I have to say, it feels like
it's been forever since I've been here. But I don't even remember
how long it's been. Let me give you a song. This
is, as you all know, my brother Joe Belusik generally sends me
a song, and I will read it wherever I am preaching that Sunday morning. What was it last Sunday? Wasn't
it Penny? He forgot, so I publicly scolded
him for forgetting my song. Of course, this can be found
in Gadsby's hymn book. It's number 193. It's by John
Newton. I'm sure most everyone here is
familiar with John Newton, the songwriter, and he was a pastor
as well and a preacher of grace. And his passage is John 11, verse
25, where our Lord said, I am the resurrection and the life. I am, says Christ, your glorious
head. May we attention give the resurrection
of the dead, the life of all that live. By faith in me, the
soul receives new life, though dead before, and he that in my
name believes shall live to die no more. The sinner sleeping
in his grave shall at my voice awake, and when I once begin
to save, my work I'll ne'er forsake. Fulfill thy promise, gracious
Lord, on us assembled here. Put forth thy spirit with the
word, and cause the dead to hear. To thee we look, to thee we bow,
to thee for help we call. Our life and resurrection thou,
our hope, our joy, our all. Now one other thing before we
get into the message. This is a quote from James Smith. James Smith wrote these words,
the fountain of divine truth is the Lord Jesus Christ. The
repository of divine truth is the Holy Scriptures. The proper
abode of divine truth is the sinner's heart and the sacred
revealer of truth is the Holy Spirit. The Bible contains all
necessary truth and nothing but truth. It was written expressly
for sinners. It is freely given to them by
God that they may learn the things which make for their everlasting
peace and salvation. It was never designed to gratify
the critic's pride or please the carnal imagination, but it
was intended to inform the mind. It was intended to sanctify the
heart. It was intended to direct the
feet. When we take it up, we should
remember that it is a precious gift of God to poor sinners,
designed to benefit them and glorify His holy name. So now open that book. Proverbs
chapter 30. Does that sound familiar? It better. He just read it. Proverbs
chapter 30. I did ask Jason to read that. So while you're turning, Proverbs
chapter 30. I'm not gonna read the whole chapter again. It's
already been read to us and for us. I have one verse I wanna read.
I won't speak about this one verse alone, but this verse years
ago caught my eye, and I've been thinking about it for some time.
Verse 15, listen to what Edgar wrote. The horse leech hath two
daughters, crying, give, give. There are three things that are
never satisfied. Yea, four things say not. It is enough. What I want to try to speak to
you about this morning, I will title it this way, is Eggers'
Free Grace Prophecy. Think about that. Hager's free
grace prophecy. I was basically born and raised
in religion. I made a profession of faith
when I was probably five or six years old. You know the standard,
walk the aisle, prayed the prayer after the preacher, shook the
preacher's hand, was baptized, joined the church, When and if we ever read passages
like this, it was always just right over your head. Just right over your head. The
only thing they would deal with were some possible rebukes from
a passage like that about maybe an odious woman or something
along that line. Now this verse I read to you
is a part of a prophecy. And when we say prophecy, I realize
most people, when they hear that word, they think of telling of
future events. That may be true, but it's not
always necessarily true. A prophecy is to tell forth,
to proclaim, to preach. And of course, it is Ager that
gives this prophecy. That's clear from verse one.
Now think of this. This was written hundreds of
years ago. It was included in the sacred
canon when only the Jews had the Word of God. Is it relevant to today? Basically what I was taught in
religion was those people back in this Old Testament time basically
kind of were just going through rituals and rites and believing
in a God and offering sacrifices. But I want you to see how relevant
Agor's prophecy is to our day. How I can relate to exactly what
Agor believed years ago. Surely I am more brutish than
any man. God ever brought you to see the
corruption that's down in your soul? You see it? Surely he is convinced of this
fact. You see it? Surely I am more
brutish than any man. I have not the understanding
of a man. I don't even think normally.
