The scripture likens God's people
to palm trees. Scripture says they shall flourish
like a palm tree. Now those of us that live here
in Florida have watched palm trees be transplanted. What you
may not know is is that the roots of palm trees go out from that
palm tree as far as that tree is tall. And they cut all those
roots so that there's only just a little root ball left and are
able to move that palm tree to another location and prop it
up until Quickly, because palm trees are in the grass family,
and we are like grass, quickly those palm trees get new roots
and become established. In the meantime, they are shored
up with wood. You've seen that. From time to
time over the years, the Lord has transplanted some of his
palm trees. It's been such a blessing. For
our church to be able to. Prop them up. Until they're able
to establish new roots. We have a family with us this
morning. The Miller family. The first time Andrew came here
was when we were meeting in the clubhouse over in Kingswood. You all remember some of you
remember that? Andrew visited us then. I think that was before
you all were married, right? And Andrew and Radhika were soon
married after that. They have been faithful members
of the church in Crossville, Tennessee for the last 20 years
or more. Radhika, you've been there longer
than that. Radhika grew up there. Donny Bell's been their pastor.
Tristan and Sophie are their children. And they were offered
a good opportunity here in Orlando for work, they would not have
come had it not been for this church. But all their roots were
cut, in a sense. And I want to welcome them and
encourage you to do what you can to prop them up until they're
able to get some new roots down. Okay? They're wonderful. been preaching to them for years
going up to Crossville and have known them briefly in visits. We're thankful when the Lord
transplants one of his palm trees here and pray that we'll be the
kind of fellowship and family that will encourage them in their
move. All right, let's stand together. Tom's going to come and lead
us in number 127 in your hardback timbral, number 127. Man of sorrows, what a name For
the Son of God who came Ruined sinners to reclaim Hallelujah,
what a Savior Bearing shame and scoffing rude In my place condemned
He stood Good. ? My pardon with his blood ?
Hallelujah, what a Savior ? Guilty, vile, and helpless we ? Spotless
Lamb of God was he ? Full atonement can it be ? Hallelujah, what
a Savior Lifted up was he to die, It is finished was his cry,
Now in heaven exalted high, Hallelujah, what a Savior! When He comes, our glorious King,
All His ransomed home to bring, Then anew this song we'll sing,
Hallelujah, what a Savior! Please be seated. For God's call to worship, would
you please turn with me to Luke chapter seven. The Lord has impressed
upon my heart this week the words of King David. Surely his goodness
and his mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And
the Lord has to stop me in my tracks and make me remindful
of all the things he has done in your life and mine to bring
me where we are right now. All the things in this world
were designed just to bring us to Christ. And it'll never stop. That's the good news. It'll never
stop. I remember that and I think about that quite often. I hesitate,
I'm not sure what to say here. I plead with God what to read. But this morning I hope that
the Lord by his word will expose one of the greatest lies told
in Christianity, so-called Christianity. that we would hear people say,
yes, we agree with you, we are saved by grace, but, and I remember
as a small boy, I always used to hear sheep believe in goats,
but, but we still need the law. We need the law after you're
saved to restrain sin. And I want us to read in these
words that that is a lie from the pit of hell. Because it is the denial of the
Lord Jesus Christ who has said He is the end of the law. If that were true, then He's
not the end. And if we have to do something after we're saved
for our salvation, then it's not all of God. And the Lord
says to add to or take away is blasphemy. This is blasphemy. I would challenge you if you
can show me anywhere in scriptures where the Lord has spoken to
a believer and said, thy sins are forgiven. And where it showed
that they then after that run off and plunged headlong. They
call it what, lascivious? I can't even pronounce it, let
alone know what it means. Unbridled sin. They'll just sin even more
if you tell them they're not under the law. That is a lie. I always want to ask them, and
I can speak for me, how's that working for you? Has the law
kept you from sinning? The law's never kept one person
from sinning. But I want us to read about this
woman. Verse 37, it said, and behold,
a woman in the city which was a sinner. Maybe I'm off every day. I said,
Lord, would you make me a sinner? I need, if God makes you a sinner,
you'll know something about your need for Christ. And I agree
with brother. It's truth. Being made a sinner
is not the cause of your salvation. It's the result of your salvation.
