The 33rd chapter of Deuteronomy. I just want to read the first five verses here quickly.
I want you to keep your Bibles handy because we are going to
use them some tonight. Deuteronomy chapter 33, and let's begin in
verse 1. This is the blessing wherewith
Moses, the man of God, blessed the children of Israel after
his death. And he said, The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up
from Seir unto them, and he shined forth from Mount Paran, and came
with ten thousands of saints, from his right hand went a fire
log for them. Yea, he loved the people, all
his saints are in thy hand, and they sat down at thy feet every
once shall receive of thy words. Moses commanded us the law, even
the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob. And he was king in
Jeshuron, or Israel, for the heads of the people in the tribes
of Israel were gathered together." Now I want us to concentrate
tonight on verse 4. Just look at this for a few minutes.
And I want to look at this as Four characteristics, four marks
of a child of God, a believer. Four characteristics of a child
of God. And here they are. Number one,
yea, he loved the people. That is the first one. And secondly,
all his saints are in thy hand. And thirdly, they sat down at
thy feet. And fourthly, everyone shall
receive of thy word. And when we talk about the characteristics
of a believer, of a true child of God, we can't go by our opinions. We can't judge ourselves by ourselves
or what we see in others. If we want to know what a Christian
is, then we have to go to the Bible. We have to go to the Word
of God. What does He say a Christian is? What's the mark that God
gives of a true believer? And He tells us and He distinguishes
the believer from a non-believer. He distinguishes His church from
those who aren't in the body of Christ. And I want us to take
our Bibles and look at some places, but you'll have to hurry, or
I'll keep you too late. Look in Exodus quickly, chapter
11. Exodus chapter 11, and this is
verse 4. Exodus chapter 11 and verse 4.
We see in this that the Lord does distinguish between peoples,
one person and another person. This is where the death angel
was going to pass through the land of Egypt. And the firstborn
of every creature was going to die that didn't have the blood
upon the doorpost. Look in verse 5, Exodus 11. And
all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the
firstborn to Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even to the
firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill, and
all the firstborn of beasts. And there shall be a great cry
throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it,
nor shall be like it any more. But against any of the children
of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast,
that you may know how that the Lord doeth put a difference."
That word is to distinguish. He puts a difference between
the Egyptians and Israel. He makes a distinction. He made
a distinction then and He makes a distinction now. And the first
characteristic here that I read to you in our text, the first
distinguishing mark is this, He loved the people. The Lord
loved the people. That is the first distinction.
What was the first distinction between Israel and Egypt? God made that distinction. And
you go back to the very beginning as we will do here in a minute
and you will see the first distinction between all the other nations
in the world and Israel was this, God loved Israel. He loved them
above them and He loved them apart from any other nation. I want you to look here in Deuteronomy
chapter 7. Just over to your right in Deuteronomy
chapter 7 and look in verse 6 and 8. The Lord mentions three things
here in Deuteronomy chapter 7 and verse 6 and 8. Now, when He talks
about the Lord loving the people, there comes a time when the Lord
brings forth the fruit of that love. He didn't love them in
vain. If the Lord loves us with this
covenant love, just like Israel, there comes a time when He'll
manifest that love to us just like He did them. If you go right
back to the beginning of their history, here's what was said
about them. Now look here in Deuteronomy
chapter 7 and look in verse 6. For thou art an unholy people
unto the Lord thy God. The Lord thy God hath chosen
thee to be a special people unto Him," look at this, "...above
all people that are upon the face of the earth." Look at this
now. Here's why He chose them. "...The
Lord did not set His love upon you, nor choose you because you
were more in number than any people, for ye were the fewest
of all people." Why did He choose them? Look in verse 8. But because
the Lord loved you. He loved you. Isn't that amazing?
And because He would keep the oath which He swore unto your
fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and
redeemed you out of the house of bondage from the hand of Pharaoh. He tells them three things here.
