That was a couple of years ago. There you go. When did Madison come back? Oh, she's still there? So when did she come back? She's still there before the
doctor left? Yeah, they made a big deal out
of it. That was before her death, you
know? And she went to New York to live
in Belgium. She spent a lot of money, you
know, she had a small business. How was it that they closed the
business? I'm not disincomitable. I'm fine. I'm swimming to at least one
sometimes a day. All right. What are you talking about? I
don't know. No, I don't care. I don't care. Good evening. Good to be back. Your brethren
from Carlsville, Tennessee say hi and to send you their love,
especially Donnie Bell. He mentioned that several times.
Didn't make sure to tell you all that. Thank you, Rob, for filling
in on my absence. I appreciate the word that was
said. Let's open tonight's service with hymn number 216, Look to
the Lamb of God, and let's stand together. If you from sin are longing to
be free, look to the Lamb of God. He who redeemed you died
on Calvary. Look to the Lamb of God. Look to the Lamb of God. Look to the Lamb of God. When Satan tempts and doubts
and fears assail, look to the Lamb of God. You and your strengths should
overall prevail, look to the Lamb of God. Look to the Lamb
of God. Look to the Lamb of God. Are you weary? Does your way
seem long? Look to the Lamb of God. His love will cheer and fill
your heart and song. Look to the Lamb of God. Look to the Lamb of God. Look to the Lamb of God. Fear not when shadows on your
pathway fall, Look to the Lamb of God. Enjoy your sorrow, Christ
is all in all, Look to the Lamb of God. Look to the Lamb of God. Look to the Lamb of God. Please be seated. Some of you may know, and some
of you may not know, Marie Wenzel was in the hospital again there
last week over the weekend, and they released her. She's back
home now, doing well from my understanding. Thankful for that. Randon and Cheyenne's property
flooded. Severely bad with that water
yesterday that rain that happened. There was a tornado that actually
touched down in Valley. So thankful it wasn't any closer to Bechtel's
field than that. But anyways, remember Cheyenne
and Brandon. They are obviously troubled. Thankfully didn't flood their
house. It got in the basement really good, but didn't take
out the house, took out the barn and the chicken coop, things
like that. young married couple, that'll be difficult. Very distraught
with their little ones and things. So lift them up this week as
the Lord enables you to. For a call to worship, let's
turn to Psalm 136. Psalm 136. That's not right. 139, I'm sorry. 139. I normally don't read the entire
chapter, 24 verses, but this time I'm going to. Psalm 139. Oh, Lord, thou hast searched
me and known me. Thou knowest my down sitting
in my uprising. Thou understandest my thought
afar off. Thou can passest me, can passest
my path, and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my
tongue, but lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast
beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. Such
knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high. I cannot attain
to it. Whither shall I go from thy spirit,
or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up
into heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in hell, behold,
thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall
thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say
surely the darkness shall cover me, even the night shall be light
about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not
from thee, but the night shineth as the day. The darkness and
the light are both alike to thee. For thou hast possessed my reigns. The message title tonight is
The Lord Possessed Me. David knew something about that,
he says in verse 13 again, for thou hast possessed my reigns
and has covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee for
I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are thy works
and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid
from thee when I was made in secret and curiously wrought
in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance,
yet being unperfect, and in thy book all my members were written,
which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of
them. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How
great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they
are more in number than the sand. When I wake, I am still with
thee. Surely that will slay the wicked, O God. Depart from me,
therefore, you bloody men. For they speak against thee wickedly,
and thine enemies take thy name in vain. Do not I hate them,
O Lord, that hate thee? And not I grieved with those
that rise up against thee. I hate them with perfect hatred. I count them my enemies. Search
me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts and
see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way
everlasting. Let's pray. Father, we thank
you for allowing us to be here tonight. And allowing us to have
some understanding of what David is crying out to you. How glorious
a thought Lord to know that you possessed us before time ever
began. That we were yours in the everlasting
covenant of grace you've loved us with an everlasting love.
And Lord, as we try to declare this glorious truth tonight,
we ask that you would send your spirit, that you would blow our
way, that you would give us your truth, you would open up our
hearts, our eyes, our minds, that we may focus on you and
your truth, that we may see your son, the Lord Jesus Christ, high
and lifted up. and we would worship that we
could rejoice and worship you and glorify you Lord every time
we gather together our hearts desire is that you would get
some you would get your glory that's our desire Lord we ask
that you would be with those who are dealing with sickness
Lord Freedie's been in and out of the hospital many times you
know the situation there we ask that you would Allow her to have
her transplant soon, Lord, we ask, be thy will. Pray for Rand
and Cheyenne, Father, that you would give grace unto them during
this difficult time. Pray that you would help them
seek you, cause them to cry out to you. Lord, for you're the
only place that we have rest, no matter what happens in this
life, whether it's circumstance, trial, sickness, whatever it
may be, Father, you are our hiding place. You are our high tower. You are our city of refuge. And
without you, Father, we have no peace. Remind us of your truth. Remind us of your grace tonight.
