Okay, now take your Bible again
and find John chapter 16. John chapter 16. I'm entitling
the message, from the final words of instruction, the Lord speaks
to His beloved disciples before He goes to Calvary to die for
their sin. John 16, look at verse 1. These things have I spoken unto
you. And it goes back to everything
that he said from John 13, 14, and 15. These things have I spoken
unto you that you should not be offended. that you should
not be offended. So the title of the message this
morning will be those words, not being offended, not being
offended. Now let me ask you some questions
and we'll come back to John 16 in just a minute. Does the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ, does it offend you? Do you find the
message Offensive. I'm not asking you if you're
religious. Everybody's religious, whether it's the Muslim or the
Buddhist or others. Everybody's got religion of some
kind. You can go to any corner of this
world and you can find man's religion. So does the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ offend you? Think about it. Is the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ a stumbling block to your faith, or is it
the anchor and foundation of your hope in Christ Jesus? We read in 2 Thessalonians, we
have an everlasting consolation and a good hope through grace
alone. Do you find the message of salvation
by grace alone, faith alone, Christ alone offensive to you? Does it offend you? Or do you
find yourself loving the things of God, believing the things
of God? We read a moment ago in Galatians
5 where Paul said, If I yet preach circumcision,
then is the offense of the cross removed." What is the offense
of the cross that Paul talks about there in that fifth chapter
of Galatians? We'll come back to that in just
a minute. Here's another question that
I want you to consider. Are you ashamed of the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ? Paul said, I'm not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God and the salvation
to everyone that believes. You see the gospel, I'm talking
about the gospel now of the Lord Jesus Christ, the sovereign saving
gospel, by its very character is offensive to the flesh. I
realize that. especially to the religious flesh,
lost flesh. But to the believer, it's not
offensive. To the believer, it's not a stumbling
block. Now hold your place there and
find 1 Corinthians chapter 1 for just a minute. 1 Corinthians...
I don't find the gospel... A believer doesn't find the gospel
offensive. It's his delight. It's his joy. Look what it says here in 1 Corinthians
chapter 1 verse 22. The Jews require a sign. That's
the religious person. They're always looking for signs,
aren't they? The Greeks, the wise people, they seek after
wisdom. The wisdom of this world which
God calls foolishness. But we preach Christ crucified
unto the Jews. It's a stumbling block. It's
offensive. Unto the Greeks it's just utter
nonsense, foolishness. But, verse 24, unto them which
are called, whether you be a Jew or a Gentile, Christ and Christ
crucified is the power of God and the wisdom of God. It's only
in Christ crucified that God can be just and justify the ungodly. Our Lord said this in Matthew
11. Blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me." You're
a blessed person. The gospel is not offensive unto
you. Now, I know it's not a pleasant
thing to be offended. Anybody ever offended you? You
got upset? It's not pleasant to be offended.
I know that. It hurts. It causes us to weep. It causes us to mourn when someone
offends you. But I dare not remove the offense
of the cross, the offense of the gospel, to try to make the
gospel message less offensive to the flesh. To remove the offense
of the cross, I'm talking about Christ and Him crucified and
what He accomplished, salvation, the effectual atonement of Christ.
To remove the offense of the cross is to remove its power,
and it is to change the message totally. That's why Paul said,
I'm determined not to know anything among you, but Jesus Christ and
Him crucified. Now, should we try to preach
the gospel in a way that does not offend anyone? I don't want
to preach the gospel in an offensive manner. I want to preach the
gospel in a civil manner. I want you to hear what I've
got to say. But we cannot preach the gospel in such a way as to
remove the offense, can we? Just tone it down a little bit.
