By way of announcements, the
City of Apopka is requiring that we have a community meeting here
Tuesday night. We've extended invitation to
all the neighbors around here to show them our plans for our
future building and get their input which we have to report
back to the City. So my hope is that nobody will
show up. But if you want to be here, it's
going to be 7 o'clock Tuesday night. And then we did have a
meeting with the city this past Wednesday, which went very well.
And our next meeting with the city is the second Tuesday of
August. And if everything goes well with
that meeting, then will be ready to get started anytime after
that. So continue to be in prayer for our future plans. I just want to read a couple of
verses here. And they shall glory in the Holy One of Israel. And
when the poor and the needy seek water, and there is none, and
their tongue faileth for thirst, I, the Lord, will hear them.
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. I will open rivers
in high places and fountains in the midst of the valleys.
I will make the wilderness a pool of water and the dry land springs
of water. That's our God's promise for
those who are thirsty, those who are poor and needy. Pray the Lord will. Make us so
and then fulfill that that promise. Let's stand together. Brother
Bird's going to come and lead us in the hymn on the back of
your bulletin. Sing ye saints, admire and wonder,
Jesus matchless love adore. Sing for Sinai's awful thunder
shall upon your earth no more. Sing in spite of Satan's lying,
Sing though sins are black and large, Sing for Jesus by His
dying, Set you free from every charge. Sing, though sense and
carnal reason Fain would stop the joyful song. Sing and count it pious treason
For a saint to hold his tongue. Sing ye loud whose holy calling
Your election plainly shows. Sing more fear of final falling. Jesus love no changes knows. Sing, for you shall have inherit. Sing, and ne'er does song have
done. Sing to Father, Son, and Spirit,
one in three, and three in one. Maybe C. Good morning. Scripture reading
is going to be found in Philemon. We're going to look at the book
of Philemon. Read the entire epistle, which
is quite short. Philemon. Paul, a prisoner of
Jesus Christ, and Timothy, our brother, unto Philemon, our dearly
beloved and fellow laborer, and to our beloved Apthea and Archippus,
our fellow soldier, and to the church in thy house. Grace to
you and peace from God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God for making mention
of thee always in my prayers, hearing of thy love and faith
which thou hast towards the Lord Jesus and towards all the saints. that the communication of thy
faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good
thing which is seen you in Christ Jesus. For we have great joy
and consolation in thy love, because the bowels of the saints
are refreshed by thee, brother. Wherefore, Though I might be
much bold in Christ to enjoin thee that which is convenient,
yet for love's sakes I rather beseech thee, being such as one
as Paul the aged, and now also prisoner of Jesus Christ, I beseech
you, my son, Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds." He's actually
here interceding for Onesimus, who was Philemon's slave who
had escaped. He mentioned that he could order
him, but he'd rather beseech him in favor of Onesimus. which in time past was to thee
unprofitable, but now profitable to thee and to me." Of course,
this Onesimus reminds us of us and the Lord Jesus Christ interceding
to the Father on our behalf. Whom I have sent again, thou
therefore receive him, that is, my own vows, whom I would have
retained with me, that in thy stead he might have ministered
unto me in the bounds of the gospel. But without thy mind
I would do nothing, that thy benefit should not be as it were
necessary, but willingly. For perhaps he therefore departed
for a season, that thou should have received them forever. This
also reminds us of us, of why Adam fell and that communion
was broken. But we now are, the Christians
are in a better position than Adam was. We have Christ's righteousness. We are the bride of Christ. We
are co-inheritors with Christ. We are better off. So he's talking
about God's providence in all history. But without thy mind
I would do nothing again, that thy benefits should not be as
were necessary, but willingly. For perhaps he therefore departed
for a season, that thou receive him forever." And this is how
we're going to be receiving Christ forever. Not now as a servant,
but above a servant, a brother, beloved, especially to me, but
how much more unto thee, both in the flesh and in the Lord.
If thou count me therefore a partner, receive him as myself. This is
how God receives us in Christ, as Christ is received. And if
he have wronged me or owned thee out, put it on my account." This
is again the Lord Jesus Christ speaking as he puts the death
of our sin to his account. I, Paul, have written it in my
own hand. I will repay it, I bid. I do
not say to thee how thou ownest unto me even thy own self besides."