My thoughts must be so different from everybody else's. You ever
feel that way? God ever brought you to that
place? You see, when we talk about our inner corruption, when
I even say it myself, I hear other men say it. We talk about
this inner corruption, this wickedness that's down inside. My mind wants
to run toward immorality, right? We think of corruption and just
wickedness. We think of immorality. That's
certainly true. But the most moral man and woman
on the face of the earth is no different than this agor. I,
surely, I am more brutish than any man. I have not the understanding
of a man. Our corruption is not about moral
or immoral. It's about inability. That's our corruption. No matter how moral we might
be, we are corrupt in God's sight. We were created in our Daddy
Adam upright. But our Daddy Adam failed. He knew what it was to be upright. We don't. That's why Paul calls
us In our birth in Adam, a natural man. See, I never fail. My daddy
failed. I was born fallen. You see what
I'm saying? It's natural for us. This corruption
is natural for us, even though we may be very moral people. Look what he goes on to say,
our brother. I neither learned wisdom, nor
have I the knowledge of the Holy. You see how God, we're all eager
to see how incapable of understanding a thrice holy God. It is beyond my true comprehension. Oh, Jason, I can understand words. I can understand the concept,
but I don't really get it. Even standing before you this
morning as a regenerate man, and as a man who's preached for
years, I know I still do not comprehend God. And as a brother and I talked
this morning, it boggles my mind just about every time I stand
here, why me? But it's not about me. Look. Who hath ascended up into
heaven, or descended? Who hath gathered the wind in
his fists? Can you do that? There's one
that can. Who hath gathered the wind in
his fists? Who hath bound the waters in
a garment? Who hath established all the
ends of the earth? Now here is a man hundreds of
years ago. who understood that God Almighty
is the creator of all there is. And he rules and reigns and controls. And he said, what is his name?
But more importantly, and what is his son's name? There's one difference between
What Agor experienced way back yonder, what we experience today,
we know his name today. Agor knew he existed, but he
didn't know his name was Jesus of Nazareth. That's the only
difference. He knew he was coming. Adam and Eve were looking for
who? The seed of the woman. When Cain
killed Abel and she had another child, she said, I've forgotten
another man. Why? She was looking for the
Messiah. She had hopes that this was him,
but he was not. My brothers and sisters, the
Messiah has come. He's accomplished and have finished
his work on Calvary's tree and ascended back to the right hand
of God the Father, now seated there reigning and ruling in
heaven and in earth. What is his name? And what is
his son's name, if thou canst tell? We can tell now, can't
we? Dave, I know what his name is
now. Every word of God is pure. He didn't have to have first
Timothy to tell him all scriptures, give him the inspiration. He
knew it even back then. Well, it's God's word. It's the
Creator's Word. Every word of God is pure. He
is a shield unto them that put their trust in Him. Add thou
not unto His words, lest He reprove thee, and thou be found a liar. Two things have I required of
thee. Deny me them not before I die. Remove far from me emptiness
and lies. There's corruption, you see. Not telling lies, certainly that's
included. But you know what the most dangerous
part about lying is? Believing it yourself. You see, a person who lies generally
knows that they're lying. They know what the fact is, but
the person who just believes the lie knows nothing but the
lie. And you know, by nature, we will swallow up lies and push truth to the side. Because
it's easy for us to believe the lie. It is impossible with us
to believe the truth apart from the grace of God. If you ever
wondered, and this is not a sidetrack, but if you ever wondered when
you read, especially the New Testament, and you read about
all these men and women possessed with demons, you ever wondered
about that? Well, here's a thought. Isn't
the amazing thing not the fact, the mere fact that a devil or
devils, sometimes legions, thousands of them would possess a person.
But think of this fact, that a devil would feel so comfortable
inside of me that it would want to live there. Think about, you talk about corruption.
You remember there was a man who attended synagogue who had
a devil in him. You remember the account? He
attended synagogue and he had a devil in him. And the devil
in him, nobody called it. For years, and Christ come along
and calls the man out. And the man says, get away from
us. And someone says, was that the
demon or the man speaking? Yes. Yes. The man was comfortable with
the demon. The demon was comfortable with the man. But neither were
comfortable with the sovereign Lord Christ. You know what the
amazing thing is in that story? Jesus Christ didn't offer him
anything. Jesus Christ didn't ask him if
he let him do something for him. He commanded the demon to come
out of the man. when the demon had to. Now look, think about this. Augur, or Agur, a regenerate
man, acknowledges his former lostness in his unregeneracy. He acknowledges God's Messiah,
even though he didn't even know his name. Isaiah called him who? He called God who? The everlasting
father. Right? Well, if you are a father,
you have to have an offspring, do you not? If you don't have
an offspring, you are not a father. These people were longing for
the coming of the just one, looking for the prophet who would come
like a mimosas. And here, Edgar acknowledges
God's Messiah. He acknowledges his utter need
of God's grace. Even after his regeneration,
he's still acknowledging his utter inability. Look at what he says. Verse eight,
remove far from me vanity and lies. Give me neither poverty
nor riches. Isn't that an amazing, what's
he wanting to be in the middle? No, he just don't want either
one. Think about it. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with food convenient
for me. This is true on a natural level, but it's even more true on a
spiritual level. Have you ever wondered why does
God leave me so ignorant? You ever wonder about that? Why
did God leave me? I mean, I know a few things.
