It's good to have Carl and Barb
Moore with us from Missouri. They attend the church where
Eric Lutter now pastors, and Callie's brother Levi goes there. They stayed over last night to
be able to worship with us today, and they'll be driving back home.
Oh, worship the King, all glorious above. and gratefully sing of
his power and of his love. When Pilate put that inscription
on the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, King
of the Jews, what did the Jews say? Put on there that he says
he's the King of the Jews. Now what I've written, I've written.
The Lord Jesus Christ is king. He reigns sovereign over all
men, but only his people, only the spiritual Jews, circumcised
in the heart by the spirit, acknowledge him as king. Let's stand together. Tom's going to come lead us in
number one in your hardback temple. you O worship the King, all glorious
above, and gratefully sing his power and his love. Our shield and defender, the
Ancient of Days, pavilioned in splendor and girded with praise. O tell of his might, O sing of
his grace, Whose robe is the light, whose canopy space, His
chariots of wrath the deep thunder clouds form, And dark is his
path on the wings of the storm. Thy bountiful care what tongue
can recite? It breathes in the air, it shines
in the light. It streams from the hills, it
descends to the plain. And sweetly distills in the dew
and the rain. Frail children of dust, and feeble
as frail, In thee do we trust, nor find thee to fail. Thy mercies, how tender, how
firm to the end, Our maker, defender, redeemer, and friend. Please be seated. Good morning. I'll be in John
chapter 3 this morning in verse 1. John chapter 3 and verse 1. There was a man of the Pharisees
named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to Jesus
by night and said unto him, Rabbi, We know that thou art a teacher
come from God, for no man can do the miracles that thou doest
except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto
him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith, how can
a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time
into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus saith unto him, verily,
verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of
the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. That which
is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit
is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee,
ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth,
and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it
cometh or whither it goeth. So is every one that is born
of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered and said unto
him, how can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto
him, art thou a master of Israel and knowest not these things?
Luke chapter 17 and verse 20 says the kingdom of God cometh
not by observation. You can't see it. Neither shall
I say low here or low there, for behold, and Greg touched
on the word behold this morning, it means what comes next is of
vital importance. Neither shall they say low here
or low there, for behold, the kingdom of God is within you. We'll stand here with Nicodemus
and say, how can these things be? But God has given us an answer. Colossians chapter one in verse
13, speaking of God says this, who hath delivered us from the
power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of his dear
son. God did it. That's how these
things can be. If I have been delivered and
I've been translated, I should be able to look within myself
and see the kingdom of God because that's what it says. I can see
it. I will see a God, a sovereign,
immutable God that demands, he doesn't ask, He demands 100%
of our time and affection. Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thine heart, with all thine soul, with all thine
strength, and with all thy mind all of the time. And he demands
righteousness. And I'll see Robert Horton, a
publican, And I will know that I don't have the ability or the
will to do what God demands. I cannot do it. No way I can. My only hope is that Christ Jesus
came into this world to save sinners. And I see our Lord and
Savior. who did everything that God demanded,
everything. He was made sin for me, who knew
no sin, that I might be made the righteousness of God in him. Whatever God demands, God provides. If I see anything less than this,
then I'm still in the kingdom of darkness. Father, we come before you this
morning, Father, asking for the grace to put aside, Father, the
weights and the sin that does so easily beset us, to spend
an hour with the Lord Jesus Christ, Father, to have hearing ears,
Father, and seeing eyes. We ask that you grant these things
for us this morning because We come before you this morning,
Father, saying this one thing, that we would see Jesus. We ask
