Let's open our Bibles to Psalm
111, Psalm 111. We'll begin reading in verse
one. Praise ye the Lord. I will praise the Lord with my
whole heart in the assembly of the upright and in the congregation. The works of the Lord are great,
sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. His work is
honorable and glorious, and His righteousness endureth forever.
He hath made His wonderful works to be remembered. The Lord is
gracious and full of compassion. He hath given meat unto them
that fear Him. He will ever be mindful of His
covenant. He has showed his people the
power of his works that he may give them the heritage of the
heathen. The works of his hands are verity
and judgment. All his commandments are sure.
They stand fast forever and ever and are done in truth and uprightness. He sent redemption unto his people.
He hath commanded his covenant forever. Holy and reverend is
his name. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. A good understanding have all
they that do. And I have to point this out. His commandments is in italics
and certainly every child of God desires to obey the Lord
and to honor him with all their lives. But I believe the meaning
of this verse, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
A good understanding have all they that do fear him, that do
fear him. That's the beginning of walking
by faith and wisdom and obedience. It's all about reverencing the
Lord. And so all they that do fear,
his praise endureth forever. Let's pray. Our merciful Heavenly Father, a proper fear of Thee must come
as a work of grace from You to our hearts. Lord, our fear is so sinful. Our fear is is so selfish. Lord, we pray that your Holy
Spirit would work in our hearts to give us a godly fear, a reverence,
cause us to bow and to praise and to worship and Lord, to do
the things that you've revealed in your word. Lord, we need your Holy Spirit
to that end. We need to have our affections
set on the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that you would enable
us now to worship thee in this hour. We ask it in Christ's name,
amen. number 44 in the Spiral Handbook,
number 44. Precious Savior, friend of sinners,
we as such to Thee draw near. Let Thy Spirit dwell within us
with that love that casts out fear. ? Matchless Savior, let
us know Thee ? ? As the Lord, our righteousness ? ? Cause our
hearts to cleave unto Thee ? ? Come and with Thy presence bless ?
? Open now Thy precious treasure ? ? Let Thy word here freely
flow ? Give to us a gracious measure. Tis thyself we long
to know. Come and claim us as thy portion. Let us all find rest in thee. Leave us not to empty notions. We would find our hope in thee. Please be seated. There's one verse in John chapter
11 that I'd like for us to look at tonight. It's verse 22 of
John chapter 11. It's been a great encouragement to
me to be walking through this experience with our Lord and
the disciples and Martha and Mary. And now our Lord has come
to Bethany and Mary has met him. She ran out to meet him. I'm
sorry, Martha. Mary sat still in the home until
he called her. But Martha ran out to meet him.
And she says in verse 21, and Mary says the same thing in a
few more verses, Lord, if thou had been here, my brother would
not have died. No one ever died in the presence
of our Lord. And she knew that. At verse 22, she said, but I
know that even now whatsoever thou will ask of God, God will
give it to thee. There's four phrases in that
one verse. I know, even now, whatsoever you ask
of God, he'll give it to you. What an encouragement to those
who see their need for an intercessor, one that can approach
God and plead our cause and our case to him. And that's what
we have in the Lord Jesus. Hebrews chapter four reminds
us that he is our high priest. A priest is an intercessor. A
priest is the one who takes offerings and makes them on behalf of the
people. And the Lord Jesus is our high
priest. And then Hebrews chapter four
concludes with, since we have such a high priest, let us come
boldly to the throne of grace to find help and mercy in our
time of need. Senators are needy. We need to
be able to approach God. Men invoke the names of dead
saints and of Mary, the mother of Jesus in an attempt to approach
God. Men present in ceremony and in
religious activity offerings, things that they think will successfully
enable them to approach God. We know that the only way that
we can have acceptance before God Almighty is in Christ, in
the Beloved. And that's what Martha is expressing
here. I know, even now, even now, she
has such confidence and such hope. that even in spite of the
circumstances as they are, her brother had just died, that whatsoever
you ask of God, he will give it to you. That's a great encouragement
to me. We do pray, but we don't really
ever know exactly What to pray for? Perfectly, at least. Turn with me to Romans chapter
eight. Romans chapter eight. Look at verse 26. Likewise, the
Spirit also helpeth our infirmities, and we know not what we should
pray for as we ought. That's what I just said. The
Lord said it. We don't know what's best for
us always. But the Spirit itself maketh
intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. We go
before the throne of grace to find help in our time of need.