First of all, He says, I have chose you. I have chose you. You are My special people. You
are My elect people. And I didn't choose you because
of anything about you. It wasn't because you were great. The other nations were greater
than you, and I bet you they were smarter too. Really and
honest, these weren't all that bright a people, were they? You
follow their history and you see. So often, he said, you're
such an ignorant people, a stiff-necked and rebellious people. But why
did he choose them? The cause was found in him, wasn't
it? And you trace it back to what? To his love. He loved the
people. And then you find this. He said,
I have redeemed you. Right there in the middle of
verse 8. And redeemed you out of the house of bondmen. You
remember when that happened, don't you? We read about it in
chapter 11. He said, you take that lamb without
any spot or blemish and you pour his blood out, cut his throat
and catch it in the basin and get you some hyssop and put it
over the door post and put it on the side post. And when I
see that blood, I'll pass over you." You know it was the children
of Israel? That blood was for the firstborn?
What made the distinction between the firstborn of Israel and the
firstborn of Egypt? It was the blood, wasn't it?
They didn't have the blood. They weren't even told about
it. But it was the firstborn of Egypt. Even Pharaoh's son,
the firstborn of Egypt, he died, didn't he? But I've redeemed
you, he said. I told you about the blood. You
put it over, and when I saw the blood, I passed over all your
firstborn." Why did He do that? He loved them. He loved them. And not only that, He even went
further and He said this there in verse 8, "...half the Lord
brought you." He said, "...because the Lord loved you, because He
would keep the oath which you swore to your fathers, half the
Lord brought you out with a mighty hand." He called them out. because He loved them. He didn't
redeem them and leave them down in Egypt. He said, I love you,
and here's the fruit of My love. I'm going to call you out. Remember
when they went out and they spoiled the Egyptians? They give them
their gold and their silver. And they got to the Red Sea and
they said, oh no, now what are we going to do? The Lord said,
listen, I love you people. So what did He do? He parted
the Red Sea. and they went across on dry land. The Egyptians followed them. The waters came back and covered
them. And the children of Israel came out into the desert. They
went through this desert of slime pits, serpents that were deadly. Many of the unbelievers, many
of the rebels died, the murmurers died. But here in our text, what
do we have? They are standing right on the
border of the land of promise. right on the border ready to
go out into the brand new land. And when they look back over
the history of their life, what brought them there? What did
they attribute all this to? From being chosen to redeemed
to called and preserved all through that wilderness. What could they
attribute that to? Here they stand in our text in
chapter 33 on the borders of that land. Why were they going
in to inherit that land? One reason, the first reason
He gives, the Lord loved the people. Isn't that amazing? That's the first mark of every
child of God is the Lord loves its people. And it's the same
way today regarding spiritualism, regarding the church and all
its members in particularly. The Scripture says Christ loved
the church. and He gave Himself for it. And
that church is distinguished from all others. All its members,
every heaven-born child of God is loved of the triune God. And that is a distinguishing
love, brothers and sisters. It is a peculiar love. It is
an everlasting love. I want you to look at two or
three places you are concerned in us if we are a child of God
because this love is distinguished upon each child of God that's
here tonight. It's a peculiar love. It's a special love. I
want you to see that. I want you to look in Jeremiah
chapter 31 and verse 3. Jeremiah chapter 31 and verse
3. Look at this. Jeremiah chapter
31 and verse 3. Let's begin this way. Let's begin
with our calling. He said He called Israel out
of Egypt. He delivered them out of Egypt
because He loved them. Let's begin with our calling. Look in Jeremiah chapter 31 and
look in verse 3. And the Lord hath appeared of
old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting
love. What's the fruit of that? With
love and kindness have I drawn thee." I love you. And here's the fruit of my love.
I've drawn you to myself. Christ said no man can come to
Me, didn't He? Except the Father which sent
Me. Draw Him. And here He tells us why I drew
you. Because I loved you. And some
of you sitting here tonight, there was a time when you were
dead in trespasses and sins. But you came to Christ, didn't
you? You came to the Lord Jesus Christ. You came to Him dead
to have life. You came to Him naked to be clothed,
filthy to be washed, rejected to be accepted. You come to Him
for all your salvation. And why did you come when others
didn't come? Others were warned just like
you had been warned. Others had been encouraged to
come just like you. Others had been told about the
promises that God would fulfill in them if they come. Let the
wicked forsake his way. Let him turn to the Lord. I'll
have mercy upon him. I'll abundantly pardon. But they
wouldn't listen. They went on in their stubbornness
and rebellion. Why did you come? What do you
trace it back to? You know what you should trace
it back to and what we must trace it back to? His love. Oh, He
suffered them to go on, didn't He? Suffered so many to live
in their rebellion, but not you. Why? Love. I love the people. That's the mark, brothers and
sisters, of a child of God. They have turned from their sin.
