and worship him. We have come into this place
to call upon his name and worship Christ the Lord. Worship Him, Jesus Christ, the
Lord. So forget about yourself, magnify
His name and worship Him. So forget about yourself, magnify
His name, and worship Him. So forget about yourself, magnify
His name, and worship Christ the Lord. Worship Him, Jesus Christ the
Lord. We are debtors to His grace,
the law's been satisfied, now worship Him. We are debtors to His grace,
the law's been satisfied, now worship Him. We are debtors to His grace,
the law's been satisfied, now worship Christ the Lord. worship Him, Jesus Christ our
Lord. Number four. We are chosen in
His grace, redeemed by His blood, now worship Him, We are chosen
in His grace, redeemed by His blood, now worship Him. We are chosen in His grace, redeemed
by His blood, now worship Christ the Lord. Worship Him, Jesus Christ the
Lord. He is all our righteousness. I stand in Him complete. Now worship Him. He is all our righteousness,
I stand in Him complete, now worship Him. He is all our righteousness,
I stand in Him complete, now worship Christ the Lord. Worship Him, Jesus Christ the
Lord. Good morning. Would you turn
with me in your Bibles please to Isaiah chapter 40. Isaiah
chapter 40. We opened this meeting Friday
night by reading from Deuteronomy chapter
31, asking the Lord to give us ears to hear, to teach us the
gospel, and to put the fear of God in our hearts. And I'm so
very thankful that He has done that. I'll tell you what, Yesterday
morning, I was ready to go home. It's just glorious. And I'm so
very hopeful that He'll be pleased once again to meet with us and
make Himself known to our hearts. In Isaiah chapter 40, beginning
in verse 9, O Zion, the Lord speaking to His church, that
bringeth good tidings. The gospel is good news. It's
good news to know that God, according to his own will and purpose,
chose a people before time ever began. It's good news to know
that the Lord Jesus Christ satisfied all the demands of God's law.
He fulfilled it. He satisfied justice. He did
everything necessary for the accomplishment of the salvation
of His people. And He saved them. He finished
the work. That's good news. It's good news
to know that the ministry of the Holy Spirit is irresistible.
And we take great comfort in knowing that in preaching the
gospel, the Spirit of God will make it effectual to the hearts
of His people. And they won't be able to resist
it. He'll make them willing in the
day of His power. That's good news for me. It's
good news to know that the Spirit of God keeps His people from
falling. and presents them faultless before
God's throne with great joy. Salvation's of the Lord. He's
the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first
and the last. He's done it all and he gets all the glory. That's
good news. It's out of my hands. Oh, Zion that bringeth good tidings,
get thee up to the high mountain. Oh, Jerusalem that bringeth good
tidings, lift up thy voice with strength. Lift it up. Be not
afraid. Be not afraid. It's not good
news to everybody. Most folks, matter of fact, hate
it. And the Lord's saying to us,
don't be afraid of them. This is not for them. It's for
Zion. It's for Jerusalem. Say unto
Judah, behold your God. Behold, the Lord will come. You
see those next words are in italics. The literal translation is against
the strong. Against the strong. The Lord
will come against the strong. What's strong in your life? Is
sin strong? Need somebody to conquer it for
you? Your flesh strong? Satan strong? That's what the
Lord came to do. How about the law? Been able to keep any of it?
Pretty strong, isn't it? He's satisfied. What about death? The grave? That's strong. It's
coming. He's conquered it. He came against
the strong. And his arm shall rule for him. Behold, his reward is with him. I am thine exceeding great reward. He is his own reward. And His
work goes before Him. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
only one that could obligate God to receive Him based on the
faithfulness of His work. His work went before Him. God
saw His work and was pleased. He shall feed His flock like
a shepherd, and that's our hope this morning. Lord, feed us.
Feed us with the bread of life. Let us drink from the river of
living water. He shall feed his flock like
a shepherd. He shall gather the lambs, the
weak, the babes, the ones who are unable to care for themselves.
Is that you? He shall gather them into his
arms. He doesn't intimidate his children.
