There's a story in the last chapter
of 1 Samuel where David, as a type of Christ, is leading his men,
the church, in a military campaign. And they all leave their families
back in the town of Ziklag. And when David and his men are
returning home, From a far distance, they see the billows of smoke
coming up from Ziklag and got there and to their horrors, found
out that all their wives and children had been taken away.
And so, David, the scripture says, first of all, comforts
himself in the Lord. He calls out to God. And then,
The Lord tells him to go and follow the Amalekites and recover
his family. And here's the verse I want you
to see. And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried
away, and David rescued his two wives. and there was nothing
lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters,
neither spoil nor anything that had been taken of them, for David
recovered all." Nothing lacking, nothing missing, small or great,
our David recovered everything, everything that was lost in the
fall. the Lord Jesus Christ recovered. That's the hope. Well, that's the gospel, isn't
it? Notice in your bulletin that the dates are listed for our
conference in January. Then going back and forth on
whether or not to have the conference in January or postpone it until
the building was ready. But things are going a little
slower there than we had anticipated, so decided we would have it on
the normal weekend of January. I think it's the 17th, 18th and
19th, is that right? Of January. So right now I've
asked Todd and Donnie to come and they're both very graciously
willing to be here. So we'll see if the Lord leads
us to have anybody else, but that's scheduled. So, all right,
Brother Bert's gonna come and lead us in the hymn on the back
of your bulletin. 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. Then let His name forever be
to us supremely dear. are only all prevailing plea
for all our hope is there. You may be seated. Turn with me, please, in a verse
that probably all of you can quote. I can assure you all the
folks in religion can quote it. But they also is one of the biggest
lies they tell about it. Romans 828. Well, there's just
three verses. In Romans 828. I find as I grow older, there's
not much that I, my confidence is not like it used to be. My
wife said, well, you said that I did. Yeah, maybe I did. You
know, I just don't have that confidence anymore. But the word
of God, we have by his spirit, we have confidence in. Verse
28, Paul writes, and we know. This is not something we might
be or might not be true. We have absolute certainty of
what we're saying right here is true. We know that, you see
that little word all? All things. All things. You mean this storm we just had
that killed people? All things. You mean these people
who are out of their minds and mass murder? All things work
together for good. There's none good but God. We
know that all things work for his glory. And who does it work
glory for? For them that love God. To them
who are the called, Brother Greg talked about call upon the name
of the Lord. The only reason I'd ever call
upon the Lord is because he called me. He had to make me willing
in the day of his power. If left to myself, I would have
never called on him. Called according to his, and
you see the last word there, purpose, purpose. I don't know how successful I
tried to teach our children and now I'm trying to teach our grandchildren
to eliminate words like luck and chance and coincidence out
of their vocabulary. And use words like God purpose,
God willed, God ordained. Our God and the God that is,
is a God of purpose. Turn with me then please to 2
Timothy. Everything happens according
to his purpose. Second Timothy, and we'll read
in verse seven. Well, what is his purpose? Timothy writes, for God has not
given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and
of a word sound means a saved mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but be
thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God. If you're a believer and you
have no afflictions, that causes me, it causes me to wonder sometimes
because my afflictions are so little. My guess is it's because
I've been silent when I should have spoke. You're going to have
afflictions. You're going to have trials.
You're going to have tribulations. But verse nine is our hope. God
who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to his own, see that word again,
purpose, his own purpose and grace. which was given us in
Christ Jesus before the world began. I don't always understand things
and I get confused easily but I know one thing I know who purposed
them and I know who ordained them and I know who made them
happen and because of that I'm comforted even in the most difficult
times. One man said You may not know
exactly why you're here this morning, but I know why you're
here. I know why I'm here. I'm here
by the purpose of God. And he's brought us here not
just to occupy space. He's brought us here to reveal
himself to those who he's called. So thankful he does that. May
we pray to the Lord. Lord, we confess we have no power,
no strength. Lord, we can't even pray right
unless you enable us by the power of your spirit. We thank you for this great blessing
of being able to come. And await upon your words to
our hearts. Lord, we ask your blessing upon
your servant, Brother Greg, and your other gospel preachers.
