Thank you very much. I want you
to open your Bibles to Romans chapter 11. And I, in all honesty and sincerity,
I ask that you pray for me, that I may learn to preach before
I die. I'd like to preach before I die. Gospel message.
The title of my message this morning is, Why Are We Here?
There are many different ways that I can approach this. Ecclesiastes
and numerous statements in Proverbs and throughout the Scriptures.
But I'm going to bring it out like the old writers used to
in years gone by. Why was man made? To glorify
God and to enjoy God forever. If a man is a success in every
other way in this world and he fails to glorify God, live on
God and enjoy God, he is the greatest of all failures. Christ
said, what is a man profited if he gained this whole world
and lose his own soul? We're put here to glorify God. David spoke about that a little
bit this morning, about when they knew God, they glorified
Him not as God. They were worshipping, they were
calling upon gods. but they glorify the true and
living God, not as God. And that's what so many are doing
in our day. They use the name of God on every
hand, but they glorify Him not as God. God, the only potentate,
King of all kings, Lord over all lords, every king's heart's
in the hand of the Lord. He walks amidst the churches
and all the preachers are in His sovereign hand. That's the
God of the Bible. worketh all things after the
counsel of his own will. That's God. Doeth according to
his will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of
this earth. That's God. We say, yeah, I believe he does
his will. He does his will down here too.
And his will in Romans chapter 1, talking about those heathen
nations in times past, in ages past, when they glorified him
not as God, neither were they thankful. He gave them over to
let them go. And boy, that's what he's doing
to America in our day, just letting it go. We got homosexual preachers
and homosexual song leaders and they're just everywhere. I heard, I don't want to preach
this kind of a sermon, but I'm going to bring this in because
it's just so important. I heard on TV last week, 40%
of all the babies born in the United States last year were
born out of wedlock. Seventy percent, I don't know
how they measure this, if I did it I'd lie about it, I don't
know how they measure this, seventy percent of all men, husbands,
cheat on their wives. Forty percent of all wives cheat
on their husbands. The oldest institution in the
world is marriage. And it's holy. And it's sacred. Sacred. Sacred. I want to talk to you a little
bit this morning. That's the result of not paying
any attention to God. Just whatever feels good, do
it. You don't get away with anything. Every sin and disobedience shall
receive, shall receive a just, recompensive reward. The worst
judgment that people can ever suffer is what we're going through
right now in the United States of America, when everybody's
so happy. And that's a withdrawal of God. God was drawing Himself. Back in the book of Jeremiah,
He said, You showed Me your back and not your face. And that's
all you're going to see of Me anymore. Show you my back. I'm not going to smile on you.
Show you my back. Jeremiah, don't even pray for
them anymore. They've sinned so grievously
and so long that there's no remedy. Don't pray for them. I'm not
going to heal you. Oh, God help us. People think they can ignore
God. Well, why are we here in this? Well, we're here to glorify God.
Let me read you a few verses of Scripture, and then I'll try
to make a few points this morning. Verse 4, chapter 15 of Romans. Romans 15, verse 4. I can start
in the beginning, but let's conserve a little time. Whatsoever things were written
aforetime in the Old Testament were written for our New Testament
learning, that we New Testament people, that we through patience
and comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope. That book back
there is written, that we might have hope through patience and
comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope. Now the God of patience, and consolation grant you to
be like-minded one toward another according to Christ Jesus, that
you may with one mind and one mouth glorify God. Even the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Wherefore receive you one another
as Christ also received us to the glory of God. May I say that
Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth
of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers, that the
Gentiles might glorify God. There it is again. Gentiles might
glorify God for His mercy. As it is written, for this cause
I will confess thee among the Gentiles, saying unto thy name,
and again he saith, Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people.
Again, praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles. Loud him, all ye people. And again Isaiah said, Thou shalt
be a root of Jesse. He shall rise up to reign over
the Gentiles, and in him shall the Gentiles trust and glorify
God. That's trusting God and glorifying
God. Now the God of hope fill you
with all peace, joy, and peace, and believing that you may abound
in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost. I myself also
am persuaded of you, my brethren, that you also are full of goodness,
filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.
Nevertheless, brethren, I have written the Mormon to you in
some sort as putting you in mind, because of the grace that is
given to me of God, that I should be the minister of Jesus Christ
to the Gentiles ministering the gospel of God, that the offering
up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy
Ghost to the glory of God." That's what it's all about. I have,
therefore, whereof I may glory through Jesus Christ In those
things, nothing that pertains to me and those things that pertain
to God. I got some things to glory in.