And give me the Lord faith to believe that I am the chief of
all centers. Most people don't believe themselves
to be sinners, only the people of God. A sinner, and when she
knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, she brought
an alabaster box of ointment and stood at his feet behind
him, weeping. God ever makes you a sinner,
you know something about weeping also, don't you? Weeping, and
began to wash his feet with tears and did wipe them with the hairs
of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with ointment."
That's what it means to revere God, isn't it? Now, you want
to know reverence? That's reverence. Fallen at the
feet of Christ in tears. Now, when the Pharisees, which
had bidden him, saw it, he spake within himself, saying, this
man, Christ, if he were a prophet, he would have known who and what
manner of woman this is that touches him. For she is a sinner. And Jesus answered and said unto
him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee, and he saith,
Master, say on. There was a certain creditor
which had two debtors. The one owed 500 pence and the
other 50. And when they had nothing to
pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me, therefore, which
of them will love him most. And Simon answered and said,
I suppose that he whom he forgave the most, and he said to him,
thou hast just, thou hast rightly judged. And he turned to the
woman and said unto Simon Peter, you see this woman? I entered
into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet, but
she hath washed my feet with tears and wiped them with the
hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss. But this
woman, since the time I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my
feet. My head with oil thou didst not
anoint, but this woman hath anointed my feet with oil. Wherefore,
I say unto thee, her sins, which are many, are forgiven. For she loved much, but to whom
little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he said unto
her, thy sins are forgiven. Well, if you believe the Pharisees
of the world, then look out because this woman's just going to go
out and go crazy. And they that said it meet with
him began to say with themselves, who is this to forgive us sins?
That's what Greg said. Who has this thing that forgives
sins? And he said to the woman, thy faith has saved thee. Go in peace. you now have peace with God. He who is forgiven much, loves
much. It is the love of Christ that
constraineth our sin. The law can't do that. And I
was thinking, I know nowhere in the scripture where I see
that, where the Lord says, your sins are forgiven, go in peace,
that they saw that person. And I thought of, I don't know
who this person is, but I thought Mary Magdalene. Mary Magdalene,
right? The Lord said he delivered seven
devils from Mary Magdalene, didn't he? She obviously was a sinner. And then I read on that says,
when the Lord went to the cross on Calvary or Golgotha, There
was two women at his feet when they crucified him. One of them
was Mary Magdalene. They said when he said it is
finished and gave up the ghost, they said there was a group of
women that saw it and watched it. And one of them was Mary
Magdalene. And when he was put in the grave,
the first person to the tomb, the scripture says she was the
very first was Mary Magdalene. That doesn't sound like a person
who's went lascivious in the sin, does it? And when the earthquake
came and the stone rolled away, who was the first person that
ran back to the believers in the town and said, he has risen,
Mary Magdalene. No, the law doesn't constrain
our sin. The believer is free from the
law. It has no claim on us. It is the love of Christ that
constrains the sin in our lives. And I'm so thankful that because
I can tell you that. Brother Greg, what you says.
I realize. I'll stop sending the day I draw
my last breath. And the Lord takes me in that
old flesh has died. Until then, it's always present with me.
That's what David said. We all experience it. If you're
a believer, that's your experience, isn't it? But oh, thanks to be
to God that we're not under the law. We're under Christ. Let us pray to him and ask him
to bless our time together. Lord, we come here this morning
agreeing with you that we are sin, nothing but sin. And Lord, we have no righteousness
and we have no hope in anything we can do to atone for any sins,
let alone the sins we are. And we confess our need for Christ. Lord, we thank you. for your
goodness and your mercy to us, that we have a sure hope that
Christ has taken the sin of his people and he has paid that debt. Oh, Lord, cause us to rest in
you and to believe on and in you. We ask your blessing this morning
on the preaching of your gospel. That you would be with Brother
Greg and your other gospel preachers. that you would speak through
them, that you would give them the ability to organize the thoughts
you've given them and to declare Christ and him crucified simply
and boldly. And Lord, we pray for your people
that you give us the faith to believe what is preached. And we especially pray for those
