You will keep your Bibles open
to Mark chapter 7. I want you to try to picture the scene our
brother has just read about in this day of our Lord's earthly
ministry. He has just come to Decapolis
from the coast of Tyre and Sidon where he had graciously healed
the Syrophoenician's daughter, that young girl who was grievously
vexed of the devil. Here he continued his acts of
mercy. healing one who was both deaf
and had an impediment in his speech. And his fame grew exceedingly,
so much so that he simply could not be hidden. A huge crowd is
gathered before him, this one who had caused the lame to walk,
the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak. He who had cast out
devils opened the eyes of the blind and raised the dead. by the mere word of His power,
stands before this astonished crowd. And in their utter amazement,
in verse 37, they said, He hath done all things well. I can't tell you how often that
statement has been on my heart in recent years, and particularly
in the last several days since I've been in your country. He
hath done all things well. If these men and women who had
only seen our Savior's miracles were astonished, how much more
ought we to be? If they declared, He hath done
all things well, how much more ought we to confess to God our
Savior to the angels above and to men everywhere, we who have
experienced his grace, he has done all things well." Sitting
at tea, I got it right, didn't I? Sitting at tea this evening
over at Mother Potts' mother and dad. They'd been to the United
States and visited Pilgrim, the place where the Plymouth Brethren
landed at Phillip Rock and had seen folks dressed in the attire
of the day, talking in the language of the day. Heard a man, an actor,
giving out a good sermon that obviously he had read a good
one. And then they were talking, say something, and they talked
about how bad things had been and said, The Lord is good. The
Lord is good. The Lord is good. How well it
would be for us in all things. to remember the Lord is good. He has done all things well. Looking over all the days of
my life, everything I have experienced for nearly 57 years on this earth,
I lift my heart to my God and say, He has done all things well. Like you, I've had a few trials
and a few heartaches. I've had a little pain and a
little sorrow, a little hurt, a little bitterness. And to my
shame, I confess, I've caused more than I've experienced. Like
perhaps some of you, I was raised in a miserable environment, and
I've made it even more miserable. But God my Savior has proved
himself so utterly utterly, utterly gracious that were I to die this
night, you can write back to Danville, Kentucky and tell folks,
write this on his gravestone, he hath done all things well. Here lies a man who for 57 years
was the benefactor of unceasing special divine care. My Jesus has done all things
well. Now tell me, do you not verify
that? Does your life not verify that?
He has done all things well. If I could, if I had the option
of going back and making one alteration, taking away one tear,
one tear that I have shed or one tear that I have called,
If I had the option of going back and altering anything in
my life, either the good or the evil, I would not change one
thing, not one thing. All the path through which my
God has led me, pursuing me with goodness and mercy every breath
of my life, is that which has been necessary to bring me right
here, right now, before God Almighty and before you. From first to
last, from the day of our birth to this hour, from the earliest
pains of sin's conviction to the blessed thrill of sin's forgiveness,
from the cradle to the grave, from earth to heaven, this will
be our testimony forever regarding all the way our ever-gracious
God has led us through this wilderness and every experience along the
way. He hath done all things well. You may have guessed by now,
that's all I've got to say tonight. I just want to bring this one
fantastic, wondrous, glorious declaration home to your heart
by the Spirit of God. He hath done all things well
in providence and in grace, in every trial and in every blessing,
in every truth revealed in His Word, in every token of His love,
in every stroke of His rod, in every sunbeam of His goodness,
in every cloud that darkens our days and every sweet morsel that
is put into our lives. in every bitter thing and in
every sweet thing, in all that has been mysterious, often confusing,
sometimes painful, sometimes humiliating. In all that he has
given and in all that he has taken away, this is the sum of
it all. He has done all things well. This is, must be, and shall be
our grateful acknowledgment in time and eternity. Our God and
Savior who loved us, chose us, redeemed us, and saved us by
his grace. He who has kept us in all our
ways has done all things well. He who is our God, this is worth
remembering, is too wise to err, too strong to fail, and too good
to do wrong. Our God is too wise to err. Too strong to fail and too good
to do wrong. Study the universe, every aspect
of all things as best you can. History, both your own history
and the history of the world. Study all God's creation, all
his providence, all his judgments upon this earth. view them in
every light, and examine them as closely as you can examine
every minute detail. Do so with the microscopic eye
of faith, and this must be the conclusion. He has done all things
well. Turn with me, if you will, to
the 119th Psalm. Psalm 119. This is David's testimony. I remember hearing Evangelist
Ralph Barnard, many years ago when I was just a young man,
he was preaching and he said somebody that day had asked him,
Brother Barnard, do you believe everything in the Bible? And
he said, I don't know. I haven't experienced it all
yet. And I promise you, he told the truth. You only believe what
God causes you to experience. Everything else is just beaten
wind. These words from David are mine. I've experienced them.
