Okay. John chapter 3 verse 7. Marvel not that I said unto thee,
ye must be born again. Verse 14. As Moses lifted up
the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be
lifted up. Verse 30. He must increase. But I must decrease chapter four,
verse four, and he must needs go through Samaria. Here are
four things that must come to pass. Every chosen redeemed center
must be born again. The Lord Jesus Christ, God's
darling son, must be lifted up upon the curse tree to die in
the room instead of his people. The Lord Jesus must increase
and we must decrease. And there comes a time when the
son of God must needs go to the center. chosen and redeemed to
call him by his grace. Let's look at these four things
together. Four things that must come to pass. This little word
must is an imperative verb. It speaks of that which is necessary,
not just needful, but necessary. That which is binding, that which
must be done. When the Lord God says something
must be, it must be. Nothing causes God almighty to
change his mind, alter his purpose, or adjust his will. With that
in mind, let's look at this very, very familiar passage of scripture,
and I pray God the Holy Spirit will be our teacher. Here's the
first thing that must come to pass. Marvel not verse 7 that
I said unto thee ye must be born again Ye must be born again The
word ye whenever you see it in our King James translation This
is one of the beauties of the King James as opposed to the
many Modern translations that are out there The word ye is
not the same as the word you Whenever you read the word you
in the scripture, it is always plural. Whenever you read the
word ye in the scripture, it is always singular. The Lord
Jesus speaks to Nicodemus specifically, and he says to Nicodemus specifically,
Nicodemus, ye must be born again. I don't take that as a matter
of speculation or conjecture. Though Nicodemus was not here
at this time, born again, he was at God's appointed time born
again. You'll recall that our Lord Jesus,
as he hung upon the tree, there were two men who came begging
Pilate for the body of the Savior, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus,
who came to Jesus by night. And at great personal cost and
sacrifice, they took down the Savior's body and buried him
in a tomb that had never been used, the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. I take Nicodemus to be a representative
of all God's elect. The Lord Jesus says with regard
to every chosen sinner in this world, ye must be born again
and every one shall. Every one of them at God's appointed
time shall be born again. This is a matter of absolute
necessity because God almighty makes it a matter of necessity. It is a matter of certainty because
God has made it a matter of certainty. It is my prayer. It has been
my prayer as I've been preparing this message this week, that
this is a command God has given. Concerning you You must be born again back up
to verse 3 Jesus answered and said into Nicodemus this ruler
of the Jews who came to him by night and Came to him by night
with curiosity. Came to him by night with perhaps
some real conviction. But he came to him by night lest
he be exposed as one coming to be instructed of this despised
Nazarene. He came to Jesus by night and
said, we know you're a teacher come from God. Because no man
could do the things you do if God wasn't with him. What he
didn't understand, he wasn't a teacher come from God. The
Lord Jesus was God come to teach. And now he's about to teach Nicodemus. Jesus answered and said unto
him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of God. The word see is often used
in scripture synonymous with faith. It means to perceive or
to understand. Until a person is born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of God. The natural man understandeth
not the things of the spirit of God, their foolishness to
him. Neither can he know them because
they are spiritually discerned. I know we all like to argue and
debate and prove our points. We're, we're so carnal. Well, I, I think this is helpful. No, it's always sinful. It's
always carnal. Avoid debate, especially about
religion. It won't do any good. It won't
do any good. I don't care how smart you are,
how well you understand the scriptures. I have never known anyone converted
because somebody argued with him about the gospel. I've never
known it to happen. I've never known it to happen,
and you haven't either. It's never happened. What do you do? You tell them the truth and leave
it. Just declare the truth and leave
it. These things are not up for debate. They're not things that
we are here to juggle around and see how we can compromise
and get along. These things are not up for debate.
The natural man cannot understand anything spiritual. It's not
possible. I keep saying this because I
keep trying to convince myself and to convince you. Every thought
that you have of anything spiritual by nature is wrong. And every
thought your daddy ever had about it, and every thought your mama
ever had about it, and every thought your sons and daughters
have about it, and every thought your neighbors have about these
things is always wrong. The natural man has absolutely
no understanding of spiritual truth. You must be born again. Because David, until you're born
again, you can't see. And no point in getting too upset
with the fella. He's blind. And because a man's blind, he
can't see. So don't get mad at him because he can't see. He's
blind. He's blind. You just proclaim the truth.
