We've preached this message of
righteousness for 120 years and never stopped preaching it. He
was a witness to his generation, but he was preaching for the
glory of God. And that's why we're preaching,
for the glory of God. We'd like to see God vindicate
his name and vindicate his preacher and vindicate his word and show
people that he's the Lord God and show his power in our day,
but we're preaching for his glory. The second reason, basic reason,
there are plenty, like I said, reasons for preaching the gospel.
He commanded us to, we love it, we rejoice in it, but for His
glory, that's why we preach it mainly. Secondly, we preach His
gospel for the conversion of His sheep. Now, we'd like you
to turn to the Scripture here in 2 Timothy, 2 Timothy, chapter
2. Paul sets this forth so plainly. You know, he talked about all
the difficult experiences he had and the problems that he
had, and he said in 2 Timothy 2, verse 9, wherein I suffer
trouble as an evildoer, even unto bonds, even unto imprisonment,
but the Word of God is not bound. They can put me in jail, Paul
said, but they can't put the Word of God in jail. The Word
of God is not bound. Therefore I endure, what I endure,
I endure all things for the elect's sake, that they may also obtain
the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory." We
preach for the glory of God and for the salvation of his elect.
His sheep must hear his word. They must hear the gospel. And
so we preach to them. We preach to our every creature.
But his sheep hear. Let me show you one other passage
of scripture in the book of Acts, chapter 18. In Acts 18, Paul
was down there in Corinth, and just a lot of trouble, a lot
of problems, and Paul was about to leave. And in Acts 18, verse
9, the Lord spake to him. The Lord spake to Paul that night
in a vision. in the night by vision, Acts
18, verse 9. And the Lord said, Paul, be not
afraid. Be not afraid, but speak, and
hold not your peace, for I am with you. And no man shall set
on thee to hurt thee, for I have much people in this city." Now,
that's why you stay here in Princeton. Things are difficult, and the
burdens are heavy, and the trials are great, and the opposition
is there. You stay there because I've got
some people there. And so he continued there, verse
11, for a year and six months. He was on his way out. This was
the last day. But he stayed 18 months. And
that's when the church at Corinth was born. So Paul was preaching
for the glory of God, but he preached, secondly, that the
elect of God might hear the gospel and hear the good news and believe
on Christ. The Lord will send his gospel
to his people. They must hear the word and believe
on Christ. So we preach. And one of the
encouraging signs to people wherever they are, if the gospel is preached
in that area, it's pretty evident God has some people there. Wouldn't
you say so? If it stays there, then God has
some people there. All right, the third reason that
we preach the gospel, this is the basic reason. Thirdly, we
preach for the glory of God. We preach for the conversion
of His sheep. And thirdly, we preach for the
comfort, the comfort of His people, and for the encouragement and
instruction of His people. You know, on that shore, on that
on that shore that early morning when the disciples were out fishing,
and our Lord appeared to them. And Peter came swimming in, and
the other disciples came in, brought the fish, and they gathered
around the Lord, and they had the meal that he prepared for
them. And then he took Peter aside,
and he said to him, Do you love me? And he said, I do. What did
he say to him? Feed my sheep. That's what I'm
sending you to do, to feed my sheep. You don't just preach
for the glory of God, not just for the conversion of people,
but we preach to feed them. And he said it three times, three
times, over and over and over again, he said, feed my sheep,
feed my sheep, feed my sheep. And that is such an important
part of this business of preaching. It's not just for conversions,
conversions, it's to feed the sheep. to strengthen and comfort
and encourage them and exhort them and instruct them. And I
have a lot of friends that live in places where the gospel is
not preached. And I see them at Bible conferences,
and every once in a while they'll come here. All of them talk about how starved
they are, and how unhappy they are, and how they're just dried
up, and how many problems they have, and all these things. And
I don't want to hurt their feelings, but I want to say to them, I
understand why you have problems. You don't come to the table enough.
I know why you have problems. If I lived off somewhere where
there's no gospel, go through a whole year until they go to
a Bible conference, never hear a message, never hear the word
taught, never, except on a tape, you know. But a tape's a mighty
poor preacher, a mighty poor pastor. It's not the same. You need this fellowship, you
need to come together. And that's why we preach, for
the glory of God, for the conversion of His people, and to comfort
and strengthen and edify and instruct He has people. And when
you miss that, when you're not in the house of the Lord on a
regular basis, you can expect problems. You can expect—there's
enough heartache and trouble and conflict, even when you're
here regularly, to be fed and taught and comforted and encouraged,
even when you spend a lot of time in His Word. But when you
spend no time, you can expect extreme problems. And the thing
to do, or what would you advise a person to do? I don't have
any problem telling you what to do. Move where the gospel
is preached. You pick up lock, stock and barrel
and move where the gospel is preached. And sit under the gospel.