He doesn't beat his sheep. He woos them to himself. draws
them with cords of love and kindness. He shall gather the lambs with
his arms and carry them in his bosom and shall gently lead those
who were with young. He's the meek and the mild savior
to his children. Oh, let's pray together. Our heavenly
father, we thank you for the revelation that you've
given us of thy dear son, your right arm. We thank you for the
accomplishment of his work, coming against the strong, defeating
all our enemies, satisfying your law, fulfilling all justice. Oh Lord, we We thank you that
you've enabled us to hear of him this weekend, and we pray
once again this morning that you would give Chris and Todd
clarity and liberty and freedom to preach Christ. And I, if I
be lifted up, will draw men to myself. Lord, draw us to Thyself. Save us. Forgive us for our sin. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen. God the Father and the Son and
the Spirit, three in one. In eternal ages past, made a
covenant sure and fast. God my Father chose His own in
the person of His Son, and ordained that I should be one with Him
eternally. God the Son agreed to come in
the flesh to bring me home. He would keep God's holy law. and retrieve me from the fall. Christ, in love so willingly,
stood as my great surety. For my price He offered blood
to appease the wrath of God. God the Spirit, heavenly dove,
promised to come down in love, bringing life and peace and grace
to the chosen, purchased race. He seeks the lost, heals the
lame, and He brings us to Lamb, by His mighty sovereign call,
God's elect are gathered all. This poor sinner is secure, for
God's covenant will endure. It is sealed by God's own word,
by His Spirit and His blood. Blessed Holy Covenant God, I
am yours by ties of blood, ties of grace and ties of love. Hold me to my God above. Please be seated. We're going to continue in our
song worship this morning with the hymn that's on the back of
your bulletin, the ivory-covered bulletin. find that copy, we'll
sing that hymn seated. Eternal, faithful, gracious Lord,
we bow before Thy throne. Come as we gather in Thy name
and make Thy glories known. O send Thy Spirit from above
to touch these lips of ours, that we would praise and honor
Thee with all our earthly powers. When we shall hear the word proclaimed,
Lord, send it deep within, and fill each heart with love and
grace, and cleanse us from our sin. May all who gather in this
house by faith to Jesus flee. He is the Lord, our righteousness,
who made our peace with thee. Oh give us grace to bless thy
name as one to raise our voice to honor and adore our God to
worship and rejoice. This is a hymn I found in a bulletin
in Moose Park's, one of Moose Park's bulletins and it just
touched me so I'm going to sing it. Nothing either great or small,
nothing sinner, no. Jesus did it, did it all, long,
long ago. It is finished, yes, indeed,
finished every jot. Sinner, this is all you need. Tell me, is it not when he from
his lofty throne stooped to do and die? Everything was fully
done, hearkened to his cry. It is finished, yes indeed, finished
every jot. Sinner, this is all you need. Tell me, is it not? Weary, working, burdened one,
wherefore toil you so? Cease your doing, all was done
long, long ago. It is finished, yes, indeed,
finished every jot. Sinner, this is all you need. Tell me, is it not? Only in Christ's work, you see,
can you truly rest. Doing is a deadly thing. Doing ends in death. It is finished, yes, indeed,
finished every jot. Sinner, this is all you need. Tell me, is it not? Cast your deadly doing down,
down at Jesus' feet. Stand in Him, in Him alone, gloriously
complete. It is finished, yes, indeed,
Finished every jot. Sinner, this is all you need,
Tell me, is it not? Finished indeed. Turn with me to Psalm 73 this
morning if you would. Just want to say as you're turning
there what a blessing it's been to be with you. Vicki and I have never been treated
better anywhere or opened welcomed with open arms more graciously than here, and I'm
thankful to the Lord for you. Psalm 73. Truly God is good to
Israel, even to such as are of a clean
heart. But God is good to us. His goodness is not in question. But when it comes to the way
I see things, there's a but. But as for me, my feet were almost
gone, They sure enough would have been gone, wouldn't they?
