Elder David Berryhill & Elder Ward Rowell & Elder Steve Wilkinson | 2026 Camp Meeting | Friday Afternoon | 7.17.26

Elder David Berryhill, Mt. Gilead PBC, Smithdale, MS

Elder Ward Rowell, Brentwood Hills PBC, Fort Worth, TX

Elder Steve Wilkinson, Bethany PBC, San Antonio, TX

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

I deeply beg an interest in your prayers in the time that I'm standing before you. If you have your Bibles and like to turn with me, I'd like to go to the ninth chapter of the book of Matthew. My mind has flip-flopped throughout this week. And, you know, there's the scriptures are precious, beautiful things. But there are sometimes scriptures are more precious than others. And in reading this, it um it touched me deeply, so I trust this of the Lord. But in Matthew chapter 9, in verse 11, it says, And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your master with publicans and sinners? You know, if we didn't have the scriptures, if we didn't know the story, if God had not revealed it to it, it would be a great mystery why God would still eat, even to this day, even in this moment, eat with publicans and sinners. Why he would have the halt, why he would have the lame, why he would have those that are dull of hearing to set at his table, and to feed them from his own storehouse. Why he would call men from all walks of life to become servants, to feed that which the Lord has provided. You know, preaching in many ways, it's not what you bring to the table, it's what the Lord would have you bring. You know, forgive me for my base um metaphor, but you know, it's often like studying the Word of God is awfully like grocery shopping. You get some things that are preserved, things that might last a while, and then you get some fresh things, you get some things new and some things old. And then the bridegroom shows up and says, I would have you feed this to my bride. And you better, when you go to your pantries, have some stuff in it. Now there have been times where I've made a last-minute grocery trip. I felt like I did that a little bit a while ago. But we're to feed the Lord's sheep with the feed that he would have. Because we sat, not at our own table. We don't sit in our own houses. We come to the house of God. We sit at God's table. We sit at the bridegroom's table, and we are fed of his hand. God forbid, and and and shame on the man that would bring his own things into God's house. Shame on the man that would bring anything out of someone else's field. Because this is his bride, and he is very loving of his bride. He cares what what she can what feeds her, what preserves her, what sustains her in this life. She needs those things. We need those things to live in a low ground of sin and sorrow. But yet, he said, why eatest thou with publicans and sinners? Although this bride is beautiful, it's the most beautiful thing here on this earth. I can't lie and say that we're not publicans and sinners, even to this day. To say that we have no sin is a sin. To say we are not sinners is to call God a liar. And I would not call God a liar. Let God be true and every man a liar. But yet He chooses to set with publicans and sinners. What wonderful grace that is. What a wonderful message that when we come to the house of God, we can come in earnest expectation and hope that he has promised to be with us. That where two or three are gathered together in his name, there will I be in the midst of them. That he's deeply delighted in coming, and he sings in the midst of the congregation. He's deeply delighted in this. He's ravished. He's ravished when we come together in his name. It says he is uh revised with one of our eyes, and one chain of her neck. Thanks for the God that doesn't take the whole body of the bride to please the Lord. That even when we meet together and we're such a small portion, we're just the remnant of the bride, we're just the remnant of the house of Israel. But yet when we come together in the small plays, when we come together in the small plays for a short time, the Lord is deeply delighted in it. He is ravished by it, he's constrained by it, He takes joy in it. You know, don't ever discount that the Lord enjoys being with his people and He came here for thirty-three and a half years. He suffered things at the hand of evil wicked men just to be close to his people. He suffered the wrath of God just so that you would be with him. Not that he just came and visited for a little while, but that one day he'll take us home with him. That's how much he enjoys being in the midst of his bride. But we're publicans and sinners. We're not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth he has shown us. We're not worthy to unlatch the unlatch his choose. Yet he's pleased to dwell and not just be in our presence, but feast with us, and to give us of his own table freely, liberally, of the things that he would have us to sustain us, to give us joy, to give us those things we stand in need of, to nourish that inward man, to strengthen us for days to come. He gives us all the things that we stand in need of. That's the reason why it's so important to preach the whole council of God, because it's for God's people. But listen to the answer. Because without the scriptures, without what God has revealed unto me and what God has divinely inspired and providentially preserved for us to read and to study, to show ourselves approved unto him, I would have no clue why I would ever feel the presence of God. Because I know myself. I know my sins. I know how worthless I am. I love the Roman centurion. It always brings a tear to my eye when I think he says, I'm not worthy for you to come into my house. But just say the word. You know, Mephibosheth, he's one of my favorite. I can't get out of texts without preaching about it. Sorry. He says, What right have I to cry unto thee? You've done so much for me. What right have I to cry unto thee? You know, it when people start to dishonor God, to me it's like they're putting God too low and themselves too high. There's beauty in depravity. Depravity is something we teach because it's something that's true. But the beauty is not because we're depraved. The beauty is that this in spite of us being depraved, God loves us. That's where there's beauty because you can't be too bad. You cannot be too bad to get outside of God's love. You cannot be so sinful that God's love cannot reach you. If I make my bed in hell, thou art there. He can reach us at the lowest depths, which we were. We were at the lowest depths. We were completely and totally depraved, without help, polluted in our own blood. Yet God, who is rich in mercy, and that's what I wanted to get to. Brother stirred my mind up on mercy this morning. Because listen to what Jesus responds to. His response to the Pharisees. He said, They that be whole need not a physician. But they that are sick. Now, there is a doctrinal principle in there that tells us that those who do not have the Spirit of God in them do not think themselves sick. Each and every human on this earth has a chronic disease which is unto death, and that's called sin. And except the Lord comes back, it'll kill us all. We're all sick. But there's a difference. He said, those that be whole, that was whole in their own eyes. It wasn't whole in the sight of God. None of them could stand in the sight of God. But they were whole in their own eyes. But there were those that knew they needed a savior. There were those that felt the gap. Who felt the distance, who felt the insurmountable debt. Who knew they were not worthy. And listen. They felt to be sick. They knew, they felt their sickness, I'll put it that way. But he tells them in verse 13, he says, Go ye, but go ye and learn what that meaneth. I will have mercy and not sacrifice. For I'm not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Now that's talking out of Hosea. And that is not my intention to follow that thread. But listen to what he says. He says, I will have mercy. Let's turn over to Psalms chapter 103. Most of my time I'm over there praying about what I could cut out of this chapter. But just for time's sake, there's so much. But just for time's sake, let's start in verse 8. It said the Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always shide, neither will he keep his anger forever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy towards them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. And this is this is the verses I wanted to get to. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord that pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame. He remembereth that we are dust. You can follow this all the way back to Genesis, where the Lord took a handful of dust. And I'm using my own words. It says, before a man out of the dust of there, didn't say he take it up in his hand. But in my own mind. You know, it says all the nations of the earth are the dust in the balm of his hand. Leave us in Isaiah 40. He took just a little bit of dust. Had no life in it. You know what it takes for life? Water. You know what's not in dust? Water. Or else it'd be mud. There was no potential for life. There was no ability for life. It was dead. By every sense of the word, it was dead. It was inert. It didn't have the ability to bring forth even the smallest of seeds. You know, you can take seeds. I grew up on a farm and you could at one time go to our freezer or in our barn where it was real dry and find seeds of okra and seeds of peas or corn or whatever. You know why we kept them there? It's because it was dry. And as long as it was dry, it wasn't going to sprout before the time we wanted to plant. So you can put all the seeds you want to in dry dust and it will not spring forth. Now there's a whole message in that root that came out of dry ground. Because it wasn't the ground that brought him forth. It was God.

