Turn to Psalms number 100 if
you would. Just open your Bibles and set them down there on your
laps for just a moment. My Lord commands of me this day. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,
saith my God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem,
and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity
is pardoned, for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for
all her sins." You talk about grace. Double. What our Lord gives you and I
is more than sufficient. the voice of him that crieth
in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight
in the desert a highway for your God. Every valley shall be exalted,
every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked
shall be made straight, and the rough places plain, and the glory
of the Lord shall be revealed. That's in Isaiah chapter 40. If you're open to this first
psalm, that's where I want you. That's what the Lord says to
me. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people.
Cry in the wilderness. Prepare a way of the Lord. to His people. Make straight
in the desert a highway for our God. When the Lord speaks to
the heart of His loved one, He speaks peace. He speaks peace. I know. I know you're going through this,
John. I know you're going through this.
I know what it is. I've been tempted like you. I've had the temptations of this
flesh thrown at me way harder than you folks or me will ever
know. He knows what we're going through. He speaks peace. Be still to
whatever beguiles you. Lord, speak to our hearts this
day. We have come here this morning
for a message from you. Lord, make it so. Lord, make
it so. With wars and rumors of wars
falling all around each and every one of us. With disturbances that are boiling
up in our own families. Or maybe, maybe it is with you,
like it is with me. Maybe your sin, the sin of your
flesh, is troubling you. I pray that it is. I pray that
it is. I pray that my Lord will trouble
me with my sin. You see, I have a big old huge
log in my eye. A big log. I need to deal with that, so
Lord, trouble me. Trouble me with my log. Maybe one of those things that
I just mentioned were troubling you. Where can we go, oh Lord?
Where can we go for the troubles of a sinner's soul? Only thou
has the words of life. I read for you just a moment
ago in Isaiah chapter 40, the voice of Him that crieth in the
wilderness, that's me. It says, prepare ye the way of
the Lord. I'm here to preach to you this
morning about a Savior. His name is Jesus, for He shall
save His people. Make straight in the desert You
know what a desert is? A desert is a place where there's
no water, where there's nothing but death. You go out into the
desert and there's bones, dry weeds, things that are shriveled
up. Everywhere in this world where
there is no gospel, where there is no gospel preached is a desert
with no water. Make straight in the desert a
highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted,
every mountain and hill shall be made low. The gospel of Jesus
Christ wipes out those mountains, fills in those valleys so that
we walk easily along through it. You don't have to walk up
no hill. You don't have to walk down to the front of the aisle.
You don't have to get into a baptism. That's my job. How can I comfort
you through the troubles that you're going through? I can tell
you about the one who knows exactly what it is and has made the path
clear for you. He's done it all. Everything
that God requires for a man to be in the presence of God for
eternity, Jesus Christ has provided. Every mountain shall be made
low, and the crooked shall be made straight." You don't have
to go over here. Uh oh, you've done that. Now
you've got to go over here. Now you've got to go over that
way. No. There's one way to heaven, and
that's through Jesus. Jesus Christ the Lord. And the rough place is plain.
and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed." How do I prepare
the way for the Lord? By telling you of Him. That's
what John the Baptist did. When they came to him and asked
him, are you the Messiah? Are you the one that we're supposed
to be seeking? Or are you one of the prophets? No. I'm not
that one. I'm not Him. I'm not the light
of the world. The light of the world is the
one I'm telling you about. I'm not even worthy to latch
His shoes. I'm not worthy of anything from
Him, but He's given me the honor and the privilege to come to
people and say, He's the one. How do I prepare the way for
Him? I tell you about Him. I tell you about the Lord Jesus
Christ of whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in. That
means all power in heaven and earth are His. That's what Scripture
says. All life eternal has been given to Him to decide who it
goes to. We're still going to be in Psalms. Just stay there. I'm going to
go over real quick and just read this so I can say it correctly. You know me. I'm old. I forget
things. I could, you could tell me a
person's name and two minutes later, I forget what it is. Isabel. Elizabeth. Karen? See, I told you. John 17, chapter 1, or chapter
17, verse 3. And this is life eternal. No, verse 2, and as thou hast
given him power, speaking of our Lord and Savior, over all
flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast
given him. How do I prepare the way for
the Lord? By telling you of who He is,
by telling you of what He's done, laying down His life for His
people, perfectly shedding His blood for them, a perfect blood,
a perfect Lamb of God, spotless as it is, paying the price in
full for His people. How are you going to call upon
someone you've never heard of? How are you going to call upon Him
of whom you've never heard of? God sends a preacher. One who
is sent of God to make straight in this desert wilderness. This
desert wilderness that each and every one of us walk in every
day. It's called the Valley of the Shadow of Death in Psalms
23. It's death to the reprobate.
It's death to those who have not God. But it's life to those who are
loved of Him. It's only a shadow of that death
to those whom He loves. Those for whom He shed His precious
blood for. Those that He died in their stead.
