Psalm 21. Psalm 21. I want to preach to you, if God
will enable me, about prevenient grace. The word prevenient is
not one that is commonly used in our day. And certainly prevenient
grace is not often mentioned, preached about or written about.
But in days gone by, it was a common theme of preaching, of writing,
and of discussion among God's people. The word prevenient means
preceding or coming before. In fact, our English word prevent,
words kind of change meaning by usage. The word prevent, as
you read it in the scriptures, in the Old Testament and in the
New, That word really means to go before. It means to precede. And when we speak of God's prevenient
grace, I'm talking about that grace that precedes our experience
of grace. That grace that precedes God's
saving grace and prepares the way for God's saving grace and
brings us at last to experience God's saving grace. Paul said,
when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and
called me by his grace to reveal his son in me. And in that one
statement in Galatians 1.15, he speaks of God's prevenient
grace. God separated me from my mother's
womb. And he speaks of God's effectual
call, his irresistible grace and called me by his grace, revealing
his son in me. All right. Psalm 21. Now the
scriptures give us much instruction about this matter of prevenient
grace and numerous illustrations of it. We'll begin here in Psalm
21. And let me just give you a little
background. Psalm 20 is a prayer. It is a prayer for the success
of God's promised Redeemer, a prayer for the success of our Lord Jesus
Christ, whom the Lord God had prophesied and promised in the
Old Testament who would come and redeem his people. Psalm
21 is a joyful song of praise. about the accomplishments of
our Savior, a song of praise about his success, assuring us,
assuring God's saints of old that when he came, he would successfully
accomplish his mission and redeem his people and assuring us that
he has succeeded in his work. Psalm 22 reveals to us our Lord's
sufferings, his agony of Barre, of mind, of heart and soul, as
he hung upon the cursed tree, bearing our sins, forsaken of
the father, lifted up as a reproach, both from heaven and from the
earth, looked upon as a reproach of men. And this 22nd Psalm,
if I read it correctly, and I believe I do, allows us to hear The silent
cries of our Redeemer as he spoke to the father when he was forsaken,
bearing our sins. Psalm 23 declares for us the
blessed security of our souls because we are under the care
of our good shepherd who loved us and gave himself for us. The
good shepherd who laid down his life for the sheep. Psalm 24
then declares our Lord's ascension. Psalm 23 speaks of our Lord Jesus
caring for us as a shepherd. Psalm 23 speaks of his ascension,
declaring his power to do so. He who has never lifted up his
soul to vanity. He who has clean hands and a
pure heart, raised from the dead, having put away our sin by the
sacrifice of himself, entered into glory as the King of glory,
and now rules over all flesh to give eternal life to as many
as the Father has given him. Now back to verse 1 of chapter
21. Psalm 21.1. The King, the Lord Jesus Christ,
shall joy in thy strength, O Lord, and in thy salvation, how greatly
shall he rejoice. What a word. It's a prophecy
of our Savior's joy as the result of the salvation he would accomplish
for us. When God the Son assumed our
nature, as agreed upon in the covenant of grace, having accomplished
redemption by the sacrifice of himself, the Lord Jesus Christ,
our Savior, entered into glory again, wearing our nature, but
more than wearing our nature, he who is God in our nature entered
into glory, and how greatly did he rejoice. Verse two. Thou has
given him his heart's desire. Thou has given him his heart's
desire. What on earth is that? His heart's
desire. Oh, I come to do thy will. Oh, my God. His heart's desire now is my
soul. exceeding sorrowful, even unto
death. Nevertheless, father, glorify
thy name. And the father has glorified
his name in the accomplishments of his son. His heart's desire,
father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me Be with
me where I am. Thou has given him his heart's
desire and has not withholding the request of his lips. Sela. When we read that as David read
it in Psalm 81 a little bit ago, that word Sela, we commonly don't
read the word because really the word is a punctuation mark,
but it is a very important punctuation mark. It doesn't mean just full
stop as a period does. It doesn't just indicate what
an exclamation mark would. This word Selah means pause now. Reflect on what you just read.
