The songwriter has written a
verse of an old song that goes like this. But what to those
who find are this? Nor tongue nor pen can show the
love of Jesus what it is. None but his loved ones know. They know. They know. They know what God's done for
them in Christ. Job said, I know, I know that
my Redeemer liveth. It's not think so, perhaps so,
maybe. I know, I know that my Redeemer
liveth. He said, I wish this was written
in a book, in my biography. I wish it was written with a
pin of a diamond. I wish it was engraved on my
tombstone. He said, I know that my Redeemer
liveth. I want it put where everybody
can read it. I know that my Redeemer liveth. and he'll stand on this earth.
And though after my skin worms destroy this body, I know in
my flesh I'm going to see the Lord. Not another, I shall see
him myself. I know that. And David, there
was no perhaps in this, there was no think so in this. He said
the Lord is my shepherd. I'm his sheep and he's my shepherd.
And I shall not walk, he maketh me to lie down in green pastures,
he leadeth me beside the still water, he restoreth my soul,
he is my shepherd." And then John wrote this, we know, we
know that we pass from death unto life. John spoke positively,
absolutely. We know that we pass from death
unto life because we love the breath. So none but his loved
ones know that the love of Jesus, what it is, I wish I could somehow
convey it to everybody to whom I preach. And I know that's the
beat of the heart of every true minister of God. It hurts to
preach the glorious gospel of Christ and see men and women
sit and look at you, stare at you with no feeling, and the
Word of God, the beautiful, revealing, redeeming, cleansing, Word of
God just flows off of them. I walked back through the church
this morning after the service was over, the shake hands at
the back. I looked back over the crowd to see what the reaction
was to the message, what the spirit was, what the attitude.
Once in a while I see one or two here or there that have no
interest and no regard and no concern and no blessing and it's
just foolishness. And my heart just breathes. I
used to get mad, but I get so sad now. I think, oh, God, why
don't they hear? Why don't they hear? Well, His
loved ones know. They know. They hear. They lean
on every word. They wait for every sentence,
every rejoicing little particle of the word. They reach for it.
It's like a hungry deer panting for the water brook. Their souls
panting for the living God. They know. They know. And they're
grateful. They're grateful for what God has done for them. It's
not wrong for us just to think of all that we still need from
the Lord. I need a whole lot of things. I like what Newton
said. I'm not what I ought to be. I'm not what I ought to be,
are you? I'm not what I want to be. I'm
not what I want to be. I'm not what I'm going to be.
But I thank God I'm not what I used to be. I do know that. I thank God. And it's not wrong
for us to think of the things that we still need from God.
I need growth. I need understanding. Paul the
Apostle said himself, I have not arrived. I'm not perfect. But I reach forth. I reach forth
to lay hold upon that for which I've been laid hold of Christ.
Listen to me. You're not there yet. You're
not just like Christ yet. You're not in your glorified
body yet. You don't have all the answers yet. He said if any
man thinks that he knows, he knows nothing as he ought to
know it. We see through a glass dimly. We know in part. We prophesy in part. The one that knows the most here
knows so little. And so we have so much to learn. We haven't arrived. But I tell
you this, it'd be ungrateful for us to forget what he's already
done for us. what we've already received.
He said he has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the
heavenlies in Christ Jesus. We have in Christ wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. Jesus Christ is made to me all
I need. All I need. He alone is all my
plea. He's all I need. Wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, And then we not only know what God's done for
us and we're not only grateful for what God's done for us, but
we have a strong hope of what he's going to do for us. The
blessings that await us in the future. You know, Paul was saying
something about this when he, in Romans chapter 7, when he
grieved over his inability to be what he ought to be. He said,
the things that I would do, I don't do. And the things I would not
do, I do. And he said, when I would do
good, evil is present with me. I delight in the law of God after
the inward man, but I find another law warring in my members and
bringing me into captivity. Oh, wretched, wretched man that
I am! If you haven't felt like that,
if you haven't felt like that, you can't say the next sentence.