that you'd give us eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart to
understand. We ask these things in Jesus'
name. Amen. Let's all stand together once
again. We'll sing hymn number eight in the Spiral Gospel Hymns
hymn book. Hymn number eight. O Lord, our hearts and souls
aspire to lift up from this earthly mire. O may we think of heavenly
things and know the joy Thy presence brings. Lord, let us see the
Savior's face, and let us taste of thy sweet grace. May open ears thy glories hear,
and may we smell thy fragrance near. ? Be pleased to open heaven's
door ? ? And on our heads thy blessings pour ? ? All wretched,
poor and needy weep ? ? Where can we go if not to thee ? Oh, may this day be blessed the
most, that Jesus Christ becomes the host to feed our souls with
living bread and with our souls in joy to wed. Please be seated. Caleb Hickman
is going to come bring special music. Years I spent in vanity and pride. Caring not my Lord was crucified. Knowing not for his own he died
to set them free. Mercy there was great and grace
was free. Pardon there was multiplied to
me. There my burdened soul found
liberty in Christ redeemed. By God's gospel my sin I learned. Then I trembled at the law I'd
spurned. Till my guilty soul was caused
to turn and made to believe. Mercy there was great and grace
was free. Pardon there was multiplied to
me. There my burdened soul found
liberty in Christ redeemed. By his blood I have been set
free. Now my surety is my king. By His will and grace eternally
in Christ redeemed. Mercy there was great and grace
was free. Pardon there was multiplied to
me. There my burdened soul found
liberty in Christ redeemed. Oh, the love that drew salvation's
plan. Oh, the grace that brought it
down to man. Oh, the mighty gulf that God
did span when Christ Mercy there was great and grace
was free. Pardon there was multiplied to
me. There my burdened soul found
liberty in Christ redeemed. Thank you, Caleb. Open your Bibles
with me again, please, to the third chapter of Malachi. Malachi
chapter 3. There my burdened soul found
liberty. Christ is all, and He is in all. I've titled this message, Christ
is whom ye seek. Now Romans chapter 3 verse 11
says that no man seeketh after God at any time. So what does the Lord mean when
he tells us in Malachi chapter 3 verse 1, behold I send my messenger
and he shall prepare the way before me and the Lord Whom ye seek shall suddenly come
to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant. Whom ye delight in. There's two
phrases in this verse I want us to consider. The Lord, whom
ye seek. And the phrase, whom you delight
in. can also be understood as in
whom is your delight? In whom is your delight? Now the entire world is on a
vain pursuit for things that only the Lord can provide. That's
what the Lord's saying. You want happiness? I'm your
happiness. You want peace? I'm your peace. You want pleasure? I'm your pleasure. You want joy? I'm your joy. You want eternal life? I'm your
eternal life. So what the Lord is saying is
this message is going to say to men that all the things that
you're looking for, you're looking in the wrong place, they are
at best very poor substitutes for what I have to give you. I'm the one you're seeking. I'm
the one in whom you shall have your delight. I like that word
shall. Notice in in verse one, and he
shall prepare the way before me and the Lord whom you seek
shall suddenly come to his temple. And over in verse three, and
he shall sit as a refiner and purifier and he shall purify
the sons of Levi. Now he purifies the sons of Levi
by stripping them of their righteousness and providing them a righteousness
outside of themselves. That's how he purifies them.
gives them his holiness. And he says, I shall do this.
Have you really listened to the message of manmade religion? Oh, God wants to God's trying
to, he's doing his best. He, uh, you know, he, he's, he's
provided everything he can. Now it's up to you. That's not
the gospel. That's an imagination of men
that have devised an idol that doesn't exist. The God who is
says, shall. I shall do this. You will call
his name Jesus. Jehovah saves, for He shall save
His people from their sins. The Lord Jesus Christ didn't
come into this world to make a stab at getting folks saved. He didn't make an offer of salvation
to man. He satisfied in the heart of
His Father all the demands of righteousness and justice He
made himself an offering to the Father, and the Father saw the
travail of his soul, and the Father was satisfied, and the
Father said, it's finished. It's finished. He shall save
his people from their sins. What a difference. What a difference. It's the difference, this is
the messenger of the covenant. We saw that in verse one of Malachi
chapter three. The messenger of the covenant.
