And as soon as he's able, he
will upload them. So next Sunday, we're going to have
lunch together. Bring your lawn chairs, lawn chairs, how do you
say that? Lawn chairs, lawn chairs, whatever
they are. Chairs. Chairs. And bring, everybody
bring a two liter. Last time we didn't have any
drinks for some reason. So everybody bring something
to drink and we'll set up a table for that and enjoy our time together. 22 years, can you believe it? Lord's good. Tom, we're going
to sing the hymn on the back of your bullet, so I'm going
to stand together. When oceans vast their depths
reveal, And moons have ceased to wane, The Lamb who died and
rose again On Zion's hills shall reign. His name shall evermore endure
when suns have ceased to shine. And through eternity the saints
will sing his praise. As countless as the drops of
dew or sands upon the shore. are blessings which the ransomed
have in Him forevermore. Let every other name recede,
His name alone extol. In Him reserved there is the
grace to satisfy my soul. Please be seated. At least three times in the scripture
that I can think of, the inability of mankind to get to God or mention
one is in Genesis. When God cast man out of the
garden and set a flaming sword upon it every which way, no access
to God. Free will is not going to get
you past that sword. Another time is whenever Father
Abraham spoke to the rich man. And he said a great gulf is fixed. Between you and us. Free will
is not going to get you across that gulf. And the third time is a mountain
that we can't get over. We do not have access to God
because we can't get over the mountain. It's in Exodus chapter
20. Exodus chapter 20 and verse 1. And God spake all these words,
saying, I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the
land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no
other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee
any graven image or any likeness of anything that is in the heavens
above or in the earth beneath or in the waters under the earth.
Thou shalt not bow down to them nor serve them, for I, the Lord
thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquities of the fathers
upon the children under the third and fourth generation of them
that hate me, and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love
me and keep my commandments. Thou shalt not take the name
of the Lord thy God in vain, For God will not hold him guiltless
that taketh his name in vain. Remember the Sabbath day to keep
it holy. Six days shalt thou labor and
do all thy work. But the seventh day is the Sabbath
of the Lord thy God. In it thou shalt not do any work. neither thou, nor thy son, nor
thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy
cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. For in six
days the Lord created heaven and earth, the sea and all that
in them is, and rested on the seventh day. Wherefore, God blessed
the Sabbath and hallowed it, Honor thy father and thy mother,
that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God
giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt
not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness
against thy neighbor. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's
house. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's
wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox,
nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's. Galatians
chapter 3 and verse 10. For as many as are under the
works of the law are under the curse As it is written, curse
it is every one that continue with not in all things that are
written in a book of this law for to do them. Free will cannot
keep the 10 commandments and God's not going to settle for
anything less. The only answer is Galatians
chapter four and verse four. When the fullness of the time
was come, God sent forth his son made of a woman made under
the law to redeem them that were under the law that we might receive
the adoption of sons. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
only way, the only truth, and the only life. There's no other
way to God except through him. Father, we thank you for grace,
Father. Grace to confess with our mouths
the Lord Jesus. Grace to believe in our heart
that you've raised him from the dead. Grace to believe, Father,
that the Lord Jesus Christ has done everything and there's nothing
we can do. Would ask father you'd be with
Greg as he brings the message this morning that you give him
a a spirit to speak father and give us an open heart father
and hearing ears and seeing eyes that that we might worship you
father in an acceptable manner. We ask these things in Jesus
name, Amen. Let's all stand together again.
We'll sing hymn number 44 from the Gospel Hymn Spiral hymn book,
number 44. Precious Savior, friend of sinners,
we as such to Thee draw near. Let Thy Spirit dwell within us
with that love that casts out fear. Matchless Savior, let us
know Thee, as the Lord our righteousness. Cause our hearts to cleave unto
Thee, come and with Thy presence bless. Open now thy precious
treasure, let thy word here freely flow. Give to us a gracious measure,
tis thyself we long to know. Come and claim us as thy portion. Let us all find rest in thee. Leave us not to empty notions. We would find our hope in thee. Please be seated. Leave us not to empty notions.