Lord, that you would speak through them and that you would give
them the ability to speak clearly and concisely and boldly. And that I ask for your people
that you would send us the faith by your spirit to believe what
is preached. that we might have the spirit
and power of, not of fear, but of boldness, to declare Christ. And we pray, Lord, that you would
get all the glory, for your glory is our good. We ask this in the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ, that he would take this prayer and make it
acceptable to God the Father. Would you turn to number 42 in
the blue hardback. All hail the power of Jesus'
name. If you would please stand, number 42. All hail the power of Jesus'
name. Let angels prostrate fall. Bring forth the royal diadem
and crown him Lord of all. Bring forth the royal diadem
and crown him Lord of all. Ye chosen seed of Israel's race,
ye ransomed from the fall. Hail Him who saved you by His
grace, and crown Him Lord of all. Hail Him who saved you by
His grace, and crown Him Lord of all. Let every kindred, every
tribe, on this terrestrial ball. To Him all majesties cry, and
crown Him Lord of all. To Him all majesty ascribe, and
crown Him Lord of all. O that with yonder sacred throng
we at his feet may fall, we'll join the everlasting song and
crown him Lord of all. We'll join the everlasting song
and crown Him Lord of all. You may be seated. Father, keep near thy Christ,
there a precious fountain, free to all a healing stream. Those from Calvary's mountain,
in the Christ of the cross, be my glory ever, till my raptured
soul shall find Rest beyond the river. Near the cross, a trembling
soul. Love and mercy found me. There the bright and morning
star. Sheds his beams around me. In the Christ of the cross be
my glory ever. Till my raptured soul shall find
rest beyond the river. Near the cross, O Lamb of God,
Pray it seems before me. Help me walk from day to day
with His shadow o'er me. In the Christ of the cross be
my glory ever. ? Till my raptured soul shall
find ? ? Rest beyond the river ? ? Near the cross I'll watch
and wait ? ? Hoping, trusting ever ? ? Till I reach the golden
strand ? ? Beyond the river ? ? In the Christ of the cross be my
glory ever ? ? Till my raptured soul shall find rest beyond the
river ? Thank you, Caleb. We're going
to be in Psalm 90. By way of introduction, I'd like
for you to turn with me to Hebrews chapter 2. If we're going to find any hope
for our immortal souls beyond the river that Caleb just sang
of, It will only be found through the Christ of the cross. Who paid the debt in full? And recovered. All. Recovered all. I've titled this
message. Our hope in death. Our hope. in death. I made a statement
the first hour that I believe with all my heart. That is that
I stand before you as a dying man and I'm preaching to dying
men. But in saying that I must confess
to you that I don't always feel the urgency of that. This past week I had another
opportunity, as I've had several times throughout my life, to
sit at the bedside of a man who is actually physically dying. And his only interest, his only
interest was in the word of God. And I thought, wouldn't that
be wonderful if we always were that way? if we could become
so aware of our state that we would plead for and beg for the
word of God. And it's a miracle of grace if
the Lord gives us that sort of interest in our soul. It really
is. Reading scripture to this dear
man for over an hour, with a closed door. He's receiving and rejoicing
in what he's hearing. A nurse barges in. A hospice nurse. A nurse that deals with death
every day. Every day. And she barges in the room and
and starts with her positive attitude of trying to build everybody
up. You know, everything's going
to be okay. Everything's wonderful. How are you feeling? It's a sunny
day. Isn't life wonderful? And I looked
at her. I thought, you just don't have
a clue. This man's fixing to slip into eternity. And the only
thing that's important to him right now is the one thing that
ought to be important to you. You think you're going to encourage
him with some sort of power of positive thinking some sort of.
You know you and you deal with death every day and you've got
no more understanding than that. And the Lord confirmed to me
it's a miracle of grace. If you have a genuine concern
for your immortal soul, that's the work of God in your heart. because the natural man doesn't.
I started to title this message a funeral service. And because
Psalm 90 is all about the brevity of life. And not a funeral service
where people are dressed in black and mourning over the loss of
a precious loved one, but one where the children of God can
have hope. hope for their soul when that
final enemy knocks at our door, which will be sooner than we
think. Our Lord came to defeat death. First Corinthians chapter 15
says, oh death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy
victory? The sting of death is sin, and
the strength of sin is the law. Thanks be to God, through Christ
Jesus we have victory. The Lord Jesus Christ has fulfilled
the law. He conquered the grave. The very
thing that the world wants to avoid thinking about and talking
about is the hope in the believer's heart. to see him as he is and
to be made like him. Oh, child of God, there's no
reason to fear death. But there's great reason for
us to be sober about it. And for us to to seek through
faith the only one that can deliver us. From the condemnation of
the law. And that's what he came to do.
