We often miss great privileges
and great opportunities simply because we neglect things so
common to us. When I was a boy, I was raised
in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and folks came literally from
all over the world, I guess they still do, to visit a place called
Old Salem. I went by the place every day,
every day. Virtually every day of my life
went by where folks came from all over the world to come visit
it. And when we had to go on field
trips to school, I dreaded going to old Salem. I wasn't the least
bit interested in seeing how Moravians came and lived in that
part of North Carolina and settled the place and made candles and
did the stuff they did until I got older. And I got older,
I got very interested in the history. but it was a little
late. I had neglected it my whole life
simply because it was always in front of me. And frequently
in scripture, we neglect those things that seem to be most commonly
observed and most commonly spoken of and miss great blessings in
doing so until we're brought by God's good providence into
a position where those things that are most common become most
important. Don't you find it strange how
that things that intrigue you greatly just consume your mind
and your thoughts, especially with regard to things in the
word of God, things that just greatly intrigue your interest,
you become meaningless. Just just almost meaningless
when you're faced with losing someone you love, watching someone
die who knows God or someone who doesn't, or when you're faced
yourself with the immediate prospect of eternity. Then the great mysteries
of theology and doctrine and things that men fuss and argue
and debate about just don't mean much. They just don't mean much. Let's look tonight at some very
common words in scripture. The title of my message, if you're
taking notes, is Seven Instructive Words. God graciously has a way
of teaching us to know how frail we are. And it is a great blessing of
his grace that he does. We need often to be taught how
frail we are physically Mentally emotionally and especially spiritually
how utterly Dependent we are upon our God for all things Turn
with me if you will to Psalm 46 and we'll begin in Psalm 46
and verse 10 Psalm 46 and verse 10 Now what I have to say in
this message is so simple the smallest child can get it and
so profound that we will never fathom the depths of these things. Here in Psalm 46, the psalmist
David gives us that which is without question the greatest
word in all the word of God. It is the word God. God. God. Look at verse 10. Throughout this psalm, the psalmist
speaks about God, our Savior. In verse 10, he says, Be still
and know that I am God. What a blessed word of grace.
Be still and know that I am God. Oh for grace constantly to live
under the influence of this sweet comforting fact. who is our God
is God indeed. He alone is God. He says I am
God and beside me there is none else. He who is our God is God
in fact. There's all other pretenses,
all other notions concerning God are just idolatry of one
form or another. He who is our God He alone is
God. Now this is what that means.
He is in absolute control of all things, all the time, everywhere. Someone just asked me if I'd
seen the news and what's going on. Was it Brussels? I guess
I'll learn about it tonight. And I hadn't seen any today.
When I'm getting ready to preach, I try my best to avoid those
things. And thankful I have avoided those
things today. Whatever took place, whatever
took place, took place according to the will, purpose, decree,
and hand of God. Be still, God says to you who
are his. Be still, God says to me, and
know that I am God. Oh my God, I would be still. at all times and in all circumstances,
knowing that you whom I trust and worship and adore are God
indeed. God, give me grace to leave all
things in your hands, knowing that all is safe in your hands. All my personal concerns, all
my family concerns, All public concerns, all private concerns,
all spiritual concerns, all carnal concerns, all temporal concerns,
all eternal concerns, all are safe in his hands. Let me then
be still. Let me be unruffled. Let me be
at ease all the time. He is God. Our God is in the
heaven. he hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased. I repeat without question, the
greatest word in this book is the word God. He has no rival. This word contains
all things. When I read the word God, I think
of the Holy Trinity, the mighty creator, the marvels of creation,
the wonders of particular providence, my heavenly father, my savior,
my master, my God. A mighty fortress is our God,
a bulwark never failing, our helper he amidst the flood of
mortal ills prevailing. Be still and know that I am God. Oh, if God will allow us to enter
in some way to the reality of this fact that he is God, our
souls will indeed walk before him in peace. All right, turn,
if you will, to Psalm 51. Psalm 51. No doubt the blackest word in
the Bible is the word sin. Hear how David, the man after
God's own heart, speaks of his sin. Have mercy upon me, O God, according
to Thy lovingkindness, according to the multitude of Thy tender
mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions
and my sin as ever before me against Thee, The 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. I cannot think about God without thinking about sin. not your sin, not the sins of
folks I read about in the newspapers, not the sins of society, degenerate
and perverse, but my sin. When I think of God, I immediately
think of my sin and I'm compelled to confess it. It takes three
words to describe this horrible evil that we call sin. David
uses all three of them here in his confession. He speaks of
iniquity. The word means inequity, missing
the mark. God says, walk before me and
be ye holy. He says, walk before me and be
perfect. He says, be you righteous for
I'm righteous. Sin is missing the mark. It is inequity. It is failure
to arrive at that which God requires. But it's more than that. It's
transgression. Transgression. Transgression
is rebellion. Transgression is knocking over
the fences, trespassing. Transgression is going where
you're told not to go, doing what you're told not to do. Transgression
is man living with his fist in God's face. That's our nature. That's our nature. And sin. Sin. This inequity, this transgression
arises from the perverseness, the corruption, the evil of our
nature. John Newton expressed it so well.
