Psalm 51, we'll read the whole
psalm, but verse 10 will be where we'll be mostly tonight. To the
cheap musician, a psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came
unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba, Have mercy upon
me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness, according unto the multitude
of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly
from mine iniquity and cleanse me from mine sin. For I acknowledge
my transgression and my sin as ever before me. Against thee,
thee only, have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight,
that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest and be clear
when thou judgest. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth
in the inward parts, and in the hidden part thou shalt make me
to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall
be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter
than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness,
that the bones which Thou hast broken may rejoice. Hide Thy
face from my sins and blot out mine iniquities. Create in me
a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast
me not away from Thy presence, and take not Thy Holy Spirit
from me. Restore unto me the joy of Thy
salvation. and uphold me with thy free spirit. Then will I teach transgressors
thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto thee. Deliver
me from blood guiltness, O God, thou God of my salvation. And
my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. O Lord, open
thou my lips, and my mouth shall forth thy praise. For thou desirest
not sacrifice, else I would give it. Thou delightest not in burnt
offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken
spirit, a broken and a contrite heart. O God, thou wilt not despise. Do good in thy pleasure unto
Zion. Build thou the walls of Jerusalem.
Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness,
with burnt offerings and whole burnt offering. Then shall they
offer bullocks upon thine altar. Now the setting for this psalm
is after David has laid with Bathsheba. And Nathan the prophet has come
before him. Turn if you would to 2 Samuel or read the account
of that. 2 Samuel the prophet had had
Come with Him, and this psalm is written after that meeting,
but I think it's important for us to read what occurred. And
then we'll understand even more the contrite, how David's contrite
over what's occurred. He's repentant over what's occurred.
He's brokenhearted over what's occurred. 2 Samuel 12, we'll
read verses 1-14. And the Lord sent Nathan unto
David, and he came unto him and said unto him, There were two
men in one city, the one rich and the other poor. The rich
man had exceeding many flocks and herds, but the poor man had
nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and
nourished up, and it grew up together with him and with his
children. It did eat of his own meat and
drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom and was unto him
as a daughter. And there came a traveler unto
the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of
his own herd to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto
him, but took the poor man's lamb and dressed it for the man
that was come to him. And David's anger was greatly
kindled against the man. And he said to Nathan, As the
Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely
die. Now remember, this is a king speaking this. So he had the
authority and the power to execute what he says here. And he shall
restore the Lamb fourfold because he did this thing and because
he had no pity. And Nathan said to David, Thou
art the man. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel,
I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the
hand of Saul. and I gave thee thy master's
house and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee
the house of Israel and of Judah. And if that had been too little,
I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things. Wherefore hast thou despised
the commandment of the Lord to do evil in His sight? Thou hast
killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword." Remember, he had
him sent to the furthest most part, the heat of the battle.
And has taken his wife to be thy wife, and has slain him with
the sword of the children of Ammon. Now therefore the sword
shall never depart from thine house, because thou hast despised
me, and has taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife."
Now remember, David had trouble with his children, with things
that happened afterwards, right? His own son Absalom turned on
him. My, because thou hast despised me
and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. Thus
saith the Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out
of thine own house. And that happened. And I will
take thy wives before thine eyes and give them unto thy neighbor,
and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of the sun. For
thou didst it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel
and before the sun. And David said unto Nathan, I
have sinned against the Lord. I've sinned against the Lord.
And now remember what he says in Psalm 51. He says, Against
thee only have I sinned. And Nathan said unto David, The
Lord also hath put away thy sin, thou shalt not die. Howbeit,
because by this deed thou hast given Great occasion to the enemies
of the Lord to blaspheme the child also that is born unto
thee shall surely die. So this is the setting for the
psalm before us. This is the setting. And this psalm is a song of repentance,
beloved. It's a song of repentance. And
we see that it's the language of every true believer. It's
the languish of every true believer. Who have we sinned against? God. We all sinned against God. And we are constantly, what are
we constantly doing? We're constantly coming to the
Lord in repentance. We know our sins are forgiven,
but we still come to Him in repentance, don't we? We do. When the Holy
Spirit convicts us of sin, we flee to Christ. We flee to Him. I like what Brother Mahan used
to say. He said, we've repented and we're, he said, we constantly
repent. We're continuously coming to
Christ. It's not a one-time thing. Repentance is not a one-time
thing. It occurs all through the believer's life. He's continuing.
