Psalm 116. I told you that I had a study
for us tonight, a lesson. I believe, I know I have a real
exhortation for us. And I believe this will be great
comfort, great help. I believe this I've been begging
the Lord for to give me the. The right delivery. The right
delivery, because this is very important. And I don't. I've got a little something here
and I want to go right into it. I'm. I was supposed to go right
into it. I'm messing it up right now,
but. I'm prefacing so you can understand and believe where
I'm coming from, OK? Look at verse 13. I will take the cup of salvation
and call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows unto
the Lord now in the presence of all his people. I will take the cup of salvation
and call upon the name of the Lord. Now, what if I told you
that next Sunday morning it's too late for tonight? It's too
late. I've already done all my preparation,
all my study and seeking and searching. So it's too late for
tonight. And because of the Thanksgiving holiday, we're not going to have
a service this Wednesday, or I could have done it on Wednesday. But what if I were to announce
that next Sunday morning, I'm gonna bring a message to you
and I am not going to pray about it. I'm not gonna seek the Lord on
it at all first. I'm not gonna call on him. I'm
not going to acknowledge him at all before I bring that message
to you. I'm just going to bring it. I'm
just going to bring it. I'm just going to step into the
pulpit. And preach the message. And be done. And leave. Without ever one time calling
on the Lord to give me a message. Or to give me liberty to preach
the message? Or to, by his spirit, bless the
message to my heart or to your heart? I'm just going to come
in and preach. I know enough of the doctrine.
I know enough of the outline. I know enough of the message
that we preach to be able to just come in and preach. Just me, here, preach, leave. If I made that announcement,
here's my question to you. Would you want to come to that
service? No. No. Aside from being curious
to see just how flat I would fall on my face. For the purpose
of worship, for the purpose of worship, would any child of God
have any desire to come to a service like that? No. No. Would you expect to get anything
out of that message? No. Wouldn't you think, if I made
that announcement, wouldn't you think, what's the point? What's the point? If God is not
going to meet with us, and if he's not going to speak to us,
and if he's not going to bless us, then what's the point? What's
the point of coming? What's the point of being here? Can we not all agree that it
is vitally important, it is critically important that before I preach, I be prepared by seeking the
Lord and calling on the Lord and asking the Lord to give me
a message and to give me liberty to preach
that message. and for him to bless the message.
Lord, bless the message. Bless your word. Send your spirit. By your spirit, bless the message. Can we not all see and agree
on the fact that if I am not prepared for this, we are meeting
in vain? Meaning, what's the point? What's the point? Do you know that it is just as
critical for you to be prepared to hear as it is for me to be
prepared to preach? Now, I know this is a word of
encouragement, okay? This is a word of encouragement.
I know that every child of God right now is going, oh. I know
that this is, Convicting, and that's a good thing, but this
is not meant as a scolding. Don't take it this way at all.
This is meant as a help. It's meant as an encouragement.
If I am prepared to preach, the only reason why I'm prepared
to preach is because, number one, the grace of God. That's
number one. And number two, it's because
of fear for what I'm having to do. I experience fear. I am afraid to come here. Surely you don't mean afraid
to come here. That's exactly what I mean. But if I was not the one who
had to stand right here, I spent my whole life sitting right there. It was awesome. This is too. But if I was not the one who
had to stand right here, I'm telling you from experience,
I would find myself in the state that most believers can oftentimes
find themselves. In what state is that? Unprepared
to hear. Hang in here with me just for
a second, okay? Everybody hang in. I understand the flesh of man
because I am the flesh of man. I am the flesh of man. This is
not a self-righteous attack from the pulpit to the pew, not at
all, okay? This is a helping exhortation
because quite often, It is possible for every believer to come to
a worship service not prepared to hear. Often, we just forget. We don't
mean to not be prepared, we just forget. We're just not thinking
about it. We forget to spend some time calling on the Lord
beforehand. And again, I'm trying to relate
it to the importance of preaching. So you'll, I mean, that's a pretty
good illustration. It's like, well, yeah, you need
to spend a little time on your own beforehand, calling on the
Lord. Before you gather with the rest
of us, you need to be calling on the Lord, Gabe. But as hearers, most of the time,
I feel like, I'm just being honest, most of the time, We forget to
spend that time calling on the Lord to open our ears, Lord let
me hear, let me hear all the way down into my heart. We forget
to spend that time seeking the Lord, praying to him, asking
him to prepare our hearts for the message. Asking him to give
us liberty to hear the message. Asking him to bless the message
to our hearts. Oftentimes, We come in, sit here and leave. Again, hang in here with me,
okay? You understand what I'm saying? Usually in our Lord's goodness,
you know, he overrules all of our insufficiencies. Even this
one standing here trying to preach. And usually our Lord is so good. He's so good. He blesses us in
spite of us. But we should never just assume
on him. And I. I put that statement at
the top of the list. because I'm the preacher. And
as the preacher, I should never just assume on him, oh, it'll
be all right. It'll be, I know the doctrine.
