Turn in your Bibles if you would
this morning to Matthew chapter 26. I was having a conversation with
a young man, a new babe in Christ, one who has recently been called
of God to leave the darkness of this world and join in with
God's people. join in in hearing the Word of
God about the light of Christ in the lives of His people. And in the conversation he was
talking about... I shared this with folks from
Friday night, so you'll forgive me for hearing it again, but
there's some who were with us this morning who haven't heard
it. He shared with me that in a conversation he had had,
with a fellow worker, they were talking about different things
and somehow the subject came around, I don't know if it was
just with me or with that person as well, but how things seem
to be getting worse. You'll recall last week I talked
a little bit about the holier than thou. Most of the religions
in the world will teach you that if you'll just do this, If you'll
just turn yourself over to Christ, if you'll just let Him come into
your heart, things will get better. It goes right along with that
conversation we were just having a moment ago with James. He heard
things here in this church that you'd never hear anywhere else.
And what are those things? It doesn't get any better. This
is what that young man was telling me. He said, it seems like it's
getting worse. My sin is just... It seems to be more and more
magnified. And a smile began to form on
my face. We're talking about the mysteries
of God in our Bible study. One of those mysteries is the
mystery of faith. What we teach those who've never
heard it before. Those who've never heard the
truth. Whosoever calleth upon the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved. But how are you going
to call on somebody you've never heard of? How are you going to
call if all you've ever heard is this one who is going to make
your life better in this world? This one who's going to make
all your problems go away? That's not what we hear here
at Rescue. That's not what I heard when I came for the first time.
That's not what James heard. He heard things that was talked
about in the Bible that no other one talks about. Things of God's
sovereignty. The mystery of God's sovereignty
in all things. All things are purposed by God
Almighty. If He created everything, it
has to be that way, is it not? What a weak God people are preaching
about who's done all that He can and He's waiting for you
to help Him out. What a weak God who's who's paid
the price with his own blood. But it's not effectual until
you allow it to happen. No, this young man, he said,
John, it just, it seems like it's getting worse. Well, why
would I smile about that? When God shows you what you are
before Him, He will not leave out the fact that there's a Savior.
When it's God, who reveals to you what's in your heart. He
will not leave out the fact that there is a Savior to save you
from yourself. His name is Jesus. What? I said
amen, didn't I? Yes, sir. His name is Jesus. He's God in the flesh, folks.
This is the very one who has promised that all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. You know, that's my only hope.
I shared this with the folks in Bible study. My son's home
is underwater. He's not sure where he's going to
live after the hotel thing runs out. Thankfully, he still has a job
for now. And we're just not sure what
the Lord has in store for him. But if this is what it takes
to bring him to the Savior, Amen. Whatever it takes, Lord. Whatever
it takes is my prayer. Thy will be done. Show him the
sinner that he is like he did me. And then show him our Savior. The one who has loved us with
an everlasting love. I understood what this young
man was saying. My heart's troubled all the time.
It never gets any better. I get up out of bed and it doesn't
take but more than a couple of minutes, even seconds at times,
for me to realize, oh, there you go, John, you did it again.
That thought that goes through your mind. My soul is troubled as I go through
every day. Trouble is all around me. You
know, that's what most of the troubles it's talking about in
the Psalms. When you hear that my enemies
have raised up against me. What's our worst enemy? Us. That's
exactly right. Me. Me. I'm the one who sees
my sin inside of me. I'm so glad you can't. My sin is ever before me, is
what David said. A man after God's own heart. John reads. My sin is ever before
me. It troubles me all around me.
