Psalm 73, name of the message
is, two things good for me, two things good for me, two things good for every believer.
Psalm 73, truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of
a clean heart, but as for me, my feet were almost gone, my
steps had well nigh slipped. For I was envious at the foolish
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no
bands in their death, but their strength is firm. They are not
in trouble as other men, neither are they plagued like other men.
Therefore, pride compasses them about as a chain. Violence covereth
them as a garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness. They have more than heart could
wish. They are corrupt and speak wickedly
concerning oppression. They speak lawfully. They set
their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through
the earth. Therefore, as people return hither,
and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them, and they say, How doth God know? And is their knowledge in the
Most High? Behold, these are the ungodly who prosper in the
world. They increase in riches. Verily, I have cleansed my heart
in vain and washed my hands in innocency. For all the day long
have I been plagued and chastened every morning. If I say, I will
speak. Thus, behold, I should offend
against the generation of thy children. When I thought to know
this, it was too painful for me. Until I went into the sanctuary
of God, then understood I their end. Surely thou didst set them in
the slippery places. Thou castest them down into destruction. How are they bought into desolation
as in a moment? They are utterly consumed with
terrors. As a dream when one awakeneth,
so the Lord. So, O Lord, when Thou awakenest,
Thou shalt despise their image. Thus my heart was aggrieved,
and I was pricked in my reins. So foolish was I in ignorance. I was as a beast before thee.
Nevertheless, I am continually with thee. Thou hast holden me
by my right hand. Thou shalt guide me with thy
counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven
but thee? And there is none upon the earth
that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth
but God is the strength of my heart in my portion forever.
For lo, they that are far from me, or far from thee shall perish. Thou hast destroyed all them
that go a-whoring from thee, but it is good for me to draw
near to God. I have put my trust in the Lord
God, that I may declare all thy works. Tonight's verse will be
found in verse 28, but it is good for me to draw near to God.
I have put my trust in the Lord God and I declare all thy works. David found in his experiences
through life that some things were good for him. Some things
were good for him. Tonight I want us to look at
two things as believers we should want to learn. And I don't think
anyone has fully learned these two things. I don't think any
believer has fully learned these two things, but we're being taught
them. We're being taught them as we journey through this world.
And after we've learned them, then by God's grace, we should
be able to submit ourselves more to him and to each other and
to the church universal. It's plain for me to see that
my gracious heavenly father is teaching me these two things.
Teaching me these two things and see if it's so with you.
And I believe he's teaching these two things to every born again,
blood washed believer. The first thing is this. It's
good for me that I've been afflicted. It's good for me that I've been
afflicted. Brother Scott Robertson or Richardson once said the Christian
is either in trouble going into trouble or coming out of trouble. And every believer, we know that's
true. We know that's true. We know that's absolutely true.
It's true for all of the Lord's blood bought people. We need
to hide God's word in our heart, beloved. We need to hide God's
word in our heart so that during times of trial and afflictions
in life, we don't murmur and complain against God. we don't
murmur and complain against God. The scripture says in Psalm 119,
11, thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against
thee. Now for one to say that we are
afflicted is contrary to the health, wealth, false gospel
that's being proclaimed out there. But beloved, this is what the
word of God says. Turn if you would to Philippians
chapter one, and then put your finger in Hebrews chapter 12.
Philippians chapter one, In Hebrews chapter 12. The believer has
learned that it's good for us to be afflicted. Philippians chapter 1. In Hebrews
chapter 12. And this is a lesson, beloved,
we're being taught all through this life. All through this life. Philippians chapter 1 verse 29. Now, as I said, the false health,
wealth, prosperity says everything should be going good, but if
not, well, there must be some kind of sin in your life. That
sounds like Job's miserable comforters, beloved. That's who that sounds
like. Because every blood-bought, born-again
saint of God goes through trial and affliction. Whether it be
affliction of health, whether it be affliction of the mind,
or whether it be physical affliction, we are afflicted, beloved, and
we go through trials. And if you're not going through
a trial right now, you will be in the future. You will be in
the future. Philippians chapter 1 verse 29
says this, For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ
not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake.
God's people. We endure hardship, beloved.
We endure hardship as good soldiers of Christ. Turn now, if you would,
to Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12. Listen to these verses here.
Hebrews 12, verses 6 to 8. For whom the Lord loveth, he
chasteneth, and scourges every son whom he receiveth. If ye
endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons. For what
son is he whom the Father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement,
wherewithal are partakers then? Are ye bastards and not sons?