He said, physician of my sin sick soul, to thee I bring my
case, my raging malady control, and heal me by thy grace. Pity the anguish I endure, see
how I mourn in pine, for never can I hope for cure. from any
hand but thine. Sin. Sin brought death to our
race. Sin separated us from God. Sin
has marred, defiled, and deformed God's creation. All that there is in this world
that's good is caused by God. All there is in this world that's
evil is caused by sin. Thank God, He rules the evil
as well as the good. But all the evil there is in
this world, all sickness, all disease, all physical deformity,
all mental anguish, all war, all pestilence, all strife, all
conflict, all death is all because of sin. And bless God, when time
shall be no more and our God has made all things new, when
we are completely delivered from sin, we shall be delivered from
all these things. When there is no more sin, there'll
be no more darkness, and no more sighing, and no more crying,
and no more dying. Here's the third word. Look at
Isaiah 57, verse 15. Isaiah 57, verse 15. I think the most sobering word
in this book must be the word eternity. Thus saith the high
and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity. I try my best to think about
eternity all the time. you could never think without
thinking about eternity. Eternity. How little there is in this world
that will be of concern to you when you think about eternity.
Eternity. All the stuff that men strive
to get and all the stuff they try to hang on to and all the
stuff they fight over is utterly insignificant in the light of
eternity. I hope you will hear me now.
I've said these three things to you so many times about eternity. God help you to hear them. God
write them on your heart. We live in a world where everything
is temporary and passing away. We live in this world called
time, in this state called the earth, in this brief little speck
in eternity called time, where everything is passing away. Everything's decaying. Everything's
dying. Everything is moving to its end
and moving swiftly. We live in a world where everything
is perishing. Everything. Everything you can
hold on to, everything you can touch, everything you can see
with your eyes, every relationship you have. There's Larry with
his two grandbabies and his daughter. It's going to end soon. It's
going to end soon. It's going to end soon. This
dear lady here, this relationship is going to end soon. One way
that it's going to end. Everything here is just temporary. We're moving rapidly into a world
in which everything is unchanging and eternal. When you have breathed
your last breath, the Lord God says, he that is holy, let it
be holy still. He that is filthy, let it be
filthy still. Nothing going to change. As you
are, when you leave this world, you shall be forever either blessed
of God or cursed of God. Everything eternal. A place called
heaven. Eternal, eternal bliss, eternal
light, eternal righteousness, eternal life, a place called
hell, eternal darkness. Eternal curse, eternal torment,
eternal death. And the only thing, the only
thing that will prepare you for eternity is Jesus Christ the
Lord. Faith in the Son of God. You must have Christ or you must
forever die. You must have Christ or you must
forever perish. Eternity. In Matthew chapter
7, you don't need to turn there, it's very familiar to you. I
think the saddest word in the Bible has got to be the word
depart. There are some people to whom
the Lord Jesus will one day say, depart from me ye cursed. I never knew you. Hmm. In your wildest imagination,
in your most terrifying nightmare, can you imagine a word more horrible,
more dreadful, more hopeless, more sad than that? Depart from
me. Depart from me. Depart from me. Many will say to me that day,
Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name
have cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful
works? And then will I profess to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work
iniquity. Now, turn if you will to Ephesians
chapter two, Ephesians chapter two. the most hopeful word in all
the Bible we find here. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 4.
But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith
he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened
us together with Christ. By grace ye are saved. Soon, You and I must meet God. We who are sinners must meet
God. We must spend eternity either
in the blessed presence of God in heaven or under the horrible
curse of God in hell. And the only hope for our souls
is grace. Grace. Because of God's grace,
there's hope for sinners. Because of God's grace, there's
hope for you. The only thing that will keep
you out of hell is God's grace. And you're being saved from hell,
saved from God's wrath, saved from judgment. My being saved
has nothing to do with what I do, how good I am, what you do, how
good you are. Salvation is all together by
the grace of God. That means it's God's gift. God
performs it. God bestows it. God works it
in you. God preserves it. And God brings
it to completion. Salvation is by the grace of
God. Now, turn back a couple of books
to Matthew chapter 1. Matthew chapter 1. Very familiar
text of scripture here. The most precious word in this
book, maybe the sweetest word in human
language, is the word Jesus. Matthew 121. Thou shalt call
his name Jesus, the angel said to Joseph, for he shall save
his people from their sin. I don't much like hearing people
use familiar terms speaking of the
Lord Jesus. I realize that, and I wouldn't
make rules and say, don't ever refer to the Lord Jesus as Jesus.
