Okay, okay. We will be having services this
Wednesday. So if you're able to come, we'll
plan on that. You don't have to look this up,
but just read two verses quickly. Psalm 102, verse one. Hear my prayer, O Lord, and let
my cry come unto thee. Hide not thy face from me in
the day when I am in trouble. Incline thine ear unto me in
the day when I call. Answer me speedily. Answer me
speedily. It's our prayer this morning. Good morning. Tom's going to
come lead us in the hymn on the back of your bulletin if you'd
stand, please. Wherewith shall we approach the
Lord, And bow before his throne, By trusting in his faithful word,
And pleading Christ alone? The blood, thy righteousness
and love of Jesus will we plead. He lives within the veil above
for us to intercede. Sure ground and sure foundation,
too, we find in His dear name. Herein we every blessing view
and every favor claim. And let his name forever be to
us supremely dear. Our only all-prevailing plea
for all our hope is there. Please be seated. Please turn with me to Genesis
18, verse 18. The Lord has said, where two
or more are gathered, I will be. So we can take great comfort
that he is here this morning. But I must say, anyone that's
ever stood here and tried to speak, knowing the Lord's presence,
Paul said, who is sufficient? I wouldn't want to hear somebody
who thinks they are sufficient. And I know I'm not, and I pray
to the Lord to enable us to worship him. He has to do that for us. In verse 18, it says, seeing
that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation and
all the nations shall be blessed in him. For I know him that he
will command his children, his household after him. shall keep
the way of the Lord, and do justice and judgment, that the Lord may bring upon
Abraham that which he hath spoken him. And the Lord said, Because
the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin
is very grievous, I'm so sorry, I will go down now and see whether
they have done, my goodness, altogether according to the cry
of it, which is coming to me, and if not, I will know. I don't want you to be misled.
The Lord's not going to Sodom to find out what's going on.
He already knows what's going on. He's wanting them to go down
there because he's going to teach them something about his justice,
his judgment, and mercy. And the men turned their faces
from thence and went towards Sodom. But Abraham stood yet
before the Lord. And Abraham drew near and said,
will thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Preadventure,
there should be 50 righteous within the city. Will thou also
destroy and not spare the place for the 50 righteous that there
are therein? That be far from thee to do after
this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked, and that the
righteous should be as the wicked, but be far from thee. Shall not
the judge of all the earth do right? That's not a question. Young people, it's like when
your parents got angry and you said, they asked you, do you
think I'm stupid? Don't answer that question. Abraham
didn't want God to answer that question. God, Abraham knew that
everything God does is right and good. And there's, I have
to be reminded, please forgive me, daily of two things from
Genesis. The first one is the first four
words of the word of God. In the beginning, God. All things
exist in God. He is the author and he is the
sustainer of all things. And the second is everything
he does is right and good. I pray that God give us the faith
to believe that. I have to be reminded every day.
And the Lord said, if I find in Sodom 50 righteous within
the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes. Please
go with me 32, because he's going to go from 50 to 40. And then
on 32 says, oh, let not the Lord be angry, Abraham. And I will
speak yet this once. Pre-adventure 10 shall be found
there. And he said, I will not destroy
it for 10 sakes. And the Lord went his way as
soon as he had left communion with Abraham. And Abraham returned
unto his place. This is a gospel story. Without reading you, right in
verse 19, these men headed to Sodom. But before they got there,
the Lord had sent two angels. And lo and behold, guess who
was waiting for them at the gate? Why did Abraham care about Sodom? You know why? Righteous lot. His nephew, Lot, his wife and
two daughters and husbands lived in Sodom. And he was concerned,
is the Lord gonna, is he gonna kill them all? But before they
got there, there were two angels, a picture of the gospel preacher.
