I'm sure you all know about the
situation in India, and we have some friends and some brethren
over there. They've never asked us for anything,
but they did request if we could find some used oxygen concentrators
to send them to them, and we did that today. Gilbert asked me to thank you
for that. They are supposed to get them
by next Tuesday. Let's pray together. Our merciful
heavenly father, we thank you for thy dear son
who has shed the light of truth abroad in our hearts. We thank
you for your word. And Lord, we pray tonight that
you would send your spirit and that you would enlighten the
eyes of our understanding, that you would enable us to see Christ
and to believe on him and to rest our hope in him and to rejoice
in him. Lord, we thank you for the fulfillment
of your promises and We trust, Lord, that as you have always
been faithful, that your faithfulness and your mercy will endure forever. It is for that that we are thankful
and dependent. We thank you for our brethren
in India, and we pray your protection upon them, and we ask, Lord,
that you would get this this equipment to them
safely and that you would help them in this time of need. Most especially, we pray that
you would use these trials to cause us to set our affections
on things above where Christ is seated at thy right hand.
For it's in his name we ask it, amen. Number 352 from your hard back
teminal, 352. And let's all stand together
again. Jesus, lover of my soul, let
me to thy bosom fly. While the nearer waters roll,
while the tempest still is high, guide me, O my Savior, ? Till the storm of life is past
? ? Safe into the haven died ? ? O receive my soul at last
? ? Other refuge have I none ? ?
It ain't my helpless soul ? Lima, leave me not alone, Still
support and comfort me. All my trust on Thee is stained,
All my help from Thee I bring. Cover my defenseless head with
the shadow of Thy name. Thou, O Christ, art all I want,
more than all in Thee I find. Raise the fallen, cheer the faint,
Heal the sick and lead the blind. Just and holy is thy name, I
am all on righteousness. False and full of sin I am, Thou
art full of truth and grace. Plenteous grace with Thee is
found, Grace to cover all my sin. Let the healing streams
abound, Make and keep me pure within. Thou of life, the fountain heart,
freely let me take of Thee. Spring Thou up within my heart,
rise to all eternity. Please be seated. Let's turn in our Bibles together
to Psalm 139. We're going to pick up where
we left off Sunday morning. I was so encouraged to. To see how the Lord entices his
children to come to him because he already knows everything there
is to know about them, not just because he's omniscient, but
because he's experienced. our sin. And he says to us in this psalm, no
need to hide. Fig leaves don't work. Come,
come unto me, all ye that labor in a heavy laden. I'll give you
rest. My yoke is easy, my burden is
light. And what a What a comfort, what
an encouragement it is to be called to Him. And now here in verse 11 he says,
if I say, surely the darkness shall cover me, even the night
shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not
from thee, but the night shineth as the day, the darkness and
the light are both alike unto thee. Now what I want us to see
tonight is how these These verses are first and foremost to be
understood as the words of the Lord Jesus calling out to his
father. And the darkest hour that ever
existed in the history of the world took place on Calvary's
cross. When that sky was blackened,
and the earthquake came, and the rocks were rent, and the
graves were opened, and the veil in the temple was rent, and the
Lord Jesus hung there from the sixth hour, which had been nine
o'clock in the morning, until the ninth hour, or which had
been noon, until the ninth hour, which had been three o'clock
in the afternoon, which was the time of the evening sacrifice.