And we soon come to the end of ourselves in knowing what to
say. And we find ourselves just groaning
before God, trusting that what Mary, what Martha knew, I know
that even now whatsoever thou ask God, he will give it to thee. And 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. When we go before the throne
of grace, the Holy Spirit knows the will of God, the Lord Jesus
knows the will of God, and What comfort that we, even when we
pray amiss, we always take comfort in knowing that even now, whatsoever
you ask, He will do. Turn back with me to John chapter
11 and look with me at verse 41 of this same chapter. After our Lord goes to the cemetery
in verse 41, and they took away the stone from the place where
the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes
and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest
me always, always. Whatever you ask of God, he'll
do it. And the Lord Jesus is affirming
that. Father, I know that you always
hear me. But because of the people which
stand by, I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent
me. So our Lord prays this prayer audibly. not in order to get
the attention of his heavenly Father. He said, Father, I know
that you always hear me, but I prayed it so that they would
know that everything that I ask of thee, you give it. That they
might believe. Believe what? Believe on me.
Believe on Christ. Turn with me just a chapter over
to chapter 12 and look at verse 28. Again, our Lord says, Father,
glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from
heaven saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.
The people, therefore, that stood by and heard it said that it
thundered, and others said an angel spake to him. And Jesus
answered and said, this voice came not because of me, but for
your sakes." The voice that came from heaven was not to confirm
to the Lord Jesus. His fellowship with the Father
has always been perfect. That was broken. when God made him to be sin for
us. And that's why he cried on the
cross, my God, my God, whyst thou forsaken me? And that I
believe was the cup that he dreaded to drink from more than anything
else. It wasn't the physical pain of crucifixion. It was a
separation that he would experience from his father. It had never
been so for all eternity, for all eternity. And so here our
Lord twice in chapter 11, chapter 12 tells us, I prayed this so
that you would know. And you heard the voice from
heaven, not because I needed it, but so that you would know.
We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous
one. We have a high priest. We have
one who intercedes on our behalf. And we can say with Martha, I
know that even now, whatsoever he asks of the Father, it'll
be given to him. Even if I don't know what to
ask for, he always knows what to ask for. What comfort and
what confidence we have. uses the phrase, knowledge is
power. And yet for them, though they
might increase in power as they increase
in knowledge in worldly things, the Bible says that when man's
knowledge increases, he becomes more of a fool in his heart toward
God. We're not looking for the kind
of knowledge that gives us an advantage over another man. We're
looking for that knowledge which gives us confidence, a knowledge that's been given
to us by God. And that's what Martha's saying.
I know, I know this for sure. What great comfort we have in
being able to say with the Apostle Paul, I know, whom I have believed,
and I'm persuaded. I'm persuaded that he is able
to keep that which I've committed unto him. You see, the world's
knowledge might give them power with men. Our knowledge gives
us power with God. It gives us access into the very
presence of our holy God. But that knowledge can only come
by him. Martha had been taught of the
Lord, and she believed what he said. Our Lord tells us in John chapter
17, this is life eternal that they might know thee the only
true God and Jesus Christ whom thou has sent. I know there's some things brethren
that we know. And what we know gives us great
hope and great comfort. and great confidence and courage,
if you will, to be able to come into the presence of a holy God
and plead our cause before Him. And here's what we know, that
even now, whatsoever He asks, the Father will do. And so we
go before the throne of grace and we pray what we know to pray. and the Spirit of God makes groanings
for us that we can't know, because the Spirit knows the mind of
God, knows the will of God, and we are able to leave. We are
able to step down from that throne of grace with hope and with assurance
that whatever He asks, whatever He asks, God will do it. And that's what we want. We want
what the Lord Jesus wanted in the Garden of Gethsemane. Father,
if there be any way this cup can pass from me, let it be nevertheless
not my will, but your will be done. So we pray for what we think
is best, but we're always able to rest in knowing that whatever
he asks of the Father, The Father will do it, everything. We've been taught by God that
the Lord Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. And
we can say with the apostles, when the Lord said to them, will
you lead me also? We can say with them, to whom
shall we go? We know. We're sure that thou
art the Christ, the son of the, you've got the words of eternal
life. We've got no place else to go. And that's a good thing. We're, we're, we're, we're good
with that. We're all. When the Lord, when the Lord
teaches us like he taught Martha, I know. He teaches us something
about himself, we also are taught about ourselves. And Paul said,
I know, I know this about myself, that in me, that is in my flesh
dwelleth no good thing. And what a comfort it is because
only when we come before God with no righteousness of our
own, Can we trust in and rejoice in the righteousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ? Turn with me to 1 Corinthians
12. 1 Corinthians 12. I'm sorry. Chapter 13, 1 Corinthians chapter
13. Verse 12, for now we see through
glass darkly, but then, face to face. Now I know in part,
but then shall I know even as also I am known." What we know is but a very small
part of what we will know when we see him as he is. But that
doesn't mean that what we know is not is not true. It doesn't mean that we can't
be confident with what we know. We don't have to know anything
about algebra or trigonometry to know how to add numbers. We
know 2 plus 2 equals 4, we're sure of that. And so, what the
Lord has shown us is that He is a faithful advocate, that
he is our intercessor, and that he is in such perfect fellowship with
the Father that whatever he asks, the Father will give it to him.