I've been in this way for almost 40 years now, and I know more
than I did back then, but the more I study, the more I read,
the more I find out how ignorant I am. But if it rushed in on
me all at one time, I would forget God. I would glory in myself. You see it? That God give me
exactly what I need. And you think about this. I look
back over my life and there are countless things that I would
have changed, done differently. There's countless things in my
life, choices I made that I'd never wish upon my worst enemy. But if I had the wisdom of God,
and I'd have the power of God, I wouldn't change a woman. Do you understand that? Because
He knows what is convenient for us. Is your heart ever cramped?
But why this, Lord? Because He's all wise. He knows
what is best. Lest I be full, and deny thee,
and say, Who is the Lord? Or lest I be poor and still,
and take the name, look at it, of my God in vain. This sounds like to me old Edgar
just wasn't very pleased with himself, was he? This sounds
like he just wasn't very sure about his abilities, doesn't
he? He's saying this, I'd mess it up if I was on the highest
plane, and I'd mess it up if I was on the lowest plane. Lord,
just give me what I need. And you know the one thing we
need? His son. If I have his son, I don't need
anything else. I say that, but there's a part
of me that says you're doing nothing but whistling in the
dark. But it's still true. If God takes everything I have,
that woman right there, my health, if I have Christ, I have it all. All. And you know what, my brothers
and sisters? I thank God for those few moments
in my life that I see that. Because I don't always see that.
I don't always walk with that understanding and with that knowledge. It seems to me that I'm crying
out far more. Surely, I am more brutish than
any man. I have not the understanding
of a man. I'm like a wild beast. Ever felt
that way about yourself? Now, Think about this. Edgar is moved here to use this
literary method meant to move to a climax. In other words,
the Spirit of God's moving Edgar to write this prophecy of free
grace with this climactic ending. Two daughters. Three things,
yea, four things. And he uses this phrase, three
things, yea, four things, five times in this prophecy. You know what my flesh did? I
tried to discover the three and the fours. You ever read this? Here's the three, here's the
four. Sometimes it goes on to five, six, seven. But it caught your attention
if you've ever read it, didn't it? It caught, even if you didn't
understand what he was saying, even if you didn't understand
the prophecy, that caught your attention. Look about it. When
Jason read it, I'm sure many of us might, the horse leech
had two daughters. Wow, what's that talking about? Crying, give, give. You want a horse leeches, don't
you? It's a blood sucker. But think about this. This method
that the Spirit of God uses here in this prophecy is used to expose
both negative things and positive things. And you could read, if
you read, we'll go back and read again verses 16 through 19, you'll
see this state of negative things and positive things. But of course,
Edgar gives more negative and positive examples in verses 20
through 33. But consider two bloodsucking
daughters that are bloodsucking daughters indeed. Yay, we might
even call these bloodsucking daughters twins. We all have
them, these two bloodsuckers. Their name is Sian, that's what
I am, and Sians, that's what I do because of what I am. and
they are both bloodsuckers. They suck, and they suck, and
they suck, and they swell, and they swell, and that's all they
can do is suck. Give, give. We can put it in
the other language, take, take, take. Now you wanna read about
us? Turn to Paul's letter to the
Romans, Romans chapter three. And somebody says, well, there
he goes again. going to that human depravity thing, well,
that's what we are. We have two daughters in us that
are bloodsuckers. They're what we are, and they're
what we do. Now look at it. As, verse 10 of Romans 3, as
it is written, there is none, notice here it's talking about
what we're not. It didn't say there's none that
do with righteousness, though that's certainly true, does it?
It says there is none righteous. Do you see that? The reason we
don't do righteous is because the fountain's dirty. There's
no righteous quality in us, let alone righteous actions that
flow from us. As a matter of fact, our brother
Isaiah put it this way, that even our righteousnesses are
as menses cloths in God's sight. That's disgusting. Is it not? That's disgusting. And yet that's
what I look like in my best state. That boggles my mind. Because
I gotta tell you, this is the facts. I can't wrap my mind around
that. But why won't God accept my best
efforts? I mean, one preacher one time
said, God's just looking for your best effort. No, he is not.