SPEAKER_02 12:18

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 12:20

But he took a handful of dust and he looked at that dust and chose to love it. How amazing is that! The creator of the universe says, you know what? This dust will I love. This love. This dust. Well, I put my name on. This dust will I send my son for. This dust I'll bring home to me. Now, yeah, I know a lot of people that go to the beach and they'll take a look, especially people in the woods that ain't never seen seed for. Get a little bottle and take sand home from the beach. I've personally never done it, but I know people who have. It's just it's just sand. I mean, there's milli I mean, there's trillions of grains of sand all over the earth, and you're gonna take home a little bitty bottle. There's no value in it. You can get it anywhere. You can get dust anywhere. I dare you to be a dust salesman. There's no value in it. There's no value in that dust, but yet the Lord placed value in it. He placed a value beyond anything of that which we can imagine. He placed his love, and he placed the spirit of his son in it. So that when he looks at that dust, he sees his son. His well-beloved son, his beloved son in whom he is well pleased. When he looks at that dust, he sees his son. How amazing is that. That's plenteous. That's plenteous mercy. But we can see, even though that dust failed, that handful of dust, shortly thereafter, did what the one thing he wasn't supposed to do and cast all the other dust into death and trespassing and sins. I asked this question at lunch when we were talking about this with Mike and I. I said, is it easier to stomp out two cockroaches or six billion? Why would not the Lord take those two people off the face of the earth, turn them back into dust, you know, retry it and put it? There's only two of them at that point. It's because he loved a people. Before he ever took that dust, he loved it. He loved a people out of every kindred, tongue, nation, and tribe. And he covened with his son for that people. The reason why I bring that to your attention is although Adam did Adam and Eve that day died in death and trespass sin, they lived almost a thousand years. Because the Lord was not willing for his seed to perish. That which he paid for, that which he loved to perish. You see so many times where man fails God again and again and again. You can see where Moses struck the rock the second time, yet God was merciful. You can see where you can see Abraham when he failed. You can see Isaac, every single one of them, Solomon, David, all of them failed. Yet God was plenteous in mercy. You know, see, this is our mind. As corrupt as we are, when we're right and someone else is wrong, we don't mind being just. We don't mind pointing out other people's flaws. It's when we're wrong we want mercy. You know, um, it says uh Micah 6.8. It says, uh, he has showed the old man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God. I don't think it's talking about loving, receiving mercy. I believe everybody loves receiving mercy. I think it means love giving mercy. I think it's the same problem that the Pharisees had in Matthew chapter 9. When he said, I will have mercy and not sacrifice, they had no mercy in them. They saw somebody that they saw as wrong and they felt as right, and they just, well, they must be wrong with them. Yeah. They don't deserve mercy. Well, the fact of the matter is, none of us do. We're all still dust. Abraham would call himself dust and ashes. I mean, you can see this over and over again when the when people would say, You talk about that lineage, uh, Brother Gary. Talk about that lineage. You can see mercy throughout that. You can see mercy in Rahab. You can see mercy in David. You can see mercy in each and every one of those. Why? Because he remembers our frame. That we are dust. Now, that does not mean he sweeps our sins under the rug. You know, I I I'm I'm careful what I said. I've heard it said, but we don't pay for our sins. Because the Lord did that. And the payment for sin is death. So if you if you feel a little chastised, you're not paying for your sin. You're getting chastisement of the Lord. Because the only payment for sin is death. And unless you drop dead right as you do it, or you know, you know, you understand what I mean. We don't pay it to the fullest. Now, whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth. So there is even comfort in chastisement. And the Lord chastises those he loves because he desires fellowship and us to walk in the way that he would have us. Because I mean, you it's like growing a vine. If you don't train it up in the way to go, it'll just go all over the place. There's some pruning that takes place, there's some guidance that takes place. But it's not done out of hatred, it's not done out of you know, judgment, so to speak. It's done with the intention of love. But you can follow this. I'm almost out of time already. Zyba is one of probably the best examples of mercy that I can think of. And for time's sake, I won't turn over to it, but it showcases what I'm talking about. Ziba started out pretty good. He he you know recommended, he pointed out Mephiboshev to bring before King David. And after a while, Ziba betrayed Mephibosheth. He he ran off and left him where he was at and went and told the king a lie. And when the king came back, he found out the truth of the matter. Mephibosheth came to him and um there's an interaction that goes on. I won't turn over to read it for time's sake. But David says, and this is a good litmus test to see if you have mercy or not. See if you're in the right mind. David says, Y'all just split the land. Well, most of us want to put ourselves in Mephibosh's shoes and say, well, he should just go ahead and just take Ziba out of the way and give them all the, you know, he he wronged them. The fact is, we've all wronged our God. Thanks be to God that each time we fail him, he doesn't take all away. There's some things that we lose in this life. We lose fellowship. We lose fellowship with God, we lose fellowship with one another when our sins can separate us from the fellowship of God. But he doesn't take it all away. Thanks be to God. When we when we're like David, when he sinned with Bathsheba and then covered it up. He lost his fellowship. And he lost his joy. He says, return unto me the joy of thy salvation. It doesn't say return unto me thy salvation. Or return unto me my salvation, but rather the joy of the salvation which the Lord had for him. He says, For he knoweth our frame. In verse 14 of Psalms 103, he says, He knoweth our frame. As for man, his days are his grass as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. The wind passeth over, and it is gone, and the place thereof shall know it no more. But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him and his righteousness unto children's children. How great, how plenteous is God's mercy. We'll never see the end of it. We will be in

SPEAKER_03 23:22

I wish we could have been here last night if we weren't, but uh God's been merciful. All this is through his mercy, I appreciated that, Brother Steve, this morning. Uh please continue to pray. Uh if we didn't have any preaching this afternoon uh from this point forward, uh we've already had it in your singing. Uh I tried to stop a couple times and listen. I had to start singing again just so I could stop crying. So you're you made me cry. Your singing makes me cry. I'll tell you what, the Spirit of God did that, not of us. But isn't he merciful that through all of what we did uh potentially to get here, which our our journey here was it was a breeze. It was fine, Brother Philip. So I'm thankful for that. Uh brother David, you said you said, well, I'm about out of time, but uh if supper's around 5 30, I'll calculate we each have about an hour. Brother Steve, thank you, Brother Steve. Uh I don't take an hour, believe me. Uh I'm going to go to the Gospel of Luke and begin some thoughts, and please continue to pray. Uh chapter 1 of the Gospel of Luke, for as much as many have taken in hand to set forth an order or declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word. It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus. Fourth verse here. I really I want one word, but uh uh fourth verse says, Thou that mightest know, that thou mightest know the certainty of those things wherein thou hast been instructed. Uh aren't we thankful that uh the