Psalm 119 verse 65. Thou hast dealt well with thy
servant, O Lord, according to thy word. Teach me good judgment
and knowledge, for I have believed thy commandments. Before I was
afflicted, I went astray, but now have I kept thy word. Thou
art good and doest good. Teach me thy statutes. God, my
Savior, has dealt with me." What an awesome statement. He has
dealt with me. But we believe God rules everybody
and deals with everybody. Yes, sir. But He dealt with me. And He deals with His own as
if they were the only child He had. He deals with His own personally
and constantly. All the days of my life, My God
has dealt with me. When I first started pastoring,
I had a man, one of the deacons in the church who became a dear,
dear friend. He's with the Lord, had been
for many years. His parents died. He was orphaned when he was seven
years old. That was the end of his education.
He worked picking cotton, passed from pillar to post all his life.
Could hardly read or write. The first time I heard him pray,
I remember distinctly one request he made. He said, Lord God, encamp
round about us. And I thought, that's a strange
way to talk. But the fact is, the angel of the Lord encampeth
round about them that fear him and deliver them. God Himself
has pitched His tent around me from eternity, and He is the
tent. Not only that, He has dealt well
with me. Truly, thou hast dealt well with
thy servant. The fact is, He's dealt so well
with me that these words do not begin to start telling my astonishment
at how well He has done so. The word well that David uses
here is one of those magnificent little words that you sometimes
run across in scripture that has a rich variety of meanings,
making it simply burst with delight. The word might be translated
this way. Thou hast dealt most favorably, most kindly, most
graciously, most lovingly, most pleasurably, most sweetly, most
prosperously, most finely, most joyfully, most merrily with thy
servant." That's how he dealt with me. All the days of my life. I was talking to a dear friend.
Her husband died a few years back. We've been dear friends
for a long time. And she was telling me about
her childhood, growing up in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky.
I'm sure you've seen the pictures that were posted on television
repeatedly about Eastern Kentucky and everybody running around
barefooted and about half-dressed, sitting in rocking chairs on
porches about to fall down. Well, that's how she lived, just
exactly how she lived, because they had nothing, had nothing
growing up. But she said, we didn't know
we were poor. Everybody around us was just
like us, except for one thing. We were loved. And I said to
her, what is poverty when you've got riches? I've been rich, indescribably
rich, all my life. And I've known it for a little
while. God has dealt well with me, particularly these past 40
years since saving me by His grace. God has dealt well with
me as His servant. Thou hast dealt well with thy
servant." Of course, he's dealt well with me as his son, as his
spouse, as his friend, but particularly I take delight in saying he has
dealt well with me as his servant. And to me, who am less than the
least of all sins, it's this grace given that I should preach
to you the unsearchable riches of Christ. From the day that
the Lord God first called me to open my mouth to proclaim
His grace to this day, I've watched Him turn the world upside down
again and again just to open a way for this man to speak the
gospel. I've seen Him do it again and
again and again. Now, I'm not just preaching to
you. I'm telling you the truth. I've seen Him do it. time and
time again in his appointment and his call, in his provision,
in his protection, in his care, in all the direction he's given
by his hand, in all the blessings he has bestowed, he has dealt
well with his servant. And he's dealt well with me all
the days of my life according to thy word. Exactly according,
of course, to his word of predestination. exactly according to His Word
of promise, exactly according to His Word of grace, exactly
according to Christ, His Word, in whom I live and move and have
my being. You remember when Peter said
to the Lord, he said, Lord, we've forsaken all and followed You.
