Many, many years ago, Philip
Doddridge was preaching in a place he had never been before. And
there was a woman who heard him preach and heard the gospel of
Christ with such delight and such joy and such edifications
as profit to her soul. Many, many months later, Doddridge
was going to be preaching again in a nearby town, and she went
some distance to hear the famous Dr. Doddridge preach again. And
when she walked out the door, she met the preacher, and she
said, I don't understand. He said, you don't understand
what, ma'am? Last year, when you were in such and such a village,
I went to hear you preach and was so tremendously moved to
worship the Lord Jesus Christ. And today, I've come to hear
the same man preach again, and there's nothing in it for me. He said to her, why did you come
to the chapel Last year, when I was preaching, she said, well,
I went there to worship the Lord, and you happened to be there.
He said, there's your answer, ma'am. You went to worship the
Lord then. You came to hear Philip Doddridge
today. You got what you came for. Why
did you come today? What's your desire? What do you
want? What do you need? Sitting here, I wonder, as I
watch you walk through the door and take your places, I wonder
what they were expecting today. I wonder what you came to hear. I know most people come to church
expecting to go through a religious ceremony, read scripture or hear
scripture read, pray or read a prayer or hear someone pray.
Sing a few hymns or hear someone sing. Others come to church expecting
to be entertained with religion. You know, have a contemptible
service. That's a better way to describe
what goes on in what folks call a contemporary service. They
have contemptible services. Services so they warn the old
folks, don't y'all come, you're going to be offended. They want
to entertain folks on their way to hell. Others go to church
expecting to hear a lecture in politics, religious slant on
politics, or a lecture about religious history, or a lecture
in doctrine, or a lecture in morality. Why did you come? Brother Don, I came because I
want, I need, I hope, for a word from God. A word from God to me. What if he gives you that? A word from God to me. If he gives it, you better hear
it. Faithful men labor to seek a
message, a word from God for you. Preaching. Awesome labor. Awesome responsibility. God's servants, the gospel preacher, this man, this hour, is set in
this place as a watchman upon the walls of Zion to show sinners
the way of salvation and life in Jesus Christ the Lord. watchman responsible to have
a message from God. I have no business standing here
preaching if I don't have a message from God. And yet, men who have
no ability to get or develop or prepare a message from God. I studied and prepared Write
out my notes. That's not so terribly hard.
But Merle, the burden of the Word of the Lord is carrying
a message from God Almighty to eternity bound sinners like you. And that is an awesome Awesome
responsibility. Now, I make you this promise.
I make you this promise. As I stand in this place, and
when I say stand in this place, when I stand to preach to men,
it matters not whether I'm preaching to six or eight people as I did
last week where I was traveling, or whether I preach to 60 or
70,000 people. It doesn't matter. I make you
this promise. That which I preach to you today,
and that which I preach to you tonight, and that which I will
preach to you Tuesday night, is that which I have been taught
by God the Holy Spirit from His Word. That which I have experienced
in my soul by the power and grace of God Almighty, which God has
taught me and written upon my heart. And I preach it to you
in exactly that way. In exactly that way. I'm not
interested in just instructing you in doctrine, great as doctrine
is. I'm not interested in just giving
you facts and creed, as important as those things may be. I'm interested
in declaring to you what I know by the experience of God's grace."
Preachers are forever moving from one thing to another, apologizing
for what they've written, apologizing for what they've preached. I
had a fellow ask me just recently if I had changed my doctrine
since writing something I wrote him back and said, I've never
changed my doctrine about anything I've written. You can use any
of it, or you can denounce any of it. It stands exactly as it
is. Well, haven't you ever learned
anything? Yeah, but I never preached anything
I didn't learn. Do you understand that? I'm not
here to preach to you things I haven't learned. I'm not here
to instruct you in things about which I have some theory, some
speculative idea. I'm here to declare God's Word
that burns in my soul. To declare to you a message that
God gives. Let's look at it together. Zechariah
chapter 8, verse 7. I want to preach to you what
God declares in this text. The sure salvation of God's elect. The sure salvation of God's elect. Our God here declares and universally
declares upon the pages of this book. that the salvation of His
elect is a matter of absolute certainty. Absolute certainty. Somebody said, you reckon God
will save this person and that? You reckon God will do this and
that? I know God will save every sinner He loved from eternity. He will save every sinner He
has purpose to save. He will save every sinner He
predestined unto life and salvation in Jesus Christ before the world
was, all of them. And God Almighty does what is
right. That means if God saves you,
it's right. And if God sends you to hell,
it's right. whether you are my brother, my
sister, my mother, my father, my wife, my husband, my son,
or my daughter. That's irrelevant. That's right, isn't it, Darwin?
