Last Thursday night we were up
in Pikeville, Kentucky at the Zebulon Baptist Mission and the future pastor at Zebulon was
there in the service, Brother Gary Shepherd. I introduced him
to the congregation, most of whom knew him, but I introduced
him and asked him to make some comments and read God's Word
and lead us in prayer. And of course, Gary realizes
the monumental task that's before him and all the difficulties
that he faces in coming into a new pioneer situation and area
to preach the gospel. And I was impressed greatly by
what he had to say, most of all by his prayer. When he led us in prayer to the
throne of grace, he said something like this, Oh God, enable us
to preach the gospel. You remember? I want so desperately
to preach the gospel. So desperately. You know, Paul
said, Woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel. He didn't say,
Woe is unto me if I preach not. I don't have to preach. I don't
have to preach. God will raise up somebody else
to preach. He doesn't need me. But if I
preach, I must preach the gospel. I must. Necessity is laid upon
me. I must preach the gospel. And in preaching the gospel,
I must preach for the glory of God. This is something that I
wrestle with constantly and something that I try to exhort others about. Do what we do for the glory of
God. We must get this thing of self
and pride and ambition. It's got to go now. God will
not bless anything we do if it's not for His glory. He will not
do it. He cannot do it and be God. He
will not share His glory with another. And somehow, and I know
religion is no different from anything else, that self and
pride and ambition and all these things enter in. How do I sound? How do I look? How do I impress
people? How am I coming across? What
do they think of me? What have I accomplished? It's
got to go now. It's got to be for the glory
of Christ. And not only for the glory of Christ, but this thing
of preaching has got to be done in sincerity. In sincerity. We can't play games. We're not
playing games. I was preaching in California,
John, and I used an old Alabama expression. I said, this is serious
business. We're not playing mumble-dee-pay.
And a fellow came up to me and he said, I play mumble-dee-pay.
I know what you're talking about. Nobody else knew what I was talking
about. But we're not playing games. Richard Baxter said this,
I preach as one who may never preach again. Now you think about
that. I'm standing here tonight with
this book open before me and this congregation sitting before
me and I'm preaching as one who may never, never, never, never,
never again preach the gospel. Oh, to redeem the time. To redeem this hour. And I preach
as a dying man to dying men. But now wait a minute. Hold the
phone. If I'm conscious of the fact
that I may never preach from this pulpit or any pulpit again,
isn't there a good possibility you may not hear another message? You're human as I am. just as
frail, and you just might never hear another gospel message.
So it would be wise, if you have ears to hear, to hear. If I'm going to apply myself
to the task, it would be very wise of you to apply yourself
to hearing what God has to say. And then I think about this.
Preaching for the glory of God and preaching in sincerity. But
John mentioned something when he was up here speaking to us
about simplicity. Simplicity. About us being ordinary people.
That doesn't offend me at all. Because about 99.5% of this world
is made up of ordinary people. Yes, common, everyday folks.
I look over the congregation when I'm sitting right there.
You don't know this. Who knoweth the things of a man
save the spirit of man within? But I sit there and I look out
over here in getting ready to come here and preach, and I see
different ones, all of you, and I think, now, what does she need? What does he need? They've come in from work, they've
come in from home, they've come in from their busy lives. They're
not theologians. You're not scholars, and I'm
not a scholar. What are you if you're a scholar? We're just people, people who
have a life to live and a death to die and a judgment to face,
a God to face and an eternity to spend. Now that's what we
are, we're dying creatures. And I need to preach in simplicity. I need to preach so that men
know what I'm saying. They may not believe it, but
at least I can make it clear so that they can understand it,
what I'm saying. And I'm fearful that in Calvinistic
circles and Reformed circles and Sovereign Grace circles,
maybe, intellectualism is a great enemy. Trying to impress someone,
using words that nobody understands, talking in terms that no one
understands. You haven't accomplished anything.