And so we're able to come before God in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Solomon put it like this in Ecclesiastes
when he spoke of that which he knew. He said, I know, I know
that whatsoever God doeth shall be forever. Nothing can be to
it and nothing can be taken from it. For God doeth it that men
might fear before him. It's another thing we know Romans
chapter eight for we know, we know that all things work together
for good. A lot of things are hard but
everything in the hand of God is good. Later the Apostle Paul said,
we know that if our earthly tabernacle be dissolved, talking about the
death of this body, we have a building in heaven, eternal. We know. Why? Because God's taught us. We don't
face death with an uncertainty. We face it with an assurity. We face it with hope. We face
it with confidence. Because we know. David put it like this, he said,
I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted. We know that we have a God who
always maintains our cause. And this is what Martha was saying,
Lord, if you'd have been here, my brother wouldn't have died.
But I know that even now, whatever you ask of God, he'll give it
to you. Even now. Was Martha hopeful that the Lord
would raise her brother from the dead? I don't know what she
was thinking. Her circumstances were very dark
and very difficult. And yet she said, I know that
even now. even in the midst of very difficult
circumstances. What is the Lord telling us?
That circumstances don't limit him, even now. When the Lord told Sarah that
she was going to bring forth a child, she was 90 years old
and she laughed. And the Lord said, is anything
too hard for the Lord? Oh, let us remember when we pray
for our loved ones, that even now. Paul tells us in 2nd Timothy
that pray for kings and for those that are in authority. For God wills all kinds of men
to be saved. The Lord's not limited in what
he does. There's no limits to his power
even now. When everything seems so opposite
to what I would hope they would be. Lord, I know that even now. Turn with me to Philippians chapter
four. Philippians chapter four. Faith doesn't limit God, only
unbelief limits God. Philippians chapter 4 beginning
at verse 11. Not that I speak in respect of
want for I have learned in whatever state I am in therewith to be
content. Now this entire chapter Paul's
talking about being content. For I know both how to be abased,
and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things
I am instructed, both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound
and to suffer need. And then he says, I can do all
things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Now we've heard people take
that one verse out of context and name it and claim it. and insist that they're able
to, you know, to win some sporting event or to achieve some height
in business or whatever. I can do all things through Christ
who strengthens me. What Paul's talking about there
is I can be content whether I'm abased or whether I'm abounding
because it's Christ that strengthens me. It's not my current circumstances
that determine whether or not I'm content. Now, what does that
have to do with what Martha's saying? I know that even now,
even now, even in the midst of circumstances that are unknown
to me and very difficult, I know that whatever you ask, he's gonna
give it to you. And I'm content with that. I
can rest there. Go back up just a few verses
in Philippians chapter four and look with me at verse seven.
Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, again, I say rejoice. Always? Lord, how can I rejoice
always? Lord, my brother just died. Lord,
I'm suffering in this world. Trials and tribulations, disease
and death and divorce and all the sorts of things that men
go through and believers go through. And the Lord says, rejoice and
let your moderation be known unto all men for the Lord is
at hand. Don't react to your circumstances
with extreme emotions. How do we do that? Be careful
for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving, let your requests be known unto God. The Lord's not saying, don't
worry, be happy. He's saying, don't worry, pray.
and offer up your supplications before the Lord. And the peace of God, which passeth
all understanding. Now for years and years, I thought
that verse meant that the peace of God was more than that could
be understood. The peace of God was beyond being
understood. But then I looked up that word,
passeth, and that's not what it means. It means better than. And what the Lord's telling us
is to rejoice. It was telling us what Martha said. I know that
even now, even in the midst of very difficult circumstances,
that whatever you ask of God, he'll give it to you and I can
rest there. And I'm not to worry. And we worry because we want
understanding, don't we? We want to know what's going
to happen. We want to know how this thing's going to work out.
We want to know what the future holds. And so we fret. And oftentimes,
we worry about things that never happen. But what is the Lord
saying here? Rejoice in the Lord always. And
again, I say rejoice. Let your moderation be known
unto all men, for the Lord is at hand. Be not anxious for anything. Don't fret, but in all things
by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests
be known unto God. And the peace of God, which is
better than understanding, will keep your heart and your mind
in Christ Jesus. Martha was finding great hope
and comfort that the Lord Jesus was there. And she was saying
to him, I know that even now In the midst of this great trial,
whatever you ask, the Father will give it unto you. Brethren, this is especially
comforting when we consider the hour of our death. If we could lie on our deathbed
and be able to say in prayer, I know, that even now, even in the greatest trial of
my life, that whatever you ask of the
Father, He'll give it to you. I can remember years ago, back
in freewill works religion, trying to get people to accept Jesus
by asking them this question. If you died and stood before
God and he asked you, why should I let you into my heaven? What
would you say? I don't worry about God asking
me that question. I don't worry about having to
respond to that question anymore. Because I know what Stephen knew
in Acts chapter 7 when they were stoning him. and as violent as
his death was, the scripture says, he fell asleep. But before
he died, before he died, he looked up into heaven and he saw the
Son of Man standing. Now, who stands in a court of
law? Your advocate stands. Your lawyer
stands. You stand before a judge guilty
of a crime and your advocate pleads your case for you. And
that's exactly what Stephen saw. When he looked up into heaven,
he saw the Lord Jesus standing and pleading his case before
the father. And he could say with Martha,
I know that even now whatsoever you ask of the father, he'll
give it to you. And what's the son gonna ask
his father for? For his children, those for whom
he died, so that we have the peace of God, which is better
than understanding. Why? Because we know that even
now, whatever he asks, the father will give it to him. When our Lord Jesus went to the
Garden of Gethsemane, and I've already quoted this passage,
he said, Father, if there be any way, there was no other way. The Lord Jesus knew that. He's expressing that prayer for
our benefit, isn't he? To show us that the only way
that sin could be put away, the only way that righteousness could
be established The only adequate covering for our sin was His
shed blood. Nevertheless, Father, if there
was any way, this cup, the cup of sin that He would drink from,
nevertheless, not my will, but Thy will be done. And the will
of God was done because the Son asked the Father. Even now, whatever
you ask, He'll give it to you. And then when he was on Calvary's
cross, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. And
I know that even now, whatever he asks of the Father, the Father
give it to him. Oh, we can cry for God to forgive
us of our sin and men all over try to plead their case before
God based on their faith and based on their repentance and
based on their works and their will. We plead our case based
on the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ and we
can say with Martha, I know that even now whatsoever he ask of
the Father, the Father give it to him. And there's my hope. My hope is that he has asked
of the Father. A covenant had been made between
the Father and the Son. It went all the way back to eternity
past, and there was no way for that covenant to be fulfilled
without the shed blood of the Lord Jesus. When he was on the cross, he
prayed, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Again, the
Lord knew why he'd been forsaken. He knew that when God made him
sin, that God's eyes were too pure to look upon sin. And the
only thing the father could do When the Lord Jesus bore our
sins in his body upon the tree, was to pour out the full wrath
of his justice on him, he knew that. What's the Lord doing? He's pointing us to Psalm 22.
