I try when I stand in this place to recognize
that I may speak to you tonight and meet you at the bar of God
before the sun rises tomorrow. To speak to you as one facing
eternity and you who are about to meet God in eternity. These two things cannot be overstated,
exaggerated, fully described, or declared too often. I cannot
exaggerate our sin, our utter depravity. the total inability of our lost,
helpless, ruined condition by nature. And I cannot exaggerate
God's great grace. Oh, that God will cause you to
know your sin and to know His great, free, saving grace in
Jesus Christ the Lord. God in great grace has given
his dear son to be a great savior for great sinners for the glory
of his own great name. I want you to know and be constantly
aware of to live hour by hour, day by day, week by week to the
last of your days in the awareness of the greatness of your sin
and the greatness of God's free grace in Christ Jesus the Lord. The Lord God Almighty chose to
save a people from eternity. And those people he chose, he
chose in everlasting love. He loved us from eternity and
never changed his mind. He loved us from eternity. In
infinite wisdom, the triune Jehovah devised a means whereby he could
both glorify himself and save guilty sinners. And the means
by which he does that is substitution. He gave his own dear son, the
Lord Jesus Christ, to be the sinner's substitute. and he slew
him before the world began as the Lamb of God accepted him
and accepted his elect in him before the world began. God the
Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, the triune Jehovah,
entered into a covenant of grace by which he secured with an everlasting
compact between the three persons of the Godhead, our eternal salvation. And then in the fullness of time,
God sent his son into the world to meet all the conditions, all
the requirements, and all the stipulations of the covenant
of grace as our surety. Today, God sends gospel preachers. armed with the authority of his
throne, the power of his spirit, and the message of his grace
to proclaim the good news of redemption accomplished and salvation
finished by Jesus Christ the Lord. And he sends those preachers
urging lost, ruined, doomed, damned, hell-bent, hell-deserving
sinners like you and me to flee to Christ for refuge. God sends
preachers with the authority of God urging you to flee to
Christ. Imagine that. God urges sinners
to flee to him for mercy. Let me show you that. Turn to
2 Corinthians chapter 5 for just a minute. Very familiar text
of scripture. 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse
17. Therefore, if any man be in Christ,
if any man be in Christ, in Christ by God's election, in Christ
by the power of God's grace in the new birth, he is a new creature,
a new creature. Old things are passed away and
behold, all things are become new. And this is God's work. All things are of God. Who hath... It's important to read that just
the way it's written. Who hath... It was already done
when Paul wrote the epistle. It's already done. Who hath reconciled
us to himself by Jesus Christ. God, by the sacrifice of his
Son, has reconciled his elect to himself. satisfied all the
requirements of law and justice, all righteousness fulfilled and
brought in by the Savior. He's reconciled his people to
his son and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation. He has reconciled his people
unto himself. And he sends preachers to call
those people who are yet rebels in their hearts against God,
you who are yet rebels against God, those people, however, whom
he has already reconciled in Christ, calling them to reconciliation,
to wit, that is to say, God was in Christ reconciling the world
to himself. Obviously, he was not in Christ
reconciling everybody in the world to himself. Lots of folks
were already in hell when Christ came into the world. He was reconciling
the world of his elect, his elect scattered throughout all the
world to himself. How is that? Not imputing their
trespasses unto them, not charging them with sin, and hath committed
to us the word of reconciliation. This is the word of reconciliation.
Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ. I wouldn't dare assume to think
such a thing of this man talking to you. And I certainly wouldn't
state it if I hadn't read it right there in the book of God.
I stand before you as God's mouthpiece with God's message. I stand before you as God's ambassador,
as though God did beseech you by us, as though God were standing
right here talking to you right now, Dwight, right now, as though
God did beseech you by us. We pray you in Christ's stead,
be ye reconciled to God. I've come here tonight and I've
been praying all day that God would be pleased to call out
you who are rebels yet against the Son of God, who do not know
our Savior, who yet will not bow to the Lord Jesus. I'm calling
on you now, right where you sit, to lay down your weapons of warfare
before God and be reconciled to Him. And here's the reason. Here's the basis of it all. have made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God in Him. Oh, what would you
give? What would you do if you could
go home tonight confidently assured that you are the very righteousness
of God in Jesus Christ? I mean the very righteousness
of God in Jesus Christ. What peace that would bring.