Who shall deliver me from this body of death? I thank God through
Jesus Christ, our Lord. I thank God through Jesus. He
that hath begun a good work in you, he that hath begun that
work, he will finish that work in the day of Christ Jesus. And
we can say for me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. So we know what God has done
for us, and we are grateful. We praise his dear name, and
we have a strong hope of security in Christ and of blessings that
await. And we have many reasons for
which to rejoice, but here are four that I want us to look at
tonight, just briefly, four reasons to rejoice. The love of Jesus,
what it is? None but his loved ones know,
but they know. And I'll tell you this, it's
like Brother Jay said it, when I got through reading this scripture
to him, he said, if that don't ring your bell, your clapper's
broke. And I don't know how to put it any better than that.
If that don't ring your bell, your clapper's broke. And if
this doesn't rejoice your heart, you're twice dead and plucked
up by the roots and laying over awaiting the burning. Listen
to these four things. Number one, you, verse 13, you,
that's you and me. He didn't say they, he says you
who were dead, dead. You know I look at that word
dead, dead, you who were dead. It says in Romans chapter 5 verse
12, by one man sin entered this world and death, death by sin. So death passed upon all men,
dead. And in Ephesians 2.1 it says
this, you have to quicken who are dead. What does this mean? What is this death we're talking
about? Well, first of all, it's not physical death. Now that's
the result of sin, and that will come to all men because of sin. And because of sin it's appointed
unto men once to die, but that's not what he's talking about here.
I haven't been quickened yet from physical death, because
I haven't physically died. I'm going to. The day is a lot
closer than it used to be. But that's not what he's talking
about here, you being dead. He's not talking about physical
death. We live, we move, we exercise
our wills, we're alive, we're alive, we're living creatures.
Even the deadest sinner is alive physically. So we're not talking
about physical death, and we're not talking here about mental
death. The ungodly can think as well as anyone else, sometimes
better than anyone else. The wicked, the rebel, the ungodly,
he's not dead mentally. There's some sharp minds in this
world of ours. Some sharp minds split that atom,
Brother Jay. That's a pretty smart man. He's
not dead mentally. Every time I turn a television
on, I'm amazed. How in the world I can sit in
my living room and watch something going on in Japan at the same
minute? It still shocks me. How in the
world I can turn on my television and see folks walking on the
moon? That's a pretty sharp mind invented that. So men aren't
dead mentally. That's not the death we're talking
about. It's not a mental death. Men think. They don't think on
God, but they think. Their thoughts are not God's
thoughts, but they think. So when he says you being dead
at the equipment, he's not talking about physical death or mental
death. Now watch it. He's not talking about moral
death. You're not dead morally. If a man is dead morally, he's
not accountable. But you and I sin, and we sin
willfully, and we sin in a responsible fashion, and we sin in an accountable
fashion, and we're guilty. We're not machines. We're not
robots. We're not dead logs. We are morally
responsible creatures, morally accountable creatures, and you
and I are therefore guilty before God, morally guilty. So when he says, you who were
dead, you being dead, He's not talking about physical death
or mental death or moral death. What kind of death is he talking
about? Well, look at the text, verse 13. You were dead in your
spiritual death, sins. That's what he's talking about.
You were dead spiritually. You, Hathiquiqon, who were dead
in trespasses, dead in sins, but he hath made you alive. What
does it mean to be dead in sin? It means for the natural man,
in his natural mind, to be dead to spiritual truth, the natural
mind. Now, turn to 1 Corinthians 1,
let me show you that. You know, Christ, while you're
finding this scripture, our Lord said to Nicodemus, turn to 1
Corinthians 2, our Lord said to Nicodemus, and he was talking
to an intelligent, intelligent man, he was talking to a physically
alive man. He was talking to a mentally
alert man. He was talking to a religious
man. He was talking to a man who was aware of where he was
and who he was and what he was doing. And yet Christ said, except
you're born again, you cannot understand the kingdom of God. You cannot see the kingdom of
God. He's talking about an understanding. You cannot see the kingdom of
God. You cannot understand it unless you're born again. That
which is born of the flesh is flesh. It understands flesh.
