Gospel—Ernie Munck
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
And a rock they called Gibraltar.
There's a little bit of land that's disputed, and that land is called No Man's Land. You know, there are people in this world, they say, well, I'm neither.
For Christ. Nor am I against Christ. I stand on neutral ground.
You know, here tonight, we'd like to tell you.
That there is no neutral ground.
Either a person is for the Lord, or he's against the Lord. Either he's bowed to the name of the Lord Jesus.
Or he still rejects him. To say I don't have anything to do with him is to reject him.
Solemn position to be in, but with God there is no neutral ground. Shall we pray?
I'd like to turn to a verse in Ephesians chapter one.
Solemn verse. Very solemn verse. Chapter 2. Pardon me Verse 11.
Wherefore remember that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called the uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision in flesh, made by hands, that at that time.
You were without Christ.
Being aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise. Having no hope and without God in the world.
What a solemn place that's to be in without hope, without God in the world.
I'd like to have you turn with me to another portion.
Joshua, Chapter 9.
And I am well aware that the teaching of this portion teaches that Israel did not inquire the Lord.
And I know of no commentator that gives it any good quarter.
But I see here someone who was in a light condition.
And I see that they found mercy.
And I see that they even lied to obtain that mercy.
Because they were earnest. They were earnest about it.
And it came to pass, when all the kings which were on this side, Jordan, in the hills, and in the valleys, and in all the coasts of the great sea over against Lebanon.
The head tight, and the Amorite, and the Canaanite and the parasite, the hiveites and the Jebusite herd thereof, that they gathered themselves together to fight with Joshua and with Israel with one accord.
You know, there are people here in this world, they would fight with God. Man, what a foolish thing to fight against God. Who's going to win? Who's going to win, my friend? You'll lose every time. Who can fight against God? And here we find these. They did that very thing. And when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard.
What Joshua had done unto Jericho and to AI, they did work wildly, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks upon their ***** and wine bottles old and rent.
And bound up and old shoes, and clouded upon their feet, and old garments upon them.
And all the bread of their provision was dry and mouldy, and they went to Joshua onto the camp at Gilgal.
And said unto him, and to the men of Israel, We become from a far country.
Now therefore Maki, a league with us, and the men of Israel said unto the hiveites, peradventure.
00:05:06
Ye dwell among us, and how shall we make a league with you? And they said unto Joshua.
We are thy servants. And Joshua said unto them, Who are ye, and from whence come ye? And they said unto him, From a very far country, Thy servants are come, because of the name of the Lord thy God.
All my friends think of it. You have to do with the Lord. Every man shall give an account of himself unto God. You do have to do with the Lord.
How are you going to do you know? There's a verse in Hosea that says How long will it be ere ye return unto innocency? Is that possible?
And you have committed sins. You are guilty of sin. You know, when I was a boy.
I knew what it was to send against God, and it caused me no end of trouble so that I cried out in the middle of the night. Mama, I've stolen a dime. I stole a dime. You know, sins don't trouble kids very much anymore.
My mom was able to give me a dime back to give to the boy who dropped it on the playground.
You have committed sins. How many?
Oh, you say, we've all sinned. Everybody's up the same tree.
But you know every man, it says every man shall give an account of himself to God. And here these men, they went to Joshua.
We are thy servants. And Joshua said unto them, Who are ye, and from whence came ye?
And they said unto him, From a very far country, Thy servants are come, because of the name of the Lord thy God, For we have heard the fame of him.
And all that he did in Egypt, ah, you know God.
Has at different times, in different ways, brought judgment upon peoples because of their sins. And these people, the Canaanites, they were doomed to judgment.
God will judge sin. He cannot have sin in His presence.
God is a God of judgment and justice.
But he is also a God of his word.
And all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites that were beyond Jordan, to Sihan king of Ashban, and to Aughh king and Basian, which was at Ashtroth. Wherefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spake to us, saying, Take vittles with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say unto them, We are your servants, therefore now make you a league with us. Oh, what did they want?
They wanted an assurance, they wanted to have some word from them that they wouldn't be slain. Ah, is that what you're after here tonight? You know, there were some that came to the Lord Jesus.
