Gospel preachers, men who are
interested in presenting the good news of Christ to sinners,
are always searching the scriptures, not only for their own benefit,
for their own meditation and growth But they're always searching
the scriptures to find illustrations of God's mercy to sinners in
Christ and to find a new way of presenting that message. After
all, this is what the scriptures are all about. It says in Acts
10, verse 43, to him give all the prophets witness. Every prophet
is writing about Christ. Our Lord said that. The Pharisees
said, we have Moses. He said, Moses wrote of me. And
they said, well, Abraham's our father. He said, if you'd believed
Abraham, you'd have believed me. If you were Abraham's children,
you'd believe me. Because Abraham saw my day and
was glad. He said, what think ye of Christ?
Whose son is he? They say the son of David. He
said, well, why did David say unto the Lord, my Lord, sitteth
on thy right hand? How can he be his Lord and be
his son? You see, the whole scripture
is about Christ. Let me show you that in Luke
chapter 24. If you'll turn to the, just hold
that place in Ezekiel and go to Luke 24. Our Lord was crucified
and had risen. And he appeared to some of the
disciples. And then one day, two of them
were walking along a road. And Christ began, had appeared
to them and began walking alongside them. And he asked them why they
were so downcast and unhappy. And they said, don't you know
what's happened? And they began to talk about Christ's death
and burial and so forth. And then he stayed with them.
They invited him into the place where they were going. And they
went in and sat down. And the Lord Jesus revealed himself
to them. And then in verse 44, he said
to them, these are the words which I spake unto you while
I was yet with you. that all things must be fulfilled
which were written in the law of Moses. Now, I told my Sunday
school class this morning, when you see the word law in the scriptures,
when you see the word law, sometimes it refers to the whole Old Testament,
the law and the prophets. In other words, the word of God
is the law of God. Sometimes it refers to the Ten
Commandments. Sometimes it refers to the ceremonial
law. to those types and shadows and
pictures which God gave through Moses and the prophets. So he
said all the law, those things written in the law of Moses,
those things written in the prophets, that's the writings of Ezekiel
and Jeremiah and Isaiah and all the minor and major prophets,
those things written in the prophets and in the Psalms. So many people
read the Psalms and don't see Christ. So many of the Psalms
are strictly Messianic Psalms, and when David's talking about
himself, he's talking about Christ. And in the Psalms, now look at
this, concerning me. You see, the Old Testament is
Christ in promise, Christ in prophecy, Christ in picture.
The New Testament's Christ in person, Christ revealed in person.
And read on. Then opened he their understanding,
that they might understand the Scriptures. Now, none of the
New Testament was written at this time. Not a verse of it,
not a chapter of it was written when this took place. When he
was sitting there talking to these disciples, to these believers,
all in the world they had was Genesis through Malachi, and
our Lord Jesus said, this is all about me, the scriptures
are about me. He said one day to the Pharisees,
you search the scriptures, in them you think you have life,
but there they would testify of me. When the Bible talks about
that rock in the Old Testament, that rock's Christ. When the
Scriptures talk about the brazen serpent, that's Christ. When
the Scriptures talk about the Passover lamb in Egypt, that's
Christ. It's Christ in Genesis, the woman's
seed. It's Christ in Exodus, the Passover
lamb. It's Christ in Leviticus. And you go right on through the
Old Testament, it's Christ on every page. When Rahab the harlot
threw that red scarlet lion from the window of the wall of Jericho,
that's Christ. It's all the way through the
scriptures. And you're not a preacher until you can preach Christ from
the Old Testament. In fact, I don't even think you
know the gospel. Because Christ died for our sins
according to the scriptures, according to Genesis to Malachi.
He was raised again according to the scriptures. And he's coming
again according to the scriptures. Everything he did is presented
in the Old Testament. And that's what he's saying.
This is what the Scriptures are all about. They're about Christ.
Christ on every page. And this is our calling. When
a preacher begins to search the Scriptures so that he might present
Christ, that's our calling. You know what Richard Baxter
said, I preach as one who may never preach again. I preach
as a dying man to dying men. This may be my last message.
And this may be your last message. And Paul said, woe is unto me
if I don't preach the gospel, my first message and my last
message, and all in between. Every message. This is what men
need. They need to hear the gospel. I'm convinced we don't need to
hear from the pulpit today about the condition of the oil shortage.