Just as it says in the Psalms, it raises up against me. Just
as the waves raise up against the little ship, my sin raises
up against me. I find in my flesh the desires
to walk not with my Lord. to not trust in him as I should,
to not turn my cheek as I should. Worst of all, not to love my
neighbor as I should. My inner rebellion against the
one the ones that God has put in
rule over me. Even when I sleep, I can wake
up at times wondering, why do I have such dreams? Dreams of jealousy, dreams of
greed. I find it most interesting that
these troubles were not in me before, do you? A guilty conscience was rare
in my life. I didn't think I had much to
be guilty of. The Lord has shown me, as he
does his people, something different. When I think of the great sacrifice
the creator of all it is gave for me, because he loved me,
I'm ashamed. I'm ashamed of myself before
him. I find I cannot raise up from
the crouched position of crying out for mercy. I find it more
and more each day. I leave this place of worship
and this old man, this old nature rears up its ugly head in just
a moment. Even a simple task of sitting
in church can be difficult for this man who sits before you.
I try to listen to as many messages as I can. Know how often I'll get halfway
through when something will just distract me. Are you with me in Matthew? Look with me if you would, beginning
at verse 36. I'm so thankful the Lord shows
us these ones in Scriptures that
we look at. We may even put them up on a
pedestal at times. But the Lord reminds us that
these men, even those who had great faith at moments of their
life, were nothing more than just men. And we see that here
in these words. Verse 36, if you would, Then
cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, And he saith
unto the disciples, sit ye here while I go and pray yonder. Just sit with me for a little
bit. Come. Come and sit with the Lord in
his house for just a moment or two. Look what happens next. And he took with him Peter and
the two sons of Zebedee and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.
Then saith He unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even
unto death. Tarry ye here, and watch with
me." I could see the Lord pleading with these men, knowing exactly
what was going to come next. Folks, this is Jesus Christ,
God Almighty. He didn't stop knowing all things
for a moment. He knew what was happening next.
Yet He's laying the foundation for you and I when we fall into
the same trap that we're about to see His disciples fall into. When we sit in our chairs and
we think to ourselves, well, this is the same thing I've heard
over and over again. Verse 39, and He went a little
further. He fell on His face and He prayed,
O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup Our Lord was about
to have all of the sins of all of His people laid upon Him.
Let this cup pass from me, nevertheless. Oh, what a wonderful
word. Our Lord said, nevertheless,
even though this cup is so much for Me to bear, even though the
sins of all My people are being laid on a holy and righteous
God, Nevertheless, he says, nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. And he cometh unto the disciples
and findeth them asleep. And he saith unto Peter, what
could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that ye
enter not into temptation. The Spirit indeed is willing
But the flesh is weak. Verse 42, And he went away again
the second time, and prayed, saying, O my father, if this
cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be
done. And he came, and he found them
asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. And he left them,
and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same
words. Then cometh he to his disciples, and he saith unto
them, Sleep on now. Here the Lord has gone away three
times and prayed these things. If this cup would pass, nevertheless,
thy will be done. And then he comes back and he
says this third time, Sleep on. Fear not. Take your rest. Behold, the hour is at hand,
and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. I
bring this before you this morning to assure you, those of you who struggle with
sin, as all of God's people do, as all of those throughout the
Old Testament and New Testament did, those of you who find yourself
weak, I pray that you do. I pray that you do. You're not
alone. You're not alone. Look at who
we're with. We're with the very ones who
walked with Christ. Weak in the flesh. That's what
he said back there in verse 41. Watch and pray that ye are not
in temptation. The Spirit indeed is willing. Oh, how willing I am to walk
the ways of God. But yet only takes a moment in
that ugly flesh. will raise its head right up
into me. The spirit is willing, but the
flesh is weak. This is the point that God allows
us to come to, that we might look to Him and turn us, Lord. For we shall be turned. You know,
I shared with that young man as he spoke about the sin getting
worse in His life. I spoke about, see how the magnification
of God's grace becomes? See how that very fact that your
sins raise up in you and cause you to see it as being worse
and worse, and how it magnifies the greatness of His grace? The
greater sinner I am, now don't get me wrong, that's not saying
that I want to go out and sin more and more, but the more that
I see myself for what I am, the greater His grace is. That's
what that means. His grace is greater than my
sin. We sing the psalm, I am weak,
but thou art strong, Lord keep me from all wrong. Turn over
to the 51st psalm if you would. Psalms number 51. Consider the strength of David.
