Good evening, and look at my
watch. I'm thankful to be here, and I echo what Brother Fortner
has said about all of the labor that has been expended toward
preparing for this conference. I know a little bit about that,
and we have gracious folks at our church that labor hard. Good
to see Lee and Shirley Reeves with us. They drove all the way
down from Rescue to be with our conference here, the meetings.
I'm just going to say a couple of words and you can bow your
head and get embarrassed, whatever you want to, but I'm very thankful
for those two. They are special people in God's kingdom who have
contributed a lot to our work at Rescue. They're at our church
with very few exceptions and usually it has to do with health
issues or work related or up visiting Pastor Norm Wells at
his camp meeting. with very few exceptions. They
are with us every time the door opens and both labor very graciously
in God's kingdom. I know every pastor appreciates
those who are faithful as they serve God with us. So it is good
to see both of you here. They love the gospel and they
are going to go where the gospel is preached. I appreciate your
pastor talking with him. After the fishing trip yesterday,
I said, is Brother Todd coming in tomorrow? He said, no, he's
coming in tonight. I said, oh, you get to go back
to the airport again. He said, you know a little bit about that,
don't you? But anyway, very thankful for you and what you've contributed
also, Bob, to this conference. It's good to be here. We bring
love and greetings from the folks at rescue, even folks that some
of you have never met who are newcomers, said to be sure, and
greet the brethren in the Acomba area. Becky sends her love and
greetings. Our daughter Becky, she lives
in Phoenix, Arizona now. Lord willing, we're going to
go visit with her after the meetings this weekend. She wanted to be
here, but it was a choice either being here for this conference
or being with us in July for our conference, and you know
what her daddy advised her to do. She couldn't get time off
work for both. But like our other daughter,
Judene, who now lives in Tennessee, she had some stuff stored in
our storage building at the church and our car. Don't even look
in there. I don't know how we got all that
in the car, but we're taking some of her stuff there. She
sends her love and her greetings, so I wanted to share that with
you. Would you please turn to Genesis chapter 2? Good to see
each one of you. I'm so thankful. Good to see
you. What a darling that lady is taking
care of me and Judy, even before we came down. So we are very
thankful for her. We've heard an excellent message
already, and I just believe what the Lord has laid on my heart
will be a follow-up to what our brother Don Fortner has already
preached. We know that all scripture is given by inspiration of God,
and it's all profitable. for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of
God might be mature, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
But all the scripture points to the Lord Jesus Christ, irregardless
of what some people might think and what you shared is typical
of what a lot of people think. All scripture points to Christ.
Our Lord said, Search the scriptures, for in them you think you have
eternal life, and there they would speak of me. And he told
two of his disciples on the road to Emmaus that the beginning
of Moses and all the prophets, our Lord Jesus, expounded in
all the scriptures the things concerning himself. And Moses
wrote the first five books of the Old Testament. Genesis 1-1
says, In the beginning God created. Jesus Christ is our great creator. He has created everything. Just to look at creation through
the eyes of a natural man is nothing. There's beauty there,
but it means nothing. But when God enlightens our mind
and we see that our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, has spoke
all of this into existence, that's overwhelming. And the Word of
God starts with this very truth. In the beginning, God created.
Jesus Christ is not only our Creator. He's our Alpha and Omega,
the beginning and the ending. He's our federal head, our divine
representative. He's our Savior. He's our Redeemer. He's our perfect surety. We just
heard that just a few moments ago. And every enlightened child
of God, every enlightened child of God delights in Jesus Christ,
our Lord and our Savior. We delight in Him. We want to
hear about Him. That's why Lee and Shirley drove
all the way down. They knew what they were going
to be hearing when they came down here. We want to hear about
Jesus Christ, who He is. He's the God-man. Perfect God
and perfect man in one being. Can you get a hold of that? We want to hear about Him, who
He is, what He has done. By Himself, He purged our sins. We want to hear who He did it
for. His sheep. He laid down his life for his
sheep. No one took his life from him.
He laid it down. He had the power to lay it down.
He had the power to take it up again. And when he laid down
his life for his sheep, he satisfied the law's last demand. I appreciate
what you said, brother. Jesus Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness to everyone that believes. He is our righteousness. He satisfied the holy justice
of God perfectly. So we want to hear about Him,
who He is, what He has done, who He did it for, where He is
now. He's in glory ruling over everything
in this whole universe. And what He's doing right there
in heaven right now besides ruling over everything in the universe,
whatever He wants to really, but He's giving life to His elect
people. He has the power. He has authority
over all flesh to give eternal life to as many as God the Father
gave him. So he's right there right now.