We ask that you would allow us to see your face and rest from
this world for a moment. In Christ's name. Amen. Turn to number 176. Break thou
the bread of life. 176. And let's stand together. Break Thou the bread of life,
dear Lord, to me, As Thou didst break the loaves beside the sea. Beyond that sacred page I see Blest Thou the truth, dear Lord,
to me to be, As Thou didst bless the bread by Galilee. Then shall all bondage cease,
all borders fall, And I shall find my peace, my own, Thou art the bread of life, O
Lord, to me Thy holy word, the truth that saveth me Give me
to eat and live with Thee above Teach me to love Thy truth O send Thy Spirit, Lord, now
unto me, that He may touch my eyes and make me see. Show me the truth concealed within
Thy Word, and in Thy book rebuild I see the Lord. Tonight we're going to be in
Proverbs chapter eight, if you would like to turn. Proverbs
chapter eight. Last week, we looked at Christ
being the wisdom of God and the word of God and being eternal
with God before time ever began. And how that he manifest himself
in the flesh, robed himself in the flesh. Now you have the person,
the Lord Jesus Christ in the flesh. You have the word of God
and the wisdom of God walking upon the earth for the purpose
of saving his people. What a mystery. What a mystery. But here's a bigger mystery than
that. Knowing that we have been in
Christ before time ever began. Scripture's clear on this. We'll
see this tonight. That means that whenever he was with the
Lord, the wisdom and word of God was with the Lord. We were
in him, in God. So everything described here
in Proverbs chapter eight, describes the Lord's people as well. I
briefly touched on this last Wednesday and I said, well, that's
a message in of itself. So we're going to go back to here and
look But what a mystery to be in Christ before time began,
just as we were in the loins of Adam when Adam sinned in the
garden. Therefore, we all became guilty of that sin by our father,
Adam, our heavenly father, our Lord Jesus Christ. We were in
his loins before time ever began. for the purpose of birthing us
by His Spirit, by His seed, by giving us a new man, making us
new creatures in Christ. That's how we were in His loins. It was spiritually speaking,
not physically. We still have this physical Adam, but oh, we
have the Lord Jesus Christ, His Spirit that indwells us by His
grace. What a mystery. What a mystery.
It's truly one of the most glorious truths about God's gospel, isn't
it? It truly is. Let's read this Proverbs 8, 22
through 31. The Lord possessed me in the
beginning of his way. Now I want to stop right there.
What was the beginning of his way? He's always been. That's a mystery. What does he
mean the beginning of his way? Well, whatever he decided to
start doing something, I guess that was the beginning of time
that was beginning of this way or that was beginning of that
way. Christ is the way and always has been. He's possessed me from
the very beginning of what he purposed to do. He's possessed
us from the very beginning. Before his works of old, the
scripture says, 22, I was set up from everlasting, from the
beginning, wherever the earth was. When there were no depths,
I was brought forth. When there were no fountains
abounding with water, before the mountains were settled, before
the hills was, I brought forth. While as yet he had not made
the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust
of the world, When he prepared the heavens, I was there. When
he set up a compass upon the face of the depth, when he established
the clouds above, when he strengthened the fountains of the deep, when
he gave to the sea his decree that the waters should not pass
his commandment, when he appointed the foundations of the earth,
then I was by him as one brought up with him. And I was daily
his delight, rejoicing always before him, rejoicing in the
habitable part of his earth, and my delights were with the
sons of men. He, the Lord, this is the title,
the Lord possessed me. Is that your hope? That's my
hope, that the Lord possessed me. When did he possess me? Well,
he just told us. The Lord possessed me in the
beginning of a way before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting. Never had a beginning, never
had an end. He's always possessed his people. He's always seen his people in
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's our hope. Now, either
we hope in God's salvation or we have no salvation. Either
we hope in the Lord's salvation or we have no salvation. I'm
not talking about man-made religion. I'm talking about where the Lord
says salvation is of the Lord. It's by him. He did it. He wrought the work himself.
He by himself purged our sin. He's the author and finisher
of faith. That's the salvation I'm talking
about. The one where he is the author, where he is the finisher,
where he is the alpha, and he is the omega. He's the beginning
of it. He's the end of it, and everything in between. That salvation
is salvation of the Lord. Either we're hoping in that,
seeing him as God, by grace, by faith, or we don't have salvation. Either we are possessed, everybody's
possessed. Hear me on this, this is important.