My steps had well nigh slipped, for I was envious at the foolish. I wanted to be somebody who doesn't
know God. That's about as foolish as it
gets. When I saw the prosperity of the wicked, there are no bands
in their death, but their strength is firm. They're not in trouble
as other men. Neither are they plagued like
other men. Therefore, pride compasses them about as a chain. Violence
covereth them as a garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness.
They have more than heart could wish. Really? They are corrupt and speak wickedly
concerning oppression. They speak loftily. They've set
their mouth against the heavens and their tongue walketh through
the earth. Therefore, his people return hither and waters of a
full cup are wrung out to them. And they say, how does God know?
Is there any knowledge in the most high? Behold, these are
the ungodly who prosper in the world. They increase in riches.
Verily, I have cleansed my heart in vain and washed my hands in
innocency." He's not even talking right, is he? I've washed my
hands in innocency. It's vain. It's vain that my
heart is clean before God. That doesn't mean much. The prosperity
of this world means more than that. No wonder he says later, what
a beast I am. What a beast. For all the day long I've been
plagued and chastened every morning. If I say I will speak, thus behold,
I should offend against the generation of thy children. When I thought
to know this, it was too painful for me until..." There are two
ways to walk through this world. And clearly they are described
and defined in the Word of God. In Romans 8, Paul speaks of walking
after the flesh and walking after the spirit. And these two ways
are described also in 2 Corinthians chapter 5. And I'd have you please
turn there with me and I want to look at it. What a difference. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 1. Now, a key verse in this passage,
verses 1 through 9 in 2 Corinthians 5 is what we're going to look
at. But a key verse is this parenthetical statement in verse 7. For we
walk by faith. Not by sight, there's the two
ways to walk through this world, to experience everything in this
world, two perspectives on everything. All right? Verse one, for we
know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved,
we have a building of God. That kind of applies to what
our psalmist was saying, doesn't it? Things may not go exactly the
way this flesh wants them to go now. We have a building of God, and
house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. We know, we know,
number one, why? Because we want by faith, not
by sight. Because God's given us faith
in his son, we know. All right, verse two, for in
this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed
upon with our house which is from heaven. We desire what we
desire because we walk by faith and not by sight. The desires
of the psalmist were all messed up, weren't they? All right, verse three, if so
that being clothed we shall not be found naked, for we that are
in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened, not for that
we would be unclothed, but clothed upon that mortality
might be swallowed up of life. Now he that hath wrought us for
the self same thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest
of his spirit. Therefore we are always confident
We are confident. Why? We walk by faith, not by sight,
because our confidence is Christ and not ourselves. We walk by
faith. Therefore, we're confident, knowing
that whilst we're at home in the body, we are absent from
the Lord. All of this because we know, we desire, we're confident,
Because we walk by faith in Christ and not by the sight of this
flesh. We are confident, I say, and
willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with
the Lord. Wherefore, we labor all that
we do in this life. Why do we do it? Because we walk by faith in Christ.
Do we do what we do from a perspective of, boy, they're prospering,
why am I not prospering? We labor that whether present
or absent, we may be accepted of Him. Is that our perspective? Is that the way we're walking
through this life? And I say way because faith is not just
acknowledging some facts. away. It's the life of God, the gift
of God that causes us to see and to understand and to lay
hold of and trust Christ as our righteousness, our representative,
our sin offering, everything, our all. Those who know not the Lord Jesus
Christ, who have never been quickened by the Spirit of God, they walk
by sight alone. They have no faith from God.
That's God's gift. You can't work it up. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh. All that they experience is according
to the natural senses, the natural desires, the natural lusts of
the flesh. But they who have been born again
of the Spirit of God don't walk like that. Romans 8.1, there
is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. No condemnation. Christ has taken
our sin and God's wrath against our sin upon himself. And we are guiltless before God. Who is he that condemned? It's
Christ that died. And by the way, those ones, they
don't walk after the flesh, but after the spirit. There's not now no condemnation
to us because we walk after the flesh. There's no condemnation
because we in Him. And we don't walk like we did.