We want to hear about this. He's our mediator. He's our intercessor. He's the great judge, but he's
also our advocate. And our Lord Jesus Christ is
pleading for each one of his people right now, and we want
to hear about his inevitable return. He's coming back one
day. And when he does, he's going to show who is the blessed and
only potentate, King of kings and Lord of lords. And what a
day to look forward to. I want to talk a little bit about
Adam's beginning, and then I want to share some things in respect
to our beginning as well. I don't know what that is, but
I'll put it back up here. But in Genesis 2, verse 7, we
read this. And the Lord God formed man of
the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath
of life, and man became a living soul. Now, if all things were
made by our Lord Jesus Christ, and they most certainly were,
it was God the Son who formed Adam out of the clay of the ground. And if Adam was one of God's
elect, and I believe he was, I know this is controversial,
but I believe We'll see Adam when we get to glory. And if
he's one of God's elect, it was God the Father who chose him
in Christ before the foundation of the world. And if it's the
Spirit of God that quickens, the flesh profiteth nothing,
when God breathed into Adam's nostrils the breath of life and
he became a living soul, it was God the Holy Spirit that gave
him life. So right here in this seventh
verse of Genesis chapter 2, We see the great three-in-one at
work, God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit brought right
before us in Adam's beginning. Now, Adam's beginning was no
accident, no little speck of life floating around in some
water that evolved into something that eventually evolved into
human life. That's so absurd. God created
Adam. Jesus Christ is Adam's creator. He had his beginning with God. God is the first cause of all
things. Amen? I know he is. We know this. Now, humanly speaking, Adam was
our federal head and he was our representative. Every one of
us had our beginning right here in Adam. Every one of us. We're in the loins of Adam, the
seat of genitive power. Every one of us are the offspring
of Adam. So Adam's beginning is really
our beginning, or actually we can go all the way back before
anything was created and our beginning was in the mind of
God who purposed all things, and so it goes even further than
that. But humanly speaking, here is
our beginning in Adam. We were purposed by God the Father
before this world was ever created, but God brought us into existence
at our own appointed time when he formed us in our mother's
womb. Now, we can learn some important truths from Adam's
beginning. He was formed from the dust of the ground. God did
breathe into his nostrils the breath of life, and he became
a living soul. But God didn't take a bunch of dirt and just
throw it together and say, Okay, Adam, the rest is up to you. He formed Adam, and when he formed
Adam, he created the perfect specimen of human life. Just
consider this. God created Adam with facial
features, eyes, nose, a mouth, ears, a brain inside that head,
a torso with arms and legs and feet, and inside all of the internal
organs that are needed to function this human body that we might
be able to exist. miles of arteries to carry the
blood to every part of the body. Life is in the blood. And nerves. Can you imagine going through
life without nerves? All of these things were created
by our wonderful God. David said we are fearfully and
wonderfully made, and that is just a very limited a list of
the things that we could talk about in respect to Adam's beginning,
what he had. But here he is, right there before
his Maker, with all of this, all of the features of a perfect
human being, and until God breathes into his nostrils the breath
of life, Adam cannot do one single thing. Not one thought entered
into his mind until God gave him life. His eyes did not open
until God gave him life. And for the first time, for the
first time, God's handiwork was seen by a finite human being
when Adam opened his eyes. He saw the things that God had
prepared for him. He never heard one sound until
God gave him life. He never breathed one breath
of life until God gave him life. He never uttered one word until
God gave him life. He couldn't even wiggle his fingers.
Every step he took, from the first to the last, was after
God gave him life. And then, God placed Adam in
the Garden of Eden to rest and to keep it. And he did so, he
obeyed his maker. But he did that, that step of
obedience was after God gave him life. Now let me take you
over to Romans chapter 9. There are some things that Adam
did not have when God created him. He did not have a sinful
nature. By that I mean he had not sinned.
He had no evil thought that had gone through his mind, not yet.
So, he had no thoughts about himself contributing anything
to what God had done. What he saw was a result of his
Creator. What he experienced, what he
thought, gave God all the glory. He had no Arminian preacher telling
him that he had life because he made a decision for Jesus.