What shall we have, therefore? And the Lord looked at him, and
He said, Lacked ye anything? Lacked ye anything? Tell me, you who are the Master's
disciples, you who follow Christ, you whose lives are committed
to Him and at His disposal, just exactly what is it you have lacked
by following Him? What is it you have lost by serving
Him? Lacked ye anything?" And they
said, nothing, Lord. Nothing, Lord. My response, nothing,
Lord. See if I can elaborate a little
bit on this. He hath done all things well in old eternity. If I can use such language. We
can't say old eternity. That's all right. I did. Turn
to Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians 1. By now you know
this is one of my favorite passages. When we begin to think of all
that our Savior has done for us as our surety before the world
was made, our hearts confess He hath done all things well.
In the covenant of grace, when he took upon himself all responsibility
for our souls, when he espoused our calls as his own, as our
great surety, he has done all things well. Now please understand
when you read the scriptures and it talks about God's covenant
and the order of the covenant, all those things, God, this is
shocking to some folks, He's a little bit bigger than we are,
a little bit bigger than our puny brains. And he condescends
to speak to us in human terms. He condescends to speak to us
in language that we can understand. And he speaks to us of a covenant. in which proposals are made and
answered by the surety to the Father. But understand, this
is simply the declaration of God's sovereign purpose, His
holy will, His everlasting determination of good to our souls. And our
Lord Jesus, when He stood as our surety in the covenant of
grace, drew nigh to God on our behalf. His delights were with
us. His heart was upon us. He pledged
Himself to redeem us and gave Himself for us then as the Lamb
of God to redeem us. And our Father, the Triune God,
accepted us, blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Him,
and trusted Him as our surety. When Robert Hawker lay on his
deathbed, He had a friend read to him Ephesians chapter 1, and
he got down to verse 12, in whom, that we should be to the praise
of His glory who first trusted in Christ. And he said, wait,
and who first trusted in Christ? Our God first trusted in Christ. The triune God committed to His
Son. all His glory, all the revelation
of His being, and all His people as our surety, trusting Him as
such. Now watch what precedes that.
Ephesians 1 verse 3, Blessed be the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us. What a great word. That word H-A-T-H. That means it's done. It's done. He hath blessed us at one time,
in the past, forever, without any variation or change ever
to come. He hath blessed us, watch it
now, with A-double-L, all spiritual blessings, every one of them. There is not a blessing God gives
to any sinner He didn't give to all His own in eternity in
Christ. He blessed us in heavenly places. Now that's not talking about,
you know, the heavenlies. Folks have the idea if you get
real spiritual and kind of float on the clouds and walk above
everybody else, that's the place where God blesses us. Heavenly
places is heavenly places. He blessed us in heaven itself
in His Son before the world was. Watch it. How did He do that?
According as. This is the only way God ever
blesses anybody. According as He hath chosen us
in Him before the foundation of the world. All blessings,
all grace, All mercy, all goodness from God comes to undeserving,
hell-deserving sinners according to God's sovereign election and
in no other way. That's all the blessings of God.
Say, well, I don't like election. If you ever get in on it, you
will. According as He hath chosen us
in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before Him. Now, you read the commentators,
and I declare, I don't know why on earth it is that so many people
seem to be scared to death that preaching free grace is actually
going to lead to some kind of evil. And they quickly jump on
this saying, now the Lord chose us that we should live a good,
holy life. That would be a pretty good trick. Give it a shot. You give it a
shot. You go ahead and live holy and
call me when you get it accomplished. You do that for me, will you?
He didn't say that we should be holy and without blame before
you. There's no trouble for you to be holy before me. That's
not any difficulty. No trouble for me to convince
you I'm holy in the way I behave. That's not any difficulty because
the standard is real low. It's you. That's not it. Are
you saying people shouldn't strive after holiness? Absolutely, we
ought to strive after perfection, but it's not attainable by you
or by me. And that's what holiness is.