We'll always remember when the Lord chastens us, it's with love. It's with love. It's with love. 2 Corinthians, Paul, who we know
went through a lot of different things. Paul went through a lot
of suffering for the cause of Christ. He wrote in 2 Corinthians
12, 9, he wrote this. And he said, unto me, my grace
is sufficient for thee, and for my strength is made perfect in
weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities
that the power of Christ may rest upon me. And remember that
verse in Philippians that we read, for unto you is given in
the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to
suffer for my sake. Paul wrote that in prison, beloved.
That's a prison epistle. He wrote that, saying that. And
he was suffering for Christ's sake. He was suffering for Christ's
sake. My, Paul wrote that. what I just
read to you in 2 Corinthians 12, 9, and he was suffering for
Christ's sake. What did the Apostle John write
by inspiration of the Holy Spirit? He wrote this. These things have
I spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace. In the
world you shall have tribulation. That's our Lord. That's our Master
telling the Apostles, you're going to have tribulation. You're
going to have tribulation. But be a good cheer. I will overcome
the world. I've overcome the world, John
16, verse 33. Taryn, if you would, to 1 Peter
4. I'll read to you what James wrote.
Listen to what James writes. So suffering and affliction for
the saint is all through the scripture. James says this, James
1.12. Blessed is the man that endureth
temptation, for when he has tried, he shall receive the crown of
life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. And then
look at 1 Peter 4. 1 Peter 4. This is written multiple times,
beloved, that God's people will suffer and go through trials
and afflictions in this world. 1 Peter 4, verses 13 and 14. But rejoice in so much as ye
are partakers of Christ's suffering, that when his glory shall be
revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be
reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye. Oh my. And remember what we learned
when we went through that book, that study of that book. There
were some of them who were former Jews and they were totally cast
away by their families. There were some of them who were
idol makers at one time. And because they professed Christ
and wouldn't make idols anymore, they lost all their income. And
we know that Peter wrote to suffering saints. We found that out when
we studied that book. Look, if you be reproached for
the name of Christ, happy are ye for the spirit of glory and
of God resteth upon you. On their part he is evil spoken
of, but on your part he is glorified. The world speaks evil of Christ,
but he's glorified. He's glorified by the saints
of God. And when we go through affliction,
when we go through affliction, who do we draw near to? We'll
look at that later. Who do we draw near to? The Lord Jesus
Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ. We should not be disturbed by
afflictions and trials, for we know from scripture that they
are appointed by our great sovereign God. our great sovereign God. I was talking to a preacher this
week about Brother Bruce Crabtree, and they had just went over and
visited Brother Bruce Crabtree, and I said, well, how's Brother
Bruce doing? And they said, and I talked to
Bruce last week, but he was telling me, how's he doing? I said, how's
he doing? And he said, well, he told me,
brother, we're trusting God, we know he's the first cause
of all things. Only the grace of God can make a man say that.
Only the grace of God. Just trust in the Lord. Just
trust in the Lord. We should not be disturbed by
our afflictions and our trials and our afflictions because they're
for our good, beloved, and for God's glory. And for God's glory. What are some of the effects
of afflictions and trials? Well, they make some people bitter,
don't they? They make some people bitter. They make some people
sour. They make some people mean, and
they make some people rebellious. But for a true believer in the
Lord Jesus Christ, they're good for us. They're good for us. And here's some reasons that
they're good for us. Trials reveal the reality of our faith, whether
it's real, whether it's real. How can I know if the faith I
have in the Lord is true if my faith is never tested? Yet my
faith is never tested. Every true believer in the Bible
was put to severe test. And they came forth from that
trial, trusting and praising God, beloved. Look what David
went through. Oh my. His own son turned against
him. His own son turned against him.
His most trusted counselor turned against him. But he trusted the
Lord, didn't he? He trusted the Lord. Look at
Job. Look at all that Job went through.
Look at all that Job went through. What'd he say? He said, though
he slay me, yet will I trust in him. Yet will I trust in him. Abraham. Abraham's life was one
trial after another, beloved. And yet he distrusted the Lord.
