Our scripture reading for this
morning is taken from the book of Psalms, Psalm 99. Psalm 99
verses one through nine. And this is the word of the Lord. The Lord reigneth, let the people
tremble. He sitteth between the cherubims,
let the earth be moved. The Lord is great in Zion and
he is high above all the people. Let them praise thy great and
terrible name, for it is holy. The king's strength also loveth
judgment. Thou dost establish equity. Thou
executes judgment and righteousness in Jacob. Exalt ye the Lord our
God, and worship at his footstool, for he is holy. Moses and Aaron
among his priests, and Samuel among them, they call upon his
name. They called upon the Lord, and
he answered them. He spake unto them in the cloud
pillar. They kept his testimonies and
the ordinance that he gave them. Thou answeredest them, O Lord
our God. Thou wast a God that forgave
us them, though thou tookest vengeance of their inventions.
Exalt the Lord our God and worship at his holy hill, for the Lord
our God is holy. And may the Holy Spirit have
blessings in the scripture. Thank you, brother. in the calm
of the noontide, in sorrow's lone hour, in times when temptations
cast o'er me its power. I may be all alone in this, but I I've got a feeling some
of you are in the same boat. Has temptation cast its power
over you? Do you struggle with that in
your life? I'd like you to turn in your
Bibles, if you would, to the 53rd chapter of Isaiah. Isaiah
53. And while you're turning over
there, allow me to read from Isaiah 6. Nope, Isaiah 9. In Isaiah chapter 9, verse 6,
we read these words. Now remember, I began this by
asking you, do you battle with temptation in your life? And
you can call it whatever you want. Some of us have grievous
temptations that plague us a great deal. Do you realize unbelief? Unbelief and the pride of the
flesh are our biggest sins in our lives. How often we have got up in the
morning and doubted that the Lord is with us today. I don't
know about you, but if I'm thinking something that I shouldn't, then
I do that more often than I care to admit. And I think to myself, is God
really with me? Would He be really with somebody
who would have a thought go through their mind like that? That's
doubting God. You say, well, John, I just can't
help it. It comes naturally. Absolutely. That's our nature. It's our nature to have the pride
of life, the pride of the flesh. I know I've used this before,
and some of you may have gotten tired of hearing it, but it's
so true. You hit the ball down the middle
of the fairway, and look what I did! I just played for the
first time just this last Tuesday since the accident. And I had a pretty good day,
even though I didn't score well. I still had a pretty good day.
Did you see that shot? Woo! I'm doing great! The pride
of life can just jump up at us! Did you see the wonders of the
flowers that Kathy and I have put together? Isn't that wonderful,
what Kathy and I have done? We haven't done anything. Life comes from God. Everything
comes from God. If it doesn't come from Him,
then He's not God and we're pretending, aren't we? We're plagued. God's people are plagued. I remember a time when I was
alright. I wasn't such a bad guy. I hadn't killed anybody.
I wasn't that bad of a guy. It
seems like since the Lord has called me into darkness, I see
all the wrong in John now. I see the weaknesses of this
flesh, of this mind, that I never saw before because I thought
it was okay. Plague. In Isaiah chapter 6,
our Lord tells those who are plagued. If you're not plagued,
then you're just here today. But if you're plagued, here's
some good news. Unto us. Did you catch that? It didn't say unto the world. It didn't say unto all mankind. It said unto us. Why is it so
important for us to point out election, chosen, predestinated
people? It's because it's by God's grace.
If God died for the whole world, then that means it's your choice.
And that's not true. Only by God's grace are there
any that are saved. For by grace are you saved through
what? Through faith. For unto us, a
child is born. God Almighty became man, became
flesh, that He might provide all that His loved people, all
of those that He has loved before the world was, a way of salvation. He couldn't be God and just Weak
as I am, say, oh, I don't really see their sin. No, somebody had
to pay the price. Somebody had to pay the price. So a child is born. Unto us a
son is given. The Son of God came down and
manifested Himself in the flesh, perfect, righteous in every way. And the government shall be upon
his shoulders. That means everything. That means
the rule of all that is. Who was in control of that deer
when it jumped out in front of me? We were just talking about that,
a couple of men and I, just before the services. Either God controls
everything, or He, again, He's just not God. The government is on the shoulders
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Every drop of rain hits exactly
where it's supposed to drop, because the government is on
his shoulders. His name shall be called Wonderful,
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, and here's
what I want to bring out, the Prince of peace. You see, if
you're plagued, if you're plagued with your sin, then you really
don't have any peace, do you? The Prince of Peace comes to
us in our darkest moment and shines the light of His glory
in the face of His people, in the face of His Son, the Lord
Jesus. This is the Prince of Peace who is the go-between between
His people and God Almighty, who is so holy. You know, He
was on Mount Sinai, which was so holy at the time that the
Lord Jesus was there. Remember the story when Moses
and Israel were at the foot of the mountain? Moses is the only
one who would go up on the mountain to get the laws given to him
by God. Anybody else who set a foot on
that mountain would be burned up and die. That's what heaven is. That's
where God dwells. In the holiest of holies. And
without Christ, without Moses, the people of Israel could not
come to God. Without Christ. And Moses was
just a picture of Christ. He wasn't Christ in the flesh.