Maybe it's all important, but this is an epiphany. It's a moment where you're like,
huh, everybody's possessed. They're either possessed by the
Lord, I understand the Lord is, he's purposed all things. Nothing's
gonna take him off guard. So we're gonna start by saying
that, but everyone is possessed either by the Lord, either the
Lord has made them his prized possession, redeemed them by
his grace, saved them, made them a righteousness of God in Christ
by grace alone, or they're possessed by Satan. It's that simple. Lord's
left them to themselves. And you know what the difference
between the two are? What makes the difference? First
of all, it's the Lord that makes the difference. But as I was
studying this out, I realized what salvation truly is to the
believer is it's the Lord enabling you by faith. It's the Lord causing
you by his grace to say, Lord, thy will be done. But when the
Lord leaves a man to themselves, is that not the Lord looking
to that man and saying, thy will be done? That's a scary thought,
isn't it? Lord, don't say that to me. Don't
leave me to my will, this flesh. If you leave me to this will,
oh, I'm doomed. I have no hope of righteousness
whatsoever. But all that's what he does is
he comes to us and he gives us grace to show us what we are,
the sinners that we are, the wretches, the vile, corrupt sinners
that we are. And then he says to us, live.
And we see him high and lifted up and we say, oh, Lord, thy
will be done, not my will, thy will be done. Somebody said,
well, how do you know he's not going to send you to hell? Well,
first of all, he doesn't have to send anyone to hell. He just
leaves them to themselves. And that's where they'll end
up. That's just how it is. If he doesn't choose to do something, then
everyone will go to hell. It's that simple. He's the one,
he's the first cause. We've lived in a society and
heard for years a false gospel that tells us that salvation
is our responsibility to do something. That's not true. Salvation is
of the Lord. He's the first cause. Either
we're possessed by him, loved by him, purchased by him, by
his own blood, or possessed by Satan. It's that simple. It's
that simple. I'm glad for the constraints
that the Lord puts on believers as well as non-believers. He
doesn't, he gets all the glory. He's not going to allow anything
that happens that he doesn't want to happen. All things will
happen according to his will. We rest in that. Now, either
we've been made to believe this, or we decide to deceive ourself,
and don't even mean to do it, with the lie. Just deceiving
ourself, aren't we? Salvation is by the Lord, is
of the Lord, by Him and for His glory. In this chapter, and I don't
want to detract from this, it's very important, but in this chapter,
it's talking of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I don't
want to detract from that at all. This is Christ, the wisdom
of God, being with the Lord from the beginning. And when it says
he was set up, in verse 23, I was set up from everlasting, the
Lord was just there, set up, established. He was already established
there. He's just saying, I was present. It's not that, he's
not created. We know that because we can read
in Hebrews, whenever Paul talked about the, Melchizedek coming
to see Abraham. Remember how he described him?
He was a priest forever. He had without beginning of days
or end of life. He had not father, had not mother.
So we know that Christ has no beginning of days. So it couldn't
be that the Lord had created him. He's not created. He's the
eternal God. He's the fullness of the Godhead
bodily. And everything that we're reading here is describing him
being there with the father in perfect unison. And I love that.
And what does the scripture tell us in John chapter one? And the
word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And now the Lord sends
his spirit in power. We don't see the son anymore.
We don't see the father. We are given the spirit of the
Lord. This is just how he wrought his
salvation to be. I'm reminded not only is this talking
about Christ, but what we read in our call to worship, Psalm
139 verse 13, Thou has possessed my reins. Thou has covered me in my mother's
womb. Therefore, everything in this
chapter applies to the Lord's people. You were there when he
laid the foundation of the world. You were there when he spoke
light into existence. In Christ, we were there. Is
that not glorious? How is it possible that I could
be there? Because when he sees us, he sees
his son. He doesn't see me, the wretched,
vile sinner that I am. He sees the blood of Christ and
he's satisfied. In the covenant of grace before
time, it was entered in. We were justified in eternity.