We're forgiven. Right? But we confess our sins,
don't we? 1 John tells us that. We confess our sins before the
Lord. And as He brings them to remembrance, even things that
we've done in the past that we forgot about, we confess them
to Him. Oh Lord, please forgive me for
that. Even though we know our sins are forgiven, we still confess
to Him. Now, so we are constantly coming
before the Lord in repentance and constantly, too, as it's
not so for you, Are we not constantly seeing ourselves as sinners?
The more we grow in grace, the more we see ourselves as sinners. The more we do, the more we do. And the more we see ourselves
in our sin is against our great God. But
it brings us great comfort. and great joy as believers to
know that our sins are washed away in the precious blood of
Christ. Oh, my, bought and paid for,
bought and paid for. Note, verses two, seven and 10,
David talks about being clean before the Lord. Look at this.
Verse to wash me thoroughly from my iniquity. and cleanse me from
my sin. Now, thoroughly there in the
Hebrew. It means in abundance. In abundance, oh, Lord, wash
me in abundance. For my iniquity. In abundance,
and has he not done that for the believer? Are we not washed
abundantly beloved in the precious blood of Christ? Oh, my. Oh, how this has come to pass
for the believer in Christ. And in verse 7, look at verse
7, purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean. Wash me and I shall
be whiter than snow. Now, David here sees his sinfulness
and his depravity. What hyssop shall purge this
away? What hyssop shall purge this away? What washing of water
will make this clean? Well, no water can make this
clean. No water can make any of us clean.
Only the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ can cleanse us from all
sin and iniquity But if we walk in the light as he is in the
light We have fellowship one with another and the blood of
Jesus Christ his son Cleanses us from here we go all Praise
God all sin first John 1 7 Then look at verse 10 and this will
be our main text for tonight Creating me a clean heart. Oh
God and renew a right spirit within me. You must be born again,
our Master said. You must be born again. David
is asking that the Holy Spirit would restrain him from sin.
And that's what we ask as believers too, isn't it? Oh, we struggle
so much. I struggle so much. And my constant
prayer is, O Lord, restrain me. Oh, keep me. Because we know
we know what we are. We know how frail we are. We
know how frail we are, and I don't care if it's you're a newborn
babe in Christ or you're you're a saint who's walked the Lord
for a long time. We all struggle. We all start. We're all in the same boat, aren't
we? We all do. We all do. So David's asking
that the Holy Spirit would restrain him from sin and that God would
create in him a new heart and renew a right spirit within him. Because he knows, he knows without
him doing that, he would fall again and again and again and
again. He knows God's faithfulness.
And he knows God's mercy, because he's tasted that the Lord is
gracious. He's tasted it. He's tasted it,
beloved. And so do we who believe. We've
tasted that the Lord is gracious. Look at down in verses 16 and
17. For thou desirest not sacrifice,
else I would give it. Thou delightest not in burnt
offerings. Burnt offerings could never take
away sin, right? The sacrifices of God are of
broken spirit. A broken and a contrite heart,
oh God, that will not despise. And we'll look at that a little
bit more. God breaks a person before he saves them. He breaks
us of our self-righteousness, our proud, self-righteous spirits. Oh, he breaks us. Now, four things
that are acceptable to God that are better than sacrifices. Number
one, of course, is the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn,
if you would, to Hebrews chapter 10. The sacrifice of the Lord
Jesus Christ for our sins. Hebrews chapter 10, verses 4
to 14. And remember what we read there
in verse 16, for thou desirest not sacrifice, else I would give
it. Thou delightest not in burnt offerings, right? Look at this
in Hebrews chapter 10, verses 4 to 14. For it is not possible
that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. They can't
take away any sin. Wherefore, when he cometh into
the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not,
but a body hast thou prepared me. This is speaking of the One
who all those sacrifices were but types and shadows, the Lord
Jesus Christ. In burnt offerings and sacrifices
for sin, thou hast no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come, in the
volume of the book it is written of me to do thy will, O God.