What joy that would bring. Oh, that you might go back to
your house tonight justified in your own heart, mind, and
conscience before God. All of this God has done for
fallen, guilty, helpless, condemned sinners like you and me. Oh,
what amazing grace. What wondrous mercy, what infinite
love. Will you hear me now? God's grace
is great beyond description, but it can only be seen upon
the black background of man's depravity and sin. You will never
see and you'll never have any appreciation for the grace of
God in Christ until you are made to see. and know your own sin. And that's not a pleasant experience.
That's not a pleasant experience. My dear friend, Brother Harry
Graham, when I was 19 years old, was sitting on his hearth one
night in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and he said to me,
he said, Don, if you could see what God does with a sinner when
he reveals himself to the sinner and makes the sinner to see himself
as he is in all his depravity and sin, you'd think to yourself,
I wouldn't treat a mad dog like that. It is no pleasant thing
to be brought face to face with the reality of what you are. Nothing but corruption, depravity,
vileness, loathsomeness, and sin. All the evil that is in
the world is in you and in me by nature. All of it, all of
it. If you can think it, you can
do it if God will just let you. If you can think it, it's what
you are. If God would just leave you to
yourself, everybody would see it. But that which is hidden
in the deep recesses of your own heart and soul that you dare
not expose to anybody, God alone can expose to you. Oh, may He
do that. The prophet Isaiah describes
you and me in a painfully vivid and accurate word here in Isaiah
chapter 1 that Brother Eben read for us earlier. We are all by
nature, by choice, and by practice, a people laden with iniquity,
just like Sodom and Gomorrah. a seed of evildoers. We are corrupt, and not only
corrupt, but corruptors. I pray every day, God, help me
to be a blessing to the folks I meet this day and not a hindrance. Help me to help folks and not
hurt them, because I know that by nature I am corrupt, and a
corrupter, not a helper. Hear me now. Let me speak to
you personally, each of you. I wish I could speak to you and
you'd hear me as if it were just you and me in a room by ourselves. I'm talking to you, every one
of you. Your personal depravity is great
beyond description. We read about it in Isaiah chapter
1, verses 2, 4, 5, and 6. The prophet describes it well.
Before God, we are a thankless, thoughtless, rebelling people. Iniquity is in your heart. Sin
is in your hands. Transgression is in your path.
You've forsaken God from your youth, and you daily provoke
him to anger. In verses 10 through 15, the
prophet tells us that all our acts by nature, Our acts of righteousness,
our acts of religion, our acts of morality are just perverse
and abominable in the sight of God. I don't doubt people's sincerity
and things, but men go through the exercise of religion and
the practice of religious duty in utter ignorance, ignorant
of God's character and ignorant of their own character. ignorant
of what God requires of us, in all spiritual matters, man's
judgment by nature is perverted. I can't stress this like I want
to. Whatever you naturally think of righteousness, of grace, of
spirituality, of salvation, of goodness, whatever you naturally
think of those things, Whatever you naturally think of redemption,
whatever you naturally think of sanctification, of holiness,
it's dead wrong. It's dead wrong. The perception
of men by nature is in utter contradiction to the revelation
of God's word. Until you're born again by God
Almighty, you cannot see the kingdom of God, let alone enter
into it. And yet men practice religion
and argue and fuss about it and fight with family, divide with
family and friends over nonsense because they think they're doing
God's service. Hear me, you who are without
Christ are in great danger of reprobation. In verse 5 of Isaiah
1, God says, why should you be stricken anymore? Why should
I bother you with anymore? You will revolt more and more. How often God's spoken to you,
but you won't hear. Your conscience has been pricked,
but you pacify it. Though God has stricken your
heart with fear and your mind with terror, you revolt more
and more. And the time may soon come when
God will just leave you alone. I recall, it's been some years
ago, I got a note one day from Brother Joe Terrell up in Rock
Valley, Iowa. Some folks had come in to visit,
and it was on a Sunday afternoon. And he said, I can't help when
I see folks come in like that. I wonder if God brought them
here to melt them or to harden them. And the preaching of the gospel
will do one of those two things for you. It'll either melt you
before His throne or it will harden you against Him. It will
never be in vain. The Lord God says concerning
some, like He did Ephraim, Ephraim is joined to his idols. Leave
him alone. Leave him alone. He told his
prophet Jeremiah, after preaching and preaching and preaching and
preaching to the people of Israel, he said, don't pray for them
again, I'll cast them away. If God leaves you alone, oh my
soul, if God leaves you alone, you will be left alone forever.