I'm convinced we don't need to hear from the pulpit about the
candidates who are running for office. We don't need to hear
about these things. We'd hear enough of it six days
a week. We need to hear Christ, Christ,
Christ, Christ, Christ in every word that's spoken. Mr. Spurgeon said one time, quoting
Roland Hill, any sermon that does not contain the three R's
ought not be preached. It's a waste of time for everybody.
The three R's are not reading, writing, and arithmetic. They're
ruined by the fall, redemption by the blood, and regeneration
by the Holy Spirit. I need to hear every time I come
to the house of God what happened in the garden. I need to hear
every time a preacher gets up here to preach. I don't care
if it's a devotion or if it's a prayer meeting message or if
it's a Sunday school class or if it's a message, they call
it evangelical or practical godliness or prophecy or whatever it is.
Let's hear about what happened on the cross every time we preach
and let's hear about what happens in the heart of a sinner if God's
pleased to make him whole. Let's hear the gospel. Woe is
unto me if I preach not the gospel. Paul said, I'm determined, I'm
determined to know nothing among you. And it takes determination
because, boy, Satan's a subtle crafty enemy. He doesn't care
what we preach just so we don't preach Christ. He doesn't care
if we preach morality. He doesn't care if we preach
self-righteousness. He doesn't care if we preach
giving. He doesn't care if we preach education. He doesn't
care if we preach prophecy. He doesn't care if we talk about
Iran and Iraqi and Libya and Russia and China and all the
rest of that stuff. Just stay off that gospel because
it's the gospel that's the power of God to salvation. It's the
gospel that makes me in whole. It's the gospel that gives me
hope of life eternal. It's the gospel that glorifies
God. And I'm going to preach it without
enticing words of man's wisdom. I'm going to preach it without
a whole lot of words that men can't understand and make the
cross of Christ of no effect. We're going to preach it, we
trust in the power of the Spirit and the simplicity of human language. And I'm looking, every time I
open this Bible, in that chapter he read, those 14 verses, you
say, hi, now Will, are you going to get any ruin, redemption and
regeneration out of that? You stick around for 15 minutes.
And I'll show you. I'll show you. Now this is a
picture. I know what this is. The Scripture is bifocal. When
you get old enough, you know what bifocal means. There's two
panes of glass here. One of them, I can look up and
I can see you, but I look down and I can't see that. There's
another one under here. I can look down and see that,
but I can't see you. You're blurred. You look better
too. But the Scripture is bifocal.
There's a first meaning. There's a first meaning. But
there's a second meeting. Maybe third, fourth, and fifth,
but there's a first and second meeting. Now, verse 2 tells us
what this is all about. Son of man calls Jerusalem to
know her abominations. And sometimes if you want to
read something that's shocking, read the rest of that Ezekiel
16. Read it privately, not in mixed company. It's a terrible
picture. Calls Jerusalem to know her sins. Calls Jerusalem to
know her abomination. Calls Israel. In other words,
this is a picture. What Jay read is a picture of
Israel in Egypt in her early days when God looked upon her
in slavery, poverty, wretchedness, evil. God looked upon her in
love and brought her out of Egypt. He brought Israel out of Egypt
by his mighty power and made of Israel a great nation. Now
that's what this is all about. Bill, that's what this first
application is all about. Israel, God looked upon her in
Egypt 400 years down there in that mess, in that poverty and
bondage and slavery, and you can just imagine how they lived.