He just trusted the Lord all through the scriptures. God's
people endure hardship. They endure hardship. But we
will only endure hardship in this world, beloved. This is
the only place where God's people will endure hardship and trials
and afflictions, because there'll be none of that on the other
side. None of that. Trials and afflictions enable
me. The second point is they enable me. Why they're good for
us is because they enable us to see the frailty of human flesh
and make us long for Christ's return and to be in Christ's
presence. Solomon. He said, I've tried it all. I've
tried it all. Everything. And what was his
conclusion, beloved? What was his conclusion? He said
this in Ecclesiastes 12.8, Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher,
all is vanity. Oh my, he saw his own frailty,
beloved. He saw his own frailty. One can't
read that. One can't know that truth unless
they've experienced it. A trip to the graveyard reveals
this. It's appointed unto men once
to die. The frailty of mankind. The frailty of mankind. A few
trips to the hospital reveals this, that all flesh is grass. All flesh is grass. The scripture
says, all flesh shall perish together and men shall turn again
into dust. So see what our trials and afflictions
reveal to us? Our frailty. Our frailty. A few trips to our prayer closet
and confession before our great God reveals, in my flesh dwelleth
no good thing. Oh, we know we're sinners. And
we beg God for mercy, don't we? We confess our sins and he's
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. Oh, what a Savior. A few tips
to the valley of disappointment or depression and doubt reveals
my utter dependence upon God. My utter dependence upon God.
It reveals to us that without Christ we can do nothing. See,
trials and afflictions reveal our frailty, beloved. The frailty
of who we are. We can't save ourselves. Next
point is, trials and afflictions leave me looking at the grace
of God for strength and help. Turn, if you would, the second
Corinthians chapter 12 verse 9 second Corinthians chapter
12 verse 9. I read this earlier, but I'd
like us to turn there. Oh, trials and afflictions leave me looking
at the grace of God for strength and help. Is it so for you? Second Corinthians 12 9 and he
said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee. That's true for all
of us. 2 Corinthians chapter 12, verse
9. And he said, my grace is sufficient
for thee. For my strength is made perfect in weakness. Did
you notice that? That's the opposite of what the
world thinks. See, the world thinks if you're weak, then truly. You ever hear people say, oh,
you folks who trust Christ, that's just a crutch. No, it isn't.
Christ is no crutch. No, he's the savior of his people. He, he, my, my oh my. He's the savior of his people,
beloved. Oh my. My strength is made perfect in
weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities. Why? Why does Paul glory in his
infirmities? Why do we glory in the afflictions
and trials we go through? That the power of God may rest
upon me. Now when a trial or affliction
first start, we, we tend to, to, to rest in our own strength. We do. But then we learn real
quick. Oh, Lord, I need you. I need
you desperately. I need you to help me, Lord.
And we glory in our infirmities that the power of Christ may
rest upon us. So God taught Paul two things. He taught Paul that
he was still a frail man, even after the Lord saved him. Are
you frail even after the Lord saved you? Are you frail? Oh, my, we're frail. He'd been
taught this by the Lord. He's still a frail man even after
the Lord has saved him. And then he taught him that his
grace is sufficient for everything we go through. It's so for us
too. It's so for us, beloved. Trials
and afflictions, think of this too. Trials and affliction enable
us to sympathize with and pray for and understand the weakness
and burdens of others. We don't tell people, I don't
have no time to hear your troubles. No, we don't say that. Not at
all. Not at all. We come beside our
brothers and sisters in Christ. And isn't it amazing? I find
this absolutely amazing. When you went through a thing
in your life, a trial in your life, or an affliction in your
life, and someone else is going through the very same trial and
affliction, and you know exactly what they're going through. It's
amazing. And you're able to comfort them
By telling them, the Lord got me through it. He took me through
that. He took me through that. And
it's amazing, because He gets all the glory. He gets all the
honor. And He gets all the praise, beloved. No man can weep with others who's
not wept himself. No man can forgive unless he's
experienced forgiveness. See, the world holds on to things.
How do you tell a natural person? They hold on to things. They
do not forgive. Man, they hold grudges for years.
Years. They're so quick to bring something
up that happened 10 years ago, so quick, just like that, or
even a couple years, just bring it right up. That's awful. May we never do that, beloved,
as believers. May we be quick to forgive our brethren and just
let things go. Let them go. Why? Because God
has forgiven us a great amount. All our sins are forgiven. So
those who have been forgiven are quick to forgive, beloved.