You know the story of David. David and Goliath. Well, there's
a lot more to that story than that, you know. Consider the
strength of David, the son of Jesse. He went up against a giant
man, Goliath. Took him out with a stone and
a sling. Took him out. Killed him. His
armor was so big that when they tried to put it on David, he
couldn't do anything. When he went to go into battle
with it, he said, I can't use this. Take it off. He went up
against a giant, but before that, he killed a lion and a bear.
Did you know that? With his own bare hands. Yet in our Lord's
great wisdom, David was allowed to fall in the flesh into a great,
great sin. You can think of the same thing
as Jonah. You think Jonah just said, do
you think he overpowered God when he ran from God, when it
declares that he ran from God? Do you think he was overpowering
God by doing that, or was God allowing it? God allowed it for
a reason. He allowed it so that Jonah would
walk on dry ground again after dying in the fish's belly and
sing out these words, salvation is of the Lord. There is nothing
man can add to or take away from it. David was allowed to fall in
the flesh into a great sin, though he was a great man. I want to
bring before you this morning a hope I want to bring a hope
to you who are plagued by your sin as this young man who confessed
to me. This position of sorrow down
on our knees, crying out for mercy is also a position to be
quite joyful of. God does not leave his loved
ones with their faces in the dirt. It pleases Him to be gracious.
And those for whom His Son, Christ Jesus the Lord, shed His blood
for, shall cry out for mercy. Lord, have mercy upon me, a sinner. Just like that publican who was
over on the side of the temple. Not like the Pharisee who stood
up and said, Thank you, Lord, that I am not like Him. No. bowed with our heads to the floor, bowed, pounding our chest, Lord,
I don't deserve it. I can't earn it. I can't do anything. I'm weak, but thou art strong. Keep me. Keep me. Keep me from
all wrong. It pleases Him to be gracious.
And those for whom his Son Christ Jesus the Lord shed his blood
for shall cry out for mercy and shall receive it. It's called
irresistible grace. If it's from God, it's irresistible. Who would love anything else
when they see the love of God for a sinner so undeserving and
so unworthy? We are assured, he says, my sheep
hear my voice. Listen to these words in Ephesians.
I'll be to Psalms 51 in just a moment, but listen to these
words from Ephesians 2, verse 4, where we read, But God, who
is rich in mercy for His great love wherewith He loved us, even
when we were dead in sins, hath quickened, made alive, us together
with Christ by grace ye are saved, and hath raised us up together,
and made us sit together in heavenly places. in Christ, in Christ
Jesus. Now, in Psalm number 51, we see
at the heading there, in my Bible, I don't know if it's in yours
as well, but it says there, to the chief musician, a psalm of
David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him after he had gone
unto Bathsheba. You remember the story David
had been looking down from the top of his castle upon a rooftop
below and Bathsheba was there and he fell in love with her
and he couldn't have her because she was married to one of his
officers. So he sent that officer to the
front line. Now I want to remind you about
this story because this is the depth of God's purpose. Is God the author of sin? Absolutely
not. By removing his restraining hand,
Jonah ran from the Lord. By removing his restraining hand,
David had the thoughts go through his mind that went through his
mind. If the Lord were to remove his
restraining hand from us, we would have all kinds of sinful
thoughts and deeds come from us. People say the world is civilized
today. It's no more civilized today
than it ever was. Men still do today exactly what they were
doing back when Adam and Eve walked this earth, and that is
what they thought was right. To the chief musician, a psalm
of David. David had sent Uriah to the front
to be killed so that he could take the Sheba unto his own,
unto himself. And that's exactly what he did. But look at the rest of verse
1 here. The next part, he says, have
mercy. Do you ever cry out for that?
Does the Lord ever drive you to call out, have mercy upon
me? That's kind of what was happening
to this young man, isn't it? He's being driven down by his
enemies, the enemy of the flesh, the enemy of our nature, and
the sin that boils up in his thoughts, and even at times comes
out in his members, and he's crying out, I'm unworthy,
Lord, but have mercy on me. Have mercy upon me, O God, according
to Thy loving Kindness. Notice David didn't cry out.
