Well, we turn back to Psalm 119
this morning, this longest of psalms, more than double the
length of the next longest one. And David wrote this psalm, I
think that is almost certain. He was the sweet psalmist of
Israel. That was his dying conversation with God, that God had made him
the sweet psalmist of Israel. And it's an alphabet, of spiritual
wisdom for life. In our Bibles, with our verse
divisions, each one of them eight verses long, 22 of them as in
the Hebrew alphabet. All blessing, they show us that
all blessing from God in Christ is mediated, we get it through
Christ, who is the Word of God. The Word, the testimony, the
stat, it's all Christ. These are they, these scriptures
are they which speak of Him. Beginning at Moses and the prophets,
to those disciples on the road to Emmaus, He expounded to them
in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself. All blessing
from God is mediated through Christ the Word. If you ever
hear a sermon, I don't care how orthodox a church claims to be
or a preacher, if the centre of it is not Christ, is not Him,
lifted up for all to see as God's truth, as God's salvation, then
you're wasting your time listening to it. You're wasting your time
going to hear it. The truth of God in Christ is wondrous to
the soul that sees the need of salvation, of what we are in
our sinful nature, in the hands of the living God who is angry
with the wicked every day, when we see the wondrous things He's
revealed in His Word of saving grace, As Psalm 118 verse 23
says, you can glance your eyes across to it, probably if you've
got the same textual setting of the Bible as I have. In verse
23, this is the Lord's doing. Salvation is the Lord's doing.
It is marvellous in our eyes. You see, the road of life In
bodies of sinful flesh, be in no doubt, you might believe God,
you might be a child of God, you might have trusted Christ,
but you still live in this life in a body of sinful flesh. And
the road of life in these bodies of sinful flesh, towards that
state of perfection in eternal bliss with God, where we're heading
in eternity, the promise of glory, it's one of learning by precept. It's of learning by experience.
It's learning through the correction that God brings to us through
those experiences. It's learning the reality of
God's grace and his loving care for his people. It's not a matter,
many will teach you it's about progressive sanctification where
you become more and more holy and fitted for heaven. That's
not the truth. That isn't what the scripture teaches. Christ
is his people's sanctification, not what they do. Christ is his
people's sanctification. You know, there's some good men,
wrote a lot of good things, but some of them even were mistaken
on this. And, you know, we know, we realize
we've all got feet of clay. But on this, some were very mistaken.
Christ is his people's sanctification. He is their holiness. He is all
their standing. Nothing that they do is their
standing before God. but we are bidden in this life,
in this walk through this life, to grow in grace and the knowledge
of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And it's as if David,
after years of experience of life, wrote by Holy Spirit inspiration,
repeated lessons in this alphabetic psalm, A, B, C, D, of faithful
experience in Christ. And the basic principle always
is that firstly, I am a sinful creature. I am naturally alienated
from God. That is my sinful nature. That's
the first principle. But the second principle is that
God's Word, God's precepts, God's truth, God's statutes, God's
law reveals Christ my Redeemer to me, who has redeemed me from
the curse of the law. by being made the curse that
was due to me in my place, and that thirdly, he leads me and
he guides me in the blessedness of knowing him in Christ. Because
that's the only way we do know God, is in Christ. You cannot
know him outside of Christ. Why do you think Jesus said,
I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father
but by me? Because he is the only way to
God. Now this section, Daleth, is
typical. It goes on. There are many, many
repeated lessons. You know, you say, how are you
going to do a series on Psalm 119? Once you've preached two
or three sermons, you've probably got to the core of most of it.
Well, there may be an element of truth in that. We'll see as
we go along. Because they are laid down, and you know what
it says in Isaiah, line by line, precept by precept, layer by
layer, building up on on David's experiences. So it's, as with
all the Psalms, firstly, it's David's personal experience.