What covenant? Not the covenant that I make
with God, but the covenant that God made with God. Before time
ever began, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit
entered into a covenant relationship to save a bride for the Son. The Father said, I'll choose
them. And the Son said, I'll redeem them. And the Holy Spirit
said, I'll regenerate them. That's the covenant. And he shall. Is it possible for God as a triune
Godhead to fail in their purpose? That's why he said, I'm going
to do this. I shall do it. Ecclesiastes chapter 3 verse
14 says, I know whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever. Nothing shall be taken away from
it and nothing shall be added to it. Whatever he does, it's full and
complete and finished and certain. And that's particularly true
of the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary's
cross. How could it be God under any other circumstances? Isaiah
chapter 43 verse two says, when thou passeth through the waters,
I will be with thee and through the rivers, they shall not overflow
thee. You say, well, Lord, I've just
barely got my head out of the water. Well, that's where God
puts us sometimes in order for us to do what Peter did. When
Peter was drowning under the waves, what did Peter do? Lord, save me. Lord, save me. And immediately
the Lord lifted him up out of the waters. I'm going to do this
for you. I will call and they shall come. They shall come. Behold, I will send my messenger,
speaking of John the Baptist, speaking of every messenger of
the gospel, and he shall prepare the way before me and the Lord whom you seek. I know you're seeking happiness
and love and pleasure, peace, purpose, justification, righteousness,
I know you're seeking these things. These things you'll only find
fulfilled in Christ. Solomon searched the whole world
for pleasure, for purpose, richest man that ever lived, richest
man in the world. Wisdom beyond anything that anyone had ever
been given. What did he say? I've tried wine, I've tried women,
I've tried wealth, I've indulged myself in all the things that
the world has to offer. And what conclusion did he come
to? Vanity of vanities. It is all vanity. You see, most
folks go to their grave and draw their final breath. having only the pleasures that
this world has to offer. And God says, I shall purify
the sons of Levi, and you shall come to me. And you're gonna
say what Solomon says. All the things that this world
has to offer are empty. Empty, impaired to the happiness
and the love and the pleasure and the purpose and the righteousness
and the justification that I have in Christ. This world's got nothing,
nothing. Everybody says, well, I just
want to be happy. Just want my children to be happy. Well, happiness
doesn't come from circumstances. Happiness doesn't come from not
true happiness. Not true happiness. Proverbs 3, verse 13, happy is
the man that bindeth wisdom. God has made him, the Lord Jesus
Christ, to be our wisdom, our wisdom. And the man that giveth understanding,
Shall be happy. There's no understanding of truth
in this world. There's no understanding of truth
in religion. God has to put us in our right
mind. He has to cause us to see that
the Lord Jesus Christ himself is the truth. And only then knowing
the truth can you be free. Free from what? Free from the
vain pursuits of trying to find truth outside of Christ. Trying
to find happiness outside of Christ. The Queen of Sheba, after spending
time with Solomon, said, happy are the men and happy are those
thy servants which stand continually before thee and heareth thy wisdom. Now, Solomon's a picture of Christ. Queen of Sheba said, half the
story's not been told me. Your glory far exceeds what I
heard about. And happy are the men that sit
before you and listen to your understanding. Happy is that
people whose God is the Lord. Here's the one who you seek.
Here's the one in whom you shall have your delight. And I'll let
you play with your toys until they break. And like a small
child, your toy will break and you'll cry. And when you cry,
I'll be there. I'll be there to pick you up
and show you what true happiness is. Psalm 146 verse 5 says, he is
he that hath the God of Jacob for his help and whose hope is
in the Lord his God. Happy as he, happy as he who
had the God of Jacob for his help and his hope is in the Lord
his God. Happy is the man, Job 5, verse
17, happy is the man whom God correcteth, therefore despise
not the chastening of the Lord. God's people even happy when
he corrects them. Why? Because though it not be pleasant
for the season, it leads to the peaceable fruit of righteousness.
