I wish I could sit down here
in this pew today and listen and hear the message that the
Lord's given me to bring. I've mentioned this to you before,
so I'm going to mention it again and again and again and again.
If our sin that we commit right now doesn't bother us, then we
have a lot to be worried about. A lot to be worried about. Let
me read something for you. And I want you to ask yourselves
this, does this apply to me? Can I put myself in these shoes? And oh, how I pray you do. I
delight, Paul says, I delight in the law of God after the inward
man. He delights in the law of God.
It's good. It's good for us. When we can
walk In the ways of God, He blesses us with great things of this
world. We're not talking about the things spiritual. We're talking
about these things in the flesh. We delight in the law of God
because it's good. It's good that we don't murder
folks. It's good that we love God with
all our heart. It's good that we worship Him and Him alone.
But Paul goes on, doesn't he? He says next, he says, But I
see, I see another law in my members, warring against the
law of my mind. You see, Paul has had the law
of God written on his heart. That's what he's talking about,
the law of his mind, the law of his heart, the new law that
God has written on our hearts. The very promise that God has
made, I will write my laws in their hearts, and I will be their
God. I will be to them a God, and
they will be to me a people. So Paul says, I see another law
on my members warring, contrary, against the law of my mind, and
bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my
members. wretched worm that I am. Oh, wretched man that I am, who
shall deliver me from the body of this death? Now, Paul, remember,
was a very righteous man in his own mind. He followed the law
of God in his own mind as perfectly as he could. He went about just
as we all do before the Lord calls us, thinking that He's
something. Yet here now, Paul writes to
us as our example of what we are. Can you say this about yourself? Can you read those, can you hear
those words and think to yourself, that's me. Lord, who's gonna
deliver me from the guy that Thought those thoughts as he
was driving down the freeway yesterday. Lord, who's going
to deliver me when I have those feelings go through this flesh,
this body of flesh? Lord, who's going to deliver
me from the sin that I see in this flesh warring against the
mind who loves your law? I thank God, he says, through
Jesus Christ our Lord. There's only one way. There's
only one way. to know salvation is of the Lord,
and that's through the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. He says, I am
the way, the truth, and the life. Will you turn over to Philippians
chapter 3? I've titled, I'm actually bringing
to you a message that I brought three years ago. It's titled,
A Simple Message of Encouragement. I've added the word revisited.
We need to revisit God's Word over and over again, don't we?
Can you imagine how often Pastor Gene Harmon had to preach one
of the messages that he preached three or four years ago? I've
rewritten this one a little bit to fit today's situation, to
fit the folks that it is, but it's the same message every week,
isn't it? What encouragement could I bring before God's people. What does it say over... Go to
Philippians chapter 3, I'll be there with you in just a moment.
I want to read from Isaiah chapter 40. Comfort ye, comfort ye my
people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem,
and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished. What did Paul say back there?
He said, I see in my members, I see another law in my members
warring against the law of my mind. Folks, your sin should
trouble you. But just because that war is
going on in us doesn't mean we shouldn't have hope. There is
hope. There's hope in Jesus Christ
our Lord. The hope of glory is in Him. And our Lord promises His people. He says this, He says, My sheep
will hear My voice. And I say that first because
I want you to think about that. Are you hearing the voice of
Christ from His Word? Oh, how I pray that you're hearing
with your heart. The heart that is troubled with
the sin. Because that's where you'll find comfort in our Savior
is when you see Him as your Savior. If you don't see Him as your
Savior, if He's just another figment of man's imagination
wandering around as Jesus Christ the Lord and waiting for you
to do something, then He's nothing. So I'm praying. My prayer is
that He means something to you. Is He your Savior? Well, if He's
your Savior, then He's saving you for something, isn't He?
Oh, here's our hope. Our Savior. The Lord Jesus Christ. The message that God calls His
elect with is the same message that He feeds you and I with.