Now here's what we need to understand because it's what we're seeing
in our text and we're all susceptible to it. In fact, we all will experience
this, do experience this probably quite often. surely every day. And it'll help us to know what's
happening and why and what can be done about it. We believers
don't walk after the flesh, but there's still a lot of flesh
in here. We still think according, we
can be at times very much in the flesh, can we not? John was in the Spirit on the
Lord's Day, wasn't he? What about the day before that?
The Apostle Peter was in the Spirit the day he stood up on
his hind legs and said, You crucified the Son of God, the Lord of...
You killed the Prince of Life. Where was he on the day when
he said, I don't know the man? We act in the flesh. We think
according to the flesh still. We are always, to some extent,
hindered and affected by this flesh. Our Lord's warning to
his disciples in the garden of Gethsemane was so clear, was
it not? In Matthew 26, 40, he cometh
to his disciples and findeth them asleep and saith unto Peter,
what, could you not watch with me for one hour? Watch and pray that you enter
not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing,
but the flesh is weak. Watch, because the flesh is weak. Watch now. The Lord is referring
to the fact that the apostle was tired and couldn't stay awake,
but there's more to it than that now here. It's not just about
this body being weak and getting tired and sleepy. He said, pray
that you enter not into temptation. because your flesh is weak, not
just so that you won't fall asleep. Pray that you enter not into
temptation because your flesh is weak, not just the body, but
our fleshly nature is weak in every way. We walk by faith and not by sight,
but we are all too often affected by sight. Did you see verse three? Look at verse three back in our
text in Psalm 73. I was envious at the foolish
when I saw, You see that? Because of what I saw, I was
an absolute idiot. I was like a beast. And you know, the Lord calls
us beasts in his word, doesn't he? Like a wild ass's colt. Saul of Tarsus had to be goaded
like a mule by the Lord Jesus Christ. Even the ox knows his
master's crib. Even the ox knows he's doing
pretty well, but this ox didn't. And this ox doesn't. So often. I saw. I saw with envy. That's the flesh. This is a fleshly
observation that any man might make in his natural condition.
Ah, but then look again at verse 17. Look at verse 16 and 17 together. When I thought to know this,
it was too painful for me. Until. This is the turning point of
the whole psalm, right here. Until I went into the sanctuary
of God. And then, I didn't see, notice
it there in verse 17, He said in verse three, I saw and I was
messed up. What I saw deceived me. What
I saw entered into my heart and my heart is deceitful and wicked,
desperately wicked, who can know it? But when I went into the
sanctuary of God, I didn't see, I understood. What is God's sanctuary? What is God's sanctuary? This is very important. This,
as I said, this is the turning point of the whole song. You
see, this is not just about having a better perspective on things.
This is about Christ being our perspective on everything. The sanctuary of God is the Lord
Jesus Christ. When Moses said, Lord, show me
your glory. What did God say to him? I'm
paraphrasing, but you look it up. He said, I'm going to put
your feet on the rock and I'm going to hide you in the cliff
of the rock and cover you there with my hand. And from right
there, you'll see my glory, my goodness. You'll see. that even
I, the holy God of heaven and earth, will have mercy on sinners. Christ is our perspective. Christ
is God's sanctuary. Christ is God's hiding place. His refuge. Of Him are ye in
Christ Jesus. who is made unto us wisdom."