And they said, Ye seek me not, ye seek me for the loaves and the fishes. But the Lord Jesus, he gave them good advice. He says, labor not for the meat that perisheth, but for that which endureth unto eternal life, which the Son of man shall give you. Or think of it, labor for something which he will give you. That's just exactly what these wise ones were doing.
All they were doomed. They had a pronouncement against them, they were without God in the world solemn position to be in, and yet and they trembled, and you know they did what they could.
They lied, they said this. Our bread we took hot for our provision out of our houses on the day we came forth to go on to you.
But now behold it is dry, and is mouldy, and these bottles of wine which we filled were new, and behold they be rent, and these are garments, and our shoes are become old by reason of their very.
Long journey and the men took of their vittles and asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lord. Ahir was indeed a mistake to ask counsel at the mouth of the Lord.
00:10:05
But you know, the Lord overruled it, The Lord overruled it and.
These men.
Let's read a little bit about them. Deuteronomy chapter 20.
I read a book on Joshua by Mr. Ironside and said if these men would have come just as they were, in all honesty, why, they'd have been shown mercy, they'd have been brought into the congregation of Israel.
But is that true?
Well, let's look and see what it says here.
Verse 10. Deuteronomy 20 When thou comest nigh unto a city.
To fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it, and it shall be. If it make thee an answer of peace and open unto thee, then it shall be that all the people that is found therein shall be tributaries unto thee.
And they shall serve thee. And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it. And when the Lord thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword.
Then it says further, verse 15 Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities which are very far off from thee, which are not of the cities of these nations, but of the cities of these people.
Which the Lord thy God doth give thee for an inheritance. Thou shalt save alive nothing that breathes, but thou shalt utterly destroy them, namely the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Parasites, the Hivites and the Jebusites.
As the Lord thy God hath commanded thee, Oh, what a solemn thing God will judge sin.
God will judge sin. And these people, they didn't know of a way of escape. But to tell a lie, you know, Rahab, she also lied.
But her lie showed her face, and these people had.
Faith in the judgment of God that was coming on that nation.
Fez, let's go on.
Joshua made peace with them and made a league with them and let them live.
And the Princess of the congregation swear unto them. And it came to pass at the end of three days.
After they had made a league with them that they heard that they were their neighbors and that they dwelt among them.
And the children of Israel journeyed and came unto their cities on the third day.
Now the CI. Their cities were Gibeon and Chafir, and Biroth and Kurja. Jerem and the children of Israel smote them not, because the Princess of the congregation had sworn unto them by the Lord God of Israel.
And all the congregation murmured against the Princess, But all the Princess said unto all the congregation, We have sworn unto them.
By the Lord God of Israel now, therefore, we may not touch them.
Now, for the sake of time.
Well, let's read on.
This what we do to them, we will even let them live, lest wrath be upon us, because of the oath which we swear unto them. And the Princess said unto them, Let them live, but let them be hewers of wood and drawers of water onto all the congregation, as the Princess had promised them. And Joshua called for them. And he spake unto them, saying, Wherefore have you beguiled us, saying, We are very far from you when you dwell among us? Now therefore you are cursed, and there shall none of you be freed from being bondsman.
And hewers of wood and drawers of water for the House of my God. And the answer Joshua, and said, Because it was certainly told thy servants, how that the Lord thy God commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land.
And to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you. Therefore we were sore afraid of our lives because of you.
And have done this thing, and now behold, we are in thine hand as it seemeth good.
And right unto thee to do, unto us to do. And so did he unto them.
And deliver them out of the hand of the children of Israel, that they slew them not.
And Joshua made them that day, hewerers of wood and drawers of water, for the congregation and for the altar of the Lord.
00:15:08
Even unto this day, in the place which he should choose.
Now you say, what on earth does that mean, my friend? It means there is mercy in the heart of God. O God knew all about them, and God knows all that transpires in your heart tonight.
And we could turn to the 139th Psalm for a few verses, just just to show that God knows every movement of your heart.
There's nothing hidden from him.
The Lord, thou hast searched me and known me. Thou knowest my down sitting in mine uprising.
Thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down. Thou art acquainted with all my way.
For there is not a word in my tongue, but lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.
Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.
O knowledge too wonderful for me, it is high, I cannot attain unto it.
Whether shall I go from my spirit or whether shall I flee from my presence? You know there is no hiding from God. There is no place to hide. And you know God knows everything about us.
And when I came to Christ as a youngster, I didn't know 110th of what was in my heart. I didn't know that my heart was at enmity with God. And as I grew up, I found I discovered things in my heart that I were made me aghast.
But you know, God knew all about it, and God speaks about the forgiveness of sins.
Forgiveness of sins according to his knowledge of myself all. Thank God that every fresh discovery that I find in me is covered by the work of Christ.
All the precious blood of Christ is enough to bring me nigh to God.
Enough to cleanse my sins. Thank God for that.
An infinite load of sins can be taken away by the blood of Christ. I'd like to say this to you tonight. You know there's two things that you can't do.
You can't create an app.
You can't create a gnat and you can't create anything, and it's not in your hands.
And there's another thing that you cannot do. You cannot put away one's sin.
Not one sin can you put away.
But oh, thank God.
There is a way, thank God, there is a way, and that way is provided from God's own hand.
Without any of your help. Thank God for that.
We read further here.
If I say, surely the darkness shall cover me, even the night shall be light about me. Yeah, the darkness hideth not from thee.
But the night shineth as a day. The darkness and the light are both alike to thee. For thou hast possessed my reins. Thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.
I will praise Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well.
Ah, you know, the soul that's renewed, the soul that has turned to Christ.
He discovers that there is an affection for the Lord Jesus Christ.
And that affection is every case that we love because He first loved us. He first loved us. We don't get God to love us because we love Him. No, He first loved us. And then we read on here.
Verse 17. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God.
How great is the sum of them?
00:20:02
The poet could say, O blessed God, how kind are all thy ways to me, whose dark, benighted mind?
Was enmity with thee yet now subdued by sovereign grace? My spirit longs for thine embrace.
Preserved by Jesus when my feet made haste to hell and there should I have gone.
But thou dost all things well are my friend.
It wasn't you who gave the Lord Jesus Christ, we read, for God so loved the world.
That he gave his only begotten Son.
That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Oh, God is the source of all our blessing. There is none to be found in ourselves, nothing but ruin and sin.
But God. But God, thank God.
Like to have you turn with me to Matthew Chapter 11.
Or before we do.
Let's turn to Matthew 11.
Oh, Matthew 15. I'm sorry, Matthew 15.
Then Jesus went thence.
And departed into the coast of Tyre and Sidon.
And behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coast.
And cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me.
O Lord, thou son of David.
My daughter is grievously vexed with the devil.
But he answered her not a word.
And his disciples came and besought him, saying.
Sandra Way for she crieth after us.
You know, I remember when I was a boy in Sunday school and my teacher took this up. I had a good Sunday school teacher.
And he took this up with me and I thought to myself.
Here's somebody that came to the Lord Jesus.
And he rebuffed her.
Oh, you know, that's awful.
Here I had been taught that the Lord Jesus welcomes children to himself.
I thought to myself.
How is it that he rebuffed her? Maybe he would rebuff me.
You know that went hard with me.
Martin Luther came across his scripture.
And he said, my it's strange that if Peter would have said these words to me.
I'd have been very discouraged.
But.
If the Lord had just said these words to me, he says, I think maybe I would have run away and never come back. But you know this woman, she had a need, she had a need, and you have a need tonight and you're shut up to only one Savior. Neither is there any other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.
This woman, you know, she found out that she didn't have any title, that the Lord Jesus didn't make any covenant with her.
He did with Israel.
If they kept the law, they would have been blessed by keeping the law.
If they'd have stuck with the Lord, he'd have taken care of them. But he didn't do that with all the nations. The other nations had no gospel, as it were preached to them yet.
Sure, Gentiles came into blessing.
But the word hadn't gone out yet to all the world through the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ to have blessing. But this woman persisted. She had no other Ave. And then she said, Well, he's the Lord, He can do it, nobody else can do it. But he answered, and not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away, for she crieth after us.
00:25:24
You know you can go to the preacher, but you know he has only enough Christ for himself.