Preaching is communicating. If you're not communicating,
you're not preaching. Teaching is communicating, and
if you're not communicating, you're not teaching. It's like
the man came here from church one Sunday, and his wife said,
did you enjoy the service? He said, oh, I guess. She said,
what did the preacher preach about? He said, he never did
say. Well, this business of preaching,
let it be done in simplicity. You can't get too simple. You
can get too deep. And I'll tell you something else
about preaching, threefold, number one, and it's a weighty responsibility. I feel the weight of it more
now than I've ever felt it. And we have not made full proof
of our ministry until, now listen to this, we have not made full
proof of our ministry, the ministry of the gospel, the ministry of
the Word of God, until we have learned And sometimes this takes
a while, until we have learned to preach the gospel so that,
number one, men are shut up. Men are totally, completely shut
up to the free and sovereign grace of God in Christ Jesus. Totally shut up. Without hope,
without help, without strength, without God at their wit's end. Totally shut up. Like John said
a moment ago, my salvation is of the Lord. It's of the Lord
in its origination, it's of the Lord in its execution, it's of
the Lord in its application, it's of the Lord in its sustaining
power, it's of the Lord in its ultimate perfection. Salvation
is the gift of God. It has nothing to do with merit
or works or deeds. It has nothing to do with anything
in the flesh. It's totally, completely wrapped
up in Christ, the gift of God. And He gives it to whom He will.
The only kind of grace there is, is sovereign grace. If it's
not sovereign, it's not grace. The only kind of mercy there
is, is sovereign mercy. If it's not sovereignly given,
if it's earned or merited, it's not mercy. It's reward. Yet! Now hold on. Yet! Yet we preach so that our hearers
are led to seek the Lord, the sovereign Lord. I say we haven't
made full proof of our ministry. We've got an unbalanced ministry.
We've got a one-sided ministry. Until we are able to preach the
gospel so that men are shut up, totally shut up to the grace
of God, the free and sovereign grace of God in Christ, and yet
Those people who are shut up to God seek Him and call upon
Him and seek to lay hold by faith of Christ and strive to enter
in. Now the thief on the cross, hanging
on that cross, looked over at the Lord Jesus Christ. He was
aware of his weakness, his inability, his dying condition. He was aware
it wasn't one thing God owed him, He was aware that he had
no claim whatsoever on the Son of God. He was aware of that. None whatsoever. He said, We
receive what we deserve. And he said, Lord, Lord, you're
not going to stay dead. You're coming into our kingdom.
He didn't stop there. He said, Remember me. See what
I'm saying? He knew his hopelessness, his
helplessness, and his inability. He knew the sovereignty and the
power of Jesus Christ. And yet, knowing that, he still
asked for mercy. And that's good preaching when
you can bring people to do that. Same thing with the Canaanite
woman. You remember, she came to our Lord Jesus Christ. And
she said, have mercy upon me. My daughter is grievously ill.
And our Lord didn't even answer. Not a word. Totally ignored him. And she kept crying after him.
She said, have mercy. He said, I am sent to the lost
sheep of the house of Israel, not to you Gentiles. And that
didn't stop her. She knew that. But that didn't
stop her. She said, have mercy. He said,
it's not right to give children's bread to dogs. That's what they
called the Gentiles. And that didn't stop her. He
said, but I'm your dog. You're my master, but I'm your
dog. And dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's
table. That's what I want, some crumbs. Oh, I tell you, the leper came
to him. Remember when he came down from the mountain, and the
leper came to him? And the leper looked at him as
he bent at his feet, and you know, he violated the law in
even coming over there to Christ. He wasn't supposed to do that.
He's supposed to run and hide and cry unclean. But he dared,
he dared to seek the Lord. He dared to come into the presence
of this awesome, powerful, majestic person. And he said, Lord, if
you will, you make me clean. Would you dare to do that? He
said, preacher, I know God's sovereignty, and I know His elective
grace, and I know that He chooses whom He will, and I know He saves
whom He will, and I know the death of Christ is effectual,
and I know that we are helpless and hopeless, and we deserve
nothing. But do you know the Lord is plenteous in mercy? He
delights to show mercy. Do you know that? I told them,
Joe, the other day about feeding my squirrels over at the house.
I have four squirrels that I feed over there on the patio. I went
in the house and I got some pecans and went out and sat in the swing.
Jonathan Mason there swinging, cracking nuts, and feeding my
squirrel. And I saw little old Robbie standing over there and
he came over closer. And he looked at those nuts and
he came a little closer. And he looked at me and looked
at the squirrel and looked at the nut. I said, go on Robbie, have one.