That's totally irrelevant. What God does is right. If he does it, it's right. That
makes it right. And you and I dare not slap him
on the wrist and say to him, what do you think you're doing?
What a horrible thought. Zechariah chapter 8, verse 7. Thus saith the Lord. That which we have before us
here is the very word of God himself. This is not Zechariah's
word. It is not my word. It is not,
as they say, the word of the church. I'm just so tired of
hearing, what does the church have to say about this? The church
ain't got nothing to say. The church listens. This is not
the word of the church. This is not the word of a creed
or a confession of faith written by men. This is God's own word
to you. Behold. Stop now. Take a deep breath. Don't be
in a hurry. When God said behold, He means
behold. Stop and take a long look at
this. Stop and listen carefully. Ponder
these things. He's calling our attention to
that which is not expected. He's calling our attention to
something that we would just walk right by it and ignore it
if he didn't say stop and listen to me. I will save my people. Oh, how I love to hear our God
say, I will. You know what that means? He shall. The Lord God here declares
that there are some people in this world who are distinctly
and peculiarly particularly and specifically his people. He emphatically asserts that
he will save them, all of them, without exception. Behold, I
will save my people. Nothing can prevent it. Nothing
can even hinder it. It shall be done, and God Almighty
arranges all things to accomplish it exactly according to His purpose. Behold, I will save my people
from the country, from the East country and from the West country. Now, without question, This whole
book of Zechariah is about God bringing Israel out of Babylon
back to Jerusalem, the reestablishing of the city, the reestablishing
of the nation, the rebuilding of the temple, the restoration
of all those things. But this prophecy is intended
by God to reach far beyond just that typical deliverance out
of Babylon and the typical restoration of the typical nation and the
typical temple in the typical city. I know that because when
he says, I will gather my people, I will save my people from the
East country and from the West country, there were none in the
West country. There were no Jews known at any
time to be in the western hemisphere or the western world at this
point. But rather the Lord God is telling us exactly the same
thing He does back in Isaiah chapter 43. Turn back there if
you will. He is giving us a promise, a
prophecy, relating to the salvation of His elect, the Israel of God,
out of every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue. And the Jews
understood this. They understood. The ones who
had any learning and understanding at all in the prophets understood
that these things implied the gathering of His people from
every nation. You remember what Caiaphas the
High Priest said? When he was talking to them about
the death of Christ, he wasn't a spiritual man, he was a carnal,
lost, religious reprobate, but he spoke as the priest of God,
by the Spirit of God, and couldn't refrain himself. He said that
Christ would gather together in one the children of God that
were scattered abroad. Just as Isaiah describes it here
in Isaiah 43. Now thus saith the Lord that
created thee, O Jacob, you tricky scoundrel, you sinful wretch,
and he uses one man's name to speak of all his own. And he
that formed thee, O Israel, the same fellow, you blessed prince
of God. You, you great, honorable, noble,
accepted, righteous man. What? He speaks to Jacob, reminding
him what he is by nature, reminding you what you are by nature, and
telling you what you are by his grace. Don't ever forget both.
Read on. Fear not. Fear not. Now write those two words in
huge capitals and apply them to anything and everything all
the time. What should you not fear? Anything
you might fear. Fear not. No reason for you to
ever be afraid. Not if your name is Jacob and
you own it. Your name is Israel and you rejoice
in it. No reason to be afraid of sickness,
or poverty, or apparent danger, or trouble. Our bad news, our
war, our famine, our pestilence, our disease, our enemies in heaven,
earth, or hell, don't be afraid. Well, Brother Don, I wish I was
strong as you. Man, you're stronger than I am.
I'm not talking about my strength than yours. Fear not, because
He's strong. I'm God strong. If anything,
you can depend on me. I've got plenty of reason to
be afraid of anything. Anything depends on you. You've got plenty
of reason to fear everything. But none of this depends on you.
Your life, your safety, your security, your salvation, the
salvation of God's people, the salvation of God's elect, the
salvation of God's church does not depend on you. Fear not. How come? For I have redeemed
thee. Has He redeemed you? Did Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, purchase you with His precious blood?
Then would you please tell me why you're afraid of anything?