When the Lord asked the disciples after He had instructed that
you must eat of My flesh and drink of My blood, there were
many that went and said, that's too hard of stuff for us to take
now. When he declared himself to be God Almighty in the flesh
and ruler over everything, sovereign God, they said, oh, now wait
a minute, that's too much for us to take now. And many of them
walked with him no more. So he turned to his disciples
and he said, will you also go away? I ask you, where are you
going to go? Where else is there the words
of life but in the word of God, the word of truth? It's the same
message. In Isaiah 55, verse 6, the prophet
says, Seek ye the Lord while He may be found. That's today,
folks. That's right now. See, folks,
seeking the Lord doesn't just stop when you're saved, when
you've come to know the truth. Seeking the Lord is something
God's people do from that moment that God gives them life. From
that moment the Lord comes into our hearts. and gives us life
to come unto Him, that moment all the way to the day He takes
us out of this world, we seek Him. Seek Him over and over and
over again. Why? Because that battle is going
on within, and there's nobody going to win it but our Savior,
the Lord Jesus. He's the only one who can put
it away. Where are we going to go? You can go to all kinds of
other churches where they'll say, well, if you'll just start
being more of a Christian, you'll be OK. They'll teach you how
there's things that you think you can do, but there's no way
there that you can get any satisfaction, because eventually you're going
to mess up again. You say, what do I do? Come to Christ. That's what you do. Come to Christ.
Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while
he is near. This is a message for all of
his elect, whether they be babes in Christ or mature in Christ
alike. It's a message for all of us.
You see now why I said I wished I could sit here right now and
hear it? I'm talking to myself here. If the Lord blesses you
with it, great. But right now, John Reeves needs
to hear this with my heart. Where is my comfort? Where can
I find comfort? Here's comfort. Your warfare
is accomplished. Rest in Him. Stand still and see the wondrous
works of God. Stand still. We seek a Savior
in all that we do. Are you with me in Philippians
chapter 3? Look at verse 3. For we are the
circumcision which worship God. in the Spirit and rejoice in
Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. Now I want to look
at these three points. The first one we'll look at is
confidence in the flesh. We're going to look at it backwards.
The second one will be Christ Jesus. We rejoice in Christ Jesus
and we worship God in the Spirit will be the third. So the first
point we have here is no confidence in the flesh. Our first conviction
when the Spirit of God converts an old, dead heart is to convict,
convince our standing before Him. A man must see our flesh
for what it is. It's sin. Just as Paul had said
there, O wretched man that I am, not that I was, but that I am,
all of God's people will see day He gives us life till the
day He takes us out of this world. We'll see sin because that was
our nature. That was the nature of this flesh.
It's weak. It's not just weak, it's dead
and trespasses in sin. It must be put away. Turn, if
you would, over to 2 Kings chapter 5. 2 Kings chapter 5. Only the Spirit of God can convict
a sinner of this truth. You say, well, are you sure,
John? Can it just be the Word of God
that convicts us? Folks, we come into this world
loving ourselves, plain and simple. Look at little Johnny. Isn't
he so cute? He's such a good little boy.