It leads them back to Christ and it causes them to know, Lord,
if I'm not corrected, I'm not your child. Lord doesn't correct
his neighbor's children. He corrects his own children,
the ones in his house and happy as the man whom the Lord corrected. Bless. That's another word used
in the scripture for happiness. Bless you. You're looking to
be happy. You're seeking happiness. Where are you going to find it?
Where are you going to find it? This is only going to be fulfilled
in Christ. Blessed or happy is the man unto
whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity. That's the man that's blessed.
The man that's blessed is the man who has all of his sins paid
for in his substitute, the sin bearer, the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the happy man. Whom seek ye? Isn't that what
the disciples asked those Greeks? Who do you seek? It's what the
Lord asked the soldiers at the Garden of Gethsemane. You remember
when the Roman soldiers came? Whom seek ye? Jesus of Nazareth. I am he. I am he. And they all fell backwards.
And when they got up, he asked them again, whom seek ye? Jesus
of Nazareth. I am, let these others go. Let
these others go. You see, men are seeking after
Christ. They're seeking after the things
that only Christ can give. They're seeking after the things
that only the Lord Jesus Christ can fulfill for them. Everybody's looking for love.
The songwriter got it right when he said, in all the wrong places,
all the wrong places. Isn't that true? Herein is love. Herein is love. You're looking for love. You
know, the problem with that song is that the guy finally did find
love, but he found it in another person. He's not going to find that.
Not real love, not the fulfillment. Look at our text again. Whom
you seek, he shall suddenly come into his temple, even the messenger
of the covenant, in whom is your delight. You're looking to delight
yourself in a relationship of love? Every human relationship of love
is going to fall short. It's going to fall short. here in his love, not that we
love God, but that he loved us and gave his son to be the propitiation
for our sins. That's the love of God. And the
Lord Jesus Christ prayed. And he said, father, I've loved
them to the end. I've loved them to the end. There's
not, you see, People talk about unconditional love, don't they?
There's no such thing. You don't love anybody unconditionally,
and nobody loves you unconditionally. They don't. I guarantee you,
you could do something to ruin whatever love relationship you
have with another person. It is not unconditional, and
vice versa. And God's love for us is not
unconditional. But based on the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ, based on the fact that I have loved
you with an everlasting love, I've always seen you in Christ,
it's conditioned on something that cannot change. Malachi chapter
three says, I am the Lord and I change not. Therefore you sons
of Jacob are not consumed. Now that's a condition that cannot
change. Well, God loves us conditionally,
but here's the good news. The condition by which he loves
us cannot be changed. He's loved us based on the sacrifice
that Christ made as the lamb slain before the foundation of
the world in that covenant of grace and fulfilled on Calvary's
cross 2000 years ago. Nothing can change that. can
height or depth or principalities and powers. Nothing can separate
us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus. Can't change. So don't think God loves you
unconditionally. He doesn't. But he loves you based on a condition
that cannot change. That's good news. That's good. And that's real love. That's
not love you have to work for. It's not love you have to worry
about losing. Hope maketh not a shame because
the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy ghost,
which he has given us. And that's a love that never
goes away. You wake up at 2 o'clock in the morning worried sick over
something and you've got the loving. Heavenly Father, you've
got a loving Savior. Who will take you in his tender
hands and show you his compassionate eyes and speak to you with his
affectionate voice and say to you, behold, I love you. I love
you. You find yourself in the depths
of the worst sin that you thought you could commit, and you feel
the shame and the guilt of all of that, and God says, that doesn't
change my love for you. Doesn't change my love for you.
You can't add to it. You can't take away from it.
You see, the whole world's looking to be loved. Here's who you're
really seeking. Here's who you're going to find
your need fulfilled and your delight in, the only one who
loves you perfectly. Hereby perceive we the love of
God because he laid down his life for us and greater love
hath no man than this, than he laid down his life for his friends.