Declare the truth and leave it at that. Read on. Nicodemus saith
unto him. Now this is a... Now remember
who we're reading about here. This is a brilliant, highly educated
master in Israel. This was not just a fellow who
taught at local Bible college in the upper room somewhere in
somebody's barn. This fellow was the head of the
Bible college in Jerusalem. This fellow, he was a master
in Israel. The most brilliant, learned,
academic, religious man in the world in his day. That's Nicodemus. Now what does a religious fellow
do when he's stuck in a hole? He acts like a fool. Always,
when he cannot reply to divine revelation in such a way as to
make the divine revelation seem to be untrue, he'll raise ridiculous
questions. Watch Nicodemus. Nicodemus saith
unto him, and I can almost picture him smugly. Kind of, I've got
you now. How can a man be born when he's
old? Can he crawl back into his mother's belly and be born? I read that just laughing. Can he enter the second time
into his mother's womb and be born? Well, isn't that brilliant? That's utter folly. No thought of that kind would
ever be raised anywhere except by a religious fool. But the
Lord Jesus answered. Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
except a man be born of water and of the spirit, except a man
be born a natural man and a spiritual man, except a man be born by
the natural process of birth, breaking the water of his mother's
womb and be born by the spirit of God. He cannot enter into
the kingdom of God. And how do you know that word
water there? is referring to the natural birth, next line.
That which is born of flesh is flesh. And that which is born
of the spirit is spirit. Here sits before me an assembly
of eternity bound men and women, many of whom had been born of
the flesh and of the spirit. And everything about you, Darwin,
that you came into this world with, you still got. It's just
flesh. It's just flesh. Every natural
appetite, every carnal lust, everything, everything natural. Everything about Adam's depraved,
fallen, corrupt, doomed, dead nature is you and me. But bless
God. We've been born of the spirit
and that that's born of the spirit is new. It is that holy thing
created in us, 1 John 3, that cannot sin because it's born
of God. It is that new man created in
righteousness and true holiness. It is Christ Jesus who dwells
in you, the hope of glory. Verse 6, that which is born of
flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again. How on earth does this happen?
The wind bloweth where it listeth. Thou hearest the sound thereof,
but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth. So is everyone that is born of
the spirit. The wind often used in the scripture. It's a representation of God,
the Holy Spirit, and His marvelous works of grace. Ezekiel prophesied
to the wind. Come, O wind of heaven, and blow
upon these dry bones that they may live. The wind blows where
it will, sovereignly, uncontrollably, really imperceivably. It blows where it will. You hear
the sound of it, but you don't know where it's coming from or
where it's going. We live in Tornado Alley. We're all familiar
with tornadoes. And we have, what do they call
it now, Doppler radar. And we have tornado warnings.
And I'll tell you how accurate the meteorologists are in predicting
where tornadoes are going to touch down. When I was a 13-year-old
boy, I went to New York City Won a free trip to the World's
Fair carrying papers. And I got on top of the Empire
State Building and leaned over the Empire State Building and
spit. I was a mean 13-year-old boy. And I could just as easily
have told you which square inch that dribble of spit was going
to fall on, as they can tell you where the tornado is going
to touch down. Listen to it. They tell you where it touches
down? When it touches down. Just that accurately. Why? Because
the wind is uncontrollable. The wind cannot be directed. The wind cannot be measured. The wind cannot be demanded. The wind blows where it listed. So is everyone that is born of
the Spirit. We often use language that is
totally contrary to scripture and totally contrary to what
we know to be the case. We talk about doing things to
make it more likely that somebody will be born again. We talk about
relationships. That's that grandson. Grandson
to a faithful mama and daddy. Grandson to Bob and Mary Lou.
That's surely going to, that's going to give him a foot up.
Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. Nobody, nobody has a corner
on God almighty. Nobody has a claim on the sovereign
God. Nobody has a claim on God's mercy. Nobody except they to whom God
almighty gives faith by the power of his spirit. The wind bloweth
where it listens. Well, brother Don, it appears
that you're saying if God's pleased to invade my life, invade my
heart, invade my soul, and save me by his grace, I'll be saved.