And he came, those angels came to warn Lot that the Lord is
coming and judgment is gonna fall and you need to get out. And Lot brought them, if you
remember the story, Lot brought them into his house, and what
happened? The people saw them, tried to get ahold of these men
and wanted to kill them. And they came to the door and
these men blinded them so they couldn't enter in. And then Lot
went to his two daughters and their husbands, said, pack your
things, we need to go. And his son-in-laws mocked Lot. They made fun of him. Brother,
you know that better than us. The angels of the gospel came
and preached the gospel, and today men and women still make
fun of them. But Lot gathered up his two daughters,
and not their husbands, and his wife, and they left. And when
they did, the word of God says, God rained fire and brimstone
on Sodom. and he destroyed every living
thing. The reason I say this is a gospel
story that tells me certain things is number one is God's justice
must be satisfied and judgment is coming. The good news to us
as believers, the righteous have already been judged in Christ. Our judgment's already taken
place. That's good news. Second thing is, is that you
can see here is that every one of us lives in Sodom. And I don't mean just this earth.
Sodom goes with me everywhere I go in my flesh. There's no
good thing in it. It follows me all the days of
life. But there'll be coming a day
when God's justice will fall And the Lord has told us is that
those who are asleep in Christ, believers who've died will be
risen first, and then those who remain will be caught up in a
cloud. God will never destroy the righteous with the wicked. And that's good news to me. That's
my comfort. The last thing I'd say is two
things is Lord, the greatest judgment God can place on any
person is to leave them alone, just
to leave them to themselves. That's what he said in Romans,
didn't he? They have sinned against me and I'll leave them to their
own desires. There's not a day goes by that
I don't have to plead with God. Lord, please don't give me the
secret desires of my heart and mind. they would be to my destruction. I'm so glad that it is true,
and I pray that our young people, especially everyone here, in
the beginning, God and the judge of the earth shall always do
right and good. May the Lord enable us to pray. Lord, we've come here this morning
We confess to you that we have no strength nor power, and Lord,
that we are depending on you totally to even give us the ability
to worship you. We desire that, Lord. We pray
that you would send your spirit to your angel, our pastor, and
to your other churches that preach your gospel, that you would anoint
them with the spirit of power that they may speak clearly and
concisely, Christ and him crucified. And we ask for your people, Lord,
that you would give us the ability by your spirit to hear and the
faith to believe what is preached. And Lord, enable us to glorify
you and you alone. For you are God. and there is
no other. We ask these things for your
glory. Amen. Number 236 from the hardbacked
hymnal. Let's all stand together. 236. Amazing grace, how sweet the
sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found. Was blind, but now I see. was grace that taught my heart
to fear, and grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear
the hour I first believed. Through many dangers, toils,
? Have already come ? ? Tis grace
hath brought me safe thus far ? ? And grace will lead me home
? ? When we've been there 10,000 years ? Bright shining as the
sun, we've no less days to sing God's praise than when we first
begun. Please be seated. Adam Cheren's
going to bring special music now. Normally I sing this, so if you
want to follow along in your hymnal, it's 283. Oh, how sweet the glorious message
simple faith may claim. Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus
is the same. Still he loves to save the sinful,
heal the sick and lame. Cheer the mourner, calm the tempest,
glory to His name. Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus
is the same. All may change, but Jesus never,
glory to His name. Glory to His name. Glory to his name. All may change, but Jesus never. Glory to his name. He who pardoned daring Peter
never needs thou fear. He who came to faithless Thomas,
all thy doubts will clear. He who let the love disciple
on his bosom rest, bids thee still with love as tender lean
upon his breast. Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus
is the same. All may change, but Jesus never. Glory to his name. Glory to his name. Glory to his name. All may change, but Jesus never. ? Glory to his name ? ? He who
made the raging billows walked upon the sea ? ? Still can hush
our wildest tempest as on Galilee ? ? He who wept and prayed in
anguish in Gethsemane ? Drinks with us, each cup of trembling
in our agony. Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus
is the same. All may change, but Jesus never. Glory to his name. Glory to his name. Glory to his name. All may change, but Jesus never. Glory to his name. As of old, he walked to Emmaus
with them to abide. So through all life's way, he
walketh ever near our side. Soon again we behold Him, hasten,
Lord, the day. But we'll still be this same
Jesus as He went away. Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus
is the same. All may change but Jesus never
Glory to His name Glory to His name Glory to His name All may
change but Jesus never Glory to His name Thank you, Adam. I love thinking about the immutability