Those things that pertain to God. What is that? Everything.
Everything that pertains to God. Those verses in Romans 1, 18
through 23 apply to those nations and peoples who never had a Bible
and to whom God never sent a prophet And yet, they did have a witness
of God. Those heathens, way back yonder,
the time of this ignorance, God winked at them, let them go.
Those heathens, they had a witness of God. The creation is a witness
of God, speaks of God in every language throughout the world. God's creation has a message
to tell to man. Look at Acts 17, just a moment.
Acts 17. Verse 22-27, Paul stood in the
midst of Mars Hill and said, You men of Athens, I perceive
that in all things you are too superstitious, too religious. For as I passed by and beheld
your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, to the
unknown God. And that's the God of our generation
to a large degree. It's sad, but it's true. They
spell God the same way that we do. They pronounce it the same
way that we do. But they don't describe Him like
He's described in this book. They don't preach Him and set
Him forth like He's set forth in this book. So it's another
God and another Spirit and another Gospel. It's a lie. Now listen. Whom, therefore, you ignorantly
worship, this unknown God. Let me tell you about Him. Him,
therefore, I declare unto you. This is Him. This is Him. God
that made the world and everything in it. Seeing that He is Lord of heaven
and earth, He doesn't dwell in temples made with hands that
you all build down here and put a name on the door. Neither is
your worship with men's hands, as though He needed anything.
Seeing He giveth to all life and breath and all things. Everything
we have comes from God. Everything but our sin. That's
our own. The only thing that's really
ours in all of this world. Our sin. Everything else is alone
from God. We're tenants down here in God's
world, on God's farm. Answerable and accountable for
every moment of time and everything we do. Responsible and accountable
unto God. God give us all life and breath
and all things. Now look what He's done. God
hath made of one blood all nations of men, for to dwell on all the
face of the earth, and hath determined the time before appointed, and
the bounds of their habitation, that they should seek the Lord.
we're in the hands of God, that we should seek the Lord. Isn't
that what that means? If haply they might feel after
him and find him, though he be not far from every one of us,
for it's in him that we live and move and have our beings. testimony of God, witness of
God, that men may seek the Lord, glorify the Lord, be thankful
unto the Lord. Acts 14, verses 16 and 17, the
same thing. Let me read it to you. The way it's written is very
plain and clear. Who in time past suffered all
nations to walk in their own ways. Now that's what I was mentioning
a while ago, to let a nation follow their own heart, follow
their own will, follow their own will, or their own way. Nations
to walk in their own ways nevertheless, nevertheless now. He left not
himself without witness, in that he did good. He gave us rain
from heaven, fruitful season, filling our hearts with food
and gladness, He wasn't without witness. When the rain comes,
it comes from God. Whether it's a big rain or a
small rain, Job 36, Job 37, He sends the rain, the snow, the
ice, all of these things. And these things are seen of
all men. All men. Now to be out in this
field plowing and he's furiously working to get done and God sends
a rain, he has to shut down his tractor and go to the barn. The
sovereignty of God. God's in charge. God's in control. God has a witness to himself.
He has a witness to himself. The evidence of God is all about
us. Bear witness with something within us, Romans chapter 1.
so that all men without excuse who do not glorify God with thanksgiving."
With thanksgiving. No man has anything to glory
in. No man has anything to boast
in. I think David quoted it this morning in 1 Corinthians chapter
1 and chapter 4 and verse 7. Who maketh thee to differ from
another? Who made me different looking than you all? God did
it. Some of you will never be as
tall as me. That's God. Some of you will be stronger
than me, some weaker. That's the Lord. Some of you are more intelligent
than me and some perhaps not so intelligent. That's the Lord. So Lord, who maketh thee to differ
from another? And what do you have that you
did not receive? And if you received it, you're
a fool to boast in it. You're a fool to boast in it
as if something you did. But that's the way men do. Let
me show you one other passage. I've read this here several times.