And at that very moment, when the priests were making the evening
sacrifice, The Lord Jesus bowed his head and said, it's finished. Father, into thy hands I commend
my spirit. And the veil was rent and the
anchor of our soul was planted. And everything that God requires
for a sinner to come into his presence was accomplished on
Calvary's cross. But what a dark, a dark time
it was when the father forsook his son. There's such a mystery
to that. We can't understand what this
all means. We know that the scriptures declare
the Lord's eyes too pure to look upon sin and that the Lord Jesus
bore in his body all the sins of his people and that God's
justice demanded It demanded that he sheathe the sword of
his wrath in the heart of his own son. And that's exactly what
he did. It pleased the Lord to bruise him. And that darkness
that took place is what the Lord's saying here. He's saying the
darkness is like light unto thee. To you there's, in other words,
the Lord is saying I don't have anything but my faith in the
promises of my father. And that in spite of the fact
that I can't, I can't see any evidence of hope, I believe,
I believe God. And so he's, this is the one
event that defines all other events in the history of the
world. And not just in the history of
the world, but in eternity as well, in time and eternity. the
events that took place at Calvary's cross define it all. And we're
going to see that in our text here. The Lord Jesus said in
John 8, verse 12, I am the light of the world. He that followeth
me shall not walk in darkness, but he shall have the light of
life. So our Lord is saying, darkness
is all about me. It's covering me up. And yet
he's calling out to his father saying, the darkness is like
light unto thee. He's expressing all of his hope. that God is going to reward him
according to the covenant promises that were made in eternity past. And so he's saying to the father,
father, I know that this is, this darkness is going to be
turned to light because God is light and in him is no darkness
at all. And John said in first John chapter
one, if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have
fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses
us of all our sin. That's what we're in need of,
walking in Christ, looking in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ,
just as he looked in faith to his Father in the darkest, darkest
time. Revelation chapter 21 verse 23
says, as John is receiving the vision of this city, he says,
the city has no need of the sun, neither of the moon for the glory
of God is the light thereof. So what was happening in heaven
when darkness was upon the face of the earth, when the wrath
of God was being poured out, The Lord Jesus Christ is praying
to calling out to his father. He says, father, I know in you,
there's no darkness. I'm experiencing this darkness
and I'm being cut off and I'm being forsaken as the sin bearer
to satisfy your justice. But he's saying to his father,
father, the light of glory, the light of heaven is the glory
of God. It's the glory of God. And so
I'm just trusting that that the light of truth is going to prevail,
even though right now, right now, I have I have no physical
evidence of that. There's been some dark hours
in the history of this world. There's there's been real plagues
that mankind has had to deal with that have wiped out up to
50% of the population of the world. There's been genocide
executed by cruel despots and cruel men that have shown no
mercy towards the innocent. There's been while the world
calls them natural disasters, we know that they're acts of
God that have brought great death and destruction in the world. And yet all of those things combined,
all of those things, the wars, the cruel wars that have taken
place, the havoc of war that has taken place in the history
of the world, all those things combined do not compare to what
happened. at Calvary's Cross when the Lord
Jesus Christ took the sins of his people and suffered the wrath
of God. And so he's calling out to his
father here and he's saying, all I have, all I have is my
faith in my father. And he had perfect faith. So
let's read these words again and understand them as the words
of Christ. If I say, surely the darkness
shall cover me. And that's what was happening.
My God, my God, whilst thou forsaken me, the darkness of God's absence
was being felt. It was like that darkness that
came upon Egypt. The scripture says that the darkness
that could be felt. And the Lord Jesus was feeling
that darkness. Even the night shall be light
about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not
from thee, but the night shineth as the day. The darkness and
the light are both alike to thee. Now, brethren, here's our encouragement. Oh, the Lord's ordained some
dark hours for us. There's some Bert and I were
talking about this before the service. We don't talk about
circumstances in the believer's life as being good or bad because
we know that they're all good. We know that. You know that all
things work together for good for them that love God and those
that are called according to his purpose. God says, I know
the thoughts that I have for you. Thoughts of peace, not of
evil. God's got nothing but goodness
for his children, but His providence is easy or hard depending on
the circumstances that he's ordained for us. And in those times of
hard providence, we would say like this, oh Lord, the darkness
is covering me. But I know that the darkness
and the day are the same to you. Lord, though my sight is being
dimmed by the dark circumstances that you've put me in, and though
the fear and the doubts are in my heart, Lord, I know that for
you, these things are all of light. Our circumstances change
and our circumstances change us. But they never change God. They never change God. I am the
Lord, and I change not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob
are not consumed. Oh, the immutability. That's
what the Lord's praying here. He's saying, Lord, I'm feeling
the darkness of this hour. And what a dark hour it was. And we feel the darkness of our
troubles and of our sin more so than anything else. Even in
our circumstances, it's really our sin of unbelief that causes
those difficult times to be more difficult, isn't it? And so we
can say, Lord, I know that the darkness is like light to you.