of our God. That verse that we often quote
is coming up in our study of Malachi chapter three. I am the
Lord and I change not. Still the same yesterday, today
and forever. Therefore, you sons of Jacob
are not consumed. Everything in this world is in
flux. Everything's changing. Everything
in your life is changing. My life is changing. The world's
changing. We have a God who changes not. Will you open your Bibles with
me to Psalm 100, please? We've been studying through the
Psalms mostly on Wednesday night. And I dealt with Psalm 100, primarily
verse three, this past Wednesday night. And I want us to focus
our attention on verses four and five this morning. And consider
reasons to be thankful. Reasons to be thankful. And this
Thanksgiving season, a lot of people are talking and giving
attention to being thankful. What reasons do believers have
to really be thankful? Look at verse four. Enter into
his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise. Be thankful unto him and bless
his name for or because, number one, the Lord is good. Number two, his mercy is everlasting. Number three, his truth endureth
forever. Those are my three points right
there in the text. The Lord is good. The Lord is
good. His mercy is everlasting and
his truth endureth forever. Now the reason why men won't
come to Christ is because they do not know that He is good. It's the goodness of God that
leadeth to repentance. People have this idea that coming
to God is going to rob them of their happiness and they have
no idea that the only way to be happy is to be found in Him.
Our God is good. Men don't come to Christ because
They don't believe they need mercy. Mercy. Mercy is God withholding
from us that which we deserve. Do you want to know the difference
between mercy and grace? Grace is God giving to us what
we don't deserve. And mercy is with him withholding
from us what we do deserve. What is it that we deserve? We're
held deserving sinners. But those who don't come to Christ
don't believe themselves to be hell deserving. And so we're
thankful that his mercy is everlasting. And men don't come to Christ,
number one, because they don't know that he's good, number two,
because they don't believe that they're in need of mercy, and
number three, because they really do not care about truth. Truth. Had someone say to me
recently, well, I know if a church is a real church or not by how
I feel when I come in. Truth doesn't really matter.
It's how I feel. And that's the world that we
live in. It is the goodness of God that
leadeth to repentance. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest and causest to come unto me. Now that's the goodness
of God. It's the goodness of God that would choose a people. It's the goodness of God that
would cause them to come unto him. That he may dwell in thy
courts. It's the goodness of God that
equips and enables sinners to dwell in his presence. It's the goodness of God that
imputes to us the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's
the goodness of God that puts away our sin, covers it with
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's the goodness of God. Listen to this verse, Psalm 64,
65 verse four, blessed is the man whom thou choosest and causes
to approach unto thee that he may dwell in thy courts. We shall
be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even thy holy temple. God causes us to see his goodness. We're satisfied. Satisfied with
the goodness of God, satisfied to dwell in his presence. Turn to me in your Bibles over
just a couple of pages of Psalm 107. Psalm 107. Look at verse eight. Oh, that men would praise the
Lord for his goodness. It's the goodness of God that
caused him to love a people before they ever even made them. It's
the goodness of God that chose them in the covenant of grace.
It's the goodness of God that, that justified them eternally
in the blood of Christ. the lamb that was slain before
the foundation of the world. Eternal justification is the
goodness of God. We're justified before God from
eternity past to all the way through to eternity future. Oh,
it's God's goodness. Men don't come to Christ because
they don't believe he's good. They really don't. When Moses
was standing on Mount Sinai, the mountain was shaking, there
was fire and smoke. The people would not even come
near to the mountain in fear of God's law. And Moses said,
Lord, show me your glory. And what the Lord say, no man
can see me and live. But Moses, there is a place near
unto me where you can stand. And that place near unto him
was a cleft, a cave in a rock. And the Lord put Moses in that,
in that cleft of that rock. And he put his hand over the
cleft of the rock and he said, Moses, I'm going to cause my
goodness to pass before they. And Moses saw the hindsight of
God. Now, the truth of that is that
the God has to put us in Christ. He's the rock. And, uh, and he
has to cover us with the hand of his righteousness. It's his
hand that got the victory, not ours. And all we can see of God's
goodness is what he's done in the past. We've not yet, we've
not yet seen or experienced the goodness of God in the future,
but we can see what he's accomplished in the past. We can see that
the goodness of God is what caused the Lord Jesus Christ to come
into this world. for God to be made flesh, for
God to dwell among us, for us to behold his glory as the only
begotten of the Father, the one that's full of grace and full
of truth. We know that the law came by
Moses, but grace, grace and truth came by the Lord Jesus Christ.