No, we can't. You change the message. This
is what has led. Exactly what has led to so many,
in so many places, to compromise the gospel and they change the
method, they remove the power and they try to compromise the
gospel by taking the cutting offensive edge off of it. Just lower it down just a little
bit. There may be other ways of salvation. There just could be now. Let's
just not be too narrow now. You see, that's what led to so
many problems. No, the way of salvation, our
Lord, is straight and narrow. He said, I am the way, the truth,
the life. No sinner comes to God apart
from the Lord Jesus Christ and His gospel. The Apostle Paul
put it this way in Galatians chapter 1. Remember he said,
though we are an angel from heaven, preach any other message unto
you, And that which we've already preached, how he accomplished
salvation by his death, let him be accursed. And then he said,
do I now persuade men of God? Do I seek to please men? Do I
simply come when I sit in my study hour after hour to try
to present a message that's not offensive to somebody? That's
not what I think about. You know what I think about?
How can I honor Christ? How can I glorify Christ? Paul
said, Do I now persuade men or God? Do I seek to please men?
For if I yet please men, I should not be the servant of Christ. Did you see what he's saying?
But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached
of me is not after man, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ."
I cannot change the message. I cannot. As his servant, I cannot. Now, I want you to look at this
scripture here. Hold your place here in John chapter 17. Turn
back to Matthew 15 for just a moment. Matthew 15. Our Lord says of
those Pharisees in that day, Matthew 15, look at verse 9.
He said, but in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrine
the commandments of men, touch not, taste not, handle not, the
religion of not. Look at verse 10. And he called
the multitude and said unto them, hear and understand, it's not
that which goes into the mouth that's your problem. that defiles
you, but that which comes out of your mouth, out of the heart,
precedes all these evil things. Look at verse 19, Matthew 15,
19. Out of the heart precedes evil thoughts, murders, adultery,
fornication, theft, blasphemy. It's just the same thing we read
in Galatians chapter 5 a moment ago, isn't it? So it's not that
which goes into your mouth, the Lord said, verse 11. But that
which comes out, then came his disciples and said unto him,
Noah's thou that the Pharisees were, they were offended when
they heard thee saying, oh, well, let's just change our message. Peter, let's just change our
message, everything be okay. That's not what he said, but
he answered and said, every plant which my Heavenly Father hath
not planted shall be rooted up, leave them alone. Leave them alone. They be blind,
leaders of the blind and the blind, when they lead the blind,
they both wind up in the ditch. So, do these things offend you? Do these things offend you? Now we'll come back to the offense
of the cross in just a minute and consider some of these questions.
But let's look back at verse 1, 2, and 3 for just a minute
in John 16. John 16. These things have I spoken unto
you that you should not be offended. They shall put you..." In other
words, he's arming them and he's telling them exactly what's going
to happen to them tomorrow, the next day, and after he dies.
"...they shall put you out of their synagogues. Yea, the time
comes that whosoever kills you will think that he's doing God
a favor. These things will they do unto
you," watch it, underline, "...because they do not know God." nor me."
The Lord Jesus Christ is wisely and tenderly preparing and forewarning
and arming His disciples of the hardship and trials that will
come upon believing the gospel. And if you believe the gospel,
you must preach the gospel. He said in verse 2, they will
put you out on the street, That is, they will excommunicate you. Turn back to John chapter 9.
Remember the story of the blind man whom the Lord healed? And they asked his parents, who
healed you? John chapter 9 verse 21. But by what means he now seeth?"
This is his parents answering the question. Let's go back to
verse 19. They asked them saying, is this
your son who you say was born blind? How then does he see?
John 9, verse 20. His parents answered and said,
We know that this is our son, and we know that he was definitely,
he was born blind. But what means he now seeth,
we know not. Or who hath opened his eyes,
we know not. He's of age, ask him, for he shall speak for himself. These words spake his parents
because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed
that if any man did confess that he was a Christ, You'd be out
on the street. Excommunicated. Should be put
out of the synagogue. Now, in that day, it meant you
were excommunicated from the fellowship of believers. It means
that you were put out on the street. You lost your job. You lost your family. You lost
everything. Now look at John chapter 12. This is the way religious men
act. They'll excommunicate you. Now, I don't want to shock you,
but I've been excommunicated twice. I mean, I've been kicked
out twice. Okay? Paul was too. Look at John chapter 12. John
chapter 12 verse 42, Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many
believed on him, but because of the Pharisees they did not
confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue,
for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. What were they interested in?
