's turned away. This
morning, Brother Lindsey was teaching concerning this matter
of affliction. When affliction comes, children
of God, don't ever imagine it's because God's angry with you.
No. No, no. He poured out His anger
to the full satisfaction of justice on His Son, your substitute.
His affliction is but the hiding of His smiling face. It is not
because he's angry with you, but precisely otherwise, because
he's devoted to you. Galatians chapter 1, verse 15, when it pleased God, who separated
me from my mother's womb. I remember I spoke about that
first. And called me by His grace. What is it that at last conquered
my will? What is it that at last forced
you into the Savior's arms? What is it that at last compelled
you to believe on the Son of God? He called me by His grace. And the calling of God is the
sweet, irresistible force of His grace by which He causes
dead sinners to live and brings them to His Son in faith. Blessed
is the man whom thou choosest, that's God's election, and causest,
that's the call, to approach unto thee. Galatians chapter
2. I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless
I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. The life which
I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God,
watch this, who loved me. He loved me. And I know people have foolish
notions about God and his love and his mercy and his grace.
And they say, well, God loves everybody. Christ loves everybody. If he does, he's got a strange
way of showing it. Can't you imagine Noah? He builds that
ark and as the people all around him, neighbors and family and
friends are going down for the third time, they look up and
they see on the back of that ark a huge banner, smile, God
loves you, has a wonderful plan for your life. What a strange
way to show it. No, no, no, no. This talk about
God loving everybody is as much nonsense as it is blasphemy.
If God loves everybody, and some folks go to hell anyhow, His
love is meaningless. Meaningless. Oh, but He loved
me. What you do to deserve God's
love, that's the wonder of it. I fully deserve his wrath, but
he loved me and gave himself for me." One more thing, 2 Timothy
chapter 4, verse 17. The Lord stood with me. He stood with me in old eternity
as my covenant surety. And He stood with me through
the ages of time preserving and keeping me. And He stood with
me when he died in my stead at Calvary. And he stood with me
all the days of my rebellion. And he stood with me when he
called me by his grace. And he stood with me through
all these 42 years. And he stands with me now at
the right hand of the majesty on high. And he will stand with
me in the day of judgment and stand with me to eternity. Amen.