That which is more the Spirit understands the things of the
Spirit. Look at 1 Corinthians 2, verse 14. But the natural
man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, but foolishness
doth. The preaching of the cross is
foolishness to them that pay it, sheer nonsense, foolishness. Neither can he know them, the
things of God. He can't know how God can be
just and justifier. He can't know how that God in
his wisdom and in his purpose and in his glory sent his Son
to redeem a people by being obedient to the law and obedient to the
death of the cross. He can't understand the wisdom
of God, the thoughts of God, the will of God, the truth of
God, the redemptive glory of God. He can't understand it.
They're foolishness to them. He can't know them. Look at the
last line. Because they're spiritually discerned and his mind is imitated. Paul said, if the natural mind
is enmity against God, it hates grace, it hates spiritual truth,
it hates that the natural mind is enmity. So we were dead spiritually,
our minds, natural minds, were dead to spiritual things. Our
natural wills were dead in that they were opposed to spiritual
things. Our Lord said, you let another
come in his own name. Let a man come preaching his
own thoughts, his own wisdom. Let him come preaching his own
imagination and telling his own dream, and him you will receive. I come in my Father's name. And
you receive me not. You will not come to me that
you might have life. I am the truth, I am the life,
but you will not. O Jerusalem, how oft would I
have gathered you to myself as a hen doth gather her brood?
And you would not, you will not. The natural will is opposed to
God and opposed to spiritual truth, opposed to it. And then the natural affection.
As I said, we're not dead physically, mentally, or morally. We do have
thoughts, but we don't think on God. Our thoughts are on covetousness,
our thoughts are on greed, our thoughts are on self, our thoughts
are on the world, our thoughts are on pleasure, our thoughts
are on everything but God. And we do have a natural will,
but our natural will is dead to spiritual things, opposed
to spiritual things, and very willing to embrace unspiritual
things. And we have affections. The natural
man does love. It's a self-love, but he loves.
It's a carnal love, but he loves. What does he love? He loves darkness. That's what Scripture says. You
will not come to me, he said, that you might have light. The
Son of Man has come. This is a condemnation. Light
has come into this world. The Son of Man has come. But
men love darkness because their deeds are evil. The natural man
does not love God, he does not love Christ, he does not love
truth, he loves error, he loves darkness, he loves himself, and
he loves sin. And he said, you who are in this
condition, and you who are in this condition, turn to Ephesians
chapter 2, it shows us what we were, it shows us what God did,
and it shows us what we are now. Look at Ephesians chapter 2 verse
1, and you hath he made alive. He made us alive spiritually. He's given us the thoughts of
Christ and the will of Christ, and he made us to love Christ.
And you have to be made alive. Who were dead in your trespasses
and sin? Look at verse 2. You walked.
In times past, you walked. That's your course of life. That's
the bent of your will. That's the tenor of your life.
That's your direction. You walked according to the course
of this world. According to the Prince of the
Fire there, the Spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience
worked in you, among whom also we all had our conversation in
times past, in the lust of our flesh, in the desires of the
flesh and of the mind, and we were by nature the children of
wrath, even as others, but God." Not but you, not but your preacher,
but God! who is rich in mercy for his
great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in
sins, quickened us together with Christ, by grace of your saints. And he raised us up together
out of that spiritual cesspool, out of that spiritual darkness,
out of that spiritual grave, out of that spiritual deadness.
He raised us up together with Christ and made us sit together
in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. And that's the first reason
to rejoice. You who are dead, he hath quickened. It's the work of God. And my
friends, this is the key to this thing. He quickened us together
with Christ. Now, if you explain this quickening,
you're going to have to go back further than today or yesterday.