Above, when He said, Sacrifice and offering, in burnt offering
for sin, thou wouldst not, neither hadst pleasure therein, which
are offered by the law. Then said He, Lo, I come to do
Thy will, O God. The Lord Jesus Christ came to
do the will of the Father. God incarnate in the flesh, the
second person of the Trinity, the Word of God incarnate in
the flesh, came to do the Father's will. He taketh away the first,
that He may establish the second. And this is important, verse
10, by which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ once for all. We're sanctified through Christ.
You can't make yourself sanctified. That means to be made whole,
to be set apart. We're sanctified in Christ once
for all by His sacrifice on Calvary's grounds. And every priest standeth
daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifice
which could never take away sins. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins, and that was himself, beloved. That was
himself. That was the shedding of his
lifeblood. To redeem his people from their
sins. And he only had to do it once.
He's the perfect man, the sinless man. You know, on Calvary's cross,
this is when He did this. He offered one sacrifice for
sins. And that offering for sins is
our Savior. And He's offering Himself, if
you're a believer, for your sins and for my sins. He's offering
Himself before God. Because who have we offended,
beloved? Who have we sinned against? God. Therefore, God must be satisfied.
God must, his wrath must be appeased and his justice must be appeased.
And Christ says, I'll die in the sinner's death. I'll die
in their place. And that's exactly what he did.
And he offered himself up once. Through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ once for all, for all his people. And every
priest standeth daily ministering, and offering oftentimes the same
sacrifices, which could never take away sins. But this man,
after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, he offered
himself once. And that offering is so satisfying
to God that there'll never be a need for another sacrifice,
ever. Because God himself offered himself
up to God. It's wondrous. It's absolutely
wondrous. And what did he do? Now, remember
the priests in the Old Testament, right? They were forever working,
weren't they? They couldn't stop. There was no chair in the Holy
of Holies. They had to keep working all
the time in there. But what does our high priest
do? After he's finished the work, he sits down. Because there's nothing left
to do. The work is finished. It's done. He sat down on the
right hand of God from henceforth expect until his enemies be made
his footstool for by one offering. Now, look at this. Let this warm
your heart and soul, because that we gospel preachers, we
pray that the believer get built up and edified in Christ and
that we leave here rejoicing. And look at this. Look at this.
This is what the scripture says. For by one offering He hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified." Oh my goodness. They're clobed
in His perfect spotless righteousness. And God sees no sin in them.
Isn't that marvelous? Now that doesn't mean we're perfect
here on earth, right? In ourselves, because we sin
all the time. But when God looks upon a believer,
He sees the righteousness of Christ. Isn't that wonderful? It's absolutely wonderful. It
is the sacrifice of Christ that sanctifies God's people. It is
the sacrifice of Christ that makes us acceptable to God. There is no other way for us
to be accepted by God except through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Turn, if you would, over to Hebrews 2, verse 11, and then we'll be
going back to Actually, no, we'll stay in the New Testament, we'll
still be in the New Testament. Hebrews chapter 2, verse 11,
for both he that sanctified and they who are sanctified are all
of one, for the which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren. We are sanctified in Christ Jesus,
our Lord. What a Savior. What a Redeemer. Another thing that's acceptable
to God is unfrained love to God. Unfrained love to Him is counted
better than sacrifice. To love God and unfrained just
means sincere. A sincere love. We learn that in our study in
1 Peter. Unfrained in our Bible means
sincere. sincere turn if you would the
second Corinthians chapter 6 verse 6 and also put your finger in
Ephesians chapter 6 verse 24 and then we'll go over to Matt
to mark chapter 12 I know I'm gonna have us turning around
a lot today turning around different places today but second Corinthians chapter 6
verse 6 by pureness by knowledge by long-suffering by kindness
by the Holy Ghost, by love unframed, which means sincere love. And then go to Ephesians 6, verse
24, and look what it says here. It
tells us that the believer loves God with a sincere love. We love our Redeemer with a sincere
love. Ephesians 6, verse 24, grace
be unto, grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ
in sincerity. In sincerity. So that's an unframed
love for God. Now turn, if you would, to Mark
12. Mark 12. This sincere love, again, we
learned in our study on 1 Peter, when Peter exhorted us to love
the brethren with an unframed love. It's sincere love. We're
to love God from the heart, beloved, with a sincere love, with all
the heart, without hypocrisy, not just in word, but in deed
also. Not just in word, because the
hypocrites, they just give lip service to these things. But
no, we are to love God in word and in deed and in truth. And
we can only do this in Christ, too. You see, look at Mark chapter
12, verse 29 to 33. All these things have their center
in Christ. That's the wondrous thing about
it. Because who loved the Lord with all his heart, mind, and
soul? Can any one of us in this room love our Lord with our heart,
mind, and soul? I remember one time I was talking
to a guy and he says, well, I got the first one down. I'm like,
no you don't. You tell me you love God all
the time with your heart? No, we don't. No, we don't. That man was a liar. But in Christ,
we have. In Christ, we've loved the Lord.
