Good evening. Let's open tonight's
service with hymn number 38 from the Spiral hymn book, number
38, The Debt of Love. And let's all stand together.
Mess that up. Come, every sinner saved by grace,
You who by faith God's Son embraced, Tell all who hear your voice
below The debt of love to Christ you owe. Dear Lord, I lift my
praise to Thee All that I am or hope to be I owe alone, O
Christ, to Thee He left His Father's throne above And came to earth
on wings of love Thus he lived, the perfect man, And so fulfilled
the law's demand. Dear Lord, I lift my praise to
Thee, All that I am, for hope to be, I owe alone, O Christ,
to Thee. Jesus endured His Father's ire
and died at the appointed hour. What He endured, no tongue can
tell, to save our souls from death and hell. Dear Lord, I
lift my praise to Thee, All that I am, for hope to be, I owe alone,
O Christ, to Thee. From death's dark grave our King
arose, And triumphed over all our foes. Up through the skies
the victor rode, And reigns on high our Savior God. Dear Lord, I lift my praise to
Thee. All that I am, for hope to be,
I owe alone, O Christ, to Thee. From heaven Christ will quickly
come and bring his ransomed people home. There we shall see his
lovely face and chant the praises of his grace. Dear Lord, I lift
my praise to Thee. All that I am or hope to be,
I owe alone, O Christ, to Thee. Please be seated. I am what I am by the grace of
God. All I ever hoped to be Let's open our Bibles together
to Genesis chapter 45. Genesis 45. Good evening. Joseph is such a glorious type
of Christ in this passage. And as he's revealing himself
to his brothers, I was thinking how glorious it would be for
the Lord to reveal himself to us tonight. When Joseph could
not refrain himself before all them that stood by him. And he
cried, cause every man to go out from me. The Lord only reveals
himself to his people. He's never revealed himself to
anyone else. And there stood no man with him
while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren. And he wept
aloud. And the Egyptians in the house
of Pharaoh heard. We just have no, we have some understanding, but
we have no real understanding how much the Lord loves us, how
much he loves us. And Joseph said unto his brethren,
I am Joseph. Doth my father yet live? Joseph's
first concern was for his father, and so was the Lord's first concern,
to honor and to obey his father. And his brethren could not answer
him, for they were troubled at his presence, at words terrified. And Joseph said unto his brethren,
come near to me, I pray you, and they came near. And he said,
I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt, Now, therefore,
be not grieved nor angry with yourselves that you sold me hither,
for God did send me before you to preserve life. For these two
years hath the famine been in the land, and yet there are five
years in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to
preserve you a posterity in the earth. and to save your lives
with a great deliverance. Let's pray. Our merciful Heavenly Father,
we thank you that you sent your dear son to accomplish for us
a great deliverance. Lord, truly there is a famine
in this land, not a famine of bread and water, but a famine
of hearing the word of God. Lord, we pray that you would
feed our souls with the bread of life tonight. We pray that
you would open our ears and enable us to hear thy voice and Lord
to rest in hope in the surety of thy promises. Lord, we pray that you would
call us to come near unto thee. and that you would make yourself
known unto us. Lord, if we leave this place
tonight, having met with you, having seen you, having worshiped
you and fellowship with you and heard from you or to all, all
will be well. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen. Number 291 from your hard back
teminal, 291. Let's all stand once again. Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah,
Pilgrim through this barren land. I am weak, but Thou art mighty. Hold me without powerful hand. Bread of Heaven, Bread of Heaven,
Feed me till I want no more. Feed me till I want no more. Open now the crystal fountain
whence the healing stream doth flow. Let the fire and cloudy
pillar lead me all my journey through. Strong deliverer, strong
deliverer, be thou still my strength and shield. Be thou still my
strength and shield. When I tread the verge of Jordan,
Bid my anxious fears subside. Bear me through the swelling
current, Land me safe on Canaan's side. Songs of praises, songs
of praises, I will ever give to thee. I will ever give to thee. Please be seated. Will you turn with me in your
Bibles to Psalm 119. I've titled this message, Think
on These Things. And you know that's a quote from
Philippians chapter four, which we'll turn to in a few minutes. But I want you to see what sustained
the Lord Jesus Christ when the whole world turned against him.