You should always see that. The Psalms written by David,
his personal experience comes first. But that is always prophetical
of David's greatest son, who is Christ, his experience. The experience of Christ, of
God, walking this earth in the likeness of sinful flesh. The
believer's surety. It's his experience. We see his
experience. So we read in Psalm 69, my sins
have gone all over me. And then David, no doubt, felt
very, very sinful when he wrote that. But do you know what? Prophetically,
Those sins are Christ's, not that Christ ever committed a
sin. Why are those sins Christ? Because God made him, who knew
no sin, to be sin for his people, that his people might be made
the righteousness of God in him. So in that verse, it's David's
experience, but it's Christ's experience, because he owned
the sins of his people that he might pay the debt for them.
and in Christ, because every believer, the whole body of Christ
is united with him, the head of the body, every believer's
experience is reflected here as well. So I want to focus on
verse 31 this morning, but first look at verse 25. My soul cleaveth
unto the dust. You know, I'm a sinner, I'm a
dead dog. Quicken thou me. God's got to
make me alive according to thy word. It's by his word that the
truth comes. I have declared my ways and thou
heardst me. Teach me thy statutes. He's praying,
God teach me, we pray. Make me to understand the way
of thy precepts. So I shall talk of thy wondrous
works. The more understanding I have of God's ways, of his
precepts, of his truth, the more I shall testify. You know, Henry
Mahan once said, you don't really have to say much, it just leaks
out. In so many ways it just leaks
out. I shall talk of thy wondrous works. My soul melteth for heaviness. Oh, how I'm aware, increasingly
aware, of the lack of strength that I have in myself. More and
more I know, I don't know the full depths of it, but more and
more I know the lack of strength I have in myself. That in me,
as Paul the Apostle said, in me, that is in my flesh, there
dwells no good thing. That I am not fit to be called
one of the saints, I am the least of all the apostles, I am the
chief of sinners, was what he said. Remove from me the way
of lying. Lord, you must do it. There is
no strength. The law was weak through the
flesh. The flesh is too weak to do it. Grant me thy law graciously. I have chosen. Why have I chosen? Because the Lord made me willing
in the day of his power to choose. I have chosen the way of truth.
Thy judgments have I laid before me. Now verse 31, this is where
I want to concentrate. I have stuck unto thy testimonies. O Lord, put me not to shame.
You see, it was this word stuck that struck me when I was looking
at this. I have stuck unto thy testimonies. God's testimonies. What do we mean by God's testimonies? Do you believe this book, with
its testimonies, is the word of God from heaven? Do you believe
that? That's what it is, that's what
it claims to be. And those who believe God believe it is God's
word from heaven. It is God's testimonies from
heaven. It is the witness that God gives
to his people from heaven. You know, as Jesus said, I came
down from heaven. You want to know of heavenly
truth, listen to one who has come down from heaven. It's true,
and it's infallible. Do you believe that? It's true
to the law and to the testimony. If they speak not according to
this Word, there is no light, there is no truth in them. Test
everything that you hear. Test all of the politically correct
agenda of our so-called leaders and all of the different pressure
groups in society. Test it against the Word of God,
and you'll find it's false, it's lies, it's deceitful, You see,
what is it that's persuaded you if you do believe the Word of
God from heaven is true, with its testimonies, and it is infallible?
What is it that might persuade you? Well, you say, well, the
evidence, I've weighed up the evidence. You know, many, many
people don't weigh up the evidence, but I have weighed up the evidence,
and I look around and I just cannot believe what the vast
majority say about evolution, I just know that things are fearfully
and wonderfully made. God created things. There's so
much evidence, as much as they hate you to say it, there's so
much they ban it from the classroom and from the lecture room. It's
not allowed to say intelligent design, but everything around
me suggests intelligent design. It screams it. Look at the integrity
of the Word of God, how consistent it is. Look at the accuracy of
its prophecy. Yes, yes, I believe it because
all of these things, as in a court of law presenting them, it all
adds up. Oh look, archaeology. There's
so much attestation of the truth of scripture from archaeology,
things that are found from the last few thousand years of human
history. So many, so much of it attests
to the truth of this book, and oh, when you do read it, and
you do think about its wisdom, oh it gives such wisdom for life.
that is so much more powerful than any other wisdom. You know,
I often mention that radio program, Desert Island Discs, where guests
are invited on to choose their eight favorite pieces of music
and explain why and what they would do. This is if they were
stranded on a desert island alone, what would they have with them?