He had no parents, no grandparents telling him he's going to heaven
because he's a good little boy. Everything that he had about
himself, he contributed to God and gave God the glory. Now,
consider this. Adam himself, with the responsibilities
that God gave him, he lost that relationship with God when he
sinned in the garden, when he ate that forbidden fruit, and
he knew what he was doing. But as our federal head, he represented
every one of us. And when he sinned, we sinned
in him. When he fell, we fell in him. And we come into this world with
Adam's fallen nature, dead in trespasses and sins. As spiritually
dead, as Adam was physically until God gave him life. We are spirits and dead until
God gives us eternal life. Just as dead. Now, all of us are play in the divine
potter's hands. Adam was formed by Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ also formed us. Adam's will or his actions had
nothing to do with his existence. Our will and our actions have
nothing to do with our existence physically or spiritually. Here in Romans chapter 9, starting
at verse 15, follow along with me. You're very familiar with
these scriptures. But just to illustrate the truth that we're
talking about as far as clay in the potter's hands and our
existence being a result of God's mercy and his grace and his life-giving
power, Verse 15 says, For he, God, said to Moses, I will have
mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on
whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.
For this scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose
have I raised thee up that I might show my power in thee, and that
my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath
he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth."
Now, I don't know how anyone can read that and not understand
what that is saying. The truth of God is not obscure. It's pretty plain in the scripture.
People just don't want to believe it. It's not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. God
has the right and He exercises the right to have mercy on whosoever
He will. But He will never have mercy
on a sinner at the expense of His holy justice. Would you hear
me? Never. God never has mercy on
anyone at the expense of His holy justice. He has mercy on
us because of Christ. It's for Christ's sake God has
forgiven us. Because Jesus Christ met all
the conditions of the covenant, God has mercy on whom he will
have mercy. He comes to us, enlightens us,
gives us an understanding of who Jesus Christ is, what he
has done for us, and lets us know it's according to his own
purpose and his grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before
the world began. We didn't know this. We didn't
have any understanding of this until God quickened us. gave
us life. Just like Adam, he had no understanding
until God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and he became
a living soul. So it is with us, we have no
spiritual understanding until God gives us life. And it's through
the knowledge, we just read that in 2 Peter, through the knowledge
of Jesus Christ who loved us and gave himself for us. So it's
knowledge of him. And when God quickens us, when
he gives us life, when he opens our understanding, the first
ray of spiritual light comes into our mind, just like the
first ray of light that entered into Adam's mind when God gave
him life. The first thing God does is convict
us of our need of Christ, to show us that we are sinners in
need of mercy. No one will cry out for mercy
until they see that they need mercy. You all may have heard this.
I don't know if I shared this before. What is this, the seventh
conference? We've been coming for seven years,
so you'll forgive me if I repeat myself. But just to illustrate
the point, you may have heard this, but years ago, back in
medieval times, there was a mother who was pleading for her son
before a king who had the authority to say, off with his head, and
his head was taken off. And she was pleading with him,
have mercy on my son, sire, have mercy. Well, this was the second
offense, and the king said, this is the second time he has done
this. He doesn't deserve mercy. She
said, true, sire, but if he deserved it, it wouldn't be mercy. And
we don't deserve it. If we did, it wouldn't be mercy.
But God has mercy on us for Christ's sake. It's not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Well,
people will say, well, does he yet find fault for who hath resisted
his will? Nay, but, O man, who art thou
that replies against God? Shall the thing formed say to
him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Now, God has
formed us. Shall we bring God into question?
What right have we to question God? No, we don't have that right. God will do whatever He wants
to. That's what I said earlier. What's Jesus Christ doing in
glory right now? Whatever He is pleased to do,
that's what He's going to do. He does what pleases Him. And
so we don't bring God into question. The potter is Jesus Christ, our
Creator. He has potter over the clay of
the same lump to make one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor. Now, folks, that's what the Word
of God says. I didn't write this, but I love it, and I love to
preach it. Here is our divine potter in
glory who forms out of the same lump, the same lump. The only difference between us
and those who are vessels of dishonor is God Himself. He makes the difference. He's
the potter, we're the clay. Adam had nothing to say about
his existence. God formed him just as it pleased
him, and breathed into his nostrils and he became a living soul.