There's nothing you can do to change your lost, ruined condition. Look here in verse 17. Verse 16, the Lord says, wash
you, make you clean. Put away the evil of your doings
from before my eyes. Cease to do evil. Learn to do
well. Seek judgment. Relieve the oppressed. Judge the fatherless. Plead for
the widow. All you've got to do is make
yourself right. All you've got to do is put away
your sins. All you've got to do is quit
sinning. All you've got to do is do what's
right and righteous. But you can't do that. The things
we just read in verses 16 and 17 are impossible for any mere
man to do. God commands us to be clean,
but we can't make ourselves clean. He commands us to put away our
sins, but we can't atone for sin. God commands us to be right
before Him, righteous before Him, to walk before Him and be
perfect, to walk before Him and be holy, but we can't do that.
We can't hide our sin from our own eyes, let alone from His. We certainly can't put it away.
God Almighty commands us to obey Him perfectly, but we have no
ability to do so. The Ethiopian can't change his
skin, and the leopard cannot change his spots, and we who
are accustomed to doing evil cannot do good. That's the greatness
of our sin. We're totally depraved, spiritually
ignorant, and in immediate danger of hell. You who are without Christ are
in immediate danger of hell. The wrath of God abides upon
you who believe not. You have no reason to expect
anything except everlasting damnation until God is pleased to give
you life and faith in his son. Unless God intervenes, you must
forever be lost, but blessed be his name. God does intervene. God does put himself in the way. God does stop sinners in their
mad rush to hell and snatches them by the very nap of the neck
and brings them to fall at his feet before his throne of grace. For where sin abounded, grace
did much more abound. Some of you, I preached to for
a long time, most of you, Some of you I've preached to all your
lives. You know the sound of my voice. You know me well enough
to know the expressions of my face, the gestures of my hand,
and the doctrine, I believe. You've heard my sermons. You've
heard my prayers. You've heard your pastor's sermons.
You've heard his prayers. You know him well. But you come
week after week, Sunday after Sunday, Wednesday after Wednesday,
and remain unmoved. But suppose you were to hear
God speak. Suppose God should be sitting
right there talking to you tonight. Suppose it were God himself who
spoke to you. Would you hear God? Before this
hour is over, we're going to find out. The title of my message
tonight is God's Word to You. God's Word to You. Look at chapter
1 of Isaiah, verses 18, 19, and 20. These are not the prophet's
words. These are not my words. This
is God's word to you. In the light of this fact, that
you're lost without Christ, and that you can do nothing to save
yourself, the Lord God says, come now, let us reason together,
saith the Lord. Though your sins be snow. Though they be red like
crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient,
ye shall eat the good of the land. But if ye refuse and rebel,
ye shall be devoured with the sword, for the mouth of the Lord
hath spoken it." The Lord God here commands you to come to
Him. by faith in Christ. And he makes
this promise. He promises the full forgiveness
of sin to all who obey the command. God says, come to me. And he
promises, if you come to me, I'll give you the sure mercies
of David. I'll forgive all your iniquity,
transgression, and sins. Now let's look at this text of
scripture. as simply as I possibly can make
it, as clearly as I possibly can declare it. I want to raise
and answer seven questions very briefly. First, here is God's
command. Come. Come. To whom is the command
given? Is this talking to me? Now, if
you've got one of those Bibles that's got lots of notes in it,
been messed with, especially if it's one of them Schofield
Bibles that's got a dispensational instruction on every page, you'll
wind up with about that much of the Bible. This is for us,
the rest of us, for somebody else. This book, this book is not written
for the Jews. It's not written for folks who
lived in those days or folks who are going to live tomorrow.
What we have before us here is God's word to you and to me this
very moment. To whom is this command given?