Self-glory. Self-worth. You know, this was
exactly what Saul of Tarsus did unto Stephen. Turn back over
here to Acts chapter 7. They'll excommunicate you and
then he says they will, not only that, they won't be satisfied
with just putting you out on the street. They go further. They'll kill you. They'll stone
you to death and they think, and they do it in the name of
God. They do it in the name of their God. In Acts chapter 7,
when Stephen, the faithful servant of the Lord, verse 54, when they
heard these things, and it's the same religious crowd, the
self-righteous crowd, they were cut to the heart and gnashed
on him with their teeth. What? They acted like a pack
of wild dogs. But he, that is Stephen, being
full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and
saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of
God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son
of Man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried
out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him
with one accord, and cast him out of the city, stoned him,
that is they killed him. And the witnesses laid their
clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. Saul of
Tarsus. Oh, who's Saul of Tarsus? Read
on. They stoned Stephen, calling
upon God, saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled
down and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this into their
charge. And when he had said this, he
fell asleep, died in the Lord. Blessed is the man that dies
in the Lord. And Saul was consenting unto
his death, rejoicing in his death, and at that time there was a
great persecution against the church, which is at Jerusalem,
and they were all scattered abroad throughout all the region except
the apostles. Now turn over here to Acts 26. They'll put you out of their
assemblies, they will stone you, and they'll do it in the name
of their God, And Saul of Tarsus was the very one who participated
in those things before he met the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at Acts 26. Now this is
later the same man, Saul of Tarsus. And here's his testimony. Acts
26 verse 9, I barely thought with myself that I ought to do
many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. Which things
I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints did I shut
up in prison, having received authority from the chief priest.
And when they were put to death, I gave my voice. I was in full
agreement. I punished them often in every
synagogue, compelled them to blaspheme, being exceedingly
mad against them. I persecuted them even unto strange
cities." This was a man that God did a work of grace in his
heart. who removed the offense of the
cross, made him a lover of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me show
you another scripture here about how they will kill you in Acts
chapter 12. Turn over there. Acts chapter
12. I believe it is verse 1. Here
we have the record of the Apostle James. This is the brother of
John. Acts 12.1, now about the time
of Herod the king, about that time Herod the king stretched
forth his hand to vex certain of the church and he killed James,
the brother of John, with the sword. Had him killed, had him
executed. Remember this, all the apostles
were persecuted unto death. Remember the apostle Paul was
sent to Rome. and later was executed. All the
apostles were persecuted unto death, even John. John was banished
to an island called Patmos. He was considered an outcast,
that the outcast cast out, and there he died in seclusion on
that island. But think of this now. Think
of this. Turn over here to John 13, look
at verse 36. John 13, verse 36. You remember
the Lord said, Simon, So Simon Peter said to the Lord, Lord,
wherever you go, wherever thou goest, I'll go. And the Lord
said, whether I go, you cannot follow me now, but afterward
you shall follow me. Afterward you shall follow me.