Let us find our all in thee. My ways are not your ways. My
thoughts are not your thoughts. As the heavens are high above
the earth, so are my thoughts above yours. Man wants to bring
his opinions, his thoughts, his ideas into the mix to hope to
find salvation. When God says no, the common
people heard him gladly. and they received his doctrine. His doctrine. We determine the
in your Bibles to Mark chapter 12. This is sort of a continuation
from the first hour. In the first hour we considered
how it is that the common people hear. How do they hear? They hear gladly. And they hear
exclusively whatever it is he says. They don't want to add
to it. and they don't want to take away
from it. Just tell me what God says. And the second question that
I want to ask is what exactly do the common people hear? What
is it that they hear? What is it that these Pharisees
and Herodians and scribes and Sadducees refused to hear? That the common people heard
gladly. You see in verse 13 of Mark chapter
12, and they sent unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians
to catch him in his words. How foolish, how foolish for
man to think that he can catch God in his words. Nothing's changed. The objections
that they had towards the Lord Jesus Christ, men still express. They express towards his people
and toward his church, toward his gospel. They still rest the
scriptures to their own destruction. They still refuse to believe
what God says. They still have this empty notion
that there's some contribution that they can make to their salvation. They refuse to be humbled. They
refuse to be stripped naked. They refuse to be made completely
dependent upon him for everything. And the Pharisees, the Herodians,
the Sadducees, the scribes are still among us. Now you know
that the Pharisees were the religious, right-wing religious zealots.
They hated Roman occupation. They considered the Romans to
be infidels that had invaded God's holy land. The Pharisees
actually traced their roots back to what was the rebellion against
the Syrians. back in the second century BC
and that rebellion was successful. It was the Maccabean Revolt and
so there the Pharisees' forefathers were successful in overthrowing
the infidel invaders into the Holy Land some 130 years prior
and now these Pharisees are convinced that they can do the same thing
with the Romans. They hated the Romans. What they didn't know is that
in that first rebellion it was the Syrians that had desecrated
the temple and now they were the ones who had desecrated the
temple. They were the ones that turned
the house of prayer into a den of thieves and God was not going
to be on their side now as he was in that first rebellion. They were indignant in paying
taxes to the Romans. They supported any insurrection
or any person who thought of a plan to overthrow the Romans. And so the Sadducees of Pharisees
now, along with the Herodians, now the Herodians were the left-wing
political opportunists. They were the Jewish sect that
the Romans had put in power. So the publicans, the tax collectors
that were so hated by the Jews, those were Herodians. So they
were on opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of their feelings
towards Roman occupation. The Herodians saw it as to their
advantage to be in good standing with the Romans because that's
where they got their power. Now what are you getting at,
preacher? Well, I just want to say that nothing's changed. Men
who are bitter enemies, that's what the Pharisees and Herodians
were, they are bitter enemies, will join hands against the gospel. That's exactly what they're doing
now. They bring this scenario before the Lord, hoping that
he will choose one side or the other. They bring to, they ask
him, look at verse 14. And when they were come, they
said unto him, Master, we know that thou art true. The enemies
of God always begin with flattery. They always begin with flattery.
I mean, the man I mentioned in the first hour that I was talking
to yesterday, he spent five minutes flattering me before he got to
his point. You know, I know that you're
committed to the Bible and I know you're uncompromising and I just
respect that and I'm so thankful for that." And then he turned
right around and denied the very truth of the gospel. Men always
start, don't be deceived by the flattery of the enemies of God. They said, Master, we know that
thou art true and carest for no man, and that thou regardest
not the persons of men, but teachest the way of God in truth. I had almost exactly those words
spoken to me yesterday. Is it lawful to give tribute
to Caesar or not? Now, remember, turn with me to
Nehemiah. show you. Ezra and Nehemiah. Nehemiah chapter 4. I just want you to see as believers
how at odds we are with everything in this world and how the enemies
of God who are by nature enemies of each other will join forces
in opposition against the gospel. They will. Nehemiah chapter 4 look at verse
6. Now Nehemiah brings the children
of Israel back from Babylonian captivity and He's rebuilding
the wall and rebuilding the temple and providing for the people
of Israel a place of worship. What a picture of what exactly
we're doing. We're building the walls. Walls
are for protection. There is a wall around the gospel.