They have turned from themselves. They've turned to the Lord Jesus
Christ. And why? God loves them. This peculiar everlasting love. Let me show you another Scripture
right along with that. Look in Ephesians. Look in Ephesians
chapter 2. Paul is speaking here to the
Ephesians about being dead. That's an awful position to be
in, ain't it? Spiritually, to be dead. But look here what he
says about it. Look in Ephesians chapter 2 and
look in verse 1. who were dead in trespasses and
sin. And then he tells us what it
was like. What's this spiritual death like? How do we live if
we're spiritually dead? In time past, you walked according
to the course of this world, according to the prince of the
power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children
of disobedience. And Paul included himself, among
whom also we all had our conversation in time past, in the lust of
our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and the mind, and
were by nature the children of wrath, even as others." Our minds
were filled with wrath towards God. The carnal mind is enmity
against God. Look in verse 4, "...but God,
who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved
us." Look at this, "...even when We were dead in sins, hath quickened
us together with Christ, by grace our He is saved." He loved us
when we were dead in our sins. And because He loved us without
ever lasting love, He refused to let us go on and die in that
condition, in that horrible condition. So what did He do? He came to
us and He gave us life, gave us life eternal. And what does
Paul trace this back to? The great love of God. Great! He loved the people. That's the mark. That's the mark
of a child of God. He is loved of the Lord. But let's look back further.
Look over in chapter 1 of Ephesians. Look what he says here in verse
3. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as He hath
chosen us in Him, when, before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will." His love
for us goes back farther than our calling. It goes back to
our election. All the way back before He ever
laid the foundations of the world. He loved His people and chose
them and gave them to His blessed Son. Look in 2 Thessalonians
how He says it here. Just a little bit clearer here
in 2 Thessalonians. Look in 2 Thessalonians 2. Look
at this. In verse 10. He is speaking here of so many
being deceived, the devil deceiving them, and they receive not the
love of the truth that they might be saved. And there in verse
11 of II Thessalonians 2, And for this cause God shall send
them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie, that they
all might be damned, who believed not the truth, but had pleasure
in unrighteousness. But here is that but again. But
God, but we are bound to give thanks always to you, brethren
beloved of the Lord. Why? Because God has from the
beginning chosen you to salvation. And how does He save us? Through
sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth were
unto He called you by our Gospel to the obtaining of the glory
of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have our calling. It's because
of His love. We go back farther than that.
He chose His people, the church and all of its members because
He loved them. And you can't put anything to
this except love. It's just love. But He told them,
He said, I've redeemed you because I loved you. And it's the same
way with us, is it not? Why did God send His dear Son
into this world to die for us? Why in the world would He do
that? What was His motives in doing that? Were you worthy of
that? You didn't even desire it, did you? When He came, He
was despised and rejected. Why did He come? Why would He
do that? Why would He come to redeem us? His blood justified
us. It reconciled us to God. It made
us friends again. But why? God commendeth His love
toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for
us. He loved me, Paul said, and He
gave Himself for me. Redemption. Christ hanging on
the cross. Burying the sins of His people.