What greater evidence do we need than that the God of glory, the
sinless one, bore our sins in his body and gave himself as
a sacrifice to the father to satisfy justice and save his
people. He actually accomplished their
salvation. That's love. That's love. Nobody loves you like that. You
don't find love anywhere else. And the only satisfying love
relationships you're going to have with another person is if
you find your delight first in his love. In his love. Happiness, love,
these are the things that people are looking for. So I'm just
looking for pleasure. James chapter five, verse five
says you have lived in pleasure on the earth and have been wanton. Well, we can all relate to that.
Can't we? There's pleasure in sin for a season, but in the
end, it leads to death. Doesn't it? There's no pleasure
in sin. The temporary pleasures that this world has to offer.
They don't last, do they? That's the reason behind addictions. It's because people keep doing
the same thing over and over and over again. What are they
trying to do? They're trying to get something that that can't give
them. It can't give them. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise
him. He hath put him to grief. When thou shalt make his soul
an offering for sin, he, the father, shall see the travail
of his soul and shall be satisfied and shall prolong his days and
the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper at his hand, at his hand. Thou will show me the path of
life, David said in Psalm 16, and in thy pleasure is the fullness
of joy. At thy right hand, there are
pleasures for evermore, evermore. No man seeks after God at any
time, but they are seeking the things that only God can give.
And here's what the Lord's saying to us in Malachi chapter three,
verse one. The one who you're looking for
as your delight is the Lord. He's the only one that can make
you happy. He's the only one that can satisfy your need for
real pleasure. He's the only one that can love
you like you want to be loved. You're looking for these things
in all the wrong places. Here's the message. Turn with
me to 2 Thessalonians chapter 1, 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. Verse 11, wherefore also we pray
always for you, oh my God put a spirit of prayer in our hearts
for one another. that our God would count you
worthy of His calling, of this calling, and fulfill all the
good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power.
May God fulfill all the pleasures of His goodness. There's no pleasure
the world has to offer. It's like the pleasure that the
Lord gives when He sets us free. And the pleasures of God are
at his right hand. And Christ is the right hand
of God. Verse 12, that the name of our
Lord Jesus may be glorified in you and you in him, according
to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Now look down at chapter two
at verse 12. God says, I'm going to send them
a strong delusion because they had no love for the truth. In
verse 10, he says, because they had no love for the truth, they
had no love for Christ, they weren't looking to satisfy these
needs, fulfill these needs in Christ. For this cause, verse
11, God shall send them a strong delusion that they should believe
the lie, the lie, That's the word there. There
is no indefinite article in the Greek language. It's always the
definite article. Just when that, you remember
when the publican said, God forgive me? The scripture says a sinner
in the King James, that's the sinner. It's the sinner. And the word here is the lie.
God shall send them a strong delusion that they should believe
the lie. What is the lie? Well, the lie is that I can gratify
all these needs satisfactorily outside of God. I can, I can
pursue these things. I can find happiness and love
and peace and fulfillment. And I'll do it according to my
own strength and power that they might all be damned who believe
not the truth. Verse 12, but had pleasure in
unrighteousness. You see, men take their pleasure
in what God calls unrighteousness. And that unrighteousness doesn't
necessarily mean indulging yourself in shameful things of the world.
It means that they are pleasuring themselves in their works of
righteousness in hopes that that's going to give them eternal life. They're taking pleasure. And
you listen to religious people talk. And they will tell you
about all the good things they're doing for God. What are they
doing? They're taking pleasure in their unrighteousness rather than taking pleasure in
the Lord, in the Lord. Oh, if we knew how good he was,
we would never pursue these things outside of Christ. Most folks think that peace is
nothing more than the absence of conflict and they're trying
to order the things in their lives to reduce conflict. Nobody likes conflict in their
life. But you remove all the conflicts in terms of relationships
and circumstances of your life, that's not gonna give you the
peace of God. Peace of God is greater than any understanding.