And so we built the wall and all the walls were joined together
unto the half thereof For the people had a mind to work. I'm so thankful for that. God's
people always have a mind to work. Not to work for their salvation,
but to support the ministry of the gospel. They always have
a mind to work. Though they have to carry a sword
in one hand and a trowel in the other, just like Nehemiah's men
did. While they're building the wall, they're supporting the
truth of the gospel. They had a mind to work, but
it came to pass that when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabians and
the Amorites and the Asterites heard of the walls of Jerusalem
were made up and that the breaches began to be stopped. Now, what
are the breaches? You ever see, nobody minds if
you build a wall, just leave some breaches in it. Just leave
some holes in the wall so that we can come in and out when we
want. You know, a back door will be just fine. But don't shut
up all the holes. Don't put gates and bars on all
the breaches of the wall. That's what offended them. Nothing's
changed. That's what offends men of the
gospel today. This message is not a message to be debated.
It's not a message to be compromised. It's a message that has no breaches
whatsoever in the wall. And those men that we just, Sanballat
and Tobiah and the Amorites, they were all by nature enemies
of one another. But when they saw this wall going
up and they saw these breaches being closed, they were offended
by it. In verse 8, and conspired all
of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem and
to hinder it. Nevertheless, we made our prayers
unto our God and set a watch against them day and night because
of them. Now, Sam Ballad eventually ends
up sending Nehemiah a letter saying, come on down to the Valley
of Ono and let's find some common ground. Let's discuss this, what
you're doing. Surely, We all believe the same
thing. Surely we worship the same God.
Surely we can just agree to disagree on our differences and all get
along. And Nehemiah sent the same response back five times
in a row. They're not going to quit with
the first request. They're just going to keep trying to wear
you down. Surely, surely you're not going to be that narrow-minded,
are you? Surely you're not going to be that restrictive. And God
says, no, this is the truth. This is the way it is. The common
people will hear him gladly and bow to his doctrine. The Pharisees
and the Herodians, they joined hands against Christ. They thought, well, we'll catch
him. We'll ask him about this thing of paying taxes because
the Pharisees, remember, didn't want to pay taxes. The Herodians,
they wanted to pay taxes. So Look what happens. Go back with me to our text in
Mark chapter 12. These were the liberals and the conservatives.
These were the Armenians and the Calvinists. They all had
a works gospel. They all had a works gospel.
These were the right-wing fundamentalists and the Roman Catholics, the
Muslims and the Hindus, I promise you, you get a room full, if
each one of us was represented a different religion in this
world today, the message of the gospel would cause every person
in this room to join hands against Christ. They've all got something in
common. What is it that all religions have in common? Free will and good works. That's
what every religion of the world has in common. And when you tell
men that it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth,
but of God that showeth mercy, you tell men that they are dead
in their trespasses and sins, and unless God unilaterally,
sovereignly invades their hearts with the miracle of the new birth
and gives them eyes to see, they cannot and will not believe.
You tell men that all of their good works, all of their law
keeping have absolutely nothing to do with their acceptance before
God and they wait you for it. But that's the gospel. You tell
men that the Lord Jesus Christ has done everything, that he
bore all the sins of all of God's elect all by himself once and
for all and put them away. And that he gets all the glory
for salvation. Every religion of this world,
just like the Pharisees and the Herodians, just like Samballad
and Tobiah, just like it's always been, will stand up and join
hands in opposition against the gospel. That's how unique this
message is. And you know what that says to
me? Why me? Why me? Why would you allow me to hear
the truth? Why would you cause me to be
so common that I could receive the Word of God with gladness
and be made? Now who maketh thee to differ? We're not in any way suggesting.
Here's the flattery too. Here's the hypocrisy. The Lord's
going to point out their hypocrisy. Look what he says. Should we pay taxes or not? Or
shall we give or shall we not give? But he knowing their hypocrisy. Their hypocrisy. Men accuse us
of being proud. In fact, they're the ones that
are proud. Romans chapter 12 verse 1 says,
you who judge another are guilty of the very same thing that you
judge another for. And they call us a cult. They say that we're twisting
the scriptures. They say that we're mean spirited.
They say that we're intolerant. All of these things are exactly
true of themselves. The Lord calls out their hypocrisy. The Lord said, bring me a penny. In verse 16, they brought it
and he said unto them, whose is the image and the inscription?
And they said unto him, Caesar's. And Jesus answered and said unto
them, render to Caesar the things that are Caesar and unto God. the things that are God's. Now, what is it that the common
people hear? Now, I have four points to this
message. I'll go through them quickly. The first one has to
do with responsibility, with responsibility. Render unto Caesar
the things that are Caesar's and unto God the things that
are God. The Lord's given us as common
folk He's given us the command to pray. 2 Timothy 4, chapter
2, verse 1, pray for kings and for those that are in authority
that you might live quiet and peaceable lives in this world.