Quick to let things go. Quick to let things go. No man
can forgive a woman unless they've experienced forgiveness. And
no man or woman can show mercy unless they've first received
mercy. They first receive mercy. And
God prepares his vessels to minister to others. He prepares them how? By actual experience through
trials and afflictions. By actual experiences through
trials and afflictions. Next point is trials and afflictions
helped me to see the sinfulness of my heart. And enabled me to
rejoice in the righteousness of Christ. Trials and afflictions enable
me to see, is it so with you? Enable me to see the sinfulness
of my own heart. And to rejoice in the righteousness
of Christ. Remember this morning we looked
at the scripture in Romans chapter seven where Paul says, this old
wretched man that I am. Oh, wretched man that I am. That's
a saved man saying those words. Oh, wretched man. Who shall deliver
me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ
our Lord, so then with the mind I myself serve the law of God,
but with the flesh the law of sin. Now turn again to Philippians
chapter 4 if you would. Philippians chapter 4 and see
what Paul wrote. Paul wrote about being content
in trials and afflictions. And remember, Paul's writing
this. This is a prison epistle. Paul's
writing this from prison, beloved. He's writing this from prison. Now how many of us could be content
if we were sitting in a prison cell? Huh, my. That'd be tough, wouldn't it? By the grace of God, Paul penned
these words. And always remember, it's by
the grace of God. Oh my. Look at verse 11 and 12. Not
that I speak in respect of want, for I have learned in whatsoever
state I am therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased
and I know how to abound everywhere and in all things. I am instructed
both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer
need. My goodness. Now, one way to
learn this is by experience and trials. To see the sinfulness of our
own hearts. My, oh, my. Now, let us consider the second
thing that is good for us to know, let's go back to Psalm
73 and read verse 28. Second thing, it's good for us
to know. Good for us to learn, beloved. This is something that's very
good for us. Very good for us. Psalm 73 verses verse 28. But it is good for me to draw
near to God. I have put my trust in the Lord
God. That I may declare all thy works.
We see here then before us that it's good for us to learn to
draw near our God. It's good for us. It's very good
for us. I know it's good for me to draw
near to God, and I know it's so for you who are a believer
too. And how and when do we usually
draw near to God? Yeah. When trials and afflictions
come, beloved. When trials and afflictions come. It's good for us to draw near
to God. Because it's He who we have trusted our eternal souls
to. It's He who we should draw near to during trials and afflictions,
and that's what we usually do. But we should draw near to Him
at all times. At all times. Now we read in this psalm at
the start of the message, we read the whole psalm at the start
of this message, and let us now consider verses 12 and 13, look
at this. And we see that David penned
these words in verse 28, they were born of distress of mind,
beloved. They were born of distress of
mind. Look at this. He says, behold, these are the
ungodly who prosper in the world. They increase in riches. Verily,
I have cleansed my heart in vain and washed my hands in innocence. David had been looking at the
wicked. He sees them prospering. He sees
them prospering. Here's some, I want to just bring
forth some startling discoveries, a new believer. in Christ discovers. They come to know that all men
do not rejoice over your faith. No. All men do not desire to
glorify God. Scripture declares that a man's
foes shall be of their own household. Now we think, when the Lord saves
us, we think, why doesn't everyone believe this? Well, because God
only reveals himself to his people. The new believer in Christ discovers
that our fleshy appetites and sinful thoughts are not totally
curbed. As a matter of fact, it gets worse as we grow in grace,
because we see more and more of our sinfulness, don't we?
We see more and more of our need for Christ. Again, thus, the
believer has a civil war within himself. Turn, if you would,
to Galatians chapter 5. Galatians chapter 5. And listen
to this instruction that Paul gives us in Galatians chapter
5. verses 16 to 18. And this is all in light of drawn
near to God. I'll listen to this instruction.
This I say then, walk in the Spirit, verse 16, and ye shall
not fulfill the lust of the flesh, Galatians 5.16. For the flesh
lusteth against the Spirit, remember Paul, O wretched man that I am.
and the spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary the one
to another, so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the spirit,
ye are not under the law. Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. Another thing the new believer
in Christ discovers is that our seemingly reasonable prayers
are not always answered in a favorable way. Oh God, God, sometimes oftentimes
don't answer our prayers the way we think he should. God answers
prayers according to his will and according to his purpose.