Have one. They're for you too if you want
it. And you know that brazen little red-breasted robin came
over there and got one of those pecans and flew off. Well, I'm going to be that brazen
little red-breasted robin. I'm going to come. I'm going
to come and eat some of that sovereign corn. Do you dare? That's what I'm saying. Come
on. What's the hymn writer say? I
jotted it down here. I'll go to Jesus. Though my sins
hath like a mountain raised, And I'll say to him, I'm a wretch
undone, he knows it, without your sovereign grace. I can but
perish if I go. I am resolved to try, for if
I stay away, I know I shall forever die. Out to the gracious King
approach, whose scepter mercy gives. Perhaps he'll receive
my touch. He did the woman with the issue,
and then the sinner lives. But to perish, having mercy sought,
when I, the Lord of glory, have tried, that were to perish, what
a thought, as a sinner never died. Do you get what he's saying? No sinner has ever died sincerely
seeking Christ. Ever. Never. No, sir. No, sir. All right, here's the second
thing I jotted down about this business of preaching. We have
not made full proof of our ministry until we preach righteousness
and holiness in Christ alone, apart from any works whatsoever. I've been called an antinomian. I feel like Spurgeon. I don't
mind being called one. I don't want to be one. But I
don't mind being called one. You know why? They call Paul
one. They said, shall we sin that
grace may abound? Righteousness and holiness is
in Christ alone. There's no law or works or deeds
in any shape, form or fashion that make me holy before God.
The perfection that I enjoy, and the perfection which God
demands, and the perfection which God requires, is an absolute,
inward, outward, complete, holy perfection that only Christ can
fulfill. And that's what I preach. I am
perfect in Him. In Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and I am complete in Him. Is that right? And yet, we preach this righteousness
and holiness in Christ, in this gospel, we preach it so that
those who look to Him and love Him are zealous for good works. Not in order to be saved, but
because they're saved. Not in order to get God to love
them, but because God loves them. And men and women who are truly
born of the Spirit of God are zealous of good works, and they
pant after holiness in attitude, spirit, words, and deeds." No man is saved by praying, but
no man is saved who does not pray. Is that right? That's true. John Newton or Bunyan,
I believe, once said that prayer is the breath. of the child of
God. What breathing is to a natural
man, praying is to a spiritual man. No man is saved by generosity
or giving, and yet no man is saved who is not generous. It
is impossible. It would be totally inconsistent
with the grace of God to say that a greedy man is a Christian.
He is not a Christian. No man is saved by loving others.
No way. Yet no man is saved who does
not love others. He that loveth not knoweth not
God. You see, grace and holiness and obedience and love and these
things, this is the fruit of the Spirit. And how can a man
produce the fruit of the Spirit when the Spirit is not in him?
See what I'm saying? No man is saved by works, and
yet no man is saved who does not have works of faith and a
labor of love. So as we preach this gospel of
God's grace, we preach it in such a way that men clearly understand
that righteousness and holiness is in Christ. And yet we are not saved by grace
to live in disgrace. And we're not saved without the
law to live like outlaws. We don't want to anyway. Walter
Gruber said here one time, said a man told him, said, well, if
I believe like you believe, I'd sin all I want to. He said, I
sin more than I want to now. The child of God doesn't want
to sin. That's ignorance. Anyone who's
seeking an excuse to sin doesn't know Christ. The believer wants
to be like Christ in every way. He wants to be holy as his Heavenly
Father is holy. But he's the first one to admit
that he's not by nature. He's not by nature. Dr. Magruder
said one time, a saint is the last person who will call himself
one. All right, here's the third thing. I'll let that work on
you a little bit. The third thing is this, we have
not made full proof of our ministry until we're able, faithfully
able, to warn men. To warn men, to warn the false
religionists. We're surrounded today with false
religion. It's what John was talking about
a minute ago. Yes, there are too many books
being printed. Any book that does not is not
true to the word of God and does not exalt the Lord Jesus Christ,
ought not be printed. Aren't there too many preachers?
Yeah, there are too many preachers, way too many preachers. Any time
you have a preacher who does not preach the gospel of the
grace of God, he ought not preach. There are too many sermons being
preached. Roland Hill said, any sermon that doesn't contain ruin
by the fall, redemption by the blood, regeneration by the Spirit,
ought not to have been preached. There are too many churches.
I set up Pipeville when we started establishing that work up there.
I said, Pipeville doesn't need another church. When you're driving
to Pipeville, you pass 50 churches. When you're driving downtown,
they're on every other corner. It doesn't need another church.
It doesn't need another preacher. But it needs a church where the
gospel is preached, and a preacher who's preaching the gospel. And recognizing that, we've got
to warn men of false prophets. Our Lord Jesus said, beware of
the false prophets. Peter said, as there were false
prophets in the nation of Israel, there'll be false prophets among
you. And we must warn people and caution them against presumption. I don't want to miss Christ.