And what will sustain you and I when circumstances are beyond
our control, what will calm our hearts, what will settle our
spirits, what will enable us to experience the grace and the
mercy and the peace of God. Verse 23 in Psalm 119, princes
also did sit and speak against me. And we know that all the
princes of Israel gathered together, the kings of the earth gathered
together, and they still do, against Christ and against the
anointed one. But thy servant did meditate
in thy statues. Thy testimonies, verse 24, also
are my delight and my counselors. The Lord Jesus
Christ rested all his hope on the revealed truth of God's word. Turn to me to John chapter 12.
Verse 44, Jesus cried and said, he that
believeth on me believeth not on me, but on him that sent me. And he that sent me seeth him
that sent me. I am come a light into the world
that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.
And if any man hear my words and believe not, I judge him
not. For I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.
He that rejecteth me and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth
him. The word that I have spoken,
the same shall judge him in the last day. For I've not spoken
of myself, but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment
that I should say and what I should speak. And I know that his commandment
is life everlasting. Whatsoever I speak therefore,
even as the father said unto me, so I speak. The Lord Jesus
Christ relied completely on his father and on the words that
his father would give him. And so it is with us when the
weight of sin bears on our souls, When the circumstances are beyond
our control, when we're feeling the weaknesses of our own flesh
and the conflicts of sin and of this world, we have the precious
promises of God. And as the Lord enables us, I
thought, what do we do when we can't change our circumstances?
We change our mind. We change our mind. That's called
repentance. We have a different way of thinking. And that's what the Lord's saying
here. Go back with me to Psalm 119 again. Princes also did sit
and speak against me, but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes. I meditated upon the word of
God. Look back with me to verse 15 of Psalm 119. I will meditate
in thy precepts and have respect unto thy ways. Lord, set my heart
on things above. Enable me to think on Christ,
those things which are holy and those things which are pure.
We're going to look at that passage in a moment. Look at verse 48
in Psalm 119. My hands also will I lift up
unto thy commandments, which I have loved, and I will meditate
in thy statutes. That's really where the problem
is, isn't it? It's in our thinking. It's in what we meditate on. Look back over, look over in
verse 78 of this same passage. Let the proud be ashamed, for
they dealt perversely with me without a cause, but I will meditate
in my precepts. Let the crowd do what they want,
let the world, let Satan attack, I will meditate in thy precepts. Look at verse 148 in the same
passage. Mine eyes prevent the night watches
up all night, tossing and turning, not able to sleep, that I might
meditate in thy word. Oh, that the Lord will turn our
hearts in faith to believe what he's revealed in his word in
every time of trouble. Turn to me to Hebrews chapter
four, Hebrews chapter four. Where else can we go but to the
word of God? And as the Lord enables us to
meditate on his word, and this word means to ruminate, it means
to, it's a word that was used to describe the cow chewing its
cud, you know, and it would just, it would extract from that all
the nourishments that it could in digestion. Lord, enable me to meditate in
my heart upon thy word and give to me all the spiritual nourishment
that there is to be had in Christ. You have your Bibles open to
Hebrews chapter 4. Look at verse 10. For he that has entered into
his rest, he also has ceased from his own works as God did
from his. This is what we're talking about. We're talking about resting.
We're talking about having having hope and having faith in times
of trouble. And this world is full of trouble,
isn't it? Let us labor, therefore, that
we may enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same
example of unbelief. What did they didn't believe?
The word of God. God spoke his word through Moses to the children
of Israel, and they didn't believe God. They didn't rest in the
precious promises that God had given them. They didn't see what
the acts of God were all about in terms of the manna coming
from heaven and the water coming from the rock. They didn't know
what the Lord was revealing about himself and they didn't believe
God. Look at verse 12. I want you to see the first verse
of verse 12. We're going to labor into his rest. We're to labor
to enter into his rest for Four, the word of God is alive. It's quick, it's powerful, it's
sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the divide and
asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow and
as a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart. How do we enter into this rest?