You're going to have to go back into the council halls of eternity.
How long has the believer been in Christ? How long has the believer
been in Christ? Suppose somebody came up to you
tonight and said, how long have you been in Christ? You say,
well, I was saved about 20 years ago, or 10 years ago, or 5 years
ago. That's good, we'll get to that
in a minute. But how long have you been in Christ? Well, the
scripture says he chose us in Christ before the foundation
of the world. That's how long I've been in
Christ. I just found it out not long ago. But I've been in Christ
since Almighty God gave Christ to people. That's what scripture
says. I thank God for you, Paul said, brethren, beloved of the
Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation
through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.
So if you want to talk about being raised with Christ, I look
back yonder when Jesus Christ stood as my divine heretic. And the songwriter says, I was
alive in him, my living head clothed with righteousness divine. And then I look back to the day
when, when quickened, awakened mystically from the dead when
Christ arose. Our Lord Jesus Christ went to
that cross bearing my sins, bearing my shame, bearing my guilt. And there the Father laid on
him the wrath of God against all my sins. He poured out from
heaven his wrath upon his Son, my representative, my surety,
my substitute. They nailed him to that cross
and God Almighty poured his judgment out upon Christ. And they took
his body down from the cross and put him in a tomb and sealed
that tomb with a stone and the seal of the Roman government
and put guards out there in front of it. And the prisoner was in
the dungeon. Bless your heart on that Sunday
morning, the first day of the week. Almighty God sent the messenger
down here and says, set the captive free. Set the prisoner free. The debt's paid. The sentence
is over. The debt's all paid. The sheriff
says, let him go! And the angel of God rolled that
stone away and my Lord came out of that tomb without sin. And
when he came out, I came out with him. I went to that cross
with him. I was crucified with Christ.
I was buried with Christ. And if he hadn't come out of
that tomb, I wouldn't have any hope at all, because he went
there as my substitute. But when he walked out of that
grave and ascended back to the right hand of God, I went with
him. And I've been seated there ever
since he sat down. There's a man in glory who represents
every man who will ever be in glory, the Lord Jesus Christ. But, wait a minute, there was
a day when old Matt Damascus wrote to hell, hating God, hating
his truth, and walking in my own will and my own thoughts
and wrapped in my own self-righteousness and damned by my own self-affection,
the Lord God of heaven sent his Holy Spirit down and arrested
me. And he said, son, that's as far
as you're going. You belong to me. I've been reconciled to you
by the death of my son, and now you're going to be reconciled
to me. And he revealed himself to me. He revealed himself as
my Savior, my Lord, my Redeemer, and brought me to love him and
to trust him. And I'm already seated in the
heavenlies, and one day I'm going to lie down and die. And he's
coming back for me, that where he is, there I may be also. I've
been laid alive, quickened, quickened, quickened from the spiritual
grave, quickened from spiritual darkness, quickened from spiritual
death, with Christ. It's all with Christ. God's never
loved me except in Christ. God's never blessed me except
in Christ. God's never reached out and communicated
with me in any way except in Christ. And if I'm in Christ,
God will never turn me loose. That's right, I'm as safe as
his dear son. All right, the second reason
to rejoice, he says he has forgiven you all trespasses. Now, my friends, listen to this
song, My Sins, My Sins. Now, we're not talking about
George Wilson's sins or Bill Brown's sins or Joe Smith's sins,
we're talking about my sins. And when I think of my sins,
I think of the sins of my thoughts and the sins of my attitude and
bad attitude, bad spirit, self-righteousness, pride, arrogance, covetousness,
bigotry, hatred, prejudice, envy, lust, jealousy, all these things. My sins, sins of the present,
sins of the past, sins that await in the future. My sins, my sins,
David said, my sins are ever before me. Not somebody else's,
not even Adam's sin. You're not going to help Adam's
sin, we're going to help our sins. You're dead in your sins,
he said, your sins. That's what that scripture said,
you being dead in your sins. Your sins, my sins. Oh, the bliss