So God is the potter, we're the clay, and he forms one vessel
under honor and another under dishonor, and the next verse
says, what of God willing to show his wrath? and to make his
power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of
wrath fitted to destruction, and that he might make known
the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy which he had
aforeprepared unto glory, even us whom he hath called, not of
the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles." So God has done this,
it's God himself who has formed one vessel of mercy and another
of dishonor. It's God himself who makes the
difference, who chooses some to be recipients of his grace
and his mercy, and passes by others. Now, God could pass by
all of us, and it wouldn't make God unjust. He's a just God. But because of Christ our Savior,
some were marked out to be recipients of his grace, and those for whom
Christ died will receive his mercy. Now, God raised up Pharaoh
for this very same reason, to show his power in that wicked
man. He hardened Pharaoh's heart.
I know Pharaoh hardened his own heart, but God hardened his heart.
And all God had to do was just withdraw his restraining hand.
His heart was already hard, just like a stone. It was a stony
heart. But when God withdraws his restraining hand, people
are going to do just what they want to do. And what Pharaoh
wanted to do He opposed God to start with.
He wanted Israel. So no matter what God did to
show his hand, he hardened his heart again and again. But it's
God who made the difference, and God raised up that man for
that very reason, to show his power in him. Now, folks, we
have a God who is able to save to the uttermost those that come
unto Christ by him, and he's able to do whatever he wants
to do. I want you to realize something. something he had already created
to form Adam, the clay. He used that. The clay was instruments
in God's hands. Now, he formed us, but he used
instruments. He used our parents. They were
instruments in the hands of God. And when we were formed in our
mother's womb, it was God using those instruments, and we had
no choice over that. We didn't determine where we
would be born. We didn't determine who our parents would be. This
was all decided by God himself. The seed that God used to form
us in our mother's womb can be traced all the way back to our
daddy Adam. Now, in this life, we live and
move and have our being. Without God, we cannot do anything. Anything. I can move this way. Or I can move this way. I'm a
little slower than I used to be, but it doesn't matter. I cannot move without God. Adam
did not move. He could not move until God gave
him life. Now, this has some spiritual
truths also. We're dead in trespasses and
sins. We cannot take one step that's pleasing in the sight
of God until he creates us anew. That's a brand new creation.
God does this under the preaching of the gospel. He uses instruments. He uses clay. Clay instruments. Those who preach the gospel.
Those who talk about Jesus Christ. Preaching Him. Who He is. What He has done. Who He did
it for. Where He is now. He uses preachers who preach
the truth. And it's God Himself who takes
the truth and makes that truth effectual in the hearts of His
people. He creates us anew. This is God's work. Instruments
he uses are nothing but clay in the Master's hands. Paul said,
Who am I? Who is silence? We're just instruments. It's God who gives the increase. And so God is the one who has
formed us. He's the one who has created
us. He's the one who has given us that first ray of spiritual
life. He's the one that unstops our
deaf ears so that we hear the gospel, opens our blind eyes
so that we can see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. the things that pertain unto
life and godliness. Let me take you over to 2 Peter
1, a scripture that Pastor Harmon read just a moment ago. Adam's
life began with God. Our life begins with God physically
and spiritually. I wonder why false preachers
deny this God-honoring biblical truth. Well, they're still spiritually
dead. They don't understand. God ever
opened their eyes, then they would believe it. Not only believe
it, but preach it. How do I know if God has given
me life? Well, how did Bartimaeus know
that the Lord had opened his blind eyes? He could see. I've thought about this more
than once. You try to talk to a blind man who was born blind.