For the word of God. Faith comes by hearing, hearing
comes by the word of God. It's God's word that, that, that
comforts our hearts. It causes us to rest in Christ. It's God's word that reveals
Christ to us. It's God's word that gives to
us the faith to rest our hope in Christ. No scripture was given by private
interpretation. But holy men of God spake as
they were moved by the Holy Spirit. This is not the word of man.
This is the word of God. And the Lord Jesus Christ made
it clear in John chapter 12. If you don't receive my words,
you're not receiving God's words because I'm not speaking of my
own. I'm telling you, I'm speaking his words. And we know that all scripture,
all scripture is given by inspiration of God and all scripture is profitable. It's to our profit. It's profitable
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness. What? That the man of God, all
the men of God might be thoroughly furnished, have all that they
need, have all that they need unto all good works. And where
do we get that? Where do we get what we need?
We get it from God's word. And that's what the Lord's saying
here. When all the princes sat in objection to me and and stood
against me, and the calzabation, the scripture says, surrounded
him and his enemies. He said, I meditated on thy word. I looked to thy word. That's
where I found my comfort. That's where I found my hope.
Is there any place other for us to go? If that's where the
Lord Jesus went, that's where we go. We go to the word of God.
That's why we're here right now, isn't it? Lord, what do you have
to say to me? Turn with me to Philippians chapter
four. Verse four, rejoice in the Lord,
in the Lord. I will meditate in thy statutes. And we don't just take the word
of God as if it was devoid some way from the Lord Jesus Christ. The word of God leads us to find
our hope in Christ. And the Lord says, rejoice in
the Lord. And someone says, well, you don't
understand my circumstances or my sin. And the Lord said, again,
I say unto you, rejoice, delight yourself in the Lord. Let your moderation don't be
given to extreme emotional responses depending on your circumstances.
How often we do that? How often we get angry because
of our circumstances or we get depressed because of our circumstances
and we allow our emotions to control us. And the Lord, he's
telling us to let your moderation be known unto all men. Be moderate
in your response to your circumstances. For the Lord is at hand. That's
a good reason to be moderate. This is of the Lord. And he's
the one that's ordained it all. And he's the one that's using
it for the glory of his grace, and for the salvation of our
souls, and for the good of his church. So what reason would
we have? That's what the Lord's saying.
When they sat in opposition to me, I meditated upon thy precepts. For I rejoiced in thy word. Look at verse six. Be careful
for nothing. And that word careful means to
be anxious, to feel like things are out of control. No, they're
not. They're not. The Lord's in control.
Now, I'm saying things I know that every one of us experience.
We get so, but here's God's word. Here's the remedy to this problem
that we all have, isn't it? Be careful for nothing, God says. Don't be overly anxious about
anything, but in all things. Now this isn't a don't worry,
be happy philosophy. This is be careful for nothing,
but in all things with prayer and supplication. Let your requests
be known unto God. In other words, you have these
This sin problem, and that's what it always all boils down
to, even if it's just something, a circumstance created by situation
outside of yourself. It's sin in us that causes us
to be anxious about those things, is it not? Is it not our unbelief? So it all boils down to the sin
that does so easily beset each one of us. It's the cause of
all of our anxieties. It's the cause of all of our
fears. It's sin. So the Lord says, be careful
for nothing but in all things by prayer. What is the purpose
of prayer? It's to change us. It's to change us. Prayer doesn't
change God. God calls us to pray. We seek
his face in prayer. And as we pray, we're, we come
more and more aware of our own need and, and, and, and of the
solution to that need and, and prayer changes us. And so the
Lord says, be anxious for nothing, but in all things by prayer and
supplication, let your, let your request be known unto God. What
you need for him to supply to you. Grace and mercy and forgiveness
and peace and hope and faith. And notice the next phrase, and
the peace of God, which passive understanding will keep your
heart and your mind in Christ Jesus. Now for many, many years,
I thought that verse meant, that the peace of God can't be understood.
That's what I thought it meant. The peace of God cannot be understood.
It's beyond understanding. That's not what that verse means.
You see, why are we so anxious? Because we're trying to understand.