In Psalm 22, the Lord, David cries out. Let's turn there for
just a moment. Psalm 22. Verse one, my God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping
me and from the words of my roaring? Oh my God, I cry in the daytime,
but thou hears me not. And in the night season, I'm
not silent, but thou art holy. Oh thou that inhabit us, the
praises of Israel, our fathers trusted in thee, they trusted
and thou did deliver them. They cried unto thee, and were
delivered, they trusted in thee and were not confounded. I am
a worm and no man, a reproach of men, despise of the people."
And the rest of that Psalm describes what the Lord Jesus became on
Calvary's cross. But his last prayer was, yes, a declaration to us,
but it was also a prayer to his father. It is finished. The work that you sent me to
accomplish, I finished it. And he confidently declared that
to his father. And you cannot separate, it is
finished with father into thy hands, I commend my spirit. I
finished the work you sent me to do. And I'm confident. I'm confident that you're not
going to allow your Holy One to see corruption. You're gonna reward my faithfulness
by raising me from the dead. And I will be the firstborn among
many brethren. And all those for whom I bore
their sins, they will be raised from the dead as well. What did the Lord Jesus pray
for us? Turn with me to John 17 in closing. John chapter 17. And remember our verse now, brethren,
remember our verse. I know, I know that even now,
Even when I can't figure it out, even when I don't know, even
when my prayers are fraught with unbelief, that even now, whatsoever
you ask of the Father, He will give it to you. I'm confident
of that. These words spake Jesus and lifted
up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come, glorify
thy son that thy son may also glorify thee. As thou has given
him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to
as many as thou has given him. And this is life eternal. that they might know thee the
only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. I have glorified
thee on the earth. I have finished the work which
thou gavest me to do. It is finished. The Lord's expressing that to
his father. And whatever he asked his father
to do, the father did it. The father acknowledged that
it was finished, that there was nothing else to be done to put
the sins of his people away, to reconcile us to God, to establish
justice and righteousness before God. Nothing else had to be done. It is finished. Here's what our
Lord's praying. And faith says to us, whatever
he asked the father, the father would do, even now. And now, O Father, glorify Thou
me with Thine own self, with the glory which I had with Thee
before the world was. Receive me back up into glory.
Set me back on my throne, seated at the right hand of the Majesty
on high. I have manifested Thy name unto
the men which Thou gavest me out of the world, Thine they
were, thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy word. Now
they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me
are of thee. I know that not only whatsoever
you ask of the Father, but I know that everything you do and everything
you say was given to you by the Father. For I have given unto them the
words which thou gavest me, and they have received them, and
have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have
believed that thou didst sent me. I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but
for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine, and all
mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I am glorified in them,
and now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, And
I come to thee, Holy Father, keep through thine own name those
whom thou has given me that they may be one as we are one. And I know that even now, whatever you ask of the Father,
he'll give it to you. While I was with them in the
world, I kept them in thy name. These that thou hast given me,
I have kept, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition
that the scriptures might be fulfilled. And now come I to
thee, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have
my joy fulfilled in them. I have given them thy word, and
the world hath hated them because they are not of the world, even
as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou should take
them out of the world, but that thou should keep them from the
evil. They are not of the world, even
as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth. As thou has
sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into
the world. And for their sakes, I sanctify
myself that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone,
but for them also which shall believe on me through their word,
that they all may be one as thou, Father, art in me and I in thee,
that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe
that thou hast sent me. and the glory which thou gavest
me I have given them, that they may be one even as we are one,
I in them and thou in me, that they may be perfect in one and
that the world may know that thou has sent me and has loved
them as thou has loved me. Father, I will, that they also
whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may
behold my glory which thou hast given me, for thou lovest me
before the foundation of the world. Oh, righteous Father,
the world hath not known thee, but I have known thee, and these
have known that thou hast sent me, and I have declared unto
them thy name and will declare it, that the love wherewith thou
hast loved me may be in them, and I in them. And I know that even now, whatsoever
you ask of the Father, he'll do it for you. Our heavenly Father, Might this be our confession
with our dear sister Martha, in wherever we find ourselves,
from here to our dying hour, to be able to say, I know, even
now, that whatsoever you ask of the Father, he will give it
unto thee. Amen. Number 12 in the Spiral
Hymnal, let's stand together.