Look at Hebrew, I ask you to turn to Hebrews chapter 2. Hebrews
chapter 2, look at verse 14. For as much then as the children
are partakers of flesh and blood. Now flesh and blood dies. It
dies. And it's final, isn't it? Where
the tree falls, there it lies. You hear people talking about
praying for people after they die. Don't waste your time. Don't waste your time. No reason
to pray for a person after they die. They're gone. They're there. He also himself, the Lord Jesus
Christ also himself came into this world, born of a woman of
flesh and blood. He took part in the same. that through death he may destroy
him that had the power of death, that is the devil. It's the devil
that has the power of death. He's the one that captures men's
souls for an eternal separation from God in hell. And the scripture
is making it clear that the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world
to destroy the works of the devil and deliver them. Here's our
hope, I hope we can leave here this morning being delivered
from the terrors of death. I listen to religious people,
religious preachers sometimes talk and it's always this focus
on how to live a victorious Christian life. You know, it's always about
something. I want you to be ready to die. Truth is, you never know how
to live until you're ready to die. And if we could leave here
this morning with hope for our immortal souls, we'll have some
understanding of how we ought to live. We'll live as dying
men. We'll live redeeming the time, knowing that our days are
few. Deliver them who through fear
of death were all their lifetime held in bondage. I'm encouraged when I hear someone
say I'm afraid of death. That's a good thing. That's a good thing. Until the Lord sets you free
of that fear. Romans chapter 8 verse 15. You
have not received the spirit of fear onto bondage, but you
have received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba father. Now I say it's a good thing. It's not a, I'm not suggesting
that, that believers live their lives in fear of death. That's
not what I'm saying. They and for a young person or
an unbeliever to to to express some. Some fear of death. That's that's a good thing, cause
it most people don't. Most people don't. The Lord Jesus
Christ came to deliver those who all their lifetime feared
death, deliver them from that bondage of fear and give them
the spirit of adoption whereby they cry Abba Father. You remember
in John chapter 11 when our Lord waited three days before he returned
to Bethany where Lazarus had died and our Lord speaks to Martha and
Martha says, Lord, I know that in the resurrection my brother
will be raised. And the Lord Jesus Christ said,
Martha, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth
in me, Though he be dead, yet shall he live. And he that liveth
and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? Martha, do you believe me? Trust me. I'm the only one that
can deliver you from the bondage of fear and from the judgment
of death. You have your Bibles open to
Roman Psalm 90. Please Psalm 90. Our hope. In death. Our hope in death. This is not a. A depressing subject for the child
of God. This is hope. We saw last Sunday,
we look through a glass darkly. Now we're looking into a mirror
that's tarnished, but then, but then we'll see him face to face
and be made like him. That's our hope. That's our hope. Death is coming. It's coming
quickly. May God give us hope in Christ. We saw in the previous hour from
verse one of Psalm 90, thou Lord has been our dwelling place in
all generations. The Lord Jesus Christ is our
hiding place. He is our dwelling place. He
is our habitation. Notice in verse 2, and this is
my first point, our hope in death is the immutability of God. The immutability of God. If you
listen to the God that's being described in man-made religion,
he is a God who's ever-changing. He's got a plan A and a plan
B, and if it doesn't work out this way, he'll work it out another
way. And he's always changing. And God said to those men, you
thought that I was altogether such a one as thyself. You thought
I was like you. You thought I changed like you.
But the truth is, I am the Lord and I change not. And therefore, you sons of Jacob
are not consumed. Look at verse 2 of Psalm 90.
Moses says, before the mountains were brought forth, or even thou
hast formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting
to everlasting, thou art God. Lord, here's my hope in death.