Deuteronomy, if you please. Deuteronomy chapter 18. I want
to read it one more time. I remember not the time, not
the year, but I remember the occasion and the results, the
response when I first saw this verse and realized what it meant
for the first time, these verses. Look at verse 9, Deuteronomy
18, verse 9, talking to Israel. And when you all come into the
land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, Thou shalt not learn to do after
the abominations of those people. Several nations lived inside
the boundaries of that land God gave His people, and He ran them
out. They left their houses and their
stores and their farms, their vineyards, oliveyards, they left
all that, and God gave it to Israel. Houses they didn't build,
stores they didn't build, Vineyards and orchards they didn't plant,
God gave it to them. Now, thou shalt not be found
among you any one that maketh his son, his daughter, to pass
through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of
times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter
with familiar spirits. or a wizard or a necromancer. For all that do these things,
and it hadn't changed, are an abomination to God. Abominable. And because of these abominations,
the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before you. Thou shalt
be perfect with the Lord thy God. For these nations, now notice
this verse in light of what's been said, these nations which
thou shalt possess, they hearken unto observers of time as diviners,
all other kind of witchcraft. But as for thee, the Lord thy God hath not suffered
thee so to do. God kept you back from these
things. What made Israel to be unlike
those nations? God did. He chose them, called
them out, set them apart, made them His people, restrained them
from these things. God did. Each of you here this morning,
you didn't choose your mother, your father, you didn't choose
this great land to be born in. The church you grew up under
the shadow of? God did. God did. And set the bounds of
your habitation? God did it. I can recall occasions
where if a man had been born to the parish next door, the
outcome would have been altogether different. That's all in the
sovereign providence and mercy of our great God. God kept you
back from these things. I didn't choose my godly father
and mother, but I was born to them in the will and purpose
of God. The will and purpose of God. We're naturally prone
to take credit to ourselves, which we should be thanking God
for. We do it. All the time we do
it. We're here to glorify God. To brag on God. Talk about God. And what all He's done for us. I had a father. And so many people
met him and learned to admire him. Loved him. Lived to be nearly, nearly 94.
And whether he was at home or out in the field on the farm,
or building a barn or a fence for someone, or in the marketplace
selling tobacco or cattle. He always had one thing governing
him, the glory of God. That's what caused him to make
all of his decisions, the glory of God. The glory of God. Will it glorify God? Speaking as a Christian, the
Apostle Paul said, we worship, we are the circumcision that
worship God in the Spirit. We rejoice in Christ Jesus, and
we just absolutely have no confidence in the flesh. All those things
he used to boast in, he said, I've suffered the loss of them,
and I do count them but done, that I may win Christ to be found
in him. have no confidence in the flesh.
The psalmist said it like this, Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto thy name give glory. For thy mercy and for thy truth's
sake give glory to God. Again, let all those that seek
thee rejoice, be glad in thee, and let such as love thy salvation
say continually, Let God be magnified. Don't say continually that when
you made your decision, what you did and where you did it,
and you remember well. What God did. What God did. Let God be magnified. Believers should give their time
and give themselves. All men should, but especially,
most especially believers, bragging on God, bragging on His Son,
bragging on His salvation. That's what we're here for, to
glorify God. And God said this through the
prophet Isaiah. He said, I'm going to destroy
all fleshly pride. The things men are proud of,
I'm going to destroy it. Stain the pride of all flesh.
I believe that's the way He said it. God will share His love. He'll give us mercy. He'll give
us grace. He'll give us His Son. But He
said, My glory, I will not, will not, will not give to another. Will not. God's going to get
the glory one of these days. Picture a man that's been bragging
all of his life about him being a rich man, a wealthy man, a
self-made man, and then he stands before God and finds out that
without God he was a nothing, a sinful piece of clay. That's all. The mercies of God made him what
he was. Just like it did Nebuchadnezzar.
The mercies of God made him what he was. Paul says, I don't glory in being
a minister of the gospel. I don't glory in what success
I've had. I don't even know how to judge
myself. I don't glory in my ministry.
I don't glory in bringing many Gentiles to obey the gospel or
bringing their gospel to them. But he said this when he was
headed back to Jerusalem for the last time, Acts 20. He said, I know that by the Spirit
of God, I know that and chains and imprisonments and sufferings
and all kinds of things await me. But that doesn't move me. It doesn't move me at all. Neither is my life dear unto
myself. Neither count I my life dear
unto myself that I might finish my course with joy and testify
of that gospel of the grace He gloried in God. He gloried
in the Gospel. But he said, I do glory. Verse
17 of our text, I glory through Jesus Christ in things which
pertain to God. And I want to do that a little
bit this morning, God permit, and be my helper. And look at 1 Corinthians 15, just
a moment. You're all familiar with this.
A lot of people say it. People on the street say it.
