Now let's go back to the 24th
chapter of Luke. These two disciples were walking
along together. They had spent much time with
the Lord Jesus Christ. They had grown to love him. They
believed that he He was the Christ, the Messiah, the Redeemer of
Israel. They had hoped that he would restore the glory of David
to Israel, that they would bring God's kingdom upon the earth.
And all of these dreams and hopes were shattered when they watched
him die on that cross. And they watched him die. They
watched him take his helpless, lifeless body down from that
tree. and wrap it in a sheet and put
it in that grave and roll a stone in front of it. That was the
preceding Friday. Some say Wednesday. Perhaps,
it doesn't matter. But here on the Sabbath day,
they were walking, or on Sunday, they were walking toward this
village called Emmaus, three score furlongs from Jerusalem.
And they were talking about all these things. They were just
going over all the things that were on their minds. Things that
had happened when Christ was with them and the things that
happened in the betrayal and the trial and before Pilate and
the crucifixion, all these things. And the Lord Jesus Christ drew
near and walked along beside them. They didn't recognize him. Their eyes were holding that
they should not know him. And he turned to them and he
said, why are you so sad? Why are you so sad? What manner
of conversation are you having that makes you so sad? And here
in verse 18, one of them, whose name was Cleophas, answering
said unto him, Are you a stranger in these parts? Don't you know
what's taken place here about Jesus of Nazareth, how that we
hope that he was the Redeemer, hope that he was the Messiah?
and how they delivered him to be crucified. And now it's been
so many days since he's crucified, and certain people said that
he's risen from the tomb. They went to the tomb, and they
saw the angels, and the angels said he was alive, but they didn't
see him. They didn't see him. And that's when the master said
to them, O fools, verse 25, and slow of heart to believe all
that the prophets have spoken. Ought not the Redeemer, you say
you believe He was the Redeemer. Ought not the Redeemer, you say
you believe He was the Christ. Ought not the Christ to suffer
these things? Isn't that what the Scripture's
all about? Isn't that what the smitten rock's about? Isn't that
what the Passover feast is about? Isn't that what the brazen serpent
lifted up is all about? Ought not Christ to suffer these
things? Isn't that what the slain lamb and the atonement on the
mercy seat, isn't that what it's all about? And he opened the
scriptures and expounded to them the things concerning, verse
27, himself. And as they came near the village,
our Lord made as if he would go on further, and they constrained
him. They said, stay with us. Stay with us. Talk some more
to us about this. They still didn't know who he
was. Talk to us some more about these things. So he came in and
sat down, and verse 30 said he took bread and blessed it and
break it and gave it to them. Their eyes were opened. They
knew him, and he was gone. Well, naturally, they finished their
meal, and quickly as they could, they rushed back to Jerusalem.
The other disciples, the eleven disciples, and some more folks
with them, were gathered there in Jerusalem, and they ran in.
They started telling what they'd seen, what they'd heard, all
about how the Lord had appeared to them, and how he blessed the
bread, and break it, and made himself known to them. Now verse
36. And as they spake to these eleven disciples and the other
witnesses, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them. Our Lord
came and stood in the room. And he said, Peace be unto you. And they were terrified. They
were terrified. They were frightened. They supposed
they'd seen a spirit. And our Lord said to them, verse
38, Why are you troubled, and why do thoughts arise in your
hearts? Why are you afraid? Why are you
afraid? Why are you troubled? Why do
all these thoughts fill your heart? And as I read that verse
of scripture out there, now they had watched him die. They'd watched
him take him down from the... They'd never seen anybody rise
from the grave. They'd never seen anybody alive
that had been dead. They knew nothing about death
and resurrection and life after death and all these things, and
they were troubled. They were frightened. Regardless
of what he had said, they hadn't seen it. Regardless of what he
had preached to them, there still were some fears and doubts. And
I think we go through the same thing. I just know we do. Are
you ever afraid? Are you ever frightened at the
prospects of death? Are you? Do thoughts, do doubts
and fears fill your heart? Are you ever troubled at the
thought of dying? When you think about death, when
you think about dying, leaving this body, you've never really
sat down and talked to anybody that's died and come back, now
have you? You say, I have the Bible. I know that, I do too.