You can attribute that to His love. Greater love hath no man
than this. That's what it's attributed to,
isn't it? One more, one more place. When we look out into
our life that's ahead, look in Romans chapter 8 right quickly. Romans chapter 8. He says here in verse 28, a very
familiar passage. Look at this, Romans 8, 28. That
all things work together for good to them that love God. That love God. Everything's working
for the well-being of those who love God. And why do we love
Him? Can somebody tell me why we love
Him? Because He first loved us. 1 John 4, verse 19. We love Him. And we do, don't we? But why
do we love Him? It's the fruit of His love for
us. We love Him because... He puts
it in our hearts to love Him. When He calls us and He makes
us know that He's chosen us and redeemed us and given us life,
we love Him. And then we say, Lord, I just
love You because You first loved me. And He says, I'm working
everything for Your good. And then He goes on here to tell
us this. Look in verse 29. Whom He did foreknow, He also
did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son. that
He might be the firstborn among many brothers. Moreover, whom
He did predestinate, them He also called. Whom He called,
He justified, and whom He justified, them He glorified. What shall
we say then to these things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? He that spared not His own Son,
but deliver Him up for us all, how shall not He with Him also
freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? God has chosen people, doesn't
He? Elect people, a great host out
of this race that no man can number. It is God that justifieth. Who is He that condemneth? It
is Christ that died. Yea, brother, that is risen again,
who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercessions
for us. Now look what He says. Who shall
separate us from the love of Christ? It is our tribulation,
our distress, our persecution, our famine, our nakedness, our
peril, our sorrow. As it is written, For thy sake
we are killed all the day long. We are counted as sheep for the
slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors
through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither
death nor life nor angels are principalities or powers or things
present. nor things to come, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus the Lord." Here
you are tonight and you look back over your history as a Christian
and you've come through some barren places, have you not?
You've come through some pits. You've seen the serpents. There
is a lot of unbelief that you have buried, is there not? A
lot of murmuring? A lot of complaining that you
have had to put in the dirt? God has killed in you a lot of
unbelief and rebellion, hasn't He? And here you stand tonight,
and you are standing just a half a step from eternity. The next
step you take will wind you on heaven's coast. What's going
to be the difference when you come to that Jordan, it pardoned
for you like it did Israel, or taken you down in its muddy waters? What's going to distinguish between
you and those who aren't saved at last? You know what you're
attributed to? It's love. It's love. From the beginning all the way
to the end, Here is a mark of God's child. He loved you. He loved the people. And anybody that can lift their
hands and say, I was worthy, I am worthy, God has never taught
you as it is. We are living in a day of what
we call this mentality today, where everybody thinks they deserve
everything. I can't even think of the word
that's slipped my mind, but we live in a time where everybody
thinks they deserve everything, from the cradle to the grave.
And if they don't get it, they resent it. The society is supposed
to give me free food, free health care, free housing, free clothes,
everything that I need, everything that I want. And I'm worthy of
it. And if I don't get it, then I'm
resentful. And you know what? That bleeds
over into the spiritual realm. People said, well, I'm worthy
of God's goodness. I'm worthy of all that He gives
me. Why wouldn't He give it to me? Why wouldn't He love me?
Why wouldn't He show me grace and mercy? Why wouldn't He take
me to heaven when I die? Look at me! And if the Lord doesn't
convert us from this mentality of we're worthy, this entitlement,
This entitlement. I'm entitled. And if He don't
convert us from that and bring us down with Jacob to say, Lord,
I'm not worthy of the least of Thy mercies, then we'll perish. We'll perish. Because He's got
a way of bringing us to know that we're not worthy. We don't
deserve anything. And then what happens? We stand
amazed, don't we? Oh, the old songwriter said,
I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene. Why? I'm wondering how He could love
me. A sinner condemned unclean. Died He for me, Wesley said?
Me who caused His pain? Me who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be? Are you surprised
at it? Are you amazed that He could
love you? That He would love you? And He's
proven it to you, hasn't He? You can't doubt it, as amazing
as it is. Because He's called you. He's
given you life when you were dead in trespasses and sin. And
He's brought you to this very day. And He's preserved you. He's kept you. And the only reason
you can attribute it to is this distinguishing mark. He must
love me. As amazing as it is, He loves
me. What an amazing mark that is.
He loves me. The second mark that we see there
in our text is this. Moses said this, All His saints
are in Thy hand. All His saints. That's the mark
of the child of God. All His saints are in His hand. Now there's a dreadful aspect
to being in the hands of God, isn't there? Because he said
it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living
God. And he said there in chapter 32, if I whip my glittering sword
and my hand takes hold on judgment, I'll render vengeance to my enemies.
I'll repay them to their face that hate me. That's a terrible
thing. But you know when he talks about
the saints being in his hands, that's a wonderful thing. What
a wonderful secure place to be. The Bible talks about his big
hands. The Lord has a big hand. He measures
the water in the hollow of His hand. That's a big hand, isn't
it? It's a mighty hand. Listen to Isaiah 48, verse 13.