And if he's not, then nothing can be done. You dead sure heard
what I said. That's exactly right. Unless
God, the Holy Spirit comes and does for you what you cannot
and will not do for yourself, you will go to hell and that
right quick. Why must God let be born again?
Let me give you several reasons. First, we were born wrong the
first time. Turn over to Psalm 51. Psalm 51. We must be born again because
without the new birth, we can't see the kingdom of God. And we
can't enter into the kingdom of God. Now this is not talking
about something you see and enter into physically. It's talking
about that which you see spiritually and enter into by birth. We must
be born again because we were born wrong to begin with. Psalm
51 verse 5. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity
and in sin did my mother conceive me. They're not talking about
The act of conception, he's talking about the fact of it. He's saying
as soon as I was conceived in my mother's womb, I was sin. I got the nature of my daddy
Adam. Chapter 58 of the Psalms, Psalm 58 verse 3. The wicked are estranged from
the womb. They go astray as soon as they
are born. speaking lies. That's the nature
of man. That's the nature of man. We
all like to boast ourselves honest people. There'd never been an
honest son of Adam born in this world. And that includes you
and me. You can't train somebody to be
honest. They just act honest when it's convenient. And when
it's not, they're not. Don't expect your politicians
to be honest unless they're born again and have a new nature.
Don't expect a businessman to be honest unless he's born again
and has a new nature. Honesty will serve, then they're
honest. When honesty won't serve, they're
not honest. The wicked go astray as soon
as they're born speaking lies and it never changes. Every one
of God's elect must be born again because we were born wrong the
first time. Second because God who cannot lie promised it before
the world began listen to this Titus chapter 1 Paul said us
Paul a servant of Jesus of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ
According to the faith of God's elect and the acknowledging of
the truth, which is after godliness in hope of eternal life Which
God that cannot lie promised before the world began God promised eternal life to
those sinners chosen in Christ and represented in Christ and
accepted in Christ before the world was. He promised to give
them eternal life in Jesus Christ, the Lord. They must be born again
because they're chosen to it. We're bound to give thanks always
to God for you. Brethren, be loved of the Lord
because God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation. I know folks cuss the doctrine
of election all the time. Oh, we don't believe in election.
That's not so. That's not so. Everybody believes
in election. Most folks just believe that
they get to do the electing. They believe that the decision
is theirs. They believe the choice is theirs. But this book says
otherwise. This book declares that God from
the beginning chose you to salvation through sanctification of the
spirit and belief of the truth, and then called you by our gospel
to that salvation, to that faith, and to that sanctification. And
by divine predestination, he's arranged it. Turn to Romans chapter
8, Romans 8 chapter. Predestination. Oh, brother Don,
now that's deep stuff. That's not too deep. That's not
too deep. People can't understand that.
They can't unless they're born again. The folks born again can
and do. Predestination. What's that talking
about? That means to determine beforehand. It doesn't just mean
to plan. It doesn't just mean to mark
out. It doesn't just mean to hope. It doesn't just mean to
will. It means to determine beforehand. And God determined before all
things the salvation of His people and arranged all things to accomplish
it. Romans 8, 28. We know that all
things work together for good to them that love God, to them
who are, watch it now, thee called according to His purpose. And
then in verses 29 and 30, He tells us what His purpose is.
His purpose is their salvation. God sovereignly arranges all
the affairs of the world all the time, manipulates the thoughts
of man's heart, controls the actions of all men, righteous
and wicked, controls all things done by all creatures, even the
demons of hell, exactly according to his purpose of grace, to save
his people according to his own will. Every one of God's elect
must be born again without exception because the sin atoning blood
of Jesus Christ demands it. Everybody, you know, practically
outside these four walls, everybody you have any relationship with
outside these four walls, maybe a few exceptions. entertains
the foolish, blasphemous notion that Jesus Christ died for folks
who are going to hell. Now I'm telling you, that's blasphemy
of highest order. That's blasphemy of the highest
degree. I would just as soon hear a drunken
man cuss and take God's name in vain with every breath as
to hear a preacher talk about Christ dying for folks who go
to hell after all. That cannot be to suggest such
as to deny his Godhead. It is to deny his eternal purpose.