She's such a good little girl. Only God can convict a man and
a woman, or a woman, of what they are before Him. There is
none good, he says in his word, no, not one. Unregenerate men
cannot understand the truths of God, for they are foolishness
to the natural man. What do you mean I'm dead? What
do you mean I can do nothing to save myself? This way, my
way, according to my understanding is just as good as any. Isn't
that what Cain did? Didn't he bring something before
God to sacrifice before God of his own idea of what was good? Absolutely. And God had no respect
for him. Isaiah 53, 6, we read this. All
we, like sheep, have gone astray. We have turned everyone unto
his own way. Are you here in 2 Kings 5? Look
at verse 1 if you would with me. Now Naaman, a captain of
the host of Syria, was a great man with his master and honorable,
because of him the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria, and he
was also a mighty man in valor, but he was also a leper. Now
I wanted you to see the description up here in the first couple of
verses because this is a picture of you and I. Oh, we thought
we were some good people, didn't we? I never killed anybody! I never hurt anybody. Sure, I
did a little bit of that, but I didn't do any of that. Have
you not said that about yourself as well? Some of you may have
said, well, I did a lot of that, but it wasn't as much as that
guy over there. Naaman was a mighty man, but he was also full of
exactly what you and I were full of, and that's sin, leprosy. Now I want you to jump over,
if you would, So Naaman came with his horses
and his chariot, verse 9, and stood at the door of the house
of Elisha. And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash
into Jordan seven times. Seven times, and thy flesh shall
come again unto thee, and thou shalt be clean. So here, a prophet
of God has told Naaman what he should do. how he should go about
getting rid of the sin that's in him, how he should go about,
and he says, go and wash seven times in the Jordan, and thou
shalt be clean. But Nahum was wroth. He said,
now wait a minute. This is the natural man right
here. Now wait a minute. Why should I go and do that?
Why should I sit and just rest in Christ when I could be a better
person if I just do this? If I quit smoking, if I quit
drinking, if I quit cussing? If I start feeding the poor,
if I walk down to the front of the church, if I turn myself
over to God today, if I commit myself to God, that should be
good enough, shouldn't it? And Ammon says, no, he was wroth
and he went away. This is verse 11. Behold, he
says, I thought, he will surely come out to me, surely the prophet
of God should come out to me. See how much he thinks of himself?
Who is this man who won't even come out and speak to me? call
on the name of the Lord his God and strike his hand over the
place and recover the leper. Maybe that's what he should be
doing. This is the way he should be doing it. Are not Abneh and
Parker rivers of the Damascus better than all the waters of
Israel? What about those waters back in Damascus? Aren't they
better? Isn't this way better? Isn't it better if I get up and
do something to help myself? To make myself more pure? Isn't
it better? May I not wash in them and be
clean? So he turned and went away in
rage. And his servants came near and
spake unto him and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee to
do something great, to do some great thing, wouldst thou not
have done it? How much rather than, when he
saith to thee, Wash and be clean? Then went he down, and dipped
himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the
man of God, and his flesh came again, like unto the flesh of
a little child, and he was clean." In Isaiah 55.8, we read these,
Our Lord tells us, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither
are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens
are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your
ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. The ways of God are
to trust His Son, sayeth the man of God." That's my next point. Rejoicing Christ. Naaman stated
in the last verse there, we read in verse 15, and he returned
to the man of God, he and all of his company, and he came and
he stood He is no God in all the earth,
but in Israel. Now therefore I pray that you
take the blessing of thy servant." Now this is to rejoice in Him.
When the Spirit of God takes up residence in the new heart,
one of His chosen, we give Christ all the glory. Isn't that what
it says in 1 Corinthians 1 verse 29-31? That no flesh should glory
in His presence? But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification,
and redemption, that according as it is written, he that glorieth,
let him glory in the Lord. Isn't that what it is to glory
in the Lord when we give Him all the glory for everything?
That's what election is. That's what election is. It's
giving God all the glory for everything. Boy, the world sure
hates election, don't they? My aunt, every time I say that,
my aunt pops into my mind, you will not take my free will away
from me. Okay. They don't like election
at all, do they? Don't I have a choice? Can't
I do it my way? To declare him as Lord. as Lord. To declare Him as Lord
of everything is to give Him glory. And the people of God
do just that. We rejoice in His Lordship. How often I've heard someone
say after I've made this statement, I'll make this statement, I know
that if God hadn't chosen me, I would not have chosen Him.