that are strangers to your grace. and plead with you, Lord, the
only one that can save, that you might be pleased to make
them willing to come to you, and that we give you all the
glory, amen. Let's all stand together once
again. We'll sing the hymn that's on the back of your bulletin. To him who found us dead in sin,
and planted holy life within, to him that taught our feet away
from endless night to endless day. To Him that brought our righteousness
and sanctified us by His grace. To Him that brought us back to
God through the Red Sea of His own blood. To Him who suffered
on the tree, Blessings and praise and glory be, To cleanse from
every sinful stain, Worthy the Lamb, for He was slain. To him that sits upon the throne,
the great eternal three in one, to him let saints and angels
raise an everlasting song of praise. Please be seated. Caleb Hickman's
gonna bring some special music out. Thou art, I am, eternally Thy
covenant fulfilled, Thou hast redeemed And that Thou causeth
me come to Thee, O Lamb of God I come, I come. Thou art, I am, and waiting
not to rid my soul of my depraved heart to Thee Whose blood hath
cleansed each spot, O Lamb of God, cause me come, I come. Thou art, I am, not tossed
about with one single conflict. one single doubt justice thou
has satisfied to the father devout oh lamb of god cause me come
i come Thou art, I am, made to be sin
for Thine own elect and not for all men. All that the Father
gave are found perfect in Him. O Lamb of God, cause me come. I come. Thou art, I am, thou
hast made free, hast welcomed, pardoned, cleansed, relieved. Because thy promise, Christ,
Believed O Lamb of God, cause me come, I come. Thank you, Caleb. Improving on the words of that
hymn. Actually, it's a good hymn. Although we used to sing it in
religion to try to manipulate people to come down the aisle,
we misused that hymn. You know the back story on that
hymn? That the woman that wrote that hymn was invited to dinner
by some friends, and the pastor of their church was there, and
their whole purpose was to talk to her about Christ. And so in
the conversation, the pastor asked her, have you come to Christ? And she made it clear that she
didn't want to talk about it. And so he dropped the subject.
A few days later, he ran into her in town, and she said, I've
been thinking a long time about what you said. Have I come to
Christ? And she said, how do I come? And he answered her question
by saying, just like you are. Don't try to clean something
up and then come. Just come just like you are,
just as I am. Thank you, Caleb. Let's open
our Bibles together to Psalm 116. I'm sorry, Psalm 119. Psalm 119. Beginning at verse 17. I've titled this message bountiful
blessings. Oh, if we could just catch a
glimpse of how bountifully God has blessed us. We'd never be
worried. We'd never be filled with unbelief. We'd never be disquieted. We'd
never be concerned about anything. If we could just believe how
much bountifully God has blessed us. I hope that we can leave this
place this morning. With a little better understanding.
And a little more faith. As to how God's blessed us. That
some of those things that. That bother us so much would. Would not be such an issue. Look
at verse 17 deal bountifully with thy servant that I may live. and keep by word. Isaiah in Isaiah chapter 5 says,
what more could have been done to my vineyard than I have done
in it? What more could be done in my
vineyard than I have done in it? I have blessed her bountifully. I have sent my prophet to Egypt
to deliver them from the taskmasters of sin and the law. And I have
brought them out so that not a hoof, the scripture says, was
left behind. What a bountiful blessing that
the Lord would send one like Moses to bring his people out
of the bondage of sin. Lord, deal bountifully with me.
He has dealt bountifully with us. Our hope is that he will
reveal to us. Look at the next verse. Open thou mine eyes that I may
behold wondrous things out of thy law. Lord, that's my need. Not that you bless me more, but
that you open my eyes that I might see How much you have blessed
me. That's faith, isn't it? Lord, you divided the Red Sea. You brought me through. You drowned the enemy. Pharaoh and his army were drowned
in the depths of the Red Sea. Lord, you defeated Satan on Calvary's
cross. And you've miraculously opened
up the way of faith that I might be delivered. Lord, you provided
all during that time in the wilderness. And that's where we are right
now. We're in the wilderness. You provided manna from heaven.
every day. Isn't that what the scripture
admonishes us? Lord, give us this day our daily
bread. And the Lord told those Pharisees,
he said, Moses did not give you that manna. My father gave you
that manna. I am the bread of life which
has come down from heaven. Just as bread is a sustenance
for our physical being, so the Lord Jesus Christ is the sustenance
for our souls. What a bountiful blessing. He
said, I'm not far from you. I'm near unto you. The bread's there, isn't it?