gospel of Jesus Christ uh and God Himself, there is certainty there? Uh I know we waver, Lord, help my unbelief, uh, but uh uh there is certainty there. Uh and I have a subject on my mind, had it before we we came, but uh uh was ready for God to remove it from me. Uh but uh uh anyway, it's the subject of uh somewhat providence, the providence of God. Uh and that is uh providence care or supply. There's forethought in that. And I'm thinking about the providence of God. The only time the word uh providence is in God's word, it's talk about a man's providence, not God. Uh but uh I want to talk about the certainty of the providence of God. And it takes certainly the mercy of God in that. Uh I don't deserve uh him uh for that forethought that he would guide me. Uh but uh uh so let me if you'll forgive me, I want to go through hopefully shortly and concisely a few more recent, more new things, Brother Gary, uh, uh, and at least in my day. Uh but uh this particular these particular four verses, I happened to be listening to uh an old sermon uh on a take that I had converted, and I'll do more, Brother Jeb. I'm sorry I've been lax on that uh and put them on my site, but it was of my grandfather Raoul in December of 1961. Many of you young people weren't even around uh then, but some of us were, excuse me. But uh anyway, uh so that I was one year old then, and he's preaching on that. Now, in the uh in the congregation that day uh was an elder J.A. Moore. Uh he was the first pastor at Grace Church, which is called Ephesus then, in 1913, uh which I noticed that's when this uh this book, song book we're using, was first published, 1913, same year. Uh and uh uh but he so he, brother Elder J. A. Moore was there in that congregation there, and I feel certain so was I. And I so I think I get sentimental. Old people get sentimental. Uh but uh uh I thought about that when that church was first constituted, and Brother Mike, I'm sure you know you're aware of this, four members. Four members of the Grace Church in Houston, called Ephesus at the time. Went through many, many trials and many blessings there. But it grew uh and uh to be a very large church, uh, which numbers aren't important. I remember Brother Mike Montgomery at uh Chambers Creek at old school this year uh kept saying, the one person that we need here, the one being, the one entity is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, through the Holy Ghost. Certainly that's the most important. But there's four members uh that we have this charter uh pastor there as well. Uh uh, and uh uh that's where I was first baptized at Grace Church uh uh in 1972, still back in the 1900s, whoever brought that up. But uh uh so uh uh but we we moved uh uh at some point from that church to uh the Houston Primitive Baptist Church. And uh that church, and I'm gonna talk about the uh and I'm thinking about the providence of God as I'm covering these things very quickly and to move on back to Scripture, uh, but uh uh we could not have always gone over to that church. We couldn't. There's something called fellowship, and we didn't have it, and I'll just be plain with that. Uh but through the providential hand of God, uh uh uh primarily uh two uh uh uh flawed men, uh ministers of the gospel, elder Elder Jerry Clever and Elder J. A. Raoul Jr. were blessed, that was my dad, uh, were blessed uh to uh guide that church to where we were given a place at that time to go. Now who knew that uh uh then, whenever that was 91 or 92, when we moved over there, our membership over there, that there would be a church for us. That's the mercy of God. Uh because uh uh when uh when uh before we had uh uh our son uh uh my wife, and I hope she doesn't mind uh uh she had made a promise to God that we as parents uh and she as a mother uh would see uh that our son uh would be taken to church, would be in the visible kingdom. And that's a very important uh that's a very important promise. Uh course I think of Hannah. Uh but uh anyway, so God gave us that uh uh fast forward uh uh quickly here. Uh we ended up uh I think in the year 1999, moved up to North Texas, and of all places we ended up uh in the church that Elder Mike Montgomery pastored. Uh uh but the Lord blessed us in the providential hand of God in the old school church there. Uh and uh uh finally uh uh that's where I was uh ordained. I was happy being a deacon. There wasn't much to that. Anyway, no, uh but uh so uh but uh was ordained in the ministry in 2006 uh uh there and and then I was blessed uh uh to learn uh and pastor two churches, Waco and Snyder, Texas, uh, and uh uh had the uh the the gracious loving care and help uh I think about Brother Norman Goins, uh, and he was nothing but help to me, uh certainly. Brother Thomas uh Strayhorn, uh my baby brother's father-in-law, uh so loving and helpful uh in my young years, but then I ended up at Mount Zion Church in Fort Worth uh and uh providence of God, I'm coming through this and I have some points to make uh uh but to Mount Zion Church in Fort Worth uh who uh uh were members of the Chambers Creek Association, uh, but uh uh after only a year. And don't get me wrong, I felt like I was a pastor to them uh uh so comfortable there, but we uh we merged in with old school, so here I am, back at old school at that point. Uh but uh uh but God blessed us in that. Still members from Mount Zion attending there. Uh many from New Hope came over. Anyway, so we ended back at old school, and somehow in 2018, uh certainly uh not in my plan, uh I was called pastor at Brentwood Hills in Fort Worth. Wasn't always able to go over there. We couldn't go over there, not in fellowship. Somehow, God in his perfect, certain providence caused these things to happen. What my point here is, is that we need to look back. Brother Galen, we'll look back on cancer and see the providential hand of God and realize, doesn't that give us hope for the future? God blessed us before. We're sinners saved by the grace of God. We're sinners, we sin continually, but He still loves us and blesses us. There's a precious little girl uh there at Brentwood Hills every single Sunday, even when Mark preaches there on third Sundays that she writes down typically uh exactly the notes uh and I say I wish I had that beforehand. These are good notes to follow for a sermon. And she's I think she's 12 or 13, been doing it for years. But last Sunday she wrote, I hope I can remember this with my old mind. She said, God loves me even in my sin. 13-year-old girl should wrote that. That's framable. That is framable. God loves me even in my sin. Well, we know why, because he sees us with the righteousness of Jesus Christ in our lives here, uh, because we'll one day be with him. There's certainty in that, uh, uh, and I'm thankful for that. Uh uh does that mean uh that we can, I don't remember who said, that we can do whatever we we want, uh, quote unquote. Uh we are, we are. This place uh is where I want to be in my life till he come again. Uh uh will I die in in or be risen in triumph or despair, regret? I want to be in triumph because we might as well. Christ has given us the victory that he won on the cross. He was victorious. They might not have thought so. Those wicked men there, but he he won that victory and he gave it to us. And wasn't he gracious to give us that those that final sermon on the cross? It is finished, and we believe that in fullness it's finished our salvation and we're blessed in our lives. Thanks for thanks be to God that he has guided us here. Uh let's remember, let's look back at the providence in our lives. You know why it's important? Because we realize that we're saints of God, sanctified, made holy, set apart by the blood of Christ, by the through the Holy Ghost, and that uh that's how much God loves us. Uh don't think about how sinful we are, and how can He, how can He bless us? That can't be providence upon my life. Who cares about me? I used to think that as I was going through life, being guided from here to there, uh, what does it matter where I live? I'm no one. Well, it the blood of Christ was costly, it was precious in the sight of God, and that wrath that he took upon himself. Uh that uh that took something. I know it was God here in the flesh, but that was a son of man. He felt that scourging there uh as those Roman soldiers scourged him, spit on him, platted that crown of thorns in his brow. And I won't go into the scripture. Uh this same little girl uh at