I have called thee by thy name. What's your name, Jacob? Your
name used to be Jacob. I call you Israel, Prince with
God. Thou art mine. I am honor bound as a man, as
a husband, as a father, to take care of my own. I'm honor bound
to do it, and I'm going to do it. I'm going to, no matter what
it costs me, no matter how I may be injured in the process, I'm
going to do it. I'm going to do it. That means
that those two girls that have lived in my life for these past
37 years, my wife and my daughter. If they are mine, and they are,
they have no reason to ever question that I will do them good, protect
them, defend them, even with my life. But they still got a
reason to be afraid. Because I am not able to do much. I'm not able to do much. I do
the best I can, but the best I can ain't much. Listen to me,
Vengeance. God says you're mine. And He's honor-bound to take
care of us all. Don't be afraid. Thou art mine. So when you pass through the
waters, I'll be with you. And through the rivers, they
shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire,
you won't even smell like you've been in a room full of smoke.
Thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
Verse 3. How come? For I am the Lord thy
God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior. Now listen. Remember what we read in Isaiah
46? Remember the former things? He said, I gave Egypt for thy
ransom, Ethiopia and Ziba for thee. I sent nations to hell
to save you. Real? Since thou was precious in my
sight. Precious. Precious. Like a pearl of great price.
Like a treasure hidden in the field. Like a rare, exquisite
diamond, you just stumble across in the field. Oh, I've got to
have that. I've got to have that. I've got
to have that. Precious in my sight. Precious. Precious. Forty years ago, I stumbled across
that lady right there. And it wasn't long, I said, I've
got to have her. And I did everything I could
possibly do to persuade her that she needed me. Because I said,
I've got to have her. Precious, that's the word. God
Almighty looked at you from eternity and said, I've got to have him. I've got to have her. Precious
in my sight. Read on. Since I was precious
in my sight, Thou hast been honorable. When God Almighty loved you with
everlasting love, made you precious in His sight from eternity, when
God Almighty said, I've got to have Him, the Lord God accepted
you into the beloved. His choice, His love made you
honorable in His sight. And I have loved Thee. I have
loved Thee. I have loved Thee. I love the way God talks about
His love. Do you know, there might be an
exception here, I'll have to look it up, but I don't think
there is. I can't think of a place in this book where Mark talks
about God loving us in the present tense. Can you think of a place? He said, I have loved thee. And that is the declaration that
his love is invariably the same, because he changes not. I have
loved thee, therefore will I give men for thee, and people for
thy life. I said fear not, for I am with
thee. I am with thee. Now he's talking
not about one person, though he's talking just about one.
He's talking about all the sons of Jacob, all the Israel of God. He says, I will bring thy seed
from the east and gather thee from the west. I will say to
the north, give up, and to the south, keep thy back. What's
he talking about? Just what Zechariah is describing
back here. Zechariah, bring my sons from
far and my daughters from the ends of the earth. And so all
Israel shall be saved. That's Zechariah 8. The Lord God continues, verse
6, verse 7. And I will bring them. Of the sheep I have, them also
I must bring. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest and causest to approach unto thee. Though many may try
to prevent it, I will bring them. I will bring every one of my
people. I will lead them and guide them. I will be their strength
and their shield. I will bear them from the womb.
I will carry them to old age and I will bring them to myself.
I will bring them. That means they are sure to be
brought. He will breathe life into their dead bones and make
them live before Him. I will bring them. He will seek and find His sheep. That's what He's doing day by
day in His good providence and grace. The Good Shepherd came
into this world to seek and to save that which was lost. He
goes forth into the wilderness to seek his sheep, his one lost
sheep. And we see him torn and bruised
and broken and bleeding and dying, but he's found his sheep and
he lays it on his shoulders. And he carries it all the way
to glory, and presents it in the fold of the Father. And lo,
there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God, because
his sheep that was lost had been found. And they shall dwell in the midst
of Jerusalem. I will. They shall. Oh, but what if they're not willing?
They should be willing. But what if they're not in the right place?
They will be. But what if they're born at the wrong time? They
won't be. But what if, what if, what if, what if, what if, what
if, what if? They shall! Because God says, I will. Don't you love the way God speaks?
His promises are all yea and amen in Christ Jesus. They are never yea and nay. He will bring His elect into
His church. He will bring them into His kingdom. He will bring them into His household
of grace and faith, and He will bring them at last to glory.
