Looking for the book of Hosea
chapter 6? If you have found the book of
Hosea chapter 6, I'd like to read the first three verses. The first three verses. Come
and let us return unto the Lord for he hath torn and he will
heal us. He hath smitten and he will bind
us up. After two days will he revive
us, in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live
in his sight. Then shall we know if we follow
on to know the Lord. His going forth is prepared as
the morning, and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter
and former reign unto the earth. I want to speak this morning
on the subject following on, following on, and I get this
from verse 3, and I'll read this text to you again. Then shall
we know if we follow on to know the Lord. His going forth is
prepared as the morning, and he shall come unto us as the
rain, as the latter and the former rain unto the earth. I request
this morning at the outset of this meeting, seeing that we're
preaching from the Word of God, we're here in this solemn assembly
to honor our God and to glorify His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ,
that all of you Before God, pay attention, listen carefully to
the Word of God today. I believe that if you listen
carefully, that surely our God will give a blessing to your
heart, to your soul. Now the first thing that we must
do this morning is to remove the word if. which has no business
here in this text whatever. Listen to this. Then shall we
know if the translators say, if we follow on to know the Lord. Now you will notice that the
translators put this if-in in italics to show
that it was no word of God, but one of their own words which
they thought was necessary to complete the sense of the text. The text ought to read, and this
is the way that it should have been translated out of the Hebrew,
we shall know We shall follow on to know the Lord. Let me give
that to you again. Here's the way the text ought
to read. We shall know, we shall follow
on to know the Lord. There's no trace of a question
in this matter. There's no indication in the
original of any if in this text. So we'll cut out man's if and
take the text as it should have been. we shall know, we shall
follow on to know the Lord. His going forth is prepared,
His going forth is prepared as the morning, and He shall come
unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth."
Well, somebody says, what does it matter anyhow? What does it
matter if this if is left in the verse? Well, let me say that
It matters a great deal because if we find here that the translators
putting this little word F in here, it was because of their
Arminian tendencies. It was because they wanted somehow
or other to pass it on or make it appear to those that would
read afterwards that there was contingencies and that it was
absolutely necessary that we add are to sense or that we,
as it were, that we add what we can do and that there's a
possibility that we shall not know the Lord and it's a possibility
we shall not follow on to know the Lord. But I want to say I've
often heard among the religionists of the world, and especially
among Arminian preachers, a great deal of question as to the perseverance
of God's people. And oftentimes I've heard people
say concerning those who have professionally been converted,
I wonder, or I hope they will hold out. What they mean to say,
really, plain English is, we do not believe that they will
hold out or they will hold on. We hope they will means we don't
expect that they will. We don't expect that they will
make it. But one thing, as I read and study the Word of God, that
is crystal clear to me that whoever or however those who are truly
converted to God, whoever they be, whatever be their circumstances,
that those who are truly converted to God can be safely left in
God's hands. They can be safely left in God's
hands. If they've been brought to know
God, if they've been brought to know Him, to be in union with
Him, to have experienced God in their soul, if they've been
taught of God, as John 6, verse 45 through 47 teaches, if they've
been taught of God and have heard of Him and have come to Christ
as He teaches all those that He would save unto Christ, if
they've come in that way Then, beloved, they have salvation,
and their salvation is as sure as if they were already within
the gates of paradise. God's elect will know the Lord,
and they will follow on to know the Lord. And we need not have
this if. The Redeemer will not suffer
any soul to perish trusting in him. Now, that is the danger
of this word if. It leads you to think like an
Arminian. It leads you to think like somebody
who thinks the Lord's people can fall away. And that salvation
is a human project and not a divine project. But beloved, the Bible
teaches that salvation is of the Lord from the beginning to
the end. Now then, the poet said, his
honor is engaged to save the meanest of his sheep. All that
his heavenly father gave, his hands securely keep. Nor death nor hell shall ever
move his favorites from his breast. In the dear bosom of his love,
they must forever rest. Now you may question whether
or not a man has a work of grace in his soul. Sometimes we do
that. Sometimes we wonder about certain
people, whether they've ever had a true work of grace, whether
they've ever really known the Lord or not. But if it be the
Lord's work, if they have a true work of grace in their soul,
then it'll stand. For neither time nor eternity,
nor life nor death, shall ever tear down what divine omnipotence
builds up. The Lord never put his hand to
a work which shall ultimately crumble into nothingness. God is not in the business of
failing. Whenever God sets his mind to
do something, he will do it. God chose a people in old time
in his son, the Lord Jesus. And he sent his son, the Lord
Jesus, to die for them and to provide all things for them that
would be necessary for them to enter everlastingly into the
kingdom of God. And sent the blessed comforter,
the Holy Spirit, to come into this world and to do a regenerating
work, an enlivening work in the souls of those elect to bring
them to Christ in an irresistible and effectual manner, the Lord
will not fail. So the Lord will never put his
hand to a work which shall ultimately crumble into nothingness. There
is no if in this text. Brother Conrad, I'm preaching
from the book of Hosea. Chapter 6 and verse 3. Now the righteous, the Bible
says, shall hold to his way. And the foundation of God stand
assured, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his. Now let me make haste to say
this morning that there is a growth in the divine life. There is a growth in the Christian
life. You do not know what you shall
know. You are not what you shall be.