It is to deny his person, his character, and his work. Jesus
Christ with his own blood entered in once into the holy place.
What does the book say? Having obtained eternal redemption
for us. When Christ died at Calvary,
he obtained by his blood eternal deliverance for somebody. And
all those for whom he obtained it must be born again. Every
chosen blood-bought sinner in this world must be born again
because our God wills it. And he says, I will do all my
pleasure. Our God is in the heavens, unlike the gods of men. Unlike
the little pygmy good luck charms folks call God. Unlike the gods
of the religious world around us. Our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever He hath
pleased. And once more, all God's chosen
must be born again because this is why the Spirit of God was
sent into the world. Turn to John chapter 6. John
chapter 6. Our Lord Jesus is preaching the
gospel. He says in verse 37, all that the father giveth me
at present tense. Oh Lord God, will you give some
here to your son today? All that the father giveth me
in time shall come to me. And him that cometh to me, I
will in no wise cast out. Come on to Christ, he'll not
cast you out. He said, well, what if God didn't
give me to him? If you come, he gave. All that father giveth
me shall come. And him that cometh, I will in
no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven not
to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And
this is the father's will, which has sent me. That of all, get
it now, which He hath given me at one time in the past before
the world began in covenant grace, all which He hath given me, I
should lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last day.
And this is the will of Him that sent me, that everyone which
seeth the Son and believeth on Him may have everlasting life,
and I will raise Him up at the last day. What's the Lord saying? Everyone that the Father gives
Him now, He'll raise up at the last day. Everyone who comes
to Him now, He'll raise up at the last day. Everyone the Father
gave Him in eternity, He'll raise up at the last day. Everyone
who believes on Him right now, He'll raise up at the last day.
Verse 44, No man can come. You mean, surely he meant to
say no man will come. That's not what he meant to say.
He said that in chapter five, verse 40. Here, he says no man
can come. He doesn't have the ability to
come. How come? Because he's dead.
He's dead. Dead. D-E-A-D, graveyard, dead. Dead. What do you expect from
a dead man? Nothing. What do you get from
a dead man? Nothing. That's simple enough,
isn't it? No man can come to me except,
oh, thank God for the exception, the Father which has sent me,
draw him, draw him. When I was a boy, I was raised
in the city. But my grandparents on both sides lived in the country,
one in the mountains, one down in the flatlands of southeastern
North Carolina. And they had wells. And when
they would send me out to the well to draw water, do you know
what I did? I would go out there, and I'd
take my bucket and set it on the side of the well, and I'd
beg the water to come get in my bucket. I wasn't that foolish even as
a boy. I dropped the bucket down and drew the water up. That's
the word. No man can come to me except
the father which has sent me by effectual, omnipotent mercy
and irresistible grace. Draw him. Well, how do you know
that's what it means? The next line helps. And I will
raise him up at the last day. If the father draws, you will
come and he'll raise you up. It is written in the prophets
and they shall all be taught of God. Every man, therefore,
that hath heard and learned of the father cometh unto me. And
this is the work of God's spirit. Look at verse 63. It is the spirit
that quickeneth the flesh, profiteth nothing. All right. Back in our text, John 3, 14. Here is a must for Christ, our
covenant surety. As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted up.
Our Lord Jesus, the son of God came into this world as Jehovah's
righteous servant. with a commission from his father,
with a mission he was responsible to perform. Thou shall call his
name Jesus, the angel said, for he shall save his people from
their sins. The Son of Man came not to be
ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom
for many. The Lord Jesus stood forth in
all eternity as our covenant surety and assumed total responsibility
for the saving of our souls. And in time, he said, I laid
down my life. No man takes it from me. I have
power to lay it down. I have power to take it again.
This commandment have I received of my father. How? As our surety. When he pledged himself in the
covenant of grace to redeem and save his people, to assume our
nature, to take upon himself human flesh, to bear our sins
in his own body on the tree, to die under the wrath of God
in our stead. The father trusted the son, and
the son became responsible for our souls, and he never let up. Therefore, our Savior says, as
Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, Even so must
the son of man be lifted up. Our savior's death was no accident.