Again, this is like an Old Testament, the Lord Jesus Christ promising.
that he's going to pay it. And when he says that you own
it, it's because the Lord Jesus Christ paid. He paid all the
debt already. So the Father takes us in Christ. It's obligated through his righteousness
and through his death on the cross. Let me have joy in thee, in the
Lord. Refresh my bowels in the Lord.
Having confidence in thy obedience, I wrote unto thee, knowing that
thou wilt also do more than I say." This is the Lord Jesus Christ
saying God the Father will do even more abundantly than what
we expect. But Without prepare me also lodging,
for I trust that through your prayers, I shall be given unto
you. There, salute thee, Epaphras,
my fellow prisoner in Christ, Marcus, Areticus, Demas, Lucas,
and my fellow laborers. Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with your spirit, amen. Father God, we come before you
in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to give you praise, to
thank you for your wonderful blessings that we have in Christ.
Wonderful blessings on hearing your gospel, Father God. But
right now, we need your Holy Spirit to be with us. Fill us
with your Holy Spirit. Fill Brother Greg, Father, as
he proclaims the gospel, Father. Make us see Christ more clearly,
Father God. Make us behold him as we should,
Father God. We pray that we come, as he mentioned
earlier, as needy sinners, as thirsty, Father, make us that
way, Father, as only you can. We pray this also for all the
other churches that preach the gospel throughout the world,
Father, that Lord Jesus Christ might be magnified and that we
might behold his face. In Jesus Christ we pray, amen. Would you turn now to number
186 in the blue hymnal, number 186, The Church's One Foundation. If you could stand again, please. The church's one foundation is
Jesus Christ, her Lord. She is his new creation by water
and the Word. From heaven he came and sought
her to be his holy bride. With his own blood he bought
her, and for her life he died. Elect from every nation, yet
one o'er all the earth, her charter of salvation, one Lord, one faith,
one birth, one holy name, she blesses, partakes, one holy food. And to one hope she presses with
every grace endued. Mid toil and tribulation and
tumult of her war, she waits the consummation of peace forevermore. Till with a vision glorious,
Her longing eyes are blessed, And the great church victorious
Shall be the church at rest. Yet she on earth hath union with
God the three in one, and mystic sweet communion with those whose
breast is one. O happy ones and holy, Lord give
us grace that we Like them the meek and lowly on high may dwell
with thee. May be seated. Will you turn in your Bibles
with me to Psalm 85. Psalm 85. I've titled this message, Lord,
speak peace to my heart. Speak peace to my heart. He's the only one that can do
it. Any other voice that you hear
will be that of man. Man will say peace, peace when
there is no peace. The only way that a sinner knows
for certain that he has peace with God is if God speaks peace
to his heart. Psalm 85 starts out in the first
three verses by declaring the accomplished work of God for
Israel. And one of the clear things that's
evident in the first few verses of Psalm 85 is that the pronouns
are all in the third person. The psalmist is saying, Lord,
I believe that you did that. Everything we see in Scripture,
Lord, I believe it. You saved them. And then in verse
4, there's a turn where the psalmist says, turn us, oh God, of our
salvation and cause that anger toward us to cease. And he goes from the third person
to the first person. Lord, you gave them peace. Will
you give me peace? Will you give me peace? We know that your work of redemption
was successful. that your purpose of saving your
people was accomplished through the work that the Lord Jesus
Christ did in his sinless perfection and in his vicarious death on
Calvary's cross. We know that. We know that you
brought Israel out of Egypt. Lord, I need to know that you
did that for me. Is that a concern that you have? We know that you sent your people
to Egypt for 400 years. We know that you brought them
out by your own strong hand. You carried them through the
Red Sea. You fed them with manna from heaven and gave them water
from the rock. We know that you led them for
40 years with a pillar of fire by night and cloud by day. We
know that you established a covenant with them and that you led them
across the Jordan by the hand of Joshua and that you gave them
the promised land. We believe that. Lord, I need