You know, I know I did that wrong. I know that was sinful. I know
I shouldn't have done it. But what about this over here,
Lord? Isn't that what the religions of this world do? What about
this over here? Have I not done good here? Have I not fed the poor? Have
I not helped others do this? Or have I not been kind to this
one when I had no need to? Lord, what about this? Doesn't
that weigh into it? No, it doesn't. We are brought to know that the
only mercy we are deserving of is for Thy loving kindness. For Christ's sake. because of
His blood that was shed upon that tree. Other than that, God
would have no reason to look upon us. He'd have no reason
to do anything but to destroy us like He will the world at
the end of times. Have mercy upon me according
to Thy lovingkindness. What is the lovingkindness of
God? I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. That's what
love and kindness is. He sent his only begotten Son
in mercy and in love. David goes on in his statement
here, he says, according to the multitude of thy tender mercies
blot out my transgressions. according to the multitude of
thy mercy. We don't look to anything of
ourselves to be deserving of God's love, do we? We sing that song, once I was
blind, but now I see. What was I blind to? I was blind to what I deserve.
I was blind to what I am. But now I see the mercy of God
in coming to anyone. And I thank him for coming to
his people. Those who were written on his
breastplate before the world was ever made. Those that he
chose out of all of mankind to send his only begotten son out
of love to be their propitiation. Look at what he says next in
verse 2. Wash me. Remember we talked about this
last week. Purge me. Lord, make me clean. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity. And cleanse me from my sin. I can't do it on my own. I am
weak, but Thou art strong. Lord, keep me from all wrong. Verse 3, David goes on to say
this, he says, I acknowledge, for I acknowledge my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me. Listen to these words from 1
John 1, verse 9. If we confess our sins, that
doesn't mean we go and sit in a box with some man and confess
our sins to him. It means if we confess what we
are before God, and folks, we can't. We will not come to God. In the Scriptures, we'll see
a search of Scriptures for in them is everlasting life. And
Christ is that life. But you will not come to Him.
You cannot come to Him. And as ones who are now able
to see, we see that clearly, don't we? We look back on our
lives before the time that the Lord called us out of darkness
and we can see clearly why we would not come to Him. He didn't
dwell in our hearts. Lord, I'm a sinner. That's what
that means. If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and just to forgive us for our sins and to cleanse
us from all righteousness. Confessing what we are before
God is essential, not with the lips, but with the heart. going
on in our Psalms 51 here, verse 4. Against thee, David says,
against thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight,
that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest and be clear
when thou judgest. Robert Hawker wrote this. He
said, this is a striking expression. David looks upon the sin as directly
leveled against God. Isn't that what our sins are?
He had injured Uriah. Adam killed. He had injured Bathsheba. He took her. He took her from
her husband. Injured, in short, everyone that
heard the story. Did you hear the story about
David, our king, and what he has done? Did you hear about
that? Imagine all those whose hearts
were broken because their king had sinned publicly before them. How can we trust anything that
man has to say anymore? See, the injuries of sin doesn't
just stop right here where we are, folks. It goes out. It goes to all of those around
us of whom we walk with in this world. Everyone that heard the
story and the example he had set, before them. But the great
sin was this, and it was against God Almighty. Had he not lost reverence for
God, you think? David dwells, therefore, upon
this. Against thee, he says, thee only. He repeated the words with painful
recollection. He says, thee only have I sinned.
He was the sad, sad business. Here is the sad, sad business,
writes Robert Hawker Reader. It is among the truest marks
of genuine sorrow when we detect our sin against the sovereignty
of God at every step. Go on now with me in verse 5.
