Thank you, Joy. Good evening,
everyone. Let's open tonight's service with hymn number 38 from
the Soft Spiral Gospel Hymn Book. Number 38, let's all stand together.
? Come every sinner saved by grace
? You who by faith God's Son embrace ? 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. For us he lived the perfect man,
and so fulfilled the law's demand. Dear Lord, I lift my praise to
thee, all that I am, 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, or 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 or 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. Please be seated. We have no idea how much we owe
our Lord for his blessings toward us. Reminded
as we were singing that hymn of the passage we looked at Sunday. What should I render unto the
Lord for all his benefits toward me? And it's still true that our
Lord is most honored when his people gather together for worship
and when they lift Christ up and make him, well, make him
to be everything for their lives and for their salvation. That's
what I hope the Lord will enable us to do tonight. Let's open
our Bibles together to Psalm 118. Psalm 118. And we'll begin reading at verse
19. Open to me the gates of righteousness. I will go into them and I will
praise the Lord. This gate of the Lord into which
the righteous shall enter. And we know who that gate is,
don't we? The Lord Jesus Christ is all
our righteousness and he said that he's the gate into the sheepfold
and no man can enter in except for that one gate. So here's
our prayer. Lord, open to us the gate of
righteousness. Enable us to find safe pasture
with your sheep. The stone which the builders
refused has become the headstone of the corner. This is the Lord's
doing. And it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord
hath made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Save now, I beseech
thee, O Lord. O Lord, I beseech thee, send
now prosperity. Blessed be he that cometh in
the name of the Lord. We have blessed you out of the
house of the Lord. God is the Lord, which has showed
us light. Bind the sacrifice with cords,
even into the horns of the altar. And the Lord Jesus Christ was
bound to the horns of the altar when he laid his life down on
Calvary's cross. Thou art my God, I will praise
thee. Thou art my God, I will exalt
thee. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good. For his
mercy is forever. Let's pray together. Our merciful Heavenly Father,
we come before thy holy presence knowing that Apart from thy dear
son, his finished work of redemption and putting away the sins of
your people. And him being all our righteousness. We have no
right to enter into your presence. But father, what great hope we
have and knowing that you are pleased with him and being pleased
with him, you're pleased with all that are in him. We ask,
Lord, that you would open the windows of heaven, that you would
visit with us tonight. Lord, only you can change our
hearts and only you can reveal to us the glory of your son and.
So Lord, we pray that. That you would do that work of
grace for us. We pray that you would forgive
us of our sins. We pray that you would increase our faith.
We pray that you would grow us in your grace. We pray that you
would open the eyes of our understanding, enable us to set our affections
on things above. We're saying Christ and we ask
it. Amen. Number 318, in the hardbacked
hymnal, number 318. Let's stand together once again. I need thee every hour, most
gracious Lord. No tender voice like thine can
peace afford. I need Thee, oh, I need Thee. Every hour I need Thee. Oh, bless me now, my Savior. I come to Thee. I need Thee every hour. Stay Thou nearby. When Thou art nigh, I need Thee,
O I need Thee. Every hour I need Thee. O bless me now, my Savior, I
come to Thee. I need Thee every hour in joy
or pain. Come quickly and abide, for life
is vain. I need Thee, oh, I need Thee. Every hour I need Thee. Oh, bless me now. ? Thou my Savior,
I come to Thee ? I need Thee every hour, most Holy One ? O
make me Thine indeed, Thou blessed Son ? I need Thee, O I need Thee
Every hour I need thee. Oh, bless me now, my Savior. I come to thee. Please be seated. Will you open your Bibles with
me to Psalm 116. Psalm 116. I want to try to bring a message
tonight on a verse of scripture that you've probably heard quoted
at funerals. And it certainly relates to the
child of God at the time of their departure from this world, but
The death of God's saints is so much broader than just their
physical departing of their earthly body. The verse I'm referring
to can be found in Psalm 116, verse 15, precious in the sight
of the Lord is the death of his saints. Now, believers, often
don't feel comfortable referring to themselves as saints because
of the way the world interprets that word. But that's what the
scripture refers to us as. The word saint means a separated
one. It is the same word for holy. And those that are found in Christ
have been separated to God And, uh, they are by virtue of their
union with him. They are holy. They are holy. I met a woman recently and immediately
she introduced herself to me as a witch and, uh, thought she
would intimidate me. And I said, well, I'm a saint.
