Good evening. Let's open tonight's
service with hymn number 53 from the hardback temple 53 and the
tune that we use for this will repeat the last phrase in each
line twice. It soothes his sorrows, heals
his wounds, and drives away his fear, and drives away his fear. With boundless stores of praise. Jesus, my shepherd, brother,
friend, my prophet, priest, and king, my Lord, my life, my way,
my end, accept the praise I bring, accept the praise I bring. Weak is the effort of my heart,
and cold my warmest heart, But when I see thee as thou art,
I'll praise thee as I ought. I'll praise thee as I ought. Please be seated. Let's open our Bibles together
to Psalm 124. which will be our text for the
message that I try to prepare for tonight. We'll read Psalm
125 for our call to worship. They that trust in the Lord shall
be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth forever. As the mountains are round about
Jerusalem, So the Lord is round about his people from henceforth
even forever. For the rod of the wicked or
the rod of wickedness shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous,
lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity. Do good, O Lord, unto those that
be good and to them that are upright in their hearts. As for such as turn aside unto
their crooked ways, the Lord shall lead them forth with the
workers of iniquity, but peace shall be upon Israel. We've been praying for Fred Newman. Fred had to have a valve replacement
today up in Chicago. Mary Jane texted me a couple
hours ago and said it went real well. So she's very thankful.
And they'll be headed down here as soon as he can recover from
his surgery. Also, Cyril's biopsy came back and he does have cancer,
but they don't know exactly the degree of it, so they can't quite
determine the treatment. that they're going to do. He
said they would have all that by next week, so. I'm going to
pray for for Fred and for Cyril and and thank the Lord for Cindy's
daughter, Cindy or Cindy. Cindy and Tom have a new grand
baby as of today. Yesterday, yesterday, yesterday. Number 10 alright. Let's pray
together. Our Heavenly Father. We find great hope and comfort
in knowing that Zion cannot be removed. That is established
forever. And all those whom you place
in your church as part of Zion are established forever. that
you will not allow the rod of wickedness to direct us away
from Christ. That you will not allow us to
find in our iniquity the hope of our salvation, but that you
will cause us to rest our hope in Christ. Lord, we pray that you would
Secure that hope for us again tonight. We pray that you would
increase our faith. We pray that you would forgive
us, Lord, for our many expressions of unbelief that we're so ashamed
of. We're thankful. that Christ stands in our stead
and presents himself on our behalf. And Lord, we pray that you would
enable us this hour to set our affections on things above, where
Christ is seated at thy right hand. We thank you for the successful
surgery that you gave to Fred. We pray for your hand of healing
to be upon him and for you to give him recovery and enable
them to be with us. We pray for Cyril and ask Lord
that you would give him extra measure abundance of your grace
and comfort him in Christ and be with those who minister physically
to him and give them the understanding to know how to treat him well. We thank you for the miracle
of life and for the new birth of Cindy and Tom's grandbaby
and ask Lord for your protection and pray for for your salvation
to be on all our children. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen. We haven't sung this hymn for
a while, but I like it. Let's all stand together. Number
41, and we'll sing this in Spanish. Number 41 in your spiral hymn
book. Let's stand together. Necesito ya, bandido salvador. Infunde dulce paz, tu tierna
hosteron. I need you, Christ, I need you. With my broken heart I listen
to you. Te necesito ya Tu no me dejarás
Y siempre venceré Si tu conmigo estás Te necesito Cristo Si te
necesito, con corazón comprido acudo a ti. Te necesito ya, tu santa voluntad
y tus promesas mil. En mi cumplea en verdad Te necesito
Cristo Si te necesito Con corazon conflito Te necesito ya, Santísimo Señor. Tú yo hazme nada más, Maldito
Salvador. Please be seated. Can't sing that without thinking
about Digna, can we? I was gonna say she would have
enjoyed that, but what she's enjoying now is, no. Let's open our Bibles together
to Psalm 124, Psalm 124. I've titled this message, What
If? What If? Now, all of us are prone
to look back over our lives and think, well, what if this had
happened or what if that had happened? And we are prone to
live in regret for decisions that we've made. That's not what
I'm referring to. Paul said, I count not myself
to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those
things which are behind, I press towards the prize for the mark,
or the mark for the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus.