These disciples were human beings. Christ was with them, Christ
had preached to them, Christ had taught them, Christ had given
them all these facts, but they still had not experienced it
yet. Now then, now then, if some of
our friends who are gone, if Brother Jeff came, or Brother
Edgell came back here tonight and sat down with us and said,
now it's not bad as you think it is. See what I'm saying? is
not as bad as you think it is. I too feared it. I too wondered
about it. I tremble at putting my feet
in the icy stream of death and crossing Jordan, but I've done
it and I've gone to be with Christ and there's no problem. In fact,
it's a happy experience to die as a gay. I know we've read all
those things, my brother, but I know we've seen all those things
in the Word, but that's another story. And these disciples, they
were sitting there talking, and they were talking about the things
he said. They were talking about the things they really believed,
at least in their heads. And here he stood, and they just
scared him to death. They just were afraid. I had
a little experience recently. Now, you don't need to say a
whole lot about this, but it was good for me. I need to become
better for my own ministry and my own personal experience. I need to become better acquainted
with death. I deal with it. I preach funerals.
I deal with people who may die tonight. I'm preaching to you.
And I have a friend who's an undertaker, a mortician. And
I asked him one time, I said, I'd like to come to your place.
When you bring a person in, I like to stay with you through the
whole process till you take them out." Well, he said, maybe we
can't. I wouldn't do that for many people,
but you're a preacher, and I think it'd be good for you. I think
it'd be good for you. Well, recently I was in that
town in a meeting, and it was late at night. It was after the
service, and we were together, he and I, and he had his call
box on his beeper here and it beeped and he picked it up and
answered it and they said, come to the hospital and pick up a
body. He said, you want to go? I want to go. All right. So I
was there in the funeral home and waiting for him to drive
up outside and and another preacher and I and so I just sat down
there and waited and there's the embalming fluid and all the
machines and all these things around and this table, it's a
stainless steel table that is flat but it's elevated like this
just a few degrees about this high on this end and slopes down
and there's a waste disposal and all these tubes and all these
different things. He came in and this person had
been operated on and had died two hours before. And they brought
the person in and they were wrapped up in a sheet and laid that person
on that table and elevated it and then they unwrapped the person
and threw the sheet aside. And I want to tell you that I
listened and watched very carefully every step. I moved around the
table, watched everything that he did. And there are four or
five things that impressed me very much. Number one, the film
director and his wife were putting on the rubber gloves and things,
and I walked over and made as if I was going to take the hand
to feel the body that's been dead for two hours or less. He
said, don't touch the body unless you put on rubber gloves. And decay has already started. He says it's dangerous. There
are germs. He said the body, if we don't
get this body embalmed and taken care of in 24 hours, you couldn't
stay in a room with it. See, when life is gone, flesh,
if we could just dream how rotten flesh is. Flesh is decaying,
dead, degrading, depraved, corrupt, vile, filthy. You wouldn't know
as pretty as some of you are right now. You could be so horrible
in 24 hours that nobody could stay in the room with you. That's
flesh. And flesh and blood, and I didn't hear it at the Kingdom
of God, is putrid and polluted and stinking. That's what the
Bible said. It said don't touch it. I wouldn't touch it without
rubber gloves. That's the first thing. The spirit
was just gone. The life is the spirit. There's
no life in that flesh. There's no life in that flesh.
The second thing that impressed me was this. That person was
as alive as I am two hours ago. Just as alive as I was. I was
standing there talking, moving about. So was that person. Just
as alive. Now gone. And I thought, as I
stood there and watched, it went through my mind. I could be lying
right there in two more hours. In two more hours, I could be
lying in that same place, and perhaps will be. Who knows? Only
God knows. It's in His good providence.
We don't believe that. But that person wasn't much older
than I am. You know, the third thing that impressed me? The
mortician was fixing the mouth, and then he raised the eyelid,
and the eye looked right at me, but it didn't see me. The eye
was still there, just like it was, Cecil, but no longer could
see. And the ear, perfectly formed,
but couldn't hear. No use me preaching. Here I am
a preacher. I've got the good news of the gospel. There that
person lay there. I could shout in the ear. I could
show visible signs. No, couldn't hear. And then he
put that thing in the eye to keep the eye formed where it
wouldn't sink in. It's a plastic thing that goes
over the eyeball and the lid closes over and it looks beautiful.