Where are those men who gave their lives for the gospel right
now? Well, I know where their body
is. Their body is in the grave waiting for the resurrection
of their dead body, but the apostle writes, to be absent from the
body is to be present with the Lord. They're with the Lord right
now. Now turn to John 16, now look
at verse 3. These things will they do unto
you, all these things they'll do unto you, they'll persecute
you, they'll hate you, they'll kill you, they'll put you out,
because they do not know me. They do not know the true and
living God. The reason behind this hatred
and persecution of the apostles is really directed toward the
Lord Himself. They do not know, love, worship
the true and living God. It's not to say that they're
not religious. They love the God of their imagination, the
God they've whittled out, but they do not love the God that's
revealed in Scripture. The carnal mind is yet enmity
against God. Isaiah 45 says they pray unto
a God that cannot save. The Lord says of them, these
religious men who persecute, turn back to John chapter 8 a
minute. John chapter 8, our Lord said of these same Pharisees,
John 8 42, you remember these verses, if God were your father
you'd love me? If he were your father, you'd
love me. For I proceeded forth and came from God, neither came
I myself, but he sent me. Why don't you understand my speech? Even because you cannot hear
my word, you are of your father, the devil." Wow. And the lust
of your father will you do. He was a murderer from the beginning,
abode not in the truth, because there's no truth in him. When
he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar
and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth,
you believe me not. Which of you convinces me of
sin? And if I say the truth, why don't you believe me? Look
at verse 47. He that is of God, heareth God's
word, You hear them not, because you are not of God." Wow, what
an indictment. All the religions, religions
of the flesh, all the religions of men, work salvation, the way
of Cain, the scripture calls it, are allies of the devil, Adversaries to God the true and
living God the gospel of God Concerning the Lord Jesus Christ
you remember back in John 15 look over there John 15 verse
18 John 15 18 If the world hates you, you know
it hated me before it hated you I John 15, 19, if you were of
the world, the world would love his own, but because you're not
of this world, I have chosen you. You didn't choose me, he
said. In verse 16, you didn't choose me, I've chosen you. But
I've chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
Remember the word that I said unto you, the servant is not
greater than his Lord. If they persecuted me, they will
also persecute you. If they've kept my saying, they
will keep your saying. But all these things will they
do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that
sent me." Look at verse 23, "...he that hateth me hateth my Father
also." This is the fruit of the flesh. Now, I want to come back to this
question, all-important question, and consider this morning. Do
you find the message the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ offensive.
It offended a bunch of folks in that day, didn't it? If you don't find the gospel
offensive to you and you find yourself believing it and loving
it, it's because one reason God made you to differ. The gospel
of God's grace is most offensive to the flesh, especially religious
lost flesh. It was the Pharisees who got
so upset by what the Lord said, it was not the publican, was
it? Matter of fact, they criticized
him for being friends with the publicans and sinners. You see,
they were offended by his person. Turn back to John chapter 8.
They were offended by his person. John chapter 8. He said, Your
father Abraham, verse 56, Your father Abraham rejoiced to see
my day. He saw it and was glad. Then
said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old,
and hast thou seen Abraham? And the Lord said, Verily, verily,
I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. He's saying he is
the eternal God. Well, that was offensive to them
because look at verse 59. Then took they up stones and
cast at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out, going through the
temple, through the midst of them, and so he passed them by,
left them in their malice and in their hatred. They were offended
by his person, they were offended by his doctrine. Turn back here
to John 6, John chapter 6. Look at verse 61 of John 6. When
Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he
said unto them, Does this offend you? What on earth you shall
see the Son of Man that standeth up where he was before? It is
the Spirit that quickeneth the flesh, the flesh profits nothing. The word that I speak unto you,
they are spirit and they are life. But there are some of you
that believe not, for Jesus knew from the beginning who they were
that believed not and who should betray him. He said, therefore
said I unto you, no man can come unto me except it were given
unto him of my father." There's irresistible call, irresistible
grace, which is so offensive to the flesh. And look what happened. From that time, many of his so-called
disciples went back and walked no more with him. What happened? They got offended.
They got offended and they quit. They left. Now, let's come back
to this question. Wherein is the offense of the
gospel? Or wherein is the offense of
the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ? Three things that I want to consider. The gospel, first of all, addresses
all men as sinners. sinners. And this offends man's
self-worth. Wait a minute. You're calling
me a guilty, vile, wretched sinner? I'm pointing that finger right
back to me. Yes, we are guilty. Someone might say, well I'm not
as bad as others. Okay. Maybe not. But in God's sight, we're all
sinful. Some might say, well, I'm not
as bad as others. Really? Who said so? Your opinion's pretty high, isn't
it? The Pharisee said, God, I thank you I'm not like others. Especially
that old publican over there. I fast twice a week, I pray,
I do all these things. You see, the scripture teaches
us that all have sin that comes short of the glory of God. We're
sinners by birth, born in sin, shaped in iniquity, Psalm 51.
We're sinners by choice. Men love darkness, not light. We're sinners by practice. I
cannot not sin. Back in 1981, People's Magazine
did an interview with the religious people of that day, and I asked
them how many times they thought, on average, that they sinned.
And the common average was most people thought they sinned at
least four times a month. Wow! Well, I sin four times a second.