The Lord would not have us live in regret for past sins, and
he would not have us to live in pride of any accomplishments. That's what Paul was talking
about. Those things are past. We're pressing towards the mark
for the prize of the high calling in Christ. And yet the message
to Psalm 124 is what if, what if, what if the Lord had not
been by our side? You see, that message doesn't
cause you to live in sadness or regret or some sort
of false penance or whatever. That message causes you to live
in gratitude. Gratitude. We know that our God
has ordained all things and works all things together for good
for them that love him. And what the psalmist is saying
here, what if we didn't have the Lord by our side? We'd be completely overwhelmed
if we didn't have the Lord on our side. That's the message
of Psalm 124. Look, look what he says. If it
had not been the Lord who was on our side, now may Israel say,
if it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose
up against us, then they had swallowed us up quick when their
wrath was kindled against us. If it had not been the Lord that
was on my side, restraining the old man in me, he would have
swallowed me up. He would have swallowed me up
if the Lord had not been on my side. If the Lord had not been
on our side, this world would swallow us up. We'd be overwhelmed. If the Lord had not been on our
side, verse four, then the waters had overwhelmed us. The streams
had gone over our soul. Then the proud waters had gone
over our soul. Blessed be the Lord who hath
not given us as a prey to their teeth. He's kept us, he's restrained
us, he's protected us, he's hedged us about. He's met with us and
he's made himself known to us. And had he not, The waters would
have overflown us. We would have been overwhelmed
by our sin and by this world. But as it's turned out, because
the Lord said, I would never leave you nor forsake you, because
the Lord is on our side and by our side, Our soul, our soul is escaped
as a bird out of the snare of the fowler. The snare is broken
and we are escaped. Now notice the Lord being on
your side doesn't mean that your physical life is saved or escaped. The Lord was He's on the side
of every one of his children, and when they draw their last
breath, he's on their side. Our hope is that our soul has
escaped. Our soul has escaped. That's
how we know the Lord's been on our side, and that's the hope
that we have. The men of this world just want God
to preserve their physical life. We need for him to preserve our
souls. Our help, our help is in the
name of the Lord who made heaven and earth. And we have a need
for God to be on our side because we've got a lot of other stuff
going on on our side. Look at, uh, look back with me
to Psalm 31, Psalm 31. You know how many times you think
how to unbelievers get through life? How do they? How do they
have any hope? How do they have? How do they
have any strength? Look at. Look at Psalm 31 verse
13. For I've heard the slander of
many fear was on every side while they took counsel against me.
They devised to take away my life, but. But I trusted in the
Lord. Oh Lord, I said, thou art my
God. My times are in thy hand. Deliver
me from the hand of mine enemies and from them that persecute
me. Make thy face to shine upon thy
servants. Save me for thy mercy's sake. What if, what if the Lord was
not on our side? What if we had to deal with this
world without any help from God? The greatest fear is what if
we had to deal with death without Christ as our substitute? What if the Lord wasn't on our
side? That's what the psalmist is saying. Look back with me
to Psalm 12. This truth is repeated over and
over again in the scriptures. Look at Psalm 12. And we'll begin
reading in verse six. The words of the Lord are pure
words, as silver tried in the furnace of earth, purified seven
times. Thou shalt keep them, O Lord. Thou shalt preserve them from
this generation forever. The wicked walk on every side
when the vilest of men are exalted. Oh, we live in a... dry and thirsty
land, we live in a wicked world, we live in a body of flesh that
would take us away if the Lord wasn't on our side, if he wasn't
restraining us, if he wasn't helping us, we would be without
hope. We'd be just like the rest of this world. And that's what
David, that's what the psalmist is saying. What if we didn't
have the Lord? What if we didn't have the Lord? Psalm 118 verse
six says, the Lord is on my side. I shall not fear what man shall
do unto me. It is better to trust in the
Lord than to put confidence in man. The Lord is on my side. I shall not fear what man shall
do unto me. It is better to trust in the
Lord rather than to put confidence in man. We can't put confidence in this
man, can we? In our own man, we are the true
circumcision which worship God in the spirit and have no confidence
in the flesh. Our flesh has proven itself to
be unable to deliver us. And so the Lord, we're saying,
yeah, if I didn't have the Lord on my side, I'd be overwhelmed.