And it's there every day. Whenever we need, whenever our
souls get hungry, the Lord Jesus is always, always there. And sometimes we think, well,
I'll just gather up enough bread so I won't have to go back to
the table tomorrow. And like those Israelites, we
wake up to another bountiful blessing. It is a bountiful blessing
that the Lord would put worms in yesterday's bread so that
we not feed off of it, but that we come to him every day for
a fresh loaf of bread. Lord, open thou mine eyes, that
I might behold wondrous things from thy law, and how thou hast
blessed me bountifully, beyond, that word bountifully means beyond
measure, beyond comprehension, beyond understanding. That's
how we've been blessed, brethren. The Lord gave us the law. at Mount Sinai and reveal to
us his glory. What a bountiful blessing that
is. As you said, Michael, the law is not our rule of life.
Christ is our rule of life. But the law reveals to us the
glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. And if we're going to stand in
his presence, he's going to have to hide us in a rock, just like
he did for Moses, Sidney. What a bountiful blessing. that
the Lord would reveal to us His glory. That He would lead us
every day through this wilderness with a cloud by day to shade
us from the heat of the sun and a pillar of fire by night in
order to give us light in the darkness and both of those represent
the bread was Christ, the mountain was Christ, the rock on the mountain
was Christ, The water that, you remember the rock that followed
them through the wilderness? And Moses struck that rock with
a rod of the law, and what came out of that rock? Water. If any
man thirst, let him come unto me, and out of his belly shall
flow rivers of living water. He's the river of water, clear
as crystal that John saw in Revelation flowing from the throne of God
and from the Lamb. Christ is that water. He's the
inexhaustible source of living water that comes from the well.
Oh, how oftentimes we forget the bountiful blessing that we
have in Christ, and we try to satisfy our needs by drinking
from broken cisterns. And we drink polluted water,
don't we? And all polluted water will do
will make you sick. Oh, this water's fresh. And the
Lord told that woman at the well, if you knew, if you knew who
it is that saith unto thee, give me to drink, you would ask of
him and he would give you living water. Oh, if we just knew who
Christ was, we would be led by his spirit to ask it of him.
And we'd quit trying to satisfy our needs. Lord, open thou mine
eyes. All these things are revealed
to us in his law, in his word, in his precepts, in his scriptures. All these things were revealed.
The bountiful blessings of God. And the Lord told the children
of Israel, I gave you cities that you did not build. We didn't
build this city of God. Upon this rock, I will build
my church. This is the city of God. This
is the new Jerusalem. What a blessing. What a bountiful
blessing that God has knit our hearts together in the love of
Christ and given us a common faith. You know, we've been talking
a lot about forgiveness this morning. The evidence of forgiveness. is our ability to forgive. Be ye tender-hearted for giving
one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven me. What a blessing it is to not
have the bondage of resentment and hatred in our heart toward
anybody. Child of God is able to let things
go. They're able to forgive. Why?
Not because they're looking at that. You need to forgive. You've been wronged and you need
to forgive. Don't look at the wrong. Don't look at that. Look at how much God has forgiven
you and the rest of it will just come. Forgiveness is the result
of being forgiven. Isn't that true? That's just
the way it works. You remember in Matthew chapter
18 when the Lord told that story about the king who had a servant
who owed him 10,000 talents. Now, talent was a wedge
of gold. I calculated that. It's about
$170 million. Okay, so this servant owed his
master $170 million. If you owed somebody that, what
would you be able to do? Nothing. Nothing. And the servant begged with the
master to forgive him and the master, or to give him time and
he would pay it. And the master said, I forgive
you. He wiped the slate clean. He forgave him. You don't owe
me anything. Zero balance. And then that servant
found a servant of his that owed him a hundred pence, which is
about $200, $200 versus $170 million. And servant
number two refused to, servant number one refused to forgive
servant number two. And the master heard about it. And they took servant number
two and put him in prison until he paid every red cent Turn with
me to that passage of scripture, Matthew chapter 18. I want you
to see the end of the story. Matthew chapter 18. Look at verse 32. Then his Lord,
after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wretched
servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desirest me.
Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow
servant, even as I had pity on thee? And his Lord was wroth,
and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was
due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly
Father do also to you, if from your hearts Forgive not everyone his brother
their trespasses. Not just a matter of saying,
well, I forgive you. It's from the heart. What is it that moves
the heart to be willing to forgive? It's our forgiveness. It's our
forgiveness. What a bountiful blessing to
not be tormented by the prison guards all of our lives with
the resentment of an unforgiving spirit. A child of God, when
he looks at how much God's forgiven him, that's just a natural result
of that, isn't it? Lord, you've blessed me bountifully.