I'll tell you this. Now listen to me and understand
what I'm saying. The easiest place in the world
to miss Christ, to miss salvation, is right where I'm standing.
Did you know that? We get familiar with these things. That's right. And right out there,
people come and they sit through the years. Oh, I've been here
for so many years. I teach Sunday school. Mike,
you sing. Surely you're not lost. See what
I'm saying? Everybody takes that. Well, surely
he saved. He's a preacher. That doesn't mean he saved. Judith was an apostle. Demas was the sidekick of the
apostle Paul. And so it's like doctors and
nurses who constantly handle blood and sick bodies and all
to get to where they can Just about eat a ham sandwich and
do it. We're not careful. This is what
I'm saying. We're not careful. We've got to, we've got to somehow
preach so that no one will presume. Don't presume on the grace of
God now. You're not automatically a Christian.
Our Lord stood in front of that crowd at Nazareth and he said,
now there were many lepers in Israel and God didn't heal a
one of them. In the nation Israel, in the chosen people, in the
choice bunch, you know, in Abraham's seed, God didn't heal any of
them. He went out and healed a Gentile,
because he got glory from doing that. And he said there were
many lepers, many widows in Israel, and God didn't feed any of them.
He went out and fed a Gentile. Why? Why, Lord, we preached in
your name. Cast out demons. We did many
wonderful works. I never knew you. I tell you, I want to preach
so that no one will presume. No one will presume. Yes! Yes! We can't keep, we can't keep
uprooting. We can't go out and rip up the
tires, you know, for fear of ripping up the wheat. I've got
to preach so that I can give some confidence, some assurance,
and some confidence to those who do believe. The gentle lambs. The gentle lambs. You see, I've
said this so often, we're hedged about, in the Word of God, we're
hedged about on one side with warnings. Warnings. Take heed,
brethren, lest there be found in you an evil heart of unbelief.
And all the other warnings, we're hedged about with warnings, lest
we presume on the mercy of God. And then we're hedged about over
here, thank God, with promises, lest we despise. If I didn't
have His great and precious promises, I would despise Him. I would
despise Him. Let me read you this passage
of Scripture I read a moment ago, then make a comment. In
2 Peter 1, verse 4, "...whereby are given unto us exceeding."
Oh, I tell you, they're great. Exceeding great. Exceeding great. They're of great value. Exceeding
great and precious. Precious. Oh, precious. He doesn't
use that word a whole lot. But I want you to look what company
these promises are in. He is precious. He is precious. And His promises are precious
like Him Himself. And then the Word says something
about precious blood. Oh, the precious blood of Christ.
We're redeemed with a precious... Well, His promises are precious
like His blood. And then it said precious in
the sight of the Lord. is the death of his saints. That's
precious. Well, his promises are out there
with that preciousness. Precious are given unto us great
and precious promises that by these promises you might be partakers
of a divine nature. Now, just three questions, now
quit. Number one, what are these promises of God? Well, I know,
I sat down with a concordance the other day and I went through
studying promises and promise. And I'm telling you, you talk
about promises. I say, we'll be there all night.
1 Kings 8, verse 56 says, There hath not failed one word of his
good promise. Not even a word of his good promise. And you could enumerate the promises
of God fulfilled and the promises of God which will be fulfilled,
but here's the promise that's on my heart right now. Titus
1, 1-3. Let's turn over and look at it.
This is the promise. And I'm telling you, I just believe.
I know you because I know me. I know myself. I know what you're
thinking. I know what you need. I know
your concern. Titus 1, listen. Verse 1-3. Listen. Paul, a servant of God,
an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect,
and the acknowledging of the truth, which is after godliness,
in hope, O in hope, of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie,
promised before the world began, but hath in due time manifested
his word through preaching which is committed unto me according
to the commandment of God our Savior." What's this promise?
Eternal life. That's what I want, Charlie.
And I'm not talking about the length of it. I'm talking about
the quality of it. I'm talking about Christ. He's
eternal life. I'm talking about the divine
nature. I'm talking about knowing God. Here's another scripture,
1 John 2. Let's look at that. 1 John chapter
2, verse 24 and 25. 1 John 2. You know, this life is
so short, and that life is eternal. I'm a dying creature. I shall one day die, but he's
talking about living forever. My life has been one of sorrow
like yours. I know some of you, your hearts
are just absolutely broken. You think, I think of some of
our members right now, you just don't feel like you can take
one more straw, not one more. Sorrow. heartache, but that life
will be all glory. Did you know that? All glory.