It looks so alive, you know. And these are artificial things
like to form the mouth. There's a certain thing put in
the mouth to form the mouth, to make the lips just right.
I asked him this. I said, do you fellas put a smile
on the face? He said no. He said there was
a person I had in here, an elderly man, that I couldn't get the
smile off his face. He said he was smiling, and he
was smiling when I let him out of here. He died smiling. But he said, I don't put them
on there, and I don't take them off. I just form them out. But
as I stood there and watched that, I could be right there.
You can too. We need to get, like Bill said,
we're not playing games. This is serious. I could be right
there. This may be my last message.
May be. That impressed me. Those eyes
don't see anymore. Mine do. I need, I need to. I need to improve the moment. I need to use the moment and
the message and the time. I'm trying to think of that word
that the scripture uses about occupying and listening and using
your mind to take these things in and remember them. Here's
the fourth thing that impressed me, the fourth thing. When the
funeral director had washed the hair, and prepared the body for
embalming, and scrubbed the body off. Then he took whatever doctors
used and made an incision about three or four inches right here,
right across the neck. And I just split that skin, it
moved open, and I was standing there, and I'm usually queasy
about things like this. I watched an appendectomy one
time, nearly passed out. But I'm usually queasy about
things like this, but it didn't bother me. Not one bit in the
world. You know why? It's a dead body. No more than cutting a piece
of hand. Not a bit more feeling. And this convinced me of something.
It helped me understand something. That I understood that there's
no life in the flesh. The life is in the Spirit. And
the Spirit's gone. That person's not there. Not
there. Not there. Now we make a lot
over bodies, and I know the body of our loved ones, that's the
mouth we kissed, that's the eyes we looked into, that's the hands
we held, I know that body's precious for the moment, I know it's precious
for a short time afterward, but listen to me. These are nothing
but decaying tabernacles in which we live. The life and the spirit. your innermost being, your innermost
person. And when that man made that tremendous
incision, it dropped open, and there was the muscle and the
different thing. Then he reached in, moved the
muscle aside, and got out this main whatever they call it there. Wish I had Andy Moore up here.
He could fill in for me at least this spot. But he got that and
pulled it out. And he said the hardening of
the artery is in there. And he cut it open. And then he took
that tube that brought the embalming fluid down, and he put it in
that main artery that had gone down and sealed it. And then
he took another vein and opened it up and then he turned that
fluid on and it pushed in. Now here's the fifth thing that
impressed me. That table was this way and the
body was lying in the middle with the head elevated and the
feet elevated and the sides up a little bit and the water, there
was a water running all the time, running from up here, running
down the table, down the table, and there were two valleys on either side of the
table. And when he turned that fluid off, that blood started
coming out. Not that way, but just running
down. And I stood there, And so many thoughts went through
my mind while the blood was pouring out of that body, just pouring,
just in rivers, just that dark, deep red blood was just flowing
in rivers as the water was washing it away. And I stood there and
watched however many pints, 10, 11, or 12 pints of blood, three
gallons or two gallons pour out of that body. And I thought,
life of the flesh is in the blood. The life of the flesh is in the
blood. I thought about the song, there's a fountain filled with
blood. I thought about how precious is the blood. How important is
the blood. And how important is the blood
of Christ. And the difference between eternal heaven and eternal
hell for this person lying there is the blood of Christ. The blood
of Christ. And then I watched as that life
just drained, it just kept going. And now there's no more. There's
no more of that. No more of that. Well let me
tell you something. If you're not troubled, if things
like this, if you laugh at them and are not concerned about them,
then you're unaware of the magnitude of these issues. Now, we're dealing
with big things. We're dealing with important
things. We're talking about eternity. We're talking about judgment.