And I said, I'm an angel too. And I preached right there in
that building. Why don't you come on over and, and hear me
sometime? Uh, God's people are saints. They have been set apart. The scripture says in Colossians
chapter 2, in him dwelleth the fullness of the Godhead bodily
and you are complete in him. Complete in him. So this passage
of scripture is referring to all of God's people. When we
read the epistles that are written to the churches, The epistles
are addressed to a particular congregation and to all the saints
everywhere who gather together. And so the Lord addresses his
word. to his people and he has made
them to be separate. He's called them out and he's
made them separate and he's imputed to them the righteousness of
the Lord Jesus Christ and he's made them in union with him.
We saw that Sunday from 1 John chapter 4 where the scripture
says we have We have boldness in the day of judgment because
as he is, so are we in this world. So this promise and this statement
that the Lord is making is for all of God's people. Now, the
word precious here means to be priceless. We use that word in
the South to speak of our children when they're cute. But what we
really mean by that is that you can't put a price on their head.
They are precious to us. They are a rare commodity. The first place we have this
word used in the scriptures in 1 Samuel chapter 3. when the
Lord raises up young Samuel and Eli as the priest at the time. And the scripture says the word
of the Lord was precious for in those days there was no open
vision. God wasn't speaking. And so the
word, when God did speak through Samuel, it was precious. It was rare. It was priceless. We refer to the gospel and to
the Lord Jesus Christ as that precious stone, that priceless
stone, that pearl of great price that all is sold for. in order
to attain. I was thinking there's different
people in the world when it comes to their view of Christ. Some of them will consider him
to be the stone that was rejected by the builder and become the
head of the corner. It's stumbling stone. It's just a rock out there
in the yard of no value. And then some people act as if
the Lord Jesus Christ is semi-precious. You know, kind of like an amethyst.
You know, he's got a little value to him, but he's not of all value. He's not of great price. And then how many God's people
see the Lord Jesus Christ, as I've already said, as that pearl
of great price, that rare commodity, that necessity. that they have,
that they cannot live without. To them, he is precious. Turn with me to 1 Peter 2. 1
Peter 2. Speaking of tasting of the Lord Jesus Christ. And as a as a newborn babe craving
after the sincere milk of his word, whereby he is pleased to
reveal himself. And then in verse four, it says
to whom coming as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men,
but chosen of God and precious, precious. That's what the Lord
Jesus Christ is. to his saints. Saints are not
those who have been declared by the church to have some higher
standing of holiness. Saints are all of God's people
and to all of God's people the Lord Jesus Christ is precious. Scripture speaks of his precious
blood. He is our exceeding great or
his exceeding great and precious promises. The scripture speaks
of our faith as a precious faith, more precious than gold. These
are the things that are of great value to God and to his people. Turn with me one more passage
in Isaiah chapter 43. Isaiah chapter 43. But now thus say verse one, thus
saith the Lord that created the O Jacob and he that formed the
O Israel fear not for I have redeemed thee and I have called
the by thy name and thou art mine. When thou passeth through
the waters, I will be with thee, and through the rivers, they
shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the
fire, thou shall not be burned, neither shall the fire kindle
upon thee, for I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel,
thy Savior. I gave Egypt for thy ransom,
Ethiopia and Seba for thee, since thou wast precious in my sight. These are the things that are
priceless. What God calls precious, no one
can put a price on. And now he tells us in Psalm
116 verse 15, precious in the sight of the Lord is the death
of his saints. And we know from the very beginning
of the book of Genesis that death is the penalty for sin. The Lord
said, in the day in which you eat of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil, you shall surely die. And when they ate of that
tree, they were separated from God. Now it was some time later
before they physically died, but they died spiritually in
that they suffered separation from God. The scriptures makes
it clear that the wages of sin is death. Without the shedding
of blood, There is no remission. There's no putting away of sin
without the shedding of the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. So this, this matter of death
is the means to life. Uh, Adam and Eve had to be put
out of the garden and, uh, the garden had to be, had to be guarded. in order for them to physically
die so that they could experience spiritual reunion and, uh, and
life with God. And so this, um, this matter
of death comes as a result of sin and it is the means to life. Now, the second thing I want
to say is that God has always seen his people in Christ. For this reason, if there are
no other reason for this reason, the immutability of our God,
I am the Lord and I change not. Therefore you sons of Jacob are
not consumed. Our God's never had a new thought.
He's never had a plan B. He's never asked anyone a question.
Uh, he's never learned anything. Uh, he's been complete in and
of himself. That's what I am tells us about
our God. He is the self-existent one. He is fully complete within himself. He's not dependent upon anything
or anybody. He's not like us in that regard.