of that glorious thought. My sins, not in part, but the
whole, are nailed to the cross. I bear them no more. In that
good news, he said, he's forgiven you all trespasses. Praise the Lord as well with
my soul. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's
Son, cleanseth us. How thoroughly does his blood
cleanse us? I don't know about you, but the
Lord Jesus Christ that I know about cleanses us from all sin,
all sin. In Christ there is no sin. You're
looking right here, standing before you tonight, and I'm looking
out there at people who are perfect in Christ, who have no sin. That's right, Jack. I don't know
why we have our heads hanging down and full of this sense of
guilt and fear and doubts and all these things, when he says
again and again, I've forgiven you all sins. The blood of Jesus
Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin. He has blotted out our sins,
he has cast them behind his back into the depths of the sea, separated
us from our sins as far as the east is from the west. Where
is that? Well, ain't nobody been there
yet. They're not coming back. Turn to Hebrews 10. I want you
to look at this, Hebrews 10. He says in Hebrews 10, verse
16, this is a covenant. In Christ, the covenant, I'll
make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I'll put my law
in their hearts, not on pieces of paper and tablets of stone. I'll write them in their hearts,
in their minds I'll write them, and their sins and iniquities
will I remember no more! No more. Huh? no more, and their
sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." I tell you,
my friend, that's something for which to rejoice. You believe
God, I believe God. Well, why are you so troubled
and so filled with that sense of guilt, and why do you shudder
and shiver and break out in cold sweat and blush when you think
of the past when he says, I remember your sins no more? You doubt
God? You doubt God? with his spotless righteousness
on you, as holy as his Son." That's what Scripture said. No
more. Mr. Spurgeon used to tell about
a preacher that had a little book he carried in his pocket
up here, a little three-page book. And he'd just be walking
down the street. He might have been a little eccentric
old gentleman, but most preachers are. But he'd reach in his pocket,
Jay, and he'd pull out that little book. And he'd look at it, and
he'd turn a page, turn a page, and he'd say, well, praise the
Lord, and he'd put it back in his pocket. And one day somebody,
they thought they was going to have to put him away, John, you
know, he kept doing that. And so a fellow walked up behind
him and said, Pastor, he said, I noticed you got something in
your pocket there that you pull out and look at. And he said,
I took a look at it, and there's no writing on it. It's nothing
but three pages, and there's no pictures and no writing. Are
you all right?" He said, yes. He said, I'm all right. Did you
notice the color of the pages? He said, well, yes, I did. The
first one's black, the second one's red, and the third one's
white. Well, he said, that's the story of my life. He said,
you see, that black page stands for what I was, black, filthy,
a worm. the worm, the wiggling maggot,
the wretch. And he said that second page
is what Christ did. He shed his blood. That's the
red page. The blood of Christ cleanseth
all my blackness. And that third page is what I
am now, white as the driven snow. Though your sins be as scarlet,
they'll be white as snow. Now, why don't you carry a book
around with you? And turn to the pages, see what
you were, black with sin, see what Christ did, shed his blood,
see what you are now. If God's word is so, if Christ
died for your sin, you have no sin. You're forgiven. Boy, I tell you, that's good
news. He has forgiven you all trespasses. And I believe he's forgiven me
of all but one. Really? That's not too strong cleansing,
is it? He missed one, but I tell you,
I hope he didn't miss one. It doesn't take but one sin to
make you a transgressor of the whole law. All sin, all sin. Isn't that great? Here's the
third one, verse 14. The third calls for rejoicing.
He's blotted out, blotted out, obliterated, eradicated, blotted
out, a handwriting against you. When a man has some charge or
insinuation whispered, we're all victims of the whisperer.
We're all victims of the, did you hear? Did you know? Yeah,
we're all victims of that. If a fellow whispers something
against you, a woman whispers something against you, it may
cause you some concern. But Mr. Spurgeon says, just let
it fly till it flies away. Don't pay attention to it. Well, let me tell you something.