The just, as He calls them, justified by Him, sanctified by Him, redeemed
by Him, and called by Him. When a preacher of the truth
brings the truth of Christ and Him crucified, the path is made
straight. Because that's all it is. Christ
and Him crucified. That's all I want to hear about.
I want to hear about my Lord and what He's done for me. And
that's my job is to come and tell you what the Lord has done
for His people. If you're one of His, He's done
it for you. Everything you need is in your Savior. The road is made straight. It's
not crooked. It's not this way and it's not
that way. The Word of God is sure. There are no maybes. In Matthew 7, 13 we read these
words, Enter ye in at the straight gate, for wide is the gate, and
broad is the way that leadeth to destruction. And many there be which go therein.
In verse 14 we read this, Because
straight is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto
life. and few there be that find it. Does the creator of all that
is need anything from me? Absolutely not. Our God is God over all creation. He could make a rock speak if
he wanted to. He did make Yet it pleases our Lord to send
men, sinners saved by His grace, to preach about His grace to
sinners. Sinners for whom He will save
by His grace. He sends us to clear out the
paths of this world. And what is the result of clearing
the way for our Lord? We consider this a little bit
on Friday night, the tomb of Lazarus. Picture this, Lazarus has been
dead for four days, buried along the way, he's already starting
to stink. Our Lord came to that tomb and
what did he do? First thing he said was, roll
away the stone. We are often quoting him, Lazarus
come forth! And that's true, he did. And
the power of God made Lazarus come forth. But the first thing
that happened was the stone was rolled away. And what happens
when you roll away a stone to a dark tomb? Light shines in. The light of the world is what
we're going to talk about for just a moment. You know what?
Mark your spot there in Psalms. Turn over to Genesis chapter
1 real quick. As I was putting the message together, Sitting
there in my office yesterday, thinking about these things,
this came to my mind. What's the first thing, God,
that happened with God here? Look at verse... Well, let's just read verses 1 through 3.
Genesis chapter 1. In the beginning God created
the heaven and the earth, and the earth was without form and
void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit
of God moved upon the face of the waters, And God said, let
there be light, and there was light. See the relationship to
that in the tomb? Roll away the stone. Light shines in. Now we're gonna
get to something here in just a moment. Go back to Psalms 100
if you would. And we'll look at that in just
a second, but I've got to lay down the table. I've got to set
the table. I want to put the plates in the right place. I
want to put the silverware where it should be going. We're going
to have a banquet here today, folks. We're going to eat. Our
souls are going to be filled. In order for me to continue doing
that, setting the table, 2 Corinthians 4, verse 6, we read these words,
For God who commanded the light to shine, out of darkness has shined in
our hearts. Does that bless you? I'll tell
you, if you're a child of God and you see that light as for
what it is now, you will remember how dark it was. but you won't forget the grace
in our Lord and shining that light in your heart. But it doesn't
finish there, it says, has shined in our hearts to give the light
of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Whoo! There you go. That's the
light that shines in our hearts. The knowledge of our Savior.
We grow in grace and in what? In the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Folks, the sheep of God, the
called out, the church, the whole assembly will hear the voice
of God when cried out by His preachers. The straight way is
the way of truth, and easy is His yoke. We read this in Matthew
11, verse 28. Our Lord says to us, Come unto
Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest. Take My yoke upon you, He says,
and learn of Me. For I am meek and lowly in heart. Our Lord became flesh, a servant
to you and I. He physically got down on His
knees and washed the feet of His disciples. Do you know He
does that to each and every one of us spiritually? He washes
us. He washes our sins away with
His blood. I am lowly in heart, He says, and
ye shall find rest unto your souls, for my yoke is easy and
my burden is light. Over in John chapter 10, some
unbelieving folks asked, how long do you make us to doubt?