You did that. You did that. I can point all
over this congregation, people who move where the gospel is
preached. And that's why we preach, to strengthen and let us move
on to Turn to my text tonight, Luke 19. So we preach to glorify
God, we preach that his people might be converted, and we preach
to comfort and exhort and edify his people on a continual basis,
on a daily basis. Here I am going to be speaking
tonight from Luke 19 on the call of grace. This will encourage
God's people and comfort the Lord's people and take us back
over some places where we've been and in which we can rejoice. Perhaps someone here will hear
it for the first time. In verse 1, Jesus entered and
passed through Jericho. And behold, there was a man named
Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was
rich. Now, let me tell you a little
bit about the publicans. This is interesting. Zacchaeus.
There was a man in Jericho named Zacchaeus, and he was the chief
among the publicans. Now, let me tell you what the
publicans were. The publicans were tax gatherers. Tax gatherers. Tax collectors.
Zacchaeus himself didn't collect the taxes. He was the chief.
But he had his underlings that did the collecting. and harassing
the people. And they were just real robbers. They collected taxes and taxes
above taxes. And they were the objects of
intense hatred. People hated Republicans, especially
the Jews, because the Jews were a proud people. They felt like
they were God's people. And they were restless under
the Roman rule. And the payment of these taxes,
these heavy taxes, was a bitter better pill for them, and they
hated these men who collected them. They resented the tax collectors,
and especially Zacchaeus, because Zacchaeus was a Jew. He was a
traitor to his own people. And all the Jews set men like
Zacchaeus aside as a moral leper who became rich. over the sufferings
as a result of the sufferings of other people, and they aborted
me in like Zacchaeus. They wouldn't go into their homes.
That's the reason when Christ said, I'm going to your home,
they were shocked. He's gone to be the guest of
a publican. This holy man is going to the
house of the most unholy man. They were shocked. They wouldn't
go to his home. And he was a chief among these
thieves. Think about it. the chief among
the thieves. All right, verse 3. And this
man, this chief among the thieves, chief among the publicans, he
sought to see Jesus, who he was. And he could not for the press,
for that crowd of people, because he was a short man, little of
stature. He was just a very short man,
and he tried to, Christ was walking down the street, followed by
people, and there were folks on both sides, and Zacchaeus
was trying to see him, and he saw the direction he was going,
so he ran down. Verse 4 says, he ran in front,
before the Lord, and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see
him, to wait on him, for he was to pass that way. Zacchaeus was
curious. He was curious. He was curious
to see this wonderful man. He was curious to see this Jesus
of Nazareth. So he ran and climbed up into
a tree, and he knew he'd be on the route that the Lord Jesus
would be taking, for he was walking that way. You know, I see already
the grace of God operating in this man's life. Oh, no, he's
not a believer. No, he's not saved. No, he doesn't
know the Lord. God-working, God-moving. I see the grace of God already
moving in this man's heart to cause him to want to see Christ. Whether it's curiosity, whether
it's anger, whether it's form, whatever it is that brings a
man or a woman, whatever it causes, whatever it takes, whatever God
uses to bring an individual unto the gospel. Thank God for it. And here this little fellow,
he couldn't see the Lord, so he ran ahead and climbed up into
a tree. There he sat. I read, you know,
back when Whitefield was preaching over in England, and even when
he came to America to preach, he had an orphanage down in Savannah,
Georgia, George Whitefield did, in the early days of this country.
I don't know the exact dates, but way back yonder, way back
yonder. Whitfield moved up and down the
eastern seaboard, preached in North Carolina and Georgia, and
had an orphanage in Georgia, and he knew Benjamin Franklin. Franklin went to hear him preach
one time. George Whitfield, great preacher of the grace of God,
the sovereign grace of God, one of the greatest preachers. And
Benjamin Franklin was going to hear him preach, and one of his
friends, Franklin was a profane man. He wasn't a believer. He didn't manifest it anyway.