He said that we should be holy and without blame before Him. God's chosen such things as He
finds in the dung heap of fallen humanity to make us holy and
unblameable before Him. In love, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself. Oh,
predestination is such a hard doctrine. No, it's not, you just
read it. It's love doctrine. In love,
he predestinated us. How'd he do that? Well, he looked
out and saw, down through the ages of time, who would pretty
please let Jesus save them. And he said, well, I'll predestinate
him. What? No fool would ever read
this and think that's what this passage is teaching unless he
was convinced to be a rebel against God before he read it. What's
he talking about? He did it according to the good
pleasure of his will. As such, my newfound friend,
Brother Fred Sargent, nearly 80 years old, worthless piece
of human flesh, that's just it, a worthless piece of human flesh,
of whom God said, I will be merciful to his unrighteousness. He hath
mercy on whom he will have mercy. He has compassion on whom he
will have compassion. He is gracious to whom he will
be gracious just because he will. How is that? To the praise of
the glory of his grace wherein, look at this word again, he hath
made us accepted in whom we have redemption through
His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches
of His grace. Then in the fullness of time,
when God sent forth His Son made of a woman made under the law
to redeem them that were under the law, when the Son of God
came down here and took on Himself the seed of Abraham, He hath
done all things well. As a man, our Lord Jesus Christ
entered into this world God became a man. Boy, that's going to make
folks upset to hear that on this paper. No, no, no. God took on
himself humanity. The book says the Word was made
flesh. He never ceased to be God, and
yet he who is the God-man, our mediator, is fully God and fully
man in one glorious person. Not two people, one glorious
person, the God-man, our mediator. Well, that can't be. It is. Well,
how do you explain that? You can't. You see, God is infinite. not only in his being, but in
all his ways. The Lord God came here in human
flesh that he might establish for us a perfect righteousness
of infinite value by which we should stand before God in perfect
righteousness, holy and without blame forever. Our Lord Jesus
Christ became obedient to the law of God in every detail, fulfilling
every requirement of the law in every point of the law, not
for himself, but for his people. And when he had done so, he went
up to Calvary and took on himself our sins. Bearing our sins in his own body
on the tree. Oh, indeed, He has done all things
well. This One who is God in human
flesh can do what neither God nor man could do. God could not
suffer, bleed, and die, and man could never justice satisfy,
but He who is God and man both died and satisfied. By His great sin atoning death
in our room instead, as our substituted surety, Jesus Christ with His
own blood put away our sins. He uses language like this, I
have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions. Blotted them
out. I have put away your sins. I will Remember your iniquities
against you no more forever. The Lord has not beheld iniquity
in Israel. He has not beheld it. How can
that be? Because He took it away. He removed
it thoroughly, completely by the sacrifice of Himself. Their
sins and iniquities will I remember no more. He cast them behind
His back. That's a good place for him.
Behind his back. Find his back and you can find
my sins. He removed them from us as far
as the East is from the West. I'm so thankful he didn't say
as far as the North is from the South. I can find the North Pole.
And I can find the South Pole. But you start walking East and
you're never going to get West. You're still walking East. And
he has removed our sins from us. Can you get hold of that?
He has put away our sins, and with His own blood, by the merit
and efficacy of His one great sin-atoning sacrifice, He entered
at once into the holy place and obtained eternal redemption for
us. Obtained it. Didn't make it possible.
Didn't provide the possibility of it. Didn't make it possible
if you would pretty please give merit and efficacy to it by letting
Him save you. He obtained eternal redemption
for us. Pause one more time and reflect
on this fact. He hath done all things well
in the mighty operations of his saving grace. I spurned his grace,
I broke his laws, and yet he undertook my cause. To save my
sinful soul from hell, my Jesus hath done all things well. He
sent His Spirit and convinced me of my sin. He called me from
death to life by the irresistible power of omnipotent grace. He
gave me faith in Christ. Oh, blessed is the man whom thou
choosest and causest to approach unto thee. I think I told you
last night, I pastored for a while in the mountains of West Virginia.