to know that all the things that that represents spiritually you've
done for me. That's my. That's my main concern. We sing that him pass me not
old gentle Savior. Here my humble cry. While on others, thou art calling. Do not pass me by. Lord, I need
to know that this Gospels for me. I believe everything you've
said in your word. I need for you to speak peace. To my heart. Psalm 85 verse one. Lord, thou
hast been favorable unto thy land. Thou hast brought back. The captivity of Jacob. Thou hast forgiven the iniquity
of thy people. Thou hast covered all their sin. Thou hast taken away all thy
wrath. Thou hast turned thyself from the fierceness of thine
anger. Lord, your word declares that you did that. And I can't not believe that
you did that. I'm thoroughly convinced that
you brought back your people from the captivity of sin. I
believe with all my heart that you delivered them from the dominion
of Satan and that you set them free from the bondage and the
curse of the law. I believe that you brought them
out of the shadow of death and into your marvelous life. And you delivered them from the
power of darkness and translated them into the kingdom of your
dear son. I believe that the only hope
of redemption is through the blood and the forgiveness of
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what the psalmist is declaring
in those first three verses. Lord, I know that's true. I know
it's true. You've spoken it, and I believe
it. And yet, looking at my own sin,
I need to know that that's for me. After such a clear Declaration
of faith in those three verses. The same voice now says turn
us oh God of our salvation and cause that anger toward us to
cease. Lord, if you. If you mark my
sin. If my sin wasn't covered by the
blood of Christ. Lord, if the salvation that you
accomplished wasn't for me. Then I have nothing but anger
and wrath to look forward to. He goes on to say, wilt thou
be angry with us forever? Wilt thou draw out thine anger
to all generations? He's just said, Lord, I know
that sin's been put away. I know that Christ has become
the propitiation for sinners. I just need to know that it's
for me. I need you to speak peace to my heart. Wilt thou not revive us again
that thy people may rejoice in thee? Lord, I need you to return unto
me the joy of thy salvation. I need you to confirm to my heart
that this work of redemption was for me. You see, it's the, it's the prayer
that God puts into the hearts of every one of this people.
It really is. Um, blind Bartimaeus could not
be silenced. Son of David have mercy on me. Have mercy on me. Bartimaeus,
what would you have me to do for you, Lord? Oh, I've got to
see. I've got to see. that woman with the issue of
blood. What did the Lord say after she crawled through the
crowd to touch the hem of his garment? The Lord said, who touched
me? And the disciples looked at the
Lord and said, Lord, everybody's touching you. Everybody's touching
you. Oh, no. Virtue has gone out from
me. Power has gone out from me. Someone
wasn't satisfied with just touching me in the crowd. Someone had
to have my salvation for themselves. Lord, is this for me? Is it for
me? Hezekiah, after the prophet told
him that he was going to die, his illness was on to death,
he turned his face to the wall and he sought God. He sought
God with all of his heart. Lord, have mercy on me. The Lord
extended his life, didn't he? Hannah went to the temple to
pray, and she was grieved over the fact that she was without
child, and she was pouring out her soul to God, and Eli thought
she was drunk. And she said to the priest, she
said, oh no. She said, out of the abundance
of my grief, I'm crying out to God that he would save me. A year from now, when you come
back, you'll bring your child with you. And sure enough, Samuel,
Samuel came back the year later, didn't he? Lord, I know that
you've brought the captivity of Egypt, the captivity of your
people out of Egypt. I know that you've put away all
the sins of all of your people once and for all by the sacrifice.
I know that the Father is satisfied with what you've done. How many times we've seen in
the Psalms where David prayed, Lord, have mercy on me. Have mercy on me. And that publican
that was in the temple would not so much as look up, but smote
himself on the breast. And what did he say? What did
he say? Oh God, have mercy on me. The
sinner, the sinner. Lord, I'm thankful for your,
I need to know that, will that not revive us again?
Lord, my sin is ever before me. David prayed that in Psalm 51.