Isn't that what we're trying to do? You know, Lord, why is
this happening? Why am I this way? And why is
this that way? And why is it that way? And knowledge
gives power and gives control and gives strength, doesn't it?
And knowledge puffs up. And so we're desperately trying
to achieve understanding for our circumstances. This word
passive means exceeds or is better than. And so what the Lord's
saying here is here, be careful for nothing, but in all things
by prayer and supplication, let your requests be known unto God.
And the peace of God, which is better than understanding, will
keep your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus. You see, when we're desperately
trying to get understanding, God's saying, I'm not going to
give you understanding, but I'll give you peace. I'll give you
peace. You don't have to understand
your circumstances. Not if you have God's peace. Not if you're
able to rest in Christ. Because you know He understands
everything. And He's the first cause of everything. So that's
what the Lord is saying. The peace of God exceeds understanding. You're so desperate to get understanding
so that you can have power over your circumstances, but I'm here
to give you peace. Isn't it true in your experience
that when God settles your heart, and your mind in Christ Jesus
and enables you to rest in him. You've labored through these
things to enter into his rest for the word of God. The word
of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two edged
sword. That's what the Lord saying in Psalm 119. When they sat in
opposition to me, I meditated upon God's word. on his testimonies. And I rested in his promises. And I delighted myself in the
word of God. And he gave me peace. The Lord
Jesus Christ died in peace. He died resting his hope in the
Father. So the Lord's just telling us,
he's saying, this is my way. This is my way. The peace of God is better than
understanding. Yeah. The very first temptation
all the way back there in the garden before Adam and Eve sinned. What did, uh, what did Satan
say to Eve? God doesn't want you to eat of
the fruit of the knowledge of the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil, because he knows in the day in which you eat of
it, your eyes will be opened and you'll become like God. You'll
have power. You'll have understanding. You'll
have discernment. You'll have, you'll have free
will. You'll have all these things.
That was the temptation. And it still is. It hasn't changed. Satan is still using the, he's
got the same exact weapon today that he had back there in the
very beginning. God saying, don't, don't, don't
become anxious for understanding. Rest in Christ for peace. for
peace. And how often times we've seen
in our own experiences, the Lord stirs up trouble to bring us
to that very place of resting in Christ. Isn't that true? Paul
called them necessities. These things are necessities.
For my strength is made perfect in your weakness. And Paul said,
when I am weak, therefore that I'm strong, so I'll glory in
my weaknesses. That my strength might be in
Christ. So Satan tempted Eve to say that
your eyes will be open and you'll become like God. And just a couple
of verses later, after Adam takes of the fruit, the scripture says,
and the eyes of them both were opened. So part of what Satan
said was true. When they ate the fruit, their
eyes were opened and they knew That they were naked and they
sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons. You see
their eyes being open, didn't make them God. They made them
ashamed. It made them more anxious. It made them troubled. It made
them fearful. And out of fear, they tried to
cover their nakedness by sewing together fig leaves. And we say, Lord, open my eyes. I can understand these things.
Open my eyes that I might see Christ and rest in Him. The eyes being open to, you know, well, there's just
shame and fear. eyes being open to sin, isn't
it? I mean, it's, it's go back with me to Philippians
chapter four. Finally, brethren, finally, brethren. You want this piece of God, which
is better than understanding. You want to rest in Christ and
have faith in the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ to put
away your sin. Finally, my brethren, whatsoever
things are true. Whatsoever things are honest
and just and pure and lovely and a good report and have any
virtue in them. What's the next word? Look, look
at verse, if there be any praise, read the last part of verse eight.
Think, think, think on these things. What's true? You know, we live
in a world that says, well, everybody's got their own truth. You know,
that hasn't changed. Relativism has always been the
way of man. Everybody deciding for themselves
what's true and what's not true. It goes all the way back to the
garden when man's eyes were opened and he saw that he was naked
and he was ashamed and fearful and tried to cover his nakedness
by putting together fig leaves. And well, you know, my fig leaves
look better than your fig leaves. And everybody sews them together
a little bit differently and everybody's got their own opinion
about how to cover their nakedness before God. And the Lord Jesus
Christ said, I am the way, the truth. This word truth in this
particular verse means something that was hid is now revealed. It's the mystery of the gospel.