And so God's people have always been
seen by God in Christ. Always. They've never been, they've
never, I've loved you with an everlasting love. How could God
love us with an everlasting love unless he had viewed us in Christ
from eternity past. Turn with me to Isaiah chapter
66. Precious, just trying to define
some of the words in this verse. What does it mean to be precious?
It means to be priceless. It means to be of great value
to God. Precious in the sight of the
Lord is the death of his saints, the death of his people. Isaiah chapter 66, look with
me at verse 22. For as the heavens, as the new
heavens and the new earth, which I will make shall remain before
me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. Now that's a promise that the
father has given to a son. And oftentimes in the scriptures,
the, the Lord refers to his people as his seed, just as we, according
to the flesh are the seed of Adam. We, according to the spirit
are the seed of the Lord, Jesus Christ. And just as we physically
were in the loins of Adam and we were, we were every one of
us were right there. So spiritually, we were put as
the seed of Christ in his heart from eternity past. So knowing
that death is not only the penalty of sin, but death is the means
of life. And God has always seen his people in Christ. The question
that I want to ask is, when did God's people, when did God's
saints die? When did they die? Precious in
the eyes of the Lord is the death of the saints. There's another
way we could ask that question. Another way we could ask that
question that has the same answer. When are God's people saved? And the answer to that question
is five fold. We're saved in the covenant of
grace from the foundation of the world. We're saved when Christ
bowed his mighty head on Calvary's cross, burying our sins and satisfying
God's divine justice 2000 years ago. We're saved when the spirit
of God is pleased to open the eyes of our understanding and
make us willing in the day of his power and give us faith in
Christ, enabling us to hear the gospel for the first time. And
as we just read in Peter, to whom coming we are being saved
every day as God renews our faith day by day and brings us to trust
the Lord Jesus Christ. And then. At the appointed hour. The dime that God has appointed
for each one of his children. They will draw their last breath
and their corruptible be made incorruptible and their mortal
be made immortal and they'll be saved when they see him as
he is and be made like him. So salvation in the scriptures
is a, in terms of when it happens is a, is it happens in five different
senses, doesn't it? Same thing with the death of
God's saints. Same thing with the death of
his saints. When did God's people die? This is precious in his
sight. Revelation chapter 18 refers
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Revelation chapter 13, verse
eight, refers to the Lord Jesus Christ as the lamb that was slain
from the foundation of the earth. Now, if God's people have always
been in Christ, then when the Lord Jesus Christ entered into
that covenant promise with the Father and committed himself
to lay down his life for his sheep, all those who were in
him were there as his seed in that covenant promise. And it
was precious in the eyes of the Lord when God in his in his divine
purpose and for his own glory slew his son in the covenant
of grace. And it was precious in his sight.
That's why our life in Christ is called everlasting life or
eternal life. That means it never had a beginning.
So the death of the Lord Jesus Christ in the covenant of grace
as the lamb slain according to the purpose of God was necessary
for us to have the life of God. And it was precious in his sight.
Turn with me to Ephesians chapter one. Ephesians chapter one. Precious in the sight of the
Lord is the death of his saints. That's not just a verse to be
recited at a funeral. It's the gospel. It is the gospel. This is the hope that we have,
that we were by God's divine purpose and decree in Christ
as the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. Look at Ephesians chapter 1.
Verse three, blessed be the God and Father of the Lord Jesus
Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ. Now that's not just referring
to where we are now in the resurrected Christ, but it's where we've
always been. According as he has chosen us
in him, before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according
to the good pleasure of his will." You would say, well, why would
God choose some and not others? Well, there's your answer right
there. It's that simple. According to the good pleasure
of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace. You see
that in the next verse? That's the only answer we have.
The only answer we have. God predestinated and foreordained
His, the seed of the Lord Jesus Christ in Christ, who is the
Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. We have life in Christ that's
eternal, eternal, everlasting. That means it's not determined
by something we do, or decision that we make, or prayer that
we pray, or work that we work, and it can't be lost by a sin
that we commit. It's eternal. Precious in the
eyes of the Lord, in the sight of the Lord, is the death of
his saints. So they died in Christ and were
risen again in Christ. It was precious in the sight
of the Lord when the Lord Jesus Christ as the God-man, bearing
all the sins of all of God's people, In his body upon that
tree suffered the full wrath and justice of God and bowed
his mighty head and said it is finished. It pleased the father
to bruise him and God saw the travail of his soul and God was
satisfied. It was precious in the sight
of the Lord. When the Lord Jesus Christ died.