This life is one of sin. That will be perfect. This life
is full of pain and toil and tears. But that one says God
will wipe away every tear. But look at 1 John 2, 24. Let
us therefore abide in you, which you heard from the beginning.
If that which you've heard from the beginning shall remain in
you, you also shall continue in the Son and in the Father."
And this is the promise that he's promised us, eternal life. Oh, I must confess, I'm more
and more interested in this eternal life. One day we'll meet the
part no more. on God's eternal, peaceful shore,
and there we'll have a blessed abode with our Savior and our
God. Eternal life. All right, that's
the promise. Now, where is it? Where is it? Turn to 2 Corinthians 1. Where
is this promise of eternal life? Where is the fulfillment of it?
Where is the reality of it? Where is the The life of it. Where is the essence and substance
of it? Where does a man lay hold upon
it? He said, lay hold on eternal life. Lay hold on eternal life.
Where does a man lay hold on eternal life? You want me to
come down front? You want me to be baptized? You
want me to join the church? You want me to sign your constitution? You want me to cease to be a
Catholic and become a Baptist? Will that help me? No, that won't
help you. that this is going to hell just like Catholics.
But where is this eternal life, this promise of God? Our 2 Corinthians
chapter 1, verse 18 through 20. But as God is true, our preaching
toward you was not yes and no, but the Son of God, Jesus Christ,
who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and
Timothy, was not yes and no, but in him was yes for all the
promises of God. How many of them? All of them.
All the promises of God. All of them. In him. That's where
they are. And they're yes. And in him,
so be it. To the glory of God by us. Everything. John Flavel said this. Don't
ever forget. For, I guess, one of the greatest
outlines ever preached. Everything God has for a sinner,
everything spiritual, every spiritual gift and blessing, heavenly places,
everything God has, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, redemption, eternal
life, forgiveness, pardon, atonement, everything God Almighty of heaven
has for the sinner is in Jesus Christ. It's given to him. It's committed to him. It's wrapped
up in him. That's the fountain of it, the
source of it, the spring of it, the life of it. It's in Christ.
Everything. Outside of Christ is nothing
but pain, misery, and woe, wrath, and judgment, and hatred. That's
right. Everything's in Christ. Even
his love's in Christ. Secondly, those mercies and blessings
which God has for sinners in Christ are ours by a union with
Christ. Not a union with the church,
not a union with each other, but a union with Christ. We are
brought into a vital, personal, living union with Christ. I in
them, and thou in me. As the branch is a part of the
vine, as the body is related to the head, so am I in Christ.
I'm the body, He's the head. I'm the branch, He's the vine.
He's the heir, I'm a joint heir. He's the life. I have life in
Him. I don't have any life apart from
Him. Christ is the life. I don't have any life until I
come to Him. That's what's wrong with this thing of begetting.
Some of our friends got the idea that a sinner is begotten by
the Holy Spirit, and then he comes to know Christ later. Christ
is life. You can't have life without Christ. He is life. This is the record
God has given us eternal life, and this life's in His Son. He
that hath the Son of God hath life. He that hath not the Son
of God hath not life. Isn't that right? Thirdly, this
life and this union with Christ is by faith. By faith. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. These things are written that
you might believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and
believing you might have life. And here's what you read a moment
ago. Fourthly, everything's in Christ. God will not speak to
nor be spoken to by any sinner except in Christ. He'll not communicate
with any sinner except in Christ. That's right. He that honors
not the Son honors not the Father. People who do not know, love,
and preach Christ do not know, love, or preach God, because
God's in Christ. No man knoweth the Father save
the Son, he to whom the Son will reveal it. You're totally ignorant. I don't care how theological,
or how intellectual, or how learned, or what you are. Without Christ,
you're a dummy in darkness, and you know not God. You don't even
have a piece of God, because Christ is God. And not to know
Christ is not to know God. And it's all in Him. And it's
ours by being united by faith in Christ. Now, where does faith
come from? Hearing the Word of God. Faith cometh by hearing,
hearing the Word of God. I've heard this little silly
cliche, I'd rather see a sermon than hear one any day. Not me.
Faith doesn't come through this door. There are plenty of people
who saw the miracles that He did and never believed on Him.
Faith doesn't come through this door. It comes through this door.