You have not yet what you shall have. You do not enjoy what you
shall enjoy. I'm saying that there is growth
in the divine life. These are among the things to
come which are yours in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now there are two
things at the very outset that I want to try to bring to you
in conclusion in our preface here this morning as to what
we've said. Number one, let not the fear
of some that you will not hold out disturb you, rather let let
them and what they have to say when they question whether you'll
hold out or not. Back 46 years ago, there was
a lady, after I first made a profession of faith, and she had enough
mouth for another row of teeth, but she let it be clearly She
spread the word that John Mitchell would never make it in the way
of the Lord. He would not make it. He just
could not possibly be saved, and he would not make it. Well,
like I say, it's been over 46 years, and all praise be to the
grace of God. I'm still in the way. I don't
know where she is, but I know where I am. I'm in Christ, accepted
in the beloved, and I'm one of God's elect. I believe that with
all of my heart. And so don't let them disturb
you that would question you, especially you young people in
the Lord that makes a profession of faith in Christ. Don't let
anybody disturb you, but just let that drive you to Jesus Christ
more fully, and where you would rest more fully upon the Lord
Jesus Christ. And then another thing is, let
not your own consciousness of ignorance depress you. You know,
many, many times a young convert will look around at the older
believers and they'll listen to them talk, they'll listen
to the language of Canaan as it comes from older believers,
and they'll say, well, I'll never I'll never know what those people
know. It would be impossible for me
to ever get to the place where I know the Lord like these people
do. And I just will never know the Bible like that preacher
knows it, or I'll never be able to make any advance like that.
I'm just conscious of my ignorance. Well, beloved, don't let that
depress you. Let that also lead you nearer to the Son of God
who alone can teach us to profit in His Word. Let it drive you
to the Lord Jesus Christ. So then, first of all, don't
let anybody discourage you and disturb you if they imply that
you probably won't be able to hold on as a Christian, hold
out to the end. Perseverance to the end, and
don't let your ignorance of the things of God depress you where
that you will not feel that you should press on in the things
of God. Now there are three things in
this text that I want to talk to you about very briefly here
this morning. And the first is this. It is
that we shall know. we shall know. The second is God's promise we
shall follow on to know the Lord. And the third thing is the method
by which this promise will be fulfilled in our lives. Now, every child of God here
ought to be interested in what we have to say. First of all,
then, we shall know. We shall know. Now, it implies
that we begin with knowing the Lord. Now, beloved, you cannot
follow along with that which you've not commenced. You cannot
follow on to know the Lord if you've not already known the
Lord. You must know him to be able to follow on. Now, in John,
and I'd like for you, if you have your Bible, to turn with
me, holding your finger in the book of Hosea, chapter six. Turn with me to John, chapter
17, and I want you to look at verse three. I'd like for you
to become very familiar with these verses. Look at verse three
of John 17. And this is life eternal, that
they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
thou hast sent. Now this is life eternal. This
is what it is. If you want to know what life
eternal is, what it means to be saved in the Lord, and to
be saved for all eternity, This is what it is, that they might
know thee, the only true God. Now this knowing the Lord has
reference to union with him. It has reference to union with
the Lord, which is formed at the time of regeneration. when the Spirit of God comes
in and takes up His abode in the heart of the believer. There
is union, just like there is between man and woman at the
time of marriage. Two shall be one. And we are
joined unto the Lord. We're one spirit with the Lord. And so this is exactly what John
here is telling us, or the Lord Jesus is telling us here in the
Gospel of John, that life eternal is. It is a union with Jesus
Christ, with the true God in Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. Now then, I want you to look
back, if you will, into the book of Jeremiah, and I want you to
look here with me in chapter 31. Chapter 31, this is life
eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and
Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. Now here in Jeremiah 31,
verse 31, we will begin. It says, behold, the days come,
saith the Lord, that I'll make a new covenant with the house
of Israel and with the house of Judah. not according to the
covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took
them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which
my covenant they break, although I was a husband and husband unto
them, saith the Lord. But this shall be the covenant
that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith
the Lord. I'll put my law on their inward
parts and write it in their hearts and will be their God and they
shall be my people. Listen at verse 34 now. And they
shall teach no more, every man his neighbor, and every man his
brother, saying, Know the Lord. For they shall all know me, from
the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord. For
I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin
no more. Now, listen to what the Lord
says in this everlasting covenant. He says, there'll be no need
for you to teach every man his neighbor and every man his brother. Let me tell you this this morning,
that no man can teach another man savingly the gospel. Nobody can do that. Now we preach
the gospel and we trust that the great preacher, the Holy
Spirit, will take the word and apply it to the soul. But no
man can preach another individual into the kingdom of God. He can't
do that. Listen to what it says in the new covenant. God said
I'm going to do a heart work I'm going to do a work in the
hearts of my people in the hearts of the elect and there'll be
no need for you to teach men anymore saying ever to ever man
know the Lord for they shall all know me Now, can you handle
that? They shall all know me. That means, who's the all there?
Well, everyone who is represented by Jesus Christ in the covenant
of grace. Everybody that was given to Christ
before the foundation of the world in that love covenant.
Everybody whom the Lord chose and said, these are mine and
I give them to you, to the Lord Jesus. That people that our Lord
Jesus came into the world to represent and to die for. These
shall know me. They shall all know me from the
least of them unto the greatest. Now, beloved, do you understand
why I said that this text means we shall know? No question about
it, we shall know. The elect will know God. They will know the Lord. It implies
that we begin with knowing the Lord and we cannot follow on. Now there must be a knowledge
of God in the soul. We must know him. And there is
a religiousness in the world which contains in it no knowledge
of God. I remember our Lord Jesus speaking
to the Pharisees in John chapter 8 and after speaking to them
for some time, them denying original sin, Jesus said to them, yet
you have not known him. yet you're religious, and you've
got your theories and your doctrines, yet you have not known Him. And if I should say that I don't
know Him, I'd be a liar like unto you. For I know him, and
keep his word." That's what the Lord Jesus said. So there is
a religiousness which contains in it no knowledge of God. Beware of it, my friend. It consists
of outward rites and ceremonies and religious language and brogues
and various experiences which people have. I say beware of
it. There must be a knowledge of
God. There must be union with Him
for an individual to lay claim to having eternal life. And mark
this, that if you know God, if you're in union with Him, if
you know Him, if you have seen Him revealed in the Word, and
if you have experienced Him in your heart and your soul, then
listen to me, you'll think very little of yourself. You will
thank very little of yourself. Now listen to me, I can preach
to you and I can tell you what a sinner you are. And I can preach,
listen to me, I can preach you down, just as far down as I can
possibly get you, and I'll never convince you of what you are
until you come to know the Lord. Then when you come to know the
Lord, you will be a different person. You will think little
of yourself and nobody will have to be daily, every hour, abusing
you with language and telling you how little you are and how
nothing you are. They don't have to keep doing
that. You will know in your own heart. And you'll think little
of yourself. He who knows not God thinks man
is a very noble being. He who has seen God thinks man
to be dust and ashes. He who knows not God's holiness
thinks himself to be a good creature. But when he sees the thrice holy
God, he says, I abhor myself. He will. A man who knows God
thinks little of himself. He who knows not God thinks man
to be a wonderful being, able just to accomplish whatsoever
he wills. But in the sight of God, human
strength is burned up and man becomes lighter than vanity.