Brentwood Hills, one day I preached uh uh primarily on scourging, described it uh in pretty great detail. She said, Oh, don't do that again. Don't do that again. I don't like to think about that either. I want to think about uh uh the same thing Stephen Deacon Stephen saw, seeing his Savior standing at the right hand of the Majesty on high. And we've had that very presence here this weekend. If this doesn't rejuvenate, I know we don't call these revivals, but it has revived me. It causes me to get back on track. If I'm off, I was just simply uh 1% on my path, and I need to get reinligned because by the time I get to that where I'm going, I'm way off track. I remember El Hewlin Bass talking about flying, so forth, plane. He's a pilot and so forth. Uh uh So uh let's let's let's remember the providence uh of God in our lives. Uh now I want to go to uh Genesis chapter 37. Let's get I want to get three different scenarios here. Uh won't take a long time, don't believe, but chapter 37 of Genesis. This is uh after we read much about Jacob here, and then uh 37th chapter begins, opens with uh and I'll set this scene, Brother Gary, Sister Lillian say I'll set this scene. Uh uh Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger in the land of Canaan. He dwelt there, he abode there, Jacob did, uh, not the others. They just they were sojourners, strangers, foreigners. Uh and so uh I want to move through this pretty quickly. Uh third verse. Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age, and he made up a coat of many colors. So he loved Joseph more than all his children. His brothers, Joseph's brothers, knew that, and all Joseph didn't help himself in in what he did there, but we still see the providence of God here. But and and I believe, you know, and I I I love this. Uh I can't hang on to many things mentally, but uh when uh when uh uh uh Jacob met Rachel, uh he he uh kissed her, and it says, and he wept. And I mentioned that to somebody, and he said, Well, I wouldn't like that much if you, you know, somebody was uh uh in love with me and they kissed me and then went to crying and all, but I believe he loved her. I don't show it much, but I weep when I think about my precious wife. The things that we don't deserve in our lives. God's merciful brother. When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him. They could not speak peaceably unto him. That's pretty bad. Uh there. And then uh, let me go on through, move along. He had two dreams. So, and he could have had two dreams and just gone on, but no, he told his brothers. First one, he told his brothers, I'm sure they hated him more. And uh then he told his brothers and his father that second dream, and you know, Jacob said, Well, am I gonna am I and your mother gonna bow down to you as well? You're gonna reign over us? And all. And it says that uh Jacob observed the saying. He observed it on all sides. Circumspect. Uh because Jacob had some experience with it. He didn't just write it off, but he he questi questioned and and all. Uh now at this point, uh, I don't believe that these brothers could see or would have said, uh, do you see the providential hand of God in your lives right now? I said, No. I hated her, brother. It's not it's not going well here. Now, I won't go into all this other stuff that happened to Joseph, and certainly he's a type of Christ. We're going to be looking at him in here, but uh uh these things that uh and his dreams ended up coming true. We we uh we were familiar with that. I quit saying we all know whatever in a congregation because we don't all know. We need to go ahead and explain things and bring it down simple. So I'm not saying you're simple-minded, I'll say I am, but I like it simple. Does no good to preach something, somebody said so deep that it goes right over and hits that wall back there. Uh that and it needs to touch you. I like to look into your eyes and see you uh being touched by the grace of God because this gospel is Jesus Christ's gospel. It's not ours. We forget who said what at a meeting and remember who it was said about, and it's Jesus Christ. Uh so uh uh anyway, let me uh go now to Exodus chapter 1. I believe I preached, I'm just gonna touch this, but preached this at grace at their annual meeting in February about these two midwives. First chapter of the book of Exodus. Things have changed here since that time of Joseph. Uh there arose up a new king over Egypt which knew not Joseph. So it ties this together uh beautifully. And so again, he had several plans here to uh uh to uh to uh squelch or quench the power, the might, and the growth of Israel. Jacob, his family there. Now, had God's providential hand not been on Joseph, he wouldn't have uh physically saved them. This was the twelve tribes of Israel there. And and uh and and we see that that that uh so uh uh Joseph had a big part in this. He didn't Joseph didn't know what's providence of God is he guiding anything? Yeah, he was. But God's certainty in his will and his purpose, it's gonna be carried out. And and the reason I started out with with my measly life, uh then I always say, if you if you uh your whole life passes before you right before you die, I told me not off. Mine's pretty dull and boring. And I believe me, uh dullness and boredom. It's uh underrated. Uh I love it. Nothing going on. Anyway, as a pastor, I love dullness, uh, nothing going on. Uh so uh uh anyway, let me go on here. And so uh uh they ended up, he he commanded the midwives, these two uh Shifra and Pu'ah, uh, that they uh uh go to the Hebrew women. They were midwives, and when uh the babies are born of the Hebrews, uh uh if it's a girl, that's fine. Let her live. It's a boy, uh, you kill them. You kill them. Uh and uh he was trying to, that's his plan. That's his Pharaoh's new plan. And and I'll note again as I did last year, uh earlier this year at Grace, that we don't know, it just says the king over Egypt here. Uh his name, we don't know who they his name what his name is, but we know the names of these two midwives, these ladies here. We know them. There's some importance there, I believe, in the eyes and the mind of God. Uh but uh uh so uh uh and so they uh they uh were they deceived the king of Egypt. Uh and uh midwives, 17th verse, midwives feared God. They feared God. If this verse is the inspired word of God, that means they're children of God. They feared God here more than that king, uh, and did not, as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men, children alive. So his plan plan B, the plan A was therefore uh they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burden, hard burden. That was the 11th verse. Now plan B is let's just kill all the boy babies so that they'll quit growing in number and in might. So the these two midwives were not doing that. King of Egypt called for the midwives and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing and have saved the men and children alive? Midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women, for they are lively and are delivered ere the Midwives come into them. They're just saying, we can't get there quick enough before the baby boys are born and we can't kill them and all. So Pharaoh, king, this great king that knew not Joseph, he has a third plan here. It's like, well, this has got to work. So Pharaoh charged all his people, 22nd verse, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive. So now he's got all his people throwing the boy babies into the river there. This is his plan. But they grew even more mighty. I won't go there and read that. Israel grew with more might. That's the hand of God there. That's a victorious God right there. And with certainty, his providence is perfect. I may have forethought and planned something and it may not work out. Usually doesn't. But I tell you what, God has his eyes here. And that should give us pause to think about how he has blessed our lives. I do that. I look back, and certainly other things that are included in that, whether it be physical healing or emotional healing, the depression that hits us, that uh we can't someone says, Well, what's wrong with you? Uh why are you depressed? And we don't know. We don't know. But we go to our Savior, uh, Jesus Christ. Go to him when that happens. Uh oh, run to him, I will say. Uh fall down on his feet because he'll lift you up and uh and carry you on through his providence there. Uh uh So now uh in the and I come through here because