You haven't changed. You're the same. And whether
the Lord gives us time of comfort and peace and light and hope
and prosperity or whether he ordains for us conflict and turmoil
and darkness and poverty and trouble. He hasn't changed. He hasn't changed. He's the same
yesterday, today and forever. And that's what our Lord was
doing on Calvary's cross. He was calling out to his father
The heavens are in no need of the sun or the moon for the glory
of God is the light thereof. And our Lord was saying, Lord,
there's darkness all about me. And I see nothing but trouble. But with you, with you, there
is no darkness. My circumstances have not changed
God. Galatians chapter five, verse
five, we wait for the hope of righteousness and we wait by
faith for the hope of righteousness. We're waiting. That's the believers. We walk by faith and faith is
waiting. It's waiting on God. Ultimately
waiting for the darkest hour that you and I have to go through
is yet to be faced. And yet our hope and our belief
is that God will give us grace in that hour as well. And the
darkest hour is going to be just before dawn, isn't it? When we
close our eyes in death and we open them in glory and the light
of that place will be the glory of our God. And we can say, oh
Lord, darkness was all about me. But with you, darkness and
light are the same. You're not affected by the dark
times that I'm affected with. Lamentations, let's turn there
just a moment, right after Jeremiah. Lamentations chapter three. We'll begin reading in verse
24. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul. And we're going to see
in this prayer that our Lord's praying. And this is his prayer
from Calvary's cross in Psalm 139. And because of the father's
faithfulness to meet his every need, we have the hope. We have
the hope of knowing that the Lord is going to meet our every
need. And so he says here, the Lord is my portion, saith my
soul. Therefore, will I hope in him?
Our faith is not a It's not an outward thing. We don't measure
it by outward circumstances. It's a state of faith in the
heart. The Lord is my portion, saith
my soul, therefore will I hope in him. The Lord is good to them
that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good
that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation
of the Lord. Now that's exactly what the Lord
Jesus was doing in Calvary's cross. He was hoping and quietly
waiting for the salvation of his father, believing that the
father was going to reward him for his faithfulness. And that's
our hope. Our hope is that, that the Lord
Jesus Christ reward will be our reward and that we look for a,
we look for a city who's, a city that hath found faith. Turn with
me to Hebrews chapter 11. I want you to look at this passage. The more I listen to the lies that are being told
in religion under the guise of Christianity, the more I see
that it's nothing more than men of the flesh that are minding
the things of the flesh. It's all about temporal things.