After the Lord had told him that they believe not because they
are not His sheep, He says these words, My sheep hear My voice. Do you hear the voice of Christ
in Scriptures today? Do you hear the message from
God this morning? Why do we hear His voice? Why
is it we hear His voice and others don't? In Romans 9.15 it says
this, For he, God, saith unto Moses, I will have mercy on whom
I will have mercy, and I will have compassion upon whom I will
have compassion. So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. You don't hear that from other
pulpits. Other pulpits in the world around us preaching a world
of religion. They make a God like unto a man. He's done all he can. He's gone
out and laid the framework you need to come and help put the
roof on. The God of Scriptures has done it all. Why do we hear His voice? Because
He shows mercy unto some. God is merciful to His sheep.
Are you with me in the 100th Psalm? Read beginning at verse 1. Make
a joyful noise unto the Lord all ye lands. Serve the Lord
with gladness. Come before His presence with
singing. Know ye that the Lord, He is
God? It is He that hath made us. and
not we ourselves. We are His people, and the sheep
of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
and into His courts with praise. Be thankful unto Him, and bless
His name, for the Lord is good, His mercy is everlasting, and
His truth endureth to all generations. I want to go back to verse 3.
We're going to spend a little time right there in verse 3.
You mark yourself, leave that marker right there because we're
going to leave a couple times and come back. Know ye that the Lord,
He is God. That's the first part of verse
3. If you know Him as He is, God in the flesh, look over at
Psalms 46. Turn back a little bit to Psalms
46. If you know Him, if you know Him as God in the
flesh, you can sing these words. You know that's what a psalm
is? It's a psalm. Listen to these words in Psalms
46, beginning at verse 1. God is our refuge. those trials that we were talking
about at the beginning of the service. How can I approach this trial
in my life? And I pray that you're able to
say this same thing. Do you know God? Do you know
who the true and living God is of Scriptures? If you do, then
you can say these very words, God is my refuge. I can't tackle
this thing myself. He's already conquered it for
me. Is it troubling? Is it painful?
Oh, yes it is. But it's only for a time. It's
only for a season. God is our refuge and strength
and a very present help in trouble. Therefore, will not we fear through
the earth, though the earth be removed and the mountains be
carried into the midst of the sea? Though the waters thereof
roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the
swelling thereof, there is a river, the streams whereof shall make
glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the
Most High. There is a river, a river of living water in our
Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Gospel, the streams whereof
shall make us glad, the city of God, the holy place of the
tabernacles of the Most High. God is in the midst of her. She
shall not be moved. God shall help her and that right
early. The heathen raged. The kingdoms
were moved. He uttered his voice. The earth
melted. The Lord of hosts is with us.
The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. Come, behold the works
of the Lord. What desolations he hath made
in the earth. He maketh wars to seize. under
the end of the earth. He breaketh the bow and cutteth
the spear in the thunder. He burneth the chariot in the
fire." And then hear these words, be still and know that I am God. Be still. Some of you folks may
remember a day that was about 21 years ago. September 11th. Men hijacked airplanes and flew
into buildings and killed thousands of people. Oh, what a terrible,
terrible feeling went through my gut that day to see so many
perish so fast. Our God, allowed the wickedness of those
men's hearts to do what they did. Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen. I will be exalted in the earth. Sing out with me, folks. The
Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. If we belong to Him, if our names
were written on His breastplate before the world was, then nothing
can separate us from Him. He gave His only begotten Son
as our substitute, as our sacrifice, as our propitiation, as our atonement. Know ye that the Lord is God?