We're talking about God. We're talking about life. We're
talking about death. If you're dull, if you're dull,
If you're not actually like these disciples, the Lord was dead. If that person on that table
had gotten up, now this preacher would have been surprised and
scared or something. I haven't seen that. And the
Lord walked in and stood there and talked to them and they were
scared. They were scared, they were troubled, they were frightened,
and they didn't know what to say. And I could see them just
cringing back like this. And he said to them, why are
you troubled? Why are you troubled? Why do
these thoughts, these doubts and fears and trouble, why do
they go through your mind? Why are you afraid of dying?
Why are you afraid of eternity? Why are you afraid of this experience?
Why? Behold my hands. Behold my hands. Well, how can
the sight of our Lord's hands, turn to John 20 a minute, let
me show you something here, John chapter 20, how can the sight
of the Lord's hands have any impression upon these men, do
anything, how can his hands comfort them? How can the sight of His
hands bring gladness to their hearts? It says in John 20, verse
20, that it did. And when He had so said, He showed
unto them His hands, John 20, verse 20. He showed unto them
His hands and His sight, and then they were glad. And then
they were glad. Our Lord stood there, and here
these men faced, they'd seen death, they'd seen Him die, they'd
seen Him buried, They'd seen all these things and knew a little
bit about death and he was stood in their midst and they were
scared and afraid and troubled and doubts and fears and just
their stomach knotted up at the prospect of it and they just
didn't know, we're all going to die. Behold my hands. Well, how can the sight of his
hands bring such comfort? Let me give you about five or
six things, five things to be exact. These are the hands of
our sovereign Lord. Our sovereign Lord. These are
the hands that made the heavens. These are the hands that made
the world. These are the hands that made
the seas and the dry land. These are the hands that made
the tree. These are the hands that make
the lilies of the field. These are the hands. That's right.
Turn to Psalm 95. Let me show you. In Psalm 95,
these are the hands. He showed them His hands, and
these are the very hands. The Scripture says, in the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, the Word was God, and
all things were made by Him. All things were made by Him,
all things were made for Him, for His glory. These hands made
all things. In Psalm 95, look at it, verse
4, verse 3, for the Lord is a great God and a great King above all
gods, in his hand are the deep places of the earth. The strength
of the hills is his also, the sea is his, he made it, and his
hands formed the dry land. Come let us worship, bow down,
let us kneel before the Lord our maker. Oh, you can trust
those hands. They're able to do all that he
said, all that he promised. Have you ever, I have so often,
we need to observe things, we learn some things. Have you ever
watched a child? They're so independent, you know,
the little fellow, especially about three years old, or two
and a half, or three, or three and a half. They're just so independent,
but you come here to a busy street, and that child's walking along
with you, and he sees the cars, and he sees the people, and he
hears the noise, and he hears the sirens and all these things,
and you'll see him reach up like this and take you by the hand. And then the fear just goes out
of his face. He feels so rested. He feels
so secure. He's just standing there watching
those cars go by, you know, zip by. But you got him by the hand. Your big, strong hand has just
wrapped around his little old hand, and he just feels perfectly
comfortable. And if you take a step, he will
too. If you start across that street, he will too. He feels
just as rested and comfortable. And let me tell you this. This
is what our Lord is saying. These are the hands that made
this world. He said, consider the lilies of the field. They
toil not, neither do they spin, and yet I say unto you, Solomon,
in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If I so clothe
a lily of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into
the oven, shall I not clothe you? We can trust his hand. We can trust him. We can trust
Him. He's the hands of our sovereign
Lord. I don't care a lot about this song, but it's got a good
message in a way. He's got the whole world in His
hands, Michael. The whole world. And I'll tell
you this, if His hand can do all that, that hand can hold
me. I'm gonna rest in it. I'm gonna
rest in it. Secondly, turn to John 10. He said, Behold my hands. Are
you troubled? Are you afraid? I am. I am. Let's be honest. Are you a little
disturbed about what lies ahead? Let's be honest. I am. I am. Well, trust me. My hands. John 10. Look at John 10, verse
27. My sheep hear my voice. I know
them. They follow me. I give them eternal
life and they shall never perish and nobody's going to take them
out of my hands. There you are, David. Nobody's
going to pluck them out of my hands. My father, read on, my
father gave them to me and gave me to them. And he's greater
than all, and no man can pluck them out of my father's hand.