If out yonder in Kettlesburg at the county courthouse is something
written against you, you've got cause for concern. They're coming
to get you. You see, if on the judge's document,
on the judge's schedule for next week to be accounted for is a
charge of breaking and entering, reckless driving, or something
of that sort, You've got cause to fear if it's written. If it's written. If it's spoken,
if it's whispered, if it's hinted, if it's gossip, forget it! If
it's written. You're in the shape old Belshazzar
was in when his knees smoked together and he looked on the
wall and the writing was, you've been waived and found wine. There's a charge written. It is written. It is written. And I'll tell you this. Without
Christ, there's some things written about some folks. The handwriting
of ordinances, first of all, the handwriting of the moral
law of God is against you, every single one of them. There isn't
one law that you haven't broken. There isn't one law of God that
you haven't transgressed. There isn't one offense that
you haven't been guilty of committing. So that's written. Secondly,
there's the ceremonial law. The ceremonial law, every time
they'd kill a lamb, it says there's got to be a sacrifice. Every
time the high priest went into the Holy of Holies, the ceremonial
law, hollered loud and clear, God requires an atonement! You don't have one. That's written
against you. That's written against you. If
you don't have Christ, you don't have one. God requires a sin
offering! You don't have Christ, you don't
have one. That's written. Without the shedding of blood,
there's no remission. That's written. And then there's
the handwriting of conscience. You carry that around with you,
don't you? Don't tell me people listen to this glorious good
news of Christ and don't have a pricking of the conscience,
a troubling of the conscience. Don't tell me when the scripture
says, the soul that sinneth, it shall, it shall, it shall,
it shall die. Don't tell me you don't tremble.
A man's got good sense, trembles. There's a writing of nature against
us every time the thunder rolls. It didn't used to. Every time
the flood comes, it didn't used to. Every time a tornado blows,
every time a hurricane comes, every time God shakes the world
and the earth quakes, God's saying, I'm angry. I'm angry. I've written, I've written my
judgment. I've written my anger. I'm displeased
with this world. And God's in every wind that
blows, and every raindrop that falls, and every blizzard that
comes, and every tornado that strikes. God says, I'm angry
with this world. It's written. Well, what's he
done with them? He says in verse 14, he said
he blotted them out. He blotted them out. He blotted
them out. Not only that, but he said he
took it away. handwriting that was against
us under my name. He brought it out. He took it
away. And what else did he do? He nailed
it to his cross. He nailed it to his cross. He
took that charge against me, the handwriting of the law, the
handwriting of the ceremony, the handwriting of conscience,
the handwriting of nature. And he took it, and when he went
to that cross, he nailed it to that cross. And bless your heart,
That cross is gone, that curse is gone. I wish they'd quit putting
these crosses everywhere, because that cross with the handwriting
against me is gone. Our Lord will die no more. He's gone. The cross we preach
now is not a piece of wood in this shape. The cross we preach
is the redemptive story of Christ that he performed on that tree
of wood. I see these people doing like
this, you know. all this sort of thing, and all these silly
booger-bear stories about demons, and they stick a cross out in
front of folks. Well, you might as well stick a pitchfork at
them, for all the good it'd do. That's right, I say get a pitchfork,
you'd be better. Stick him good, wake him up.