And the Lord Jesus Christ is hid from our natural minds. He
can only be revealed to us by his spirit. Everything needs to be evaluated,
interpreted from the foundation of truth. And the truth is all
about the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Who he
is and what he's done. For this cause came I into this
world and for this reason was I born to bear witness unto the
truth. Unto the truth. And what Pilate
say? Truth? Don't you know there's no such
thing as absolute truth? Everything's relative and the
Lord said, no, I am the truth. Those that are of the truth,
they hear my voice, they hear my words and they follow me and
they believe me. And they rest their hope in everything
that I've declared about myself and everything that I've accomplished. Whatsoever things are, Honest. There's no truth outside of Christ.
All truth is bound up in Him. Whatsoever things are honest,
honorable, worthy of reverence, that's what this word means,
grave. Who's worthy of our reverence?
Who is that that's venerable and honest and well
read in the book of Revelation and 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands
of thousands join their verse voices together and what did
they sing worthy worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive
power and riches and wisdom and honor and glory and the The angels
and the 24 elders and the saints of God all bowed together and
gave worship and honor to him. Blessing and honor and glory
and power be it unto him that sitteth upon the throne and unto
the Lamb. When the Lord's telling us to
think on these things, he's telling us to think on Christ. Go to
the word of God. and ask God to reveal to you
the truth about who the Lord Jesus Christ is and what he's
accomplished. You know, so often times we're
more interested in the hand of God than we are in the face of
God, aren't we? You know, we want God's hand
to intervene and change our circumstances and the Lord's saying, no, I'm
going to show you myself through these things. I'm going to reveal
my glory. So that those things which are
true and those things which are honest, you'll be able to think
on those things. Think on me. That's what Colossians chapter
sets your affections on things above, not on things of the earth. Look at the, look at the third
thing the Lord tells us to think on. Think on those things which
are true, those things which are honest and whatsoever things
are just. Righteous. That's the word here.
The perfect fulfillment of the law of God. What is that? That's Christ. There's no righteousness
outside of him. He's the only one. He said, I did not come to destroy
the law, but to fill the law. He's the one who crossed every
T and dotted every I and every jot and tittle was fulfilled
in the law of God by the Lord Jesus Christ, who is himself
the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. To
everyone, Christ is my righteousness. Think on these things, those
things which are true, those things which are honest, those
things which are just. You remember Sunday, we looked
at that verse in Psalm 119, remove from me the reproach, the guilt
and the shame of my sin, for I have kept all thy statutes. I've kept every one of them.
The Lord Jesus Christ has kept them all. The law can't, the
law's lost its condemnation. There's no power in the law to
judge us and to condemn us. That's what we become so anxious
about. Finally, brethren, the Lord's
speaking to me and you. Finally, brethren, whatsoever
things are true, Christ is true. What sort of things are honorable,
honest? Christ is honest. What sort of things are just?
What sort of things are pure? Pure. James 3.17 says, the wisdom
that is from above is first pure. And he's contrasting the wisdom
of God to the wisdom of man. The wisdom of man trying to get
understanding over and trying to get control over his circumstances.
And that's what causes all of his anxieties and all of his
fears. And the Lord says the wisdom of God is first, pure,
gentle, kind, and easy to be entreated. It's not like the
wisdom of man. Wisdom of man is always in turmoil. It's always fighting and trying
to get control. Turn with me to 1 John chapter
3. 1 John chapter 3. My enemy surrounded me. And what
did I do? I meditated on thy word. On thy statutes, on thy precepts,
on thy commandments, on the revelation that you've given me, Father.
And the Lord Jesus is speaking here. This is how he, this is,
this is how he endured the cross despising its shame. He endured
it by believing God. And this is the only way that
you and I are going to endure anything in this world. First John chapter three, behold,
Oh, look at this. The word behold means, oh, put
your blinders on, give your undivided attention to this. Behold, this
is glorious. What manner of love the Father
hath bestowed upon us. We can't comprehend the depth
of his love. That we, that we should be called
the sons of God? That I can approach the throne
of grace and call on God Almighty as my Father? And believe that He, like Joseph,
He, like Joseph, is willing to make Himself known to His brethren?