But in the scriptures, he's spoken of reverently. And we ought always
to do that. I know in our day, in our society,
folks like to have everything on a real just as low a level
as they can possibly get it. Everything brought down just
as low as you can possibly get it. Everybody's called by his first
name. When I was growing up, and I wasn't raised in high society,
I was just an ordinary fella. But when
I was growing up, if I had walked to my next door neighbor, whose
name was Ed Sturgis, and called him Ed, and he knocked me on
my rear end, And my mother found out why I did it. She had knocked
me on my rear end. You just didn't do it. You spoke
to folks with respect. How much more we ought to speak
of our God and Savior with respect. He who is our Savior is the Lord
Jesus Christ. And he ought to always be spoken
of with the highest possible reverence and respect. But what
a sweet name this is. by which he is called. Jesus,
Jehovah who saves. Jehovah, our Savior. God, our
Savior. Jesus, oh how sweet the name. Jesus, every day the same. Jesus, let all saints proclaim
his worthy praise forever. Jehovah Jesus is my God. whom I trust. He is the Lord
our righteousness. He is our sin atoning substitute.
He is our only high priest. He is our only sacrifice, our
only advocate, our only acceptance with God. He is Christ our King,
Christ our prophet, Christ our Savior. Now this is what all
that means. I have no need but Christ Jesus
the Lord. I have no want but the Lord Jesus
Christ. no claim, no plea, no hope, but
him who is God the Son in human flesh. I have no right before
God, no peace from God, and no might with God except in Jesus
Christ his Son. I don't know who wrote this,
but I like it real well. I think Spurgeon wrote it, but
I'm not sure. What the hand is to the lute, what breath is to
the flute, what fragrance is to the smell, what spring is
to the well, what the flower is to the bee, that is Jesus
Christ to me. What the mother is to the child,
what the compass is in pathless wild, what oil is to the troubled
wave, what ransom is to the slave, what water is to the sea, that
is Jesus Christ to me. Call his name Jesus. For he shall
save his people from their sins. This one who is God our Savior
has a people in this world. They're called God's elect. His
sheep. And Christ Jesus came into this
world on purpose to save his people from their sins. And save
them he will. He is no failure. All who are
his Given to him before the world began in covenant grace. He shall
save Entirely from their sins from all their sins and all the
evil consequences of their sins Here's the seventh word look
at Isaiah 45 Isaiah 45 I'll spend just a few minutes on this and
wrap this up Here's the happiest word in the book of God Look
unto me, and be ye saved. Isaiah 45, 22. Look unto me,
our Savior says, and be ye saved. Saved. Oh, for those who experience
it, what a happy word this is. We hear this word all the time.
We use it constantly. It's used in the Word of God
to describe the state and condition of those people who've been brought
into a living union of faith with the Lord Jesus Christ, the
Son of God. God hath saved us. By grace are you saved through
faith. All who believe on the Lord Jesus,
all who truly trust the Son of God are saved. Listen to the
book. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. But what does that mean? What
is it to be saved? Here I stand before you, a sinner
saved by God's grace. And being saved by God's grace,
I speak with confidence when I tell you that I am loved of
God. with an everlasting love. Chosen by God as the object of
his mercy, love, and grace, I'm redeemed by the precious blood
of Christ, justified before God because the Son of God loved
me and gave himself for me. To be saved is to be born again,
made partaker of the divine nature. made a new creature in Jesus
Christ the Lord. To be saved is to be forgiven
of all sin. Free from the curse of God's
holy law. Free from all possibility of
danger of any kind. I chose my words deliberately.