Do you know Him as He is revealed in Holy Scriptures? revealed
that all the fullness of the Godhead is manifest in His Son,
Christ Jesus, the Lord? He said to Philip Thomas, said
to his disciples, if you see me, you have seen the Father. I repeat what I said a moment
ago. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness,
has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Now the next
point we see in that third verse of Psalm 100 is this, that it
is He that hath made us, not we ourselves. We had nothing
to do with our birth, did we? How many of you had a participation
point to do with your birth between your mother and father? Nobody's
gonna raise their hand. Because none of you did. That's
the exact same thing with our spiritual birth. The spirit that
was once dead is now quickened. Quickened through the preaching
of His Word of who Christ Jesus is, what He has done for us,
and where He is right now. Quickened, meaning given life
to. Lazarus was dead, he's stinking. Yeah, the light shined in was
the first thing that happened after the rock was moved. But
then the power of God spoke to that heart, that new heart that
he had placed in a dead soul. Giving life to that soul, he
said, come. Just as he has done to each and
every one of us through the preaching of his word. It is He that hath made us, not
we ourselves. We had nothing to do with our
birth in our mother's womb, and we had nothing to do with our
new birth. Only God can give life, and all
eternal life has been put in the hands of our Savior. I read
this a moment ago. Here it goes again, John 17,
2. As thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that He should
give eternal life to as many as thou hast given Him, And this
is eternal life that they might know. Know what? Know thee. Know the Lord. Know thee. The only true God in Jesus Christ
whom thou hast sent. The potter hath made us as it
pleaseth him. Again, I want you to mark your
text there and this time turn over to Romans chapter 9. We are His creation, some unto
vessels of wrath, some fitted to destruction, and others vessels
of mercy, aforetime prepared unto glory. In 1 Corinthians
15.10 we read these words, but by the grace of God I am what
I am. and His grace which was bestowed
upon me was not in vain." Paul was not talking about what we
normally say is, but for the grace of God there go I. That's
not scriptural. That was written by a hymn writer. Even though
it is true. Because it is by the grace of
God that we don't go a certain direction. It is by His grace
that we come this way at all. It was by His grace that Lazarus
came forth out of the tomb. But what Paul is speaking about
there when he says, but by His grace I am what I am, it's by
the grace of God that I am a saved sinner. It is by the grace of
God that He came and saved me from my sins by the works of
His Son, the Lord Jesus, and grace which was bestowed upon
me that was not bestowed in vain. Now read again the last part.
Let me read again the last part of beginning at verse 14. What shall
we say then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will
have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.
For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, and we're talking about
the potter who has the right to do what he wants with his
creation. The very one who chooses this
and that, whose purpose is fulfilled in this and that. For the scripture
saith unto Pharaoh, even for this time, for the same purpose
have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, that my
name might be declared throughout all the earth. Just about everybody's heard
about the Lord splitting the Red Sea. Just about everybody's
heard about a man named Jesus. Just about everybody's heard
about the story of Noah and the flooding of the world. Pharaoh was raised up, you know,
he was the most powerful man on earth at that time. He was
so powerful that he thought himself to be a god. People worshipped
him as a god. Yet all the power that he had
on this earth was nothing more and what God had given him and
placed in him to destroy him, that the world would see the
power of God in delivering his people. I have raised thee up that I
might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared
throughout all the earth. Therefore, have thee mercy on
whom we will have mercy, and look at these next words, and
whom he will hate hardness. That will say then unto me, why
doth ye yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
Nay, nay, nay. But O man, who art thou that
replyest against God? Who are you to question the wisdom
of God? Shall the thing formed say to
him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus? Folks, the
ways of God are above our ways. We think we know a lot, don't
we? We know so much that we make gods just like us. Some make
gods just like us out of wood. Others make gods just like us
out of their flesh. Why hast thou made me thus, have
not the potter power over the clay of the same lump to make
one vessel unto honor and another to dishonor? Does God not have
the right to do what he will with his creation? What if God
willing to show his wrath and to make his power known endured
with long suffering? I'll tell you, he's been suffering
a long time. Suffering meaning patiently waiting. He's been patiently waiting.
He'll patiently wait until that very last one for whom he shed
his blood for is called out of darkness. then it's over. What if God, willing to show
His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering
the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction, that He might make
known, here's why, here's why the sheep of God hear His voice,
that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels
of mercy which He had aforeprepared unto glory, even us whom he hath
called, not the Jews only, but also the Gentiles." Now go back to our text in Psalms
100 if you would. I'll wrap this up pretty quick
here, just give me another minute or two if you would. Look at
the last part of Psalms 100 verse 3. We are his people, and the
sheep of His pasture." That's the title of my message this
day. Sheep of His pasture. John 10, verse 27, it says these
words, My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow
Me. And I give unto them eternal
life, and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them
out of My hand. Folks, you got troubles in your
life? God has conquered our troubles
already. I know it doesn't feel like it
at this moment, but trust me, God's Word is true. I shall give unto them eternal
life, they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. My Father which gave them me
is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of
my Father's hand. I and my Father are one. The
world hates election. They say it's not fair. They
say God should give everyone an opportunity to come to him.