Now, if you're not in his hands, you've got a lot to fear. You're
on your own. I read a story one time about
an atheist. He taught his son all his life.
There was no God. That's a pack of foolishness.
Those religionists are phonies. Most of them are, but some of
them aren't. But he taught that all of them were, you know. Don't
pay attention. There's no God. And that boy got the flu, I believe,
and that flu epidemic way back yonder. And the boy was dying.
And he was going through agony. He was moaning and groaning.
And his daddy was standing there over his bedside. And he kept
saying to him, son, just hold on, son. Hold on. And in a few
moments the boy looked up and he said, Dad, there's not anything
to hold on to. Not a thing. But I'll tell you
this. His hands are the hands of our
surety. That's what it is. You behold
my hands. You behold my hands. My hands made the world and my
hands can keep you. And you see these wounds in my
hands? They pierced my hands and my feet. They're not only
the hands of my surety, they're the hands of my substitute. My
substitute. You know what John said, I mean
what Thomas said, turn to John 20. And there's not a whole lot
wrong with what old Thomas said in a way, in a way, in a way
there is, he doubted and the Lord rebuked him, but really
and truly there's something about what Thomas said that appeals
to me. In John chapter 20 verse 24, Thomas 1 of the 12, called
Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came, and the other disciples
said, we've seen the Lord. And he said, except I see in
his hand the print of the nails, I will not believe. But I'll
tell you, if you see them, will you believe? Will you? What do
you believe when you see them? He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities,
the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes
we are healed. Our Lord has assumed actually
three things. Number one, He has assumed the
responsibility of being our surety. Our surety. Like, you know, I
told you this morning when Jacob didn't want to let Benjamin go
to Egypt, Judah came in and he said, Father, Turn Him over to
me. Put Him in my hands. I'll be
surety. And if I don't bring Him back,
you can hold me responsible forever. Now Christ is our surety. That's
exactly what He did in eternity past in the covenant of grace.
He said, put Him in my hand. Put Him in my hand, and I'll
bring Him back. Secondly, he's our substitute.
He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised, and he took our
place under the judgment of God, under the wrath of God. He bore
our sins in his body on the tree. Isaiah said he was wounded. Those
wounds in his hands and feet and side were for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.
A chastisement of our peace was upon him by his stripes were
healed. He's our substitute. Thirdly, He has taken upon himself
to be the satisfaction for God's law and justice. He satisfies
it. In other words, the Lord Jesus
is our surety, He's our substitute, but He is so effectual and sufficient
in all that He undertakes that He said when He died, it's finished. It's all done. It's all that's
required. All that's required by God of
us is complete. It's finished. Nothing needs
to be added. Nothing whatsoever. That's the
reason Paul said, turn to Romans 8, let me show you something.
That's the reason Paul could say here in Romans 8, and this
is very important, look at it with me a moment. That's the
reason Paul could say in Romans 8, 33, who can lay anything to
the charge of God's elect? Who, anything, I mean anything,
anything, past, present, or future, anything, good or bad. who can
lay anything to the charge of God's elect, it's God that justifies.
Who is he that condemned me? Christ died. Now brother, let
me tell you something. When you see those, if those
hands are wounded, then I won't be wounded. If those hands were
pierced, then I'll never be pierced. If those hands have suffered
the judgment of God, I'll never suffer it. That's what he's saying.
Here, look, you troubled, frightened, scared, behold my hands, the
hands, the capable hands, capable, able hands, able hands. I made the world. I hold the
universe in these hands. Don't you think I can hold you?
Look at my hands, they're the hands of assurity. God the Father
put you in my hands. Nobody can take you out of my
hands. Who's stronger than I am? Find Him. You can't find Him.
Nobody can take you out of my hands. And you look at the blood,
look at the scars and the wounds in these hands. The Father's
wrath made those wounds. He was smitten of God and afflicted. And you'll never be smitten.