And so, God causes his goodness to pass before us as the gospel
of his grace is being preached. Pray that we would, that we would
catch a glimpse of the goodness of God in the sacrifice that
Christ made on Calvary's cross. That we would catch a glimpse
of the goodness of God as the Lord Jesus Christ ascended back
into glory and took his rightful place at the right hand of the
majesty on high. that we would catch a glimpse
of the goodness of God as we see the Lord Jesus Christ seated
there ever living to make intercession for us. This is the good, this
is the reason to be thankful. God can only do for his people
that which is good. You have your Bibles open to
Psalm 107, look at verse Look at verse 8, oh that men would
praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to
the children of men. For he satisfied the longing
soul and filleth the hungry soul with goodness. See men aren't
longing, they're not hungry. They're satisfied with their
own goodness. Paul said in me, that is in my
flesh dwelleth no good thing. And the Lord Jesus Christ asked
that man, he said, why callest thou me good? There's none good,
but God. Do you understand that when you
called me good master, that you're acknowledging that I am God,
that I'm God? Men won't come to Christ because
they really do not believe that he's good. Jeremiah chapter 29 verse 11,
God says to his people, I know the thoughts that I think toward
you. Thoughts of peace and not of
evil to give you an expected end. The Lord says enter into his
gates with thanksgiving, into his courts with praise. be thankful
unto him and bless his name. Why? Because the Lord is good. Good. If we really believed that
he was good, we would flee to him. Oh, we would. If we really believed that his
shed blood was sufficient for putting away our sin, And by
the goodness of his sacrifice that we had perfect righteousness
and love and forgiveness, we wouldn't, you know, Michael,
you read that story of lot. One of the things you didn't,
you didn't read in that story is the scripture says that God
took lot by the hand and pulled him out of Sodom because lot
lingered. lingered. Why do we linger in
our sin? Why do we wallow in our own pity
and in our shame and guilt? Why don't we flee to God as quickly
as we ought? Because we don't believe He's
good. We don't believe He's good. We believe somehow He's going
to punish us. Somehow He's going to roll His eyes at us. Somehow
He's going to show us Every good and every perfect
gift comes down from our Father above, with whom there is no
variableness, no shadow of turning. He doesn't roll his eyes at his
children. He doesn't say, oh no, not you
again. No, he's like the father with the prodigal. He's standing
out at the end of the driveway. He's looking down the road. He
knows they're coming home. And when they come home, he runs
down the road and he meets them and he kisses them and he lavishes
them. And he puts ring on their finger
and shoes on their feet. And he puts a robe on their backs. and he rejoices and he says kill
the fatted lamb my son which was lost is now found he was
dead and now he's been made alive you see that prodigal had he
believed that his father was good he thought when he came
home his father was going to throw him out with the servants
didn't he he said oh if I could just convince my father after
what I've done to let me go out and live in the barn with the
animals I'd be satisfied He didn't know how good his father was,
did he? What is it that keeps us from
coming to Christ? What is it that keeps us from being thankful? We really don't believe that
God is good. He's got nothing for us but that
which is good. Everything that God made read
it in Genesis chapter one and God saw that it was good Good
good Now I'm not suggesting everything God does for the unbelievers
good It's it's going to be it's going to be bad for them, but
for his children Look at look at our text go back with me to
Psalm 100 Verse 3 no ye know this that Believe this, this is a truth,
that the Lord is God. Now that's not saying God is
God, that's saying the Lord Jesus Christ is God. That's what it's
saying. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
Lord and he is God. He's the fullness of the Godhead
bodily. Know ye that the Lord, he is
God. It is he that hath made us and not we ourselves. We are
his people, the sheep of his pasture. Now he's not just talking
about physical creation. We didn't make ourselves. God
formed us from the dust of the earth. God breathed life into
Adam's nostrils, didn't he? But he's talking about the new
birth. It is the Lord that made us. He remade us. He created us in Christ. And
when he saw Adam, he said, and it is very good. And the Lord
Jesus Christ says the last Adam has made us new in Christ. And God says, it's good. It's
good. I've got nothing for my children,
but my goodness, all things work together for good for them that
love God and those that are the call according to his purpose.