I know the gospel. I know Christ. I've been doing
this 20 years. We'll get through it. David said in verse 13, I will
take the cup of salvation, that cup that you've given to me.
That cup of salvation was supplied by Jesus Christ. It was earned
by Jesus Christ. It was wrought by Jesus Christ,
and he gave it to his people. He drank the cup of the wrath
of God, the sin of his people, and he filled that with his righteousness
and his blood, and he gave that to his people. And David said,
I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the
Lord. I will call upon the name of
the Lord in the same way that it would be a crime before God
for me to assume on his blessing to preach and make no effort
to be prepared to come in here and preach. It would be a crime
for us to assume on his blessing to hear. James 4 verse 2 says, we have
not because we ask not. I love you all so much. If I
could, I would stick a special blessing in each one of you.
I would just, well, if I could, I'd stick it in me, but I can't
even bless me, but he can. He can, and this is what he said,
we have not because we ask not. Our Lord said, ask and you'll
receive. Seek and you'll find. Knock and
it will be opened unto you. I just read Ezekiel 36 for our
scripture reading. You heard our Lord listed all
of these things that he was gonna do for his people. He said, this
is how bad you were. And this is what I'm going to
do for you. I'm going to do all these things for you. But he
said, I will yet be inquired of to do it for my people. They're going to ask me. I want
them to call on me. I want them to acknowledge me. I want to encourage every believer
here in this fact. OK, now this is this is where
encouragement really steps in. If we are children of God, if
we are totally depraved sinners who were redeemed by the blood
of Jesus Christ. And if we have been notified
of that redemption, then it means that we have been regenerated
by the Spirit. If we have received that notification,
it means we have been regenerated by the Spirit. We have been quickened
by the Spirit of God. We have been given spiritual
life. And with that life, we can spiritually live and move
and have our being in Christ. We can spiritually communicate
with our God where we couldn't before. We can now. We can speak with Him. We can
have a relationship with Him. And what I want to do tonight
is encourage all of us to do that. I want to encourage all
of us to do that. It's not just a fact that we
have been regenerated by the Spirit, you know, ruined by the
fall, redeemed by the blood, regenerated by the Spirit. It's
not just a fact that we've been regenerated by the Spirit. It's
a privilege. It's a gift. It's a blessing. It's a benefit from God. And I want to encourage us to,
and I don't know how else to say this, I want to encourage
us to exercise that benefit. Exercise this life that's been
given to us and live in it a little bit. I don't know if that makes
any sense, but we have been given a living access
to God. Let's utilize it. Let's enjoy
the benefit of it. We can talk to him. Let's talk
to him. I want to show you some scriptures,
and as we read these, let's not think of them as just facts,
okay? Let's recognize that these are
exhortations to us. These are actual exhortations
to us. Benefits of life, benefits of
God-given spiritual life, regenerated spiritual life. May the Lord
quicken us to this, okay? I hope this will be instructive
and helpful. I pray this will be a real benefit
for all of our worship. Turn with me to Matthew 7. Matthew 7 verse 7. Ask and it shall be given you.
Seek and you shall find. Knock and it shall be opened
unto you. For everyone that asketh receiveth. And he that seeketh findeth. And to him that knocketh it shall
be opened. Or what man is there of you whom
if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask
a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then being evil know how
to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall
your father? Not every soul on this earth
is a child of the Heavenly Father. He's speaking to God's children
here. He's speaking to God's actual
children here. Verse 11, if you then being evil
know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more
shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them
that ask him? Ask and it shall be given you.
Seek and you shall find. Knock and it shall be opened
to you. What he's saying is enter into this living relationship
that you have been given with the father. Enter into it. Our
Lord called him my father and your father. Look at Matthew
11. Matthew 11 verse 28. Our Lord said, come unto me,
all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Wouldn't you rather walk out
of a worship service with rest and peace and quietness in your
heart, rather than the loud, noisy chaos of this world? That's
how we come in. We come in in the loud, noisy
chaos of this world. And oh, how sad it is when we
leave with it too. I'd rather walk out of here with
rest. I want to walk out of here with peace. I want to have gotten
something. Our Lord said, come to me. Come
to me. Turn with me to Romans 5. Romans five verse one says, therefore being justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom also we have access by faith into this grace. We have peace with God. We have
it. Christ made peace for his people
by the blood of his cross. And because of that, we've been
given access. Full access. Literal access. Actual access to enter into the
grace wherein we stand. We stand in it. We're already
standing in it. I want to enter into that. We
stand in it. I want to enter into that. In
Christ, our foundation, on Christ, our solid rock, we are standing
in the grace of God. Whether we enter into it or not.