He said, Hearken unto Me, O Jacob and Israel, My call. I am He. I am the first. I also am the
last. My hand hath laid the foundations
of the earth, and My right hand hath spanned the heavens. And
when I call unto them, they rise up. This is a big earth, isn't
it? To us it is. I know in the whole
scheme of things in the universe, it's just a little tiny thing.
But I tell you, it's big to us. We can't hardly measure it, can
we? They've been working out in our community this summer,
and they've been digging these holes. And they dig a hole about
ten foot deep and they put this tape around it because they don't
want anybody to fall in the ten foot hole. And I go up there
and I look down that hole and I say, man, that's deep. That's
a deep hole. I heard on the news last night,
did you hear about that earthquake that hit Afghanistan? And they
said that earthquake was a hundred and thirty miles below the surface
of there. A hundred and thirty miles below
the surface? That's deep, isn't it? Man, we
start thinking about this earth in our eyes and it's huge. And
we look up into the starry heavens. In my eyes, it's mass. It's immense. Where did this come from? Who
made this? Our God made it. He made it with
His hand. And He spread out the stars by
just wiping His hand and said, Let them be. Oh, what a mighty
hand He has. the hand of creation. But this
work is little compared to His work within His people. The work
of creation in this natural realm is nothing compared to His work
within the heart and the spirit of His creature. Listen to what
He said, Isaiah 64, verse 8, O LORD, Thou art our Father. We are the clay, and You are
the powder. We are all the work of your hand."
Isn't that amazing? We're the work of your hand. The Jews wanted to build a temple
for the Lord. It had got demolished and they
wanted to build a temple. And the Lord asked them, what
are you going to build the temple out of? And they said, well,
we're going to get cedars from up in Lebanon. We're going to
hew these stones out. We're going to overlay it with
precious metal. And the Lord said, listen, all
of these have my hands made. All you guys are going to do
is take what I've made and you're going to cut it up and put it
back together and you're going to say, Lord, what a beautiful
building we've made you. Would you come and dwell in it?
And he said, after all, my hands have made all of this thing.
And then he said this to them, to this man will I look. Here's
where I look. Here's what impresses me. Here's
what gets my eye. Not a beautiful board building.
Not a building built out of stone and the beautiful cedars of Lebanon.
But to this man will I look, even to him that's of a contract
spirit and trembles at my Word. Lord, why would you look to that
man who is poor? Why would you look to that man
who has a crushed spirit? Because that's my work. That's
my work. David said the sacrifices of
God are a broken spirit, didn't he? And a broken and a contrapt
heart, O God, Thou will not despise. Why? It's the work of His hands. Do you see how poor you are?
Do you see how spiritually destitute you are? How you need the riches
of heaven? That's His work. And He won't
despise that. That's the work of His hands.
And you that's had Him to work upon you like that, you know,
boy, that's more precious than this creation that you see with
the visible eye. We're the work of your hands. Lord, Thou wilt ordain peace
for us, for Thou hast wrought all our works in us. Isn't that a Mexican lyric? All
of them? The work of faith? This is the
work of God that you believe. And we do believe, but who works
it in us? That eye that looks to Jesus
for its all in all. Where did that eye come from?
That ear that listens to His voice. Those feet that follow
Him. The heart that draws near to
Him. Where does that come from? It's God's work. It's the work
of His hand. All your children are in your
hands and they're the work of your hands. And brothers and
sisters, when He reaches out to get one of His children to
begin a work in their hearts, it's a precious thing. It's a
precious thing. And you and I ought to pray to
that end. Did you know it? Lord, work in me. Work in me
to will and to do of Your good pleasure. Confirm me to the image
of Jesus Christ. Make me like Him. I can't confirm
myself, but you can. You said you would work, and
no man shall hinder you." And he's able to do that, isn't he? He's able to do that. The Lord
told Jeremiah to go down to the potter's house in Jeremiah 18. He went down to the potter's
house, and he saw there where the potter had made this vessel,
and it had become marred in his hand. And he said, the potter made
another vessel, as it seemed good in his sight. Then the word
of the Lord came to me, saying, O house of Israel, can I not
do with you as this potter? Thus saith the Lord, Behold,
as the clay in the potter's hands, so are you in my hands, O house
of Israel." Oh, that's my prayer. It's not your prayer. I'm in
His hands. The Lord molded me firmly. Work in me. And I tell you, we
ain't going to do no more than He works in us. We ain't coming
no farther than He draws us. We're not going to know any more
than He teaches us. The work is His. And the best thing you
and I can do is just submit to Him. Just submit to Him. Lord, work in me. Work. I'm yours. Work. Have not the potter power over
the clay? Of course He does. He does, don't He? To make one
vessel into honor and another into dishonor, of course He has
that power. He's the Lord. And I love Philippians
3.18, Paul said, "...your conversations in heaven, from which we look
for the Savior, who shall change our vile body and fashion it
like..." Oh, that's the potter's work, ain't it? Fashion it like.