And at the end of it, they are Asked to select a book of their
own choice, but they are already given because the early it started
Oh, it started over 70 years ago. Did that program? At that
time, nearly everybody that went on, there were two books that
were always chosen. One was the Bible, and one was
the works of Shakespeare. So to get a bit more interest
from the participants in the program, they said, well, you
can have them anyway. Nowadays, I wonder how many of the ones
that go on there would not be grateful for the Word of God,
for the Bible. But it is wisdom for life, and
it's handed down by people that you trust. But ultimately, you
know, you listen to preachers that you trust, and you say,
therefore I believe it. But you know, ultimately, as
we were thinking last week, it must be by divine revelation. It's the Spirit of God in the
soul of man. that convinces of the truth of
Scripture, it is God speaking in the inner man. Has God spoken
in your inner man to show you the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, the truth of
eternity, the truth of righteousness and holiness, the salvation that
Christ has accomplished? Belief that springs from living
faith is what it's about. Given by God in the new birth,
you must be born again, said Jesus to Nicodemus. Without being
born again, without spiritual revelation from God the Holy
Spirit, you cannot see the kingdom of God, never mind have an opinion
on it. It isn't your intellect and reasoning that convinces
you of these things. It's the Holy Spirit, as Paul
said to the Thessalonians. In 1 Thessalonians 2, verse 13,
when ye received the word of God, which ye heard of us, when
Paul preached it, ye received it not as the word of men, came
from men, but ye received it not as the word of men, but as
it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also
in you that believe. You see, when it comes, it isn't
passive. It isn't a kind of a, oh well
that's nice to have, I'll just file it away for use at some
stage. No, it actively works in you. It effectually works in you also
that believe. It makes you different from the
world around you. That's how it effectually works.
It makes you different in your thinking. And your thinking,
as a man thinketh, so is he, so he acts, so it works out.
He makes you different from the world around you. God shines
Just one beam of light. You know that thief on the cross,
there's an article about him from David Edmondson in the Bulletin.
That thief on the cross didn't study theology for years, but
there was one beam of light that shone into his heart from God
the Holy Spirit. And as it says in Psalm 36 verse
9, in thy light we see light. One beam of light comes into
the soul, and in the light of that so much more light is revealed. And so it is. But which particular
testimonies of God might we receive and, as the text says, stick
to them? I have stuck unto thy testimonies. Well, let me just list some.
First of all, God as He really is. You know what it says in
Hebrews? He that comes to God must believe that He is. Oh yes, I believe that there's
a God, but you know, it's more than that. It's more than just
believing that God exists. We must come to see the testimony
of what God is, as He really is. God is a spirit, said Jesus
to the Samaritan woman. And those that worship Him must
worship Him in spirit and truth, because He's a spirit. He's a
spirit. God is a spirit. God is a spirit. He gives revelation
in the soul to His people to believe that He is over all. You see, you can read it in a
book, you can say, yes, I mentally assent to that, but you feel
it in your soul. Has God the Holy Spirit so shown
you the almighty omnipotent power of God that you see that He is
over all things? He is omniscient, He knows, there's
nothing He doesn't know. He's omnipresent, where can I
flee from His presence? He's omnipotent, there is nothing
He cannot do. None can stay His hand and say
to Him, what doest thou? He's omnipotent, and He's holy. Holy, holy, holy. The angels
of God, who are sinless creatures, shield their eyes because God
is holy, holy, holy. The whole earth is full of His
glory. You see, He's strictly just. Do you know that? This
holy God is strictly just and therefore cannot abide sin. He
is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity. And God alone can reveal
the full weight of this testimony in your soul. Oh yes, read it,
but pray that while you're reading it, God the Holy Spirit would
come and quicken and make alive and give living faith that you
might see the precepts and the testimonies of God and having
seen them by divine revelation that you might stick to it Nothing
will move you from it, will lock you up in prison. They said to
John Bunyan, he stuck to it, he carried on, he never went
away from it. You see, flesh and human intellect,
you can nod your head to it, but they can't cause you to feel
the weight of the truth of God as he is. And true faith sticks
to that testimony. Secondly, here's a testimony
of God that tells me that I am a sinner under just judgment,
deserving of God's condemnation. It is a fearful thing to fall
into the hands of the living God, God who is angry with the
wicked every day. He is a consuming fire, is, not
was, is, is, is. He is a consuming fire, not the
way that modern versions of the scripture have twisted it to
make it less terrifying. What he is, is what he is. He's
unchangeable, the same yesterday, today, and forever. But the Holy
Spirit needs to bring conviction of that. You can read it and
say, oh yes, well I suppose so, but do you know, a sinner is
a sacred thing. The Holy Ghost has made him so.