Lord, I need to, turn me back to Psalm 51. Verse one. I'm praying that these words
that I'm speaking and the words, more importantly, that God has
spoken will be that battle bow arrow that will be shot into
the hearts of each one of his people and cause us to hang our
hopes on that nail that's fastened in a sure place. David said,
have mercy upon me, oh God. According to thy loving kindness,
according to the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out
my transgressions. Lord, I'm the sinner. I'm the
one that needs to be saved. How easy it is for us to make
application of spiritual things to other people. When God is
pleased to call his sheep by their name, He singles them out,
doesn't he? He singles them out. And they
say with the Psalmist in Psalm 85, Lord, I know you did that
for them. I need you to do it for me. Wash me, wash me. You didn't
say wash them. You said wash me throughly from
my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my
transgression and my sin is ever before me. There's the cry of
faith. I have found that. All believers believe this, but
even those who have not professed faith in Christ. I think this
is a relevant message to a lot of people who would never go
to a false church. They'd never listen to a false
gospel. They believe that God is sovereign. They believe that
Christ is successful. They believe that the names of
God's elect were written in the Lamb's Book of Life before the
foundation of the world. They believe that salvation is
all of grace, not of works. and that they are plagued with
the thought, was it for me? Was it for me? The answer to
that question is gonna be found in our text. Hang on, hang on. Here's a good evidence that is
for you. If you're pleading with God for
your own sin, for your own sin, against thee, verse 4, and thee
only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight, that thou
mightest be justified when thou speakest and be clear when thou
judgest." Lord, I'm completely responsible for all my sin. You
know, we live in a Well, the blame game goes all the way back
to the garden, doesn't it? But we live in a culture that
is, you know, nobody's, everybody's a victim. Nobody's responsible.
You know, it's all, all the problems in life are assigned the name
of a, of a disease and, and, and it's all, you know, my circumstances
and my situation and other people. And what was Dave, here's the
evidence that it's for you. Lord, I can't, I can't blame
anybody else for my sin against thee. And the only, have I sinned
and done this evil in thy sight, I am fully responsible. And if
what Christ did for me, it wasn't for me, I will justly suffer
the eternal condemnation of God's judgment. Lord, I've been a sinner all
my life. Behold, I was shaping iniquity and the sin that my
mother conceived me. For the time of my conception,
I've been a, I've been a child of Adam. I was born a sinner. Behold,
thou desires truth in the inward parts and the hidden parts. Thou
makest me to know wisdom. What is the truth? The truth
is Lord, I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. And here's the
good hope brethren. Christ came to save centers.
You have no righteousness in yourself. You have no claim on
God's grace. You have no reason to present
to God why he should save you apart from what's been accomplished
in the work and person of Christ. That's pretty good evidence,
pretty good evidence that it was for you. Purge me with hyssop and I shall
be clean. Wash me. Wash me. Not them, not those. Me, Lord,
I'm the sinner. Wash me thoroughly. Now here's, David is having the
same experience that every believer has when they're grieving over
their sin and over the hope of their salvation and over the
reality of eternal judgment. Lord, you've broken my bones.
Is this? We'll stop there at Psalm 51.
Go back with me to our text. Verse 2 of Psalm 85, thou hast
forgiven the iniquity of thy people. Thou hast covered all
their sins. Lord, I know you have. I know
you have. Now it's taken away all by wrath. The fire of God's wrath was quenched
by the sacrifice that Christ made of himself on Calvary's
cross. There's no judgment, no condemnation,
no wrath. Then the psalmist says in verse
four, Lord, if you don't turn me, I won't be turned. Bid me to come unto thee. Lord,
make this my hope. Make Christ my hope. Speak peace
to my heart. Wilt thou not revive us again?
Lord, I'm in need of revival. How often do we need to be revived? More often than we know, don't
we? More often than we know. Lord, if you'll revive me, I'll
rejoice. That's what David went on to say in Psalm 51. I'll,
I'll teach centers your way, but you've got to return them
to me. The joy of thy salvation. You've got to, you've got to
show us thy mercy verse seven. Oh God, and grant us thy salvation. Give it to me when I'm the one
in need. No one's in need of grace more
than me. That's what Psalmist is saying.