I'd be overwhelmed with my sin. And death would overwhelm me.
that deep river that I'm gonna have to cross one day, I wouldn't
have any hope of coming out on the other side. These themes are repeated in
the New Testament if you turn with me to 2 Corinthians chapter
four. 2 Corinthians chapter four. What a glorious what if. This
isn't a what if I had done this or that or What if this hadn't
happened or that hadn't happened and try to play out the possibilities
from a changed past? That's futile. That is futile.
I know we've all done it. We've all been there. But it's
of no value. The past is the past. But here
we're asking, what if I didn't have God? What if I didn't have
Christ? What if I didn't have a savior,
a sin substitute? Well, I'd be overwhelmed. I wouldn't
have any hope. Look at Paul said in 2 Corinthians
chapter four, beginning at verse seven, but we have this treasure,
the gospel, Christ, the anointing of the oil of gladness. We have
this treasure in earthen vessels, speaking of our old man. Here's
the two natures right here. The new nature is the treasure
of the gospel. And the old nature is this earthen
vessel. We have this treasure in earthen
vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not
of us, for we are troubled on every side. Isn't that our experience? That's our experience. The unbeliever
didn't know anything about this. He didn't know anything about
the trouble of sin, the trouble of the old man. He doesn't know
anything about, not really. No, he doesn't. Not like the
childhood. This is only, this is a message
only for the child of God. We're the ones who understand
what's happening here. We are troubled on every side,
yet not distressed. We are perplexed but not in despair,
persecuted but not forsaken, cast down but not destroyed,
always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus that
the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
That's a believer doesn't know anything about that. Dying to Christ and seeing yourself for what you
are A dead dog, mercy-begging sinner without any hope apart
from the Lord? What would I do if we didn't
have the Lord? I'd just be left with who I am. That's all I would
have. Turn over just a few pages to
2 Corinthians chapter 7. 2 Corinthians chapter 7. And we'll begin reading in verse
five. For when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest,
but we were troubled on every side. What if we did not have
the Lord on our side? We are troubled on every side. Without we're fighting and within
we're fierce. Nevertheless, God that comforted
those that are cast down comforted us by the coming of Titus, and
not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he
was comforted in you when he told us of your earnest desire
and your mourning and your fervent mind toward us so that I rejoice
the more. Also, we were troubled on every
side. We fought a beast of Ephesus. We had these fears within. We've
got this struggle of our old man. We've got this world that
we're so contrary to in every way. And yet the believers came,
and they comforted us. with that comfort where they
had been comforted by the same Holy Spirit. And they assured
us that though we felt like we were the only ones in the world,
we felt like Elijah on Mount Horeb. You know, Lord, I'm the
only one left. I'm the only one left. That's
what we felt like. And yet, the belief, Titus came. And we were comforted by Titus.