You've forgiven me of my sin. The $170 million doesn't begin
to touch what I owe God. But he's put it all away. By
the sacrifice of Christ, he satisfied his divine justice. He's buried
my sins in the depths of the sea. He remembers them no more. Forgiven. I gave you cities that you did
not build. You didn't build this. This is
my church. I will build it. God builds it.
God calls out his elect as many as should be saved and believed
and to as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. God
calls his sheep together. We can't persuade men. We tell
them the truth. We declare the message outwardly,
but it's only the spirit of God that can make that effectual
to the heart and grow his church and make us to be living stones. What a bountiful blessing. The
world doesn't know anything about this. They don't know anything
about grace. They don't know anything about
forgiveness. They don't know anything about love. They don't
know anything about hope. Lord, open thou mine eyes that I may
behold wondrous things from thy law. For Lord, surely thou hast
bountifully blessed me beyond my comprehension, beyond my understanding. Lord, would you reveal that to
me? If God shows us what he's done to bless us, we'd never be downtrodden again.
We'd never be anxious about anything. If we could, if we could rest,
in the blessings that he's given us. I gave you crops, the Lord
said, that you did not plant. When the children of Israel came
into the promised land, the vineyards and the plants and the farms
were already producing fruit. They didn't have to plow the
ground and plant the seed. I gave you crops that you did
not plant. Lord, we didn't do anything to
give, to make this bread available to us. Well, you gave it to us. And the Lord went on to say,
and the inhabitants of the land, I've made them to be your servants. The child of God who has some
understanding of the bountiful blessing that he has in knowing
God and knowing forgiveness and knowing Christ. Having the hope
of salvation doesn't have to be intimidated by anybody. Anybody. We know the truth. Now that doesn't mean that we
have a condescending spirit toward anybody. But we're not going
to be intimidated. We don't have to be. We know
the truth. The inhabitants of the land shall
be subject unto thee. What deliverance, what blessing. Lord deal bountifully with thy
servant. Show me the bountiful blessings
that you've, that you fulfilled in fulfilling the law. Yes, Michael,
the Lord Jesus Christ is the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone. that believeth. He said, I did
not come to destroy the law. I came to fulfill it. And not
one jot or tittle will be taken away from the law until all the
laws fulfilled. And he fulfilled it. He established righteousness.
Anyway, that's what Paul was talking about in Romans chapter
8 when he said at the beginning Romans chapter 8, there is now
therefore no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus
who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit. The law
can't condemn me. The law can't stand in judgment
of me. The law's already been fulfilled. What a bountiful blessing. Lord, open thou mine eyes that
I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. What a blessing. People of the world, the unbeliever
doesn't know anything about this blessing. The blessing of faith to believe
on Christ. What have I done to achieve that? To have the eyes of my understanding
opened. To rest all the hope of my salvation
on the Lord Jesus Christ. Someone asked me about baptism. There's nothing more you have
to achieve in order to earn the right to be baptized. I think
about those believers on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter
two. 3,000 of them heard the gospel for the very first time
and they believed it and they were baptized. All 3,000 of them
that one day. The Ethiopian eunuch, what doth
hinder me to be baptized? If thou believest, that's the
only qualification. To believe on Christ is the qualification
for baptism, isn't it? To have that faith to say, Lord,
I don't know much, but I know Christ is everything. And without
him, I have no life. Look at verse one again, deal
bountifully or in the context of all this scripture, Lord,
show me the bountifulness of thy blessings that I may live. Has God shown you that Christ
has satisfied the law? That he's fulfilled divine justice? That everything God requires
for the payment for sin was satisfied in Christ? That God is satisfied
with Christ? You see, faith is just being
satisfied with what God's satisfied with. The bountiful blessing
to say yes. Yes, he's opened the eyes of
my understanding. He's caused me to believe on
Christ as my life. and he's caused me to keep his
word. Do you see that in verse 17? Lord, if you show me the bountiful
blessings of grace, then I will have kept thy word. You see, believing on Christ
is keeping the whole word of God. That's what baptism is. It's a public profession of your
union with Christ. What you're saying in baptism
is that when Christ lived His life of perfect obedience, I
was in Him. The only hope that I have of