then we go through uh uh the uh the birth of Moses here. Why is all this important? Who's Moses was mentioned earlier and all, and he was called to do something like, no, you must meet me need someone else. I'm not even I can't even speak, right, and all. But this was going to be the uh uh the uh savior uh here in time of his people. Which people? The ones that Joseph saved, those twelve tribes. If this had not all taken place, just so you can speculate and all, uh no, no twelve stones uh uh in those enveloped gold uh on the breastplates and on the shoulder plates, uh, those stones with those same brothers' names that hated their brother. This is the providence of God there. And and uh I would tell you this, I'll go venture and go as far as to say, I don't believe that uh uh Simeon or any of those other brothers, Reuben, none of them, that they were uh any more of importance to God. God's love is perfect. When Jesus died on the cross, I believe he had each one of you in his mind. Uh he knew he certainly had that criminal hanging there next to him on his mind. Uh aren't you thankful for that sermon there? You didn't know. I used to say, uh, you know, when uh when that thief uh uh was was born again there, if that's exactly when it was, I believe it was, he stopped uh railing on Jesus. Uh but if that's the case, I said, you know, there wasn't a preacher in sight. No preaching of the gospel, I meant no preaching of the gospel saved them. There was a preacher in sight. It was Jesus Christ uh there. And uh uh so uh uh and that sermon he preached to that man that he needed right then. If you got anything out of sermons this morning or any this afternoon, tomorrow, whenever it is, uh that's God giving you the message you need. A preacher will preach one sermon, and there'll be so many messages. You don't think God has the power to uh to split that up, divide that up, and touch your heart how he needs to? He does. Why does he do that? Because God loves me even in my sin. He does. We're precious to him because he sacrificed his son for us uh uh there uh uh at Calvary. Uh so then we have Moses here. Now I want to go to uh uh Ruth, the second chapter. This is the last place, and then I'll begin to close. Uh so in Ruth, the uh, and uh I believe we're somewhat familiar with this story of Ruth, uh, but uh I I thought when I began to think about providence, the providence of God, at first I didn't think about Ruth herself. I thought about Naomi. I thought about Naomi. Now she said, call me Mara, because I'm bitter. She was bitter. You think if if uh we had asked her Naomi, Mara, at that point, you believe all this is the providence of God? No, she wouldn't. That that's me some many times is I it's happening, but but we can look back. Let's look back, let's put in remembrance, keep in memory the providential hand of God in our lives, and give him glory and praise for that. But here, uh let me uh and so uh Bruce is gleaning in the field of Boaz. Uh uh, you know, uh Naomi uh had uh uh she had come back to Bethlehem, she had lost her husband, she had lost her two sons, uh she is left uh with two Moabitus uh uh daughters-in-law, and one stayed there, which she told them to do. Ruth didn't. Well, a big deal, huh? Yeah, it is. It's in the lineage of Jesus Christ, the legal lineage. Uh so uh uh very important here. Now, so let me get a couple of verses here. Uh chapter 2 of Ruth, the 18th verse. Um she had gleaned, she beat out what she had gleaned, grain and so barley, and she took it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. So Naomi saw what she had gleaned there, okay? Uh and she brought forth and gave to her that she had reserved after she was sufficed. And her mother-in-law said unto her, Where hast thou gleaned today? Where wroughtest thou? Blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee. You think of Jesus Christ. You think of him. And she showed her mother, mother-in-law. She showed her mother-in-law and stopped at mother, but my mom, she said, and mom, if you knew mom, you knew she didn't say something that she didn't believe. See, I can see that there's a photograph of her at Stratton with her finger pointed out like that, and that's how I remember her. It's on our refrigerator. But she ought she would tell Kathy, say, You're not my daughter-in-law, you're my daughter. I believe that's the way that uh Naomi began to think of Ruth. And she showed her mother-in-law with whom she had wrought, and said, The man's name with whom I wrought today is Boaz. Naomi said unto her daughter-in-law, Blessed be uh he of the Lord, who have not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi went unto her. The man is near kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen. I believe at that point Naomi saw. It says she saw. She saw what she'd clean. I can see Naomi's mouth dropping open and knowing that she'd been blessed. Uh that providence of God came pouring out uh at that point. Something changed there. That didn't affect Naomi's uh citizenship in heaven. That hadn't changed. Her salvation, eternal salvation. Uh uh, she still had that. Uh, but you think that didn't affect her life here to see that? Her life changed right then. What providence of God upon your lives and mine has changed our lives greatly. Uh I can think of some things in my life right now. Uh uh, Brother Galen, when I got numbers back that first time uh after my radiation, uh, uh and uh and they they said I love that word. He said he used the word undetectable. It was undetectable at cancer. And uh and I thought about uh uh God blessed me. He's gonna bless us to see that right then. The other times I look back, I think about uh uh our our days uh as I mentioned, all these churches and so forth. Why did God guide me, I believe, through all of that, uh through Grace Church, Houston, all these churches. It's uh so that we could come, and I could come up to this very moment in glorifying God Almighty. This is the very moment uh right now. This is the pinnacle of my life, being with you, my close kinsmen, my brothers and sisters in Christ. Uh uh I don't believe this, I don't uh uh deserve the salvation in Christ Jesus, but I don't even deserve your care and love. But we give it to one another. I have grown to love uh um this uh precious uh uh yeah, I'll say it uh uh uh in streaming, even on recording, the precious uh Mosley family. Uh I love you all so much. Uh uh I happen to say uh and I'll go ahead and say this, I said it old school. Yeah, you're smiling, Kaylee. Uh but uh I told Aidan Scott, I said, you know, you got the nicest Mosley. And Anne was standing right there and started laughing, and and uh, yeah, I'll say what Kaylee said. Well, it's a low bar. But uh so uh but uh but you've hit it. You've hit it. Uh but no, you have Brother James, all the Brother Michael, you are precious to me. Uh uh I know I feel like you've prayed for me, Brother Jeff, Brother Bill. We always called him Billy in the old days, back in the 1900s. Uh but uh so now let me go real quickly. I believe two more verses, or at least two more books here in Isaiah, uh Isaiah 53. Real quick. 53, I think, just one verse. Uh the tenth verse, uh, Isaiah 53, yet it pleased the Lord, it pleased the Lord to bruise him. Uh he hath put him to grief. When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed. There's that seed, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days. This is what I want, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. So we know here that the pleasure of the Lord exists, and there's some delight in there. Somebody mentioned the word delight. He I believe the Lord delights, he takes pleasure in his providential care, his forethought, perfect and certain in our lives. He takes pleasure in that. Why? He loves us, and he loves us the same every moment, doesn't change. My my care or or like for someone may ebb and flow. Uh but uh, and even the way me and my my little brother treat one another, we love each other so much. Back in 1968, when he was born, and I'll say again, with proof here to everyone, I try to convince everyone he's my older brother, but uh he's not. I was born in 60, him 68. But back then, uh didn't appreciate him so much. I wasn't like Joseph's brothers. I I don't think I ever hated him. Maybe you've come close, but uh uh, but tell you what today, I'll tell you this, I'm thankful for it. I I look at I look at him, I look at so many as fathers in my ministry, and so