Here's my hope. It's you are a God who has established
promises in a covenant with thy dear son before the mountains
were formed, before the stars were put into the sky, before
anything was ever done in time or in space, you are God. That's where we look for our
salvation, isn't it? That's where we look for the
hope of our deliverance from death is the immutability of
our God. It's what David said when he
said, although my house be not so with God, yet he has made
with me an everlasting covenant. That covenant is sure and steadfast
that there's my hope. I am ever changing. My world
is ever-changing, but I worship a God who has never changed. He said, I am the same yesterday,
today, and forever. The hope of my salvation is founded
in the immutability of my God. Notice in verse 3, our hope in
death. This is our hope. Our hope is
that we worship a God who changes not. A God who has established
salvation before any events in time ever took place. A God who's
not changing. A God who is not changed by circumstances
like we are. Thou, verse 3, turnest man to
destruction. Now that word destruction is
the word dest, dust. From dust thou wast made and
to dust thou shalt return. Here's my hope. My hope for eternal
life is death itself. Death itself is my hope for eternal
life. When God cast Adam and Eve out
of the garden, He placed a flaming sword at the gate of the garden
to protect the tree of life. What if Adam had taken of that
tree of life after his sinful fallen state? He would have remained
in that sinful fallen state, wouldn't he not? You see, it
was the physical death of Adam. that provide an opportunity for
him to feast on that tree of life that's planted by the river
of life in glory. Let me show you that. Turn to
me to Rome, Genesis chapter three, Genesis, Genesis chapter three. I want us to leave here this
morning, not denying death. but having a good hope in it,
and resting our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ who conquered
the grave. And if that is our hope, then
physical death is part of it. Physical death is part of it.
Now, I know that one day the trumpet will sound, and the dead in Christ to be raised.
And if that happens in a time when we're still alive, then
those of us which are alive will be caught up together with them
in the air. And so shall we ever be with
the Lord. God's people are going to be delivered from this world.
But if the Lord doesn't come. Before our physical death, our
physical death is part of our hope. Look at Genesis Chapter
3 at verse 19. Here's the curse, in the sweat
of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return unto the ground
for out of it was thou taken for dust thou art and unto dust
thou shalt return. You see one day all these trials
and troubles, all the sweat of our brow, all the thorns and
thistles are going to be no more. And to dust this flesh shall
return. And it's not until this flesh
returns to the dust that the spirit can be given. The mortal,
1 Corinthians chapter 15, the scripture says, this mortal body
must be made immortal. This corruptible body must be
made incorruptible. And so this returning to the
dust of the earth is part of the hope that we have for eternal
life. Psalm 116 verse 15 says precious
in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. It's precious
in God's sight. when his saints closed their
eyes in death. Why? Because that's the moment
that they see him in the fullness of his glory. Notice verse four. Here's our
hope in death. For a thousand years on thy side
are, but as yesterday when it is passed and as a watch in the
night, Here's our hope, brethren. God doesn't reckon time the way
we reckon it. The flesh says, you know, time
just is slow. Am I ever going to get through
this? Is this ever going to be over? And God says, oh, child
of God, a thousand years to me is as of a day. It's as of a
day. And a day is as of a thousand
years. I don't reckon time the same way you do. The world says,
Turn with me to 2 Peter chapter 3. 2 Peter chapter 3. Verse 8. But beloved, be not
ignorant of this one thing. That one day is with the Lord
as a thousand years and a thousand years is one day. God doesn't
reckon time the same way we do. May God give us a better mature understanding
of the little bit of time that we have. He's going to say that
it, Moses is going to pray that prayer in Psalm in Psalm 90.
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count
slackness, but is long suffering to usward, not willing that any
should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Now, if God's
not willing that any should perish, then none will perish. None will
perish of usward. But the day of the Lord will
come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens shall pass
away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat, and the earth also, and the works that are therein
shall be burned up. I hear a lot of talk among so-called
scientists and environmentalists talking about global warming.
There is going to be global warming, I promise you. According to God's
word, there's gonna be global warming. But it's not going to
happen gradually over hundreds of years. It's going to happen
instantaneously when the fire of God's wrath comes and the
elements are burned up with a fervent heat. In Zechariah chapter 14,
you can read it yourself, the scripture speaks of that day
of God's judgment where a man is standing on his feet and his
eyes are burned out of their sockets and his tongue is burned
out of his mouth before his bones hit the ground. That's vaporization. That's God's global warming and
that's going to happen. Child of God, you have nothing
to fear. You have nothing to fear. Let me show you another
verse, by the way, while we're talking about that. Romans, go
with me to Genesis chapter 8. Genesis chapter 8. Don't believe the fear mongers.
Don't believe those who would have you think that Florida's
going to be underwater and the world's going to be consumed.