We've loved God with all our heart, mind, and soul. Look at
Mark 20, 12, verses 29 to 33. And Jesus answered him, the first
of all the commandments is, hear, O Israel, the Lord thy, our God
is one Lord. And thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all
thy mind, and with all thy strength. This is the first commandment.
And the second is like namely this. Thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself. There is none of the commandment
greater than these. Now have we loved the Lord with
all our heart, mind, and soul? All our strength? No. Have we loved our neighbor
as ourselves? You know, but in Christ we have. In Christ we have. Oh, my beloved. And this is the second, namely
this, that thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, and there
is none other commandment greater than these. And the scribe said
unto him, Well, master, thou hast said the truth, for there
is one God, and there is none but he. And to love Him with
all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the
soul and with all the strength and to love His neighbor as Himself
is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. A sincere
love from a believer is more to God than all the sacrifices. Oh my. Next thing that we are
to do is to walk humbly and obediently towards before God. Turn, if you would, to 1 Samuel
15, verse 22. 1 Samuel 15, verse 22. And Samuel said, Hath the Lord
his great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying
the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than
sacrifice. To obey is better than sacrifice,
and to hearken than the fat of rams. Again, these sacrifices were
pointing to the one who would fulfill them, the one who is
the substance, and the one who God is pleased with. Christ obeyed the law and the
justice of God for us in our place, living and dying as our
substitute before God. And God is only pleased with
Him. And He's pleased with we who
believe because we're in Him. We're in Him. But we are to obey
our Lord, aren't we? We are. We are. Let us walk as children of light.
Because we're born again by the Holy Spirit of God. Turn if you
would to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. Let us walk as children of
light. Let us not walk the way we used
to. Look at 1 Thessalonians chapter
5 verses 4 to 6. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 verses
4 to 6. But ye, brethren, are not in
darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are
all the children of light and the children of day. We are not
of the night nor the darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep as
do others, but let us watch and be sober. We're children of light,
beloved. We're born again by the Holy
Spirit of God. We're not of the night. nor the
darkness. We were, but we're not anymore. Praise His mighty name. Next
thing that is acceptable to God is a broken and contrite spirit.
Let's go back to our text in verse 10. It says, Create in me a clean
heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Create in me
a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. What
is a broken and contrite spirit? It is when rebellion is gone. It is when the fight is given
up. It's when the weapons are laid
down. It's when we take sides with
God against ourselves. We take sides with God against
ourselves. And we do not and we cannot create
in ourselves a clean heart. There's many people in religion
try to do that. We can't do it. We can't. But God can. God can. And unless God works a miracle
of grace within us, when we are born again by the Holy Spirit
of God, we have a clean heart and a right spirit. And it's one that's broken. It's
one that's broken. Let's consider our text again.