It's not an invitation. You might reject or accept an
invitation as you choose without any impunity. I've been invited
to a lot of things I chose not to attend and I didn't cause
any offense to folks. I just had other things needed
to be done that were more important. But this is a command. It's a
summons from the Most High God to bow before His throne. When
God says come, He doesn't mean come if you please. He doesn't
mean come if you want to. When God says come, He means
come. You can't disobey an invitation. But a command is different. If
you refuse to obey God's command, God's command to come to Christ,
you shall be judged of God as disobedient rebels. He says in
Romans 10, 21, I stretched out my hand all the day long to a
disobedient and gainsaying people. This is a gracious command, very
gracious. The gospel of God presents sinners
with God's commandment. This is His commandment, that
you should believe on the name of His Son. That's what He said. This is His commandment. Somehow
or another, I know there's lots of theological haggling about
this stuff, but somehow or another I got a hunch that if God commands
you to come, it's all right for you to come. God commands you
to come to His Son. Come! That means you're responsible
to obey His command. And this command, I repeat, is
addressed to you. It's addressed to sinners everywhere
without qualification. If you hear the command, it's
God's command to you. If you read the command, it's
God's command to you. Now, I know lots of folks, would-be
theologians frown at what I'm preaching and they say, well,
that's not consistent Calvinism. Brother Fortner needs to refine
his theology somewhat. I don't care much what folks
say about those things. I want you who hear my voice
to know that God commands you to come to Christ and you will
not disobey without impunity or with impunity. Many put qualifications
in front of the command. And they would say, this is a
command to sinners who are seeking sinners, or sensible sinners,
or are there sinners who are thirsty sinners, or hungry sinners,
or weary sinners, or lost sinners, or convicted sinners, or penitent
sinners, or broken sinners. But this is God's word to sinners,
period, without any qualification or condition. In fact, If you
read what we just read a little bit ago, this first chapter of
Isaiah, in the context, these who are commanded to come, he's
describing not just the children of Israel, the people of Judah,
the people of Jerusalem, he's talking about us. In verse 2,
they're described as senseless sinners, ungrateful sinners,
sinners who would not hear and didn't care. In verse 3, they're
beastly sinners like an ox or an ass who would not think. In
verses 4, 5, and 6, we're described as utterly depraved sinners without
a single commendable trait, a people laden with iniquity, sinners
who promoted evil in others, sinners who are hardened, sinners
of the very worst kind. Self-righteous sinners. Sinners
like that Pharisee who went into the temple to pray and offered
his sacrifices and said, God, I thank you. I'm not like other
men. And God says, when you stretch your hands, they're full of blood. When you speak your prayers,
I won't hear you. Your sacrifices are abomination
to me. The gospel is addressed to sinners.
The apostle Peter on the day of Pentecost is addressing that
huge crowd around him. And it was a huge crowd. He said,
repent and be baptized, every one of you. Can you imagine the
multitudes of people in that crowd? What vile, disgusting
people must have been there, but none were excluded. None
were required to meet certain conditions. Peter simply calls
them by the Spirit of God to faith in Christ Jesus. And my
point, I repeat, is this. If God commands me to come to
Him, then I may come to Him. And if I come to him in obedience
to his own command, I cannot be turned away. Oh, don't wait
another second. Come to Christ where you are.
Without uttering a word, without moving a muscle, come to Jesus
Christ the Lord. And our Lord Jesus says, him
that cometh to me, I will and know why. for no reason, under
any circumstances, at any time, cast out. Do you reckon he would
receive me? He said, come unto me! And him
that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. Come to him,
and you'll receive by him. I love the picture of a sinner
coming to Christ in Luke 15. The prodigal son is coming home
to his father. when he was yet a great way off.
When he was yet a great way off, his father saw him. His father
saw him and had compassion on him. He saw who he was, all that
he'd been, all that he'd done. He saw what he would make of
him and what he would do for him, and he had compassion for
him. And the only time in this book, the only time in the pages
of this book You'll ever see God portrayed as getting in a
hurry. He ran. God ran and fell on his neck
and kissed him and kissed him and kissed him and kissed him
and kissed him and kissed him and kissed him and kissed him.
How anxious God is to be gracious to sinners. Oh, how gracious
He is. Therefore, this wretched sinner,
in whose breast a thousand thoughts revolve, with all my guilt and
fear oppressed, has made this last resolve. I'll go to Jesus,
though my sins, like mountains round me close. I know His courts
I'll enter in, whatever may oppose. Prostrate I'll lie before His
throne, and there my guilt confess. I'll tell Him I'm a wretch undone
without His sovereign grace. Out to the gracious King approach,
who sceptre pardon gives. Perhaps he may command my touch,
and then this sinner lives. Perhaps he will admit my plea. Perhaps will hear my prayer.