In Christ, we are standing on the grace of God Almighty. But
I would rather enter into it. We're there whether we enter
into it or don't enter into it. I'd rather enter into it. I believe
all of us would prefer to rejoice in the hope of the glory of God,
as verse two goes on to say. That's the access that we've
been given. Turn over to Hebrews four. Hebrews 4 verse 14, seeing then that we have a great
high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the son of
God. Let us hold fast our profession,
for we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with
the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted
like as we are yet without sin. This is a word to God's elect
only. He's not speaking to the world
right here. This is to the redeemed. And if we are the redeemed, he's
speaking to us. Verse 16, he said, let us therefore,
because of that, let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of
grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time
of need. It's not just a fact that we
can do that. It's a privilege. That we can
do that. We don't need to just know that
we can do that. We can do that. Every time we enter into this
place to do what we're here to do, which is worship. We are
in need. Every time we're in need, we
come back because once again, we're in need. Let's go to him. Let's go to him. In the heart,
he will fill our need. Fill me now, fill me now. Lord Jesus, come and fill me
now. Turn with me to Hebrews 10. Hebrews 10, verse 11. And every priest standeth daily,
ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices which can
never take away sins. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of
God, from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified. Whereup the Holy Ghost also is
a witness to us, for after that he had said before, this is the
covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith
the Lord. I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their
minds will I write them, and their sins and iniquities will
I remember no more. Now where remission of these
is, there is no more offering for sin. having therefore brethren,
he's speaking to the brethren, having therefore brethren boldness
to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new
and living way which he hath consecrated, newly made for us
through the veil, that is to say his flesh, and having a high
priest over the house of God, Let us draw near with a true
heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from
an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us
hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for He
is faithful that promised. and let us consider one another
to provoke unto love and to good works, not forsaking the assembling
of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting
one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching."
That's not just a statement of fact, that's an encouraging word
of exhortation. We have a living relationship
with a living God and we can draw near to him any and every
time that we need him, which is all the time. Turn a couple of more pages to
James 4. James 4 verse 8, draw nigh to
God and he will draw nigh to you. If he draws nigh to us, we will
be blessed. We will be blessed. Draw nigh
to God, he will draw nigh to you. How do we do that? We do
it in prayer. We do it in heart. I want to draw not to him. I
want to be near to him. Alright, now this is the last
scripture we're going to turn to. OK, go to Revelation 3. If we draw now, we know it is. He that is drawing us. We give
him all the glory and the credit and the praise for everything. But Revelation 3 verse 15, our
Lord said, I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor
hot. I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm
and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. That
is a fearful warning that will bring a child of God out of his
lukewarmness. But this is what I want to end
our exhortation with. We don't have to go through that.
We don't have to go through that. There's no reason for us to be
lukewarm. We do not have to go into that
state. I know that none of us have any
confidence in our flesh. I know that. I know that we all know that
if our Lord takes his hand off of us, all of us will fall into
Luke warmness. Luke warmness is when it's just
right. It's just perfect. It's not shocking
you from cold or hot. You just don't even notice it.
You know, sunny and 70 degrees and no concern, just no concern. I know that we all are convinced
that if God lets us fall into that, that's exactly where we'll
go. But here is the encouragement
of God's word for us. We have been given access to
life himself. And with one cry to him, he will
draw us near. He will deliver us out of all
of the trouble that we find ourselves in. And he'll do that through
the reminder of the word. We'll open this word and we'll
say, you know what? That is so true. That's so true. And we'll cry to him. Then we'll
cry in our troubles. He'll deliver us out. And so
that's our exhortation. Let's cry to him. Let's cry to
him. Next Sunday morning, Lord willing,
I'm going to pray. First. I'm going to pray if the
Lord is willing, I'm going to call on the Lord. I'm gonna ask
him for a message. I'm gonna ask him for liberty
to preach the message to you. I'm gonna ask his spirit to bless
the message to me, to bless it to you. Let's all call on him. Lord, help that poor, pitiful
preacher. And help me to listen to that man. Let's cry out to
him. He has given us the cup of his
salvation. Isn't that good news? Isn't that
the gospel? God has freely given you the
cup of salvation. So let's call upon the name of
the Lord. If he will enable us to do that,
we will be greatly blessed. Amen.