Created me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within
me. Let's first consider what a heart is that is not clean. A heart that is not a contrite
heart. It's not a crushed heart. It's
not a heart which has been broken. It's a heart full of evil imaginations
and darkness. In the Old Testament it says
this, in Genesis chapter 6 verse 5, And God saw that the wickedness
of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of
the thoughts and of his heart were only evil continually. That's
in the Old Testament. And then we see that there's
nothing new under the sun in the New Testament. because Romans
1.21 proclaims this, because that when they knew God, they
glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain
in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. It is an unbelieving heart, a
heart that is not clean. It's a heart which turns away
from God and turns to sin. Take heed, brethren, lest there
be in you an evil heart of unbelief and departing from the living
God. Hebrews 3.12. It's a heart not prepared for
God over the exception of His word, being stiff-necked. We who are redeemed just need
to remember how we were before the Lord saved us. That was me. That was me. He's stiff-necked and uncircumcised
in heart and ears. He do always resist the Holy
Ghost as your fathers did. So do ye. Acts chapter 7 verse
51. A heart that is not clean is
a proud heart. It does not like to be controlled. Even if the controller is God
himself. It is a heart which is deceitful.
Jeremiah 17, 9, the Scriptures declare this. The heart is deceitful
above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? Just think about that verse next
time when someone says, well, they have a good heart. Not according
to Scripture. Let's look at our text again
here. Creating me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit
within me. What is a clean heart, O beloved? It's a heart cleansed by the
Spirit and the Word of God. And a spirit renewed, spoken
of here, and made right by the power of God. Note in David's
cry. Look at note in David's cry here.
Creating me a clean heart. He knows he can't do it himself.
And his cry is to God, create in me a clean heart. He cannot make himself better.
Only God can change him. Only God has the power. Do you
see the fallacy of people saying God's done all that he can do,
now the rest is up to you? We don't have the power to change. We can't create in ourselves
a new heart, but God can. God has the power to do this.
He can renew a right spirit within us. Oh my. Let's consider six points on
this topic. What does it mean to have a clean
heart? A man with a clean heart and a right spirit is a sensible
man. A sensible man. He becomes sensible about his
sin. He becomes sensible about his
sin. He becomes sensible about his sinful nature. We know that
right from our psalm here tonight. Look at verses 3 and 4. For I acknowledge my transgression
and my sin as ever before me, against thee only, Against thee,
thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight,
that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear
when thou judgest." David acknowledges his own sin, beloved. He owns
his own sin. How many times when something
happens, will the other person cause me
to do that? Or we blame other people, right?
You know where we get that from? Remember Adam? It's a woman who made me do it.
Oh, my. It's in us, isn't it? But David
here owns his sin. He owns it. He owns his sin. He acknowledged
his sin. He's not blaming anyone else.
And he proclaims it's his, to God. And Nody also proclaims that
we are dead and trespasses in sin, speaking of our sinful nature,
which we've been born with. Look at verse 5. Behold, I was
shapen in a nickel, in the womb. And in sin did my mother conceive
me. Does that not tie in with Ephesians chapter 2? Verse 1
where it says, and you hath equipped who were dead in trespasses and
sins. How long have we been dead in trespasses and sins in our
natural state? Since the womb? Since our conception? That's what the scripture says
right here before us, doesn't it? It says that. Behold, I was
shaped in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Can't be any clearer than that.
But see, David is sensible about his sin. Oh my. He acknowledges his sin. See, the word acknowledge, therefore
I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is ever before me.
There in the Hebrew it is to know. What happens when the Lord saves
us? We now know what we are. Now we know what sin is. We didn't before. We drank it
like water. Now we know what it is. And now we know who we've
sinned against. Oh my. It's to know he's been shown
by God that he is a sinner. God has taught him this. And
he acknowledges this fact. And note that he also acknowledges
that we sin against God because he says against the the only
have I sinned and done this evil in my sight, we've sinned against
God. He is the offended party. He
is the offended party. He must be appeased. He must
be appeased. And praise God, beloved, oh,
praise God, the Lord Jesus Christ has appeased his wrath, has satisfied
his justice for his people. Oh, what a salvation we have,
beloved. What a salvation we have. The
next point I'd like us to consider is a man with a clean heart and
a right spirit is a sorrowful man. He's sorry for what he sees
in himself and knows true about his own depravity. And we see
that here with David and his depraved nature. He calls himself
the chief of sinners. Turn if you would to 1 Timothy
chapter 1. 1 Timothy chapter 1. Verse 15. Now this is the Apostle Paul
writing this. I know we've read this verse
many times. You've probably heard lots of
preachers mention it. But it's always good for us to look at
this verse. Because remember, this is Paul, who's nearing the
end of his ministry, the end of his life. And he writes this
to Timothy. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation. that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners, of whom I am chief." Now, I looked up
the Greek word for this. I wanted to know what the Greek
said about this. It says, first in time or place. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners of whom I am chief. 1 Timothy 1.50 Now chief there means first in
time or place, first in rank, foremost, foremost, in time, place, order, or importance. He says, I'm the foremost sinner.