And we were encouraged not only by him, but by what he told us
about you. You see, this is every believer's
struggle. We are in desperate need of having
the Lord on our side. And we live in gratitude. We're
looking back and thinking, you know, the Lord delivered us,
the Lord brought us through that. And had the Lord not brought
the gospel to me, where would I be? Had those events not taken
place in God's perfect providence and put me in a place where I
could hear the gospel, where would I be? Had the Lord not
been on my side? I wouldn't know, I'd be just
like I was before. What if the Lord had not said
to the disciples, we must needs go through Samaria. What would
have happened? All of that poor woman that had
been married five times and was living with a man she wasn't
married to and life was a mess, she wouldn't have had any hope. She wouldn't have heard about
the one who gave living water, one who was able to tell her
everything that she'd ever done. Everything that, come meet a
man who told me everything I ever did. And that's, she was encouraged
by that. This man knows me. He knows everything
about me. And not only does he know what
I've done in my flesh in sin against God, but he knows what
I've done in spirit in him. All the acts that I've been credited
for in Christ, he knows them. He knows them. What if the Lord had not gone
to Jericho? Blind Bartimaeus had not heard
about him coming. He wouldn't have ever had his
sight. He wouldn't have ever believed. What if he had not
been brought to cry out, son of David have mercy upon me.
What about Zacchaeus up there in that tree? What if the Lord
had not gone by there? That's what the Psalm is saying.
What if, what if the Lord was not on our side? All we would
have on our side is all these troubles and man who was no help
to me. But the Lord came, and he came
alongside of me, and he did something for me that he didn't do for
everybody else. He made me to differ. He made
a difference between Israel and the Egyptians. What if he had
not done that? What if he had just left me to
myself? I was talking to somebody just the other night, and I said,
well, I was talking to them about God's elect, and of course their
response was, well, you know, what about the person who's never
heard? And you know, of course I was able to explain to him,
you know, God knows where his sheep are. He'll get the gospel
to every one of them. He's going to come along by their
side and he's going to do for them what he did for Zacchaeus. He's going to do for them what
he did for blind Bartimaeus. He's going to do what he did
for the woman at the well. He's going to do what he does
for every one of his children. He'll bring them to the gospel
or bring the gospel to them one way or the other. What if he
didn't? And this man I was talking to
just said, well, what about good people? He said, I said, all God has
to do is leave you to yourself. It's all he has to do. Leave
you to yourself. What if he had left you to yourself? What if he hadn't brought you
unto the sound of the gospel? What if he didn't give you eyes
to hear and ears to hear and heart to believe on Christ? What
if he just left you to yourself? It's all he has to do. God doesn't
have to do anything to judge a man to hell. He's already judged.
All he's got to do is just leave him alone. And that's what the
Psalmist is saying. What if the Lord had not been
by our side? What if he had not come? What if that Shuddamite woman
had never met Elisha? What if she had never provided
for him a place? What if she never would have
known? She never would have seen the
power of God. She never would have been saved.
She wouldn't have had a child. She wouldn't have seen the miracle
of the new birth and all the glory of God that Elisha revealed. What if the Lord had just left
her to herself? There were many widows in the
days of Elisha the prophet, and the Lord was not pleased to visit
any of them except for that Syrophoenician woman. What if Naaman? What if Naaman's wife did not
have a handmade slave who was a Israelite to say to his wife,
you know, there's a prophet down in Israel. He's in a little town
called Dothan and he can heal your husband of leprosy. What
if that had not happened? Naaman would have died. Not only
would he have died in his leprosy, he would have died in his sins.
He never would have known the God of Israel. He never would
have been saved. What if the Lord had just left
us? Many lepers in the days of the prophet Elijah. What if the Lord just left us
to ourselves? You know, the thought of that
inspires gratitude, doesn't it? It inspires Thanksgiving. It inspires humility. Oh, Lord, don't leave me to myself. What if the Lord had left that
fire-breathing blasphemer who was who was havocing the church,
Saul of Tarsus, what if he had left him to himself? I mean,
that was one mean man. I mean, he was rejoicing over the
violent murder of Stephen. And the Lord stopped him in his
tracks and knocked him off his high horse and put his face in
the dirt and said, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? What
if the Lord had just left him to himself? That's all he has
to do. It's all God has to do for any
of us is nothing. What if the Lord was not on our
side? We'd be overwhelmed, not just
with the circumstances of the world. We'd be overwhelmed by
our sin. We'd have no hope of forgiveness
and salvation. What if Matthew must have thought
all his life, just like you and I think about how the Lord brought
us to Christ. Matthew must have thought all
his life, you know, what if the Lord had not walked by my table
and said to me, follow me. What if he had just left me there?