Let these things sink into your heart. Roll these things over
in your soul and in your mind. These are things which we ought
to pause frequently over in thoughtful adoration, linger a while, meditate
on these things. Eternity will be too short to
consider them. Verse three, for thou preventest
him with the blessings of goodness. Thou set us the crown of pure
gold on his head. Let me come back to that in a
minute. Verse four, He asked life of thee, and thou gavest
it him, even length of days for ever and ever. Father, the hour
has come, glorify thy son, that thy son also may glorify thee. Thou hast given him power over
all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou
hast given him. This refers to our Lord's resurrection,
his exaltation, his ascension, and his dominion, that which
he earned by his obedience and ask the father to give him and
that which the father has bestowed upon him. Verse five, his glory
is great in thy salvation, honor, and majesty has now laid upon
him his glory. is great in thy salvation. God Almighty, Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit, the triune Jehovah, hath put all things in Christ,
the God-man, our mediator. The Father loveth the Son, and
hath given all things into his hand. And we worship Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit. But we see the glory of God as
it is set before us in Jesus Christ, the incarnate God, whose
glory is great in God's salvation, in the accomplishment of this
salvation God gives to his people. All the fullness of the Godhead
is in him. All the fullness of salvation
and grace, eternal life is in Him. All the fullness of the
glory of the infinite God is in Him. We beheld His glory,
the glory as the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. How I love to meditate upon,
read about, study, and preach about the glory of our Redeemer. And I haven't yet begun to scratch
the surface. Oh, how great is thy glory. And his glory, this great glory
that is his, is intimately connected with the saving of my worthless
soul. So intimately connected. is His glory as the God-man mediator,
as the God-man our Savior, that the Spirit of God by the Apostle
Paul declares that He is made complete by His people. We're called the fullness of
Him that filleth all in all. His glory is great in thy salvation. Honor and majesty hast thou laid
upon him. Now watch this, verse six. For
thou hast made him most blessed forever. Thou hast made him exceeding
glad with thy countenance, yonder seated on the throne with his
father. God in our nature sets with exceeding He sits upon the throne and rules
all things from his lofty throne with exceeding gladness as our
mediator and our covenant surety because of the joy that was set
before him for which he endured the cross, despising the shame.
And that gladness is not only his father's approval and delight
of all that he's done, but the salvation of his people accomplished
by him. He's not sitting in heaven, hoping
things will turn out right. No, no. He sits upon the throne
with exceeding gladness, confident that things will turn out right,
for he will turn them out exactly as he has intended. Now go back
to verse three. Here's a text. For thou preventest,
thou goest before him with the blessings of goodness, thou settest
a crown of pure gold on his head. Again, that word prevent means
to precede or go before. So this is what the psalmist
is declaring. The Lord God bestowed all the
bountiful blessings of goodness, all the bountiful blessings of
grace upon us in Christ, even before Christ came into this
world. Of course, we are all familiar
with Ephesians 1, where the apostle declares that we were blessed
in covenant grace before the world began in Jesus Christ,
our Redeemer. Still, there's more. God's goodness
toward his elect goes out to us even before Christ comes to
us in the works of His mighty grace. His goodness went out
by the order of His eternal decree with that word, let there be
light. And there was light and His goodness
had been pursuing us since the beginning. So that the psalmist
says, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me. Goodness and
mercy shall pursue me. Goodness and mercy shall chase
me. Goodness and mercy shall nip
at my heels all the days of my life. until at last goodness
and mercy has chased me into his house there to dwell forever. The psalmist is here talking
about God's prevenient grace. Now let me give you three descriptions
of prevenient grace, and we'll look in the scriptures and see
them. Here's the first one. Turn to Jude, verse one. Prevenient grace is preserving
grace. Jude 1, Jude the servant of Jesus