Young people don't believe it. It's all a lie. It's fake science. Okay? And you say, well, how
do you know preacher? Are you a scientist? No, but
I believe God. I believe God. So the word of
God settles all controversies. Genesis chapter eight, verse
22. While the earth remaineth, seedtime
and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night
shall not cease. Now those two truths are all
you need to know about global warming. There's going to be seasons,
there's going to be planting and harvesting, there's going
to be day and night. until God brings that final global warming
where the whole earth is burned up with the fire of God's wrath. Child of God, you have nothing
to fear. Let the fear mongers speculate and support their agenda,
whatever it is, political or economic, just believe God. The Word of God settles all controversies. A thousand years on the side
of God is as a day, and a day is as of a thousand years. No
reason to be afraid. Go back to Psalm 90. Here we have a description of
the substance of our life here on earth. The substance of our
life. You remember in Isaiah chapter
40 when the Lord told the prophet, he said, Comfort ye, comfort
ye my people, saith the Lord. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem. Tell them their warfare is accomplished.
Tell them all their sin's been put away. And Isaiah responds,
and God says, cry unto them. And Isaiah said, well, what shall
I cry? Where do I start this message? What do I tell them?
How do I begin the message? You remember what the Lord told
Isaiah? Tell them they're grass. The message of comfort begins
with being told that you're grass. The substance of our flesh is
like grass. There's nothing to it. It can't,
it can't earn any favor with God. It's nothing but, look,
look at, look at, look at verse five. Thou carriest them away
as with a flood. They are as asleep. In the morning
they are like grass which groweth up. In the morning it flourisheth
and groweth up. In the evening it is cut down
and withereth. Now why would we put the hope
of our eternal, our souls In grass. That's the whole point. That's the whole point. Turn
with me to James chapter 4. James chapter 4 verse 13. You know, the glorious thing
about God's word is that God's people just believe every word
of it. And it settles all issues with them, doesn't it? They don't
say, yeah, well, what about this or what about that? No, amen.
Amen. Look, go to now you that say
today or tomorrow we will go into such a city and continue
there a year and buy and sell and get gain. Don't talk like
that. Wherefore you know not what shall
be on the morrow, For what is your life? It is even a vapor
that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away. For you ought to say, if the
Lord wills, that we will do this and that." Our lives are in the
hands of God. We're but grass. We flourish
in the morning and in the evening we're cut down. The Lord is, is giving us words
to put things. I tell you after, when you sit
at the bedside of a dying man, it puts everything in perspective.
It really does. If you, you have an opportunity
to visit someone who's dying, take it. It'd be good for you. Take it. Grass. Grass wouldn't look to itself
for salvation. Grass wouldn't put any hope in
its ability to earn favor with God, to satisfy God's justice,
to fulfill God's law. Thank you, Lord, for comforting
my soul by reminding me that I am but grass. I can't do anything
for myself. I'm completely dependent upon
you for everything. Psalm 90, verse 7. For we are consumed by that anger
and by that wrath are we troubled. Has God brought you to the end
of yourself in terms of your salvation? Brought you to the end of yourself.
You thought, well, maybe there's something I can do. Maybe there's
a prayer. Maybe I can be sorry enough. Maybe I can work hard
enough. And God just brings you to the
end of yourself. That's what this verse is saying.
We are consumed. with thine anger. The anger of
God's wrath was poured out on the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary's
tree. And we're consumed with that,
we're consumed with his ability to save. And we've given up on
any ability that we have to save ourselves. We see the fullness
of God's wrath poured out on Christ as our sins were brought
before God. Look at verse eight. Thou hast
set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light
of thy countenance. All the sins of God's people
were born in the body of the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary's
tree. They were brought before God
and the full wrath of his anger was poured out in order to satisfy
his justice once and for all by the sacrifice of himself.
Here's my hope. Here's my hope in death. I don't
have to fear global warming. I don't have to fear the fiery
wrath of God's justice. It was all poured out on my substitute
when Christ bore my sins. Thou hast set our iniquities
before thee, our secret sins. Psalm 139 makes it clear that
God knows our thoughts before we think them. So I'm concerned
about the thoughts that I've had that God would know them.
He knows them before you thought them. Our secrets, the things we think
we're hiding, God knows them all. He knows them all. And they
were all brought by Christ before the throne of God's justice.