And to weep for them? And to say to them, don't hate
yourself. Don't beat yourself up. Isn't
that what Joseph said to his brothers? Don't treat yourself
so bad. God did this and the Lord sent
me ahead of you to preserve life for you. Therefore the world
knoweth us not because it knew him not. The world can't enter
into this. You know to them it's just the
power of positive thinking. We could take this message and
and take Christ out of it, and somebody's gonna hear it just
as nothing more than just the power of positive thinking, you
just gotta have a good attitude. You just gotta think straight.
Beloved, now are we the sons of God. Right now. And it doth not appear what we
shall be, but we know. that when he shall appear, we
shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And every man,
and every man that hath this hope in him purifies himself,
even as he is pure, even as he is pure. Brethren, whatsoever
things are true, Whatsoever things are honest. Whatsoever things
are just. Whatsoever things are pure. The
Lord Jesus Christ is the one that's pure. He's the one that
made us to be the sons of God. Go back with me to our text in
Philippians four. Whatsoever things are lovely. Oh, how lovely he is. Don't you
love in the song of Solomon when the church, when the Lord Jesus
Christ comes as the husband, as the beloved and makes him
and reveals himself to his beloved wife and she doesn't let him
in and he departs. And then she wakes up and she
realizes that she's missed him. And she goes out into the city
and she speaks to the other women and she says, have you seen my
beloved? Have you seen my beloved? And
they said, what is your beloved more than any other beloved?
Why is he so special? Oh, and she goes into this long
description of his beauty, of his loveliness, of his glory,
of his justice and his righteousness. And then they say, where is your
beloved that we might seek him with you? That's why we preach
Christ in hopes that someone who would by nature say, well,
what is he any different than ours? Well, how's your religion
any different than ours? And when they hear about the
beauty and the purity and the righteousness and the successfulness
of the Lord Jesus Christ, they would say, oh, where is he? I want to seek him too. I want
to seek him too. He is lovely. He's loved us with
an everlasting love. Greater love hath no man than
this and he laid down his life for his friends. The Lord's proven
his love to us. And here in his love, here in
his love, not that we love God, we can't measure love by our
love for God, but that he loved us and gave his son to be the
propitiation of our sins. Oh, he's altogether lovely. That's what the bride said in
Song of Solomon, he's altogether lovely. First Corinthians chapter 13
is a description of God's love. And then, and it ends with, and
now abide at faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these
is love. Love. It's the greatest. Oh, he's lovely. Think about it. You know how. That's what the Lord's saying.
Think on how much I love you. How can I, if I look at my life
and I look at my circumstances and I'm thinking, no, I can't
discern God's love from that. I can discern God's love from
his word. I go to his precept. When I'm surrounded by troubles,
I meditate upon thy word and your word tells me that you love
me. With an everlasting love. And the Lord Jesus Christ said,
Father, I've loved them to the end. Never been a time he hasn't
loved his children. Never been a time he won't love
them. And his love is perfect love. His love is not like our
love. His love doesn't vacillate depending on, you know, how it's
received. He has a perfect holy love. His
love for you and I is exactly the same as his love for his
own son. It doth not yet appear what we
shall be. And now, brethren, we are the sons of God. You see, these are the things
that we think on. This is what the Lord was meditating
on. He was meditating on the truthfulness
of the covenant promises of His Father. He was meditating on
His own righteousness and the fulfillment of His promises to
the Father. He was meditating on the justice
and purity and loveliness and honesty of all that He had with
the Father, His relationship with the Father. And this is
what sustained Him. This is what kept Him on the
cross. And it's the only thing that's going to keep us. And if it be of good report,
you see that? A good report. Why callest thou me good? Good
master, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Isn't that what
the rich young ruler said? Why callest thou me good? There's
none good but God. And David said his goodness and
mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. Lord Moses said
on the Mount Sinai, he said, I want to see your glory. And,
and the Lord said, there's a place near unto me. And that place
is Christ. And there's a cleft and a rock,
and I'm going to put you in there and I'm going to cause my goodness
to pass before you. Oh, that's what we want. Isn't
it? Lord, show me your goodness. What is it? His goodness is his
forgiveness. And it's the, it's not the threats
of God's law that leads to repentance. It's the goodness of God that
leads to repentance. It's his mercy. He's the one
who's of good report, a perfect report. Everything about him
is good. And in contrast to that, Paul
said in me, that is, and I'm glad he put that paraphrase in
there, or that parenthetical statement, in me that is in my
flesh, because in him was something good. It was Christ. Christ in
you is your hope of glory. But Paul said in me that is in
my flesh dwelleth no good thing. There's nothing good in me. All
goodness is in him. And the Lord says, think on these
things. Think on these things. And if there be any virtue, any
virtue, moral excellence, the Lord was able to stand before
those who he said came against me in our text over there in
Psalm 119 and say, if any man has a charge against me, let
him bring it. The only two things that could charge him, the only
two things they charged him with, healing on the Sabbath, And professing to be God. And you know, the Lord still
just heals on the Sabbath. The healing of our souls take
place in the rest of Christ. That's what Sabbath means. He's
still healing on the Sabbath and men still hating for it.