What did this man need at the beginning of Psalm 73? And what
did he have once he was in the sanctuary? Christ is made unto
us wisdom. We're going to see things, as
much as it can be true of a sinner in this flesh, we're going to
see things God's way when we're in Christ. He's made into me
wisdom and righteousness. Even when I am an idiot and a
wretch and I act in the flesh and I sin, He's my righteousness
too. And sanctification and redemption. 1 John 5.20, we know Because God, because Christ is
our wisdom, because God of him, we're in the sanctuary now. Everything's
different. All things are become new. The old has passed away. We know
that the son of God has come and have given us an understanding. Where'd he say? Then I understood
from the sanctuary. I understood. And he hath given me that understanding
that I may know him. That's what changes our perspective
on everything. It's not just that we're smarter
about things. We know what's real and what's
important and what's vital. We know right from wrong, black
from white, truth from error. Because we know Him that is true. And we are in Him that is true. Then
I went into sanctuary. Even in His Son, Jesus Christ,
this is the true God. And that's eternal life. To be
in Christ is eternal life. The believer, as we've mentioned
already, as Moses, to choose Christ, the reproach of Christ
over the riches of this world, this is an act of faith. And
God, God gives that faith and God tries that faith. Wherever
God gives faith, He tries it. But listen to that passage, Hebrews
11, 24. By faith, Moses, when he was
come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter,
choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to
enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach
of Christ, greater riches. than the treasures in Egypt,
for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward." And this is not
unique to Moses. Every believer, by the grace
and power of God, by the Father's drawing grace and power, comes
to Christ. And to come to Him, you have
to leave something, don't you? When our Lord told the rich young
ruler to go and sell all that he had and give it to the poor,
it was not His earthly possessions really that he needed to give
up. It was himself. His trust, his God. You remember he said, I've kept
all of thee. Our Lord confronted him with the law. He said, I've
kept all these from my youth up. So the Lord started at the
first one with him, didn't he? Thou shall have no other gods
before me. Go sell your gods and come follow
the true God. Can't do it. The love for the earthly possessions
now is just evidence that you haven't lost yourself. Mark 8,
34, when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also,
he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny
himself. That's what would have happened.
If you go sell everything you have, give it to the poor, you've
denied yourself. By the grace of God, that only
happens by his grace. When of him you're in the sanctuary,
you deny yourself. Take up his cross and follow
me. The earthly possession is just
a symbol. We must leave everything and go to him who is everything. We must leave our self-righteousness,
our filthy rags, and go to Christ, our righteousness, putting on
the best robe. We must leave our way and go
to Christ, who is the way. We must leave our dead works
and go to Christ, our sin offering. We must leave our way of thinking
and go to Christ, the wisdom of God. We must leave our own
impotence and go to Christ, who is our strength. And we do this
by faith, and by grace are you saved through faith, and that
not of yourselves, it's the gift of God. But when we say, I believe,
can you ever say, I believe, without saying, my belief is
so full of unbelief, I need God to help me. Help me. And that,
quite simply, is what we're seeing in our text. He believed. Oh, but unbelief so readily and
easily creeps in. But the Lord has given us a place. There's a place by me, he said
to Moses. There's a place by me, a place
for you by me. I went into the sanctuary of
God, and then I wasn't just seeing things with these eyes. I understood
by His grace, because He gives you an understanding. And this
could be the place, you could say this is the place of worship,
the sanctuary, the place of worship, because by His gospel, the Lord
teaches us and puts perspective on everything, that as believers
we hear the gospel. A lot of times, don't we, we
look back on the week before and say, what a beast I've been. This is the hearing of the Word
of God that causes us to have the proper perspective on things,
but ultimately this is Christ. Christ Himself is our sanctuary,
our city of refuge, our safety and protection in the cleft of
the rock, covered by the hand of God. This is Christ, but we
experience the blessing of Christ in this world and his truth as
believers in the form of this, what we're doing here. Worship,
hearing his truth and fellowshipping with his saints. So this is blessed.
I heard the gospel, and then I understood. I saw Christ high,
lifted up, and then I said, woe is me. That changed his perspective,
didn't it? Then I understood what I couldn't
see. Before, I was just seeing. But
when God gives you an understanding, when he puts you in Christ, then
you understand things that can't be seen with these eyes. We are able to see from an eternal
perspective. Paul put it this way, we have
the mind of Christ. Is that amazing to you? And he
said, I understood their end and my end and why. Let's look at it together. Look
at their end. Prosperity now and a lot of fun and enjoyment
in this world. Look at verses 18 through 20. Surely thou did
set them in slippery places. He didn't see that before, but
now he's in Christ, he did. Thou castest them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation? As in a moment, they are utterly
consumed with terrors. As a dream, when one awaketh,
so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image. Notice some key words there.