But anyway, he's going to hear Whitfield. Somebody asked him,
said, why do you go and hear that man preach? You don't believe
what he preaches. You know what Franklin said? No, I don't, but he does. He
does. And I like to hear a man that
believes what he preaches. It brings a man to hear. And
other people, when Whitefield was preaching in the open air,
I read where some people would fill their pockets full of rocks.
And they would come to hear Whitefield, to heckle him and throw those
rocks at him. And many of them, according to
the report, that came to throw rocks at him, God smote them
with the gospel. Smote them and saved them. And
they'd take their rocks and drop them out of their pockets, you
know, before the man finished preaching. God saved him. That's
right. One time, I don't remember what
year it was, but back in the fifties, a couple moved here
to Ashland from Independence, Kentucky. A couple. He was an insurance man and was married, had a wife and two
children, a little boy and a little girl. And he went to work in
an insurance office here in Ashland. And he was a Baptist. And he
asked one of the officials there at the office, said, my wife
and I knew in town. He moved over on Blackburn Avenue,
over near 45th Street. And he asked the man, he said,
where would you recommend we go to church? And the man said,
well, He said, we've got seven or eight Baptist churches in
this town and several in the county. I'd recommend any of
them, except one. He said, if I was you, I wouldn't
go to 13th Street Baptist Church. And that man went home and told
his wife what that man said. His wife said, don't you think
we ought to go out there and see what they're preaching? He said,
that's the one place that we ought not go. I kind of think
we ought to go. They did. And they, God saved them both.
I remember when they came to knowledge of the gospel. Stayed
here a long time and moved away. But that, you know, Paul was
religious back in 1951. He was religious. We had Barnard
come here in 1952 over at Pollard. I remember Paul, he got his Bible
the first night of the meeting. He told Jenny, he's going over
there and prove that man wrong. Barney's preaching election,
sovereignty, and particular redemption, and grace, and Paul hadn't seen
it, God hadn't showed it to you, had he? Never revealed it up
to that time. He's raised in religion like
I was, and most of you were, and he came with his Bible, and
I remember he sat way in the back. and opened that Bible and
bonded praise. And Paul listened and followed
in the Bible. Next night, he moved a little
closer. It's true, isn't it, Paul? Next night, he moved a
little closer. Every night, he got a little
closer. And towards the end of the meeting, he's sitting right
down front, hearing the gospel and loving it. And like we talked
about that again tonight, how you love the gospel. But he said
this. Paul said it. You don't know it till God reveals
it to you. You don't believe it till God makes it precious
to your heart. But when He does, you can't leave it. You love
it. You'll die believing it. But
Paul didn't come the first time to believe it. He came to disprove
it, you know. That's what I'm saying. Zacchaeus,
he didn't come to run up in that tree to be saved. He went up
there out of curiosity, that's all. Never knowing God was going
to smite him in the heart. And those people came to hear
Whitfield with their rocks. They never knew that they'd be
smitten and brought to Christ. Didn't know they were God's sheep.
All came to prove him wrong. But God spoke to his heart. Isn't that a beautiful story?
I'll tell you that. All right, look at verse 5. Verse
5 of Luke 19 says, And when Jesus came to the place, oh, I tell
you, you can come to a place a lot of times, but until he
comes, we don't get much done, do we? He came to the place.
And he looked. He looked at Zacchaeus before
Zacchaeus looked at him. He saw Zacchaeus before Zacchaeus
saw him, like the deserted infant. He looked and he looked up in
that tree and saw him. He saw all of his filth and immorality
and corruption and cheating and stealing and mistreating people.
The Lord knew him. He knew him. He knew him. He
saw him. He looked up in that tree and
saw him, and he said, Zacchaeus, the call of grace, make haste
and come down, for today I must abide at thy house. Now, let
me show you about five or six things about this call. This
is the call of grace. He called. He calls his own. That's one of his own. And he
called him. And he came down. First of all,
it was a gracious call, wasn't it? You know, I suppose if you
were conducting a poll in Jericho, and you were considering candidates
for salvation, candidates for redemption. You are making a
list of people that might, the Lord just might save in Jericho.