Do you know God? If you know God, you know something
about yourself. Do you know God in the majesty
of His justice as condemning your sin and you for sin? Do you know God in the splendor
of His love as giving Jesus Christ to die for sinners, blending
that love with justice because love gave Jesus and justice slew
the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you know God in the fullness
of His power to save, renewing the heart, changing the mind,
and subduing your old stubborn will, your old rebellious will,
putting down rebellion in your soul? Do you know anything about
the Lord? Do you know the Lord? If you
do, then you've begun to know Him and yourself too. For he
who knows not God, let me say, does not know himself. Oh, to
know the Father as my Father, who hath kissed me and put the
best robe on me. To know the Son as my brother,
in whose garments I am accepted and gives me comeliness in the
sight of God. Oh, to know the Spirit as the
quickener and the divine indweller and the illuminator. And I would
not have enough life to know my death if it was not for the
Blessed Spirit, who had come to me and had quickened me, in
whose life we now live, the Holy Spirit. To know the Lord by the
Spirit's work, that's the meaning, beloved, of the first part of
our text. We shall know. They shall know. The people of God will know the
Lord by the work of the Spirit. The second thing that we have
in this text is God's promise. And it says we shall follow on
to know the Lord. After we know the Lord, then
we shall follow on. to know the Lord. My, my, what
a sweet promise this is. But now, what must we do? Shut out of our minds all ideas
that we do fully know the Lord. Shut out of our minds any idea
that we've reached the apex and that we know the Lord. If a man
concludes, I know the Lord, I know all about Him, I know all that
is knowable, soul will not follow on. He will
never know the Lord at all, if a man thinks he knows it all.
This is not the spot of God's children for a man to think that
he knows the Lord as perfectly as he can know the Lord. I heard about a professing brother
the other day who said that he could not sing the song, Near
My God To Thee, because he said, I'm just as near right now as
I could possibly be to the Lord. Well, I know that positionally
we are near the Lord, having been brought nigh by the blood
of Christ. I know that. But beloved, let
me tell you something, as in experience, and as far as our
state is concerned, I know nothing about such talk as that. Not
a thing. I think I know the Lord. I think
I do. Nay, let me say I know that I
know the Lord. But let me say that In the experiences
that I've had, I believe the Lord has favored me to know something
about my acceptance before God in the person of His Son, the
Lord Jesus Christ. But to suppose that I know all
that is to be known, or that I possess in myself all the holiness
that a creature can attain, this side of the grave is as far from
me, beloved, as the east is from the west. I know of no such thing. I feel more of my own unworthiness
every day I live. I sink lower and lower. I was nothing, now I am less
than nothing. And that's the way I feel. I
think we all feel that way. I think we know that there must
be something more. And therefore, we shall follow
on to know the Lord. Now, Paul wrote in Philippians
3 and 10, after he had been saved about 20 years. He wrote, Oh
that I might know him. I said he wrote that after he
had been saved for over 20 years. He had walked with God for over
20 years. He had marvelous revelations. He had a very successful ministry. He had labored long, although
he said it was not me, it was the grace of God in me. I labored
more than all the other apostles, but it was the grace of God in
me. What Paul? Do you not know him? Oh yes! Paul would reply, I know him
so sweetly, I know him so blessedly that I would know him better.
Amen? Is that not your feeling this
morning? I would know him better. As long as you and I are this
side of heaven, there'll be room for progress in our soul and
something yet beyond that we must follow on to know something
yet beyond. The poet said, for so forget
the steps already trod and onward urge your way. Brother, sister,
self-contentment is the end of our following on. It is the end
of progress in the soul. Now, to persevere in the Lord,
I think there's enough said here in this text to imply that we
will, as the Lord's elect, as his people, we will with intense
desire I've never met one who gave evidence of being truly
one of God's elect who didn't seem to me to be eager about
adhering to, following on, staying at the feet of our Lord, following
Him, and wanting to grow in the divine life. I never met anybody,
like I say, who I think their names were written in the Lamb's
Book of Life, who didn't have an intense desire to go on in
the things of God. Now, if we would know God and
follow the Lord, we'll not do it by trifling over his word,
nor by neglecting the assembling of ourselves together, nor by
sliding the mercy seat, or neglecting private meditation, private prayer. We will not do it by that kind
of conduct. We must be diligent in searching
the Word of God, be much in attendance upon the means of grace, and
be much with God in the closet if we would follow on. And I
believe the Lord's people are praying people. Somebody asked
one time, an old preacher, did he believe that God's people
was a praying people? And he said, if they're not a
praying people, they are not the Lord's people. The Lord's
people are a praying people. Well, what will we know? Somebody
said, if we're going to know, and we're going to know more,
what are we going to know? Well, if you look here in Hosea
6, in verse 1, it speaks of the Lord having torn. It speaks of
the Lord that He will heal us. and that he's smitten us, and
that he will bind us up, and that he'll revive us, and that
he'll raise us up, and that we'll live in him. Beloved, I think
that God's people will know more about their past. They'll have
a better understanding about why things are going on in their
lives, why that they've experienced the things that they've experienced,
why it is that the Lord has torn them, and they'll experience
the healing of the Lord. They'll know more about this.