It's the Holy Spirit that must teach you The difference between
just agreeing in your head that, yes, I'm a sinner, and feeling
in the very core of your being that your being is vile as it
is in the sight of a holy God, and that you justly deserve hell
and condemnation. The flesh rises up against it,
but the soul enlightened by God's testimony sticks to the truth
of it. I have stuck unto thy testimonies.
There are testimonies of divine instruction that are given in
this word. Jeremiah 17.9, the heart, your heart, my heart,
is sinful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know
it? God knows it. God tries the rains. God knows.
That's a testimony of God. Do you know? I stick to it. I
stick to it. He's told me that. It's true.
Isaiah 1 verse 6, from the sole of the foot to the head, there
is no soundness in it. It's all putrefying sores. of
sinfulness and of alienation from God. It's a truth of God. I stick to it. I'm a sinner.
I confess. Faith sticks to the truth. Self-righteousness
assures people that it's not the case. Isaiah 28, for example,
this is the difference between sticking to the truth by the
faith that comes from God and that which convinces itself of
the opposite. Religion that convinces itself
it's okay. Verse 15 of chapter 28 of Isaiah,
Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and
with hell are we at agreement. When the overflowing scourge
shall pass through, it shall not come unto us. For we have
made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves.
That's what God says to hypocrites who were not sticking to God's
testimonies, but whose flesh in self-righteous denial was
rising up against the truth of God. Thirdly, flesh won't teach
the true fear of God, of His children, but the Holy Spirit's
testimony does, and the children of God fear God, not with a fear
of judgment, or a dread of condemnation, no, but with a reverential fear.
of a loving child, of a loving, caring parent. That's the sort
of fear that there is. A fear of God. The fear of God.
Do you know what the fear of God is? It's the beginning of
wisdom. It's the beginning of knowledge. If you want true wisdom
and knowledge of eternal things, you must fear God. But it isn't
a mechanical thing. It's the Holy Spirit and His
testimony in the soul that teaches us the fear of God. And His people
stick to it. In contrast, to the world's presumption. The world presumes that God doesn't
really punish sin, that God will be lenient with us all, that
we're no bit worse than anybody else, that we'll be alright,
we'll all go to heaven and all have a good time, God will leave
us alone in this kind of state of eternity where we're all with
departed loved ones. That's the sort of false view
that is out there. Look at God's testimonies. Believe
God's testimonies. Stick to God's testimonies. Fourthly,
God's gospel grace. God's gospel grace. Here's a
testimony of God. We read it in Romans 3 earlier
on at the start. There is mercy for sinners that
he may be rightly feared. Psalm 130 verse 4. There is mercy
with him that he may be feared. There is forgiveness with him
that he may be feared. that the blood of Jesus Christ,
as 1 John 1, 7 says, this is the testimony of God, that the
blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. I'm
a sinner. How am I going to stand when
it comes to the day I die? How am I going to go into eternity
without dread of condemnation and the wrath of God? Because
God's testimony, to which I stick as a believer, has told me that
the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses me from all sin. That salvation
is not of me, but it is of the Lord alone. That salvation is
a matter of sovereign grace. That it is not for everybody
without exception, but for a particular people, an innumerable multitude,
chosen in Christ from before the foundation of the world because
of the sovereign grace of God alone. Testimony of the Lord. Oh, many people say, oh, I believe
in salvation, but I don't believe in the doctrine of election.