I'm the worst of the worst. And that's every believer says
that. We all say that. Because God is showing us what
we are. So the man with a clean heart
and a right spirit sees themselves as the chief of sinners. And
they're sorrowful for their sins. Paul wrote this in Romans chapter
seven. Oh, wretched man that I am, who
shall deliver me from the body from the body of this death?
And then listen to his answer. 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. The next point I'd like us to
consider as a man with a clean heart and the right spirit is
a very humble A very humble man. Now we never see humility in
ourselves. And like I say, if you think you're humble, you're
not. You're real proud. That's just how it is. But we never
see humility in ourselves. Other people may see it. The
Lord works that out in us, right? But we don't ever see ourselves
as humble because we know how proud we are. Oh my, enough pride
in me to burn this whole building down. You know, it's in us. It's in every one of us. It's
in every one of us. Turn, if you would, to 1 Corinthians
4, verse 7. What this means, too, is when
a man finds out about himself, who he really is in the eyes
of God, a sinner in desperate need of a Savior, in our natural
state, I ask you this, in our natural state, What does man
have to be proud of? And even after the Lord saved
us, what do we have to be proud of? We're proud people, aren't
we? We can be proud beings. But really,
what do we as believers, what do we have to be proud of? Amen,
brother. Nothing. Nothing. Our boast is
in Christ. Our boast is in the one who has
redeemed us, because we couldn't redeem ourselves. But look at
this wonderful verse, 1 Corinthians 4, 7. And this comes alive. This comes
alive for the humble man. Look at this. For who maketh
thee to differ? That's distinguish in the Greek.
That's who distinguished you from your family members and
your friends. Who set you apart? God. I'm the only one in my family
that I know of who's saved. Who distinguished me? Who set
me apart from my family and all my friends that I went to school
with, and I still see them doing the same things that I used to
do with them? Who distinguished me from all of them? God, and
God alone. I got nothing to be proud of.
Nothing to be proud of. And what is thou that thou didst
not receive? What do I have that I didn't
receive? I received the gift of salvation The gift of grace
of salvation through Christ alone. I can't boast in that. I've received
justification before God and redemption in Christ Jesus, my
Lord. Sanctified in Him. See, the only
one I can boast in is Christ. In Christ alone. What did we
have that we didn't receive? Now if thou didst receive it,
why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it? We don't
have anything to boast in, beloved. We don't have anything to be
proud of. Only God has made us to differ from anyone. And it's
by His choice, by His decree, and by the regenerating power
of the Holy Spirit of God. And this makes the believer rejoice. It makes us rejoice. Because
we know we couldn't do it ourselves. It's wonderful, beloved. It's
absolutely wonderful. faith and repentance is a gift
from God and all spiritual blessings in Christ is a gift from God
for the believer. We've received those things.