If my substitute was smitten, I won't be smitten. And then
turn to Matthew 14. Show you something else about
these hands. Show you something else. Matthew 14. Let's look
at verse 25. This is interesting here. And
in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went to them walking on
the sea. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they
were troubled. They said, it's a spirit. And they cried out
for fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, be a
good cheer. It's I. Be not afraid. And Peter said,
Lord, if it be thou bid me come to thee on the water. Well, he
said, come. Come. When Peter was come down
out of the ship, he walked on the water. He did just that,
to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous,
Peter was afraid, and he began to sing. And he cried, Lord,
save me. Watch this. And immediately,
Jesus stretched forth his hand. Now, let me tell you something. On the sea of life, there are
many storms, and waves are high, and the winds are strong, and
the clouds are heavy. And it's hard to know exactly
what you and I are going to have to go through. It's hard to know. And I'll tell you, if we're left
alone, we're going to sink. We're going to sink. But we're
not alone, John. And Peter wasn't alone. The Lord
let him try, and he tried, and he walked on the water, but all
these other things is too much. He began to sink, but our Lord
was there to lift him. Let me show you a scripture over
in Psalm 37. One old writer said, when the
storms of life are raging, and right now there's some of you
going through some storms. I know you are. I know a little
bit about it. You've told me, I know what you're going through,
but he won't let you fail. Now, sir, he says in Psalm 37,
listen to this, verse 23. The steps of a good man are ordered
by the Lord and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he
will not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholdeth him with
his hand. That's the reason you behold
his hand. I've been young, David said, and now I'm old. I've never,
never, yet I've never seen the righteous forsaken. No, sir,
not yet. He'll hold you with his hand.
And when you get too old and frail to even stand alone, he'll
hold you. When you get too sick and so
troubled in body, he'll hold you. When death knocks at the
door, he'll hold you. He's your hand of safety. He
will not let you go. He will not let you go. Behold
my hands. Let's rest in his hands. The
hands of our sovereign Lord, the hands of our competent surety,
are the hands of our efficient substitute and satisfaction,
the hand of safety. I will not let you go. You who are trusting your own
righteousness, you have no hope. But you who are trusting Christ,
he will not... His honor is at stake. His honor
is at stake. I like what that old gentleman
said to the agnostic. He said, what if after trusting
the Lord all these years that you go to hell? Well, he said,
the Lord would lose more than I'd lose. I said, what? He said, if I go
to hell after trusting the Lord, he'll lose more than I'll lose.
Well, he said, what do you mean by that? He said, I'll lose my
soul, but he'll lose his honor, because he promised to keep.
He said, I'll never leave you, never forsake you. And if God
can lie, God will lose his throne. And he'll lose his honor, lose
his character. God ain't going to lose his character.
He'll do what he said. That's the reason Abraham had
righteousness imputed to him. He believed God. Believe God. We'll tell you, none of us have
one thing to fear if we ever believe God. If we ever believe
God. Just believe Him. Just believe
Him. That's what he said to his disciples
sitting there so scared and troubled and frightened and didn't know
which way to go and the Lord said just look at my hands. I made the world. God gave you to me. These hands
were pierced for you. These are the hands of safety
and these are the hands of comfort. Look with me at Luke chapter
24. Again, that's where our text is, Luke 24. I'm just going to
quote you, read this and then quote a couple more. In Luke
24, our Lord, verse 50, says, He led them out as far as Bethany
and He lifted up His hands and He blessed them. You know where
our blessings come from? The hand of our Lord. The Father
has put everything in Christ. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest. Blessed is the man to whom God
will not impute sin. Blessed are the poor in spirit,
theirs is the kingdom of God. Blessed are they that mourn,
they shall be comforted. Blessed are they that hunger
and thirst for righteousness, they shall be filled. Blessed
are they. He stood there and lifted his hands over those men
and blessed them. And oh, how many times he's blessed
us. Could you number his blessing?
Could you number his blessing? I'll show you another scripture.
Be patient with me, but look at Job 5. Here's another thing,
and let's take an illustration from children. Did you ever,
I know you have, but did you ever, your son or daughter, or
even your grandchild, did something they shouldn't have done, and
they persisted in it, and you just raced over and popped the
daylight side up, you know, just upended it. You had to, you had
to cry, and oh boy, get over there and cry, and it's just
like your enemies. He won't look at you, you know.