Each soul has enough Christ for himself.
Have you got Christ for yourself? He's the source. The preacher. Isn't the source. A blessing?
It's the Lord Jesus Christ himself with whom you have to do.
But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep.
Of the House of Israel, you know when the Lord Jesus came.
Into this scene, said in John's gospel, he came unto his own.
His own people and his own received him not.
Ah, think of it, He came to bring blessing to that nation.
He came to show the heart of God to that nation, and they refused him.
They said we'll stand on our own ground, we have the law, we'll keep the law and we'll get into heaven that way.
He saw their wounds. They turned him out right in John's gospel in the beginning.
In Matthew's Gospel, they turned the Lord Jesus out.
You know, as ministry changes, his ministry had new words in it. It had woe.
O unto you, O unto you, O unto you, you know the portions that I mean. But he also had a new word. He said, Come unto me, all ye that labour.
And are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Ah, the Lord Jesus has not rest to sell.
Now in Isaiah we read prophetically of him, he could say.
O everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money, come ye by wine and milk, without money and without price. Why? Because God has made a provider. He's the one who's provided it at an infinite expense to Himself. Because Isaiah 53 tells us that he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.
And the punishment of our peace was upon him.
Oh, the Lord Jesus is as worse, standing still. Standing still for another Sinner to lay hold on him.
But he says these words.
It is not meat to take the children's bread and cast it to dogs.
Well, what did she do? She laid hold on his words. She laid hold on those words. What were the words?
It's not meat to take children's bread and cast it to dogs. But she says yes, I'm a dog, I'm a little dog, and even the little dog get something for them. The Lord couldn't say no.
And so I dare say tonight there may be a soul wondering if I'm in a condition to be able to be saved. Oh, God has got some crumbs for you. He's got some crumbs for you. And I'd like to look at a few of those crumbs tonight.
Romans, chapter 3.
Verse nine. What then? Are we better than they?
No and no wise, for we have before approved both Jews and Gentiles.
That they are all under sin. As it is written. There is none righteous. No, not one.
There is none that understandeth.
There is none that seeketh after God.
They are all gone out of the way. They are together, become unprofitable.
00:30:00
There is none that doeth good. No, not one.
Verse 21.
But now.
Our first twenty. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight, For by the laws the knowledge of sin.
Now we come to a place where the scene changes.
But now the righteousness of God without the Law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets.
Even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all.
And upon all them that believe, for there is no difference.
For all has sinned and come short of the glory of God.
Being justified without a cause in US freely means without a cause in US.
Oh, thank God. Oftentimes we might think in our hearts, oh, there's got to be a cause in US, we think, but must not I repent more? My friend, you're lost, lost, undone. How can you? And your heart is at enmity with God. Are you going to change your heart?
Ah, look to the Lord to change your heart. Look to the Lord to give you a new heart.
But don't try to mend your heart before God. It's impossible. You know there was a man in the Old Testament by the name of Job, and you know he was a man who was righteous. God said he was.
God said he was, but you know he had in his heart that seed of thinking all my righteousness I can stand before God, God will acknowledge me. But you know God is a pure eyes and a behold sin and God saw that Job was standing a little bit on what he was to God but to say and God says move us thou me against him without a cause.
You know.
As far as Satan was concerned it was without a cause. But in the 9th chapter he says you're against me without a cause. Oh God wants to see that every soul stands before him.
On the ground of what God is to him, and not on the ground of anything that he can bring to God.
How much we think that we must have something to bring to God. Somebody has said, have I repented enough? And the question was asked, which repentance have you tried?
Ah, the repentance of the law is to say, oh, I acknowledge this sin.
I acknowledge that sin, but the repentance of grace says it is all over with me.
It's all over with me.
God is everything to me then. Ah, my friend, think of it here we find being justified without a cause in US through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Whom God has set forth a mercy seat. Ah, whom God has set forth a mercy seat. He did it of His own voluntary will. He allowed man to do his very worst to the Lord Jesus.
And the crowning insult at the end of his life here below, when he was hanging on a cross.
Was that man took a spear and pierced his side as an insult and forthwith came there out blood and water. Oh thank God, in the face of my enmity toward God, he's given the Lord Jesus Christ to be my Savior and he poured out his precious blood, that blood that cleanses me from all my sins.