I was content. I was making money. I was doing
pretty good. I would have lived out the rest of my life not knowing
God if the Lord had just left me to myself, but he came alongside
me and he called me out of darkness into his marvelous light. Had
he not done that, I would have just been left to myself the
rest of my life. What if the Lord had not got
on that boat and crossed over the Sea of Gennesaret to the
Gadarenes for the purpose of visiting one man possessed with
demons in a graveyard? What if he had not done that?
Lord went over there, put him in his right mind, clothed him,
delivered him from his sin, got back in the boat, went back across.
One guy. And that, That man must have
thought the rest of his life, what if the Lord had not come
over here? The rest of the people that that
man lived with told the Lord, leave us alone. You're too much
trouble around here. Look what you've done. You've
killed all of our swine. They didn't want anything to
do with Christ. What made that man to differ?
The Lord made him to differ. He lived the rest of his life
believing what the psalmist said in Psalm 24, if the Lord had
not been on our side. Let us say again, Israel, if
the Lord had not been on our side, we would have been overwhelmed. We'd be dead in our sins. That woman with the issue of
blood must have thought the rest of her life. What if the Lord
had not noticed that it was me that touched the hem of his garment? What if he had not looked down
and said to me, your sins are forgiven you? What if that had
not happened? And what if What if the Lord
had not been interrupted on his way to Jairus' house to do such
a thing for this woman with the issue of blood? Jairus, his daughter
would not have died. He wouldn't have seen the power
of life and resurrection and salvation so gloriously demonstrated. He wouldn't have heard the Lord
say to him, Jairus, don't be afraid. Only believe, only believe. That's what the Lord is saying
to me and you. If we're going to if we're going to play the
what if game, let's do this. What if the Lord left me to myself?
What if he didn't come along my side? What if he wasn't pleased
to show me his mercy and grace and to make me to differ? Where
would I be? Where would I be? Cornelius must have thought Psalm
124 his whole life. What if the Lord had not sent
Peter? I mean, the scripture says that Cornelius was a God-fearing
man. That doesn't mean he was saved.
He was a religious man who had a fear of the Almighty, but he
didn't know who that God was until Peter came and preached
the gospel to him. And what if Peter had not come?
He would have remained a Gentile. fearing his best understanding
he had of God and never would have known Christ. What if the Lord led me to myself?
What if he didn't come along my side? What if the Lord Jesus
Christ did not condescend to leave his rightful place in glory
and the Son of God became the Son of Man and lived out a perfect
life of righteousness? What if he had not done that?
We wouldn't have any hope. What if he had not willingly
gone to Calvary's cross and bore the sins of his people in his
body upon that tree? What if he had not satisfied
divine justice? What if he had not accomplished
everything necessary for our salvation? Where would we be?
Where would we be? We'd be dancing around rocks
and trees and doing religious stuff that everybody else is
doing. Trying to find God and having no hope of salvation. What if the Lord was not on our
side? What a mess we'd be in. not just in this life, but more
importantly, in the life to come. In Providence? What if the Lord,
what if Joseph's brothers had not sold him into slavery? What
if he had not gone down there and in God's good providence
become the prime minister of Egypt and then given the interpretation
of Pharaoh's dream and able to store up seven years of plenty
for those seven years of famine? What if that had not happened?
Well, Jacob would have died in the famine, but all of Egypt
would have died. The whole world would have died.