It's the fulfillment of the American dream. And of course, you've
got to be saved in order to enjoy those things. But to them, salvation
is nothing more than a means to an end. And the greater end
is peace and prosperity and happiness and comfort. Oh, no. No. Salvation of our soul and
the hope of knowing that we're going to be basking in His light
and rejoicing in His glory. That is the end. That is the
end. Look at Hebrews chapter 11 at
verse 13. These all died in faith. not having received the promises,
but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and
embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and
pilgrims in the earth. These Old Testament saints, they
believed God, and Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him
for righteousness, and they had to look afar off to these things. They have not yet been experienced,
and that's what we're doing. That's what faith does. Look
at the next verse. For they that say such things
declare plainly that they seek a country. They declare plainly
that they are seeking a better country. They are pilgrims in
this world. And in the dark times, they cry
out to the Father and they say, Lord, the light and the darkness
is the same unto thee. or your light, and the glory
of knowing that one day we'll be in the fullness of that light. Look at the next verse. And truly, if they had been mindful
of that country from which they came out, they might have had
opportunity to have returned. They that mind the things of
the flesh, they're mindful of the fleshly things, the country
that they then come out of, and they go back to it. That's why
I've always said, if you can forsake the gospel and go back
to the world, you will. You will. But now, Look at verse
16, but now they desire a better country, that is, and heavenly. Wherefore, God is not ashamed
to be called their God, for he hath prepared for them a city. And the city, as we saw in Revelation
21, hath no sun nor moon, for the light of that city is the
glory of God, and the lamb, and the lamb is the light. David said in Psalm 130, I wait
for the Lord. My soul doth wait. And in his
word, do I hope my soul waited for the Lord more than they that
watch for the morning. I say more than they that watch
for the morning. Here's a person who's waiting
through the darkness of the night, waiting for the sun to rise in
the morning. And that's our, that's our whole
life. This is a dark world. And oftentimes God allows us
to be in dark circumstances, but oh, there's light. There's
light. Go back with me to our text. I can remember years ago reading
these verses and only understanding them in light of abortion and the creation of a child in the
womb of a woman. And we are wonderfully made. It's a miracle the way the Lord
fashions a child in the womb. But here again, I want you to
see this for what it is. Look at verse 13. For thou hast
possessed my reins, thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. Hebrews chapter 10 verse 5 says,
sacrifice and offerings thou wouldest not, but a body thou
hast prepared for me. Without father, Mary was passive. Mary didn't have, the Lord didn't
come to Mary and say, would you like to be the mother of the
Messiah? No. He said, the Holy Ghost is
going to come upon you. and you're going to conceive.
And she was completely passive in that whole thing. These next several verses are
the Lord in his conception and incarnation. God being made man. That's what this is about. What
a mystery, what a miracle. Just like what happened on the
cross in the darkness of that darkest hour, so here how God
could be made in the likeness of sinful flesh. How God could
be born of a woman under the law to redeem them that are cursed
by the law. Here's what he's saying. The
Lord Jesus is crying from the womb of Mary and saying, you've
possessed my reins. I'm completely in your hands.
I will praise thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous
are thy works. And that my soul knoweth right
well. Oh, the work of God. being made
man and coming into this world and working out a perfect righteousness
on behalf of his people and the success of his work. This is
what he's talking about. This is a wonder above wonders. Unto you a son is given. Unto you a child is born. His
name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, the Everlasting
Father, Prince of Peace. Those angels. unto you this day
in the city of David as a Savior's been born. It's Christ the Lord.
What a, what a glorious thing. And do we, can we, can we comprehend
how God could be a dependent baby, how he could be in the
womb of a woman, how he could be born. And he was not begotten of Joseph. And he wasn't even dependent
upon Mary. He was begotten of his father. First Corinthians chapter 15,
verse 47 calls him the man from heaven, the man from heaven,
the God man. This is what this is about. Look,
look, look, look at Verse 15, my substance was not hid from
thee when I was made in secret and curiously wrought in the
lowest parts of the earth. What humiliation for God to leave
his rightful place at the right hand of the majesty on high,
for him to set aside his crown of glory and to be in the darkness
of a mother's womb and to be born into the lowest places of
the earth. To be brought into this world
in a filthy manger and laid in a feeding trough and have no
room for him. This is the lowest place? This
is his condescension that he's talking about here. This is God's
glory and this is his love for his people that he would so condescend
to work out our salvation for us. Notice what he says in verse
16, thine eyes did see my substance yet being unperfect and in thy
book all my members were written. What's he talking about there?
That's the book of life. That's the Lamb's book of life
that's talked about in Revelation chapter 21, where it says that
those who enter into heaven, they which are written in the
Lamb's book of life. In Philippians chapter four verse
three, whose names were written in the book of life. This book
was written before time ever began. Before they were, before
we were, Before we were, we were placed in Christ. Look what he
says in verse 16. Thine eyes did see my substance. God Almighty saw the full body
of Christ, all of his members, all of his substance. Lord, I'm
doing this in order to redeem those whom you chose and you
elected in the covenant of grace before time ever began. He's
crying out to his father, in thy book, all my members were
written, which in continuance were fashioned when as yet there
was none of them. We didn't exist before time. We were born. There was a time
when we came into existence. And yet, in the covenant of grace,
there we are, before they were unperfect, before they were fashioned.