The Lord's word was good enough to justify us. That being said,
the Lord really had to put that sin away. So in time, we became
justified by the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus. All this applies to the Lord's
people. Now notice in verse 22, the Lord possessed me. And I had started out, I've done
this two or three Wednesdays the last month. It's the who,
what, why, and how. And I'm like, well, I got to
quit doing that, because it's the same thing. But you could really
do that with that right there. The Lord is who? What did he
do? He possessed. Who did he possess? Me. Why did
he do that? Well, he tells us. Because go
all the way back down to Verse 30, then when I was by
him as one brought up with him and I was daily his delight. That's why, that's the why. I
was his delight. Me, I was his delight. If I'm in Christ, yes, he loves
me. And he loves you. If we're in
the Lord Jesus, he loves. Can you, we talk about love often
with our, friends, family, spouses, children, I love you. He would
say, I love you. And it's reciprocated back. But
his love, it's not like ours. It's perfect. It's perfect. It can't be changed. And it can't
be altered because it's completely based upon the finished work
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a perfect, holy, righteous
love. And he says, I have loved you
with an everlasting love. It never started. Can you explain
that? That's a mystery. How can something
never start? Well, it doesn't because God's
forever. I don't know. I don't know how to explain that. There is no explaining that.
Faith just believes. I have to have understanding,
necessarily, but faith just believes. The Lord possessed me. This is
the first cause of salvation. This is the very first cause.
God chose in love to elect a people to redeem before the world was
ever created. And we've seen in Psalm 130,
what was the 139? We saw in Psalm 139, that he even talked about his
members being written in the book before he was ever even,
before he's ever even born. His member, what does that mean?
Well, Lamb's Book of Life, the covenant of grace, it far surpasses
time. It's an everlasting covenant.
That's what David said on his deathbed. And that's what God
told Abraham, I'm gonna make with you an everlasting covenant.
David on his deathbed said this, though it be not so at my house,
yet the Lord hath made with me an everlasting covenant. This
is all my salvation. This is all my hope. Although
the Lord maketh it not to grow, he said. The Lord possessed me. He's the one
that elected a particular people because he loved them. Not everyone,
he chose whom he wanted to. He said, I'll have mercy on whom
I will have mercy. The good news is, is he said,
I will have mercy. He didn't say I might have mercy
on whom I might have mercy. He says, I will have mercy on
whom I will have mercy. And we delight in our Lord's
will. It's a saving wheel, it actually accomplished something.
It's a glorious wheel that he had, glorious purpose that he
had in redeeming his people. He chose to show mercy to his
people and to save them by his grace. Turn with me to Ephesians
chapter one. I know this is familiar scripture.
This is actually where the Lord revealed particular redemption
to me. Where the Lord only died for his people was Ephesians
one. It's so clear here. Ephesians chapter one, we're
gonna read the first 12 verses. No, we're not, we're gonna read
three through 12. 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 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, to the praise of the glory of
his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved, in
whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of
sins according to the riches of his grace, wherein he hath
abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known
unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure,
which he hath purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the
fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in
Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even
in him. in whom also we have obtained
an inheritance being predestinated according to the purpose of him
who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will,
that we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted
in Christ." Why would the sovereign creator of this world and this
universe choose to save a sinner? Why? according to the good pleasure
of his will. For by grace are you saved through
faith in that not of yourself. The Lord didn't go around like
we do whenever we go shopping at a grocery store. I was picking
up bags of lettuce the other day and I was looking for the
ones that had the least amount of wilt because every one of
them had wilted lettuce in it. I was selecting something. That
ain't how it works with the Lord. The Lord said, I'm going to make
you a trophy of grace. And he chose the worst to do
so with. He chose the ones nobody would
think, OK, well, there's no way that fellow is going to be the
Lord. There's no way that woman's going to be the Lord. The Lord
said, I'll take that one. I'll take that one and I'm going to
make them a trophy of my grace. I'm going to put my spirit within
them. I'm going to birth them into my family, wash them in
the blood, present them as perfectly righteous to the father. And
that's exactly what he did before time ever began. Isn't that incredible?
Isn't that incredible? Why would the sovereign creator
have anything to do with us sinful creatures? I'm not even talking
about saving us now. Why would he have anything to
do with us? Why not just leave us to ourself? according to him who
worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. Salvation begins with God. It
began with God saying, I will. and you shall. I'm going to save
you and you shall be saved. I'm going to cause you to believe
and you're going to believe. I'm going to give you life and
you're going to be made alive. I'm going to birth you into the
family of God and you are going to be born again. This is salvation
of the Lord. The most amazing part, he, the
Lord possessed me. Possessed you his people the
Lord did he possessed us. He owned us He owns everything. I understand that but he didn't
die for everything. He just died for his people He's the first
cause of salvation he chose us in Christ before the foundation
of the world to make vessels of honor and You know, he could
have made us horrible lumps of clay. Just, you're messed with
clay much, boy, it's stubborn. And boy, we are, aren't we? We're
stubborn. Hath not Potter power over the
clay to make one lump of honor and another to dishonor? That's
what the scripture tells us in Romans 9. But I'll quote that
verse again. He says, I will have mercy on
whom I will have mercy, and whom I will, I will harden. I will
harden. Aren't you glad he said that
he, well, turn over to Romans chapter 9. I wasn't planning on turning
there. Look at verse 17, for the scripture
saith unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised
thee up, that I might show my power in thee, that my name might
be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy
on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will, he hardeneth. Thou
wilt say then unto me, why doth he yet find fault? For who hath
resisted his will? Nay. But, O man, who art thou
that replyest against God? Shall the thing formed say to
him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the
potter power over the clay to make of the same lump Hath not the potter power over
the clay of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor and
another unto dishonor? What if God, willing to show
his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much long-suffering
the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction, and that he might
make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy
which we hath afore prepared unto glory, even us whom he hath
called, not of the Jews only, but also the Gentiles? Why does the world keep spinning?