Joseph had the keys to the storehouse and he was the one who provided
bread for the people. What if the Lord was not on our
side? Jacob thought, this is all against
me, didn't he? He said, you know, Benjamin's,
Joseph's gone and now, and now Reuben's gone and Benjamin, you
don't want to take Benjamin. This is all against me. No, it
was all being for him. And here's what faith says. All things work together for
good, for them that love God and those that are called according
to his purpose. And the Lord's saying, I'm on your side. I'm
right there. I'm not going to forsake you.
I'm not going to leave you. I'm working all this out for
your good and for my glory. What if Jacob had not been deceived
by Laban to marry Leah before Rachel? He never would have married
Leah if he was left to himself. He was on his own. Rachel was
beautiful. He loved Rachel. He didn't have
any real interest in weak-eyed Leah, as the scripture describes
her. And yet Leah gave him six sons. Six of the 12 tribes of Israel
were given to him by Leah. One of which was Judah, from
which tribe the Lord Jesus Christ came. What if the Lord had loved
Jacob to himself? He had been a supplanter and
deceiver. You see, we can't tell what all
the Lord's doing in the end, can we? Faith is believing that
he's by our side, that he's faithful to his promises. and that he's
working out all things together for his glory and for our good
and that he will never leave us nor forsake us. Moses spent 40 years in the wilderness
on the backside of the desert. How many days did he spend out
there tending sheep thinking, where's God? Where's God in all
of this? You know, he grew up as Pharaoh's
son. I mean, he was, you know, he
had something in Egypt. And then one day the Lord revealed
to himself in that burning bush, didn't he? That bush that was
on fire, but was not consumed. And the Lord spoke to him and
used him to deliver his people. We can't see the end. You know, we just spent several
weeks looking through Acts chapter 7 and looking at the life and
the violent murder of Stephen. And that's all we know about
Stephen. Yeah, and I'm sure that the believers
that took up his body must have thought, you know, Lord, what's
happening here? This is, this is... And yet, Stephen's death had,
I think, something to do with Saul's conversion and Here we
have the glorious picture of God's mercy and grace on a brother
in Christ who encouraged the church for 2,000 years. Stephen
didn't know that was gonna happen. He didn't know his death and
very short life was going to be for that good. We don't know the beginning to
the end. Faith doesn't pretend to know
what's gonna happen. or insists that something will
happen, faith believes that God's in control and he's at our side. Our soul, our soul is escaped
as a bird out of the snare of the fowler. The snare is broken,
verse seven, and we are escaped. Oh, we have, how do we, how do we know if the Lord's
by our side? Let's go to the book of Zechariah. Zechariah, right before Malachi. Chapter four, Zechariah chapter
four. beginning at verse one, and the
angel that talked with me came again and waked me as a man that
is waked out of his sleep and said unto me, what seest thou?
And I said, I have looked and behold, a candlestick all of
gold. Now you know what that candlestick
is. Revelation speaks of that same candle, it's the church.
That's God's people. That's you and me, the ones that
the Lord walks amongst the candlesticks. the ones that he's by their side
and he puts us in Christ and that light and candlestick is
a picture of our union with Christ. And a bowl upon the top of it
and seven lamps thereon, the seven pipes of the seven lamps
which are upon the top thereof. This is the same image that's
given to us in the book of Revelation of the seven churches of Asia
Minor. This is Christ and his church. The light of the gospel
in the Lord Jesus Christ and his church and the oil is the
Holy Spirit. In verse three, and two olive
trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl and the other
upon the left side thereof. So I answered and spake to the
angel that talked with me, saying, what are these, my Lord? Then
the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, knowest
thou not what these be? And I said, no, my Lord. Then
he answered and spake unto me, saying, this is the word of the
Lord unto Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel is a picture of Christ
here. He's the one that laid the foundation for the church,
and he's the one that will finish it. And he answered and spake
unto me, saying, this is the word of the Lord undeservable,
saying, not by might, not by army, that's what that word might
means, not by your strength, not by your power, not by your
wisdom, not by your conniving, but by my spirit, saith the Lord. This is the meaning. And so he
goes on and he asked him, he said in verse 13 or verse, Verse 11, then answered eyes
and said unto him, what are these two olive trees upon the right
side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? The Lord
is by our side. How do I know if he's by my side?