But there's no power in a block of wood, there's no power in
anything shaped, round, or crooked, or crossed, or extra, or any
other way. The power is in Christ, in his blood. He blotted it out,
that handwriting written against me is blotted out, it's taken
away, it's nailed to the cross, and when Jesus Christ my Lord
died and was buried, God destroyed that cross. It's not anywhere
to be found, nor where it stood not to be found either. You don't
need to go over there to some place they call the Holy Land,
it's not holy anywhere, it's one of the most unholy lands
in the world. And call it Bible lands, that's all right, nothing
holy about it. And you can kneel down at all those shrines and
you're nothing more than an idolatry. The Lord Jesus Christ reigns
in heaven and lives everywhere. He's just as much here or more
so than he is over there. Just as much. He plotted it out. Look at verse 15. And he spoiled,
having spoiled. Having spore, what do you mean
by spore? He disarmed. He disarmed and defeated. He
disarmed and defeated principalities and powers. All our enemies,
Satan, principalities. We wrestle not against flesh
and blood, but principalities and powers. Principalities and
powers. He spore them. He disarmed them. He defeated them. He defeated
them. arrayed against us were principalities,
powers, Satan, Satanic powers, deeming forces, the rulers of
darkness. Our Lord Jesus Christ met them
head on at Calvary and whipped them, defeated them and disarmed
them. And it says that he made a show
of them openly. He made a bold display, a public
example out of them. And he showed his victory over
them in his cross. What this picture come from?
Well, when a Roman emperor, when a Roman emperor or general went
out to fight the enemies of Rome and whipped them, he defeated
them, he'd bring back the king or the general and his whole
staff, and he'd take their crowns off of them, and he'd take their
armor off of them, and he'd put chains on their arms and chains
on their legs, and he'd chain them together. And then he'd
get in an open chariot with his army behind him and his enemies
out in front of him, naked, with their chains, dragging them in
humiliation through the streets of Rome. And he'd parade his
enemies. He disarmed them. He defeated
them. And he'd parade them, he'd make a public display of them,
a bold public show of them out there in front of everybody while
the people cheered. The conquering emperor would
ride through the streets of Rome while his enemies walked in front
of him, powerless, dethroned, disarmed, and defeated. Bless
your heart, our Lord Jesus Christ, when he went to the cross. He
defeated all of our enemies. He disarmed them. He took their
armor from them. He took their power from them.
He took their crowns from them, and he put them in chains. They're
not in hell yet, but they're in chains. That's right. That's what Scripture says. He
conquered them, and he's made a bold display of them. And he's
walked out in front of all of us. He's triumphed over his enemies
and his enemies were our enemies. And I'm glad to say my enemies
were his enemies. And you know something? Satan
can't touch me now without God's permission. He can't touch any
of God's inheritance without God's permission. He couldn't
touch Job without God's permission. And he can't touch you. That's
the reason our Lord taught us to pray and deliver us from the
evil one. He let him have Peter for a little
while for Peter's good and God's glory. And it may be that he'll
let you wrestle a little bit with him for your good and God's
glory, but he can't do any more than God lets him, and you can't
be tempted any further than you can bear it. Turn to Romans 8. What shall we say then, Romans
8.31, what shall we say then to these things? What shall you
say to these things? You hath be quickened who are
dead. He hath forgiven all your sins. He hath blotted out the
handwriting of ordinances against you. And he has whipped all your
enemies. He has defeated and disarmed
them. And he has made a show of them publicly out in front
of everybody. Our Lord Jesus Christ. Lift up your head, O
ye gates, and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King
of glory? The Lord. Strong and mighty.
I believe in particular redemption. I believe what he came to do,
he did. The enemy he came to conquer, he conquered. What shall
we say, verse 31, Romans 8, to these things? I say, If God be
for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him freely
give us all that Christ bought, all things? Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth, who
is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea,
rather is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God,
who also maketh intercession for us. We've got cause to rejoice. If Christ is our hope, that's
where it all is. And if you're here tonight without
Christ, if you've never been brought to know him, to trust
him, to love him, let me tell you something. I'm not going
to look at you like the preacher said this morning on television.
I listened to him a little while, and he told what a wretch we
were. But he said, God loves you, and
Jesus died for you. Now let me tell you something,
it wouldn't hurt your feelings, it wouldn't offend you, but I
say this, God's angry with the wicked. That's right, he that
hath not the Son of God, the wrath of God abideth on him.