Because of grace and mercy, because God chose to show grace and mercy. He says that he might make known
the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy which he had
prepared, afore prepared unto glory. He possessed me. He possessed me before time ever
began. He possessed you. He possessed
his people, his elect, that he might make known his glory unto
them. What is that glory that he speaks
of? Christ in John chapter 17 was speaking to the father and
he said, Father, glorify thy son that I may glorify you. What
was he talking about there? Well, he keeps going and he says,
and I've given them the same glory wherewith I had before
when I was with you. That's what he did for his people.
He gave us the same glory. It's Christ in us, the hope of
glory. That's the glory. It's Christ
in us. It's the work of the cross. That's
the glory of God. You want to see the Lord glorified
the most. That's where it's at on the cross
of Calvary. And Lord Jesus Christ hung there for his people, shedding
his blood, his soul being made an offering for sin, him doing
business with God. When all that happened, that
transaction that took place, the agony and suffering that
he was in when the wrath of God was pouring out upon him, he
opened not his mouth. He opened not his mouth, he did
it willingly. And he did it in love unto his father, perfect
obedience, so that you and I might be made the righteousness of
God in him, for he, God, hath made him, the Lord Jesus Christ,
to be sin for us, the elect, who knew no sin. He didn't know
any sin. That we might be made the righteousness of God in Christ. See, that's how you know you're
possessed of the Lord. If he did that for you, you're
possessed. He's possessed. The Lord's possessed me. I'm
his possession. I got ahead of myself by turning
so we're not going to turn back, but I'll just tell you this,
that word predestinated. I've heard a lot of people talk
about that. I want to touch on that just briefly. I've heard
that the Lord looked down through time. Some people told me this
and it's not true. Let me just leave with that.
Lord looked down through time and he said, I know that you're
going to choose me and you're going to choose me. So I'm going
to predestinate you to eternal life. That's just. Well, that's
foolish. There's a lot of words that could
be used for that kind of mentality. But for the grace of God, there
go I. So there's no reason to talk down about the people that
believe that. It's just that the Lord possessed us. He chose
to come to where we were. It's not that we figured it all
out. The Lord did that. He gets all the glory. Predestinated
literally means ordained and predetermined. God ordained your destination. God predetermined
your destiny, if you would, that would be the best way to put
it. Predestinated means if God has purposed something to transpire,
something to happen, futuristic, according to his will, who can
stop it? He chose to predestinate. He
said, you're going to be saved. I'm going to save you and you're
going to be saved. This is us being in Christ. This
predestination is not just arriving in glory one day or waking up
when we die in heaven in his presence. This predestination
is to be conformed to His image, to be made like Him when we see
Him how He is. That's how we were predestinated. We were placed in Christ. That's
where we are. That's how we know He possessed
us. That's how He possessed us. Isaiah 40 talks about men who
believe they can make God do something. Here's what Isaiah
said about that. Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard that
the everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the
earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching
of his understanding. You can't understand God. We
don't understand his ways. We just believe him. Our God
reigneth. I love that word reigneth. It
doesn't just say he reigns, he does, but it's E-T-H, it's Old
English, that means it's continual. Continually reigneth. When is
he reigneth? Now, and now, and now, and it
never won't be now. Our God reigneth in heaven and
over the inhabitants of the earth and even hell itself. Our God
reigneth. What a glorious rest to know
our God reigneth. What a glorious rest to know
he possessed me before time ever began. And I'm gonna tell you
something that, I don't know, is the word boggled my mind?
I guess that just, David said it best, such thing, I think
we read that in Psalm 139, these things are too wonderful for
me, I can't attain to it, it's too high, I can't, I don't understand
this. But our Lord chose to elect a
people, and he chose to put us in Christ before time. But in
order for us to be redeemed, he had to create this world.