He's got his head turned like this, and you try not to look
at him. He's over there pouting. And
in a minute, you kind of go over there after you feel like you've
learned the lesson, and you just kind of reach around with your
hand and pat him. You do that? Sure you do. You
have to. The same hand that brought him the pain now pats him on
the cheek and he looks up in tears and he just grins, you
know, and he loves your hand, kisses it, you know. That's all
right. Let me read you that. God does the same thing. Job
5. Listen to this. Job 5, 17. Behold, happy is the
man whom God thinks enough of to correct. That's what that's
talking about. If you be without chastisement, you're a bastard,
you're not a son anyway. So happy is the man whom God
takes the time to deal with him and correct him. Therefore, my
friend, don't despise the chastening of the Lord. He makes it sore,
but he binds up. He wounds, but his hand makes
whole. That same hand, David, that popped
you will reach over and pat you. That same hand that chastens
you will caress you. That same hand that troubled
you will give you assurance. That's right, that same hand.
Don't run from Him. Don't run from Him. Last of all,
let me give you this one more, Isaiah 59.1. They're the hands
of salvation. The hands of salvation. Isaiah
59. And this is for the benefit of
anybody here. You say, well, I'm too wicked
for God to save me. You're talking about good people. I ain't talking about good people
yet. I don't know where you got that. I'm talking about sinners.
Christ loves sinners. Christ died to save sinners.
He never did save a good man yet. Never did find one to begin
with. Isaiah 59.1 says, Behold, the
Lord's hand is not shortened that he can't save, he can reach
you wherever you are. Boy, I've gone to the depths.
Well, he can reach the depths. Well, boy, I've gone to the heights
of rebellion. He can reach the heights. His
hand is not shortened that he can't reach you. You've not gone
too far that he can't reach you. And his ear is not heavy that
he can't hear your cry. You just cry, he'll hear you.
He'll hear you. Is anything too hard for God?
That's what he's saying. The great physician, bring him
great sinners. Bring him great problems. Bring
him great evil. He's able to save to the uttermost
them that come to God by him. Now, I'll give you one scripture
and quit. Hebrews chapter 10. I want everybody
here to turn to this scripture right here. Now, this closes
the message, but I've been talking about the comfort of his hands
for all who believe. Our Lord said, are you troubled?
Behold my hands, the hands of your sovereign, the hands of
your surety, the hands of your substitute, the hands of your
savior, the hands of your safety, the hands of comfort and solace,
the hands of salvation. But look at Hebrews 10.31, talking
to verse 30. Read verse 30, Hebrews 10. him
that hath said, Vengeance belongeth to me. I'll take care of the
matter, saith the Lord. I'll recompense. The Lord will
judge his people. And it's a fearful thing to fall
into the hands of a living God. I'll tell you, if you're going
to fall into his hands, do it now. Do it now. And those tender
hands of mercy and grace, fall sinner into his hands, trust
him, rest in his mercy and grace. Don't fall into his hands in
judgment. Don't fall into his hands, because he has to, the
Lord God has to deal with us according to his righteousness,
according to his justice. And if we're in Christ, in the
hands of Christ, those hands are pierced for us, then we have
nothing to fear, nothing to fear. And it's not what you've done,
it's what he did. Just rest in, just like a little
child holds the hand of his father, just rest in. Like a baby, rest
comfortably in the arms of a mother, in safety. You're all right,
you're in your mother's arms, but you're all right when you're
in the Savior's arms too. All right. But don't fall in
the hands of a living God. Our Father, honor the word. What
a comfort. What a blessing to the chief
of sinners. What a blessing. Blessed is the man to whom you'll
not impute sin. Our sins have been imputed to
our Lord. Those hands were wounded for
our transgressions. And when you're pleased to call
us to leave this earth, we leave with a comfort, with a joy, knowing
that because we're in Him, redeemed by Him, that he was wounded for
our sins, that we have a safe passage into thy heavenly glory
in which Christ our forerunner is already seated, and we in
him. And our confidence and trust
is in Christ alone, not resting upon anything we are or have
done or ever shall do, but only in Christ. Bless this word to
our hearts, to our understanding. For Christ's sake we pray. Amen.