Christ and brother of James to them that are sanctified, set
apart by God from eternity. Sanctified in election, made
holy by God from eternity, declared to be holy and made holy by virtue
of their union with Christ, the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. Sanctified by God the Father, now watch this, and
preserved in Jesus Christ and called. And the order is exactly
as God the Holy Spirit intends us to read it. We were sanctified
by God the Father in eternity and preserved in Jesus Christ. Preserved through the Adam fall. Preserved through all the ages
of time in the seed of Adam. preserved by God's hand, and
preserved all the days of our lives. Preserved, preserved,
preserved, and then called. Separated from my mother's womb
by God's special care, and then called. Here the Spirit of God
tells us that all who became gods in eternity, being sanctified
by his eternal choice, were preserved in Jesus Christ. The word means
watched over, guarded, kept from loss or injury. It's a passive
verb. So the sweet message of God to
our hearts in these words is this, because God set us apart
to himself and for himself in Christ in eternal election. We have been, we are, and we
shall be kept and preserved from any harm coming to us. Preserved
from any evil that might befall others through anything that
comes to pass in time. We are the objects of the constant
tender watchful care of the eternal God. Our Lord said, what are you afraid
of? What are you afraid of? The very
hairs of your head are all numbered. Quite literally, you can read
it for yourself in Matthew 10 30. the Lord Jesus is saying
to you and me your heavenly father at one time before the world
began counted up and determined the number of the hairs on your
head that's called intimate care that's called minute care. You loving mothers have that
newborn baby and you count the fingers and toes with joy and
you count them and kiss them as you count them. When our heavenly father gave
us birth in his son before the world began, he counted and kissed
the hairs of our heads with joy. Sparrows, two of them sell for
a penny. That's nothing. God feeds the sparrows. Not one
of them falls to the ground without your father. But he who feeds
the sparrows numbered the hairs of your head with minute care. Now this is what that means.
Before ever I came into this world, my heavenly father numbered
the hairs on my head at any time and determined the hairs on my
head in every day of my existence. They used to give me some concern
as it began to fall out. I was fairly young when it started
getting thin. Ought never to give me anything
but delight. Every time I clean the hairbrush
out, that's more. That's what my father numbered
for me today. That's called minute, tender,
loving care. Can you get ahold of that? Prevenient
grace is preserving grace. Though we are all by nature children
of wrath even as others. Though we lived all the days
of our lives in rebellion to God with our fists shoved in
his face would have killed him if we could. Though we flirted
with hell and toyed with death in our rebellion. Though we did
everything imaginable to ruin and destroy both body and soul.
The Lord God Almighty watched over us as a tender, caring father,
and would allow nothing to harm us. Listen to this. Are not angels,
Hebrews 1.14, ministering spirits sent forth to minister to those
who shall be the heirs of eternal life? I don't have any idea what all
is involved in the ministry of angels for God's people. The
papers were little images of angels. My granddaughter, I've
told you, when she was just talking, barely talking, three or four
years old, more than talking. I stopped in Asheville one time
at Biltmore Dairy Bar. A lady came in and was talking
to Audra Grace. She was standing there waiting
to get ice cream. Audra Grace saw the same owner. dangling
from a necklace. She said, what's that? And they
said, it's a necklace. She said, no, that. And pointed
right to it. She said, what's, that's my guardian
angel. Audra Grace looked at it and
said, what for? She said, well, it keeps me safe. I'm traveling. And she said, how? It's got no
eyes. No, we're not superstitious pagans. But do you believe God's angels
watch over his own? All of them. Created and sent
forth by God to continually minister to those who shall be. Don't know what they're doing
for me now, but those who shall be the heirs of eternal life. That's the reason he created
them. To watch over us, Darwin, when we didn't have enough sense
to watch over anything. When we lived in rebellion to Him,
protecting us from those things by which we would have destroyed