He demands absolute righteousness. There is none righteous. No, just, wouldn't that be good
enough? Isn't that good enough? There's
none righteous, but just so we don't have a wiggle room. No,
not one. You remember the rich young ruler?
He came running to Christ and bowed down before him and said,
good master, what good thing can I do? Jesus did not answer
his question at first, did he? He said, why callest thou me
good? You notice when he called Christ
good and didn't give me something good to do, he's putting himself
on equal grounds with Christ. Right? You're good, and I can
do good. Christ said there's none good
but what? Look at it, there is none that
understandeth. I can stand before you this morning
and spout off theological facts. I've got little papers at home
that say I took this course and that course. But there's not
a man or a woman upon the face of the earth that when we know
anything, we know nothing yet as we ought to know it. All of
our facts are but just jumbled little pieces of the puzzle floating
around in our minds. We can't put them together. If
I could put them together, I'd become so proud I wouldn't want
to be with you. I'd become so proud I wouldn't
want to be with you because you can't put them together either. Preacher, why do you preachers
keep telling us this about ourselves? Because once God starts showing
you this about yourself, he'll make you see it for the rest
of your life, and it'll force you to run to Jesus Christ. Every
time, every morning I wake up, in some way he reminds me there's
none righteous, not even you. There's none that understandeth.
That's a good thing. I know this world doesn't see
that the philosophy and the psychology of this world says build people
up, build people up. All we're doing is building them
up for a great fall in the end. We refuse to tell each other
the truth about ourselves. That's why we don't look to Christ.
That's why this whole world, everything but Christ matters.
If God ever begins to show you what anger seeth about himself,
you'll run to Christ, run to Christ, run to Christ, run to
Christ. There is none that understandeth.
Oh, look. There is none that seeketh after
God. Not even this morning. Not even
in this auditorium. not even behind this podium. This is what we are in and of
ourselves. And apart from the grace of God,
none of us would be seeking God this morning. Thousands of people
are gathered in buildings just like this, that they're not seeking
after God. They're enjoying programs and plays and music and everything
else, but the preaching of what? The word of God. Now, when you read this, it's
like, okay, Paul, I get it. No, that's the problem, we don't.
Jason, when I do get it, it flees that quick. God'll show it to
me and it's gone that quick. I could walk through those doors
right back there this morning and a thousand thoughts revolve
in this mind that should not be there. My mind and heart gets
fixed on something else other than God himself. If we were
truly righteous, we'd think only about God. We would not care
about ourselves, would we? We are the creature, he is the
creator. He is the sovereign, we are the
slaves. You understand that? You understand
that God manipulates us? He manipulates. Surely the wrath of man shall
praise thee. Why? Because God manipulates
men's actions to make sure it does. And if there's anything
we do that wouldn't give him praise, the remainder of wrath
thou will restrain. Want to know the good thing about
our sin? Isn't that oxymoron, huh? The good thing about our
sin is this, God Almighty controls it. And He'll use it for His
glory. The most dastardly sin on the
face of the earth is when men crucified the Son of God. And it's as if they took this
Bible and started reading and said, all right, what are we
supposed to do to Him next? Hmm? But there was no Bible around,
was it? Why, God was manipulating. manipulating them, manipulating
them. The Son of God came and told
us what we were. And those of our brothers and
sisters, our fellow human beings who were alive when he came,
they were angry and hated him without a cause. What, just for
telling us what we really are? And our brothers and sisters,
yes, many of them were Jews, but they said, well, one thing
we can't do is putting to death on the day of Passover. That's
just not right. Now, we want him dead, but it's
just not right. Well, you know I've got it already
purposed, don't you? He will die on that appropriate day.
And Christ kept forcing the truth on him, and forcing the truth
on him, and forcing the truth on him. And got him in such a
fevered pitch that they said, it don't matter what day it is,
we want him dead. And they were doing exactly what
God's hand had determined before to be done. God used man's sin. We'll pull a pin on that grenade. God used man's sin to save my
soul. Because man's sin crucified the
Lord of glory. And God saved me when they did
that, by his son. So the next time you fall flat
on your face, cry out to God for forgiveness. This is one
of the things Edgar mentions, repentance. Think about it. Think
about it. Look at chapter five, Proverbs
30 again. Repentance. There be three things which go
well. Yea, four are comely and going. A lion which is strong
among the beast, and turneth not away from any." What are
we talking about here? You ever heard the lion called
the king of the forest? The king of the jungle? The king
of the plains? What's a king? A sovereign. not turned away by any, you see
it? A greyhound and a he-goat also, and a king, look at it,
against whom there is no rising up. He can't be resisted. See that? But look, if thou hast
done foolishly, oh, Edgar, that if there's not a if of possibility,
It's when it finally gets home to you. If you've done foolishly,
what does it say? If thou hast done foolishly in
lifting up thyself. Well, I thought that's a good
thing. Ain't it a good thing when a man pulls himself up by
his own bootstraps? Some of you men were probably
taught that when you were young. Whenever you fall, pull yourself
up by your own bootstraps. Your bootstraps are as crooked
as you are. My bootstraps are as crooked
as I am. That thou hast done foolishly
in lifting up thyself, or if thou hast thought evil. Ooh,
I'm kind of included in that one. Look. Just shut up. You see? Quit bragging. Quit bragging
about what you are and what you've done. Because we are as the drop
in a bucket to God. You know what the book says?