That's what we're to render under Caesar. We're to render under
Caesar our prayers, our prayers, asking God for his mercy on the
leaders that he's put in place of authority. Second, we're to
give honor unto them unto honor is due. What is it that we're
to render unto Caesar? What is it that the common people
hear when they hear the Word of God gladly? The Lord Jesus
Christ said, render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's. We're to pray for them. Jude
chapter...Jude verse 8 Scripture the Lord is speaking of false
prophets and he says of those props false prophets they despise
They despise Dominion and speak evil of dignities Now if that's
true of the false prophet, I don't want to be guilty of that. I
Don't want to be guilty of despising those whom God has given authority
to And Romans chapter 13 makes it clear that every governing
authority in this world was placed there by God, and to rebel against
a governing authority is to rebel against God. What is it that
the common people hear gladly? They tried to catch the Lord
in this situation where they were hoping that He would that
he would stumble, that he would somehow give one side or the
other some ammunition to use against him, and the Lord said,
no, you rend under siege the things that are seizures. You
pray for those in authority. You give honor to them that are
in authority. Don't speak evil of dignities, and don't rebel
against authority, because every governing authority was placed
there by God. May God cause all of us to have that kind of spirit
towards the governing authorities. I know I've said this to you
before, we've got young parents raising children, and I know
from experience that raising children is a difficult thing.
There's a lot of challenges to raising children, but I want
to tell you as your pastor, three most important things to do for
your children. Very simple, very simple. Number
one, always have them under the sound of the gospel. Number two,
teach them to respect authority. Number three, teach them to accept
responsibility for their actions. If you can instill those three
things with your children, they'll be fine. They'll be fine. Teach them to respect authority
and teach them to accept responsibility for their own actions. You know, we worry about, well,
what am I going to do to educate them, and what am I going to
do to provide for them, and all these other things that we spend
so much time worrying about. But those, you see, if they never
respect authority, they're not going to bow to God. And if they
don't accept responsibility for their actions, they're never
going to see themselves as sinners, as long as it's somebody else's
fault. As long as they've got a victim mentality about life,
then that's, you know, that's why that's so important. Now,
what is the Lord saying here? What is he saying to us? Render unto Caesar that which
is Caesar's and unto God that which is God's. Now the same
three points are true in our relationship with God except
in praying for him we pray to him. We pray to him and we honor
him. We worship him. We bow in submission
to him and we obey him. We obey Him. We do what God has said. Romans chapter 12 verse 1, I
beseech you therefore brethren that you present yourselves a
living sacrifice unto God which is your reasonable service and
be not conformed to this world. Don't be pressed into the mold
of this world but rather be transformed by the renewing of your mind
in Christ Jesus, then you shall know what the good and acceptable
will of God is. So these three things, that's
what the Lord is saying. What is it that the common people
hear? They hear that they have a responsibility
before God. A responsibility to render unto
Caesar that which is Caesar's and unto God that which is God's. The second thing they hear is
they hear about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now
the Sadducees did not believe in life after death. They didn't
believe in angels, they believed that this world was all there
was and that there were no spiritual powers outside of this world. And so the Sadducees, look at
verse 18, then came unto him the Sadducees which say there
is no resurrection and they ask him say, Master, Moses wrote
unto us, if a man's brother died, we should leave his wife behind
and shall leave his wife behind and leave no children, that his
brother should take his wife and raise up seed unto his brother,
that the family, that was the law, that the family name would
not die out with the death of this man who didn't have children.