Sorry, you do not believe in salvation, for there's only one,
and it's that which is saving grace and particular redemption,
where Christ came to redeem who? His people from the curse of
the law. by himself becoming a curse for those very people.
That's who he died for. Salvation is of the Lord. That's
a precept, a testimony of the Lord. True faith sticks to that. Flesh raises doubts, as the devil
said to Eve in the Garden of Eden, hath God said? As God really
said, the flesh raises those doubts. But true faith sticks,
sticks to it. And that's why the hymn writers
wrote the hymns that we love to sing. The poetry of hymns
helps us and reminds us of these things. That my sin, oh the bliss
of this glorious thought, my sin not in part but the whole
is nailed to his cross and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord,
praise the Lord, oh my soul. God's testimony. And the soul
that is saved by him sticks to its testimony, sticks to it.
It sticks to the testimony of God regarding judgment day, regarding
judgment day. There is a judgment coming. God
says there is a judgment coming. And some who claim to be believers
tell believers that they need to fear the day of judgment because
they're going to be examined for all of their sins on that
day of judgment to see what sort of a sanctified life they've
lived. Have you heard that? I've certainly heard that many,
many, many, many times from people who claim to be orthodox Christians,
believing the truth of God. This is what they say. But do
you know something? I'd sooner believe God's testimony.
For God's testimony assures me that there is therefore now no
condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. God's testimony,
to which I stick, assures me that we must all stand before
the judgment seat of Christ to receive the things done in the
body. And what things were done in the body for believers? The
things that were done in the body of Christ, who died for
His people, who paid the penalty already, and that now in Him,
His people are made the righteousness of God. Therefore, on that day
of standing before the judgment seat of Christ, we do not fear
that we will hear, depart from me, you haven't been good enough
in this life. We will hear, come ye blessed of my Father. Inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
And true believers stick to God's testimony in the face of fleshly
unbelief. Another one. Testimony of God. Testimony of God that all things
work together for good to those who love God, who are called
according to His purpose. We believe it's true. We stick
to it. The inner man sticks to it. The
man of God, the new man of God, sticks to it. But flesh rises
up in disbelief when things happen that seem against us. And sickness
comes. The flesh rises up. Do you now
believe God? Look, you're possibly terminally
ill. You haven't got long to live.
Do you believe God? Oh, your finances have suffered greatly.
Do you now believe God? Do you now believe Him? Look
at the things that have happened. All things work together for
good to those who love God, who are the called according to His
purpose. Oh, your career was doing so well, and now it's taken
a nosedive. Oh, how can this be of God? Do
you believe God? The flesh rises up. The soul,
the new man of the Spirit of God, sticks to God's testimony
that it's true. But the flesh rises up with doubts
and fears. Relationships I could even say
on the basis of our experience this week, which has been one
of the most traumatic experiences of our lives, house selling chains
are incredibly stressful and cause you really to wonder in
the flesh to rise up against believing that God is causing
all things to work together for your good. Because flesh rises
up against it. It's difficult. But true faith,
true faith, praise God, He keeps His people and true faith sticks
to His testimonies. We rebel in disbelief but He
convicts, He teaches, He assures, He chastises, He brings us back
to that belief and that understanding. You see the work of faith The
work of faith? Yes, there is a work of faith.
The work of faith, Paul commends some of the churches for their
work of faith. The work of faith is to stick to God's testimonies. We receive witness from God in
our souls through his word. When we read it, When it's applied
through preaching, when it's expounded, we receive witness
from God in our souls through His Word, through experiences
that happen to us, and events. Sometimes He cannot teach us
by the Word alone. It has to be that He puts us
through an experience to teach us the truth of all things work
together for good. to those who love God, who are
called according to His purpose. And faith receives it, and we
act towards God regarding it. We stick to it. We stick to it. Let me give you an example. In
John chapter 6, The Pharisees came and the Jews came to Jesus
and they were questioning him. He'd fed them, he'd fed the 5,000
and many were just seeking another free meal. And he talks about
the work of God being the work of God that people come to him,
come to God by him and by him alone. And that no man can come
unless the, what? Us Jews, we've got an open door?