You know, they want, they want the healing. I'm talking about
not physical healing. I'm talking about the forgiveness
of sin. They want the forgiveness of sin to be a result of some
work that they do. But our Lord only heals on the
Sabbath. The Sabbath is when there's no
work to be done. It's when men are resting and Christ does the
work. And he's not blaspheming when
he professes to be God. He is God. He's the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. In him is moral excellence. Pilate even, Pilate would have
been glad to find something to charge against him. And he said
twice, Pilate said, he brought him back out. He brought him
back out again. He said, I find no fault in this man. I've interrogated
him. I find no fault in him. He's virtuous. He's of moral
excellence. Think on these things. Think
on Christ. Think on Christ. Think on his
glory, his accomplishments. And if there be any praise and
he gets all the praise, doesn't he? That's the glory of Christ.
He gets all the praise and man made religion. They, they, they
feign worship by pretending to praise God. When in real, when
in reality, they robbing him of his glory and taking praise
to themselves for something that they've done. Only God's people
give to the Lord Jesus Christ, all the praise and all the honor
and all the glory. And we do that. Not, not only
in the forgiveness of our sin, but in everything and everything. Give thanks. Let's close by reading our text
one more time. Verse 23 of Psalm 119. Princes
also did sit and speak against me. But thy servant. But thy servant. Did meditate in thy statutes. For thy testimonies. Also are my delight. I delight. In Christ. The Prince of Peace. And the
peace of God, which is better than any understanding, has kept
my heart and my mind in Christ Jesus. And the testimonies of
God. Are my counselors. The Lord Jesus Christ. There's
no counselor like him. And you're afraid, depressed,
angry, fearful. Your eyes have been opened. You
see your nakedness. You're trying to sew together
some fig leaves. No counselor like him. No man can speak peace
to your heart. No man can give you the peace
of God. Only he can do that. What a counselor he is. And the
Lord says, all you that labor, and are heavy laden. Come unto
me. Come unto me. Come unto me. I will give you rest. My burden
is light. My yoke is easy. You'll get rest
for your soul. That's what we need, isn't it?
Think on Christ. Our Heavenly Father, thank you
for your word. Forgive us, Lord, for our unbelief
and strengthen our faith in Christ. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen. 352 352 you Jesus, lover of my soul, let
me to thy bosom fly. While the nearer waters roll,
while the tempest still is high, hide me, O my Savior, hide. Till the storm of life is past,
Safe into the haven guide, O receive my soul at last. Other refuge have I none, Hangs
my helpless soul on Thee. Leave, ah, leave me not alone,
still support and comfort me. All my trust on Thee is stayed,
all my help from Thee I bring. Cover my defenseless head with
the shadow of Thy way. 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. full of sin I am, thou art full
of truth and grace. Plenteous grace with thee is
found, grace to cover all my sins. Let the healing streams
abound, make and keep me pure within. Thou of life, the fountain art,
freely let me take of Thee. Spring thou up within my heart,
rise to all eternity.