many of my fathers in the ministry are younger than me. They're younger than me, but they're fathers. I'll call Brother Mike my uncle in the ministry. You know, no, I don't know about father, but uh anyway, he he takes that. You know, brother Mike. But uh now I'm gonna close with uh Micah, the minor prophet Micah, Brother Philip, lest I not go to a minor prophet. The uh seventh chapter of Micah, it's closing out his prophecy here. 18th verse. Uh who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity and passeth by the transgression of the remnant, his heritage. He retaineth not his anger forever, because he delighteth in mercy. He delights in that. He bestows that upon us with pleasure and delight. This is our God. I can't wait to see him. Because heaven is, I mentioned it, Brother Norman's funeral, heaven has become so precious every day, every time, soul and spirit of one of our loved ones, and more and more of them are there. But uh, it's and I know it's a human thought, uh, but today as you were singing, I thought, yeah, they're joining in. It's the same song. It's the same song, and that's where they're to be. We miss them, we sorrow. But they're there, brother Philip, uh, in the presence of their Savior. They're not looking up as someone stoning them to death. They're there in perfect righteousness with uh uh with Jesus Christ. But they're waiting that uh that dust will come back, Brother David. Uh that dust, that body will be raised and in corruption there. Uh there's the rest of that uh that uh uh Jesus Christ preached into the future, the resurrection that we that we have, that we look forward to in Christ Jesus. Now, so let me continue and close out. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us, he will subdue our iniquities. Oh, that's my prayer. And thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. They're gone. Your sin. There's therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. Your sins are gone. I know we still commit them because we still have these bodies. But God loves me even in my sin. Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from days of old. Oh, I look back on the blessings of God in my life. Uh I'm I'm thankful that I can get past just standing up here trying to confess how awful of a sinner I am. Brother Jeb, we'd be up here forever. Uh uh sorry I picked you out there, but uh, well, no, not so much. Uh uh, but uh uh but uh uh God uh sees us as in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. I I think back uh there at Golgotha, there at Calvary, uh, when he died for my sins. And I think when was that moment? That uh that time that he was he was not going to give up the ghost until he had died for the sins of all the elect, family of God. But when was that moment that he, my name crossed his mind? I believe those stones, you know, the there's stones with six names each, I believe, on the on the on the shoulder uh uh braces or whatever they're calling the high priest uh garment. Uh but the the breastplate had the names of each of those tribes. And to me, I look at that and it it gives me the hope that God knows our names. I know he does. Because it says, if I'm not mistaken, it doesn't say that our names are written in the palms. It says we are. We are written in. We're there, we are there, and those stones on that breastplate were wrapped in uh uh ouches. I couldn't think of that name earlier. The ouches of gold, those things were there, they're not coming out, they're they're enveloped in that. That's like our names. They're not going anywhere. The gold uh uh uh uh rings around those that uh that those stones were sunk in each name, name of the tribes that were sinners, saved by the same grace, but we see it, we look back at the uh the crucifixion and and our salvation and our victory. May God bless and keep you, David Montgomery.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:00

I walked in the door and he said, You need to preach on it in Romans 8. And now I can't think of anything else but Romans 8. I have three other discourses on my mind, and now it's only Romans chapter 8. So pray for me, please. That the Lord will grant us the spirit and leadership of the Spirit to be able to speak to you. It's good to be here. I'm very thankful to have the privilege of being with you and these distinguished men of God. Thankful for uh your prayers and your the singing's just been heavenly. Would y'all come down and sing at Bethany like that so they can see what singing sounds like? And uh we're thankful for that. About late 80s, I was at the camp meeting at Dos, Texas, and uh during that particular time we had another thunderstorm. And uh it was a real bad one. We came through that night, and uh the wind was blowing and galing, and the rain was leaking through the roof, and people were having to move over to uh to avoid the drips in the tin roof, you know, and uh we were having a uh a rough time. We'd already had two ministers that had preached, and we're gonna have we were gonna have a third one. And it was Elder Hewland Bass. Well, when the thunderstorm came, the kids were all excited. Oh boy, the meeting's over, the lights are off, nobody can see. The meeting's over. And then somebody handed Brother Hewland a flashlight. And they said, Oh no. You know, I understand how it is to have a third uh minister. Please pray that uh that I won't be burdensome to you, but we do want to go to the book of Romans, chapter 8. If you'll turn with me, please, beginning with verse 18 of the eighth chapter. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory which shall be revealed in us. The creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him, who is subjected the same and hope. Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption and to the glorious liberty of the children of God. Now before we go farther, in the 18th verse, we know that the Apostle Paul is a southerner because he said, I reckon. Now Southern Turkey, but he was from uh but he was from the south. That word is an interesting word. And in the original word, if you transliterate it into English, it's L-O-G, which I think is uh uh remarkable because uh this particular word is a mariner's term, but it's also an accounting term. And uh it is I like to look at it from that perspective. When you take my wife is w when we we schooled our kids, she'll always make a T-bar and put the pros in one side and the cons in the other side to try to teach the kids a a lesson. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time, which are real, will everybody agree with me that that the sufferings of this life are real? Sometimes they're just so severe, just about unbearable sometimes. Sometimes I pray that the Lord would come quickly. Don't you? That he would come in his power and in his glory. But he says, I reckon that the sufferings of this present time, if you put that in one column of the T-bar, are not worthy to be compared to the glory that shall be revealed in us. You put that in the other side of the T-bar, and guess one which outweighs the other. The sufferings of this present time are real. Our people endure sufferings in this life. Our dear friend that went through the cancer, no doubt, a great deal of suffering that he endured and his precious family suffering because he was suffering. And they're real and it's burdensome and it saps almost the life out of you. So they're real. But when we compare the sufferings of this present time to the glory, it must be, wow, it must be amazing. To the glory that shall be revealed in us, they're not even comparable. When we get to glory, when we get to heaven, friends, it's going to be better than anything. It's going to be amazing. Will you agree with me on that? For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature, the new creature in Christ, waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. I can't wait. You know what that means, by the way? That's just words that mean the resurrection, the manifestation of the sons of God, holy and complete body, soul, and spirit. The creature is waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God. That's what we're waiting for. That's what we're singing about. That's what we're preaching about, is the manifestation of the sons of God. And there's no better subject to be preached from the pulpit than that subject. For the creature was made subject to vanity, emptiness, not willingly. I mean, we didn't have anything to do with bringing ourselves into the world. We just came into the world, didn't we? Not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope. We have a temporary existence in this world. And we have emptiness much of the time in our lives that affect us. But I want you to understand something here. He says, He says, not willing, but by reason of him who have subjected the same in hope. He subjected us to an empty world, a sinful world, but we as the new creatures in Christ have a hope of being delivered from it. That's what he's talking about right here. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together till now. And not only so, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption to it, the redemption of our body. The new creature in Christ. That's what I'm waiting for. This body's breaking down all the time, brother. This body is disappointing me every time I get up and look into the mirror. This body is breaking down and eventually it's going to give up the ghost. But my friends, I know that there's something waiting for me on the other side of the valley of the shadow of death that's much greater than anything that's in this world. And not only so, not only so they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption to it, the redemption of our body. That's resurrection right there. For we are saved by hope. And if there's not another text in the Bible that tells you there's more than one kind of salvation taught in God's word, that one does right there. Let me tell you, friends, I believe that the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world to save sinners. The Bible tells us in Matthew chapter 1, verse 21, thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. But let me tell you something, friend. The child of God who's been born of the Spirit of God gets saved multiple times in his life. The Apostle Paul tells the folks on the day of Pentecost, save yourselves from this untoward generation. That is, this crooked generation of Jews. You save yourselves from them and follow the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we're saved by hope. But hope that is seen is not hope. But what man seeth, if a man seeth what he yet what he yet, why does he yet hope for it? Can he talk this afternoon? But if we hope for that which we see not, then do we patiently wait for it. Likewise, the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities. Infities are struggles, physical struggles, mental struggles, all kinds of struggles that the child of God endures in this life. For we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us. Aren't you glad of that? You ever been in a struggle, my dear friends, and you didn't know what to do? And not only did you not know what to do, you didn't know what to ask God for. You're struggling to the point where I don't even know what to beg God for. I just have to say, Lord, help me, please. He says the Spirit makes intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered. Things that we don't even know how to pray for, what to pray for. We don't know God's will in it. The Spirit of God makes the interpretation for us in the throne room of God, and God answers our feeble prayers. He says, with groanings which cannot be uttered. For we, he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. Now I tell you, that's good news for me. I believe that the Lord intercedes for me and blesses me. And he searches, he makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. Now, verse 28, I bet you couldn't wait for me to get to. I have no novel interpretation of this text. I have no Calvinist interpretation of this text. I have a contextual interpretation of this text. And by the way, it's okay to preach it in context. We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to whom to them who are caught. Let me read it again. Hold on, hold on. We know all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Common sense tells you that's not talking about everything without exception. In the silly 1689 London Confession of Faith, God has decreed from all eternity all things whatsoever come to pass. I'm going to tell you something. I don't believe that. I don't believe he decreed Hitler's Holocaust. I don't believe that the mass murdering of people throughout the planet that's going on right now is of God. But I do believe within the context, this firmly fits. Notice he says, for we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. You won't be able to find, you can't find many people that were part of the Holocaust that still have the tattoos on their hands, will ever tell you it was a good thing that they went through. That ended up turning out good for me. You won't be able to find that. You want me to read it again? I don't want you to forget it. For we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose, and the ones who love God. Do you love God? Then you are the called according to his purpose. That's why you love God. If you love God, it's evidence that you're one of his. And guess what happens when this whole life's over, brother? Brother? To heaven you go. Right into the portals of heaven in the presence of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Now here's the part we always really like, and most people can quote, okay? But I'm going to read it for safety's sake. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. He did not say all brethren. He said many brethren. The Bible teaches the doctrine of election. That God has made a choice of a people. Out of every nation, every kindred, every tongue, every family, God has made a choice of a people. It is true that the Bible teaches us, in fact, in the experience of Abraham, when he went out in chapter 15 of the book of Genesis, God took him out and showed him the stars. He says, Can you number them? That is, can you count them? So shall thy seed be. He said, That's the number of your seed. And to find out what seed he's talking about, you go over and over to Galatians chapter 3. He said, They that are Christ, that's C-H-R-S-T apostrophe s, shows possession, they that are Christ are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. Abraham was not just seeing his natural lineage when he showed him the star. He was seeing God's children in every nation, every kindred, every tongue, and every people. He was seeing the family of God pictured in the stars of heaven. So he says here, oh, where was I? I was talking about election, right? Y'all believe that, right? Let me tell you for a moment. The doctrine of election puts more people in heaven than gospel regenerationists will ever put in heaven. The doctrine of election puts all that Christ died for on Calvary in heaven. He's not going to lose any that he died for. He knew what he was getting. He came to earth to give them. And friends, my dear friends, he got them. For whom he did foreknow, he did also predestinate. To be conform to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Word predestinate is a proper English word for the term under consideration. Predetermined destiny. That's right. Do you know the Greek word, even it was, you know why they chose this? Because of the Greek word. Proizo. Before. Horizo is the horizon. That's another word for the horizon. Before the horizon. Now, the first time I ever saw a horizon is when I moved to Texas. In Mississippi, the horizon's up here. Pine trees everywhere. You can't see, right? You can't see the horizon. When I topped the hill coming over to the basin where San Antonio was, that's the first time I saw the horizon. It was a beautiful sight. Still love it to this day. So the horizon is a result of the creation that God made. We have an horizon because of the creation of God. And before the horizon, or before the creation, before the foundation of the world, he predetermined the destiny of his people. Thank God. Thank God. And to be conformed to the image of his son. Our final end is to be in the magnificent, glorious, beautiful, perfect image of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is going to make, in fact, it's the purpose of God to make a people like Jesus Christ. That's what predestination is. That he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, he also called. That's the effectual call of the Spirit. It's spoken of in the past tense like it's already done. Guess what, friends? God's elect family are going to be called. And so he speaks of it in the past tense like