Here I am imaged at the candlestick with the light of the gospel
and with two olive trees, one on each side. What are these
picture of? And I answered again and said
unto him, what be these two olive branches which through the two
golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves? And he
answered me and said, knowest thou not what these be? And I
said, no, my Lord. Then said he, these are the two
anointed ones that stand by the Lord of the whole earth. These two olive trees are mentioned
in Revelation chapter 11 and they're called the two witnesses.
And I knew a couple of men, I knew two men that thought they were
the only two men in the whole world that were preaching the
gospel and they believed themselves to be the two witnesses. And in Revelation chapter 11,
the two witnesses are killed and they lie dead in the streets
of Jerusalem. And then God raises them, what
are these two witnesses? What are these two olive trees?
What are the two anointed ones that stand by the Lord and provide
mercy and grace for the church? Very simple. It's not complicated.
It's the word of God and the spirit of God. It's not two men. It's the word of God and the
spirit of God. And what does the world do? The
world denies the word of God. They deny it. And let me say
this, if there's one word in God's word that you don't believe,
you're an unbeliever. I was talking to a man the other
night, the same man I was just telling you about. I've never talked to anybody
that had better understanding of what I was trying to say than
this unbeliever. I mean, he was getting it, he
understood it, and he was, I mean, And I finished and he said, he
said, he said, I see what you're saying. I understand. He said,
I might think about this. And then the next word out of
his mouth was, but, but I've got a, I've got an opinion about
something here and I want my opinion to count for something
too. I'm not going to, I'm not going to bow. What is two words that are spelt
the same but they have different meanings? Is that a homonym? The word bow, B-O-W, and the
word bow, B-O-W, is a homonym, right? You will either bow to
God's word or you will bow up to it, one way or the other. And God puts in the heart of
his people to bow. Lord, I believe every word. I
don't pretend to understand it. I certainly don't live it, but
I believe it. I believe it. And I want to live it. That's how we know the Lord is
by our side. Because that olive tree These
are the, remember the river that flows clear as crystal from the
throne of God and from the lamb in the book of Revelation, and
on each side of that river was a tree that bore fruit. 12 seasons out of the year, 12
months out of the year, continue to bear fruit. That's the spirit
of God and the word of God. How do I know that that olive
tree, that tree is planted next to me? Because I believe what God says.
I just believe it. I can't not believe it. Faith
is the evidence of things hoped for. It's the substance of things
not seen. We just believe everything that
God says. And then the Holy Spirit is called
in the scriptures the paraclete. And that means one who comes
alongside of you. It was a word that they would
use to define an attorney that went with you to a court of law
and stood for you and presented your case. And the other tree on the other side,
do we have the word of God on one side? We're talking about
the Lord being on our side. I'm asking this question. How
do I know if the Lord's on my side? I believe his word. I believe
God. I believe the gospel. I believe
Christ. I believe every word of it. I
can't not believe it. And if God made you a believer,
you'd say the same thing right now in your heart. And I have the Holy Spirit. How
do I know that I have the Holy Spirit? How do you know if you
have the Holy Spirit by your side? because you have some extraordinary
gifts. That's how, you know, you look
in religion and they say, well, if you've got the spirit of God,
you know, you can speak in tongues, you can heal people, you can
do this and do that. You know, you've got these extraordinary
supernatural manifestations of God's spirit in your life. Is
that how we know if we have the Holy Spirit? No. The Lord said, When the Spirit
of God comes, he will convict the world of sin, of righteousness,
and of judgment. Of sin, because they believed
not on me. Let me ask you a question. Do
you believe the root cause of all of your problems is unbelief?