Look at verse 14 again. Even so must the son of man be
lifted up that for this purpose, whosoever believeth in him should
not perish, but have eternal life. Several years ago, a friend
of mine, brother Herbert Wilson, somebody said to him, well, you
folks don't believe in whosoever will. He said, oh no, we do. We do. We don't believe in whosoever
won't. Whosoever believeth on him shall
not perish, but have everlasting life. Verse 16, for God so loved
the world. Now that got you. God so loved the world. Let's
see. Caesar Augustus sent out a decree,
Luke chapter two. that all the world should be
taxed. Did you pay taxes then? Well,
that didn't include you, did it? The word world is often used
in scripture in a sense to speak of people everywhere. Our people
in the domain of this world, but never of all the people in
this world. When it speaks of the love of
God, the grace of God are the redemptive work of Christ. Our
Lord was saying to Nicodemus, Nicodemus, God doesn't love Jews
alone. Because you're a Jew, a Pharisee,
because you're the stock of Abraham, don't you imagine that somehow
you've got a corner on God. God has his people scattered
through all the world. It'd be kind of like saying to
a white racist or a black racist,
God loves black folks too. God loves white folks too. What
you say? God so loved the world that is
his elect scattered through all the earth that he gave his only
begotten son that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but
have everlasting life. Our Lord Jesus died at Calvary
according to the will and purpose of God for the giving of life
to his chosen people throughout the world. Luke 9 chapter 9,
our Lord told his disciples, the son of man must suffer many
things and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and
scribes and be slain and be raised the third day. Now, when you
read something that must be done by the son of God, You can't
help but ask, how can that be? What necessity, Larry Brown,
could be laid on God the Son to lay down His life? What necessity
can there be for Christ to die? He must die at Jerusalem as our
substitute because the Father purposed it. He's the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world, slain by the determinant counsel
and foreknowledge of God in time. He must be slain at Calvary in
order to fulfill his covenant engagements as our surety because
he pledged himself to do so. He must be slain at Calvary to
fulfill the scriptures. Psalm 22, Isaiah 53, portraying
him as the suffering servant of God, suffering the wrath of
God in our place. Our Lord Jesus comes as the antitype
of all the Old Testament sacrifices. Those sacrifices were lifted
up to God. And our Savior was lifted up
on the cursed tree to die in our stand. And it was absolutely
necessary. Now I want you to see this. Turn
to Romans chapter 3. It was absolutely necessary for
the Lord Jesus Christ to die as He did upon the cursed tree.
Lifted up from heaven, between heaven and earth. in order for
the holy Lord God to save us from our sins. Romans 3 verse
24. Ron, God didn't have to save
anybody. But having chosen to save you,
he could only do it in a way consistent with his character,
his law, and his justice. God will not compromise himself.
He will not compromise his word. He will not compromise his law.
Not even to save the people of his love. Romans 3 verse 24,
we're justified freely without a calls in us by the grace of
God. And this is how it's done through
the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Unlike the courts of this
earth, the court of heaven never acts without justice. Unlike
the courts of this earth, the court of heaven never bends the
scale. Unlike the courts of this earth,
God in heaven never acts except in strict righteousness, justice,
and truth. By mercy and truth, the wise
man said, iniquity is purged. We're justified freely by his
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Watch
it now. Whom God has set forth to be a propitiation. A propitiatory
sacrifice. The word is elsewhere translated
mercy seat. He sent him forth to be a mercy
seat. Remember in the old Testament,
he said, I'll meet you on the mercy seat between the cherubs.
That's what he's talking about. I'll meet you in my son. I'll
meet you at the place of atonement. I'll meet you where justice is
satisfied through shed blood, where the atonement is made.
He set him forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood to
declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are
passed through the forbearance of God. To declare, I say at
this time, his righteousness, that he might be just and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. If God would save us,
he could only do it in this way. And let me give you the reasons.
Righteousness must be maintained. Sin must be punished. Justice must be satisfied. Forgiveness
must be legitimate. Love must be blameless. Christ died at Calvary and he
must do so because that's the only way God could save our souls.