I'm a sinner. You see, that's what I am. I
cannot not sin. We are sinners. That's what I
am before God. You know the scriptures in 1
John 1, it says to deny that we are sinners is to call God
a liar. And it's to be deceived in our
heart. You know the scripture in Romans
3 where it says, there is none righteous, no, not one. There
is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh God. We're
all gone out of the way. The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ addresses all men as sinners, guilty, vile, dead in sin. I can't preach us low enough. what we are in the flesh. Now,
does this offend you? Do you find this offensive? It's
not offensive to the sinner who has been taught of God, what
he is before God, and what he is by nature, guilty as charged. You see, true repentance agrees
with God against yourself. When God said, you're a sinner,
true repentance said, you're right. When God says, you're
guilty, true repentance says, I'm the guilty one. True repentance
said, I am the chief of sinners. It's not the other guy, it's
me. Really believing totally depravity is not believing others
are depraved, it's believing that I am the sinner. But the good news of the gospel
is that the Lord Jesus Christ came to save sinners. He didn't come to call the righteous,
but sinners unto repentance. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation that the Lord Jesus Christ died for
sinners. Christ died for the ungodly. Secondly, the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ This gospel, this gospel of Christ produces salvation
that is totally dependent upon the obedience of the Lord Jesus
Christ. To the exclusion of anything,
any contribution, anything found in us. You see, salvation is
by His righteous obedience alone. Salvation is by His blood atonement
alone. By one offering He perfected
forever them that are sanctified. For the one offering He put away
our sin by the sacrifice of Himself. You see, salvation is by Christ
alone. Grace alone. The blood atonement
of the Lord Jesus Christ alone. This offends man's religious
pride. He insists that he must bring
something. He insists that he must contribute
something in the process of this salvation. Surely my works, surely
my repentance, surely my faith, surely my deeds mean something.
Not in God's sight. He says away with it, all of
your righteousnesses before God are as filthy rags in my sight. God said, all the best you have,
bring it on. Bring it on, brother, bring it
on. Pile it up. As high as you can pile it. And
he said, it's nothing but a dung heap. You know what a dung heap
is? Manure pile. That's what we used to shovel
out of the barn when we cleaned the barn out. That's what the
cows leave behind. Bovine scatology. B.S. We shoveled it out. And yet we
want to hang on to BS, bring it before God and say, but look
now, all we can do is stink. God said,
away with it, you're smoking my nose. Again, this truth of salvation
by grace alone is not offensive to the sinner who's been taught
of God. He knows what He is, and He knows what He deserves,
and He knows that all He has done is S-I-N in God's sight. But again, here's the good news
of the Gospel. The Lord Jesus Christ has done
all things for us perfectly. Perfectly. No wonder the Apostle
Paul, this same man known earlier as Saul of Tarsus, When God taught
him the gospel, saved him by his grace, he said, one time,
I was a Pharisee of the Pharisees, a Hebrew of Hebrews, touching
the law, he said, no one could charge me. He said, before the
law, in my own mind, he said, I was Saul of Tarsus, I was blameless. But when God taught him the gospel,
everything that he thought recommended him to God, he said, it's nothing
but loss. Ruin, oh, that I might win Christ
and be found in Him. You see, in Him is all of salvation. Oh, that I might win Christ and
be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is of
the law, but that which is through the faith, the faithfulness of
the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, He brought in everlasting
righteousness for us, and He freely imputes that unto us by
His grace. We read that this morning in
our Bible lesson. Blessed is the man whom the Lord
imputeth righteousness without works. And the Lord Jesus Christ
put away all our sin by the sacrifice of himself." You mean, preacher,
it's all done? That's exactly what I'm saying. Salvation is not something you
must do. Salvation is not something you
must bring. Salvation is Done, not do, done,
done, done well. He performeth all things for
me. One old preacher of the past
said, the banquet of mercy is served up by one host, the Lord
of glory. The royal bath in which black
souls are washed white and cleansed from all their sins is drawn
from the veins of Emmanuel. Nothing you do or anyone else
had done will ever enter into that stream. It is without mixture,
the pure, free, we are redeemed with the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Does that offend you? It doesn't
offend me. I'm a sinner in need of mercy
and I look to the Lord Jesus Christ. Here's the third point.