being obedient before God and fulfilling the law of God is
to be found in Him. Not having my own righteousness
which is of the law, but that righteousness which is by the
faith and faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ. When he died
on Calvary's cross, I was crucified with him. When he was raised from the dead,
I was raised with him. That's what Paul meant when he
said, oh Lord, I'm not yet fully apprehended, that which has apprehended
me. But this one thing I do, forgetting those things which
are behind, I press towards the prize for the mark. I press towards
the mark for the prize of the high calling. Christ is that,
that I might know the fellowship of his suffering, that when he
suffered on Calvary's cross, I suffered on Calvary's cross,
that I might know the power of his resurrection. When he raised
from the dead, I was raised. What a bountiful blessing for
God to show you that and make you to believe that. We don't have classes and discipleship
groups and things you have to do or achieve in order to know
Lord, thou hast opened the eyes of my understanding. Opened thou
mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy love. This
is wondrous. It's wondrous. Where the world doesn't have
anything to offer. This is the only thing that's
full of wonder. We use that word loosely a lot,
don't we? When we say, oh, that was wonderful. And yet we don't really mean
that it was so full of wonder that it was beyond the comprehension,
but that's what the word wonderful means. Open now my eyes that
I may behold wondrous things from my law, Lord, the bountiful
blessings of grace that the Lord would, would keep his people,
that he would bless us with his presence. causing us to not be able to
fall away. God's people can't quit believing.
They just can't. Why? Because he has bountifully
blessed us. There's no, there's no way that
faith, what he that began a good work in you will fulfill it to
the day of his coming. He's not going to let one of
his sheep go. God's people are not going to
stop believing. What a bountiful blessing. If it was up, if it
was left up, we left up to us, we would quit believing. Wouldn't
we? You see that in your heart every day of your life. Don't
you? The, the. How that, how's that him go?
The proneness to wander Lord. I'm prone to wander. I'm prone
to leave the God I love. Lord, if you don't restrain me,
keep me from falling. And every day we grow in grace.
We become more and more aware of how dependent we are on him
to keep us, aren't we? What a bountiful blessing. Lord,
you've blessed us bountifully that we might live and keep thy
word. You've opened the eyes of our
understanding that we had behold wondrous things from where do
we learn all these things? We learn them from scripture,
don't we? We learn them from the word of God. Which is a bountiful blessing
in itself, isn't it? That God has given to us, you
know what? The politicians don't have any
answers to our problems. You know, there's a lot of problems
in this world, but it's like I said the first hour, the problem
that you and I have is the same problem the world has. It's called
sin. And they've got no answer for
that. They're putting Band-Aids on a terminal illness. And they
don't know it. We're getting to the heart of
the problem, aren't we? We have one who's put away our sin. We're
not just trying to patch up, you know, the, the social ills
of, uh, and, uh, and the medical problems and the political issues
and the financial problems of the world. Let the, you know,
that that's all they can do. That's all they can do is try
to fix temporal things. And that which is temporal is
passing away and that which is eternal. Oh, there's the bountiful
blessing. Or thou has blessed me bountifully
that I might live. And thou has opened the eyes
of my understanding that I might behold these bountiful blessings
from thy word. What a blessing. If the Lord
keeps our eyes fixed on Christ. That's what Paul was talking
about in collation, Colossians chapter. Turn with me to that
passage of scripture, Colossians. Chapter 3. Here's the bountiful blessing.
If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above,
where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affections
on things above, not on things of the earth. How do we know
what's above? The things of the earth we can
see with our natural eyes, but the things that are above requires
the eye of faith, requires the word of God. We have the bountiful
blessing of the revelation of the gospel given to us in the
word of God. Otherwise, we'd be doing what
the rest of the world's doing, setting our affection on things
of the earth. What a bountiful blessing that
God has provided for us a place of worship. He's provided for us a place
where we can hear the gospel. Or we can fellowship with God's
people around the gospel where we can rejoice together in the
gospel. World doesn't know anything about
this. As the Lord opened your eyes that you might behold the
wondrous things of his word, these things are wondrous. Bound our hearts together in
the love of Christ. Go back with me to our text.