Yes, he died in our stead, but we died in him. We died in Him. Paul makes that clear in Galatians
chapter 2 verse 20 when he says, I know I quote this verse a lot,
but it's so glorious. It's so glorious. I am crucified
with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not
I. Christ liveth in me, the life
that I now live in the flesh. I live by the faith of the Son
of God who loved me and gave himself for me and died for me.
We died in Christ. Precious in the sight of the
Lord is the death of his saints. The seed died right along with
the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn with me to Isaiah chapter
53. Isaiah 53. Look at verse 10. Yet it pleased
the Lord to bruise him. He, the father, hath put him,
the son, to grief, when thou shalt make his soul an offering
for sin. God made the soul of the Lord
Jesus Christ, the offering, the death offering, the blood sacrifice
for sin. He shall see his seed. The father shall see the seed
of the son. Who's that? It's his church.
It's his church. It's never been separated from
him. Always been in him. In the covenant of grace before
the foundation of the world, they were in Christ. on Calvary's
cross, they were in Christ. And the father shall see his
seed, and the father shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of
the father shall prosper in the son's hand. He shall see, the father shall
see the travail of the son's soul and the father shall be
satisfied. Precious in the sight of the
Lord was the death of his saints. Let me show you in one more verse,
Romans chapter six, Romans chapter six. Aren't you glad to have
God's word is a source of authority to prove all these things. This
is not a man's opinion, this is not church doctrine, this
is the gospel, this is God's word. Romans chapter 6 at verse
3, know you not? And that's rhetorical, and we
do know. We know whom we have believed
and we're persuaded that he is able. Know you not that so many
of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his
death? You remember Sunday when the
Lord said to Peter and James and John, he said, are you able
to be baptized in the baptism I'm going to be baptized with?
He's talking about that baptism of fire that we just read about
in Isaiah chapter 53. Are you able to drink of the cup
that I'm going to drink of? They said, oh yes, Lord, they didn't
know. He said, indeed, indeed, you shall be baptized with the
baptism that I'll be baptized with. God saw his seed and God
prolonged his days. Precious in this light of the
Lord is the death of his saints. We died in the Lamb slain before
the foundation of the world. We died in Christ on Calvary's
cross. Look, verse four, therefore,
We are buried with him by baptism into death, that like as Christ
was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so
we also should walk in newness of life. We do. We have life. Why? Because we've been put to
death. And we've been raised again.
Precious in the sight of the Lord. is the death of his saints. Thirdly, it is precious in the
sight of the Lord when God's elect are brought irresistibly
by the Spirit of God to die to their own righteousness and be
made alive in Christ. It's called regeneration. It's
called the new birth. It's called being born again.
And that's precious in the sight of the Lord when he brings each
one of us. Prior to that, we're trusting
in something that we've done or something we've abstained
from for the hope of our acceptance before God. Paul said before
the law came, I was alive. I thought everything was good.
But when the law came, sin revived and I died. I died. He died to what? He died to his
righteousness. Before that, he was trusting
in the fact that he was of the tribe of Benjamin circumcised
the eighth day. He was a Pharisee of Pharisees.
Concerning the law, he was blameless before men. He was trusting in
all those things, wasn't he? And he had to die to that. When
God knocked him off his high horse on the road to Damascus,
Saul of Tarsus died. And God raised Paul, the apostle,
from the grave. Right there, he died to all those
things. That's grace. That's precious
in the sight of the Lord. We died in the Lamb slain before
the foundation of the world. We died on Calvary's cross. It
was precious in the sight of God. And when God sends His Spirit, you who were once dead in your
trespasses and sins, has he quickened together in Christ. In that glory,
we thought we were alive, but we were dead. That's really the
problem with zombies, isn't it? They don't know they're dead.
They're the walking dead, and that's what we were spiritually.
We didn't know we were dead. Didn't know we were dead until
we're made alive. And then we died. The law came and sin revived
and I died. And it was precious in the sight
of the Lord. You see, just as in the natural
world, death is necessary to bring forth life. So these deaths
that we're looking at, The death of Christ in the covenant of
grace is a lamb slain before the foundation of the world.
The physical death of the Lord Jesus Christ, bowing his head
and saying it is finished. Satisfying God's justice, shedding
his precious blood. And the death that he brings
to each one of us when he shows us that all our righteousness
is are as filthy rags. and causes us to be ashamed for
not believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, resting our hope in something
other than Christ. And then, and only then, do we
have life. Fourthly, it is precious in the
sight of the Lord as all of God's elect are renewed in faith, day
by day. Day by day, aren't you glad?