The Lord Jesus had to come in the flesh 4,000 years later.
Or however long it was. I may have not quoted that correctly.
But a long time later, let's just put it that way, I'm plagued with sin and I cannot,
I cannot approach a holy God without somebody, somebody to
intercede for me. Look here at Isaiah 53, verse
1. Who hath believed our report? Isaiah had been preaching the
Gospel. He had been sent as a prophet.
And we know that all the prophets spoke of the Lord Jesus as He
told those two men on the road to Emmaus. He began at Moses and all the
prophets and spake unto them the things pertaining unto Himself."
So we know that Isaiah was out preaching the Gospel and he cries
unto the Lord here in verse 1 of chapter 53, Who hath believed
our report? And to whom is the arm of the
Lord revealed? That makes me think of this,
there's not very many out there. All the folks that Isaiah had
preached to, there weren't very many who heard. Or why would
he be asking? Who have heard our report? Who
have the arm of the Lord, and to whom is the arm of the Lord
revealed? Who is it that God reveals His
arm, the power of His arm, the strength of His arm, the Lord
Jesus Christ to? There's not many there. Why is that important? Because
it's only by grace that He does it all. I want to magnify His
grace to you this morning. If you're plagued with the sin
that is within this body, within this flesh, and if you don't
think you have any, then this isn't a message for you. But if you think you do, if you
do have sin that plagues you, I got good news. There's a man
who prays. A man who is God in the flesh,
who prays for His people, who makes intercession for those
that He's loved from the beginning of the world. Look over at verse
9, if you would, of Isaiah 53. And He made His grave with the
wicked. Tell me this isn't talking about
the Lord Jesus. It absolutely is. He made His
grave with the wicked and with the rich in death because He
had done no violence, neither was there any deceit in His mouth.
Remember what it says in Corinthians? In the book of Corinthians it
says, He who knew no sin. That's the Lord Jesus. He knew
no sin. He never committed a sin. Neither
was any deceit in His mouth. Verse 10, Yet it pleased the
Lord to bruise Him. he hath put him to grief. When
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed,
he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hand. He shall see the travail of his
soul, and shall be satisfied by his knowledge, shall my righteous
serpent justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities."
Now look at verse 12. Therefore I will divide a portion
with the great, and he shall divide the spoiled with the strong,
because he hath poured out his soul unto death, and he was numbered
with the transgressors, and he bare the sins of many, and made..."
What? You see that word? Intercession. This is the Lord God Almighty
making intercession for the transgressors. He made intercession. Turn over
to Romans chapter 8. We're going to read a bunch of
scripture here right now, so bear with me for a moment. Turn
over to Romans chapter 8. We're talking about the Prince
of Peace. How is it that God brings peace
to those who are plagued, those who are troubled with their sin
with their temptations. In Romans chapter 8, I want you
to look at three verses with me. Beginning at verse 26, Romans
8 verse 26, Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities. That's the same thing. That's
the same thing as our temptations. That's the same thing as our
iniquities. That's the same thing as our
sin. The Spirit also helpeth our infirmities,
for we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the
Spirit itself maketh what? There's that word. Intercession
for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Look over at verse
27. And he that searcheth the hearts
knoweth what is in the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh
intercession for the saints according to the will of God. So here we
have the Prince of Peace who is making intercession for us
through the Spirit as we're reading here in Romans 8. Let's look
at one more verse there, over in verse 34. Turn over to verse
34 of that same chapter. Who is He that condemneth? It
is Christ that died, yea, that is risen again, who is even at
the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. So here Christ has died, he's
gone into the grave, he's shed his blood, he's made the payment,
he has taken our death upon himself, and God has accepted it. He's
accepted the perfect, righteous sacrifice of His Son for you
and I. This is my peace. Oh, how I pray
that this is yours as well. I hope your peace is not in something
you're doing. I hope your peace is not in being
here today. He's the one to be called wonderful. To this bankrupt flesh, this
flesh that has nothing to offer? That's wonderful that Christ
would do that at all. He didn't have to. He's God. He could do anything. Yet in
His wisdom, in His wisdom, He has allowed sin into this world. that He would be gracious and
merciful. We've looked at this recently
in the past, haven't we? He loves to be merciful. He loves
to be merciful. Turn over to Hebrews. I don't want to get too far away
from reading Scripture because then I don't get to the main
message. Hebrews 7. We're just going to read some
verses for a few minutes if you would. Turn over to Hebrews 7
and join me in verse 24. But this man, this is Hebrews