It says, Behold, I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my
mother conceive me. Listen to this confession of
sin of David. Not only did he confess that
what he did in reality was sin, but he confesses the depth of
that sin, I was shaped in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive
me." He says, I consent that that is all I am. He confesses
that the body of flesh has nothing to stand before a thrice holy
God. Verse 6, Behold, thou desirest
truth in the inward parts. Folks, we must worship God in
spirit and in truth. You know, there's a whole lot
of Christians out there nowadays who don't understand the difference
between this, what is preached right here, and that which is
preached in their Arminian free will churches. We're still talking
about Jesus, John. No, you're not. That's another Jesus. That's
a Jesus of man's own imagination that can be manipulated any way
they want. The true God of Scriptures, all
things that are purposed by Him are fulfilled by Him. Behold, thou desirest truth in
the inward parts, and in the hidden part thou shalt make me
to know wisdom. purge me with hyssop." There's
that word. Oh, how I love that word. Purify
me, Lord. Perfect me, O Lord, with hyssop,
and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter
than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness,
that the bones which Thou hast broken may rejoice Young man,
is your sin getting worse? Absolutely! And it's not going
to get any better until the Lord takes us out of this world. But
think of this, the magnification of God's grace in showing you
what you are before Him. And shining the light of His
Son in a new heart. of my sins, and blot out all
my iniquities." Remember the story of the Lord taking off
His garments, getting down on His knees, and washing the feet
of His disciples? Remember that? Peter says, no,
Lord, wash all of me. It's not just my feet, it's my
whole body. David says, I was born in iniquity. God's people cry out that I'm
not worthy of what the Lord's mercy is, but God has mercy. Thank God for that. Thank our
Lord for that. Hide thy face, in verse 9, from
my sins, and blot out all of mine iniquities. Create in me
a clean heart. The world would like us just
to say, well, you know, if you just stop smoking, you'll be alright.
If you'll just stop cussing, you'll be alright. If you'll
just stop drinking, if you'll do this, or if you'll do that,
then you'll just be better. You know what I call those folks?
They remind me of that Saturday night live scene with Arnold
Schwarzenegger and Martin Short. We're just going to pump you
up. That's what that is. I can pump you up. I can talk
you into doing better. If you'll just do this. If you'll
just turn yourself over to Christ, that's not the gospel at all.
Create, David says. Lord, I can't do anything. I
need a new heart from You. I need this heart to be turned
by You because if You lead me to myself, I'm going to surely
fall. I'm going to surely fall back
into that sinful pleasure of man that I was for 40 years. Cast me not away, it says in
verse 11, from Thy presence. Oh Lord, don't lead me to myself. Don't lead me to fall into my
own strength. Take not Thy Holy Spirit from
me. Restore unto me the joy of Thy
salvation and uphold me. with Thy free Spirit." Now look
over at the 89th Psalm if you would. Psalm 89. Our troubled soul is our joy
as well. That's the hardest thing for
me to remind my brothers and sisters of. It's strange, isn't it? It's
strange to say there's joy in your sorrow. Are you going through
troubles? Oh, I see you are. But there's
joy in that. How can there be joy, John? A
man once lost everything he had. He had spent his whole life building
a beautiful piece of property. He built the house himself. He
groomed the property himself. He had been there his whole life.
All of his children were raised there. And now in his old age,
he can't care for it anymore. He can't even go out and clean
it up. It's all overgrown now. It's all overran. And his heart's
just broken. Even though he sees it overran,
he knows he has to leave. And it troubles him so much that
he might even bang his head against the wall in sorrow of losing
it. Yet through it all, He comes
out the other side praising. You know, that's what the Lord
Jesus did. We just read that. Lord, if it be Thy will, remove
this cup from me. What cup? The cup of sin on a
righteous man. Oh, how he cried out. Oh, the
burden that was laid upon our Savior. Yet, what was His final
statement? Not my will, but thy will be
done. That's what the old man did.
After going through the troubles of his feelings and losing what
he had built, worked so hard in his life to build, nevertheless,
thy will be done. That's joy. That's joy coming
from the troubles that we're going through. Our Lord says
this, in your weakness, and I'm paraphrasing, in your weakness
my strength is made known. If we would not see the mercy
of God, if we did not see our need of
it. If we do not see that I am sin,
but my Lord has a word of hope for me, I could imagine the worst. But our Lord says this word,
just like He said, purged. He said, nevertheless. And that's
the title for today's message. Nevertheless. Look at verse 20
with me, if you would, of Psalm 89. I have found David my servant.