The Gospel of Christ declares that God will have mercy on whom
He will have mercy. That's what the gospel declares
now. The gospel declares, he will have mercy on whom he will
have mercy. The self-righteous religious
man says, that's not right. That's not fair. Really? Really? That might be your opinion, but
what does the scripture teach? That's all that matters, isn't
it? The scripture teaches. Your opinion doesn't matter.
Well, I think everybody has a chance. Salvation is not by chance. Salvation
is by His grace. Salvation is by the grace of
God. Listen to these scriptures. It's God who saved us and called
us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
God's own purpose and grace, given us in Christ Jesus before
the foundation of the world. That's grace. 2 Timothy 1.9,
Titus 3.5 said, Not by works of righteousness which we have
done, but according to His mercy. He saved us by the washing and
regeneration of the Spirit of God. Romans 9, turn over there
one more time. Romans 9. May God give us grace
to know that salvation is His. He purchased it. He planned it? We'll see that in just a moment.
Romans 9, look at verse... "...that the purpose of God,
according to election, might stand, not of works, but of him
that calleth." Romans 9, 11, "...it was said unto her, The
elder shall serve the younger. It is written, Jacob have I loved,
Esau have I hated." What shall we say? Well, that's not right,
that's not fair, doesn't sound like the God that I know. How
about the God of the Bible? What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he said to Moses,
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then it's not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth. but God that shows mercy. I'm saying, as clearly as this
book says, that salvation is of the Lord. If you look at John
16, turn back over there, John 16, and then turn one page to
John 17, verse 2. It says, The Father had given
him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to
as many as thou had given him. And this is eternal life, that
they might know thee the only true God, Jesus Christ, whom
God sent, and it's the one that finished the work that God gave
him to do. Verse 4, I've glorified thee
on the earth, I've finished the work that you gave me to do,
and it's the eternal Christ. And now, O Father, glorify thou
me with thine own self, With the glory which I had with thee
before, the world was the eternal Christ, the successful Christ,
the sovereign Christ of God. I've given this outline to you
many times, but it's worth repeating. Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord and
it's planning, in His planning. Before Adam ever sinned, the
Lord Jesus Christ stood. He's a lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. So salvation is of the Lord in
His planning. Salvation is of the Lord in His execution. It
pleased God to bruise Him in our room and in our stead. Salvation
is of the Lord in His application. In Galatians chapter 1, Paul
said, When it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's
womb, and called me by His grace to reveal His Son in me. That's sovereign mercy. Salvation
is of the Lord in His planning. Salvation is of the Lord in His
execution. Salvation is of the Lord in His
application. God who has begun a good work
in you. We'll finish it. Salvation of the Lord in its
sustaining power. We're kept by the power of God
through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And salvation of the
Lord in its ultimate perfection. We are predestinated to be conformed
to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, it's of the
Lord. Here in His love, not that we love God, but that He loved
us. We love Him only because He first
loved us. Now, does this offend you? Absolutely not. The believer,
you can't offend the believer with the Word, with the Gospel
of God's truth. He wants to hear more. Tell me
more. Tell me more of His truth. You
see, the wages of sin is death. The gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord. I cannot obligate God. He owes
me nothing but judgment. The sinner that knows this will
sue for mercy and take his place before the sovereign throne of
mercy as a mercy beggar. and cry unto the Lord like the
publican, God have mercy upon me, the sinner. I go back to
this scripture I mentioned earlier, Matthew 11 verse 6, blessed is
he whosoever shall not be offended in me. There are some to whom the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ indeed is not offensive, they love it.
But God, who is rich in mercy for His great love, wherewith
He loved us even when we were dead, and in sin hath quickened
us together with the Lord Jesus Christ. There are some to whom
the Lord, had by His sovereign mercy and His sovereign grace,
His sovereign love, hath made us to differ from another. We
say with David, Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto
thy name be all honor and glory, both now and forever." And then
he said, Amen.