it's a thing that's on. Let me tell you, friends, it's predetermined that he's going to call you from the walks of light, from death in sin, to a life in the Lord Jesus Christ. Every single one that he died for are going to be called into a sacred nearness to him. Isn't that glorious? It is glorious. He also called, whom he called, he also justified. Declared innocent. And whom he justified, he also glorified. That's by the way, in the past tense as well. It's as good as done. Every single air of promise is going to be made like his son Jesus Christ and glorified in his image, fit and prepared to live in heaven's pure world. I know you don't probably feel like it sometimes. I'm pretty ragged. I'm pretty rough. I'm pretty much a sinner. No, you're not pretty much a sinner. You are a sinner. But let me tell you something, friends, it's coming a day when you're going to be made like him. And that's why when Paul, when John closed the book of Revelation, he said, even so come quickly, Lord Jesus. And my hope says it won't be long. My feeling is that it's not going to be long, but that might be just my hope growing for that eternal world. And what shall we say then to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? It don't make any difference how many people try to be against us. If God's on our team, you know, when you had when we played dodgeball, friends, we wanted somebody big, bulky, and could chunk that ball and hit the guys on the other guy, and so we could win our side, you understand? Well, guess what, folks? That's ridiculous. God is way better than dodgeball. He's on our side. We've got a world that doesn't like what we're doing here today, and I don't care, and God don't care either. He's blessing us anyway. He says, if God be for us, who can be against us? God that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, all of his elect. How shall he not with him freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. There's somebody that might rise and say, Well, you haven't done this, or you haven't done this. There's some kind of charge that can be made towards Steve or Brother David or Brother Philip, you know, some kind of charge it might. Let me tell you something, friends. You can't make a charge against one of God's because it is God that has declared us innocent. Who is he the condemnate? It is Christ that died. Oh, by the way. Let me look at it here just a second here. Sorry. Verse 32. Let's read verse 32. I read that I read past it too quick. Verse 32. He that spared not his own son, but delivered us from, uh delivered him up for us all. How shall he not freely give us all things? He's freely given us all things that he previously talked about. And he says in verse 28, we know that all things work together. Listen, folks. The predestination works together with the calling. The calling works together with the justification. The justification works together with the glorification. All those things work together, and they are free gifts of God. There's not a one of us that could accomplish any of those things that are described but God Himself. God did everything, friends. Of Him are we in Christ, Jesus. Then it says, Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, rather that is risen again, who is at the right hand of God and maketh intercession for us. Once again, wonderful. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, this is something that these people in Rome are familiar with. Tribulation. Distress. They're very familiar with it. If you haven't been in distress or in tribulation, you might in the future. He says, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword. For as it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long. We're counted as sheep to the slaughter. Nay, but but in all things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. And we're conquerors because the God of heaven delivers us from all those struggles that he just got through mentioning. Now notice in verse 38. I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come, AI. That stuff drives me crazy. Oh, I know it's real. I mean, it's a real problem out there. But tell you, I'm learning fast how to pick it out of my YouTube videos. When I find it, I turn it off. But anyway. Nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature. In my house, in the living room, we got a big round coffee table between two couches. On that coffee table is the TV remote. It's a bag of uh a basket with stuff that Gail puts in it. Pretty stuff, you know. But sometimes I'll put my tennis shoes on it. Sometimes I'll come back from walking and I'll toss my wet t-shirt on it. Sometimes we'll lay clothes from the dryer on it till we fold the clothes from the dryer, and it becomes our catch-all. Anybody have a catch-all? Yeah, yeah, you do. That's a catch all phrase. Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature. There's nothing that you can come up with or name or invent or think about that can come between you and the God who has saved you. Nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Aren't you glad that his love is awesome? Jeremiah 31, 3. Yea hath loved us with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness have I drawn thee. That makes me think of Romans 6, uh John 6.44. No man can come unto me except my Father which has sent me, draw him, and I'll raise him up again at the last day. You know what the word draw means? And my my little wife, uh, she wrote it down from years ago in her little Bible. Another definition of the word draw is drag. Amen. You say God saves us against our will. If he didn't, friends, you wouldn't get saved. We've all sinned and come short of the glory of God. God saves us when he is ready by the operation of the Spirit. He doesn't need the help of the gospel. He doesn't need the help of well-meaning parents or well-meaning somebody else. I almost said other stuff, and I don't want to be unkind, but I want you to know something. There's nothing in this world that, nobody in this world that can save themselves by doing anything whatsoever to accomplish that. And the gospel is certainly not one of them. I want y'all to y'all to know that from San Antonio, Texas, we do not believe in gospel regeneration. It is a heritage, by the way, in that stupid document I mentioned, excuse me, I'm not supposed to say stupid. Gail said I'm not supposed to say stupid. But it's still pretty stupid. It says that, and I tell you, avoid that confession of faith. Because it's got so many bad eggs in it, friends, it's not worth your time. Let me tell you, it says that we are born of the Spirit by the Spirit of God, and it's usually accomplished, that's not the exact wording, usually accomplished by the preaching of the word. Act wrong. It's accomplished by That reminds me. That reminds me one time I was preaching in uh in San Antonio, and I'd been gone over the time, and I said, and I looked down, I saw I've gone over the time, and as I was preaching, I said, Well, it's 12 o'clock or not. Is anybody hungry? Little kid in the back said, I am. The gospel is beneficial.

unknown 1:32:56

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 1:32:57

It's powerful. Oh, my friends, when I first heard it, I I my I couldn't do anything but I still cry like a baby all the time. Well, y'all, if y'all don't stop this singing, I'm gonna be red-eyed when I get it. Gail's gonna wonder if I've been in the fight. Don't stop singing wonderfully like you're doing. Keep it up, folks. But let me tell you, friends, it's wonderful to be a primitive Baptist. I'm a primitive Baptist, and I'm not ashamed of being a primitive Baptist. We are not Protestant. We never have been Protestant. The true church didn't protest anything. We were all to ourselves all through history. Now there are Protestants out there that protested the Catholic religion. There are, there are those, but we weren't one of them, friends. There have been a people like us who've been holding out to the grace of God being the source of salvation. Salvation by grace plus nothing. Please, as a people, young and old, remember that we're not Protestants. We are going to hold on to the truths that these men and these men preach, and we're going to advocate them, and we're going to promote them, and we're going to preach that truth and bring our next generation and the next generation up with the belief that salvation is by the grace of God plus nothing. God bless you.