Well, if we could believe that we would come running to him.
Why would you not run to someone who's got nothing but good for
you? Why would you not? You see, that's our problem,
isn't it? It's our unbelief. We really don't believe that
God's good. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving,
into his courts with praise. Be thankful unto him and bless
his name for he is good. He's good. It's a reason to be thankful,
isn't it? Everything God does for us is good. Jacob thought
everything was against him. Oh, Benjamin was going to be
taken away. Joseph's gone. Simeon's down
there in Egypt. All this is against me. Isn't
that what Jacob said? All this is against me. He didn't know that everything
was working for him, that a famine was coming, and that the Lord
had already sent his son Joseph down to Egypt to save many. And so it is. We, our circumstances
aren't as we like them to be. Sometimes the providence of God
is hard. Sometimes it's difficult, but
it's always good. It's always good for his children. He's got nothing but good for
us. Believe that God is good and you will run to him. What else do we have to be thankful
for? Look at the second point of my text in verse 5 for the
Lord is good. His mercy is. Everlasting. Now everlasting, I remind you,
doesn't mean that it starts now and lasts forever. When the word
everlasting is used in the Bible, it's speaking of that which has
no beginning and no end. That's everlasting. God's mercy,
God withholding from his people what they deserve. The judgment
of his wrath has been satisfied in Christ, the lamb that was
slain before the foundation of the world from everlasting to
everlasting. His mercy is from everlasting.
God's never been angry at his children. There's never been an ounce of
wrath or judgment in the heart of God towards his children.
He's always been merciful towards them. His mercy is from everlasting. Everlasting. He's never had anything
but love and compassion and concern and care for his children. Never. That's a reason to be thankful,
isn't it? You see, I didn't do something to turn the wrath of
God around. The Lord Jesus Christ accomplished
on the cross what had already been ordained and purposed in
God's decrees and in his ordinances and in his covenant from everlasting. God's mercy is from everlasting. You see, it wasn't that we were
that we were bound for hell and then God, you know, God's children
have always, well he said, I've loved you with an everlasting
love. Never been a time I didn't love
you. Never been a time I didn't view you in Christ. Never been
a time that I wasn't merciful toward you. And then Zachariah,
remember Zacharias, he was one of the prophets of the Old Testament
that we just recently studied, but he was also the priest that
was serving in the temple when Joseph and Mary brought the baby
Christ to be circumcised. And when Zachariah saw the Lord
Jesus Christ, here's what he said, he has come to perform
the mercy promise to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant. This man was a prophet of God.
He believed that this Christ had come to perform the mercy
promised by God to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant
which he had established from everlasting. Now that's a reason
to be thankful. I didn't do something to turn
the wrath of God around. David, when he was convicted
of his sin in Psalm 51, said, Have mercy upon me, O God, according
to thy loving kindness, according unto thy tender mercies, blot
out my transgressions. See, we're always we're always
dependent upon God's mercy, isn't it? Aren't we? If it wasn't for
his mercy, we would go to hell. Because that's what every single
one of us deserve. The unbeliever is not thankful
for God's mercy because they don't believe they're in need
of God's mercy. They don't believe they need for God to withhold
something from them. You show me an unbeliever who
genuinely believes that he's bound for hell, he's on his way
to hell. I've never met one. I'm good. I made a covenant with
death. With hell, I'm in agreement.