Folks, he does. What? That's not what you just
said, John. Yes, it is. The call goes out
to everyone. The word of God is a two-edged
sword. Come unto Jesus. Believe on Him. Whosoever believeth
on Him shall have everlasting life. Dead people can't hear, though. The call goes out, but no one
will believe while they are in their unregenerate nature. And
this is where the grace of God comes in, because you and I were
right there with them. We were in that spot. See how
the grace of God grows before us every time we look at it?
I know we looked at this last Sunday, didn't we? We looked
at it the Sunday before. I have no doubt, though I couldn't
hear what was preached, that those two men that came here,
the guest preachers, they preached the same message. Christ in Him
crucified, saved by sovereign grace. It's the same message. But it grows and it grows and
it grows. I come to love my Lord more and
more. Do you? Because of His grace for me. No one will believe while they
are in their unregenerate state. The truths of God are enmity.
They're contrary to the natural man. And this is why the Lord
told Nicodemus, ye must be born again. This is the grace of God. Some are sheep of his pastor,
and he came to call his sheep. Look over it. John chapter 10,
for just a moment. After you, chapter 25, verse
32, you don't need to turn there, let me read it for you. And before him shall be gathered
all nations, and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd
divideth his sheep from the goats. And then he says in verse 33,
and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats
on his left. Oh, I didn't read that. John
chapter 10, beginning at verse 1, it says, Verily, verily, I
say unto you, John chapter 10, beginning at verse 1, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into
the sheepfold, but clammeth up some other way, the same is a
thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the
door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth, and
the sheep hear his voice, and he calleth his own sheep by name,
and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his
own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, for
they know his voice. And a stranger will they not
follow, but will flee with him, for they know not the voice of
strangers. One last time, back in our text, one last time if
you would, Psalms 100. This time I'd like you to read
beginning again at verse 1, and I want you to skip over verse
3. Make a joyful noise unto the
Lord all ye lambs. Serve the Lord with gladness.
Come before his presence with singing. Enter into his gates
with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise. Be thankful
unto him and bless his name, for the Lord is good, his mercy
is everlasting, and his truth endureth to all generations.
Now three, know ye. Because of all those things,
you can do all those things. You can enter into his gates.
You can make a joyful noise. You can serve the Lord with gladness.
Know ye that the Lord, he is God. It is he that hath made
us and not we ourselves. We are his people. and the sheep
of his pasture. Let me read from verse, let me
read the 93rd Psalm for you. You can turn over there real
quick if you'd like. Psalm number 93. This is why. We just read back
there in 100. Know ye not that the Lord he
is God? Look here at verse one of Psalm
93. The Lord reigneth. He is clothed with majesty. The Lord is clothed with strength
wherewith He hath girded Himself. The world also established that
it cannot be moved. Over in Psalm 97. One page over to the right. Psalm
97, beginning in verse 1. The Lord reigneth. Let the earth
rejoice. Let the multitude of isles be
glad thereof. Clouds and darkness are round
about Him. Righteousness and judgment or
the hapitation of his throne. Our Lord reigneth. You know what
that means? That means he is sovereign over
everything. I love using the word, what denomination
are you, John? You're a pastor for a church?
What denomination are you folks up there? Well, the title on
the church says Baptist. It has to because it's been that
way for a long time. And it's a real It's almost impossible
to jump through the hoops of California and change it to this,
but I tell them sovereign grace. I don't even use the word Baptist
in it anymore. The word Baptist nowadays is
mixed up with so many different kinds of Baptists out in the
world, you just don't know what you're getting. It's that crooked
path. It's that path with the hills. It's that path with the
valleys. Sovereign grace is a straight path right along. It means all
things are ruled by Him, and we are saved by His grace. Our Lord says to you and I right
now, be not afraid, dear child of the Most High. We are his people and the sheep
of his pasture. One more, if you would, Psalms
23. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall
not want. He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures. He leadeth me beside the still
waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth
me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though
I walk through the valley and the shadow of death, I will fear
no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort
me. Thou preparest a table before
me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil,
my cup runneth over, surely, surely, goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the
house of the Lord forever. Amen.