That if you had perfect faith, if you had perfect faith, you'd
never sin. And whatever God sent your way,
you'd just be so happy with it. And believe in God every inch
of the way. You see, that's the root of our
problem, isn't it? The Holy Spirit has convicted
me that I'm a sinner because I can't believe God like I need
to believe God, like I want to believe God. That's my cause. That's my problem. Unbelief.
Unbelief. If we could believe God, the
worst of circumstances could stone us and we'd be like Stephen.
We'd be rejoicing and we'd be like Paul chained to a Roman
dungeon and praising God and singing. Our circumstances wouldn't
affect us if we had more faith. That's my problem. My problem
is unbelief. The Holy Spirit has made me believe
that. That's how I know I've got the
Spirit of God, because He's convicted me that I'm a sinner and the
root of my sin is my unbelief. Can you say that? Secondly, I know without any shadow of
a doubt that the Lord Jesus Christ does not present Himself on my
behalf as all my righteousness before God. I have no hope of
presenting to him anything that will be acceptable in his sight, of righteousness, because I go
to my Father. I believe that Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, is seated at the right hand of God, and he
is the priest ordained of God to sit there until his enemies
are made his footstool. He is the priest after the order
of Melchizedek, and that his scepter shall never pass away. And he's the only hope of righteousness
that we've got. And if he doesn't speak on our
behalf and present himself on our behalf, we've got nothing. Now again, I go back to my conversation
I had with this man who understood what I was saying, but he could
not let go of his righteousness. He couldn't do it. What about all these good things
I'm doing? You're telling me they don't
count for anything? Is it not in your salvation they don't?
They may help another man. It's a good thing to do, help
people. But they're not gonna help you
before God. Those who have the Holy Spirit
are not looking to their righteousness for the hope of their salvation,
they're looking to Christ. They're looking to Christ. Thirdly, of judgment because the Prince
of this world has been judged. Do you believe that what the
Lord Jesus Christ did on Calvary's cross was a finished, completed
work of salvation? delivering God's people from
death and from the grave and securing their salvation. I'm
not asking you if you believe he did it for you. I'm asking
you to believe that that judgment was executed at Calvary's cross. The full wrath of God's justice
was satisfied in the sacrifice that Christ made of himself for
all the sins of all of his people. And the only hope that you have
of being justified in the sight of God is to be found in Christ.
is that Christ had to do that for you. Men go about justifying
themselves who don't have the Holy Spirit. Men believe themselves
to have some righteousness who don't have the Holy Spirit. And
men do not believe that the root of all their problem is unbelief.
Matter of fact, back to my conversation with this man that I had just
night before last, night before last, he said, well, I believed
that all my life. I've always been a believer.
Always been a believer. And I grew up in the Catholic
Church with this man. And he said, well, I've always
been a believer. I've always, I've always had that. Well, that's
too long, Mike. That's just too long. You see the difference between
those who have the Spirit of God? You know, if you have the Spirit
of God by your side, as your paraclete, that you're a sinner, and that
your sin is rooted in unbelief, that Christ is all your righteousness,
and that what he accomplished on Calvary's cross was sufficient,
sufficient all within itself to satisfy God's divine justice. And Christ is all your hope.
That's the work of the Holy Spirit. So the two trees, the two olive
trees, The Lord said, here's the message. If the Lord was
not on our side, how do I know he's on my side? Because I believe
his word and the spirit of God has done for me what he said
he would do. And that's enough. I don't have to
know the Lord's on my side because something's gonna turn out the
way I want it to turn out or because he's gonna do this or
do that. I know he's on my side. because I believe his word and
I'm trusting Christ. I'm looking to Christ. Christ
is all of God. He's all of God. Our heavenly father, we pray
that you bless your word to our hearts and we ask it in Christ's
name, amen. Number 12 in the spiral hymnal,
let's stand together. We sing this a cappella. Upon my great and sovereign God,
I cast my soul and rest. My Father's hand controls the
world, and what he does is best. So be still, my heart, and doubt
no more. Believe and find sweet rest. God's wisdom, love, and truth,
and power combine to make thee blessed.