With my holy oil have I anointed him. This is the very one who
is crying out for mercy. Crying out to the Lord. Have
mercy upon me. Blot out my sin. Verse 21. With whom my hand shall be established,
mine arm shall also strengthen him. The enemy shall not exact
upon him, nor the son of wickedness afflict him, and I will beat
down his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him.
But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him, and in my
name shall his horn be exalted. I will set his hand also in the
sea, and his right hand in the rivers. He shall cry unto me,
Thou art my Father, my God, and the rock of my salvation. Does
that sound familiar? Also I will make him my firstborn
higher than the kings of the earth. My mercy will I keep for
him forevermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him. His
seed also will I make to endure forever in his throne as the
days of heaven. If his children forsake my law
and walk not in my judgments, if they break my statutes and
keep not my commandments, Then will I visit their transgressions
with the rod and their iniquity with stripes." Now look at this
next verse. Oh, what good news we see here.
After describing what the Lord did there in verses 30-32, the
Lord says this, Nevertheless, my lovingkindness will I not
utterly take from him. We were talking about this last
night. I can't remember exactly what it was, but I made a statement
to this. We will never, ever, ever fall
from the love of God. Our salvation can never be lost. Nothing can separate us, as it
says in Romans 8. Nothing. Not even John Reeves. can separate John Reeves from
God Almighty, from his love. Nevertheless, my loving kindness
will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness
to fail. My covenant will I not break,
nor alter the thing that has gone out of my lips. Robert Hopper
wrote this about that word again, He says, it is all along considered
in the covenant engagements of Jehovah that the seed of Christ
will manifest frequent rebellions. I knew, saith Jehovah, speaking
of Israel, that thou wouldest deal very treacherously, and
was called a transgressor from the womb. You can read that in
Isaiah 48a. And therefore, in the covenant,
God hath made provision for corrections, hence chastisements, afflictions,
sicknesses, troubles, and the like. Thou wast a God, saith
the psalmist, that forgave us them, though thou took vengeance
of their inventions. Psalms 99 verse 8. And the reason
is obvious, writes Robert Hawker, the purchase of salvation cost
no less a price than the blood of his son. so inestimable of
a blessing and so dearly bought, it is not to be trifled with. Look at verse 33. Nevertheless, my lovingkindness
will I not utterly take away from Him. Our precious Jesus, O gracious
God and Father in Christ, How wonderful are your words to this
poor sinner. Our Lord tells us in Malachi
3 verse 6, He says, For I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore ye sons of Jacob are
not consumed. Look at verses 34-37, I'll bring
this to an end. My covenant will I not break,
nor alter the thing that has gone out of my lips. Once have
I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed
shall endure forever, his throne as the sun before me. It shall
be established forever as the moon and as a faithful witness
in heaven. Selah. Folks, every trouble,
every trial, every single point of this path that the Lord has
put me on brings me closer to my Savior. I consider the path
that I see with my pastor as he and his wife gain in elderly
years. How their bodies are quitting
a little bit by little bit more and more. And those of you who
are my age, you know these things. We're experiencing those things
now. We're not like it was when we were 30. I'm going to live
forever. Oh, it wasn't for you guys that way? I see how it is for him and Judy
as they struggle with this body of death. You know, Paul cried
out, he says, O wretched man that I am. That's what this is
all about. Nevertheless, he says, who shall
deliver me from this body? Nevertheless, the Lord Jesus
who has promised it. He who has purposed it, shall
he not do it? Every trial we walk through in
this winding path, though we walk through the valley of the
shadow of death, my comfort is in his rod. His rod. The one that sits at the right
hand, the hand of all power. His rod is His staff, and He
shall not fail. His name is Jesus Christ, the
Lord for a reason. He's Lord of all. Amen.