I've obtained mercy. Paul said he received mercy from
God. It's wonderful. It's absolutely
wonderful. Next point is a man with a clean
heart and the right spirit feels himself to be spiritually poor
and can do can and only two things can make him rich. a right and
a title to Jesus Christ and all His benefits and a saving faith
in Christ. And this they have only by the
will of God. The only reason we're saved,
the only reason we have a saving interest in Christ is by the
will of God. Is by the will of God. And this
they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to
the Lord and unto us by the will of God. Second Corinthians chapter
eight, verse five, by the will of God. Tie that in with Paul's
words over in Philippians. Turn, if you would, over to Philippians
chapter three. I'll read Second Corinthians
eight, five again. And this they did not as we hoped,
but first gave their own selves to the Lord and unto us by the
will of God, by the will of God. The only reason we are saved
is by the will of God. It was God's will for us to be
saved. It's wonderful. It's wonderful. Oh, it makes
my heart leap for joy. Look at this in Philippians chapter
3, verses 7 to 11. In light of that, in light of
that, it's by the will of God that we even have a right and
a title to Christ, right? And to all his benefits, it's
all through the will of God, a saving faith in Christ, all
by the will of God. Look at this in Philippians chapter
three, verses seven to 11. But what things were gained to
me, those I counted lost for Christ. Yeah, doubtless. And
I count all things but lost for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss
of all things. And do you count them but done that I may win
Christ? and be, here it is, and be found
in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which
is of God by faith, that I may know him, and the power of his
resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made
conformable unto his death, if by any means I might attain unto
the resurrection of the dead. The only reason Paul could write
this, the only reason Paul could say this is that the will of
God, it was the will of God for him to be saved. And he was one
of God's chosen people from eternity. Now, bring that right home to
us. Bring that right home to we who
believe and to be found in him, not having mine own righteousness.
Oh, my. And the next is a saving faith
in Christ. A saving faith in Christ. A man
with a clean heart and the right spirit feels himself to be spiritually
poor and only two things can make him right. Rich. Only two
things. The right and title to Jesus
Christ and all his benefits and the saving faith in Christ. Turn
if you would to Matthew. Matthew chapter 15. Matthew chapter
15. Oh my. Remember, David's crying out,
create in me a clean heart, O Lord. Renew a right spirit within me. Look at this in Matthew chapter
15. Did I say 5? I meant to say 15.
If I said 5. Matthew 15 verses 21 to 28. Then Jesus went thence and departed
into the coast of Thyatirae and Sidon. And behold, a woman of
Canaan came out of the same coast and cried unto him, saying, Have
mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David. My daughter is grievously
vexed with the devil. But he answered her not a word.
And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away, for
she crieth after us. They were annoyed with him. But he answered and said, I am
not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then
came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. Help me. But he answered and said, it
is not meat to take the children's bread and cast it to dogs. And
she said, truth, Lord, yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which
fall from the master's table. Then Jesus answered and said
unto her, O woman, great is thy faith, be it unto thee even as
thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole
from that hour. Oh, my beloved, she has saving
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, saving faith in him. Only two
things can make us rich. A right entitled to the Lord
Jesus Christ and all His benefits and a saving faith in Christ
Jesus our Lord just like this woman. And it's all by the will
of God. It's all by the will of God.
All by His will. The next point I'd like us to
consider is a man with a clean heart and the right spirit cries
out to God. Cries out to God. Turn if you
would to Mark chapter 10. Mark chapter 10. He cries out
to God. He cries out to Christ for cleansing.
And only Christ can make us clean. Purge me with hyssop. Purge me.
Only you can make me clean. He cries out to Christ for spiritual
healing. To have all our sins forgiven.
He cries out to Christ for mercy. Cries out to Christ for grace
over his pitiful state. Do we not see that in Mark chapter
10 with blind Bartimaeus? Look at Mark chapter 10 verses
46 to 52. And they came to Jericho as he
went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number
of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timotheus, sat by
the highwayside begging. And when he heard that it was
Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry and say, Jesus, thou son
of David, have mercy on me. And many charged him that he
should hold his peace. They told him to shut up. Quiet,
quiet. That's what they did. But he cried the more, thou son
of David, have mercy on me. Is that not what a sinner does?