Destruction, desolation, consumed with terrors, hated of God, despised
of God. Are you envious of that? Would you trade places with Him? This is the just reward of our
sin. What about me? First of all, look at His perspective
now, how it changed concerning Himself. He saw Himself differently, didn't
He? Verse 21, Thus, my heart was grieved and
I was stabbed in my soul. God stabbed me in my soul. So foolish was I
and ignorant. I was as a beast before they
foolish. ignorant and beastly, but bless
God and praise his holy name. There's mercy for beasts. Mercy
for beasts. Look at what the flesh couldn't
see in verse 23. Here's what he, when he was just
looking in the eyes of the flesh, here's what he couldn't see.
Verse 23, nevertheless, I am continually What's the difference between
us and them? What's the difference between
a believer and an unbeliever? God with us. I'm with Him because
He's with me. I am continually with Thee, and
here's why. Because Thou hast holden me by
my right hand. In spite of the fact that I'm
an idiot and couldn't see what was real, my security wasn't based on that,
my ability to see things as they are. Aren't you glad? My security is this, God's got
a hold of me by the hand. And he has for a long, long time. He took hold of my hand before
I was ever born, and He had never let go. And He promised He never would.
Nobody can pluck me out. This is my hope. I couldn't see
that before. But in Christ, from the cleft
of the rock, now if God sent His Son, if He spared not His
own Son for me, I thought of that little girl
that was dead. And our Lord came and cast out
all of the ones who were making a fuss and brought Peter, James,
and John, I believe, in with Him. And it says that He took
hold of her hand and said, Damsel, I say unto
thee, arise. That little girl woke up from
the dead, and the first thing she saw was that her hand was
in the hand of God. I'm glad I can see that now,
aren't you? Because God put me in His Son,
I can see that. Our Lord Jesus Christ, He prayed
for me and you, if you're His, in John 17, by virtue of His
own precious blood. He prayed for me. Father, keep
them from the evil. Father, keep them. You know how
He does that? Not by giving you hints and suggestions. By laying
hold of you, keeping you. Every step you take, every decision
you make, every mistake you make, you're in His hand and He won't
let go. I stumble, He's not going to
let me fall. The reason this psalmist is able
to write, then I understood, now I see. And I bless God for his goodness
and his grace. The reason he's able to say that
is because of God's goodness and grace. Lord, don't let go. Don't let me go. When the apostle
Peter was sinking in the waves, it says immediately, Jesus stretched
forth his hand and caught him and said unto him, O thou of
little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? I've got hold of
you. The Lord had a hold of him before
he ever stepped out of the ship. Peter was never in any danger,
was he? Not for one second. Never was. He did that for me also. Rest in Christ. Believer, you're never in any
danger. Alright, verse 24. Verse 24, thou shalt guide me
with thy counsel and afterward receive me to glory. Now he's
got hold of my hand now. Don't forget that part. I can't
fall. And also he guides me with his
gospel. He guides me with his truth. He guides me in his worship,
in his way, in his word. His word is a light into our
feet and a lamp into our path. Were you ever walking down a
dark path in the woods with a good flashlight? And maybe you're
walking along, maybe I'm walking along with Vicki and I just turn
it off, you know, just to freak her out, you know, turn off the
flashlight. How far could you get without turning that back
on? If you leave it off for five
seconds, you're off in the woods. The Lord guides us. He continually
guides us with His Word, with Christ. Christ is our way. He's our truth. He's our life. Verse 25, Whom have I in heaven but Thee?
And there is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee. Aren't
you glad the Lord put us in His Son and turned the light on?
We can see, we understand now. We're not just looking, we understand
now. He's saying here, I don't really
have anybody else and I don't really want anybody else. Now
that doesn't mean we don't appreciate each other, believer, our family
in this world. We, we love one another. And even if my father and my
mother forsake me, the Lord will take me up. Verse 26, My flesh, he learned this, didn't
he? The Lord teaches us this by experience. My flesh and my heart fail. You talking about me, my
flesh, my heart? There's just one word that applies
to that, failure. Two ways to walk. Two ways to walk. Now my flesh
and my heart faileth, but God is the strength of my heart and
my portion forever. God is the strength of my heart. God doesn't just give strength
to my heart. Notice that He is. As I've said,
now there's two ways to walk. Walk in Him and don't even, not
only don't walk in the flesh, don't even look at you. Your
heart and your strength is a failure. Your flesh is a failure, don't
even look that way. But God is the strength of my
heart. He is the I am. When he said
to Moses, tell Pharaoh, I am that I am hath sent me, we understand
a little bit. He's talking about his eternality. God, he didn't say I was or I
was, I am. He's the eternal I am. But you
know what he also, he's my I am. What's your righteousness before
God, Chris? I am. What is it that can wash away
my sin? I am. What is my comfort, my peace,
my hope, my security? I am. God is. Verse 27. For lo, they that are far from
thee shall perish, Thou hast destroyed all them that go whoring."