7 verse 24, but this man, because he continueth ever,"
that's the one who's sitting at the right hand of the Father
that we just read about in Romans 8, "...because they were not
suffered to continue by reason of death," speaking of the old
priest, the priest of the flesh, "...but this man, because he
continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood, wherefore he is able
also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him." seeing he ever liveth to what? To make intercession for them. For such as a high priest became
us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made
higher than the heavens. Who needeth not daily as those
high priests who offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then
for the people's. For this he did once. when He
offered up Himself. Let's look at another one, Hebrews
8. Turn over to Hebrews 8. We have one page to the right. Look at verse 6 with me. 8 verse 6. But now hath he obtained
a more excellent ministry by how much also he is the mediator,
that's the same thing, the intercessor of a better covenant which he
was established upon better promises. Now go over to 1 Peter chapter
1. I'm showing you different verses
in the Word of God that talks about our mediator, our intercessor,
the one who stands before God Almighty, a holy thrice God,
and makes intercession for those who are troubled, those who are
troubled with temptation in their lives. Look here at verse 5. Now let's start at verse 3. Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according
to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance
incorruptible and undefiled, and that fate hath not a way
reserved in heaven for you who are kept, guarded, interceded, those who
have a high priest on the throne of God in the holiest of holies
making intercession for us, who are kept by the power of God
through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed the last
time. Intercession, mediator, kept. These are words of assurance
to one who is troubled, who is plagued with that very sin in
our flesh. or any other sin you want to
throw at it. In the book of Job, when Job was offered up to Satan,
it declares that he was hedged about, protected. Are you getting
the picture of what I'm talking about here? Turn over to Luke
chapter 22 and I'll get to the message. Luke chapter 22. I wake up in the morning. I ask the Lord, Lord will you be
with me today? Here is my assurance. I pray that this is your assurance
as well. Look with me if you would at
verse 31 and 32 of Luke 22. And the Lord said, Simon, Simon,
behold, Satan hath desired to have you
that he may sift you as wheat. I don't understand why the Lord
has left us in this flesh. I don't have the wisdom of God
in all that is. But in His wisdom, He has found
it wise to leave us in our flesh until He takes us out of this
world. Paul, you'll recall, the good
that I do, I do not, and the stuff that's not good, I do.
He even declares that the good that he does, there's evil in
it. He says, O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from
this body of death? That's the body he was in when
he was writing those very words. Not what he used to do, but what
he was right then. It doesn't get any better. Not in this flesh. In the Spirit,
it gets great. We have been brought to know
the Prince of Peace. Well, how? We know that He came
and gave Himself for us. That's how. He doesn't reveal that to
the whole world, folks. He only does it in His mercy. I will have mercy upon whom I
will have mercy. Satan would have us if the Lord
would let us. Isn't that what he did to Job?
He purposely let Satan plague his family, his crops, his animals. He purposely let Satan plague
Job himself. It boils. Go read that sometime
when you get a chance to read what the Lord allowed Job to
go through. We were talking about the Lord
putting that deer in front of the motorcycle. and then keeping
me from getting killed from it. I don't understand these things.
I just know that he's merciful to me in so many ways. If for nothing else he taught
me this, Jesus Christ is Lord. Period. Then I don't have to
know anything more than that. Satan. have desired to have you,
that He may sift you as wheat." Look at verse 33. Here comes
the Prince of Peace. I thought about this. I have
prayed for thee, saith the Lord. He's prayed for you. God Himself, the very One who
put you in your mother's womb, The very one who brought you
out of your mother's womb prays for you. He intercedes for us. That thy faith fail not. And
then he says, when thou art converted, strengthen thy brother. Thy faith
fail not. It falters not. It wavers not. what he's done, where he is right
now. A lot of people believe that,
John. No, they don't. Some of you were
in other religions that believed in a Jesus that had no strength
at all. Paul writes this, he says in
1 Corinthians 16, 13, watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quiet ye like men, be strong. In the book of Galatians, he
writes this, he says, stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith
Christ hath made us free, and not be entangled again with the
yoke of bondage. In Philippians 1, verse 27, he
says, only let your conversations be as if you come at the gospel
of Christ. That whether I come and see you
or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand
fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the
faith of the gospel. You feel like your faith is weak?