not just free from condemnation, not just free from the curse,
free from all possibility of danger of any kind. There shall no evil happen to
the just. That's what the book says. There
shall no evil happen to the just. To be saved is to have peace
with God. is to have eternal life. To be
saved is to own and acknowledge that Christ is the Lord. To be
saved is to have the Spirit of God. To be saved is to be an
heir of God and joint heir with Jesus Christ. Oh, what a blessed
thing this is. This is a choice word in the
vocabulary of God's elect. The Son of Man has come to seek
and to save that which was lost. The Lord Jesus says, look unto
me and be ye saved. Would you do so? Look away to Christ the Lord
and go home tonight saved. Look out of yourself to Christ
for all righteousness, for all redemption, for all acceptance
with God and go home saved, accepted of God, born of His Spirit. We're saved by grace. But Peter
says we're scarcely saved, that is, saved with difficulty. Something
has to be done. For a sinner to be saved, God's
holiness, justice, and truth must be maintained. Sin must
be punished. How can this be done? Only through
Christ the substitute. Only by Christ living and dying
in our room instead, so that God fully, fully Fully satisfies
His wrath and justice in the sacrifice of His Son. Fully punished
our sins in the person of His Son. And now looks on sinners
who fully deserve His wrath and declares they have no sin and
deserve no wrath. Declaring that sinners saved
by His grace are indeed just with God and righteous as Christ
was made sin for us. and bore in his body, in his
heart, and in his soul all that sin deserves. All the hell and darkness and
fury and justice and anger of God against iniquity, transgression,
and sin until justice is fully satisfied. So every sinner believing
on the Lord Jesus is made the righteousness of God in him and
has by the hand of God in righteousness, justice, and truth. All that
holiness and righteousness and perfection fully deserves from
God Almighty. made the righteousness of God
in him. Sinners are saved by the grace
of God, saved by the doing and dying of the Lord Jesus, saved
by faith. Thy faith has saved them. No,
faith isn't the power of salvation. That's the work of God. That's
the call of God. Faith isn't the basis of salvation.
That's the work of Christ. But faith in Christ is as essential
and vital to the saving of your soul as the blood of Christ,
the grace of God, and the purpose of God in election. Without faith,
you cannot enter into glory. Thy faith hath saved thee, our
Lord said to that woman who washed his feet with her tears and wiped
them with the hairs of her head. Thy faith hath saved thee, he
said to Bartimaeus who received his sight. And when you believe
on the Son of God, salvation is yours by faith in Jesus Christ. So, Brother Don, you can't say
that. Men don't have the ability to
believe. That doesn't change anything. That's your responsibility. You must believe on the Son of
God. And if you refuse to believe,
you'll be damned forever and justly damned because you choose
not to believe on the Son of God. Salvation is by hope. Paul tells us in Romans 8 24,
they were saved by hope. Now, hope as it's used in this
world is a term that doesn't really have much meaning. You
know, folks say, well, I hope it rains today. They're not a
cloud in the sky. That's that's just an empty wish
and empty desire. But as it's used in the book
of God, the believers hope is the confident expectation of
eternal life through Jesus Christ, the Lord. I said to the men back
in the office just a little bit ago, For believers, and this
is a very poor way of stating it, for believers, there are
lots of things worse than dying. What could be better for a believer
than to die? What could be better? Oh, my
soul. For believers, there's lots of
things worse than dying. Don't ever look upon death as
something that we need to be fearful of, or that we should
shun or back away from. I don't mean that we should be
careless. I mean that we should be care-less. I mean we should
be without care with regard to these things. For the believer,
death is the marvelous fulfillment of God's work of grace for us. Believers will meet the Lord
Jesus in hope. I fully expect I fully expect I can't say this strongly enough
to to convey it to you. I fully expect god almighty to
embrace me with a smile of because of the blood and righteousness
of his darling son. It's called hope. We're saved
by hope. And our Lord Jesus tells us something
else. He tells us that God's people,
all who are saved, saved by grace, saved by faith, saved by hope
in him, are saved by losing. He said, whosoever will save
his life shall lose it. Whosoever will lose his life
for my sake shall find it. This is what faith is. It is giving up my life to him. That's what it is. It is giving
up my life to him. Unbelief is saying, get out of
my life, God. I'll do things the way I want
to. Unbelief is a man saying, God, you've got no right to be
God. Faith is a sinner bowing in the
dust before the throne of the sovereign Redeemer and giving
up the rule and the command and the control of his life to the
Son of God because he wants to. because he wants to. Years ago, I read about an old
missionary who had labored for years in one of the remote islands. There he buried his wife and
buried his three sons. And finally, when he couldn't
endure the hardship of pioneer missionary life any longer, he
retired and came back to the States. And one night in a church
meeting like this, he stood before a congregation and made this
statement. If I had my life to live over
again, I would walk the same path, trust the same savior,
weep the same tears, visit the same graves, and preach the same
gospel. For all that I've lost on earth
is gained in glory. Now will you allow your pastor
to plagiarize just a little bit? If I had my life to live over
again, I would walk the same path, trust the same savior, weep the
same tears, visit the same graves, and preach the same gospel. For I've lost nothing. I've lost nothing except sin
and death and damnation. I wouldn't change a thing. This is the life God's given
us in Christ Jesus the Lord. Oh, may he make it yours this
very hour for Christ's sake.