But God brought them out and made them a great nation. Look
at Israel in the days of David and the days of Solomon. What
a... God decked them with ornaments, put a crown on their head and
made them a great nation. And then verse 16, 15, 16 over
there tells us how they backslid and how they went back, Joe,
into the mess. Back into the mess. Worse than
they were down in Egypt. But I see here, I see there's
no better scripture in the Bible to describe three things in reference
to me and you. And me, I know me and you know
you. But this illustrates my misery. by birth and nature,
the misery of a sinner. It illustrates the motive of
God's grace. Why did God do this for me? Why? And thirdly, it illustrates the
mercy of God in restoration, the mercy of God in reclamation. God reclaimed me. All right,
let's look at that. First of all, the misery of a
sinner. Now, you know where this came
from? Israel didn't practice this, but the heathen nations
around them did. There was a common practice among
the pagan, the Amorites, Hittites, these pagan nations, that when
a little baby was born, if it was deformed, sometimes if it
was a girl baby, but if it was deformed, when they brought the
baby forth, the midwife or whoever delivered it, and showed it to
the others, it was deformed in some way, they just took it,
they didn't wash it, they didn't tie its navel, They didn't bathe
it, they didn't salt it, or whatever they do to them. They just took
it out in the field somewhere, put it in a sack, took it out
in the field, and threw it out in the field. And left it out
there for the beast to eat, for the buzzards to eat, for the
sun to bake it, and for the wild beast to consume it, and just
left it there. And that's what this is describing
here. That's what he says, verse 3, Thus saith the Lord God of
Israel unto Jerusalem, Thy birth, And thy nativity is of the land
of Canaan, heathen, pagan. Your father was an Amorite, your
mother was a Hittite, as for thy nativity in the day thou
wast born." You say, how does that picture me? First of all,
my ruin, my sinful condition. And you look at that baby lying
out there in the high grass and weeds, in its pollution, and
it's an infant. And my ruin was an early ruin.
You see, the condition I'm in was early. My ruin was so early,
it fell upon me in the Garden of Eden. I know that proud men
kick against the hiss. I know they do, and I know this
is not acceptable in most religious circles. But the Word of God,
if you'll turn to Psalm 51, the Word of God teaches that we are
ruined by the fall. That our ruin goes back to Adam's
sin. That our ruin is an early ruin.
We see here, this is an infant. This is an infant. And its beginning
was all bad. And my beginning was bad. It
says here in Psalm 51, verse 5, David speaking under Holy
Spirit inspiration, Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, in sin my
mother did conceive me. Now, I know I don't have to go
back and explain this. I've done it so many times. The
act of conceiving and bearing and begetting children and bringing
children into the world is no sin. I like to precede this so
men might understand. The sin David's talking about
here is not only the part of the mother or the father, it
was a condition in which the child was born. He was born with
a nature of sin. You see, when God created Adam
and Eve and put them in the Garden of Eden, He said to them before
they ever sinned, before they ever failed, He made them male
and female. He made them perfect male and perfect female, and
God's intention was for them to bear children. That's what
Scripture says, multiply and replenish the earth. Replenish
the earth. Bring forth children. Now, when
Eve sinned, God multiplied her sorrow in bearing children. God
brought upon her, because of her part in the fall, He brought
upon her, Jay, distress and pain. And Eve, the original creation
never intended for Eve to suffer bearing children, but intended
for her to bear children. Woman was made to bear children.
Men were made to beget children. That's what the scripture says.
There's nothing evil in sex. There's evil in perverted sex. There's nothing evil in love
between two people who love one another, who are married in the
Lord. The evil came about as a result of the fall. And when
a child is begotten, this is what the Scripture is teaching.
Now this is the old doctrine of original sin. The Scripture
is teaching that the seed from the fallen father only can produce
a fallen child. The Scripture is teaching that
when the mother conceived him and when he was formed in the
womb, he was conceived as a sinful person and shaped as a sinful
person and brought forth. Turn to Psalms 58. Psalm 58 verse
3, the wicked, look at this, the wicked are estranged from
the womb. They go astray as soon as they're
born, speaking lies. Our children are born with an
evil heart, with an evil nature. They're born selfish, they're
born lustful, they're born jealous, they're born envious, they're
born lying, they're born with a hatred for good. The only reason
that, you know, when you, that little child of yours, one year
old, you just be glad he's not six feet tall and weighs 200
pounds. He'd take you on because the rebellion's already there.
It's already there. The hatred, the selfishness is
already there. And this is the way we were born.
We didn't come into the world as one who might stand or fall.
We came into the world already fallen. Every woman, I hear the
people say she's a fallen woman. Every woman's a fallen woman.
He's a sinner. Every man's a sinner. Oh, how
deep is I ruined. Oh, how early is I ruined. Oh, how complete is I ruined.
It's not only an early ruin, it's an utter ruin. An utter
ruin. Look at this infant. What can
that infant do for itself? It's only a few minutes old.