Well, that ain't how he was describing them earlier in this psalm, was
it? Now, though, I see by faith.
Now, I see Him, and He's my perspective on everything. And now I know
that those who go away, what is their destruction? What's
their problem? They go away from Him. You see
that? They've gone away from Him. Will
you go away also? Those for whom you are not their
strength, whom you have not laid hold of, whom you have not put
in your son, whom you do not receive, there are two things
that identify them. They go away. We all go astray
as soon as we be born. God looked down to see if there
were any that were coming, any that did acknowledge Him. Not
a single one. Well, how'd you get to him then?
The father which sent his son drew me, brought me, put me of
God, I'm in him. They go away. And may the reply of our heart by
grace through faith in Him always be. When He said, will you go
to? Are you going? Will you go away, a whoring away
from Him? Or to whom shall we go? To whom
shall we go? The second thing that identifies
them is they perish. Without Him, we perish. You see, when you leave Him who
is life, There's nothing for you but death. Verse 28, but it is good. It is good. Boy, this is a change
of tune, isn't it? Before he's saying, it'd be good
if I could just prosper like this, it sure would be good if
I could catch a break for a change. But now he sees himself in Christ,
secure and safe and blessed of God. And he said, boy, it's good. Man, this is good. It's good. They're in a bad place. I thought
they were in the good place and I was in the vain place. But
now I see I'm in the good place. How do you
draw near to God? It's good for me to draw near
to God. Well, we know first of all, He
draws near to us. It happens by Him taking hold
of your hand and bringing you. Christ died the just for the
unjust that He might bring us to God. No man can come except
the Father which has sent me. Draw him. And where in that context
does the Father draw sinners to? Let's look at it in closing. John 6. John 6, 44. John 6, verse 44. No man can come to Me, except
the Father which hath sent Me draw him. And I will raise him
up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets. And they shall all be taught
of God. That's what happened to our psalmist.
He was taught of God. And every man therefore that
hath heard and hath learned of the Father
comes to Christ. Comes to Christ. God taught him
he was a beast. He taught him he was a vile,
wretched, sinful beast. And as John 6.45 says, when God
teaches you that and teaches you that in the arms of the Savior
there's mercy for beasts. You come unto Him. God teaches
you, as Paul spoke of in Romans 3, that by the deeds of the law
shall no flesh be justified in God's sight. But He also teaches
you of that righteousness without the law. Christ, and when God sets forth
to you by faith, Romans chapter, let me read it to you. I'm sorry
if I go too long. Romans chapter 3. I'm through. It's good for me to draw nigh
unto God. How does that happen? Romans 3.19. Now we know that what thing soever
the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that every
mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become a beast
before God. Therefore by the deeds of the
law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. Has he taught you
that? For by the law is the knowledge of sin, but no remedy for sin.
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. There's no difference. We're
all beasts. For all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has
set forth to be a propitiation. To be a sin offering, to be a
sanctuary from the wrath of God through faith in His blood. Do
you believe in His blood? Do you believe His blood is sufficient
to wash all your sins away, to declare His righteousness for
the remission of sins that are past? through the forbearance
of God, to declare, I say at this time, his righteousness,
that God might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth
in Jesus. Has God given us an understanding?
When God teaches us that Christ is everything that we need, we're not gonna be envious of
this world anymore. Christ is all we need, and when
he is, we come to him. You'll come to Him if the Lord
shows you that. Come to Him. And you'll find, you'll taste
that He's gracious. Amen, brother. Yes.