Where would Zacchaeus be on the list? At the bottom. I mean rock
bottom. Nobody, nobody with any understanding
at all would even suspect that God would set his love on something
like that. But he did. If you were making
a list in Tarsus, in the city of Tarsus, you're making a list
of candidates, that people you think, God just might say, where
would Saul of Tarsus be on the list? Come on now, where? Right
on the bottom. When our Lord was crucified on
Calvary's tree, if you were going to write down a list of people
in the order in which he might reveal himself to, where would
the thief be on the list? at the bottom. That's what I'm
saying. That ought to encourage every
one of us. That's where we'd be, on the bottom. Our Lord delights to show mercy
to sinners. His call is a call of grace,
a call of grace and mercy. Somebody said one time to Spurgeon, My greatest enemy is my sinful
self." Oh, Spurgeon, so wise, he said, no, my friend. Oh, no,
your greatest enemy is not your sinful self, your greatest enemy
is your righteous self. If you can just realize the depth
of your sin, the depth of your misery, the depth of your inability,
God saved you, because He delights to save sinners. God should mark iniquity who
would stand, but there's forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be
worshiped and feared. Your sins won't keep you from
Christ. Don't ever for a moment think that, not even for a moment,
don't ever entertain such a thought. It's not our sins that keep us
from Christ, it's our righteousness that keeps us from It's our wanting
to do it ourselves instead of leaving it up to Him. The fact
is, of all people, of all people, but yet I can identify with that,
and you can too, of all people, He saved even me. Well, the second
thing I see about this call, it was not only a gracious call
to save such a great sinner, but it was a personal call. Zacchaeus. And no mistake about whom he
called. He calls Zacchaeus. There were people all around
him. I believe there were some other folks up in that tree.
I don't imagine he was the only one up there. I expect there
were some more people up there. But he didn't call them. He called
Zacchaeus. He called him personally. I know there's a general call.
You know, let me show you a few scriptures. Men and women are
religious. Everybody's religious. Turn to
the book of Romans, chapter 1. About everybody in our day is
religious. You know, Paul said to one of those old kings, talking
to him about the gospel, he said, now you know what I'm talking
about. These things weren't done in the corner. You're aware of
the Bible, you're aware of God, you're aware of heaven, you're
aware of hell, you're aware of Jesus, you're aware of the cross,
you're aware of these things. This wasn't done in the corner. And people are aware. There's
a general call that everybody hears to some extent. Look at
Romans 1, verse 18. Romans 1, 18. For the wrath of
God is revealed from heaven. against all ungodliness and unrighteousness
of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness, because that
which may be known of God is manifest in them. God showed
it to them. The invisible things of him from
the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood
by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead,
so that they're without excuse. Everybody's without excuse. You
say there's people in this world that haven't heard the gospel?
But they've heard of God. They've heard of God, oh yeah.
The sun is God's messenger. The moon, the stars are God's
messengers. The birds that fly through the
air, all of the things that are made are God's messengers. It
says the things of God are shown to them, revealed to them, are
the things that are made, and they're without excuse. If people
walk in the light they had, they'd get more light. That's right,
but they won't walk in the life they have. I'll tell you another
way that God's revealed himself to people. Look at Romans 2.
Romans 2, verse 14. Ah, yes, listen to this. All
of these messengers, the heavens declare the glory of God, the
firmament showeth His handiwork, God is known by the things that
are made. His eternal power and Godhead are demonstrated every
time a sun comes up, every time a raindrop falls, every time
a snowflake falls to the ground, every time a baby is born. Who
made that child? Look at Romans chapter 2, verse
14. When the Gentiles, which have
not the law, Do by nature the things contained in the law?
You go to pagan places, they know you're not supposed to kill
people. Well, who told them that? They know you're not supposed
to steal. They got consciences. They know these things. Your
little children know not that it's wrong to lie, and theirs
do too. That's how they know it. These, having not a law,
are a law unto themselves, which show the work of the law written
in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, their thoughts
the meanwhile accusing or excusing one another." Oh yes, there's
general cause, conscience, nature, providence, judgment, the Bible. These things aren't done in the
corner, but yet they Last night I made two television
broadcasts, and one of them to me was so
clear, it's so clear to me. I've started out with three statements
that are absolutely without question true. Number one, eternal life is an
impossibility apart from Jesus Christ. and a quoted description. This is the record that God has
given us eternal life, and this life's in His Son. This life's
in His Son, and he that hath the Son hath life. That's clear,
isn't it? Eternal life's an impossibility without, apart from Christ. He
is eternal life. Secondly, resurrection. That's
a fantasy. Without Christ, Christ is the
resurrection. He's the first begotten from
the dead. He's the first one resurrected not to die again.
He's the first begun. He said, because I live, you
live. Paul said, if Christ be not raised, there's no resurrection.