I'm okay. God's people understand that
their sin is deserving of judgment. And
unless the Lord Jesus Christ bears the iniquity of their holy
things, unless he presents himself on their behalf, unless he shows
them mercy, there's no hope. No hope. But in Christ, he delights in showing mercy. And they rejoice and are thankful
because number one, their God is good. And number two, his
mercy is from everlasting. And number three, his truth,
his truth. He is from generation to generation. His truth never ends. I hear people say they want to
know the truth, but they don't want to be honest. You know,
everybody's got their own personal truth. What's true to you may
not be true to me. You know what? The only thing that matters is
what's true to God. Doesn't matter what your personal
truth is. Doesn't matter what my personal truth is. None of
that counts for anything. What does God say the truth is?
You remember when our Lord was standing before Pilate and Pilate
asked him, they say you're a king, are you king? And the Lord Jesus
Christ said, for this cause came I into the world and for this
reason was I born to bear witness unto the truth. They that are
of the truth, they hear my voice. They that are of the truth. You
remember what Pilate said, Pilate said, what is truth? Now perhaps
that's what he meant. What is truth? Everybody's talking
about truth. There's no such thing as truth.
Everything's relative. But I looked up that word what.
It's a little pronoun in the original language and it can
also be translated which and it can also be translated who. And they would all be true. What
is truth? Which truth? Who's the truth?
Isn't that the world's view of things? Which truth? Which truth
do you want to choose? God's truth. And the Lord Jesus
Christ, when Thomas asked him, show us the father and it suffice
it thus. What did the Lord say? Thomas,
I'm the way. No, Philip asked him, show what
the Father has advised us. And the Lord said, have you not
known that I've been with you all this time? And you don't
know that if you see me, you've seen the Father for I and the
Father are one. And then Thomas said, Lord, we don't know where
you're going. We don't know the way. And the
Lord said what? I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man can come to the Father
but by me. The world really doesn't want to know the truth. I can use this illustration.
I think my favorite line in a movie was in A Few Good Men when Tom
Cruise had Jack Nicholson on the stand. And Tom Cruise said,
I just want to know the truth. And Jack Nicholson said, you
can handle the truth. And I thought, you know, that's
the world. That's the world. Everybody says, I want to know
the truth. But they can't handle the truth. They don't want to
know the truth. They want, they, they, they. Scripture reveals the truth. When the scripture speaks of
rightly dividing the word of truth. You know, the religious, whatever you want to call them,
the dispensationalists, they said, well, you know, this part
of the Bible relates to the Jews, and this part relates to the
Gentiles, and this part relates to this era, and they've got
it all divided up into segments of history and different things.
They think they've rightly divided the word of truth. Rightly dividing
the word of truth is seeing Christ in every word. That's what rightly
dividing the word of truth is. In the volume of the book, it
is written of me. But men can't handle the truth.
They don't want to know the truth. And the scripture makes it clear
that the church of the Lord Jesus Christ is the pillar and the
ground of the truth. In other words, the church of
the Lord Jesus Christ is the only place you're going to hear
the truth. It's the place where the truth is being lifted up. Of His own will begat He us with
the word of truth. Paul said in 2 Timothy chapter
3 verse 7 that men are ever learning. Ever learning, but never able
to come to the knowledge of the truth. How true that is of the
religious world. Oh, they study the Bible. They
think they've got it all figured out. Ever learning and never
able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Coming to the knowledge
of truth is knowing Christ. It's knowing Christ. This is
life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent." Paul said, oh, that I
might know Him, that I might know Him, the fellowship of His
suffering, the power of His resurrection. That the Lord might show me that
when Christ died on Calvary's cross, I died in Him. When He was raised from the dead,
I was raised in Him. That He is my life. That's the
truth. That's the truth. Christ is the
truth. Ever learning, never able to
come to the knowledge of truth, they do resist the truth. Men of corrupt minds who rest
the scriptures to their own destructions. They're not interested in the
truth. Turn to me to John chapter 17.