And we continue to learn that, don't we, beloved? All through
our pilgrimage in this world. And then the believer in Christ
discovers that one's spiritual growth seems to be slow. And
we have an appetite for knowledge, maturity, and growth, but we're
always battling this flesh, the spirit's willing. But the flesh
is weak. Flesh is weak. Watch and pray,
the scripture says. Watch and pray. Draw near to
God. Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation. The Spirit
indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. So the believer sees
the wicked prosper. David pens these words. He's
seen the wicked prosper. He's seen the rebel get gain. Seen the blasphemous live trouble-free. Oh, well, he's walking a path
of trial, tribulation, affliction, and temptation. And it's so for
us, too, isn't it? Nothing new under the sun, beloved. Man's still the same. Man's still
the same. Let's go back to Psalm 73. Look
at verses, where we from 12 to 24. Where we from 12 to 24. And the psalmist, he saw the
wicked prospering. But oh, then he went to the house
of God, and the Lord showed him the end of the wicked. Behold, these are the ungodly
who prosper in the world, they increase in riches. Verily I
have cleansed my heart in vain and washed my hands in innocency.
For all the day long I've been plagued and chastened every morning.
If I say I will speak thus, behold, I should offend against the generation
of thy children. When I thought to know this,
it was too painful for me, until I went into the sanctuary of
God. Then understood I their end. Oh, he understood the end
of the wicked. The end of the wicked. Surely,
thou didst set them in slippery places. Oh, they're caught up
in their own sin, beloved. Thou castest them down into destruction. Oh, my. How are they bought into
the desolation is in the moment. They are utterly consumed with
terrors. Think of when they breathe their
last breath. When you read that verse. As a dream, when one awakeneth
so, O Lord, when Thou awakenest, Thou shalt despise their image.
Thus was my heart grieved, and I was pricked in my reins. So
foolish was I, and ignorant I was as a beast before Thee. David sees that it was foolish
for him to be thinking, oh look at they're all prospering. Look
at they're all, and then he found the Lord showed him their end. And his heart was grieved, and
I was pricked in my reign. So foolish was I, and ignorant
I was as a beast before thee. Nevertheless, I am continually
with thee. Thou hast holden me by my right hand. Thou shalt
guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.
And then look at what David declares in light of all this, in light
of what God showed him. God showed him the end of the
wicked and knowing their end, look what he says in verse 28. But it is good for me to draw
near to God. I have put my trust in the Lord
God that I may declare all thy works. Oh, it's good for us to
draw near to God. It's good for us. Saints of God, how do we draw
near to God? We draw near to God in faith. In faith. Hebrews chapter 11 verse 6 says
this. But without faith it's impossible
to please God. It's impossible to please God.
Please Him. For he that cometh to God must
believe that He is. And that He is a rewarder of
them that diligently seek Him. He that comes to God must believe.
Well, that verse right there just destroys people Have you
ever been to a funeral, and you know how the person lived, you
know that they had no care for God, and they had no care for
the things of God, and some preacher gets up there and lies on God,
and then tells you all that, oh, he's in heaven. Well, not
according to that verse. Not according to the scriptures.
Without faith, it's impossible to please him. For he that cometh
to God must believe that he is. and that He is a rewarder of
them that diligently seek Him. He that comes to God believes.
Believes on the Lord Jesus Christ to the saving of their soul.
They believe who God is. They believe what the Scriptures
declare about God. Believe that He's a sovereign
over all things and all situations. And this is what gives the believer
great peace during trials and afflictions. What do we believe? We believe
that we're sinners born dead in trespasses and sins, hopeless,
helpless before God, in desperate need of salvation. Those who
don't believe don't even think they're sinners. The believer believes and trusts
Christ and proclaims that He's our Redeemer. He's our substitute. I was listening to Joe Terrell
preach this afternoon, and he said sometimes the word substitution,
because we hear it so much, can lose a little bit of its meaning.
He said he was talking to somebody last week, and they said, the
Lord's my replacement. He goes, I like that. He took our place. He took our
place at Calvary's cross. It was our sins that he went
there to pay for. That's what substitution means.
He took our place. Don't ever let it become commonplace.
It's the heart of the gospel. Substitution and satisfaction. And the Lord Jesus Christ did
that for His people. Sinners. Oh my. It's good for us to draw near
to God when we consider these things. Sinner friend, cast yourself
upon the mercy of God. He's never turned away any who
come to Him. He's never turned away any who
come to Him. And may God grant you faith to
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Just to look to Him by faith.
And to trust Him for the saving of your soul. There's only one
mediator between God and man. There's only one. And that's
who we draw near to. Only one mediator. Turn if you
would to 1 Timothy chapter 2. The scriptures plainly declare
this. Only one mediator. Only one mediator. Long time ago someone asked me, when I was a Catholic, they said,
you go to the priest and confess your sins, right? And I said,
yeah. I didn't know who God was. I
didn't know who Christ was. And they said, oh yeah. He says,
why do you do that? And I said, what do you mean? He said, well, there's only one
mediator between God and man. Have you ever read that in the
Bible? And I had never read my Bible. It sat in my dresser. Closed in. Never opened. Didn't even take it to church
with me when I went to church. He never cracked the Bible. Well,
he gave me a Bible. He told me to go look this up.