That's clear. And thirdly, peace with God is
impossible without the Prince of Peace. When he sent him into
the world, he said, peace on earth. hath brought us peace through
the blood of his cross." And when I gave those three statements,
I thought, now, why don't people believe that? Why don't they
all just say, get their rap and chill and say, listen, this is
so. But no. They go right on in their form
and their rituals, seeking to obtain eternal life by their
deeds. It's not, I quoted this, it's not by works of righteousness
which we've done. But according to His mercy, He
saves us. And they say, that's right. And then they keep on
going, depending on their words. Why? They're blind. God hadn't called them. There's
a general call, conscience, nature, preaching the Word, facts. But I'll tell you this, there's
an effectual, personal call. And he said, Other sheep I have
which are not of this fold, them I must bring, and they'll hear
my voice." Now, his sheep out there are going to hear those
three statements, and they're going to say, That's true. That's
so. That's so. Whom he foreknew,
he predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son. Whom
he predestinated, he called, and whom he called, he justified,
and whom he justified, he glorified. It pleased God, who called me
by His grace to reveal His Son in me. I can call you forever,
and you'll never come. But I'll tell you this, if He
called you, Zacchaeus! Oh boy, come down. If He called, personal. Paul said, Thank God for you,
brethren, beloved of the Lord, because he hath from the beginning
chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit
and belief of the truth, whereby he called you by our gospel."
You heard the gospel. And you're sitting here tonight,
and you're saying, those three statements, apostate, eternal
life, is an impossibility without Christ. I know that. I believe
that. Resurrection is a fantasy apart from Christ's resurrection?
I believe that. Peace with God? He made peace
through the blood of His cross. Thank God for that. You're a
sheep. He called you. He taught you that. I didn't
teach you that. He taught you that. That's personal call. Here's the third thing. Listen,
it was a humbling call. He said, Zacchaeus, come down. Come on down. You're too high,
Zacchaeus. Come on down. Somebody said this, there's never
been a call to come up that wasn't preceded by the call to come
down. That's right. God will humble
a sinner before he ever exhausts him. I'll tell you this, if you
feel your sins literally overwhelming your soul, bringing you grief
and heartache and a lump in your throat and tears to your eyes,
and unpleasant memories, thank God. A sinner is a sacred thing. The Holy Ghost has made him so. There are not many. There are
not many sinners. Not many. Because God makes a
sinner. He reveals sin to him. That's right. God will always
speak in judgment before he speaks in grace. That tears down I read
one time, ìCome down,î the Lord said. I came down until there
were very few lower than I. ìCome on down,î the Lord said.
Well, I came down until I was on the level with the lowest.
ìCome on down,î the Lord said. Well, I came on down until there
was none so low as I. And he said again, ìCome on down.î
And I came down until I gave up any thought or hope of there
being any mercy for me. And then he spoke peace to my
heart. Now you're down. Depth of mercy,
can there be? Mercy still reserved for me.
Can my God, his wrath forbearing, me, me, chief of sinners, Can
it be that I should gain an interest in the Savior's blood? Died He
from me, who Him to death pursued? Amazing love! How can it be that
Thou, my God, would die for me?" Come on down. When they had nothing to pay,
He forgave them. Well, it was an affectionate
call. Let's look at something here.
that he said, Zacchaeus, verse 5, Come down, for today I must
abide at thy house. I tried to imagine the look on
the faces of the people when he said that. That scallywag in the tree, I imagined a hush fell over the
people. Their mouths were dropped and
opened. And here the master, Zacchaeus, Come down, I must. I like that, I must. I'm going
to show you something about that in a minute. The Son of Man must
be lifted up. Them I must bring. They shall
hear my voice. I must abide at thy house. They murmured. Look at verse
7. And they, when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, This
man's gone to be the guest of a man that's a sinner. They murmured
because they didn't understand his mission. I'll tell you why
he's going to Zacchaeus' house. It's twofold. Twofold. Number one is down here in verse
nine. And Jesus said unto them, This
day is salvation come to this house, forasmuch as he also is
a son of Abraham. He is a son of Abraham. Do you
know how many sons of Abraham were around on that street? There
were hundreds of sons of Abraham by flesh. But this man is a son
of Abraham by birth, by grace, by choice. He's a covenant son
of Abraham. That's right. He's not a Jew
which is one outwardly. He's a Jew which is one inwardly.
He's a Jew. He's a son of Abraham if God
chose him. And Christ died for him, and
he believes the gospel. Let me show you that in the book
of Galatians. Turn over here a minute. We looked
at this in our Sunday school class Sunday morning. Galatians
3, listen. Who are the sons of Abraham?