Third, verse 30. Here is the must for the bridegroom's
friend, God's servant. He must increase, but I must decrease. Christ is the bridegroom. He
that hath the bride is the bridegroom. God's servants, gospel preachers,
are the friends of the bridegroom. We stand before the bridegroom
and we listen for his voice. We rejoice to hear his voice
and our joy is fulfilled when God uses us to introduce the
bride to the bridegroom. Here in this passage, John's
disciples heard about the Lord Jesus baptizing. And they got
a little uneasy. They got a little uneasy. They
said, Master, did you know that one that you spoke of, he's over
yonder baptizing and everybody's following him? Why, if this keeps
up, we're going to lose all influence. If this keeps up, folks are going
to forget who you are. John said, that's what I want. I'm not in competition with him.
God's servants aren't in competition with one another and certainly
not with God's Son. Every true servant of God is
anxious to turn honor and attention away from himself to Christ.
This is the prayer, desire, and determination of every servant
of God. He must increase, but I must
decrease. Those words could be translated
accurately many ways. that could be translated just
as accurately. He must increase himself and
I must decrease myself. He must be increased and I must
be decreased. He must increase himself and
he must decrease me. Christ is from heaven and he's
heavenly. We're just men of the earth and
earthly. will soon fade away. He's eternal. Christ is himself the revelation
of God. We're just his messengers. Christ
has the spirit without measure. Every servant of God has the
spirit with certain distinct measure. To believe me is meaningless. To believe him is to set this
seal to your heart that God is true. Christ must increase because
the father's put all things in his hands and he must increase
because he alone is our savior. He that believeth on the son,
verse 36, not he that believeth on the preacher, he that believeth
on the son, not he who places great confidence in this preacher.
He that believeth on the Son, not he who hangs his faith on
the words of a preacher, even John the Baptist, he that believeth
on the Son hath everlasting life. Oh, has God given you faith in
his darling Son? Do you find yourself now believing
on the Son of God? Your faith is the evidence of
His call, of His choice, and of His redemption. Your faith
is the gift of God. It is not, he that believeth
on the Son shall have everlasting life. No, no, no. He that believeth
on the Son has already got everlasting life. He must increase, but I
must decrease. The more I decrease, the more
I delight to stand before Him and hear His voice. The more
I stand before Him and hear His voice, the more He will increase
before me and I will decrease before Him. Oh, let Christ increase
and me decrease. I keep praying, God give me grace
to be occupied with just one thing and let it be Your Son. We can't really think about more
than one thing at a time. I recall watching a movie with
Jimmy Stewart years ago. A man had been wrongfully convicted
of a crime, and he was repeatedly locked up in solitary confinement.
While he was in solitary confinement, he kept working over in his mind
the making of a repeating rifle. And when he got out of confinement,
he had it fixed right here. and went to work, made the repeating
rifle. And they asked, how could you
do that? He said, well, I could either think about my pain or
think about this. Because you can't think about
two things at one time. God take my heart away from this
world, away from the politics and the approval and the entertainment
and the care of this world. And let me be occupied only with
your son. The more we're occupied with
him, the less we'll be occupied with ourselves. People have the
idea that humility is something we cultivate. It's not. Humility is something that comes
from beholding the Lord Jesus. The more I try to be humble,
the prouder I get. But the more I stand in his presence
and hear his voice, the more I behold him, the more I'm occupied
with him, the lower I fall before him. Now look at verse four,
chapter four. And he must needs go through
Samaria. He must needs go through Samaria. The reason why the Lord Jesus
must go through Samaria was because of the divine needs be from old
eternity. There was a woman there and others
there as well for whom the time of love had now come and the
Lord Jesus must go and call the center. whom he's chosen, whom
he would redeem. We will never really appreciate
the gospel until we go back to the basic truth of divine predestination,
which puts God first, which makes his choice to be before our choice
and the cause of our choice. which in due time brings his
grace to bear with irresistible power upon the chosen sinner.
All the great movements of the universe are regulated by God's
will. And at the appointed time, he
must come to call the chosen sinner. Children of God ever
look for the source and calls of that grace that brought you
salvation, not in time, but in eternity. Father, it was thy
love that knew us earth's foundation long before that same love that
Jesus drew us by its sweet, constraining power and will keep us safely
now and ever. May he be pleased now to come
here amongst fallen Samaritans and exercise the wonder of his
grace for your eternal immortal soul. What do we say to all this? Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto thy name give glory. for thy mercy and for thy truth's
sake. Amen.