Open down mine eyes. Lord, if you, that word open
means to reveal or uncover. Lord, you're going to have to
reveal your glory to me. You're going to have to uncover
for me the truth. I don't have the natural ability
to see these things. When blind Bartimaeus came to
the Lord, and the Lord asked him, what would you have me to
do for you, Bartimaeus? Oh, Lord, that I might see. And even now
that we do see some, we look through a glass darkly now, don't
we? It's very vague what we see. But then, face to face. Then we shall see him as he is
and be made like him. And so the believer is constantly
saying, open thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things
out of thy law. Lord, help me. And the wondrous
thing in the law of God is Christ. I had believers say to me many
times, I see that so clearly now, but I never would have seen
it had you not pointed it out to me. What a bountiful blessing. What a bountiful blessing that
God's called a man just like you. No different. Just as sinful,
just as dependent, just as troubled about things of this world. And
he's revealed to him the glory of the gospel in his word. And
this is the means by which the Lord opens thou our eyes that
we may behold wonders things out of his law. We're not esteeming a man, but
for his work's sake, for his work's sake, I need that work. I need someone to show me Christ
in the scriptures. I need someone to point out the
wondrous things of God's law, because this is the means by
which God opens my eyes. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing
comes by the word of God. Lord, what a bountiful blessing
that you've provided for your church. What did that Ethiopian
eunuch say when Philip asked him, understandest what thou
readest? And most self-righteous religionists
would have said very quickly, look at you. Look at the way
you're dressed. I mean, you're a Bedouin out
here in the desert, you know. Probably had rags for clothes
and sandals, and here he was, the Ethiopian eunuch, sitting
on a chariot with his entourage. An Ethiopian under natural conditions
would have said, of course I understand what I'm reading. If I didn't,
you're sure not going to teach me. That's not what he said,
is it? How shall I accept a man should
guide me? Come up here, tell me. What was
that? Was a prophet talking of himself?
Was he speaking of another? And beginning in that very scripture,
he preached unto him, Jesus, he showed him Christ from the
scriptures. Lord opened down mine eyes that
I may behold wondrous things, the wonder of Christ, the glory
of Christ, the finished work of Christ, the person of Christ
from by law. If the Lord opens the understanding
of our eyes, we'll see ourselves as sinners in need of a Savior. We have no idea of how horrible
our sin really is. But that's not what it means
to be a sinner. What it means to be a sinner doesn't mean that
you see all your sin. You wouldn't be able to go out
in public if God showed you all your sin. Neither would I. We'd
be so ashamed, we'd lock ourselves. You talking about, you talking
about what do you, what are they calling this? This thing we're
having with a pandemic where everybody's got to stay home,
locked down and shut. You'd be that way the rest of
your life. You'd stay in your room. You'd never come out in
public if God showed you your sin for what it really was. And
it's a wondrous thing. And it's a bountiful blessing
that God doesn't. So what is it to be made a sinner? Well, 1 John 1, 9 says, if we
confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our
sins and cleanse us of all of our unrighteousness. Well, what's
a confess mean? I've got to make a list of all
my known sins and confess them to God. No. No. That word confess means to speak
the same thing. It just means to take sides with
God against yourself. It means to agree with God that
everything about you is sinful. Though I don't understand the
depths of it, though I don't, I can't comprehend the horror
of it, Lord, I know that there's nothing in me like Him. And if that's righteousness,
Then everything about me is sinful. That's what it is to confess
your sin. And that's a bountiful blessing
when God opens your eyes and enables you to see wondrous things
from his law. It's what he did for Job when
Job said, behold, I am vile. I never saw this before. When
Paul said, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from
the body of this death? When Isaiah said, woe is me,
I'm undone. When Daniel saw the Lord Jesus
Christ and he said, my comeliness, my beauty and my strength was
turned into corruption when I saw him. You see, we only see ourselves
when we see the wondrous things of Christ. And we just come to
this simple conclusion. There's nothing in me like Him. And if that's righteousness,
and if that's holiness, that's what I've got to have.