I'm not going to tell you God loves you. I'm going to tell
you God loves somebody. I'm going to tell you He loves
Christ. That's who God loves. He loves the Son, Joe. He'd go
on to the Son. Now, I say this to you, Joe Terrell,
if you're in Christ, God loves you. Right? If you're not in
Christ, you better watch out. You're going to get it. Isn't
that right? That's the truth. Anybody tell you anything else,
lying to you, Bill Parker. God loves Christ. Now, if you're
out of Christ, you're going to hell, just as sure as you're
a foot and a half high. If you're in Christ, you're going to be
accepted. Isn't that right, Charlie? That's
the truth. It's not telling people the truth when you stand. Old
Barnard used to say, the preacher comes along and says, God loves
you and Christ died for you. The fellow said, well, let's
go get drunk. If God loves me and Christ died
for me, I got nothing to worry about, Dick. I'm okay. Don't
tell me to join your church. I don't need to. If God already
loves me and Christ already died for me, I'm sure for heaven this
Christ is. But I'm not going to tell you that. I'm going to
tell you God loves Christ. God's going to honor the Son.
God's going to glorify the Son. God's going to turn everything
over to the Son. God Almighty is going to praise His Son and
everybody in Him and everybody with Him. And everybody who loves
him. Now I tell you what you better
do. You better seek the Son. You
better kiss the Son. You better cry for mercy. You
better do like the old leper. Lord if you will, you can make
me one of them. You can make me clean. You better
do like the thief on the cross. You're not going to stay dead.
You're coming into a kingdom. Please remember me. Don't leave
me out. Don't leave me out. Don't leave
me out. Remember me. We've thrown our generation a
curve. We said God's out there and he
loves everybody and he's just waiting for folks to come to
him. Now wait a minute. We've thrown him a curve. God's
angry with the wicked. God hates the workers of iniquity.
God's prepared hell for the devil and his angels and all who despise
his holiness. That's right. But God's going
to show mercy to somebody, and it might as well be me. God's
going to show mercy to somebody. God Almighty's going to have
a people. He's going to have a people like his Son, and it
might as well be me. And I'm going to ask him to let
me be a part of that kingdom. I'm going to beg him. I'm going
to get on my knees. I'm not going to press down somebody's aisle
and honor them with my presence and say, Jesus, I believe I let
you save me. I'm going to crawl on my knees in the presence of
the Lord. I'm going to say, Lord, you don't owe me anything but
the wages of sin. I've earned every one of them.
That's death. But I'd be much obliged and eternally
grateful, and I'll praise your name forever if you'll save my
soul, if you'll reveal Christ to my heart, if you'll take me
in. Is that wrong to say that? I
believe that's the way it is. I believe everybody saved seeks
the Lord. I believe everybody say, calls
on the name of the Lord. Calls out of need, calls out
of desperation, calls out of a hunger and a thirst, he calls. Bless your heart, he calls out
of sincerity. God will hear him if he calls
in the name of Christ. And I'll just double-knick a
dog there, any hot-shoddy dame gets to stand up in front of
his crowd and tell him that. First of all, he'll shock them
to death. Secondly, his offerings will go down. And thirdly, God
may save somebody. That's right. But that's the
way it is. That's the way it is. God's not
a beggar, he's a King. Our Lord's not a beggar, he's
a king, and he doesn't need me. I need him. Oh, God needs you. No, he doesn't. He just needs
you for one thing, and that's tender for hell's fire. He doesn't
need you for his glory. That's hard, but that's so. That's
so. But you need him powerfully,
mightily. You need him. Why don't you come
down? Come up, you high horse. Get
out in the dust of repentance, and cry out to God in desperation
and sincerity, Lord, Lord, be merciful! For I'm a sinner. Let your blood be propitiation
for me on the mercy seat. And fellows, so when I don't
do that for you, you do it yourself. That's right. Don't you let anybody
get between you and Christ. You make sure Christ's between
you and God, then don't you let anybody get between you and Christ.