It's as helpless, even the clay on the potter's wheel is not
as helpless as that infant, not any more helpless. Even a dead
man in the tomb is no more helpless than that infant. If that infant
was ten years old, he could walk out of those weeds. If that infant
was a full-grown man, he could go and get help, but that is
a totally helpless infant, and that's the condition in which
we come into this world. Totally unable to do anything
for ourselves, to cleanse ourselves, to help ourselves, to improve
ourselves, or to change ourselves. Can the leper change his spots?
He's born that way. Can the Ethiopian, the black
man, change the color of his skin? Neither can you. who are
accustomed to doing evil, do good. It's an early ruin, it's
an utter ruin, it's a friendless ruin. None I pitied thee. That little one came forth from
the womb and they saw the deformity and nobody cared. That's what
it said. Friendless, utterly, we have
no friend. None I pitied thee. They didn't
even pity you enough to wash you. They didn't even pity you
enough to cut your navel in tithe. They didn't even pity you enough
to salt you or powder you. They just took you out and threw
you in your blood out in the field. But what could angels
do for me in that condition? What could my kinfolks do for
me in this condition? What can my preacher do for me
in this condition? There's nothing anyone can do
for me. Nothing. The law condemns me. Justice
bears its sword. Holiness is offended and the
truth is sworn to destroy me. I'm utterly friendless. I'm without
help. I'm without hope. I'm without
Christ. I'm without God. I'm at my wit's
end in my sin. And then look at this word and
Jay paused on it when he got to it in verse 6. I saw you polluted. Polluted. Look at verse 5, it
talks about in the open field to the loathing of your person. Now, when I describe here this
infant's condition, it turns your stomach, doesn't it? When you think about this little
one being born and you're just thrown out in the field. He said
your navel wasn't cut, you weren't washed, you weren't suppled,
you weren't salted, you weren't swaddled. Nothing was done for
you, you were just thrown out. What a loathsome sight. But I'll
tell you this, you think that's loathsome. If you and I could
see what God sees when he looks in here. I'll tell you, he described it
a little. He said from your sole of your
feet to the top of your head, there's no soundness in you.
None at all. You're nothing but open running
sores. Now stop and think about that.
That have not been bound up. that have not been washed, that
have not been any balm or salve put upon them, your whole being,
your whole head is sick, and your whole heart is faint, your
whole mind is corrupt, and your affections are perverted and
twisted. That's us. How loathsome the
image of God has been defiled in man. We've got ashes for beauty,
shame for glory, and rottenness for health, and hell for heaven
in every one of us. In the flesh dwelleth no good
thing. I'm not describing the harlot
and the drunkard and the murderer. I'm describing us nice Christian
folks. That's right. I hate to say that,
but that's so, Joe. I'm describing you and me. In
the sight of God, I know, I know we're compared to other worms. We look pretty good. We're dressed
up worms. Somebody's put some striped paint on us, and we're
a glorified worm. But by nature, in God's sight,
we're still a worm. A worm. And there's nothing good
about us. He said they all have sinned, they've come short of
the glory of God. They turn to Romans 3, and let's
read some of that in the third chapter of Romans. This is a
description of us by nature. Listen to this. In verse 10 and
11 of Romans 3. There's none righteous, no not
one. There's none that understandeth. There's none that seeketh after
God. They're all gone out of the way. They're together become
unprofitable. There's none that doeth good,
no not one. Their throat is an open sepulcher. Down there in
Mexico, when somebody dies, they get them in the ground quick
because they stink. They smell. A dead, rotting body
smells. And God says, when you open your
mouth, when you open your mouth in God's presence, That smell
that comes forth is like a grave that's open, a rotten dead body. Their throat is an open sepulchre.
With their tongues they've used to seep the poison of snakes.
I tell you that old snake opens his mouth and you can just see
that venom coming out, that venom. And we open our mouths and God
said that's what comes out, venom, snake poison. That's what kills
and kills and kills. That's what comes out. Their
mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. I wonder, do we praise
God more than we murmur? Do we thank God more than we
complain? I wonder how many of us actually
take an inventory of your day-to-day. Have you praised, well this is
a good, let's go back to yesterday. Sunday, everybody's in their
good behavior, you know. Go back to yesterday. I wonder
if we praised God more than we found fault with God's providence.