He had to create this time that we're in, this space that we're
in. This temporary dwelling that we're in. And then he had to
become one of us in order to redeem us. The most amazing part,
this was all created for the Lord's glory. Say that first
and foremost. But this was created for the salvation of the Lord's
bride. The one that was given to Christ
before time ever began. Everything that you see was created
for the Lord's people. For the glory of God. Is that
not mind boggling? Lord, you chose to create this
world to save me from my sin, that you would get all the glory?
Yes. We just say truth, Lord. Truth. When the Lord reveals himself
high, and we see our sin as we are, and we see his righteousness
and our ugly, and then we realize he's given us his righteousness
and what it cost him to do that, we just say, oh, wretched man
that I am. I mean, all you can do is just
rejoice in the finished work and say, Lord, thank you. Thank
you. I mean, that's that there's nothing
else to say. I mean, hmm. The Lord possessed me before
the world ever began, his people were chosen in Christ. Go back
to our text in Proverbs 20, Proverbs chapter eight. I haven't even
got halfway done with my notes yet. Maybe go back to this as
a part two next week. I don't know yet. Oh, isn't it
glorious, though he possessed his people, he chose to possess
them, he selected, he elected them, he said, you're mine, and
you're mine, and you're mine, not because you've done anything
good. And not because you've done anything bad, but because
I'm God, and I'm choosing to have mercy upon you, I'm not
going to give you what you deserve. And I'm going to give you grace
to I'm going to give you what you don't deserve. I'm going to give you
my son, the Lord Jesus Christ and his righteousness. Proverbs
8 chapter verse 23 says I was set up from everlasting from
the beginning or ever the earth was from everlasting not only
were his people established in Jesus Christ, that's what set
up means is established. Not only were they possessed
by him, but there never has been a space in time, or I'm sorry,
a space in eternity, nor a moment in time that we have not been
in Christ. Remember the verse over there
in Romans chapter eight, I believe it is, where Paul says, what
shall separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus?
He's persuaded nothing. I mean, you remember the list,
death, nor height, nor angels, nor principalities, nor power,
nor 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. That was before time ever
began, that love that was there. This is an everlasting love.
The Lord just didn't decide one day to love. He loved us everlastingly. I can't understand that. Can you, Mike? It just blows
my mind. It's too much for us to understand,
but faith just believed it. Faith just believes it. Jeremiah
31 three says just that. The Lord hath appeared of old
unto me saying, yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness
have I drawn thee. I love that, therefore. I drew
thee because I love thee. I didn't draw you and see what
you were gonna do and then decide to love you. I loved you, therefore
I drew you. And if the Lord's doing the drawing,
there is no resisting. Who hath resisted his will? We
just read that in Romans nine. This is God's gospel, brethren.
This is the Lord's truth and goodness. This is how he saves
sinners, his people, from their sin. This is how a sinner can
have can no longer fear death, no longer fear judgment, by looking
to the Lord Jesus Christ as all of our righteousness, as all
of our wisdom, as all of our sanctification and redemption.
You can lay your head on your pillow tonight, looking to Christ,
believing that he finished the work by faith. You can rest assured
that Christ finished the work, that he put away our sin, they're
gone. So if you were to draw your last breath tonight, you
open up your eyes in his presence, you're gonna hear, enter in,
thou good and faithful servant. I possessed you before time ever
began. Therefore, I made you faithful
because you're in Christ. You're perfectly righteous. That's
what the Lord will say to his people, every one of them, every
one of them. We were justified in the covenant
of grace. Jeremiah 32, 40 says, I will make an everlasting covenant
with them that I will not turn away from them to do them good,
but I will put my fear in their hearts that they shall not depart
from me. Why do we not depart from him?
Because he first loved us, because we're kept by his power, by his
grace, by his mercy. Understand, God's elect, we're
possessed not by the way that men preach lawmongering. The
Lord didn't possess us by scaring us to death and making us run
to him. The Lord showed us the love that he possessed us with. And oh, we were, it was irresistible. He's irresistible to the Lord.
Whenever he gives faith to believe, faith can't help but believe.
That love that he gives to his people, he just puts it there.
You can't help but love him, can't help but love him. I don't
remember who said it this weekend at the conference, but one of
the preachers said this. You can't stop believing. You
can't if you're His. He won't let you. Go ahead and
try. You can't. He won't let you.