They'll know what it is, what the meaning of being smitten
with a rod is. They'll know something about
that. They'll understand why God took them behind the door.
They'll have an understanding of that. They'll have some understanding
of the chastisement and the discipline of the Lord, and they'll experience
the Lord raising them up and reviving them. They'll experience
that. So they'll know something about
that. But beloved, we must, in the final analysis, in the final
analysis, leave our experiences with God and trust God. Trust
God. Wherever you are this morning,
just trust God to revive you and to raise you up. And then
I think also we'll have some understanding given to us as
to the future. We shall know, we shall know
more and more as we get nearer to heaven. Is not this the land
of Beulah? One old preacher said, I like
what he said about it, he said the people of God as they get
nearer and nearer to heaven, they get into that land of Beulah.
that place where God wants them to be, and that place where God
visits them and speaks to them and blesses them. And he said
it's where angels bring bundles of spices from the other side
of the river, and stray notes from the harps of angels are
born on favoring breezes to the blessed ears of God's beloved
ones who are waiting to be called away. The Lord's people are going
to learn something more about the future before they leave
this world. They're going to know. They're
going to follow on to know. We shall know all that has been
revealed to the saints shall be revealed to us when we follow
on to know the Lord. Somebody said, I just wish that
I could know what Brother so-and-so knew. And you read some of the
old testimonies of old writers and people who were burned at
the stake and others, and you say, I just wish I could know
what they knew. Beloved, follow on to know the
Lord. You will follow on to know the
Lord, and these things, what's been revealed to others, will
be revealed to you. The mount of the Lord, one preacher
said, is very high. He who stands even at the base
of that mountain is saved. But there are higher platforms,
and we ascend first to one and then to another. And from the
elevations gradually rising, the scene widens and the air
grows clearer. Oh, to be higher and higher and
higher, and so nearer to the light, nearer to perfection,
nearer to God. the Lord's people. Listen to
me, brother, sister, we must press on. We are climbing Jacob's
ladder and we shall know more and more as we press on towards
the Lord and as we adhere to him and as we follow in his footsteps. All right? Now then we shall
know and we shall follow on to know the Lord. Now the last thing
is this. We have the fulfillment of this
promise. Well, how is it done? How is it done? Well, notice,
the scripture says here in verse 3 of Hosea 6, it says, His going
forth is prepared as the morning. His going forth, that's the going
forth of the Lord in His providence, in the effectual working of His
Spirit. He is going forth. The word prepared
here is decreed, it is determined, it is fixed, it is appointed. Let me read it to you like this.
His coming forth, or his going forth, is fixed. ordained, determined, decreed,
the same as the morning is determined and decreed and comes forth from
God's fight. That's exactly what it means.
Now, his coming to Gladden, the souls of his people, his coming
to the people of God to revive them, to lead them on in his
knowledge and his understanding, beloved, can you handle it? It's
a fixed thing. God will do it with these people.
Now I'm not talking about your experience or your grandmother's
experience or your grandfather's experience or somebody else's
experience. I'm talking about the people
of God. I'm talking about the sheep of
Christ. Let other people's experience be what they may. I'm telling
you what the prophet said is true about God's people. His
coming forth to gladden the souls of his people is a fixed thing,
not a pure adventure, but it's determined of God as the coming
of the morning. Now, in the order of things,
morning comes. God has predestinated that there
come a bright, fresh, Morning, and every morning is a new morning. There has never been a secondhand
morning dawn on the earth. And the morning comes irresistibly. Who can stay the morning from
coming? The sun. Who can restrain it
from passing through the gates of the morning? Who can do that?