People that have no idea who God is say it. We say it to understand a little
bit of what it means. Verse 9 of 1 Corinthians 15,
I am the least of the apostles, I'm not fit to be called an apostle
because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God,
what that really means is grace made me different. Grace changed
me. Grace did it. Not me. Grace. But by the grace
of God, I am what I am. Changed from an enemy of God
to a friend. to a loving apostle, to a dedicated,
devoted slave of Jesus Christ. And that grace, God's grace,
which was bestowed upon me was not in vain. I labored more abundantly
than they all, yet it wasn't me. It was grace. God's amazing, powerful, sufficient
grace. Grace. I want to say this one thing
and make a few points about this one thing. Paul first and foremost, chiefly, Gloried in God through
Jesus Christ in the cross of Christ. Galatians chapter 6 verse
14, he said, God forbid that I gloat, save in the cross of
the Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified to me.
You can have it. And I'm crucified to the world.
They don't want me. They don't want me. God forbid that I glow except
in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that cross, that
gospel is the power of God into salvation. Romans chapter 1 verse
16. He said, I'm not ashamed of the
gospel. It's the power of God. You know that word power, dunamis.
And it's the same word from which we get our word dynamite. That
gospel is the dunamis of God, the power of God, unto salvation
to everyone that believeth. Jew first and also to the Greek,
for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to
faith. That's what Paul gloried in.
The gospel, the power of God. He gloried in God in his regeneration. He gloried in God in His conversion. He gloried in God in His perseverance. He gave God all the glory for
His salvation. And that's what we must do. And
that's what God's people do, do. That's what they do. Not
unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory,
that all those who know and love God Say continually, those who
know His salvation, let God be magnified! Not some preacher,
not some church, not some gimmick, not some altar call. God be magnified! I was sitting at home this morning
thinking about the day of Pentecost, when an old ignorant, unlettered,
unlearned fisherman got up and began preaching very simply and
plainly, backing up what he said from the Old Testament. And God
used that message. And about 3,000 souls were converted
to the Lord. God give us some more days like
that. Let it be so. Amen. Let God be magnified. Not Peter. Let God be magnified. Let God be magnified I heard
men brag about their repentance. Repentance is something God works
in us. Look at John 16, just a moment.
John 16. Verse 7, John 16, 7. Nevertheless, I tell you the
truth. It is expedient for you that I go away. For if I go not
away, this Comforter, the Comforter, He will not come unto you. But
if I depart, I will send Him unto you, this Comforter, the
Holy Ghost. And when He's come, He will reprove
the world of sin. Condense of sin. and the righteousness and the
judgment of sin because they don't believe me. Of sin because
they don't believe me. Repentance is a gift of God.
He granted repentance unto the people. Set Christ on the throne
that He might be a Prince and a Savior to grant repentance
unto the people. To grant repentance, Peter said,
He's granted repentance unto the Gentiles, something God gives,
something God works in us. Philippians 1.6, Paul said, being
certain of this one thing, I'm confident of this, that he which
hath begun repentance, he which hath begun a good work in you,
he'll perform it. to the day of Jesus Christ, he
won't ever quit. When he puts his almighty hand
on a sinner, he'll never take it off until he's conformed to
the image of his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He begins to work. Let God be magnified. Give God
the glory. Saving faith. Now people all
the time bragging about their faith. You've got it. You ought to exercise it. Somehow
call it forth, conjure it up or something. But all men have
not faith, Paul said in Thessalonians. All men have not faith. Faith
is a gift of God. You know why I believe God, not
like I should, but as much as I do? God gave me the gift of
faith. By grace are you saved through
faith. That's not of your self. That
faith is not of your self. It's a gift of God. Not of works. Lest we even boast in our faith.
And we would. We love to boast, but we have
nothing to boast about. What do you have that you have
not received? Saving faith is a gift of God. Philippians 1.29, you believed
through grace. Ephesians 2.89, I just quoted,
faith is a gift of God. Faith cometh, it's not in us,
it cometh by hearing, after we hear this book. by the will and
purpose of God, grace of God. And when you think about perseverance,
we're going to hold out to the end. Christ said, my sheep never
perish. My sheep shall never perish.
Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father is
greater than I. Nobody can pluck them out of
my Father's hand. He said, My sheep, 1 Peter 1
verse 5, are kept by the power of God through faith. It's my faith, but behind that
faith is God's power. The apostles, a lot of things
they didn't know, but they knew that. Lord, increase our faith. He said, Peter, I prayed for
you that your faith fail not. Faith comes from God. We're not
born with saving faith. We're born with a natural faith,
but not saving faith. Saving faith is reality to the
things of God, the invisible things of God. Whereas Moses
could walk out of Egypt, not fearing the greatest monarch
in the world, Old Pharaoh and his chariots and his soldiers. The Bible said Moses left Egypt
not fearing the King. How could he not fear that King?