Didn't even know where to look. He told me, gave me the address
for it. And this began the crumbling of the refuge of lies that I
was trusting in. For there is one God, 1 Timothy
2, verse 5, one God. And one mediator between God
and men. One. Not multiple. One. One. And what's his name, beloved? Man, Christ, Jesus. One mediator. Only one. Who gave himself a ransom for
all to be testified in due time. He gave himself a ransom for
every one of his sheep. All of them. All the elect of
all the ages. He gave himself a ransom. This
is good news for sinners. Are you a sinner? Oh, I pray
God will show you you are. Oh, He did this for His people.
For there's one God. One God. There's only one way
to the Father. The Lord said, I'm the way, the
truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by Me. One God. One mediator between
God and man. The man, Christ, Jesus. So plainly
put, isn't it? Very plain. Now contrast what
the Scriptures there declare to us and how you approach God
compared to most false religions in this world. The Gospel proclaims we are to
look to Christ and Christ alone. We're to trust in Christ and
Christ alone. He did the work of salvation
for His people. He is the only Savior. He is
the only mediator between God and man. The Islamist says you
must read the Koran and pray five times a day and make a pilgrimage
to Mecca. Now notice, they have you do something. I met a man in Rescue, California
who came to a conference and he'd been saved of Islam. And
he said, brother, it was just all works. Just all works. The Hindu says, observe the rules
of the caste system, crawl through the dust to the temple, erect
the shrine to, they've got thousands of different gods, and then you
may escape reincarnation, either as a snake or a bug. Again, it's something you have
to do. It's something you have to do.
It's all works. The Buddhist says sit with your
arms folded and forget that you have a body and become indifferent
to pain and pleasure even though we feel it. Again, it's all works
based. It's all something you do. It's
all something you do. And all works based religions
are the same. There ain't no difference. It started with Cain and Abel,
didn't it? Abel offered the proper sacrifice, didn't he? With blood.
And Cain, he offers the fruit of his hands. Nothing's changed. Nothing's changed. There's only
two religions, really. You boil them all down. There's
two religions in this whole world. Grace and works. That's all. And if you've been saved by the
grace of God, rejoice. Rejoice that you know this precious
truth. So what are all those religions
saying? They're saying sin or save yourself. They're saying you must save
yourself. That's what they're saying. That's what they're saying. All false religions are done
in the path of self-righteousness. That's all they are. And what
does the Lord tell us of our righteousness? Our own righteousness
is like filthy rags in the eyes of the Lord. He will not accept
it. There is only one righteousness
that He'll accept, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ's righteousness.
And that's what the believers clothe in. Praise be to God. Praise be to God. The gospel
preacher proclaims the work of salvation is finished. And it's
Christ who's done it all. He's done it all. He accomplished
eternal salvation for his people. It's accomplished. And then as
we looked at this morning, the Lord says, come unto me, all
ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. I'll
give you rest. And then he says, take my yoke
upon you and learn of me. for I am meek and lowly in heart
and you shall find rest unto your souls for my yoke is easy
and my burden is light Matthew 11 verses 28 to 30 the first
verse he says come unto me all you that labor and are heavy
laden and I'll give you rest you know what that's rest from?
that's rest from your works that's rest from your works then he
says take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and
lowly in heart and you shall find rest unto your souls that's
soul rest isn't it? oh my That's wonderful. So we
see, as David penned, as David penned here, but it's good for
me to draw near to God. I put my trust in the Lord God
that I may declare all of thy works. He's good for us. It's
good for us to draw near to God through faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Because what are we doing? When we draw nigh to God, when
we draw nigh to God, And by faith, look to Christ. What are we doing?