And there we go, all the heads stop bobbing up and down. Yep,
me too. Amen. We rejoice in His Lordship of
all creation. We read in John chapter 1, the
fulfillment of Scripture. Do you know that God created
the heavens and the earth? In John chapter 1 we read this,
in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not
anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life
was the light of men." And then down in verse 14 we read this,
"...and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." Christ is
the fulfilling of that very phrase in the Old Testament. God said,
let it be. Colossians 1.12, we read this,
"...giving thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet, to be
partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, who hath
delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated
us into the kingdom of his dear Son." We're talking about glorifying
the Son. "...in whom we have redemption through his blood,
even the forgiveness of sins, who is the image of the Invisible
God, the firstborn of every creature, for by him were all things created
that are in heaven, that are in earth, visible and invisible,
whether they be thrones, dominions, or principalities, or powers.
All things were created by Him and for Him. To God be the glory. Great things He hath done. And
He is before all things and by Him all things. And we rejoice
that He's Lord of salvation as well. Turn over to Luke chapter
19. We rejoice that He's the Lord of salvation. Look here
at verse 1. And Jesus entered and passed
through Jericho. And behold, there was a man named
Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was
rich, and he sought to see Jesus who He was, and could not for
the press because he was a little of stature. And he ran before
and climbed up into the sycamore tree to see him before he was
to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place,
he looked up and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make
haste and come down, for today I must abide at thy house. Remember a woman that was at
the well? Remember how he started off that scripture, he says,
he must go through Samaria? We've talked about that before.
Isn't that wonderful? He must come through rescue.
Why? Because he has some saints here.
He has some people that he is determined to believe his son. He has some people that he is
determined to give faith, to give trust, to give peace to
through the belief of his son. Here he says to Zacchaeus, come
down, for today I must abide at thy house. Verse 6. And he
made haste, and he came down, and he received him joyfully.
See how it is, rejoicing so the salvation is of the Lord? He
rejoiced and he received him joyfully, and when they saw it,
they all murmured, saying that he was gone to be a guest with
a man that is a sinner. And Zacchaeus stood and said
unto the Lord, Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to
the poor, and if I have taken anything from any man by false
accusation, I restore to him fourfold. And Jesus saith unto
him, This day is salvation come to this house. For as much as
he also is a son of Abraham, for the Son of Man is come to
seek and to save that which was lost. We're talking about comfort. Bringing to the people of God,
those who have the trials and tribulations of sin within, comforting
them to let them know that the warfare has been accomplished. Well, what is that warfare? How
has it been accomplished? The Son of Man is come to seek
and to save. His name is Jesus. He shall be
called Jesus, for He shall save His people. Does that leave any
room for anybody to doubt? Does that leave any room for
anything for you to do? No. As Jonah learned, so must we
that salvation is of the Lord and of the Lord alone. We rejoice
that He is Lord on His throne. Turn over to Revelation 5. Look
at verse 1 with me if you would. And I saw in the right hand of
Him that sat on the throne a book. written within." This is Revelation
5, verse 1. And on the backside, sealed with
seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming
with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book and to loose
the seals thereof? And no man in heaven nor in earth,
neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither
to look thereon. And I wept much, because no man
was found worthy to open to read the book, neither to look thereon.
And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not! Behold! Look! Behold! Grasp ahold of this! The Lion
of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed! He
hath overcome! to open the book, and to loose
the seals thereof. And I beheld, and lo, in the
midst of the throne, and of the four beasts, and in the midst
of the elders, stood a lamb as it had been slain. having seven
horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent
forth into all the earth. And he came and took the book
out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. And
when he had taken the book, the four beasts and the four and
twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of
them harps and golden vials, full of odors, which are the
prayers of the saints. And they sung a new song, saying,
Thou art worthy to take the book. and to open the seals thereof,
for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood
out of every kindred, every tongue, and people and nation, and hast
made us unto our God kings and priests. And we shall reign on
earth, and I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round
about the throne, and the beast, and the elders, and the number
of them was 10,000 times 10,000, and thousands of thousands. Our flesh stumbles and trips,
but the spirit that dwelleth in does not. And that brings
me to our third point. We worship God in spirit. Turn
over to Romans chapter 8. We worship God in spirit. In
Romans chapter 8, beginning at verse 1, we read these words.