Because he saw Him who is invisible. If you've seen Him, you're going
to say next, well, who's Old Pharaoh? When you see God, who's
Pharaoh? Nothing. Nothing. I saw Him who is invisible. Let
me show you another place. People want to brag on saving
themselves. I wonder what they're going to
say about this. The hour is coming, and now is
when the dead, the spiritually dead, John 5, shall hear the
voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live. And
by the way, back in verse 21, it says, as the Father raises
up the dead and gives life to whom He will, He gives life,
giveth Him life, even so the Son gives life to whom He will. That's not the Jesus we hear
about, but that's the one in the Scriptures. He gives life
to whom He will. And then it says in verses 28
and 29, you know, when we die, we're not saved. There's still
another step. Someone must take us from this
earthly body, this physical body, this dying body, this body of
death. Someone must take us from there
to glory. Now the angels, the fallen angels,
the demons, they're going to try to hinder it. How are we
going to get there? Are we going to save ourselves?
We didn't save ourselves in any step of the way. These preachers, I've heard preachers
say, you take the first step. Spurgeon said one time, he said,
if you can take the first step, you can walk all the way to glory.
Because that first step is from death to life. Death to life. What do we need? Life. What's
offered us in the Gospel? Life. Eternal life. Ferguson said, you tell me about
a man that was on the battlefield and somebody cut his head off
and he picked up his head and walked all the way into town.
He said, I believe that. If you prove to me he could walk
that first step, take that first step, I believe he could carry
his head all the way to town. I believe a man can save himself.
if he can take that first step from death to life. But I don't
believe he can. I can't, you can't, nobody can.
It's a step from death unto life. Now, verse 28, Marvel at this, for the hour
is coming, and I don't think it'll be too long, to the witch all that are in
the graves. They've been there a long time.
Some of them rotted. Most of them rotted. Some of them were buried at sea.
Big fish ate them. And the bigger fish came out
and ate that big fish. But one of these days, Our Lord
Jesus Christ is going to speak. And all those graves shall open
up. They're going to hear His voice. Those bodies are going to come
out of those graves. Same body. Those bodies are going
to come out of those graves. They that have done good unto
the resurrection of life, they that have done evil unto the
resurrection of damnation. That's the end of our salvation.
When we're called before God and He says, enter ye into the
jaw of the Lord. I prepared it for you a long
time ago. Enter ye into the jaw of the
Lord. Now let me show you a couple of places. I won't hurry. Look
at Mark chapter 4 just a moment. Everybody knows so much in our
day. It's like Paul told Timothy,
they're always learning, but they're never able to come to
the knowledge of the truth, never able to learn the gospel, never
able to see the glory of God. Christ said in verse 26, This
is the way the Kingdom of God is. So is the Kingdom of God.
As if a man should cast seed into the ground, and should sleep
and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up.
I don't know how it works. I've raised a lot of gardens.
I've raised a lot of crops. I don't know how it works. It's
a great mystery. Great mystery. Well, the earth
bringeth forth fruit of herself, first the blade, then the ear,
after that full corn in the ear. And when the fruit is brought
forth, immediately the farmer puts forth his sickle. God is
harvester. That's the way the kingdom of
God is. The gospel is being preached. And through the preaching of
that gospel, God's bringing Hebrews to many sons unto glory. It's not a microwave thing. If
they have been saved, they're being saved. And one day they'll
be plumb saved. It's a process. A process. The mighty hand of God. I must
read this to you. Isaiah chapter 26. I must read
this to you. I'm not going to read many verses.
Just enough to give you the idea. Verse 3. Well, I wish I could fully, perfectly,
continually trust in the Lord. Come what may, trust in the Lord,
because thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is
stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord. Trust ye in the Lord forever,
for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. Now look at this shocking statement
down in verse twelve. Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us, For thou also hast wrought all
our works in us, working in us continually, to will and to do
of his good pleasure. Philippians 2, 12 and 13. I think it's 2 Thessalonians,
no, 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. His word worketh, worketh in
those who believe. His word worketh. Has the Spirit of God brought
you to repentance? Has the Spirit of God given you
faith in rejoicing God? Give Him all
the thanks and all the glory, and follow Him. Believer's baptism. Okay, David.