And that's what every believer says. Lord, if being a sinner
is what qualifies me for salvation, there's no one more qualified
than I am. If being poor and needy is what qualifies me for
salvation, there's no one more qualified than I am. Lord, this has got to be for
me. Verse 8, I will hear what God
the Lord will speak. Only hope I have. Only hope I
have is what God has said. I can't trust my experience.
I can't trust my feelings. I can't trust the words of a
man. I'm hanging all the hopes of
my salvation, God, on your word, on your word. We are born not of corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth
and abideth and endureth forever, forever. We have a sure testimony. There's my hope. There's my hope. You remember the experience that
Peter, James, and John had on the Mount of Transfiguration?
What an experience. I mean, if you'd had an experience
like that, you'd probably hang the hopes of your salvation on
that the rest of your life. The veil of his humanity was
taken away. The radiance of his glory and
his deity was brighter than the noonday sun right there in their
presence. They were forced to the ground. And they heard audibly the voice
of God. This is my beloved son in whom
I am well pleased. Hear ye him. They saw Moses and
Elijah talking to the Lord Jesus Christ about what it is he was
going to accomplish. That's the law in the prophets.
And what did the Lord Jesus Christ accomplish? He fulfilled the
law. He is the end of the law for
righteousness. And all the promises of God are
yea and amen in him. So everything the prophets declared
about the promise of God, accomplishing the salvation, was fulfilled
in Christ. And Peter, when he recounts that
experience, he said, we didn't bring you fables. We're not talking
about stuff that we imagined. We handled the word of God and
we saw him on the mountain and we heard the voice of God and
we saw the radiance of his glory. What a mountaintop experience.
And then the next verse says. We have a more sure word of prophecy. For the word of God came not
by private interpretation, but holy men of God wrote as they
were moved by the Holy Spirit. What's Peter saying? That experience
that I had is as life-changing and dramatic and real as it was. Got something better. Got something
better. How do I know this is for me?
Because I cannot not believe everything that God says. Every
word. It's a sure word of prophecy. And the only hope that I have
of having my sins hung on that nail, fastened in a sure place,
is the promises of God. I've got no place else to go.
I can't go to my experiences. I can't go to history. I can't
go to knowledge. I can't go to my works. I'm hanging all my
hopes. That's what it is to believe
on the Lord. Jesus Christ is to believe God. It's just to believe everything
you said. Your people say, well, how much
of, how much of the Bible do you have to believe to be a believer?
Come on. Believers know the answer to
that question. Every word of it. Every word
of it. When God gave me faith to believe
God, I believed everything he said. I will, verse 8, go back with
me down to our text, I will hear what God the Lord will speak,
and He will speak peace unto His people. He's got to do it. You can't
speak peace to your own heart. I can't speak peace to your heart. Preaching in a false church many
years ago, One of the elders came up to me later and said,
preacher, you're not speaking peace to our children's hearts.
It's exactly what he told me. You're causing our children to
doubt their salvation. You're not speaking peace to
their hearts. Not my place to speak peace to anybody's heart.