Your mouth's full of bitterness. I don't like this. I don't like
that. Looks like he'd do this. Looks like she wouldn't do that.
Why don't you do this? Why don't you do that? Their feet are swift to shed
blood. No fear of God. That's just a
description of what we are. Our beauty is ashes. And this
is what God sees in his sovereign eyes, in his piercing holy eyes,
and anything that's short of perfection is evil in God's sight.
And I'm a mass of evil, I'm a mess of evil, I'm a pile of evil from
the sole of my feet to the top of my head. There's not one glimmer
of good in me or you either by nature. And you see that little
baby lying in the field in its blood, in its pollution? The
blood already dried and cracking in its eyes and it's just dust
on it and you wouldn't touch it. You wouldn't touch it. But
I'll tell you this, if we could just see ourselves as God sees
us, that's what we'd see. Covered with our loathsome, loathsome,
loathsome. And yet how preachers can get
in the pulpit and talk about the dignity of man and the the
glory of man and the goodness of man when by nature there's
no glory or goodness in us. It's what we are spiritually.
Now, I'm not saying that anybody's as evil as he could be, but brother,
we're evil enough. And to sin and come short of
the law of God in one point is to be guilty of the whole thing.
And I tell you this, we've got an early ruin and an utter ruin
and a friendless ruin and a loathsome ruin and we've got an eternal
ruin. Now that baby, that baby, it's
not a question of whether or not it will perish. It's going
to perish. It's a question of whether or not it will perish
now or an hour from now. And it's not a question of whether
or not you and I will finally perish. We are going to perish.
That's not a question of that at all. That baby is doomed. It's doomed unless somebody is
pleased to interfere. That's all there is to it. That
baby is doomed. It utterly, it will finally perish,
it will finally be eaten, or it'll finally rot, or it'll finally
be pecked away at by the birds, but it is absolutely, there's
no hope for it, unless somebody interferes. And thank God somebody
did. He said, I, the only one who
could, the only one who cared. He said, I passed by you, and
I saw you, and I saw you. And I said to you, live. I put
my spirit in you, and I said live. Now, why'd he do that?
Well, let me just be brief here. It was not of necessity. It was
not of necessity. God doesn't need us. You know,
when I walked by the field and saw that over there, and saw
that awful looking thing, I don't need that. I don't need it. And God doesn't need me. When
God passes by and sees me loathsome and polluted in my blood, He
doesn't need me. God doesn't need me to add to
His glory nor complete His glory. God is totally sufficient in
Himself. God was God before I was ever
made. God was eternal and infinite
in glory and beauty and righteousness and holiness in everything before
I was ever heard. He doesn't need me. I wish we'd
quit this foolishness of putting in a church bulletin. The church
needs you. God needs you. God needs you
like I need a hole in my head all the way through. That's about
how much God needs you. God needs you like I need a heart
attack right now. You just matter about that much.
God needs you like we need a tornado to sweep this building away.
We don't need that doing. God doesn't need you. It's the
most sickening thing I can think of to obligate God to do something
for that mess, to do something for that loathsome, polluted
pile of flesh. Why should He love me so? Why
should my Savior, the Calvary, go? Why should He suffer and
die on a tree? Why should He come to earth to
save a sinner like me? Huh? Why? Well, it wasn't of
necessity, and it wasn't because I was related to Him either.
He said, I passed by and I know where you came from. Your mama
was an Amorite and your daddy was a Hittite. You weren't an
Israelite. You weren't one of my own. Your
father's the devil, Christ said. That's who your daddy is. He's
the devil. Didn't he say that in John 8?
You ain't supposed to say things like that, but that's what the
Lord said. He said to those Pharisees, He says, you are of your father
the devil. He was a liar from the beginning
and he's the daddy of liars and all men are liars. Huh? That's
what Scripture says. I know you. You're not related
to me. There's no glory in your heritage.
There's no glory in your background. You're not only a lonesome and
polluted and lying in your blood, but you came from a bad outfit."
And then he wasn't attractive. Attractive? Oh, he wasn't attractive. I hear preachers say on the radio,
we had two fine young people join last night. What kind of
young people? Too fine young people. No. Two hell-deserving,
ill-deserving, rotten rebels we had come to Christ last night.