No other standing have I got no other plea except that precious blood that was poured out and it's available for you tonight. Here we have it that God has set forth the Lord Jesus Christ a mercy seat. Let's look at another verse.
First Corinthians, chapter 5.
00:35:00
S.
And verse 7.
Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed. Now leave off the end of it there for us. That's not in the text.
Christ, our Passover is sacrificed now. There was a preacher in.
Wales, he said at the end of his days, he said, I've always tried to be careful to put the blood in the basin. What does that mean? Oh, it means that the work of Christ is available. It's available for you tonight. That finished work of the Lord Jesus is available. Christ our Passover is sacrifice.
Let's look at another verse, Hebrews chapter one.
God, who has sundry times, and in diverse manner spake in time past unto the Fathers by the Prophets, hath in these last days.
Spoken unto us in Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds, who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His Person, and upholding all things by the word of His power.
When he had by himself.
Made purgation for sin.
I believe that's the sense of it.
He had by himself made purgation for sins.
Who sins?
The sins of those that avail themselves of it.
Odds by faith. Faith lays hold of that which God sets forth.
He made purgation for sins. Let's look at another verse, Hebrews chapter 8.
Or 9.
Neither in verse 12, neither by the blood of goats and calves.
But by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption.
We don't have the application of it here, but we have that work that was done. How are we to avail ourselves of it all? What is our title? Let's look at a verse in Acts 1043.
Or 42 Pardon me, 42 And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God.
To be the judge of the quick and the dead to him. Give all the prophets witness that through his name, whosoever believeth in him shall receive the remission of sins. Oh, what terms those are.
Whosoever. I think whosoever is a pretty wide gate.
But it's also a very narrow gate because it's just whosoever. It's not whosoever prayeth enough, it's not whosoever.
Weepeth enough, it's not whosoever.
Whatever.
But whosoever believeth in him, what does it mean to believe in him? You know there was a preacher Patton in New Hebrides one time. He.
00:40:00
Was translating the scriptures and he came to a word that.
He couldn't translate, was the word believe.
And as he was trying to translate this word, he had learned the language pretty well, and he and a friend, a native, went hunting and.
They had shot a fallow deer and they were bringing it back and it was very hot.
And they, they came to a little Meadow and, and they both laid down. And the natives says, my, it's good to stretch out here. So to translate John 316.
He said, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.
That whosoever stretches himself out on him should not perish, but have everlasting life are my friend, we sang at the beginning of our meeting. That lovely.
Sing about an anchor. Let's look at another scripture, Hebrews chapter.
Six. And with that, I close.
Verse 17 and 18, wherein God willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath.
That by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hopes set before us, which hope we have as an anchor.
Of the soul, both shore and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil.
You know those Gibeonites? They had the word pronounced that they were not to be slain.
But here we have a word pronounced, and we have a great consolation who have fled for refuge. If God would have broken his word with those, we might have reason to think that he'd break his word with us. But he didn't allow that that word be broken. And when Saul sought to take vengeance on them.
He and seven of his sons were slain. Do you know?
The blood was sprinkled once on the mercy seat and seven times before the mercy seat. And in Hebrews 9 and 10 you have the seven sprinklings of the blood of Christ. Oh, you say, where are they?
Once, once, once, one time, seven times. In those two chapters we have the blood of sprinkling blood sprinkled to show that God is faithful.
To His Word. All I can rest on tonight is that word of God. I cannot rest on anything that passes in my heart.
No, only on what God has set forth, what Christ has done in His Word.
That he is faithful to his word. Thank God shall we pray? Our God and our Father, we look to thee. We own before thee that.
But we are in ourselves is nothing.
But poor, guilty, ruined, lost, helpless, rebels against thee, and yet thou hast loved us, Thou hast loved us.
So much without his give the darling of thy bosom, so that thou couldst free us.
Thou couldst bring us to thyself. And so we sing sometimes the blood.
That purged our sins has brought us nigh. We bless thee.
And thank thee in Jesus name. We ask thy blessing upon thy word to each one of our hearts, in Jesus name, Amen.