ourselves. Preserved in Jesus Christ. The words might be translated
this way. Kept for Jesus Christ. Kept for the Savior. Preserved from every form, every
degree, and every method of preservation. That's implied. Preserved in
every state, in every condition, and in every circumstance. Preserved
amidst every danger, every foe, and in the face of every weapon
formed against us. Preserved in Jesus Christ. Turn to Isaiah 65, let me show
you a picture. In our cells, we are worthless,
dead, dried vines. About the ugliest thing in the
field is a worthless, dead, dried vine. Even briars have got something
on them, something green, occasionally bloom here and there. but a worthless,
dead, dried vine. That's what we are. They're fit
for nothing except to be cut down and cast into the fire. That's what we are in ourselves
and that's what we are by nature. That's what Don Fortner is and
that's what Joe Blakely is. But God saw something else in
us because he put something else in us. He saw us a blessing,
a blessing, the blessing of the earth. Isaiah 65 verse 8. Thus saith the Lord, as the new
wine is found in the cluster and one saith, destroy it not
for a blessing is in it. So will I do for my servant's
sake that I may not destroy them all. All are his servants. Both the righteous and the wicked,
both the elect and the reprobate, all serve him. The Lord made
all things for himself, yea, even the wicked for the day of
judgment. He will destroy the reprobate, but he won't destroy
those who are his chosen. I hope you see the picture. When
a gardener goes out to cut down the dried up vine or prune away
some fruitless branches, The owner of the vineyard passes
by and notices just a small cluster of grapes budding out just in
one spot. And he said, don't destroy that
vine. A blessing's in it. It looked worthless. It appeared
to be needlessly occupying space, ugly and dried up. The gardener
would have cut it down and thought he was doing good in doing so. But the Lord God has another
purpose. That's me. A blessing is in it. A blessing
is in it. That's God's elect. They are
the people for whom God preserves the earth. For whom God rules
the earth. For whom God directs the affairs
of the earth. For whom God governs and does
all things. They are the people whom God
has determined to save. For whom Adam was created in
the first place. For whom the earth was created
in the first place. And the earth will not be destroyed
until the last of these who are the blessing of God in the earth. are called by his grace out of
the earth. And when the last one's called,
he's going to burn it up. Somebody recently was discussing
with me all the hoopla about the climate's changing and the
earth getting warmer. Y'all please don't pay any attention
to that nonsense. Please don't pay any attention
to that nonsense. God's going to burn this earth up. He's going
to burn it up. And frankly, I don't really care
how he does it. Do you? He's going to burn it
up. And I'll tell you exactly when
he's going to do it. When the last of his righteous lots had
been called out of Sodom and are tucked away safely in glory.
When the last of his elect had been brought to him in saving
faith, he will destroy this earth and make all things new. Until
then, he preserves it for the sake of his own. I find special,
special meaning in those words, a blessing is in it. I don't know much about my family
history. I wish I didn't know what I know. But as far back as I can find,
anywhere in the history of my family, on both sides of my family,
with the exception maybe of my older sister, there ain't never
been anything by the name of Fortner or Harrelson, either
one, worth shooting. Nothing. Never accomplished a
thing. Never did a single selfless thing. Never did anything for anybody,
but God preserved the stop from which this fella came for one
reason. You look at it. Maybe for some more down the
road, but God preserved the world to preserve you. Can you get
on that, Bobby? He preserved the world to preserve
you. There's something else about
God's prevenient grace. It's special, providential grace. The secret operation of grace governing providence is prevenient
grace. The Lord God declares concerning
his own, all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are the called according to his purpose. That means that
God puts his own where he will in this world, births them into
the families to which he would birth them, and raises them in
the place where he would raise them, in the circumstances in
which he would raise them. I was preparing this message
the last several days, and several of you have gone through my mind
as well as myself. All our varied circumstances.