He keeps you believing Him. What a glory. If I'm possessed
by Him, He keeps me looking to Him in all things. Everything
that happens in our life, whether we think it's good or whether
we think it's bad, it's all working together for our good because
we love Him because He first loved us. Scripture's very clear
on this. But if he possesses me, he keeps me believing him. Whether I get the hiccups and
get frustrated at the hiccups, and then a few minutes later
get over it, he's gonna cause me to look to him, no matter
the circumstance, how minute it may be, no matter how frustrating
it may be. Maybe hiccups was a silly example, but you understand
what I'm saying? Something that frustrates you, something that
irritates you. He's gonna draw that confession, Lord, You're
right and I'm wrong. You're good and I'm false. You're
wonderful. I'm horrible. Give me Christ
lest I die. We're possessed by love. Justified,
Romans 3 24, we're justified freely by his grace to the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus. God's people have been reconciled
back to him. Reconciled. And I don't, I don't
want to miss this. If I have to skip very much,
I will. It's a quarter till, but turn
with me to Colossians chapter one. This is glorious to be reconciled
to God. What does that mean? I want to
show us that. Look at verse 13 through 15 first,
Colossians 1. God hath delivered us from the
power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear
son, in whom we have redemption through his blood and even forgiveness
of sins, who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn
of every creature. Now don't miss that firstborn.
See, we're born of his incorruptible seed. He was the firstborn. That's
not the only place in scripture that says that. He's our, not
only is he our covenant head, but he is the firstborn of the
Lord's people, of the Lord's church. He's the firstborn. He's
the covenant head. He's the, well, let's read on.
I'll show you what I mean. Verse 16. For by him were all
things created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible
and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities
or powers, all things were created by him and for him. And he is before all things,
and by him all things consist. Now here it is. And he is the
head of the body of the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn
from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence. That's what I'm talking about.
He is the head of the church. Now, him being the firstborn
of every creature, There we were in him before time ever began
in his loins, just like Adam. He chose to become a man in the
covenant of grace. He chose to die. And as it said
here, he was resurrected. But that means if we were in
him in eternity, then we're in him on the earth. And when he
was resurrected, we were resurrected in him. That's how death no longer
has a sting or a hold up on the child of God. The Lord has caused
death to release his people because we died in him. Can't die twice. Well, I mean, you can't die spiritually
twice, I'll tell you that. I mean, there is the second death
that Scripture talks about, but you can't die... The law cannot
demand justice twice. That's the best way to put it.
God does not demand justice twice. Justice was satisfied on the
cross of Calvary. And here we are with our, scripture
calls him our elder brother, calls him the head of the church.
It's the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the one that we were in
his loins whenever the world, as he was saying, let there be
light. We were in him. Possessed by
him. As he said, let the earth bring
forth trees and fruits. He created the land, he created
everything. As he was doing all that, we were in him. In him,
before time ever began. When Adam sinned, we sinned.
But when the Lord Jesus Christ made peace with God, we were
in him. And the scripture tells us that
he was reconciling us back to God. Look at this, verse 16.
Let, let no man therefore judge you. Well, I'm in the wrong,
I'm in the wrong chapter. I'm sorry. Hold on verse 16. Verse 16 chapter one for by him
were all things created that are in heaven and that are in
earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers, all things were created by him
and for him. And he is before all things, and by him all things
consist. And he is the head of the body of the church who is
the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things
he might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that
in him should all the fullness dwell. And having made peace
through the blood of his cross, and I love that past tense word,
don't you? Having made peace, it's already been done. By him
to reconcile all things unto himself. By him I say whether
they be things in earth or things in heaven. And you who were sometimes
alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now
hath he reconciled. He hath reconciled. Now that
word, reconciled, I love this. And I hope I can, hope we're
able to enter into this. Reconcile means to cause, to
coexist in harmony, to cause to coexist in harmony. Now, I would remind us that the
flesh is enmity against God, that we're born in sin, shaped
into iniquity. So whenever we are born, we are
born dead in trespasses and in sin. We're born at enmity. We're born hostile towards God. We do not coexist in harmony. No man can look upon the face
of God and live. That's what he told Moses. Even the stars
are not pure in his sight. Christ Jesus caused us, his people,
to coexist in harmony with the Father. That's what his finished
work accomplished. It also means make or show to
be compatible. You're compatible with God. Go
ahead and think about that one for a second. How can you be
compatible with God? How can I be compatible with
God. You know me, and you date whenever
you're younger, or well, older people date too, I guess, but
whenever you're looking for a spouse, you date. And you see if you're
compatible. Do you have the likes that I
like? Do you have the dislikes that I like? Can we make this
work? Is there chemistry there, this
and that? And sometimes it doesn't work, sometimes it does. The
Lord said, I've made you compatible with the Father. When he sees
you, He is well pleased because of what I accomplished on the
cross of Calvary. That's what reconciled means. You're compatible with
God. We are his bride. We are his
workmanship created in Christ Jesus, the scripture tells us.