You know, there's been many people sentenced to die at sunrise.
and oh how they would have liked to have stayed the morning. but they could not do it. You
cannot stay the morning. It is fixed. God bids the sun
rise, and rise it does, because God bid it to rise. So if you, believer, abiding
in the knowledge of God and pressing forward, the light must come
to you. Nothing can prevent it. The sun
rejoiceth to run his race, and defies all competitors, and even
so shall the Lord your Redeemer scorn all who would restrain
him and come to you in the fullness of his love and the fullness
of his blessing to the maturity of your soul. It is a decree
as powerful as that which said, let there be light and there
was light. That's what it is, the coming
forth of the Lord to the souls of his people. It should be no
small joy. It should be no small, it should
not be looked upon as a small joy and blessing to the child
of God. that the mercies that he is to
enjoy are measured out, fixed, and determined by an unalterable
will which has been framed of all by eternal love and infinite
wisdom. Now, you'll have to think on
that a little bit. You'll probably have to meditate
on that a whole lot. But beloved, seeing that God
knows you, and seeing that you know God, seeing that God has
determined that you know Him and that you come to maturity
in the things of God, He has measured out your mercies. He
has measured out that which He is going to supply, and He's
already stored it up in the covenant of grace, and it's there for
you. Mercies, mercies. Oh, how merciful,
remember the psalm. The Lord has been to His people,
and it's no small mercy that God has these things already
measured out. Infinite wisdom, eternal love
has measured them out. And God's gonna give them to
these people. Now follow on to know the Lord. And if all the
devils in hell try to keep you in the dark, they cannot. The
sun must rise for you. Your morning must come and it's
decreed of God. He will visit your soul. He will
come unto you. Follow on to know the Lord for
the secret and omnipotent decrees which rule the providences shall
carry you through to that glad hour. and you'll experience God's
blessing in your soul. Don't be afraid to approach death,
the hour of your departure from this world, the hour of your
moving on upstairs unto the Lord in the Lord's house. Don't fear
that. God's going to give you grace, abundant grace, for whatever
you must experience between here and the grave. His going forth
is as fixed as the morning. His going forth. Alright, now
there's another thing here, and we must notice that. before we're
done. And that is, He shall come unto
us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth. Now dwell upon those words, unto
us. Come unto us. He shall come unto
us. Now, not only shall he come as
the rain, but he shall come unto us as the rain. He shall come
unto us. Now, I rejoice to feel the gospel
come home to me. It's a joy to preach the gospel.
But when I can hear it myself, it's another story, it's another
joy. It's another joy to be able to preach it. Somebody said,
well, when you preach it, don't you hear it? Not every time.
Not every time. You say, well that's mysterious.
It is mysterious, but when a man can hear it, when it comes unto
me, then I rejoice like at no other times. I can praise God
like at no other times. Beloved listen to me now I want
you to get what I'm saying and we're gonna let you go here just
a little bit But now the Lord Jesus Christ has a way of coming
into us Which is as the rain when it waters the earth now
get this get this the earth is dry The earth is dusty the earth
is parched the earth is barren the rain does not hear me now
the rain does not ask anything of the earth. It doesn't ask
the earth for anything. Maybe I should say it that way.
But it looks down from the heights and it sees the gaping mouth
of those parched fields and the clods that lie baking in the
cruel sun and the rain says, the rain says, I'll go and I'll
bless that field. I'll go and water that field
and down it comes and drop after drop it refreshes the field.