The nations are as a drop in a bucket. Thou hast done foolishly
and lifted up thyself, or if thou hast thought evil, lay thy
hand upon thy mouth. You see, our wretched condition
in the fall is complex. It has two sides. It has the
side you see out here. But it has the fountain that
dwells down in here. I mean, isn't it amazing? The
Apostle Paul is moved to call me, by nature, the old man. The old man. Even when I was
young, full of power and strength, I was still nothing but what?
The old man. Which is deceitful. according
to foolish lusts. A wretched condition in the false
complex. Sin and sinful, both of these
are bloodsuckers. It draws on us and it draws on
us and it draws on us and it will not let go. It never says
enough, my flesh never says, ah, I'm full now, I'll let you
alone. Your flesh ever done that for
you? All right, I've had enough seeing, let's just be righteous
for a while. No, when it does ask for righteousness,
it asks for what kind? S-E-L-F, righteousness. It brags on its own righteousness
and it ain't got none. and refuses to bow to the righteousness
of God in Jesus Christ. Eager's counsel, his prophecy
then is to point us to this repentance. What does the law say to us?
Romans chapter three, verse 19. Now we know that what things
whoever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law.
This is the way my old pastor Earl Cochran used to put it.
The law tells you and me, shut up. That's what it says. Shut up. Look at it. Now we know
that what things whoever the law saith is saith to them who
are under the law that every mouth may be stopped. Ask this woman here. If I could
just keep my mouth shut most of the time, I'd be 99% better
most of the time. I just can't keep this shut.
It's got to do this. You know why? Because I think
I got the answers. Problem is, I find out after I've done this,
I didn't even know the question. Oh, but my brothers and sisters,
God's work I said, God's work of working repentance in us has
sure been affection. That is, it has sure positive
results. Look at it again, Proverbs chapter
30. 33, verse 33, surely. You see that? This is not a point
of debate. This is not something we're here
to discuss and figure out the high points and the low points.
This is fact. It is, as the old Latin phrase
said, I heard this from Paul Mahan, the Latin phrase is this,
dictum factum. Spoken, done. And when God said
it, wait a minute, add thou not unto his words. Why, because
his words are pure, right? His words are pure. Surely the
churning of milk, what's it do? It does, what is it? It brings
forth butter. Right? How many of you all churn
your milk before you drink it? Well, you don't. Because why? You keep churning it, it's going
to turn into what? Butter. Cause and effect. Sure, the churning of milk bringing
forth butter and the ringing of the nose. Ever had somebody
just hit you right square in the nose? What happens? You feel this warm
start to run down your lip. crosses onto your chin. I wouldn't suggest you try this,
but get up right now and run right toward that back door and
leave it closed and stick your head out when you hit it and
find out what happens. Blood's gonna roll down your head. So
I'm talking about when God Almighty acts, something's going to happen,
right? Something's going to happen.
Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter, and the ringing
of the nose bringeth forth blood. So the forcing of wrath bringeth
forth strife. If you just insist on having
your way, guess what's going to happen? When you've got two people insisting
on having their way, what happens? A fight breaks out. You don't
just putt heads. A fight breaks out. Let me tell
you something. When God Almighty gets in a fight
with you, or God Almighty gets in a fight with me, guess who's
going to win? God is. Because if God's intent
on whipping you, whipped you shall be. Even if he has to lay
you flat on your back, do it. You remember Jacob wrestled with
the man. I will not let you go. Oh, poor
Jacob. He thought he had a handle on
that, didn't he? But you know what he had the rest of his life
to remind him of that battle? He had that limp. Guess who won? God did. God reminded him of
it every day of his life, every step he took. God reminded Jacob,
you had a hold of somebody far more powerful than yourself. Aren't you glad God didn't let
you beat him? Aren't you glad God didn't give
you a choice in the matter? When I first fell under conviction,
you know what I cried? Oh God, this is the devil making
me doubt my salvation. Make it go away. I'm glad God
didn't answer that prayer. I thank God for the day he first
laid hold of me and said, I will not let you go. Thank God for that infallible
record. You remember Jeremiah prophesied
of it, wrote of it, Jeremiah 31, I'm not going back to read
it. Surely I've seen Ephraim, Ephraim bemoaning himself. Now
you remember what God said about Ephraim, don't you? Ephraim has
joined himself to his idols, let him alone. But thank God,
God didn't leave him alone. God can command us to leave somebody
alone. It's not our business. But if
God ever lays hold of you, you'll be laid hold of. Surely, after
that I was turned, I repented. You see, repentance is more of
an act of God upon you than it is you acting for God. Repentance is why you're sitting
there squirming in the battle and trying to get away and finally
you just give up. Tap out. I surrender, Lord. I surrender. Think about this. Thank God we
have his son. Think how blessed we are. We
know his name. We have Matthew, through the
book of the Revelation, defining his character for us. Think about his character. This guy, they lower him down
from the roof. And here he lay there, he crippled
up. He said, thy sins be forgiven
thee. What? Nobody asked for sins to
be forgiven, did they? Well, they were looking for some
healing for their friend. He said, thy sins be forgiven
thee. And people were getting to murmur, who, how can this
man forgive sins? He said, which is easier, for
me to say to this man, your sins be forgiven you, or arise up
and walk? Hmm? But so that it may be, I'm
paraphrasing, so it may be made known that the Son of Man hath
power on earth to forgive sins, I say to thee, arise, take up
your bed, and walk." Now bless God, somebody would have to take
up a bed and walk, or Jesus would have been found to be a what?
A fraud. You know what that man did? The
one thing he could not do? Take up his bed and walk. Remember
the man's withered hand? Probably kept it hid all the
time. It's all crippled up. He said, stretch forth thy hand.
That's the one thing he couldn't do. You remember Lazarus? He's laid out, wrapped up in
a tomb. His sister says he stinks by
now. Lazarus, that's the one thing he couldn't
do. But see, when God gives that kind of command, with the command
comes the power to obey the command. God granted repentance unto Israel. Repentance is not me mustering
up something for God, it's God Almighty conquering my soul.
Think about it, the sufferings of Jesus Christ guaranteed my
blessing. This is just, turn with me to
Romans 8. You know the passage, I'm not
giving you something new, but Romans 8. Verse 31, what shall
we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? It's rhetorical, nobody and nothing. Look, he that spared not his
own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not
with him also freely give us all things? I need repentance.
What's he gonna do if Christ died for you? He won't give it
to you. I need faith in Christ. If Christ died for you, God's
gonna give it to you. I need to serve Him. If Christ
died for you, God's gonna give it to you. And you will serve
Him in God's ordained way, not in my ordained way. Who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that,
what? Notice, it doesn't just say justified. but is in the continual act of
justifying. You see that? It is God that
justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It
is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who's even
at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for
us. Peter, Satan has desired you. that he may sift you as wheat.
Isn't it amazing how Satan had to ask for the permission? But even more amazing is God
Almighty gave the permission. Peter, you shall deny me three
times. And Peter later felt the effects,
it tore him up. I can just imagine how ashamed
he was of himself once it dawned on him what had just happened.
But thank God Jesus said, you'll deny me three times. You know
what that means? He was not going to deny him
four times. Then he added these most gracious
intercessory words, but I've prayed for you that your faith
fail not. Even when Peter was denying him,
he knew who he really was. You see, here's a marvelous thing
about, there's many marvelous things about faith, don't get
me wrong. Here's one marvelous thing about faith. Faith don't
let you forget. Now your mind may go as you get
older, you may forget everything, but faith don't let you forget.
No matter how miserably that you fall, you can't forget who
saved you. You can't forget that he's forgiving
and full of grace and mercy and truth. So then, turn back to
Proverbs 30. Proverbs chapter 30, think about
this. The horse leech has two daughters crying, give, give. Now notice, the horse leech has
two daughters. What's that make me? If the two
daughters are seeing and seeing, what's that make me? The horse
leech. You see it? It doesn't say the
horse leech is two daughters. It says the horse leech has two
daughters. God ever showed you you're a
horse leech? Heavenly Father, Oh God, teach
us this truth.