You try to talk to him about the things that you see. That
man that was born blind can never get a true picture in his mind
of what you're trying to describe to him. Never can. But if some miracle happens to
where his blind eyes are open, then he knows what the blue in
the sky is. Then he knows what a bird flying
through the air looks like. Then he knows his mother's face
that he may have run his fingers over many, many times. All of
these things that you try to explain to him, he says, now,
now I see. Now I understand what you've
been trying to tell me. Well, it's the same thing spiritually
speaking. You try to talk to people who
have never had their blind eyes open to the truth. They cannot
ever form anything in their mind that's correct and right concerning
spiritual truths. They'll come up with their own
thoughts about God. Their mind is darkened. They're
in darkness and they love that darkness. They will not come
to the light. But let God open their blind eyes. Let the Lord
Jesus Christ give them light. Let Him speak to them they hear. Then they say, Now, now I see. Now I see what you've been trying
to tell me. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit of
God. Now look at 2 Peter 1, the first three verses. We read,
Simon Peter, a servant, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them
that have obtained like precious faith with us, through the righteousness
of God and our Savior Jesus Christ." So Peter introduces himself,
a servant and an apostle of our Lord, and he is speaking to those
who have obtained like precious faith and it is through the righteousness
of God and our Savior Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is our God, he is
our Savior. He says, Grace and peace, in
that second verse, be multiplied unto you through the knowledge
of God and of Jesus our Lord. So it is through the knowledge
that this grace and this peace comes. We have faith It's a gift
from God that it's not blind faith. It's through the knowledge
of God and of Jesus Christ our Lord. It's God giving us this
understanding. We don't have this in our unregenerate
state. And in the third verse, Peter
says, "...according as His divine power hath given unto us all
things." all things that pertain unto life and godliness. Then
he uses the word knowledge again, through the knowledge of him
that hath called us to glory and virtue. So it's by his divine
power, by the divine power of God Almighty, that he's given
us these things, that he's given us this understanding. All these
things that pertain unto life and godliness. It comes from
God. Everything comes from God. Everything. Everything. The things
that we enjoy, in our physical life. And folks, I enjoy life. I do. And God has given us such a diversity. We have so many things. The things
I like, you might not like. But I enjoy the things that God
has given us. Don't you? I enjoyed our little
fishing trip. Yes, I enjoyed that. I didn't
catch very many fish, but that doesn't matter. Fishing is always
good. Catching is different. But I enjoyed it. I enjoyed the
ocean. I enjoyed the mountains. I started
to ask you, Don, when we got on that boat, what the elevation
was there, but I didn't. But anyway, I enjoy a lot. I
enjoy everything that God has given us. God has given us All
these things to enjoy. There's nothing wrong with enjoying.
I'm not talking about sinful things. I'm talking about the
pleasures of life that are not sinful. I enjoyed our drive down
here with my wife. She's my best friend. I enjoyed
that. We can sit and talk. I can tease
with her a little bit, and I do. I let my hair down with my wife.
I just enjoy being with her. I enjoy being with you. There's
nothing wrong with enjoying the good things of life. I have preached
to churches. reform mostly, but people who
are so miserable. I mean miserable. You can look
at them and you can tell they're miserable. They think it's sinful
to smile. And I told them right from the
pulpit, what's the matter with you folks? You afraid to smile? We're to rejoice. In all things
we're to rejoice. And again I say, rejoice. And if we're miserable, there's
something wrong. But folks, when God comes in,
when He sends the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, whereby
we cry, Abba, Father, when He gives us life and reveals to
us who He is and what He has done for us, how can we not be
joyful? How can we not rejoice? So God
has given us all things that pertain unto life and godliness. By him, by God, the scripture
says, are you in Christ Jesus, who of God has made unto us wisdom
and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, that according
as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." We
are complete in Christ. God has given us all things that
pertain unto life and godliness. We have entered into a finished
work. Jesus Christ, our Savior, when
He hung there on that cross, the last three words He uttered
were, It is finished. And God has given us all of this,
what Christ has done for us. A finished work. He is perfect. Our Savior is perfect. And we've
entered into His finished work. and we're complete in Him, and
you cannot add anything to perfection. If we're in Christ Jesus, we're
as perfect as Christ Jesus is. You cannot add to that. You cannot
take away from that. God has given us all of these
things that pertain unto life and godliness. He has given us
faith. It's by faith. You say, well,
how did we get this faith? Contrary to popular belief, faith
is not the sinner's gift to God. A dead man cannot give anything.
How can a dead man give any gifts? What did Adam give for his life? He didn't do anything. In Adam's
beginning, should be used to give us some understanding of
our beginning. We contributed nothing, but God
gives us faith to all thank God for faith. Now, faith does not
save you. Jesus Christ is our Savior, but
no one is going to be saved without it. This faith that God gives
us is pretty precious. The Word of God calls it precious. It's faith that comes from God.