They shall be no more foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens
with the saints in the household of God, enjoying all the immunities
and privileges and rights of the Jerusalem that is above the
mother of us all. Now watch this. And they shall
be my people. Wait a minute. Didn't he just
say, I will save my people? Well, that means they were his
people beforehand. He didn't say, I will save those
who shall be my people. He said, I will save those who
are now my people. They are already my people. But
here he says, they shall be my people. Those who were his people
from everlasting shall at the appointed time of grace be his
people in the blessed experience of grace, when he causes them
to return to him. by the effectual power and grace
of His Holy Spirit, when He causes them by irresistible mercy to
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, when sinners are called from
death to life and given faith in Christ, then they who were
His people from forever shall be His people openly and manifest
them. It is faith in Christ. Will you hear me? It is faith
in Christ, God's gift of faith in Christ, that makes our calling
and our election sure. Believe on the Son of God. Can you believe Him? I don't
even ask, will you? Can you believe Him? Can you trust the Son of God? Can you rest your soul on the
blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ alone? If so, it's because
Bob Pontzer, he called you and gave you faith. I'm not asking,
did you believe yesterday? I guess by the round three of
you, the old fella here, been preaching for a long time. I'm
not asking, did you believe yesterday or did you believe 20 years ago?
Can you right now believe on the Son of God? If so, He loved
you with everlasting love, redeemed you with His blood, and has called
you by His grace, and you believe right now because He's giving
you faith. You understand that? Now watch this, and I will be
their God. Oh, what a word. Yes, the Lord God is ours just
as really and just as truly as we are His. He makes Himself ours. I'm His. You're not your own, you've been
bought with a price. If you have, you're His. Sitting
there beside those darling children God gave you, they're not yours,
they're His. Got a husband, got a wife? No,
you don't. They're his. You got a job? No, you don't.
It's his. Well, I have a house to take
care of. No, you don't. It's his. Well, I've got a family to watch
after. No, you don't. It's his. It's
his. If you're his, you're his lock,
stock and barrel. That means you don't have any
time of your own. Any possessions of your own, any life of your
own, any will of your own, nothing of your own is lock, stock, and
barrel. Boy, I don't want that. I wouldn't
either if I was you. I wouldn't either. No, I wouldn't.
I'm telling you the truth. I wouldn't give it up for anything.
No, sir. I wouldn't give my life up for
anything. I'd hang on tight until I went to hell, just like you
are, except for one thing. Him. I'll give you up for Him. For
Him. I'll give my days for Him. I'll
give my life for Him. I'll give my property for Him.
I'll give my time for Him. I'll give everything for Him.
Because it's a great swap. In exactly the same way, Merle,
as you are His. Everything about you. Everything
about you. Everything. He's yours. Everything He is, and everything
He possesses, in the totality of His being, God our Savior
says, I will be their God. He says, I will be their God
in truth. That is to say, I know you can't hardly get hold
of this. I know you can't hardly grasp
this, but I'm telling you the truth, I will surely be your
God. Father, I will be your God in sincerity and in truth. We are the circumcision who worship God in the Spirit.
in rejoicing Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. The Lord says, I will betroth
thee unto me forever. Yea, I will betroth thee unto
me in righteousness and in judgment, in loving kindness and in mercies.
I will betroth thee, even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness. And thou shalt know the Lord. I will be their God in truth
and in righteousness. They shall be my people and I
will be their God. I will save them in truth, in truth and in righteousness. in righteousness, in strict accordance
with my righteous character, and my righteous law, and my
righteous will. I will be their God, and they
shall be my people in truth and in righteousness, by the righteousness
of Him who is the Lord our Righteousness, Jesus Christ, by His obedience
and blood, by the shedding of His blood, by the laying down
of His life unto death. Righteousness is imputed to us
just as sin was made His, and righteousness is imparted to
us. We are made to be the righteousness
of God in Him. John said when he saw the great
city, none shall enter in to make a lie or commit fornication
or unclean. None! None! You're not going to enter into
that fold! except in righteousness. Righteousness that God alone
can give. The Lord God says, I will save
my people. I will surely save them. I will
save them by the sacrifice of my Son. I will perfectly save
them. I just got one question. Just
one question. Is there any chance, any possibility, that I might be one of his people? Might you be one of his people? Might you be one of his people? Might you be one of His people? And not only might be, I am. I am. How can you know that? He that believeth on the Son
of God hath everlasting life. He's passed from condemnation
into life and shall not come into condemnation. I believe it. I don't know whether I do or
not. Oh, yes, you do. Oh, yes, you
do. I'll show you tonight, Lord willing,
it's not possible to believe Him without knowing you believe
Him. That ain't possible. That ain't
possible. Daddy Iams, you know whether
or not you trust Christ alone as your Savior as surely as you
know your name, Daddy Iams. Me too. Me too. Because if you trust something
else, you ain't trusting Him. If you trust Him, you trust nothing
else. God give you faith in Him. Amen.