That's right, hearing the Word of God. Well, we'll take some
puppets and give the children some object lessons. You're wasting
your time. Here's the door. Faith comes by hearing. He that
heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me. Yes, but
he that seeth the Son, not with these eyes. Plenty of people who've got pictures
of Wild Bill Hickok on the wall and calling him Jesus. They haven't
seen him today. You see him with the eye of faith. You don't see
a vision standing at the foot of your bed and say, Jesus visited
me last night. The devil visited you last night.
Christ wasn't there. Christ is in the Word. It's the
only way he's going to visit you. You say, that's awful bold.
It's so anyway. The only way God's going to visit
you. Is that right, Joe Terrell? The Word of God. If you see a
vision or have a dream, forget it. Or ask God to deliver you
from it. If you speak not according to
the Word of God, it's because there's no light in them. No
truth. Faith comes by hearing. Hearing the Word of God. Oh,
I tell you, where is it? It's in Christ. God has no word
of comfort for sinners except in Christ. God has no word of
hope for sinners except in Christ. God has no benefits or blessings
for sinners except in Christ. Not in law, not in works, not
in religion, not in churches, not in theology, only in Christ. Only in Christ. All right, I'll
close with this. What are the assurances of these promises?
He says they're great and precious. Brother man, have you ever made
a promise you didn't keep? Yup. Wasn't able to keep it. Wasn't able to. I didn't have
any control over the circumstances. I promised some people one time
I'd come preach to them, and I got sick and couldn't go. Nothing
I can do about that. What about God's promises? Let
me just give you these. What are the assurances of His
promise? His word, He cannot lie. He said, I've spoken, and I'll
bring it to pass. He'd be sure of that. Secondly,
his purpose in Christ Jesus. I ran across these questions.
How long has there been a covenant of grace? Eternally. How long has Christ been the
Lamb slain? Eternally. How long has Christ been our
High Priest? Eternally. How long has God loved us? Eternally. How long has Christ been the
mediator of the new covenant? Eternally. Then how long have
I been saved? Say, you're a hard shell. Better
than having no shell at all. Yes, right in. At what point
in time does God's purpose ever change? Known unto God are all
His works from the beginning. His purpose. He had called us,
He had saved us and called us, not according to our works, but
according to His purpose and grace in Christ Jesus, given
to us, when? Before the world began. What's the assurance of this
promise? His love? God's love is infinite. It has
no bounds. God's love is free. It has no
conditions. God's love is unchanging. He
said, I am the Lord, I change nothing. That's why you sons
of Jacob are not concerned. The gifts and calling of God
are without change. Well, what about his power? Paul said he's able to keep that
which I've committed to him. Abraham believed that he was
able to do all that he promised. And then last of all, what are
the assurances of his promises? His righteousness will not suffer
him to alter his purpose nor his promise. He's God. You can
rest in Him. I read about an old black preacher. His name, I forget. I told Arch tonight, I said,
I'm getting to where I forget things. I used to call names
like that, telephone numbers. I can't do it anymore, but I
remember the story. This old black preacher, he was from Richmond,
Virginia, Jasper, John Jasper. Someone came to him one time
and they said, Brother Jasper, they said, when you get to heaven, and they
stop you at the Dover, and someone asks you, what right you got
to be here? What you going to say? He said,
I'm going to say, I ain't got no right to be here. None at
all. I'm not here on my rights. I'm
here on the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I like another story I heard.
This fellow said, Preacher, you believe you're saved? Yes, sir.
By the grace of God through Christ, I am. Laid hold of His promise
in Christ Jesus by faith. What if you get to heaven? And
they turn you away from the door, and they don't let you in. He
thought a minute, he said, well, he said, if they do, he
said, God's going to lose more than I lose. The man said, what
do you mean by that? He said, I'm going to lose my
soul, but God's going to lose His honor. Because he said, he
that believeth on the Son hath life, and I have taken him at
his word, and his word cannot fail. Can you hold on to something
like that? That's it. So comfort ye my people,
saying to her, our sins are forgiven, life in Christ. Our Father, thank
you for the great, the exceeding great, and precious promises
that cannot fail. Because all of your promises
in Christ Jesus are yes and amen, even in Him, to your glory by
us. And we give thee thanks. We look
to Christ. We rest in Christ. And once more,
openly, publicly, before the congregation of thy people, before
thy holy throne, we confess that we believe that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God. In His name, Amen.