Now the last definition, and I love this. I keep saying that,
I'm sorry, I can't help it. I love it. Now listen to this. The last definition of reconciled,
to make, one account consistent with the other account. To make
one account, now I could be talking about money, I understand that,
but there's an account that we have of sin that had to be put
away in order for our account to be rendered clean, to be rendered
good. We were in debt, we couldn't pay. Follow me? The Lord made
our account, made our account consistent with his account.
See, before we were dead, we were incompatible, we were enemies,
we were hostile, but by the blood of Christ, he caused us to coexist
in harmony with the Lord. He reconciled us back to God.
He caused us to be compatible, conforming us to his image, and
he caused our account to be consistent with God. What does that mean?
You are perfectly righteous. You're perfectly holy. You've
never sinned one time. Your record is consistent with
God. How is that possible? Because
you are in the Lord Jesus Christ before time ever began. Before
time ever began, you were possessed by him. So you understand something,
we have a new history. Think about that. Our history
doesn't exist anymore. What you've done in this life
doesn't exist anymore. We have a new history. It's his
story. We have his history, his life,
his perfect obedience, his truth, his faithfulness, his death,
his sacrifice. We have his history. So when the father sees us, he
sees us reconciled back to him. We can coexist in harmony. He
sees us as being one with the son. And therefore he says, I'm
well pleased with you. Our, our accounts are consistent
with his account. Now completely consistent. This
is what it means when he said in our text, I possessed you
from everlasting forever. This is what he did because of
that. The Lord sees his people, he
sees the holiness of Christ, and he says, you're justified,
you're sanctified, you're redeemed, you're glorified, oh, all because
the Lord possessed me, and the Lord possessed you before time
ever began. Now back to our text, and I'll
be quick. Back to our text in Proverbs
chapter eight. I want you to notice, I want
to read that verse 22 and 23 again, then I want to skip down
to verse 30. It says in 22, the Lord possessed me in the beginning
of his ways, in the beginning of his way before his works of
old. I was set up from everlasting from the beginning or ever the
earth was. Verse 30, then I was by him as one brought up with
him. And I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him. I was daily His delight. I want that to sink in. I was
daily His delight. Can you think just for a moment,
the Lord actually saying that about you, that you're His delight,
that He delights in you daily His delight. Delight, me? This sinner, I'm his delight? How can that be? Amazing love,
amazing love, amazing grace. How can it be? God would choose
to die to save a wretch like you and a wretch like me. It's all by grace, isn't it?
He says, you are my delight. I like what the Lord said in Solomon. I am my beloved and
he is mine. I was going to have his turn
to Isaiah 40, but I'm going to try to disquoted paraphrase to
you. Lord said, fear not, Jacob, because
I've redeemed you. I've purchased you, I've bought
you, you're mine. When you pass through the fire,
you won't be burned. When you pass through the waters, they
won't overtake you. I've given Ethiopia and Cebu for you. I've
given nations for you because, here's the reason, he gives us
the reason, because you were precious in my sight. Therefore, I redeemed you. That's what it means to be possessed
of the Lord. You're precious. in his sight,
you are his delight as his people. The only way he could have done
this is by grace alone, not of ourself, by grace alone. Thank God he chose to possess
his people, establish their righteousness that they couldn't establish,
justify them freely by his grace, reconcile them back to God. I
like that word. You might hear that a few more
times. Did it all because we are his
delight, because we were in Christ from everlasting, because God
possessed his people from everlasting. Let's pray. Father, we rejoice
in your word, your truth. Although we do not understand
it, we believe it because you said it. Calls us to. Calls us to rest in your finished
work. Bless it, Lord, to our understanding
by faith. According to your will, in Christ's
name, amen. Let's turn to number 16, The
Lord is King. Let's stand together in closing. The Lord is King Lift up, lift
up thy voice Sing his praise, sing his praise All heaven and
earth Rejoice From world to world, what joy
shall ring For He alone is God and King From sky to sky, His
banner fling Sing His praise, sing His praise The Lord is King,
let all His work declare Great is He, great is He! Bow to His will and trust His
tender care Great is He, great is He! Nor murmur at His wise
decrees Nor doubt His steadfast promises In humble faith fall
on thy knees Great is He, great is He! The Lord is King, and bow to
Him ye must God is great, God is good The judge of all, to
all is ever just God is great, God is good Holy and true are
all His ways Let every creature shout His praise ancient of days. God is great, God is good. The Lord is king throughout His
vast domain. He is all, all in all. The Lord Jehovah evermore shall
reign. To earth and heaven one song
shall ring From grateful hearts this anthem spring O Raju, saint,
subdued by King All thy days sing his praise Dismissed