Don't talk that way. Oh, we've got such a wonderful,
wonderful, wonderful. Somebody said one time, I quit
using the word wonderful when I found out that Isaiah Wonderful
is his name. There's nothing wonderful about
this place. We're not attractive. Listen
to this hymn writer. What was there in us to merit
esteem? or give the Creator delight.
For even so, Father, I must ever sing, It Seemed Good in Your
Sign. I passed by you, and I saw you. I saw you. He saw you like nobody
else did. Well, Mama looks at you, and
you look good. Daddy looks at you, and he just goes so proud. And your wife and neighbor, when
God looks at you, He said, I see you like you are, polluted in
your blood. Polluted in your blood. God,
and that infant wasn't seeking help either. It was unconscious
to its condition. That's what's bad. That's what's
bad. Here's what's bad. Folks are
in that shape and don't know it. That they're lying there,
fatal, injured with fatal sin. They're lying there waiting on
death and destruction and damnation and hell and certain ruin and
don't know it. I bet you that little hour old
infant wasn't making a sound. He's just lying there with the
flies all over him. The flies had congregated. Can
you imagine out in that open field? In that hot oriental country
when they threw that child out there in the blood and polluted?
It was covered with flies as quick as you could pop your finger.
Lying there waiting to die. Waiting to die. Why does God
spare the outcast infant? Why does God spare the guilty
sinner? I'm going to give you four reasons from the scripture. Turn to Exodus 33 first. Exodus
33, and many of you know this, you could quote it without me
even reading it. Exodus 33. Here's the first reason. Now brethren, I wouldn't offend
you, but I'm trying to give you the scripture. You've seen the
picture. This caused Jerusalem to know
her abominations. Well, we're Israel, spiritual
Israel. Caused John Howsam to know his
abominations from this right here. Caused him to know his
condition, caused him to know his ruin, caused him to know
who did something about it. You preach this to Israel, Ezekiel,
and Henry will preach it to today's Israel. Because same message.
And God says here, now look here at Exodus 33 verse 19, He said,
I'll make my goodness pass before you, I'll proclaim the name of
the Lord before you, and will be gracious to whom I will be
gracious, and I'll be merciful to whom I will be merciful. That's
the first reason. That's the first reason. Why
did God stop beside this infant? Because he would. Why did God
cover that infant and show mercy to it? Because he would. Why
did God, not because he needed it, not because that infant wanted
it, not because that infant was related to him, not because God
was obligated, and not because that infant was attractive, but
because he would. I did it because I would. That's
what he said, and Paul quoted this over there in Ephesians
chapter, I mean Romans chapter 9, or 11 it is. I will be merciful
to whom I will be merciful. Somebody talks about sovereign
grace, sovereign grace, sovereign grace. There ain't no other kind
of grace. Grace is sovereign. Talk about sovereign mercy. There's
no other kind. Mercy is always sovereign. If
it's not sovereign, if it's deserved, or if it's earned, or if it's
bought, it's not mercy. And it's not grace. So he did
it because he would. That's the first reason. All
right, here's the second reason. Turn to Matthew 11. Matthew chapter
11. I think we ought to answer scriptural
questions with scriptural answers. I think the best commentary on
the Word of God is the Word of God. You say, who's the best
commentary? The Word of God. There's some fellas that'll help
you a little bit, but this is the sure commentary. This is
a certain commentary. Somebody said to Spurgeon one
time, what's the best body of divinity? He said, didn't know
there was but one, and that's Christ. All fullness of the Godhead
dwelleth in Him. He's the only body of divinity.
Look at Matthew chapter 11. He says here in verse 25, at
that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, Matthew 11,
25, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you've hid
these things. These things are what? His sovereignty,
his grace, his mercy. You've hid these things from
the wise and the prudent, the smart alecks, the wise acres,
as Jack Shank says, and you've revealed it to me. You've come
to the needy. You've come to the unworthy.
You've come to the infants. Why? Verse 26, Even so, Father,
for so it seemed good in thy sight. That's the second reason.
God Almighty stopped and showed mercy to this infant because
he would. Because he would. I will be merciful
to whom I will. Secondly, because it seemed good
in his sight. That's right. All right, here's
the third reason. Turn to Ephesians chapter 1.