Father, you've looked upon all my members, and you're going
to be faithful to save every one of them. I am fearfully and wonderfully
made. And the believer's new birth is no less a miracle than
the miraculous conception and incarnation of the Lord Jesus
Christ. It's just, it's a work of grace.
It's a sovereign work of grace. It's a, no assistance from man, complete
work of God. We can say I am fearfully made,
not just in my physical being, but I am wonderfully and fearfully
made in Christ, written in the Lamb's Book of Life. The Lord
Jesus interceded for me. He said, Father, though darkness
surround me, yet darkness is light unto thee. And I've come
into the world in order that those who are written in your
book might be remembered. When that thief on the cross
said to the Lord Jesus, remember me when thou comest into thy
kingdom, oh, this day you'll be with me in paradise. Why?
Because your name was there. He hadn't forgot a single one
of them. Look at verse 17. How precious also are thy thoughts
unto me, O God. How great is the sum of them. Turn with me to Jeremiah chapter
29. Jeremiah chapter 29. Look at verse 10. For thus saith the Lord. Don't
you love that phrase? I mean, it just puts away all
controversy. It just settles the issue. For the believer who's walking
by faith, all he has to hear is thus saith the Lord. That
settles it. What does God say? After 70 years be accomplished
at Babylon, what is the life of a man? Three score and 10.
after your life is accomplished in this dark world. I will visit
you and perform my good word toward you in causing you to
return to this place, what place? This place, to be with him in
glory. For I know the thoughts that
I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not
of evil, to give you an expected end. We can expect God to be faithful. This prayer that the Lord Jesus
is praying, he's expecting God to fulfill his covenant promises. He's believing God. He's not being presumptuous.
He's not being demanding. He just knows what the Father
has promised and he's expecting God to fulfill his promises.
And that's our expectation. to give us unexpected end. Though we live in Babylon, the
darkness is all about us. The Lord promises the waters
will not overflow thee. They will not overflow thee.
Turn with me to Isaiah chapter 43, Isaiah 43. We'll begin reading in verse
one. But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and
he that formed thee, O Israel. He formed thee physically, the
womb of our mothers, and he formed us spiritually. That's what he
said to Nicodemus. Nicodemus, you got to be born
again. You got to be born of the spirit, the miracle of the
new birth. And he says, fear not, for I
have redeemed thee. I have. Not I will redeem you
if you don't fear or I'll do this if you do that. No, don't
be afraid. I have redeemed you. It is finished. I've accomplished
the work. It's it's everything that God requires of you. The
Lord Jesus Christ accomplished on Calvary's cross when he cried
from the cross in the darkest hour that history has ever known
and eternity's ever known. Darkness has covered me, yet
Father, I know that darkness is light unto thee. I have called thee by thy name,
thou art mine. When thou passeth through the
waters, I will be with thee. And through the rivers, they
shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the
fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee. Don't you love it? The story
of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, those three Hebrew children thrown
into the fiery furnace, heated seven times greater. It's a picture
of hell is what it is. And yet there was one that looked
like unto the son of man that walked with them. And he consumed
all the heat of that fire. He consumed every bit of it.
So that when they came out, the scripture says, not a hair on
their head was singed. Their clothes were not burned.
Neither was the smell of smoke found on them. The Lord Jesus
Christ has walked through the fiery furnace. He's taken all
the heat of God's fiery wrath and he's quenched that fire.
just like that fire came on Mount Carmel and consumed the sacrifice,
and the sacrifice consumed the fire. And now the Lord's saying,
when you're going through the fire, when you have to suffer
the difficult times that I've ordained for you, fire won't
burn you. Verse three, for I am the Lord
thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior. I gave Egypt for
thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee. Since thou wast precious
in my sight, thou hast been honorable. I have loved thee, therefore
will I give men for thee and the people for thy life. Now
that promise is made to Christ and his church. You see, all the promises of
God that are made to the Lord Jesus Christ are made to His
whole body. They're made to all those that are found in Him.