And not only will He make these Vow bodies just like Jesus Christ. But He's going to do it within
the twinkling of an eye. Eleven one-hundredths of a second.
Kodak Company tells us that is. Passionate, likened to His glorious
body. Think of this about His hands.
David said in Psalm 3115, he said, My times are in Your hands. My times. What an encouraging
thought that is. My time to be born. I was born
September the 4th, 1950, the very moment God said I would
be born. I was born again in 1973, the
very time when He said I would be born. That's so with you,
isn't it? Your times are in His hand. Every
trial that you face, it's in His hand. If you get a cold,
the time that you get that cold, how long it's going to last.
If you get cancer, you get your heart broken, The joys that you
experience all the times are in His hands. And aren't you
content just to leave it there? I've told you so many times.
Spurgeon asked the old lady there in his congregation. He said,
Dear sister, what if the Lord referred it
to you when you would die? She said, I'd refer it right
back to Him again. He said, What if He referred it back to you?
She said, I'd refer it right back to Him again. He said, What
if He referred it to you again? She said, Brother, I'd refer
it back to Him. My times are in His hands. I love that, don't you? I love
that. Who better to trust our time
with than Him? One more. This is a hand of security. Oh, what a secure hand it is.
My sheep hear my voice. You all know this, don't you?
I know them, and they follow Me. I give unto them eternal
life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them
out of My hand." That's a strong hand, isn't it? A secure hand.
My Father which gave them Me is greater than all, and nobody
is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand. Thirdly, let's
go to this one right quickly. I like this one. Here's the third
thing Moses said, the third characteristics in verse 3. And they sat down at his feet. That's wonderful, isn't it? They
sat down, all his saints. They're loved of him. And he
tells us here they're in his hand. And now he says, here's
the third mark. They sat down at his feet. I tell you, man will never be
at the right place. and in the proper position until
he finds himself sitting at the feet of Jesus Christ the Lord.
That's where we begin our journey. And you know something? That's
where we ought to stay. Right there at the feet of the
Lord Jesus Christ. It's a place of absolute surrender.
It's a place of rest. And it's a place to be taught.
There at Jesus' feet. Remember that Gadarean maniac?
How crazy that poor man was, full of devils. He was always
in the tombs, running and cutting himself with stones, crying out,
had no rest. But when the Lord came where
he was and told the devils, You come out of him. You come out
of him. He's mine. I've redeemed him.
Come out of him. Where do you find that fellow?
Sitting at Jesus' feet. What was he doing? He was resting,
wasn't he? How long had it been since that man set out? We don't
even know. He was always running up in the
tombs in the mountains. But now, he's sitting at Jesus'
feet and he's clothed and in his right mind. And a man will
never find rest until he finds himself at Jesus' feet. That's
the only place of rest. And I tell you this, it's the
only place to learn, is it not? When you see this phrase in the
Scripture, setting at somebody's feet, Paul said, I set at Gamaliel's
feet. That's where I learned what I
know about the law, he said. That's what it means to set at
Jesus' feet. It means we humbly learn of Him. Remember Mary? She set at Jesus' feet and heard
His Word, didn't she? And that won't be taken away
from you, brothers and sisters. What you learn at His feet won't
be taken away from you. Sitting at the feet of Jesus.