Who's being drawn by the Holy Spirit to Christ? Do we not cry,
oh Lord, have mercy on me? Even when we're repenting from
our sins, have mercy on me, Lord. Oh, have mercy on me. This is
what David's crying out to. Have mercy on me. And Jesus stood
still. God incarnate in the flesh stood
still. There's one of his sheep. There's
one of his lost sheep, beloved. And they call a blind man, saying
unto him, Be of good comfort, rise, he calleth thee. And he,
casting away his garment, rose and came to Jesus. Oh, we flee
to Christ, don't we, beloved? We flee to Christ when we're
made willing. And Jesus answered and said unto him, What will
thou that I should go down unto thee? The blind man said unto
him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. Oh, Lord, give me my
sight. Let me have eyes to see thee, and let me have ears to
hear you. Create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit
within me, Lord. And Jesus said unto him, Go thy
way, thy faith hath made thee whole. That faith is a gift of
God, beloved. That faith is a gift of God.
And immediately, immediately he received his sight
and followed Jesus in the way. Oh my, oh my, can you imagine
that? What mercy and grace is here
on display, showing to sinners. And what mercy we see in our
own lives, and grace we see in our own lives, we who are the
redeemed, showing to sinners like us. In and through Christ
Jesus our Lord. The sixth and last point I'd
like us to consider. A man with a clean heart and
the right spirit trembles at the Word of God. Trembles at
the Word of God. Turn, if you would, to Isaiah
66, verse 2. Isaiah 66, verse 2. Trembles at the Word of God.
Man with a clean heart and a right spirit trembles at the Word of
God. There was one time when I didn't even have any interest
in the Bible. I had no interest in the Word
of God. I had no interest in God's people. I had no interest
in Christ. But all that's changed, beloved,
since the Lord saved my soul. I know it's so with you, too.
I know it's so with you. We tremble, don't we? We tremble
at the Word of God. Every preacher will tell you
we tremble when we preach God's Word. This is the Word of God.
Nothing to be trifled with. Look at this in Isaiah 66 verse
2. For all those things hath mine
hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord. But
to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a
contrite spirit. Remember we saw that in Psalm
2. And look at what's added here. And trembleth at my word. Now
the word trembleth there in the Hebrew means fearful. But there's
something else added. Also reverential, it's a reverent
fear. It's a reverent fear. Afraid,
trembling, but it's with reverence. It's with reverence, beloved.
So we see that this fear of God's word is a reverent fear. A man with a clean heart and
the right spirit When we are showing who God is, how He's
holy and He's righteous, and we're showing that through His
Word, aren't we? We tremble. We tremble. And as we read again and again
by reading and hearing the Word preached, we hear just how much
of a sinner we are And we come to know more and more how much
mercy God has had upon us in Christ. And we tremble in reverent
fear, in awe of what God has done. The believer trembles at
the Word of God. trembles at the Word of God preached,
trembles when they study it, and trembles when we flee to
it. It brings us comfort and joy
as we see the wondrous things which are spoken of in it of
our God and our Savior and the grace that He has shown us in
Christ. And it's a good evidence that
the Word of God has a place in your heart when you tremble at
it. when you tremble. Because, like I said, we can
all look back. We who are redeemed can look
back and we see a time when we didn't tremble at it. But now,
oh, we have a reverent fear of God's Word. It's wonderful. It's
honey to our souls, isn't it? It's honey. But we come before
it. This is God's Word. This is His
Word. Oh my. We tremble and stand in
awe also at the one who's authored it. How is one's heart made clean,
cleansed, one may ask, by the power and work of God alone.
And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up and
said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while
ago God made a choice among us that the Gentiles by my mouth
should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God which knoweth
the hearts, beareth them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even
as he did unto us. and put no difference between
us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now, therefore,
why tempt ye God to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples,
which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we
believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we
shall be saved even as they. Acts chapter 15, verses 7 to
11. And also this to close. But we
are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved
of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you
to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the
truth, whereunto he called you by our gospel to the obtaining
of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. How can a heart be cleansed? Only by the power of God. Only
by the power of God. Heavenly Father, we thank Thee
again for Your mercy and grace. Oh, what grace has been bestowed
upon we who believe, what mercy we have received. We have nothing
to be proud of, nothing to boast in but Thee, O Lord, and Thee
alone. O Lord, may we leave here rejoicing, we who are the redeemed
of your redeemed. May we leave here rejoicing at
this wondrous salvation that we have in thee. We love you,
praise you, and we seek to give you all the glory and honor in
Jesus' name. Amen.