We are looking outside of ourselves, beloved. Aren't we? We're looking
outside of the affliction. We're looking outside of the
of of whatever we're going through, the trial or temptation. We are
looking outside of ourselves. Which is what we should do. And
we are looking right to Christ. We're looking right to him, right
to him. Now all man-made religion is
self-righteous and it looks to self, but the believer looks
outside himself and looks to Christ and Christ alone. Turn
if you would to 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. 1 Corinthians
chapter 1. Why do we look outside ourselves
and look to Christ? Well, that no flesh should glory
in his presence. First Corinthians chapter 1 verses
26 to 31. For you see your calling brethren,
verse 26, how that not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty,
not many noble are called, but God had chosen the foolish things
of the world. And his brother Henry says foolish
there is common, just common, common people. of the world to
confound the wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of the
world to confound the things which are mighty, and base things
of the world, and things which are despised hath God chosen,
yea, and things which are not to bring to naught things that
are. Now notice, the opposite, God chooses the opposite of who
the world would choose. Oh, the world would choose the
mighty, and the noble, and the strong, and the wise. God's ways are not our ways.
His thoughts are not our thoughts, beloved. No, not at all. And why do we look to Christ? We look outside ourselves and
look to Christ? And why does He have us do that?
That no flesh should glory in His presence. He gets all the
glory. He gets all the honor. God will not share His glory
with anyone. With anyone. Self-righteous religion
seeks to steal the glory from God. And it glorifies man. Look what I've done. Or look
what I'm doing. I'm better than you. No, you're
just a worm like me. Even though you think you're
better, no, you're just a worm like me. You're just a sinner like
I am. I'm a sinner saved by grace.
Are you? Oh, rejoice if you are. Rejoice. Look, it says, but of
him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God has made unto us wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, that according
as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Paul
summed it up by saying, the Lord's our all in all. That's what he
is. He's our all in all. How do we
draw near to God? Well, we draw near to God in
worship. When we praise his name, we draw near to God. When we're
hearing the gospel preached and proclaimed, Scripture declares this, but
the hour cometh and now is when the true worshippers shall worship
the Father in spirit and truth. For the Father seeketh such to
worship him. God is spirit, and they that
worship him must worship him in spirit and truth. The woman
saith unto him, I know that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ.
And when he come, he will tell us of all things. Jesus saith
unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. How do we draw near to God? Well,
we come to him as a sinner. Empty-handed. Empty-handed. And on absolutely no merits of
our own. Bankrupt sinners, as a dear preacher
likes to say. Totally bankrupt sinners. If you come to God with anything
of your doing, your works, God will not accept you. Oh, He's never turned away anyone
who comes to Him through Christ, and Christ alone. Turn, if you would, to Matthew
chapter 8. Here's a good picture of a sinner, of someone coming to the Lord
empty-handed, and on no merits of his own. And the believer
in Christ comes to God, we draw near to God, as sinners, Again,
with no merit of our own, and we beg for mercy, don't we? And
we know leprosy is a picture of sin. Look at this in Matthew
8, verses 1 to 3. When he was come down from the
mountain, great multitudes followed him. And behold, there came a
leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou will, thou can
make me clean. This leper knew he couldn't clean
himself. He knew it. He couldn't cleanse
himself. And remember, leprosy is a picture
of sin. And and and if you look at in Luke, this was this leprosy
was in full stages, which pictures us as sinners from the top of
our head to the bottom of our feet. And look at the words, and is
this is this not is this not how a sinner comes to Christ? Lord, if that well, that can
make me clean. Oh, Lord. If you save me, only
you can save me, Lord. Only you can save me, save me
or I'm going to perish in my sins. And Jesus put forth his hand
and touched him, saying, I will. Be thou clean and look at this
and immediately. Immediately, his leprosy was
cleansed. What a picture of a sinner coming
before God and the Holy Spirit regenerating us. And giving us
faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And we are cleansed
from our sin immediately. Wonderful, isn't it? Absolutely
wonderful. How do we draw near to God? We
come seeking our Savior. Some Greeks came to the apostle
over in John chapter 12, verses 20 and 21. They said, sirs, we
would see Jesus. We would see Jesus. And there
came and there were and there were certain Greeks among them
that came up to worship at the feast. The same came thither
or came, therefore, to fill up, which was a besiege of Galilee
and desired him saying, sir, we would see Jesus. That's how
we draw near to God. Oh, Lord, we see you. We look
to you. We look to you and you alone. And we come as a servant. God's people come before the
Lord as a servant. We're bond slaves for Christ,
beloved. We're bond slaves for Christ. Jude, the servant of
Jesus Christ. Servant, bond slave. And brother
of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father and preserved
in Christ Jesus and called, mercy unto you and peace and love be
multiplied, Jude 1 and 2. We come to the Lord as a servant. It's sad proof of our selfishness
and our sinfulness that we never approach God except to ask for
something. We just approach Him just praising
Him, don't we? Thank You, Lord. Thank You for
the day You've given me. Thank You for my family. Thank
You for the people in my life who love me. Just praise Him. Be thankful. Thankful for our salvation in
Christ. It's wonderful. We don't just
approach the Lord asking for something. No, we approach him
in praise and thanksgiving. We draw nigh to God. Turn if
you would to Psalm 150. What a beautiful psalm this is.