And Isaiah 55, we read it this morning, where it says that as
the rain cometh down, the snow comes down, it waters the earth,
it gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater. So shall
my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return
unto me void. Isaiah chapter 55. But beloved,
here's the rain, it comes down on this field. It's dry, parched,
and is not that a picture of our souls many times? And yet
the rain comes. Praise God, there have been some
times when I didn't think I would ever again be refreshed. Ever
again, ever, ever, ever smell a breath of fresh air after the
rain. Never would happen. but we're
visited by the reign of the Lord. He says that He will come unto
us as the reign, as the latter and the former reign. And as
we're visited by the reign of grace and mercy, then we yield
back to heaven the fruits of righteousness to the honor and
glory of God. Observe that it is written, He
shall come unto us as the reign, as the latter and the former
reign. Now these come, do they not,
in their season? They come in their season. The
Lord sends the former rain to start the crop, and then the
latter to plump out the year. The Lord sends the rain in his
season. God will give you grace to help
in the time of need. He'll give you a shower as you
go along, and another, well one when you begin, one when you
go on, and then perhaps the heaviest shower just as you're ripening. Beloved, I want you to think
with me a little bit. These showers, this rain that
the Lord sends from heaven, do not think, do not think that
you can have rain without clouds. You must have some clouds. And
so don't be frightened when you see clouds of trouble, because
if we were to expect rain when there is no clouds, We'd be fooled. We'd be foolish. There's no rain
without clouds. And I think that to expect a
shower of blessing. A time of growing in the grace
of God. A time of understanding more
about our God and His power and His sovereignty and omniscience.
Knowing more about our Lord Jesus Christ and the tenderness of
His love and grace and mercy. To know a time of blessing, to
know the faithfulness of God. Beloved, you're not going to
have it without a cloud of trial in your life, without trials
in your life. And so when you see them clouds,
and you see them trials coming, and they're so full, listen,
the poet said, ye fearful saints, fresh courage take. The clouds
ye so much dread are big with mercy and shall break. in blessing
on your head. Those clouds are gonna break
and they're gonna be filled with mercies and blessings on your
head. So don't be afraid. Don't be
afraid. The rain's coming, but there
always have to be clouds that come before the rain. And so
expect it. God has a way of visiting your
soul. And sometimes when them old storm
clouds are boiling up, You can say in your own heart, the Lord
is about to visit me with his salvation. He will deliver me.
Not even God can deliver a man that's not in trouble. Not even
God can deliver a poor sister that's not being oppressed and
being depressed daily by the hand of the devil. God knows
how to send grace when it's needed. If you had grace once, then the
Lord has more for you. The clouds, someone said here
a while back, the clouds, I was reading this, he called them
wandering cisterns of the sky. He said they fill again, they
empty again, they fill again, they empty again, and so it is
with the mighty grace of God. Them wandering cisterns of the
sky. Praise God that our God visits. There is an exhaustless fullness
in the Lord. However much you had from Him,
you shall have more. You'll have more. We shall follow
on to know the Lord. So follow on to know the Lord.
It must be, listen to this now, it must be by His going forth. It must be by His coming unto
us. There is no knowing of God apart
from this. There is no knowing spiritual
truth except Spirit experientially. Believe what I'm saying. You
say, I don't know why I've had all this, why I've been torn,
why I've been smitten. I don't know why that I've been
afflicted. I don't know why, why I've got this trouble and
why I have these plagues and these seemingly curses upon my
life. There is no learning spiritual
truth except experientially. There must be a coming forth
and a coming unto us. The rain, the latter and the
former, will fall, it must fall, but there must be clouds for
that rain to come down. May the Lord be pleased to help
us with this. You see, what I'm trying to talk
to you about here this morning is that just like that old barren
field, that dry field, like them clods, Bacon in the cruel sun. Brother, sister, I've been there.
I've been there. And I've been helpless to bring
a shower. I've been helpless to get any
moisture. I've been helpless. And the only
thing that my need did, the only thing that my condition did was
set forth my need. I could make no contribution.
Have you ever been so low, you said, Lord, there ain't nothing
I can do. I just yield up myself to you. There's nothing I can
do. I don't have the ability to handle this situation. I can't
change this thing. I can't do anything with this. We shall know. We shall follow
on to know. It is as fixed as the morning. The shower, the ladder in the
form of rain, it'll come. It'll come, believe me, it'll
come. The Lord's gonna send Him. His people, His people shall
know Him and they'll follow on to know the Lord. May the Lord
bless you. Father, in the name of Jesus,
as we've struggled to preach this truth this morning, I pray
that some poor soul here might have profited, and I praise you
for what I felt in my own soul, and I just ask that you'll lift
up this people, encourage this people, and I pray that we shall
all stand in the blessed truth, us being bankrupt sinners before
you, Daily, daily needing an infusion of grace and mercy to
endure and persevere. Help us to stay on the Lord Jesus
Christ and press on toward the mark for the prize of the high
calling of God in Christ Jesus. It's our prayer this morning
in Jesus' name, amen.