Whatever peace you got from me, you're going to get somebody
else going to take it away from you. Whatever you get convinced
of by one man, another man can talk you out of. But when God
speaks peace to your heart, you believe God, there's no going
back. You can't change that. That's
how I know it's for me. I will hear what God the Lord
will speak. Pilate asked the Lord, Are you
the king of the Jews? For this cause was I born, and
for this reason came I into the world, to bear testimony unto
the truth. And they that are of the truth
hear my voice, and they follow me. They that are of the truth,
they just believe everything I say. Everything I say, they
believe it. Faith is the evidence of things
hoped for. It's the substance of things
not seen. It's believing God. Do you believe
God? Do you believe him? Every word
he says. For he will speak peace unto
his people and to his saints. There's my hope. As He is, so
are we in this world. This word saint means holy. It
means to be without sin. It means to be justified. It
means to be perfect in the sight of God. How am I going to stand
perfect in the sight of God? I'm like the psalmist. I'm saying,
Lord, how long are you going to be angry with me? Look at
my sin. There's my hope. My hope is that in Christ I have
no sin. Have no sin. Every bit of it
has been put away. But let them not return again to
folly. First time I read that, I thought
maybe it's not for me. Lord, I feel like the swine that
returns to its wallow. I feel like the dog that returns
to its vomit. I struggle with the same sins
over and over and over again. If that's what this means, then
there's no reason for any of us to have hope. Because you struggle with the
same sins over and over again, don't you? Returning to your folly is going
back to a works gospel. That's what it is. It's hearing
grace, confessing grace, saying that you believe grace, and going
back to a man-made freewill works gospel. Let me show you that,
Hebrews chapter 10. Here's the reason why I have
reason to believe that it's for me because I can't go back. I
can't not believe what God has said and I can't go back. I can't
return to my folly. It was a time when in my foolishness,
I thought that my salvation had something to do with what I did. Hebrews chapter 10. Verse 25, not forsaking the assembling
of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting
one another. And so much the more as we see
the day approaching. Oh, I, I want to be a part of
God's church. I want to, I don't want to forsake
the assembling of myself. I want to hear the gospel. I've
got to be where the Lord has promised to make himself known
in the preaching of his gospel. For if we sin willfully after
that, we have received the knowledge of the truth that remaineth no
more sacrifice for sins. Now, let me ask you a question.
When did you ever send that? It wasn't willful. That can't be what he's talking
about. Every sin we commit, we commit
willfully. That's why we say, against thee
and thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight.
Lord, I'm fully responsible. I knew what I was doing. I knew
what I was saying. I knew what I was thinking and
I did it anyway. Is that what returning to your
folly is about? but a certain fearful looking
for of judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries.
He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three
witnesses. How much more sore punishment suppose ye shall be
thought worthy who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God and
hath counted or considered or reckoned or made the blood of
the covenant wherewith he was sanctified. He once said he was
sanctified by the blood of the covenant, an unholy thing and
have done despite under the spirit of grace. In other words, he's
gone back to a, a, a, a general atonement, a common salvation,
a, a, a message of salvation that says God loves everybody.
Christ died for everybody. God wants everybody to be saved.
And you've got to do your part in order to make it work. That's,
that's what is going back. That's folly. That's returning
unto folly. And the Lord says, if you do
that. For we know him that hath said
vengeance belongeth unto me. I will recompense say at the
Lord. And again, the Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful
thing to fall in the hands of an angry God. Now we're going
to skip a few verses. Go down with me to verse 38.
Now the just shall live by faith. But if any man draw back, draw
back from what? Draw back from faith to works. That's what it is to return to
your folly. That's what it is for a dog to
return to its vomit. That's what it is for a sow to
return to its wallowing, is to go back from faith to works. But we are not of them who draw
back unto perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of
your soul. Lord, ever since I started believing,
ever since you turned me and made me to be a believer, I can't
not believe you. There's your hope brethren. The
unbeliever doesn't say that. Is it for me? Do you believe
God? You believe God, you believe
the salvation is all of grace. Verse nine, back to our texts,
Psalm 85 verse nine, surely, surely his salvation is nigh
unto them that fear him, that glory may dwell in our land. Paul said in Romans, he said,
salvation is close to you as your lips. For as you shall confess
with your lips and believe in your heart that God was raised
from the dead, that shall be saved. For with the mouth confession
is made unto salvation, and with the heart, with the heart, faith. Faith. That's what Salvation is nigh. In other words,
say, here's another thing Paul says, say not in your heart,
what can I do to bring Christ down from above? What can I do
to make what Christ did work for me? What can I do to make
Him come up from beneath? What can I do to make His resurrection
effectual for me? Perish the thought. Remove it
from your mind. What can I do to make what Christ
did work? No. No, salvation is nigh unto
you. We don't add to what Christ has
done. We simply confess with our mouth
and believe in our hearts that God has raised him from the dead. Why did God raise Christ from
the dead? Why did he raise him from the dead? Because God Almighty was satisfied
with what Christ had accomplished. He would not allow his Holy One
to see corruption. He was obligated. God the Father
was obligated by the covenant of grace established between
the father and the son in eternity past. He was obligated to raise
his son from the dead. And the resurrection is the proof. That God satisfied sins been
put away. Verse 10, mercy and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. Where did that happen? How can
God be just and justify sinners? How can he be merciful to us
and maintain the integrity of his truth? How can justice and
mercy both maintain their highest standards. How can the law and
gospel be harmonized? How can the reconciliation of
sinners to holiness be accomplished? How can it be? Well, it happened
at the cross, didn't it? When the righteous one when the
righteous one suffered the full wrath of God's holy justice,
bearing all the sins of all of his people on his body on the
tree. When he bowed his mighty head
and said, it's finished, it's finished. Mercy and truth met
each other. Righteousness and peace kissed
each other. How can I have peace with God?