So that all the promises of God are yea and amen in Christ. In
Christ. Now we'll just read the last
few verses in this psalm because it's clear that these are the
words of Christ. Verse 17, how precious also are
thy thoughts unto me, O God, how great is the sum of them.
If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand
and when I wake, I'm still with thee. Always with thee. Or that's my
hope that you would never leave me nor forsake me. That's my
hope. Surely, thou wilt slay the wicked,
O God. Depart from me, therefore, ye
bloody men. For they speak against thee wickedly,
and thine enemies take thy name in vain. taking God's name in
vain is not just using the Lord's name in foul cursing language. I get so concerned for people
that use the first name of our Lord as if he's their next door
neighbor. When we speak of him, we speak
of him in the most reverent terms, don't we? We don't just call
our Lord by his first name, it is the Lord, Jesus Christ, the
Son of God, the Son of David, the glory of God, the Holy One
of Israel. And yet, so many people throw
his name around as if it was just a common man's name. That's using the Lord's name
in vain. That's emptying the glory and
the meaning of his name. Or calling him Jesus and then
suggesting that he wasn't successful in perfecting
the atoning work and redemption for all of his elect. You shall
call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins.
And to call him Jesus and not declare his successful work of
redemption for all of his elect is to use his name in vain. And
that's the way his name is used amongst most religious people.
They've emptied his name of its meaning and of its glory and
of its power. And that's who he's praying against
here. He said, those are the evil ones.
They have no understanding of who you are and who I am. Look at verse 21. Do not I hate
them, O Lord, that hate thee? And not I grieved with those
that rise up against thee? Jacob I loved, Esau I hated. His hatred is a holy hatred.
It's a perfect hatred. Now, we hate the lies that religion
tells about our Lord. And we hate the false hopes and
the bondage and the destruction that it leads in the lives of
people. In the perfect understanding
of this verse we just read, only the Lord Jesus can say, have
I not hated them with a perfect hatred? He hates them perfectly. He knows. We don't know who the
Lord's are and whose aren't his. We're called on to love all men
and to But here the Lord is saying, do I not hate them, O Lord, that
hate thee? And not I grieve with those that
rise up against thee? Here. You see, men have robbed
our God of his glory and used his name in vain when they deny
his holy hatred. Now, we don't know who the reprobate
are. And we're not to try to figure
it out, and we're not even to try to separate the wheat from
the chaff in the church. But God knows who they are. And
he's loved his elect with an everlasting love, and he hates
the reprobate with a perfect, holy hatred. Now that's just
God. That's God. Search me, oh God, and know my
heart. Try me and know my thoughts. Oh, here's a, the Lord Jesus
Christ can say that. Lord, you try my heart, my thoughts,
and make sure they're all perfect. And they were, they were all
perfect. Try to this father, his elect,
proven, perfect. We say, Lord, Search my heart,
no me, you see my sin and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead
me in the way everlasting. Lord, you search my heart and
you're gonna find a lot of sin and I'm so thankful I have a
savior. Lord, lead me to him, lead me
to him. That's that's be led in the way
of everlasting life is to be led to Christ to look to Christ
arresting Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary's
Cross found his father. In his darkest hour. To be light. And to be faithful to all of
his promises. So. The same way the father was
to him. He shall be to those who are
looking to him and resting in him for their own salvation. Our Heavenly Father, bless your
word. Teach us, Lord. If you don't
teach us, we'll just, that'll be such a loss, Lord. We're completely dependent upon
you. to make these words effectual
to our hearts. We pray that you would do it
for the salvation of our soul and for your glory. We ask it
in Christ's name, amen. 452, let's stand together, 452.