I've got to have Him to stand in my stead. Because I don't
have any of that in me. None of it. Oh Lord, how you bountifully
blessed us. The world's not hearing this
message. The talking heads on TV aren't
telling you this message. The false prophets aren't declaring
this message. It's all about what you do. But the wondrous things of God's
law is what he's done, isn't it? It's the finished, accomplished
work of Christ. Lord, open thou mine eyes to
see the glory of his person. to believe that God is satisfied
with Christ, that He's fulfilled the law, that He's put away my
sin, He's satisfied divine justice. Wondrous things. sing unto him, sing psalms unto
him, talk ye all of his wondrous works. You know, we enjoy each
other's company under any circumstances, we can talk about lots of things
in this world, but fellowship, spiritual fellowship, becomes
so sweet when we're able to share our common faith in Christ and
rejoice in what we've heard about Christ. Isn't that true? Who can know the mind of the
Lord? You have the mind of Christ,
the mind of Christ. If God's opened the eyes of understanding,
look back with me to our text. I want to, I want to deal with
one other point here in this text, verse 19. I am a stranger
in the earth. Hide not thy commandment from
me. We're pilgrims in this world
and that's a wondrous thing. This world is not our home. We're
strangers in a foreign land. We look for a city whose builder
and foundation is God. We have our affection set on
heavenly things. I can remember in religion someone
saying, you know, that person's so heavenly minded that they're
no earthly good. Now, I've met religious fanatics
who use their fanaticism as an excuse for not being responsible. And that statement might be true
of them, except they don't have their heart in heaven. They've
got their heart on something. They're just using religion to
avoid personal responsibility. But here's the truth, brethren.
The more heavenly minded you are, the more earthly good you're
going to be. You cannot be too heavenly minded.
Not truly. You cannot have your affections
set too firmly in the heavens. You cannot see yourself too much
as a pilgrim in this world. This is the wondrous blessings
of grace when God opens the eyes of your understanding and calls
you to see what this world is and where it's going. If ye then be risen with Christ,
seek those things which are above, where Christ is seated at the
right hand of God. Set your affections on things
above, not on the things of this earth. This one thing have I desired
of the Lord and this one thing that I'll seek after that I may
dwell in the house of the Lord forever and behold, behold his
glory. Oh Lord. Deal bountifully with thy servant.
Lord, I'm but a servant. Show me the bountiful blessings
as you open the eyes of my understanding and reveal to me the wonder of
Christ from thy law and cause me to see, Lord, this world's
not my home. Look, look, look, I am a stranger
in the earth. I'm a stranger. Hide not thy
commandments from me. Lord, show me. Every time we
come together, brethren, let me encourage you. Pray for me,
I pray for you, pray for me. That God will meet with us and
that he will reveal Christ to us every time we come together. That's what this is a prayer
for. My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy
judgments at all time. Blessed, somebody said, well,
I thought we were to rejoice. Blessed are they that mourn,
for they shall be comforted. Only the believer understands
this. We've got two natures. We're rejoicing and mourning
at the same time. You say, well, are we a sinner
or a saint? Yes. Yes. Only sinners are saints
and only saints are sinners. Lord, I live every day with this
body of death. Who shall deliver me? Thanks
be to God. Through Christ Jesus, I am free.
There is now, therefore, no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh, not looking to fleshly things,
but after the Spirit. Now, that doesn't mean that you're
walking with some sort of tingling feeling going on all the time.
It means that you're looking for the wondrous things that
God has revealed, the glorious blessings, the bountiful blessings
that he has revealed about Christ from his word. In other words,
you're looking through the eyes of faith at someone the world
cannot see. What a blessing. Our merciful Heavenly Father.
We. Need for you. To speak truth to our hearts.
Peace to our hearts. Reveal to us the glory of thy
dear son. Father, speak. Speak volumes
more. To our souls than we're able
to hear. With our ear. Lord, we know that
the hearing ear in the sea and I are both from thee. Grant it
unto us by that grace. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen. 168 let's stand together 168. We'll sing this hymn acapella.
Let's stand. Lord, I hear of showers of blessing,
thou art scattering full and free. Showers the thirsty land
refreshing, let some drops now fall on me. Even me, even me,
let thy blessing fall on me. Pass me not, O tender Savior,
let me love and cling to Thee. I am longing for Thy favor, whilst
Thou art calling, O call me. Even me, even me, let thy blessing
fall on me. Pass me not, O mighty spirit,
thou canst make the blind to see. Witnesser of Jesus' merit,
speak the word of power to me. Even me, even me, let thy blessing
fall on me. Love of God so pure and changeless,
blood of Christ so rich and free. Grace of God so strong and boundless,
magnify them all in me. Even me, even me, let Thy blessing
fall on me. Pass me not, Thy lost one bringing,
bind my heart, O Lord, to Thee. While the streams of life are
springing, Blessing others, O bless me. Even me, even me, Let thy
blessing fall on me.