Fourthly, and quickly, let's consider the last one. I love
this one. Everyone shall receive of thy
words. Everyone shall receive. That's
a mark of a Christian. You say, well, we've got so many
people out here today and they don't even believe God's Word
is God's Word. They don't consider it whatsoever. Brothers and sisters,
if I had to believe that, if I had to believe there was such
creatures that don't even believe we have the Word of God, and
they care nothing about believing it and walking according to the
life that's in it, then I've lost my way. I just don't believe
any such thing. Some may hold that opinion. But
it goes right back to where we begin this message. What is the
characteristics of a believer? God tells us. And here He says,
they receive every one of Thy Word. Every religion in this
world but one is based upon the words of men, the commandments
of men, the traditions of men, the convictions of men, the preferences
of men. But it's only Christianity that
is based wholly upon the Word of God. It's the only infallible
writings that you and I have in all of this world is this
book right here in front of me. It's the only one. Who the triune
God is, what He's like, who Jesus Christ is in His humanity and
in His deity, what He's done in the way of redemption and
judgment, where He is now, what He is doing, what He is going
to do, who you and I are, the way of salvation, what to believe,
what to think, how to act in this present world. Only the
Word of God can infallibly teach us the answers to all of these
things and nothing else. And children of God receive the
Word into their heart. Paul said this, listen to this
in 1 Thessalonians 2 verse 13. He said, For this cause, brethren,
thank we God without ceasing, because when you received the
word of God, which you heard of us, you received it not as
the word of men, but as it is in truth the word of God, which
effectually worketh in you that believe. It works in you effectually. That means it gains the end that
it desires. You want to know what you should
believe? Where do you go to get it? The Bible, don't you? You
receive what the Word says about itself, about God, about Christ,
about sin, about you. You receive the Word of God. That's a mark of the believer.
He receives the Word of God. That old devilish, hateful, violent
religion they used to call Christians. What was they call them, Larry?
The people of the book. Is that what you say? That's
what Islam used to call the Christians. They're the people of the book.
Why? Because they received the Word
of God as the rule of faith and practice. If you've studied anything about
Luther's day, time in Germany on Luther's day when the Pope
tried to get, we call him the Chancellor of Germany now, they
tried to get the Prince of Germany, the Chancellor, to take away
all the Bibles from the Christians. And all of the bishops, the Christian
bishops in Germany, they got together and they came for the
meeting there at the Chancellor's office. And he said, we're going
to take your Bibles, we're going to direct you how to worship,
when to worship and where to worship. And they came and bowed
down before him and said, you can have our heads, but you ain't
going to get God's Word. That's what Christians do, isn't
it? They all receive thy words. They receive it not as the Word
of men, but they receive it as the Word of God. And boy, He's
got a way of making us appreciate His Bible, instilling a deep
conviction in our hearts that this is indeed the Word of God.
Why? Because He wants us to reverence
it. He wants us to love it. He wants
us to trust His Word. David said this, "...Lord, remember
the Word unto Thy servants, upon which thou hast caused me to
hope, this is my comfort." Go through a few trials, buddy,
go through a few trials, and you see what gets you through
it. When notions that you had in your head fail you, when what
friends told you fail you, when you hear what's read in the commentary
fails you, where do you go to then for your comfort? Go to
the Word, don't you? God's got a way of driving us
to His Word. This is my comfort in my affliction. This is my
light in my darkness. This is my sword in the heat
of the battle. This is my guide when the road
forks. This is my stay when all around
me is shaken. This is my guide when friends
want to lead me astray. This is my comfort in my affliction. You take the child of God that
these marks are evident in His life. I tell you, He's got a
joyful life. You're convinced tonight the
Lord loves you. Oh, to know the love of Christ
that passeth knowledge. And you've entered into that.
You've come to see the greatest love that Christ has passeth
knowledge. And you see that you're in His
hands, that He's working with you and farming you, You're secure
there. You see that? Don't that bring
you great joy and relief? And you see here in our text
that you're down at His feet, you're learning there, humbly
learning of Him, resting in Him, and you're receiving at His Word.
I tell you, brothers and sisters, that's four marks of the Christian.
And if those marks are evident in your heart and your life,
I tell you, you're a person of joy. You're a person of joy.