And God said, I'm satisfied. I'm satisfied. Verse nine. For all our sins, I mean all
our days are passed away in thy wrath. We spend our years as
a tale that is told. Compared to eternity, this world is nothing but a tale. It seems so real, doesn't it? It is, it is to us, but here
the Lord's, the Lord's telling it, put this in perspective. The days of our years are three
score and 10. That's 70 years. And if by matter of strength
a man has four score years, let's say he lives to be 80, those
years, the strength of those years will be full of labor and
sorrows. You ask the older brethren that
are in their 80s and 90s, the strength of those years is difficult
between sickness and between sorrow having to experience children
and grandchildren and pass away and things that happen. And it
just, it becomes more and more sorrowful, doesn't it? Oh, the brevity of this life. Not long. So what the Lord is
saying to us, not long, but don't be afraid, child. I've conquered
the grave. Who know what the power of thine
anger, verse 11, even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath. Oh, the power of our God. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of
the gospel, the good news. of God's sovereign, electing,
redeeming, calling grace. For it is the power of God unto
salvation to everyone that believe it, to the Jew first and also
to the Greek. It's the power of God. And he makes us willing
in the day of his power. It was the power of God who chose
his people according to his own will and purpose in eternity
past. It was the power of God who came
in the body of the Lord Jesus Christ and fulfilled all righteousness. It was the power of God that
put away the sins of God's people. It's the power of God that irresistibly
calls and causes us to come in faith to Christ. It's the power
of God that keeps us from falling and presents us faultless before
his throne with great joy. Great joy is the power of God. Here's our hope. Our hope's not
in our powers, not by might nor by power, not by my power, but
by my spirit, saith the Lord. It's the spirit of God that saves. Here's my hope. I look at my
weaknesses. What does God say about the religious
world? They have a form of godliness. They go through their religious
motions. denying the power thereof. They deny the fact that God has
the power to save whom he will save. They deny the fact that
God has the right to condemn whom he will condemn. They deny
the fact that God has the power to irresistibly call whosoever
he wills. They deny the power thereof.
They deny the effectual power of the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ that actually successfully put away all the sins of all
of God's people once and for all. They deny all that. They
have a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.
What is our hope in death? What is our hope in death? We
bow to and acknowledge the power of our God. Oh, God. You are the omnipotent one. You
are the one that is able to save, and we rejoice in knowing that
our salvation is of the Lord. It's of the Lord. Lord, you uphold all things by
the word of thy power. Look at verse 12. So in light of the power of God,
in light of the brevity of life, in light of all these things
that we've seen already in this Psalm, teach us to number our
days, teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts
to wisdom. Here's the hope. The hope is
that we've been taught of God. We've been taught of God. Turn
with me to John chapter six, John chapter six. Verse 44, no man, no man. can come to me except the father
which has sent me draw him and I will raise him up at the last
day. I will raise him up at the last
day. It is written in the prophets and they shall be all taught
of God. Every man therefore that hath
heard and hath learned of the father cometh unto me. How do I know if I've been taught
of God? I've come to Christ. I've got
no place else to go. Lord, thou alone hast the words
of eternal life. We know and are sure that thou
art the Christ, the Son of the living God. We've got no place
else to go. That's how I know I've been taught
of God. Faith is the substance of things
hoped for. It's the only evidence of things that are not seen.
Father, I thank thee that thou hast hid these things from the
wise and the prudent and revealed them unto babes. What things? The glorious person and accomplished
work of the Lord Jesus Christ as the only hope of our salvation.
No man can come unto me, but if the Father draws him, Father
teaches him, they shall be taught all of God. If the Father teaches
them, they'll come. and I'll raise them up at the
last day. What hope? We've been taught the salvations
of the Lord. We've been taught that God has
the sovereign right to save whomsoever he wills. We've been taught that
Christ was successful in accomplishing the salvation of his people,
satisfying the demands of God's law. fulfilling justice, pleasing
the Father. We've been taught that the Spirit
of God is irresistible and omnipotent when he calls out his people
and brings them to Christ. We've been taught these things
that God's taught us. We didn't learn it from a man.
We learned them from the Word of God. Go back with me to Psalm 90. Return, O Lord, how long, and
let it repent thee concerning thy servant. Revoke your sentence against
me. And let not my sins stand to
charge me. That's the prayer. See, not only
has the Lord taught us the gospel, but he's taught us how to pray.