You know, we're just so, well, the flesh is strong, isn't it? You know, the flesh is hard to kill. It's hard
to kill. The spiritual flesh that we live
with, that flesh of pride and unbelief, only God can kill it. And He does. Paul said, I die
daily. Daily. God has to bring me every
day to the end of myself. And only He can kill the flesh. The flesh is hard to die physically,
too. We say, you know, to be with the Lord is great
gain and it is. And to be absent from the body
is to be present for the Lord and to see him as he is and be
made like him. The believer in his heart rejoices and glories
over that. But let me tell you something,
when you get sick and you get ready to die, your body is going
to hang on by its nails to every last breath that it can have.
The flesh is hard to kill. Only the Lord can do it. It's precious in the sight of
the Lord that all of God's elect are renewed in faith day by day
and reckon themselves to be dead indeed unto sin but alive unto
God through Jesus Christ our Lord. If any man will come after me,
let him what? deny himself, take up his cross
and follow me. Now I know the self-righteous
religionists love to talk about the cross that they're bearing
as some sort of burden that they have in this life and in this
world. That's not what the Lord was
referring to. He was referring to dying daily. That's what it
is to take up your cross. Everybody, people have some awful
burdens to bear in this life. I don't doubt that. But when
the Lord said, deny yourself, take up your cross daily and
follow after me. He's talking about dying to yourself
on a daily basis. Reckoning yourselves to be dead
indeed unto sin. Turn to me to second Corinthians
chapter four. Only, I've been thinking a lot
these last few days about Only God can change the heart. You know, only God can change
the heart. We can change our behavior. We can change our attitudes. You know, we can, we can even
have influences on one another, but only God can change the heart. Only God can bring us to the
end of ourselves. That's why prayer is so important.
Lord, you have to change me. You got to call me. You got to
turn me, Lord. I won't be turned. Second Corinthians chapter four.
Look with me at verse at verse seven, but we have this treasure. What's he talking about? He's
talking about that precious ointment, the oil of gladness, the Lord
Jesus himself. He's the treasure. I am thine
exceeding great reward. I am your shield and your exceeding
great reward. We have this treasure in earthen
vessels. That's the old man. That's the
flesh. That the excellency of the power might be of God and
not of us. Whatever. Whatever happens of
any spiritual value, God's going to have to do it. I can't do
it. 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 our body
the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might
be made manifest in our body. Now that's sanctification. That's
the work of the spirit of God working in us, causing us to
will and to do after his good pleasure. That's the conviction
of sin. And that's the gift of faith
that the Lord gives to his people every day. And it's precious
in the side of the Lord, the death of his saints. We died
in the land slain before the foundation of the world. We died
on Calvary's cross. We died ourself and our righteousness. When God's pleased to irresistibly
bring us to himself and give us faith in Christ. And now to
whom coming we are continuing to die, aren't we? And the last
point is the point that we often hear this verse quoted at funerals. I was talking to a brother the
other day, and he said, yeah, I just did a funeral. I quoted that
verse. Quoted that verse. And it's true. Precious in the
sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. When this body
of death is put where it belongs, Paul said, Oh, wretched man that
I am. He was talking about this old
body of flesh that he's dragging around with him. Who will deliver
me from the body of this death? Thanks be to God in Christ Jesus,
we're free. We're, we're delivered in life
in that, in that we've been, reckon yourselves to be dead
indeed unto sin, but alive unto God. Reckon it to be so. Why? Because it is so. It is
so. Oh, but sin's so real to us,
isn't it? One day it won't be. One day we'll have no sin. The
mortal be made immortal. The corruptible be made incorruptible.
And it'll be precious in the eyes of the Lord when he says
to each one of us, enter in, enter in to the kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation of the world. His kingdom's always
been ready. Why? Because God's saints have
always been dead and yet they've always been alive. Our heavenly father, we ask that
you would make precious to us what is precious to you. And
we pray it in Christ's name. Amen. 186. 186. Let's stand together. The Church's one foundation is
Jesus Christ, her Lord. She is His new creation by water
and the Word. From heaven he came and sought
her to be his holy bride. With his own blood he bought
her, and for her life he died. Elect from every nation, yet
one o'er all the earth. Her charter of salvation, one
Lord, one faith, one birth. One holy name she blesses, partakes
one holy food. And to one hold she presses With
every grace endued. Mid toil and tribulation and
tumult of her war, she waits the consummation of peace forevermore. Till with a vision glorious,
her longing eyes are blessed, and the great church victorious
shall be the church at rest. Yet she on earth hath union with
God the three in one, and mystic sweet communion with those whose
rest is one. O happy ones and holy, Lord give
us grace that we Like them, the meek and lowly, on high may dwell
with thee.