But if I perish, I will pray and perish only there. I can
but perish if I go. I am resolved to try. For if
I stay away, I know I must forever die. But if I die with mercy
sought, when I the king have tried, this were to die delightful
thought, as sinner never died. I might be the first, you might
be the first, but nobody yet has perished at the throne of
grace. Nobody yet. Now, how can sinners
on earth come to God in heaven. God is infinite spirit. We're
finite flesh. God's holy. We're sin. God's in heaven. We're on earth. How can we come to him? There's
only one way. You can come to God only through
a mediator who is one with us and one with God. A mediator
who is both God and man, fully God and fully man, able to lay
hold of God in all his holy glory and lay hold of man in all his
fallen depravity and bring man up to God and make us one with
him. That mediator is Jesus Christ
the Lord. He's the only one who can do
it. He is the way. Without him, you can't come to
God. He is that great high priest who is able to save to the uttermost
all who come to God by him. If you would come to God, you
got to bring two things with you. You got to bring blood for
atonement and righteousness for acceptance. You've got to bring
blood to pay for sin. Without the shedding of blood
is no remission. And you've got to bring righteousness,
perfect righteousness such as God himself requires and God
himself performs that which God alone can perform. And Jesus
Christ is that blood atonement. Jesus Christ is that righteousness. He is the spotless lamb. He is
the sin-atoning sacrifice. He is the interceding high priest.
This coming to God by Christ is not a physical act. I'm reluctant
to say this because I don't want to be misunderstood. It's not
even an emotional act, though I'm sure emotion is involved
in it. But nobody has ever come to Christ by walking down to
the front of a church building. You just as well think about
going to a papalist confessional booth and going to God that way.
Nobody has ever come to Christ by repeating the sinner's prayer
that somebody told him to say. Nobody. Not you, not mama, not
daddy, not grandma, not grandpa. Nobody. You don't come to Christ
physically. You come to God by faith in Christ
with your heart. With the heart, man believeth
unto righteousness. With the heart, Man believes
God with reference to righteousness. He believes the testimony God
has given in His Word with regard to righteousness brought in by
the sacrifice of His Son. We come to God by faith in Christ,
heart faith. Faith wrought in the heart by
God. Now, look at this third thing.
Look here how God reasons with man. How does God reason with
man? God says, come now, let us reason
together. Does God stoop to reason with
rebels? Indeed, he does. God condescends
to reason with rebels who are unreasonable. He condescends
to reason with men and women who will not be reasoned with,
but he reasons with us. And it does so very graciously. You can never atone for sin,
therefore hell is eternal. You can never obey God's law,
so salvation by works is a proud delusion. And you can't change
your own heart, so salvation by your free will is an absurdity. But there is a remnant whom God
has chosen, we're told in verse 9. He's chosen to save them in
everlasting mercy, love, and grace. And God will gather that
remnant and they shall come to him. And all who come to him
shall be saved, fully forgiven, purged of all guilt, purified
from all filth by the precious blood of Christ. Look at what
it says. Though your sins be as scarlet, double-dyed, double-dyed,
they shall be as white as snow, purged away. I wear these white shirts. And
I'm not always real good about keeping stuff off of them. Most
of the time, if I pull my tie off, they act like the bib. At
least the tie was preserved. But I catch gravy on them. And
sometimes I put my pen in the pocket, these new rollerball
pens. If I put the fountain pen in there and have a big black
circle there, I probably have one on this shirt. But you can't
find it. You can't find it. How come?
Because that beautiful blonde-headed lady back there, she scrubs them.
I mean she scrubs them. She puts all kinds of stuff on
them and works her wonders on them. She scrubs them and then
washes them. And look at that. You can't find a speck. You can't
find a speck. Because the stain has been purged. It's not covered up. It's gone. Jesus Christ, by the sacrifice
of himself, has purged our sins. Purged. They shall be purged
away, though they be red like crimson, blood red with the guilt
of Christ's precious blood. They shall be as wool, pure,
white, and clean in God's sight, as white as the wool of the perfect,
spotless Lamb of God. with his spotless garments all,
holy as the Holy One. That's God's promise. If you
come to God by faith in Christ, you're one of those elect remnant. You're called by his grace. You're
redeemed. You're forgiven. Well, brother
John, how can I know? Your coming is the proof. This
is what the book says. Now, faith is the substance of
things hoped for. the evidence of things not seen. I know my name is written in
heaven because I believe on the Son of God. That's all. That's
all. Not because I feel good or feel
righteous or feel holy or feel close to God. More often than not, I don't. That's just fact. More often
than not, there's just a cold, steely, iron-hard deadness about
me that I can't tolerate. That's just fact. But what I
am has got nothing to do with God's free grace. Nothing. Faith is the evidence that I'm
redeemed, called by God, born of His Spirit. If you come to
Christ right now, of your calling is your coming. The proof of
your redemption is your coming. The proof of your election is
your coming. Well, Brother Don, how can a
sinner reason with God? God says, come now, let us reason
together. Turn over to chapter 43. Let
me show you how to reason with it. Let me show you how to reason
with God. What can I plead with God? that he might accept me. I'm
guilty. I'm sin. Nothing but sin. Utterly
without merit. Utterly incapable of doing good.