Ephesians chapter 1. All right, watch this now. Here
in Ephesians 1, I'm not going to go over all this. Our time's
just been slipping right away. But in Ephesians 1, verse 3 through
14, you have the work of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit in redemption. The Father planning it, purposing
it, choosing the people, predestinating them to be like Christ. And it
says in verse 6, He did it, Verse 6, Ephesians 1, to the praise
of the glory of his grace. And then it talks about the Holy
Spirit having made known unto us the mystery of God's will
and how he, or rather Christ is second in verse 7, in whom
we have redemption through his blood. And verse 9, he made known
unto us the mystery of his will. He enriched us, verse 12, that
we should be to the praise of his glory. And then verse 13
and 14 talks about the work of the Holy Spirit, who awakened
us, who sealed us, who is the token or earnest of our inheritance.
The last line, verse 14, to the praise of his glory. And then
verse 7 of chapter 2, it talks about what we were. He says,
in times past we walked according to the course of this world,
the Prince of the Pilate there fulfilling the lust of our minds,
flesh, heart. who is rich in mercy for his
great love, wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in
sin, polluted, loathsome in our blood, quickened us together
with Christ, verse 7, that in the ages to come he might show
the exceeding riches of his grace in his mercy, in his kindness
toward us through Christ Jesus. And Bud, when you exhaust those
four reasons, you about got it. Why did God, why did he stop?
Here I am, an early ruin, an utter ruin, a friendless ruin,
a loathsome ruin, a helpless ruin, an eternal ruin, and God
stops and says, Live! Why? He passed by a lot of others
just like me. Yes, He did now. I know one group
He passed by, the angels He passed by, the fallen angels. It says
Christ took not on Himself the nature of angels. I know when
he called Abraham, he passed by the Hittites and the Philistines
and the Amorites and the Medes and the Persians and the Babylonians.
You go on and on and on. Israel was his nation. And I
know when God called you and he called me, there's some folks
raised in the house I was raised in, ate at the table I ate at
that don't know Christ, grew up in the same nursery and the
same church under the same Armenian preachers, and God could have
left me there too, like he left so many of them. Why didn't he? Well, he said, I'll be merciful
to whom I will. That's right. He said even so
it seemed good in his sight. He said he did it to the praise
of his glory, and he said he did it that in the ages to come
the whole universe will take a look at me and you and know
something about the riches of his grace. That's right. All right, last of all, let's
go back to our text, and I'm going to quit. The majesty and
power of God's mercy. I want you to look at this. He
says in verse 6, when I passed by you. I passed by, you didn't. You didn't. You was in your blood.
And you was going to stay there. You weren't passing. You couldn't
walk. I passed by you. I saw you. I said to you. You see that? Verse 6, I passed
by you. I saw you. I said to you. When I think of Lazarus in that
tomb, just lying there dead, hopeless, helpless, and Christ
stood out there according to his own will and purpose. He
didn't say, come forth, or that cemetery to empty. He says, Lazarus,
come forth. And one man came out of the grave.
And he said, I passed by you and I saw you. And for my own
will and purpose, I said to you, I said to you. And how does he
say it? He says it by his spirit, and he says it by his word. Because
it's the word that quickens, it's the word that makes alive.
We're begotten again unto a living hope by the word of God, which
liveth and abideth forever. The word is the seed. A seer,
a sower went forth and sowed the seed, and the sower is the
son of God, and the seed is the word of God. There's no life
without the word of God. No sinner will ever live without
the Word of God. I said live! Now watch verse
8. Verse 8. He said it was the time
of love. Now wait a minute, friend. Who
loved whom? Huh? Who loved whom? Now come
on. Now come on. Even the most simple-minded
person here will have to say that baby didn't love whoever
that was that did that for him. He wasn't capable of love. Wasn't
capable. He's lying there polluted, and
I loved you! Here in this love, not that we
love God, He loved us. He loved us so much He gave His
Son to be our sin offering, the propitiation for our sin. We
love Him because He first loved us. And I'll tell you this, I
don't love Him like I ought to, and I don't love Him like I want
to, and I don't love Him like I'm going to, but I love Him
more than I used to, don't you hear? I'm growing in love for
Christ. My love for Christ is not growing
dimmer, it's growing richer. Like we're singing while I go,
Ronnie let us in sweeter as the years go by. That ain't talking
about me, talking about him. He's sweeter as the years go
by. I passed by you and it was a time of love. Look at verse
8, and he said, I spread my skirt over you, I covered your nakedness. The church didn't do it, the
doctrine didn't do it. The Holy Spirit didn't do it.