There is therefore now no condemnation. to them which are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. What was
it Paul said? He said, O wretched man that
I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? We see ourselves as two separate
people now, don't we? We see ourselves in the Spirit,
that we love God with all of our heart, with all of our mind,
with all of our soul. But yet the flesh continues to
sin against God. This is why it says, seek ye
the Lord today while he can be found. Seek ye today. This is
a message not just for those who've never heard, but for you
and I who've heard over and over and over again. Seek ye the Lord. Where's your peace going to be?
It's going to be in that very fact that the Lord Jesus has
accomplished all that we need to have done. Our warfare is
accomplished, folks. In Him, He said on that cross,
it is finished! It is done! John, listen! Listen! Hear the Word of God! My warfare is complete! It's
finished! Oh, that will help me put that
sin away. Every time I think of the sin,
I look to my Lord and Savior. It will help me to put that sin
away even more. To put away the old fleck. To
turn away from those things that we used to delight in. There
is therefore now no condemnation. Why? Our Savior was condemned
for us. We are justified in Him. I like
what Pastor Gene and many other preachers have said. You know
what justified means? It means just as if I'd never
sinned. When the Lord says, I will remember
your sins no more, what does He mean by that? It means He'll
remember our sins no more. Why? Because they were laid on
our Savior. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of
life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and
death." Folks, we're free. We've been freed from that bondage
that we once walked in, that we so lovingly embraced, and
now our sins bother us. I'm not talking about those big
sins of wanting to take somebody out of this world done something
against you or your family. I'm not talking about those kinds
of sins. I'm talking about all the little
ones. Lord, forgive me for doubting
you. What about that one? Do you know that one's just as
much a penalty of death? If that's all you've ever done
in your life is doubted the Lord God Almighty, that's enough to
put you in hell. That's enough to deserve hell.
But the Lord's put that away as well. For what the law says
could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh." Verse
3, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh
and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh. Now let's turn over
to Philippians again, this time chapter 2. And I'll try to bring
this to a close here. Philippians chapter 2. What is
the comfort that John needs to hear? over and over and over
again. What is the comfort that keeps
me seeking my Lord? And that is that the warfare
is accomplished. That old wretched man that lives
within this flesh, I'm so thankful that my God has put it away.
Here in Philippians chapter 2, look with me at verse 1. If there
be therefore any consolation, that means if there be any rest,
If there be any peace, if there be any consolation in Christ,
if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if
any bowels of mercies, fulfill ye my joy, writes Paul, that
ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord,
of one mind, let nothing be done through strife or vain glory,
but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others, better than
themselves. Look not every man on his own
things, but every man also on the things of the others. Let
this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being
in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with
God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of
a servant, and was made in the likeness of men, and being found
in the fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore, because
of that, we have peace in our Savior. Because of that, our
warfare, we see our warfare as being accomplished. Wherefore,
God hath also highly exalted him and given him a name which
is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow of things in heaven, and things on earth and under
the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord to the glory of God the Father. And I say, Amen. Turn over to the 40th chapter
of Isaiah. In verse 1, we read this, Comfort
ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably
to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished,
that her iniquity is pardoned, for she hath received the Lord's
hand double for all her sins." Double the mercy, double the
grace. Folks, God's people are saved
to the uttermost. Why? Because Jesus is perfect
in everything that He did. And He went to the cross for
His people. That means we're perfected. Isn't
that what it says over in Hebrews? Let me turn over there real quick
and read it to make sure I say it correctly. Over in Hebrews
10, for by one offering, He hath perfected forever them
that are set apart, them that are sanctified. Just a simple
message, isn't it? Christ and Him crucified. That's
so simple. Why do we make it so difficult? Why does John make it so difficult? I pray that this message was
a comfort to you.