I pastored for nine years there. And in those days I didn't have
quite as much to do as I do now. And I'd get out sometimes to
go hunting or just go walking in the woods. And one day I was
out walking in the woods, a few miles from our house, walking
in the mountains, and I came across a cemetery, an old cemetery. It was old. I couldn't make out
all of any name or any date. These folks had been buried a
long time. And I got to looking around, because I don't want
folks to think I'm plumbing crazy. And I found me a grace marker.
And I started talking to the fellow in there. And I promised
him at that time, my daughter was just a little shave, I promised
him if he'd come home with me, just get up, yeah, I was that
great to come home with me, I'd have my wife fixing a meal, he
could stay in our house till my daughter got old enough, and
marry her, he could marry her. Now if you'd have heard that,
you'd have sent me to the loony bin. But that's what preachers
do all the time. Talk to sinners as if they can
take a step toward God. Talk to sinners as if they can
get out of the grave. Talk to sinners as if they can
will themselves into life. Do you understand what dead is?
Do you understand what dead is? That's what man is by nature
with regard to all things spiritual, with regard to life before God.
Dead! That means he's utterly incapable
of anything. He's dead. But what does it take
for the dead to live? A resurrection. A resurrection
that comes by irresistible force from God Almighty causing the
dead sinner to live. And when He causes the sinner
to live, giving life and faith in Christ, He speaks peace. He says, see here, look on me
whom you pierced, for whom you mourn, for whom your soul is
in bitterness. Look here! I see it. are all forgiven. All forgiven. Oh, how well He does. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. Do you mean, Brother Dodd, God
will never impute any sin to any sinner believing on His Son? I mean God will never impute
any sin to any believer trusting his son. It won't happen. That's
what the book says. He will not impute sin. How come? Because he imputed
our sins to our substitute. He put our sins on his son. He made our sins his. And justice
will not allow him to punish our substitute and punish us.
Justice won't permit that. Oh, indeed, He has done all things
well. He said, I have found a ransom.
Deliver Him from going down to the pit. And He has preserved us by His
goodness. These days, preachers everywhere
of every kind and every clime seem to always be just bent before
they get done on leaving you looking here. Look to you. Let me tell you something. Any
preaching, any doctrine, any instruction, any hymn, any prayer
that leaves you looking here for anything is wrong. It's dead wrong. People talk
about, you must persevere. You must persevere. You've got
to hold on and hold out and hang in to the end. And you must,
but you can't. You can't. We persevere in faith
because God perseveres in grace. We are kept in Christ by the
power of His grace, not by the power of our faith. We are kept
in the grip of His grace, not in the grip of our hands. Let
me see if I can illustrate it. When my grandson, granddaughter
as well, when they were born, I liked to scare my daughter to
death. Take them by the hands and just swing them around, swing
them around. And they just last. And my daughter's
over there just screaming, stop, you're going to dislocate the
shoulders. And I just swing them around, swing them back and forth.
And they're lasting and having a good time. And they'd hold
my thumbs just as tight as they could hold. But their little
fingers wouldn't wrap around my thumbs. And their security
and safety had absolutely nothing to do with them gripping my thumbs,
but rather with me gripping them. And our security and safety is
not our grip on God, but God's grip on us. They shall never
perish. How come? Neither shall any man
pluck them out of my hand. That's our preservation. He has
done all things well in His infinite love for us. Turn to Ephesians
3. Ephesians chapter 3. In every
display of His love, how good He has been. The Apostle Paul
said, I bow my knees to God and pray for you, verse 17, that
Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that you being rooted
and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all saints
what is the breadth, and the length, and the depth, and the
height, what is the infinite breadth, and infinite length,
and infinite depth, and infinite height, and to know the love
of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that you might be filled with
all the fullness of God. Let me show you one more thing.