No, no, no man can come. It's my father who draws, no
man can come unless my father draws, and all who come to me
I will in no wise cast out, he says. It's all of God, he's speaking
of sovereign grace. He's speaking of the fact that
salvation, true salvation, the attainment to the kingdom of
God is all by the grace of God. And many people heard that, said,
this is a hard saying. Who can bear it? I must eat the
flesh, of the Son of Man and drink His blood, who can bear,
it's a hard saying, who can bear it? Am I not good enough in myself? I must do all of this? And it's
all of sovereign grace, it's not of my choice, it's not of
my volition to decide? Is that what you said? Yes, that's
what Jesus is saying. He underlined it again and again
and again. And they said, this is a hard saying, who can bear
it? And many of them went away and walked no longer with Him
from that time. And Jesus said to the disciples, will you also
go away? But Peter stuck to his testimony,
to his faith. He believed what the Lord had
said. And despite the evidence of his fleshly eyes telling him,
yeah, all of those others are right in going away, he stuck
to the testimony. Often, like Israel, we don't
know what to do. There's a passage in 2 Chronicles
chapter 20, And they're in a dire situation
with enemies all around, and Ammon and Moab are looking to
overrun what remained of Israel. And they're coming to sweep over
them. And in verse 12, this is their
prayer to God. This is the people of God in
Israel, surrounded by enemies, and not knowing what to do. Look
what they say, O our God, wilt thou not judge them? For we have
no might against this great company that cometh against us. We're
pathetically weak, we cannot do a thing against them. Neither
know we what to do, so what do they do? but our eyes are upon
thee. And all Judah stood before the
Lord with their little ones, their wives and their children.
What did they do? They confessed. They had no strength
and no knowledge, but they looked to God. What are your testimonies,
Lord? Teach us your testimonies. We'll
stick to your testimonies. We won't go the way of the heathen
all around us. We'll wait for God's testimony
that we might stick to it. So then he says, I have stuck
unto thy testimonies, and we could no doubt have dug a lot
deeper and wider, but I want to just finish in the minutes
that remain with this. Oh Lord, put me not to shame,
put me not to shame. There is a cost of sticking to
God's testimonies in a fallen world. There is a cost to it.
Jesus counseled his followers. If any man come after me, let
him count the cost. Let him deny himself and come
after me. There's a cost. Which of you sets out to build
a tower without first counting the cost in case you run out
of resources and people mock you because you didn't have the
wherewithal to finish it? He says if you're embarking on a
life of faith to follow Christ, you count the cost first because
there is a cost. If you can't see any cost, you
haven't understood it. You haven't understood the gospel.
For example, those who follow Christ, there's a cost of Christianity
on our business. If you're in business, you will
find there is a cost on your business of being a believer.
There will be things that the world is happy to do. that you
know from the testimonies of God that you stick to are sinful
things and you cannot do them. And you might find that your
business suffers as a result. There is a cost to it. There
are possessions that you have to give up. God's testimony teaches
us not to value fleeting possessions. God's testimony teaches us and
if we're true, we stick to it, it teaches us as Moses to count
the reproach of Christ greater riches than those of Egypt. It
teaches us to leave advantageous situations for the sake of conscience
or for gospel prosperity, for the good of the gospel, for the
good of gospel witness. It teaches us, leave those things
behind for the good of those things. And ask God to feed me
with food convenient for me, as it says in the scripture.