I did it. I spread my skirt. His righteousness. He said, I
entered a covenant with you. I can find the whole kit and
caboodle in this thing, you know. We can go all the truth of the
gospel. I entered a covenant with you
and you became mine. I set my affections on you. I
set my heart on you. I made a covenant with you. I
swore by myself and I can't swear by any greater. You're mine. You're mine. I'm glad I'm his. I'm glad I'm his. I'm glad I'm
his. You belong to me. I'd like to
see somebody take me away from the Lord. I'd like to see somebody
separate me from the love of Christ. There's no power this
side of heaven, earth, or hell can do that. He says, you're
mine. I've set my affections on you.
And he said, verse 9, I washed you. with water, sanctified you,
washed all the blood away, justified you, washed in the blood of the
Lamb. I washed you, washed you with my own anointing, cleansing,
atoning, redeeming blood. I washed you with the water of
sanctification, the water of the Word, and watch it, I anointed
you with oil. I think any Bible reader in here
knows that oil is the emblem or symbol of the Holy Spirit.
You know, if you're a child of God, I believe a person ought
to seek the teaching of the Holy Spirit and the leadership of
the Holy Spirit and the presence of the Holy Spirit and special
power and these things, but I don't need to seek the person of the
Holy Spirit if I belong to Christ, because any man who doesn't have
the Spirit of Christ is none of his. He doesn't belong to
Christ. We're born of the Spirit. We're
baptized in the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit. We're regenerated
by the Holy Spirit, we're taught by the Holy Spirit, we're brought
to Christ by the Holy Spirit. We've been anointed with oil.
We're just like Samuel anointed David as king in the house of
Jesse. I've been crowned, brother. You
have too if you belong to Christ. In verse 11, I decked you with
ornaments. I adorned you. I put bracelets on your hands
and a chain on your neck. Can't you see this little brat?
Oh, I'm telling you, when the Lord washed her and cleaned her
up, and she's about 15 or 16 years old, he said, and you've
developed and you're beautiful and your hair's grown long, and
I put pretty earrings and I put a necklace and I put my robe
over you, you know. And that's what it says over
here. He said you've come to excellent ornaments, and your
hair's grown, your breast a fashion, you wear naked and filthy and
bare, and boy, you're beautiful now. You are beautiful! You're
beautiful! But look at the last line. You're
exceeding! Look at verse 13. You know, verse 12 says to put
a crown on your head. I made you a princess and a king. And verse 13 says you are exceeding
beautiful! But look at verse 14. And your
renown has gone out among the heathen for your beauty. But
your beauty is my beauty. You're beautiful through my beauty.
Let me tell you something, friend. It's not you. It's Christ. It's
not you. Don't you for a minute get all
taken up with your righteousness. I fast twice a week. I give my
tithes. I give alms. I read my Bible,
I preach, I'm this, that." Your beauty, if there's any about
you, and it don't sound like much about you, the way you're
talking, but if there is any, he said, it's mine. You're beautiful,
exceedingly beautiful. And the words got out on you.
It'll leak out on you. That lady came to Brother Barnard
one time. She said, Brother Barnard, I've rededicated my life to the
Lord. He said, I'm so glad. She said, don't you think I ought
to come down in front of the church and tell everybody I rededicated
my life to the Lord? He said, I wouldn't do that.
She said, why not? He said, I kind of believe if
you have, it'll leak out on you somewhere. And it will. Your beauty, exceeding beauty,
well, it'll leak out on you, Jay. It'll get out on you, spite
all you can do. If he does all this for you,
somebody's going to notice it. Huh? Somebody's going to notice
it. Somebody's gonna notice it. Somebody's
gonna call it taste. Say you look pretty good Say
you're somebody. Yeah. No, I ain't nobody but
my Lord somebody and my beauty is his beauty