That's Rex from Detroit and me from Streets of Winston-Salem,
you from this place and that, my little ladies up in Dayton,
in what different circumstances. Lindsay raised in a home of believers,
Rex raised in a very strict Baptist background. They kind of jerked up by the
hair of their head. Some born with great brilliance,
some with terribly limited capacities. How come? How come? Some go through
life and never seem to have any real difficulties. Some looks
like they'll never survive to adulthood. How come? Because
this is what's necessary for the saving of our souls and our
usefulness in God's kingdom in the place where he put us. Well, brother Don, if that's
the case, looks like we ought to have no regrets. No, I wouldn't say that. I wouldn't
say that. I can't tell you how I regret
so much that I have done. but completely content with God's
will and God's purpose. You understand that? I wouldn't
change a thing, not a breath, not a tear, not a joy. I wouldn't change a thing. This
is the way God from eternity ordered my steps. Turn to Isaiah, Isaiah 43. Let me show you something. But now thus saith the Lord that
created thee, O Jacob, he that formed thee, O Israel, fear not. He says that so often, I think
he means for us not be afraid. Fear not, fear not. How come? Number one reason, I've redeemed
you. Number two, I've called thee
by thy name. Number three, thou art mine. Here's the fourth, when thou
passest through the waters, I will be with thee. And through the
rivers, they shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through
the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee. How come? For I am the Lord thy God, the
Holy One of Israel, thy Savior. Don't be afraid. How come? I
gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Saba for thee. I sacrificed people and nations
for you. Imagine that. Sacrificed nations to save you. Nations. Read them. Since thou
was precious in my sight, thou has been honorable. Precious,
therefore honorable. And I have loved thee. Therefore,
what I have done, I will yet do. I'll give me in for thee,
and people for thy life. Anything stands in your way,
I'll take it out of the way. Anybody stands in opposition
to you, I'll remove. Fear not, for I'm with thee. Now watch this. I will bring
thy seed from the east and gather thee from the west. That is,
I'm going to save all of my elect wherever they are. Now watch
verse six. This is God's command. It is
God's command to all creation, to all creatures, to all providence. I will say to the north, give
up and to the south, keep not back. Bring my sons from far. and my daughters from the ends
of the earth. And so he shall. There's something else about
God's grace. His prevenient grace. It is preserving grace and providential
grace and it is preparatory grace. Turn to Matthew 13. Matthew 13. Say two or three things and I'll
quit. Verse 3. And he spake many things unto
them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow. And
when he had sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside, and the
fowls came and devoured them up. Some fell upon stony places
where they had not much earth, and forthwith they sprung up
because they had no deepness of the earth. And when the sun
was up, they were scorched, and because they had no root, they
withered away. And some fell among thorns, and
the thorns sprung up and choked them. But others fell into good ground
and brought forth fruit. Some 100 fold, some 60 fold,
some 30 fold. Who has ears to hear, let him
hear. No man's heart is good ground
by nature. No man's heart will ever receive
the word sown by nature. But God, in his marvelous grace,
by his spirit, by his word, and by his providence, prepares the
heart of the chosen sinner, purchased with the precious blood of his
darling son, so that precisely at the appointed time when he
should be called or she should be called, The ground receives
the word and it brings forth fruit. Sweet, indescribably sweet is
that work of God's providence and grace that prepares the way
for his grace and brings his grace. Whatever that work is. Just ask anyone who's experienced
it. Onesimus, don't you wish you'd never known
what it was to be in that prison down there? Oh, no, no. I'm so sorry for what I did to
put me there, but I'm so glad I was there right then. When God sent his servant, Paul,
to preach the gospel to me at that time. Several years ago,
Shelby and I were out in California, one of our first visits out there. A couple had been listening to
me on the radio for some time. He's still in prison, will be
the rest of his life. The man was somewhere around
35, 36 years old at the time. Been in prison since he was 16,
off and on. The woman is married to a man
smuggling dope into the prison. Both of them got to listening
to the gospel on radio. God saved them. We stopped by
to visit them one day at Folsom Prison. Sometime later, this
is what his wife said to me. She said, I thank God for Folsom
Prison. I thank God for Folsom Prison.
That's where he revealed himself to me. Martimeus, don't you wish you'd
never been born blind? Oh, no, no, no, no. Had I not been born blind, I
would have been sitting there begging when I heard that Jesus
of Nazareth, the son of David, was passing by. And I'd been
blind forever. Ask that woman with the issue
of blood. Don't you wish you had never experienced that? Those
12 long years of pain and sickness and sorrow? Oh no, no. I wouldn't take anything for
that. Had I not been stooped for 12 years and spent everything
I had for nothing, I'd never have come to Him who healed my
soul by His grace. thou preventest him with thy
goodness, and crownest him with the crown
of pure gold. Yes, truly, God moves in a mysterious
way his wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps in the
sea. and rides upon the storm, deep,
deep, deep, in unfathomable minds of never failing skill. He treasures up his bright designs
and works his sovereign will. He fearful sets, fresh courage
takes, 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. 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, sweet, sweet will be the flower. Amen.