You feel like, oh, I'm coming up so short of that? Our Lord is interceding for us. He's the faithful one, not you,
not me. I want to be, but I'm not. We're not going to be like Christ
until we leave this earth and there's no more sin in us. Therefore, my brethren, he says
in Philippians 4 verse 1, Dearly beloved, and long for my joy
and crown, stand fast in the Lord. For now we live, it says
in 1 Thessalonians 3.8, if ye stand fast in the Lord. 2 Thessalonians
2.15, therefore brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions
which ye have been taught, whether by word or by episode. Stand
fast in what? Stand fast in this, that salvation
is of the Lord. That's what. We have loved ones,
friends and family who go to all these other different kinds
of religions coming at us all day long. We see it all day long
on the TV of these different religions if you'll just come
and turn yourself over to God. Stand fast in this. Salvation
is of the Lord. Stand fast that Christ Jesus
is sovereign God of all that is. All the fullness of the Godhead
dwelleth in Him. Stand fast that His righteousness
alone is acceptable to God. There is no righteousness in
ourselves. It is only acceptable through
God, that He is risen and sits at
the right hand of the power of God making intercession for His
blood-bought people. Stand fast that the Lord prays
for you that your faith may not waver. Turn over to John chapter
17. John chapter 17. These are the words of Christ
Jesus, our Savior. This is what I call the Lord's
Prayer. Many want to call the instructions that God gives us
on how to pray the Lord's Prayer, but right here, the Lord is praying
for His people. Look at verse 9. He says, I pray
for them. See why He's the Prince of Peace?
See why the Lord Jesus is the Prince of Peace? Let me read
an article for you that I wrote some years back. It's called,
I Have Prayed for Thee, from Luke 22, verse 32. It says, what
a powerful statement to be made for my soul. God prays for me. Can any proclamation be more
assuring than that very one right there? I have prayed for thee. Satan has wished to sift me as
wheat, yet Christ, the God Almighty in the flesh, has prayed for
me. There's no more powerful than
that. Nothing more powerful than to have the One who created me
pray for me. Pray that my faith fail not.
In my own eyes, I fail miserably every day long, all day long,
but when the Lord turns my eyes from me to look to Him, and that's
what this is doing when He says, I have prayed for thee. Christ
has prayed for us. Our Savior, not only did He pray
for us, He gave Himself for us. He laid down His life for us. If God had given us His only
begotten Son, how shall He not give us all things? Isn't that
what it says in Romans 8? When the Lord turns my eyes from
me to look to Him, I feel the confidence. I see my peace in Him. The same peace that Paul had
wrote about when he said, Who is He that condemneth? It is
Christ that died, yea, rather that is risen again, who is even
at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for
us. Are you getting the picture this
morning? Oh, folks, I hope so much that
this is bringing comfort to your souls. I hope so much that it's It's
pointing you to take your eyes off of yourself because that's
our biggest fault. That's our biggest temptation. Think about that. You think it's a thought that goes through
your mind that we don't even want to share with others because
we're ashamed of? It's not that. It's not just
that. It's all of it. Pride that swells
up within us. The doubt we have of who is Lord
and everything being worked out by Him. What a hope is ours who
have been given life. given the gift of faith, given
the knowledge of God in the face of His Son, the Lord Jesus. I
can walk through this valley of the shadow of death with no
fear of the chaos that is in this world, no fear of my detestable
flesh, for I am confident that nothing can separate me from
the love of God which is in Christ Jesus the Lord. If God before
me, who can be against me? And this confidence can all be
laid at the feet of this One who sovereignly rules over all
that is and prays for me. His name is Jesus. As the sovereign of all that
is, shall His prayers not be answered? Shall His desires not be fulfilled? Shall He be turned by His creation? If so, He could not be called
God, could He? If so, the blood that He shed
that day for the sins of His elect was shed in vain, and to
be counted as worthless. I guess it all boils down to
one thing. He has loved me from the foundation of the world,
and when he prays for me, I have full confidence that whatever
his desire is, it shall be. What is our Lord's desire for
you and I on this earth? Look over at verse 15 of John
17, and I'll bring this to a close. I pray not that thou shouldest
take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them
from the evil. They are not of the world, even
as I am not of the world. Sanctify, set apart, make holy
them through thy truth, thy word is truth. As thou hast 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." Do you realize, just being here
today, you have supported the gospel that goes forth from this
pulpit. just by being in attendance.
And I don't mean to put aside any of the gifts that you give
to keep the lights on, to keep the property upkeep and so on.
I don't want to make any light of that, but just being here supports the gospel, and the
gospel goes out to those who have never heard of Jesus Christ. James would have never heard
about it. if God hadn't have brought him to a place. If it
wasn't for God bringing you here, this place wouldn't be here,
would it? That's what that's talking about.
Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also we 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 with
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 have prayed for Thee, saith
the Lord, that Thy faith shall not fail. Amen. Stand with me
if you would. Turn in your hymn books to all
that thrills my soul. What comfort we have, what peace
sinners have when they know that the Lord Jesus is praying for
them. Stand fast, folks. Stand fast
as you go back into this world, as you go back into the world
of sin around us. Stand fast in this, that salvation
is of the Lord, and He tells you and I, He prays for us.