In Galatians 3 verse 7, Know ye therefore that they which
are of faith the same are the children of Abraham. This man
is a son of Abraham. A true son of Abraham. Look at
Galatians 3, verse 16. Now to Abraham and his seed,
where the promise is made, he saith not unto seeds, as of many,
but as of one, to thy seed, which is Christ. All who are in Christ
are sons of Abraham. The promise was made through
Christ. Look at verse 27. Verse 26, you are all the children
of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you have been
baptized into Christ, have put on Christ, and there's neither
Jew nor Greek, there's neither bond nor free, there's neither
male nor female, you're all one in Christ. And if you be Christ,
then are you Abraham's seed, and it is according to promise.
So when our Lord said, Zacchaeus, come down, I must abide at your
house today, for this man, is the son of Abraham. And you can
say that of every person in here who's been born from above, who's
been redeemed by the blood, who's been brought to faith. He also
is the son of Abraham. But here's what they missed too,
verse 10. For the Son of Man is come to
seek and to save that which was lost. This was a lost son of
Abraham. A lost sheep. And that's where
he finds all of his people. Lost. sinners without God, without
hope, without help in this world, lost. The Son of Man has come
to seek and to save that which was lost, to save His people from their
sins. And then He said, I must abide
at your house. I'm not passing through. I'm
going to abide there. I'm going to stay there. I'm going to abide. Somebody
wrote this about that, abide at thy house. Here, here I will
bring my settled rest, no more to go and come, no more stranger
or even a guest. But now master of this home,
he moves in. And I'll tell you this, it'd
be a different place if he dwells there. Can't you imagine? Now you think
about it. Zacchaeus' home was down here.
And being the type of person he was, and being in the vocation
that he followed, and being running with the crowd he ran with, I
imagine his home fit his vocation pretty well, and his company.
But our Lord went down there. He said, I'm going to abide there.
And I'll tell you that some changes took place with Christ Jesus.
And we'll abide there. Because, what's this now? And
I see the changes starting already. Verse 8. And Zacchaeus came down, and
he stood, and he said to the Lord, he said to the Lord, Behold,
Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. What I've gotten,
I've gotten in a questionable fashion. And I'm going to divide
it, and if I've taken anything from any man false, my false
accusation, I'm going to restore him for false, starting right
now. You see, this call was gracious. It was personal. It was a humbling
call. It was an affectionate call.
The Lord said, I'm going home with you. I'm going home with
you. You know, I'm going to write
you a letter once I see how you're doing. I'm going to live with
you. My father and I are going to take up our abode with you."
And Zacchaeus said, well, some changes are going to be made
then. It was an effectual call. That's right. It was an effectual
call. You know, I read something today.
I put it in the bulletin for Sunday, but I'm going to read
it to you, and you'll have a copy of it Sunday. But think about
this a little bit. I read it, and then I changed
it around a little, put my own emphasis on it. I believe that
most of the Lord's people will confess that down through
the years, we have seen a doctrine in the Scriptures. We've seen
a truth, lots of them. And we've believed them, honestly
believed them. and owned them to be true, honestly,
and a part of the divine revelation, honestly, and had a firm grip
on them, these doctrines. Do you follow me now? Had a firm
grip on them. Only in God's good time, sometimes
later, sometimes much later, not all at the same time, but
along the road, in God's time, by God's grace, to have that
same truth brought home to us, clearly revealed to us by God's
Spirit, and experienced by us. Till the statement now is not,
I've got a grip on the truth, but it's got a grip on me. See,
you know what I'm talking about? I know what I'm talking about. It's got a grip on me. There's
a difference. I think it's what Job said when he said, Lord,
I've heard of you. I see you. Now I see. And so don't discount
and don't treat lightly when you've got, mentally or spiritually
or whatever, however, reveals things to you and says, I believe
that. I own that. I don't question
that. But Lord, and I got a grip on
that, and I'd stand for it, and I'll preach it. But may the day
come when it has a grip on me, and I've experienced it, really
experienced it. It's part of me. I'll have that in the bulletin
Sunday. It needs to be looked at a little bit by me, you, everybody
else. But it's just so. It's a matter
of, he said, desire the sincere milk of the Word that ye may
grow thereby. Well, what is this growth? Later on, Peter said,
it's a growth in grace. and the knowledge of Christ.