Turn to Psalm 13. Psalm 13, verse 6. I will sing unto the Lord, because
He hath dealt bountifully with me. In the 116th Psalm, David
chides himself and says, Return unto thy rest, O my soul, for
the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. What a good God and
Savior we have. Our biographies, Expound these
words he hath dealt bountifully with me. Better than any commentary
can. God who gave his darling son
has with him freely given us all things. He's given us his
spirit and he conveys to us all spiritual blessings in Christ.
And our God deals with us like a God all our days in infinite
goodness, in all his fullness. and of His fullness have all
we received and grace for grace. Paul writes to the Philippians
who had just so generously, magnanimously cared for him and he said, oh,
we shouldn't have done this. And then he said, but my God
shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ
Jesus. That's how God deals bountifully
with us. Not out of his riches in glory. Not out of his riches in glory. If I were a filthy rich man,
and I ran across someone in need, and I reached in my pocket and
gave him $100, I have given him $100 out of my riches. But if I take him home, and take
care of all his needs, and clothe him, and feed him, and care for
him, and provide for him till he draws his last breath, giving
him everything he wants according to my ability, then I have given
him goodness according to my riches. Will you hear me? God
has dealt bountifully with us according to his riches in glory
by Christ Jesus. His grace, His goodness, His
providence is a cruise of oil that never is emptied and never
diminishes, a barrel of meal that is never emptied and never
diminishes. We know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are called
according to His purpose. Our lives verify it. in all the
affairs of providence, He hath done all things well. And in
that great day, when our mansions are prepared and our bodies are
raised from the dead, and we are perfectly conformed to His
image in resurrection glory, when we hear our Savior say,
Come, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world, oh, what rapture will fill our souls, what rejoicing
will flood our hearts as we say, looking back over life's finished
story. He has done all things well with
me and mine and with you and yours. He has done all things
well. Samuel Midley wrote a hymn, my
love. Let me read it to you. Oh, for a heart prepared to sing
to God my Savior and my King, with all the saints I join to
tell my Jesus hath done all things well. All worlds His glorious
power attest, His wisdom all His works confess, but, O His
love, what tongue can tell? My Jesus hath done all things
well. How sovereign, wonderful, and
free is all His love to send for me. He plucked me as a brand
from hell. My Jesus hath done all things
well. And since my soul has known His
love, what mercies He has made me prove, mercies which all my
praise excel, my Jesus will do all things well. Soon I shall
pass this veil of death, and in His arms shall lose my breath,
yet then my happy soul shall tell, my Jesus hath done all
things well. And when to that bright world
I rise, and join the anthems in the skies among the rest,
this note I'll tell, my Jesus hath done all things well. In
the light of that, how beautiful heaven must be,
sweet home of the happy and free, fair haven of rest for the weary,
how beautiful heaven must be. I read a story a while back I
think it's true. You folks over here have a custom
we don't have at home. Every place I've eaten, every
place we've had tea so far, the dear lady of the house laid a
great big spoon right across the head of the table. And I
know what that spoon means. I don't know how to set the table,
but I know what that spoon means. This lady, older lady, knew she
was about to die. She called a pastor and wanted
to make funeral arrangements. We made all the arrangements,
and she said, now, just one thing. When they closed my coffin bed,
you be sure to put my fork right on top of that coffin. And the
pastor said, why? She said, when I was growing
up, whenever we'd have a meal, we didn't often have dessert.
But when we did, Mama would say, keep your fork. And when she
said, keep your fork, I knew something better was coming. Oh, good as grace has been. Glory. Something better is coming. Our Father, bless your word to
these, your people. I thank you. Oh, my God, I thank
you for the fresh acquaintance with fresh faces and fresh hearts
in the experience of your grace. Will you bless them, these you've
gathered from so many places. Bless them as they seek to serve
and honor our Redeemer. Ever make us aware of our sin,
conscious of our utter unworthiness before you. Ever, God, keep us
in the dust before your throne, fully convinced. of the blessedness
of redemption and grace in all its fullness in Jesus Christ
our Lord. As for these here who are yet
dead in trespasses and in sins, God have mercy upon them. Oh, God have mercy upon them
for Christ's sake. Amen.