Why should God have mercy on me? Well, I'll tell you how to
reason with him. Put God in remembrance and plead
with him on the basis of what he has said and what he has done. Look at Isaiah 43 and verse 24. Thou hast brought me no sweet
cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of
thy sacrifices, but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins.
Thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities. What a word. Now watch this. I, even I am
he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake and will not
remember thy sins. If you haven't done it already,
I believe I'd underscore this two or three times and put stars
all around it. God says, put me in remembrance. Let us plead together. Declare
thou that thou mayest be justified. Put God in remembrance of his
covenant. Put God in remembrance of His
Son's precious blood. Put God in remembrance of His
promises. And on the basis of these things,
plead for mercy, confessing your sin. If we confess our sin, He is
faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. I don't mean confess your sin
that you come down here and confess to the church or the preacher
As if we were priests that you stole something you shouldn't
have, or you cheated on a test, or you cheated on your wife.
No, that's easy. That's easy. I'm talking about
confessing your sin to God. Tear open your heart before God. Lord, here I am. There's nothing
in me but filth, pollution. Corruption. Sin. That's all there
is. That's all there is. And pray
like David. In Psalm 25 11, David said, Pardon
my iniquity, O Lord, for it is great. Pardon my iniquity, O Lord, for
it is great. Great mercy is for great sinners. Great grace is for great sinners. Great salvation is for great
sinners. Confess your sin and reason with
God, putting him in remembrance that he may, for his own namesake,
save such as we are. Seek mercy for God's glory. Lord, wouldn't it honor you to
save somebody like me? Wouldn't it give glory to you
to have mercy on somebody like me? Wouldn't it honor your son
to save a wretch like me? Well, when can I come? Come now. Come now. Now is the accepted
time. Now is the day of salvation.
Come now. What is promised to those who
come? If ye be willing and obedient. Now, wait a minute, Preacher.
Here at Todd's Road Grace Church, we've been taught better than
that. We know man doesn't have the will to come. No, you don't. But if you come, you come willingly. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. Do you have any idea how many
times I have been asked in the last 47 years how I got that
girl to marry me? I have been asked everywhere
I have ever been. Let me tell you how. Let me tell
you how. We'd been dating a couple of
weeks, and I took her back to the dormitory where she was in
college. I was still in high school. And
I said, I want to marry you. And she looked at me and said,
you're crazy. You don't know what you want. That's just what she said. You
don't know what you want. So I proceeded to court her. I mean,
I courted her. I took her to McDonald's, and
I'd buy her any flavor milkshake she wanted. One time, I took
her to a steakhouse. I'd never been to one before.
We got all dressed up, decked out, and went to this new steakhouse
in town. And it was Ponderosa. Everybody else there bibbed overalls.
But we went to a steakhouse. I mean, I was going all out.
And I'd drive five miles to carry her books a half a block. I courted
a girl. And we'd been courting about
a year. And we were up in Spruce Pine, North Carolina at my aunt
and uncle's house, and everybody else going to bed. And I knelt
down beside the couch, and I said to her, Shelby, I love you. and
I want you to marry me. Will you marry me?" She about
jumped off the couch and said, yes. How come? I just did all I could to show
her why she should. I showed her everything good
I could about me and didn't show her much that was bad. If God's pleased to reveal his
son in you, to make you see your sin, and His grace, you will be willing
and obedient, obedient to God's command. If that's so, then you
shall eat the good of the land, that is, the good land of all
the riches of the heavenly Canaan, the land of our promised inheritance
by God's free grace in Jesus Christ. What's promised to those
who refuse to come? Look at verse 20. If you refuse
and rebel, you shall be devoured with the
sword, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. If you refuse
to trust Christ, you will, as God says in Proverbs 1, eat the
fruit of your own ways, for the wages of sin is death. And when God casts you into hell,
nobody will pity you. Because God stretched out his
hand all the day long, and you refuse and rebel more and more. Oh, God, will you now arrest
sinners? by your grace and sweetly force
them to your son. Amen.