Give me what I need. Give me what I need. And whilst
I will lose, maybe, perhaps, in the kingdom of this world,
I maybe will, I likely will, not to be put to shame. Lord,
put me not to shame in seeking to stick to your testimony. Me
and the truth I uphold in the eyes of those around me. Not
that I mind being scorned by people around me, but for the
sake of the truth of the gospel and the honor of God, Lord, put
me not to shame for sticking to thy testimonies. Secondly,
in death, when it comes to death, for it is appointed to man to
die once and then the judgment, having stuck to God's testimonies
in life, oh when it comes to that situation, that I might
not be put to shame, either in this life by dying a bad death,
a death which looks panicky and frightened, but one that is honouring
to God. and honouring to the testimonies
that I've stuck to, and that I don't die in despair, and that
I'm not put to shame in the final judgment when I'm taken from
this life and stand before that throne of judgment, that I'm
not put to shame, but I'm welcomed with the open arms of grace and
truth. You know, that I don't end up
there at that final moment, unbelieving, disbelieving God, but that I
end up there with a good hope that is evident. You know, when
you read the biographies of some of the men that preached the
gospel faithfully a couple of hundred years ago, I remember
some people like John Warburton, seemed to take a very long time
to die. He was sick on the point of death
for weeks and weeks and weeks with his family around his bed,
wondering how long it would be. But his testimony throughout
was such a gracious testimony of the grace of God and such
a good hope, and he was not put to shame. His very dying experience
was an underlining affirmation of the faith that he had faithfully
proclaimed for years and years and years. He had a good hope,
and so he went into glory with that good hope intact. He was
not put to shame in death. That in this life, as we go through
life, we're all subject to sin. If we say we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. But oh, put us
not to shame, having stuck to the testimonies of God, that
we won't be found in a situation where sin will overcome us. You
know, God has always made a way of escape for his people. Oh,
that he won't allow us to be put to shame. And more than that,
not us personally, But the truth that we have claimed to believe
and honour, that that won't be put to shame in the eyes of the
world around us. Me and my witness in the eyes
of the world, having stuck to thy testimonies, Lord, keep me
from shame, keep me from being overcome by sin. Don't let me
be a disgrace to the gospel and your testimonies in the eyes
of the world. Fourthly, when Satan attacks
with unbelief, you know, and those times do come, I mentioned
some of them, you know, in relation to Romans 8, 28, all things work
together for good. When Satan attacks with unbelief,
when the circumstances, the things that happen, cause the flesh
to rise up in unbelief and doubt, and says your Christianity is
deception, and you've wasted your time trying to serve a false
God, you know, keep me from being put to shame. The psalmist in
Psalm 73 said, my feet had almost slipped. Why had they almost
slipped? He said, because I was envious
at the wicked. I've tried to serve God. I've
sacrificed a lot in my life. My business has suffered, my
family's suffered, my situation, all of this trying to be faithful. to the testimony of God and to
do His will and to maintain His honour. But I've just had enough
of it, I see all these people around, they have no thought
for God, they have no care for God, they don't seem to suffer
in death, they're prosperous, their children multiply, they're
just, you know, and he says, My feet had almost slipped, but
then he says, I went into the sanctuary of God. He went into
the temple. What does he mean? What is the
temple? The temple is the symbol, the
blueprint, if you like, of Christ, the presence of God on earth.
It's the gospel. It's the gospel. In there are
all the symbols of gracious redemption. And there he saw God's testimonies. He was reminded of God's testimonies. and the glue had held fast. He
stuck to God's testimonies. He was not put to shame in the
eyes of unbelievers or in God's judgment. So as I said right
at the start, the road of life in bodies of sinful flesh, towards
that state of perfection in eternal bliss with God is one of learning
by precept from God, by experience, and correction in the reality
of God's grace and loving care for his people. Our objective
as believers is to live a better life. Surely, isn't it? You say,
is that compatible with your gospel? You want to live a better
life? I want to live the life that Christ promised. What did
he promise? I came that they might have life and have it more
abundantly. Isn't that a better life? A better
life. I want to live a life of true
peace with God, knowing that I have peace with God, of contentment
knowing all that God has done for me, that I am in His hands,
that those that seek to affect my liberty, let's say,
in these days, that even they are in the hands of God, of a
contentment that whatever situation I'm in, therewith, as Paul said,
to be content. I know that I am overflowing
with spiritual riches from God in the gospel of His grace. I
have settled assurance in this life that I have a good hope,
a hope that is based on the solid rock which is God's Christ, and
I'm sticking fast to that, sticking fast to his testimonies, and
praying that in this flesh, with what I live in the remainder
of my life, I will not be put to shame, either me personally
as his child, or the testimony that I declare concerning him
in the world around us. All for the honor of God's kingdom. or in judgment when we pass into
eternity, that we would not be put to shame there. Amen.