I love this psalm. I absolutely love this psalm. Psalm 150. Psalm 150. Beautiful, beautiful psalm. And
as I said, we don't just draw near to God asking Him for things,
we draw near to Him praising Him and thanking Him for the
goodness that He's bestowed upon us, for the salvation that we
have in Christ and Christ alone. Look at this psalm, it's beautiful.
Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in His sanctuary. Praise Him in the firmament of
His power. Praise him for his mighty acts.
Praise him according to his excellent greatness. He's excellent, beloved.
He's not just excellent, his greatness is... You can't even fathom how great
our God is. He's excellent greatness. Praise
Him with the sound of the trumpet. Praise Him with the psaltery
and harp. Praise Him with the timbrel and dance. Praise Him
with the stringed instruments and organ. Praise Him upon the
loud cymbals. Praise Him upon the high sounding
cymbals. And look at it. He just sums it up. Let everything
that breath. Praise the Lord. Praise ye the
Lord. My. Give Him all the glory. Just
praise Him. Just thank Him. Just thank Him
for how good He's been to you. It's wonderful. Oh, God's people. We draw nigh to our great God
with grateful and thankful hearts, don't we? And it's good for us
to draw nigh to our God. Not just in petitioning Him,
but it's good for us to draw nigh to Him, praising Him for
all the good things He's given us. Yeah, we could just, we could
pray to him all the time, couldn't we? Just thank him all the time.
And you know, it doesn't have to be, you gotta go in your room,
and when I was in religion, I used to say, oh, this was, I used
to say, I'm gonna go pray now. And then I'd go in my room, I
was so self-righteous. You know, after the Lord saved
me and I was on the job site, I'm praying to the Lord while
I'm cleaning windows. And all the guys around me, they
don't know I got my headphones on and they have no idea. I'm
just thanking the Lord for how good he is. You praise him, you
drive him down the road, just praise him. There's some quiet
time between you and your spouse? Just praise Him. Just thank Him.
Thank Him for His goodness to you and His mercy and His grace.
Oh my. He's just absolutely wonderful. He's just absolutely wonderful.
So we draw nigh to our great God. We give Him all the praise
and glory. We marvel. We marvel that He's
made us accepted in the beloved, don't we? We just marvel in that. We marvel that we should be to
the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ as Paul penned
in Ephesians. We just absolutely marvel at
that. Think of this, beloved. Christ paid a debt he did not
owe. Christ paid a debt he did not
owe. I owed a debt I could not pay. I owed a debt I could not pay.
I needed someone to wash my sins away. And now I sing a brand new song,
Amazing Grace. Amazing Grace. Christ paid a
debt that I could never pay. Our Savior did that for his people.
And if you're a born-again, blood-washed saint of God, he did it for you.
That's wonderful. That's absolutely wonderful.
It's not hard to draw an eye to God when you think about those
things, is it? It's not hard to be thankful to him when you
think about these things. Oh my. Beloved of God, draw near
to God. Sinner friend, flee to Christ.
He's the sinner's only hope. There's no hope outside of Christ,
none at all. None at all. May God give you
faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Heavenly Father,
we thank you again for allowing us to gather together tonight,
for allowing us to look into thy word and just see how incredible
you are, Lord. See your excellent greatness
as the psalm must bend. And Lord, as we journey through
this life, you teach us that it's good for us to go through
afflictions because during those times we draw nigh to you, oh
Lord, just like we saw David pen tonight. And we see the wicked
prosper, but oh Lord, we know their end, oh my. And we know
that if you hadn't saved us, we'd have been going to that
end too. And not alone should make us praise thy name and give
you thanks for your goodness and mercy towards us in and through
Christ Jesus our Lord. Father, we praise you. Lord Jesus,
we praise you. And Holy Spirit, we praise you
too. The great three in one. We thank thee for the everlasting
covenant when we were chosen in Christ before the foundation
of the world. It's absolutely wonderful. May we give you all
the glory and honor and praise and may we think upon the things
which we've heard today. Oh Lord, glory to your name,
in Jesus' name, amen.