Here's my encouragement to you. Whatever you think you know,
whatever you think you believe, I would encourage you to come
before God and say, God, I want to know the truth. And if I'm
holding on to something that's not true, I want you to take
it away from me. I'm only interested in knowing
the truth. Truth is the only thing that
matters. Whatever you got to strip from me, whatever feelings
or experiences or emotions or, or, or religious opinions that
I have that are not true. Take them away. I dare you. Take them away. Go strip me of
whatever's not true. That's how that's the spirit.
We all always come before the Lord. Isn't it? And here's our hope, look at
John chapter 17 verse 14. I have given them thy word and
the world hath hated them because they are not of the world even
as I am not of the world. I pray not that you should take
them out of the world but that you should keep them from the
evil. They are not of the world, even
as I am not of the world, sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth. I was talking to somebody. I think
you, Scott, was that you? You were telling me this morning,
you were sharing the gospel with someone and, and brought up a
passage of scripture. And, uh, this person was, uh,
was very versed in the Bible. And, uh, their response back
to Scott, because it was contrary to everything that they were
saying, they believed what the scripture says. And that's, that
settles all controversy. What say at the scriptures, this
guy came up with the idea. Well, you know, that particular
verse of scripture has been mistranslated in the Bible. And that's not
really what it means. Resting the scriptures to their
own destruction. No, the Bible means what it says.
It means exactly what it says. And the Lord says, sanctify them,
set them apart and make them holy by thy truth for thy word
is truth. You know, God's people just believe
God, don't they? They believe God. They believe that every
scripture has been given by inspiration of God. Every word of it is profitable
for doctrine, for reproof, for instruction in righteousness,
that the man of God may be thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
They just believe God. They believe everything God says. Let the pseudo-intellectual accuse
us of being narrow-minded. You know, they say, well, we're
open-minded. They're so open-minded, their
brains have fallen out. And they just accept any opinion
of any person. What they're doing is setting
themselves up on the throne of God. They're saying, I'm capable
of discerning what's true and what's not true. And I'll listen
to every opinion, then I'll make my own decision. And they look
at us like we're some kind of Neanderthal. We're some sort
of backwoods ignoramus because we just take God at his word.
But that's what faith is. Faith is believing God. The truth
is that the believer is the only one in his right mind. He's the
only one in his right mind. And the Lord said, sanctify them
through thy truth. Thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the
world, even so I send them into the world. And for their sakes,
I sanctify myself. And they also might be sanctified
through the truth. The Lord Jesus Christ said, I
sanctify my self. Now the truth is you can't sanctify
yourself. He's the only one could do that.
He that sanctifyeth, that's the Lord Jesus Christ, and they which
are sanctified, that's his people, are all as one. Wherefore he's
not ashamed to call them his brethren. Oh, brethren, we have
reason to be thankful, don't we? God's given us the truth. He's given us Christ. He's done
it out of his goodness and out of his mercy. Our God is good. Run to him. He's full of mercy
and you and I need it. And he's the only one that's
got the truth. Only one. Be thankful. Come before his
presence with thanksgiving and enter into his courts with praise.
Be thankful in all things. For this is the will of God in
Christ Jesus concerning you. Our Heavenly Father, we're not
capable of expressing our gratitude as we ought, but we thank you
for your Holy Spirit, which has caused us to believe that you
are good, that your mercy is everlasting, and that your truth
endureth to all generations. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Number 30, let's stand together
number 30 in the spiral hymnal. Glory, glory, I'm forgiven. All my sins are washed away. Christ, by His great blood atonement,
All my sin has put away. Sin imputed to my Savior when
He died upon the tree. As the substitute for sinners,
God will not impute to me. Glory, glory, I've accepted. Christ, all righteousness, I'm
a child and heir of heaven, saved by God's almighty grace. Christ's obedience to the Father
is imputed now to me. In God's sight I'm pure and holy,
He declares me so to be. Glory, glory, I'll not perish. In Christ's hands I am secure. He who saved me sure will keep
me. By God's grace I shall endure. This is not a vain presumption. I just take him at his word. Christ has sworn they shall not
perish who believe on me their Lord. It's got a mind of its
own. Thank you.