And when God gives us this faith, we turn away from self and we
look to Christ. Faith always, true, saving faith,
always causes the sinner to look to Christ and only to Christ. As you have therefore received
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him. We received, just
like he said, a sinner with nothing to offer, but it was faith that
gave us this understanding concerning Christ, who He is, and what He
has done for us, and we walk by faith, we live by faith, faith
looks away from self, always looks to Christ, and we keep
looking to Him, the author and the finisher of our faith. Now
if God has given us all of these things that pertain unto life
and godliness, is there anything left? Is there anything yet to
give? We have Christ! Christ dwells
in our heart by faith. God who sent His Son into our
hearts. But we have Him. We're in Him. Is there anything
lacking in Him? Can we add to that? We have it
all, folks. We have it all. Everything that's
in Christ is ours. And God has given that to us.
True saving faith is not blind faith like I said earlier. It's
faith that is based upon the knowledge of Jesus Christ. And
God is the one who has given us this knowledge. And verse
2 tells us this. Grace and peace comes through
the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. And verse 3 tells us
that all things that pertain unto life and godliness come
to us through the knowledge of Him that has called us to glory
and virtue. What knowledge did Adam have
before God gave him life? What knowledge did we have concerning
Christ before God gave us life? Under the preaching of His glorious
gospel, God the Holy Spirit opens our spiritually blind eyes. We see some things for the first
time. Adam saw something for the first
time. I like to think about that. Adam
opened his eyes for the first time. Nothing around him. Not
even Eve. Just him and God. He didn't see
God. God is spirit. God must worship
him in spirit and in truth. But he knew. He saw everything
around him. And he knew that all of these
things came from God. Well, folks, here God opens our
blind eyes for the first time a ray of spiritual light comes
in. God himself has, by his power, through the faith that he has
given us, opened our eyes to the knowledge concerning Christ
our Savior. The first thing we see is our
need of our Savior, O wretched man that I am. We also see Jesus
Christ as our righteousness, the God-man keeping God's holy
law for us perfectly. We see Jesus Christ laying down
his life for us. We see Jesus Christ as our risen,
exalted Lord, crowned with honor and glory. We see him. That's the key. We see Jesus
Christ. We see him as our sovereign Lord
who rules over everything, all things under his feet. God has
given his Son Everything, all things are under the feet of
Jesus Christ. And our Savior is not only our mediator, not
only our intercessor, he is our risen, exalted Lord. God has
made this same Jesus who was crucified, both Lord and Christ. And unless we confess him as
our Lord and believe in our heart that God has raised him from
the dead, we are not saved. And the word Lord means supreme
controller. We see not only Jesus Christ
as our risen, exalted Lord, we see him as the one who provides
our every need. His providential hand should
be seen in everything that he brings our way. Even painful
things, as you brought out so well earlier. These things are
ordained by God. Now let me leave you with this.
Adam lay there before his maker with everything that pertains
to the human body, everything but life. Those things
he had, his mind, his eyes, his ears, his hands, his feet, his
internal organs, his blood, none of that could function until
God spoke to him, until God breathed into his nostrils. and became
a living soul. So here we are. We have all things
that pertain unto physical life. But we have nothing if we don't
have Christ. Not only do we have nothing,
we are nothing. And nothing plus nothing equals
nothing. But in Christ, we have everything. Without Jesus Christ, Adam could
not have done anything. Without Jesus Christ, we cannot
do anything. But we can do all things through
Christ, who strengthens us. God has given us all things that
pertain unto life and godliness. And all things include persevering
grace. God's people, as weak as we are,
as frail as we are, by God's grace we will keep looking to
Jesus Christ. We will not let anyone or anything
turn our eye away from the one who loved us and gave himself
for us. We owe our very existence to Him. And without Him, we are
just clay. With Him, we're children of the Most High
God. God is our Father. And He promises
that nothing, absolutely nothing, can separate us from the love
of God. which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. The one thing that
God has given to every one of us that motivates us is love. God's love for us and our love
for him. We love him because he first
loved us. And this love of God that is
shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit motivates us. When he got on his feet and was
placed in the Garden of Eden, he obeyed God. Not in order to
get life, but because God had given him life. God's children
are obedient. Not as obedient as we should
be. Not as obedient as we would like
to be. Not as obedient as we are going
to be. But it is not our obedience that
gives us life. By the obedience of Jesus Christ
we are made righteous. By his sovereign power we are
given life. But we do these things out of
love for our Lord Jesus Christ. We obey him with love in our
hearts for his wonderful grace and his mercy that he bestows
upon each one of us freely. free me, were vessels of mercy
that God himself prepared before a star of a twinkle in the sky
for his honor and for his glory. Amen. Thank you. God bless you.