He's taught us how to pray. He's taught us to believe that
if God should mark iniquity, none of us would be able to stand
in his presence. And so we, we plead for his mercy. Verse 14,
oh, satisfy us early with thy mercy that we may rejoice and
be glad all the days of our life. He's caused us to rejoice in
his mercy, to rest in his person. Make us glad according to the
days wherein thou has afflicted us and the years wherein we have
seen evil. Lord fill us with gladness cause
us to, and this goes back to verse one. Gladness doesn't come
because God's changed your circumstances. Everybody gets glad when that
happens. You know, when, when, when circumstances are great,
everybody's happy. Gladness comes when the Lord
becomes your hiding place. When the Lord, look at verse
one. Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place. When God by his
spirit causes you to rest your hope in Christ, that's when gladness
comes. Truth is, circumstances generally
don't change much until after that anyway. Verse 16, let thy work appear
unto thy servants and thy glory unto their children. As the work, the Lord Jesus Christ
said, I must work the works of my father, which sent me. What
did the father send him to do? To save his people, to fulfill
all righteousness. We don't go about trying to establish
our own righteousness. We know that Christ is the end
of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. And
when the Lord Jesus Christ bowed his head on Calvary's tree, what
did he say? It's finished. He told his mother,
did you not know that I must be about my father's business?
I came to do the work of my father. And then in John chapter 17,
when our Lord prays to his father right before his crucifixion,
he says, father, I have finished the work which thou gavest me
to do. Lord, show us the work of Christ. What does the unbeliever
find their hope? The unbeliever finds comfort. Peace, peace when there is no
peace. They find peace and they find comfort in the work of their
hands. Not in the work of God's hands.
What does the child of God who has hope in death say? Lord,
show us thy work. Show us thy work and show thy
glory to our children. Lord, I want my children to see
your work of grace also. Because his work of grace is
his glory. It is his glory. Our hope. In death. Look at verse 17 and will close. and let the beauty of the Lord
our God be upon us, and establish thou the work of our hands upon
us. Yea, the work of our hands, establish
thou it. We're talking about work of our
hands. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians
chapter 15. 1 Corinthians 15. You remember what the word mystery
refers to in the scriptures? It's a truth that is hidden by
God and has to be revealed. And God says in verse 51, behold,
behold. Oh, I'm going to show you something
you've never seen before. That's what the Lord is saying. Behold,
I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we
shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling
of an eye, at the last trump, for the trump of God shall sound,
the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put
on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when
this corruptible shall put on incorruption, and this mortal
shall put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the
saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. Oh,
death, where is thy sting? Oh, grave, where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.
The strength of sin is the law. You want to you want to inspire
sin, put yourself, put someone under the law. You want to make
him sin there. That's what sin just inspired. Makes him worse. Our law makes him worse. But
thanks be to God. Which giveth us the victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore. Therefore. My beloved brethren be steadfast. Unmovable. always abounding in
the work of the Lord for as much as you know that your labor is
not in vain in the Lord. Our works don't go before us
to recommend us to God. Our works don't go beside us
to prove that we are believers. But our works do follow us. That's
what that's what that's what Moses is saying. Lord, establish
the work of our hands. If you don't establish it, if
you don't enable us to do these things in faith and cause them
to be to your glory, Lord, they'll be in vain. They'll be of no
value, brethren. You're working, the Lord's not
in vain. It's not in vain. There is. Great hope. In death. Our God never changes. Death
itself. Will be the opportunity that
will have to see him in the fullness of his glory. Life is brief. Our God doesn't
reckon time the same way we do. Our sin. came up before God one
time, and God punished it. We are saved by the power of
God, and our works are not done in vain. Lord, teach us to number our
days, for they are few, they're few. Our Heavenly Father, we're so
very thankful for the hope of eternal life that you've given
us in Christ. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for. Defeating. Our enemy. Destroying the works
of the devil. Delivering die people. From death
and hell. We asked for the work of your
spirit to give us faith. To look onto Jesus. Who himself
is the author and the finisher? Of faith. Or it's in his name,
we ask it. Amen. 10 in the spiral hymnal. Let's
stand together number 10. There is a Redeemer, Jesus Christ,
God's Son. Precious Lamb of God, Messiah,
Holy One. Thank you. Father, for giving us your Son,
and making sure the work for sinners was completely done. Jesus Christ, Redeemer, Name
above all names. Precious Lamb of God, Messiah,
hope for sinners slain. Thank you, O our Father, for
giving us your son and making sure the work for sinners was
completely done. When he rose to heaven, to his
throne on high, He sat down, his work was finished, chosen
ones he can't deny. Thank you, O our Father, for
giving us your Son, and making sure the work for sinners was
completely done. When we stand in glory, we will
see his face. There we'll worship Christ forever
in that holy place. Thank you, O our Father, for
giving us your Son, and making sure the work for sinners was
completely done.