And the Lord Jesus Christ himself said, I am the Prince of Peace,
my peace I give you. Not as the world gives, give
I thee. The world has a certain level
of peace to give and it's nothing more than the absence of conflict,
but they cannot give us peace with God. The Lord Jesus Christ
is called the King of Peace. He's the one who made peace for
us with his shed blood. And if I have peace with God,
you know what? The truth is that more times
than not, the greater our peace with God, the more conflict there
is in our lives. And people will sacrifice peace
with God in order to reduce conflict. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter
13. Hebrews chapter 13. Oh, this is what we seek, isn't it?
And we're looking, we're looking in all the wrong places for happiness
and for love and for pleasure. and for peace. And the Lord says,
behold, you sons of Levi, I shall purify you. And the Lord whom
you seek, the Lord in whom you have all your delight, he shall
come suddenly unto you. Hebrews chapter 13 verse 20,
now the God of peace, the God of peace that brought again from
the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep through
the blood of the everlasting covenant. There's that covenant.
He's called the messenger of the covenant. It's an everlasting
covenant. It's an eternal covenant. It's
not a covenant based on based on the the unfaithful promises
that we make to God is based on a covenant that sure and steadfast
and ordered in all things. And may this God make you perfect. In every good work to do his
will working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight
through Jesus Christ to whom be glory to whom be glory forever
and ever. This is what men seek. This is
what they seek. Paul said in 2 Thessalonians
3, now the Lord of peace himself, now the Lord of peace himself
give you peace by all means. by all means. Paul said, I've learned to be
content. Content with what? Content with having peace with
God through the Lord Jesus Christ. May the very God of peace sanctify
you wholly. And that word's W-H-O-L-L-Y,
completely. Wholly in body, wholly in spirit,
wholly in heart. May the God of peace sanctify
you, set you apart, and do it in every part of your life. You
see, this gospel doesn't just speak to one aspect of our lives. It speaks to the whole man. Everybody's looking for purpose.
What's my purpose in life? You know, one of the saddest
places that you can go to I've spent many hours there, is nursing
homes. And I've come to understand why
it's such a sad place. Because the vast majority of
people there no longer have a purpose. You see, their purpose was either
a loved one who is now deceased or has abandoned them Or their
purpose was family who now they have no contact with. Or their
purpose, I've talked to 90-year-old men who will tell you about jobs
that they did that they've been retired from for 30 years. That
was their purpose. And now all their purpose is
gone. But that's the way pokes are.
They live their lives for the purpose of achieving something
or for a job or for a relationship. It's the Lord whom you seek.
It's the Lord who will fulfill that need to have purpose. None of those other things are
going to provide purpose. That's what the Lord's saying.
The messenger of the covenant is going to come suddenly. And
when he comes, he's going to be the one in whom you delight
so that your purpose now is eternal. Your purpose is eternal. The Lord Jesus Christ prayed
for us in John chapter 17 verse 3 and he said, and this is life. Eternal. And this is real life. This is your purpose and this
purpose will last forever. Let them leave you in a nursing
home. Let all the work that you ever
did in your life be for naught. This purpose will last forever,
that they might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ
whom thou hast sent." That's why Paul said, oh, that I might
know him. I count all things but lost for
the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. That's what the Lord is saying
to us in Malachi chapter one. He said, the one who's preparing
the way of the messenger is to tell the people you're looking
for happiness. Christ is your happiness. You're
looking for love. Christ is your love. You're looking
for purpose. Christ is your purpose. You're
looking for pleasure. Christ is your pleasure. None
of those other poor substitutes can come close to providing what
he provides. We spend our whole lives justifying
ourselves, don't we? We get real good at it too. Defending
ourselves. While we can even, we can even
present an apology in such a way as to justify ourselves. Oh, to be justified before God. To be just if I'd never sinned. Well, it's not just if I'd never
sinned, it's I'd never sinned if I'm found in him. He's my righteousness before
God. And let me say, the Lord whom
you seek in whom you shall delight yourself. Everybody's looking
for righteousness. The atheist is looking for righteousness. You listen to them. They'll tell
you about the good things they've done. I'm not, I'm not afraid to die.