How can I have peace with God? Only through the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 11, truth shall spring
out of the earth. Truth shall spring out of the
earth. The truth about who we are. sinners, unrighteous, no hope
of salvation in and of ourselves, dead in our trespasses and sins,
the truth about God's holiness and God's holy justice and God's
absolute uncompromising requirement that sin be paid for. The truth about God's mercy.
Now he would fulfill. Everything that he required.
On behalf of this people. Truth shall spring up out of
the earth. And righteousness shall look down from heaven. Christ is that truth. He said
I'm the way I am the truth and I am the life and. And when he
speaks peace to our hearts, He reveals to us that all our righteousness
before God. Is in him. It's in him. That we have an advocate. But to John, say my little children,
I write these things unto you that you said not, but if any
man sin, we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ,
the righteous one. Interceding on our behalf. There's
how I know it's for me. Because I've got no place to
look. When fear grips my heart and
I say, and I say, will thou be angry with me forever? Wilt thou
draweth anger to all generations? Wilt thou not revive us again? It's because I'm looking at my
sin. It's because I'm comparing myself to the law. But the fear of God's justice
is what causes me to turn and look to Christ and rest all my
hope in Him. Then, and only then, do I know
it's for me when He speaks peace to my heart. Yea, look at verse
12. Yea, the Lord shall give that
which is good. Good. What did our Lord say? To that
rich young ruler, what good thing, what good master, what must I
do to inherit eternal life? What can I do? That's the word.
That's the, that's the question everybody has. What can I do?
What can I do? And what the Lord say? Why call us thou me good? There's
none good, but God. I'm going to give my goodness.
I'm going to cause my goodness to pass before you. What a, oh,
there's nothing, nothing good in this world. Nothing good in
me. Now what Paul said in Romans
chapter seven, in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good
thing. All the goodness of God can only
be found in Christ. Yea, the Lord will give that
which is good and our land shall yield her increase. Righteousness
shall go before him and shall set us in the way of his steps. My sheep hear my voice and they
follow after me. I can't look anywhere else for
the hope of my salvation other than Christ. I believe that he was successful.
And everything he came to do. And the only hope that I have.
Is that he's caused me to believe his word? He's caused me to confess
that I'm a sinner. He's caused me to hear the truth.
I've got no place else to go. No place else to go. Our Heavenly Father, we're thankful
for your word Thankful that mercy and truth have met together in
righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Lord, that
you were able to maintain your holy justice. And show mercy
towards centers like us. We ask that your Holy Spirit
now. Who is the only one? Would speak peace to our hearts? Or we ask it in Christ name.
Amen. Number 235, let's stand together,
235. Pass me not, O gentle Savior,
Hear my humble cry. While on others thou art calling,
do not pass me by. Savior, Savior, hear my humble
cry. While on others thou art calling,
Do not pass me by Let me at a throne of mercy Find a sweet relief
Kneeling there in deep contrition Helped by unbelief Savior, Savior,
hear my humble cry, While on others Thou art calling, do not
pass me by. Trusting only in thy merit would
I seek thy face. Heal my wounded, broken spirit. Save me by Thy grace. Savior, Savior, hear my humble
cry. While on others Thou art calling,
do not pass me by. Thou the spring of all my comfort,
more than life to me. Who have I on earth beside Thee? in heaven but thee. Savior, Savior, hear my humble
cry. While on others thou art calling,
do not pass me by.