You show me an atheist who says, I'm not afraid to die, I'll show
you a liar. If you're not afraid to die, why are you telling me
about all your righteousness? Why are you going about trying
to establish your own righteousness? I'll tell you why. Because you're
ignorant of the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end
of all Romans chapter 10, for righteousness. All our righteousnesses
are as filthy rags, but all men are self-righteous. What are
they doing? They're trying to earn favor
with God. They're trying to do something
that's going to put them on the right side with God. And the Lord says, I'm the one
you're seeking. Don't seek righteousness outside
of Christ. You want to delight yourself
in the works of the law. That's unrighteousness. You're
just making yourself worse of a center. You're making yourself
more unrighteous. The more you try to do that.
Laura says, I'm the one I'm the one you delight in. David said, as for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness,
and I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness. As for me, I shall behold thy
face in righteousness, and I shall be satisfied when I awake with
thy likeness. We look everywhere except for
where we're supposed to look, aren't we? And the natural man will be satisfied
with the happiness and the pleasure and the love and the peace and
the purpose and the justification and the righteousness that he's
able to find in this world, and he will draw his final breath
estranged from God because he didn't hear. He didn't hear the
Lord say. You're seeking me. You're seeking
me. I'm the one. In whom you have
all your delights. Come on to me. All you that are burdened, heavy
laden, I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. My burden
is light. Why is it light? Because he carried
the burden for us. He bore the burden of our sin
before God and he satisfied God's justice. Our merciful Heavenly Father.
We confess to you. That we are so prone to wander. We're so prone to leave the God
that we love. We're so prone to seek that which
only you are able to give us in Christ. Outside of Christ. Lord, forgive us. Send your spirit
and power, cause us to look in faith to the only one who can
truly make us happy, the only one who can truly love us, the
only one that can truly give us peace and purpose and righteousness
and love. Thank you for this table. Thank
you for the simplicity of it. the bread reminding us of the
body of the Lord Jesus Christ and the wine reminding of his
blood. And Lord, as we receive it, give
us faith to receive it with an eye towards Christ. For it's
in his name we pray, amen. 191 in the hardback temple, let's
stand together, 191. You can remain seated. Here, O my Lord, I see Thee face
to face. Here would I touch and handle
things unseen. Here, grasped with firmer and
eternal And all my weariness upon thee
lean. Here would I feed upon the bread
of God. Here drink with thee the royal
wine of heaven. Here would I lay aside each earthly
load, Here taste afresh the calm of sin forgiven. I have no help but thine, nor
do I need another arm save thine to lean upon. It is enough, my Lord, enough
indeed. My strength is in Thy might,
Thy might alone. Mine is the sin, but thine the
righteousness. Mine is the guilt, but thine
the cleansing blood. Here is my robe, my refuge, and
my peace, thy blood, thy righteousness, O Lord my God. The Lord's table is for the sons
of Levi. Say, well, how do I know if I'm
a son of Levi? When you hear the gospel, you say, man, yes,
that's the one. That's the one I believe. The
life of the Lord Jesus Christ, this unleavened bread, leaven
is a picture of sin. A little leaven leavens the whole
lump is a picture of our self-righteousness. There's no leaven in this bread.
It's a picture of Christ. His life was without sin. He presents himself on our behalf.
He said, this, this body, Lord told the disciples often as you
do it, doing remembrance of me for this body is given for you.
Christ is our righteousness. All our rights. We have none
outside of him. God's people said, amen. The gospel is the most profound
truth that can ever be believed or known, but its profundity
is in its simplicity. Men don't understand because
they want to complicate it. They want to complicate it. It's
the life and death of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the gospel. Without the shedding of blood,
there's no remission of sins. God required a blood sacrifice,
and the day in which you sin, you shall surely die. And then
God slew that lamb all the way back there in the garden to cover
the nakedness of Adam and Eve, picturing what he would do on
Calvary's cross on the Lamb of God, shed his precious blood
as a covering for our sins. And the Lord said, as often as
you do it, do it in remembrance of me. God's people said. Amen. Been a good day. Let's stand
together. For the cereal, would you dismiss
us in prayer, please?