Now there were seven brothers that first took a wife and died
and left no seed. And the second took her and died
and they had no seed anyway, and verse 22, and the seven had
her and left no seed. Last of all, the woman died also. In the resurrection therefore,
when they shall rise, whose wife shall she be of them? For the
seven had her to wife, and Jesus answered and said unto them,
Do you not therefore err, because you know not the scriptures,
neither the power of God? These Sadducees were trying to
present the Lord with a impossible scenario to prove that there
was no resurrection. And the Lord says to them, you
do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. You have
a form of godliness, but you've denied the power thereof. The
power of godliness is the Lord Jesus Christ. You've denied me. When Martha said, Lord, I know
that my brother shall rise in the resurrection, the Lord said,
Martha, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth
in me though he die, yet shall he live. Here's what every common
man hears when they are glad to hear the word of God. There
is a resurrection from the dead and the Lord Jesus Christ has
secured it once and for all by the sacrifice of himself. That's
my hope. My hope is not my next vacation
or my next car, my next home or retirement or anything else
in this world. My hope is the resurrection. My hope is to be made like him. My hope is to see him as he is. My hope is that this mortal body
is going to be made immortal, that this corruptible body is
going to be made incorruptible. That's what the common people
hear. Now that's important because
if you listen to the message of religion today, it's all about
how to have a better experience in this world. That's what it's
all about. All about how to live a better
life and how to be a better person and how to be happier and how
to, you know, it's all about this world. The common people, the common
people heard him and were glad. Were glad. Oh, Lord, sustain
me through whatever you've ordained for me in this world. But my
hope, my hope is in the resurrection. My hope is in the life that is
to come. The message of man-made religion
is to try to teach men how to live. The message of the gospel
is to prepare men to die. Prepare men to die. And only
when you are prepared to die do you have any understanding
about how you ought to live. So what is it that the common
people hear and are glad for? They don't err. They don't err
in not understanding the scriptures. They don't err in denying the
power of God. They believe. They believe that
the Lord Jesus Christ is the hope of their eternal life. Look what he goes on to say. Verse 25, for when they shall
rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage,
but are as the angels which are in heaven. And as touching the
dead, they that rise, have you not heard in the book of Moses
how in the bush God spoke unto him, saying, I am the God of
Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is not the
God of the dead, but the God of the living. You, therefore,
do greatly err." When God spoke to Moses at the burning bush,
he identified himself as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob. Abraham and Isaac and Jacob had
been dead a long time. What was the Lord saying to Moses?
They were mine. They're not dead. I'm the God
of the living, not the God of the dead. And those who die in
Christ, though they die, yet shall they live. There's my hope. The common people heard Him gladly
because they know that death is not the end, it's the beginning. It's the beginning. Verse 28, What is it that the common people
hear and are glad for? They hear about what God calls
them to do in terms of rendering unto God the things that are
God's. Worship, prayer, submission,
dependence, and rendering unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's.
That's my responsibilities in this world. are glad in that they hear the
message of the resurrection. Oh, we don't have much time left
here. You all know that. It's just
a few more days. Just a few more days. I've said
that to many people over the years. Oh, don't talk like that.
Oh, that's my hope. That's my hope. It's the hope
of dying that's kept me alive this long. The common people hear the message
of the resurrection gladly. The Lord Jesus Christ has conquered
death. He's conquered the grave. He's
the firstborn among many brethren. The common people are glad for
that. Lord, you mean there's a deliverance from this? Yeah.
Yeah. No more tears. No more sorrow. No more sin. Oh, what hope might God enable
us to set our affections on things above where Christ is seated
at the right hand of God and not on the things of this earth. The Sadducees were bound to the
things of this earth. They didn't believe in the resurrection.
God just said it. They didn't believe in the resurrection. Thirdly, Common people hear gladly about
the miracle of the new birth. Look at verse 28. And one of
the scribes came, and having heard him reason together and
perceived that he had answered them well, asked him, which is
the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered and said,
the first commandment of all is hear, O Israel, the Lord thy
God is one God. That was the Shema from Deuteronomy
chapter six. This was the, this was the, the
Old Testament, John 3.16, if you will, but they just, the
Lord thy God is one God. Here's what our Lord's saying.
Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, and thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul
and with all thy mind and with all thy strength. This is the
first commandment. And what's implied in that is
all the time. This is the summary of the first
four Commandments, Robert, that you just read. And the Lord Jesus
Christ, the only one who satisfied the demands of God's law, he's
the only one that loved the Lord his Father with all of his heart
and all of his mind and all of his soul and all of his strength
all the time. And that's what God requires. And so this scribe
who's a lawyer, that's what scribes were. Scribes were lawyers. The
Herodians were the political men. The Pharisees were the religious
white ringers. The Sadducees were the liberals.
the liberal religious people. They're all gathering together
against the Lord. They're all trying to catch him
in his words. They're all trying to twist him. And the common
people heard him gladly. And he says to them, here's the
law. And the second is like unto it,
namely thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none of
the commandment greater than these. And that's love do with
no harm. We love our brethren and our
neighbors. We're not going to do harm to
them. And when the scribe said to him, well, master, thou hast
said the truth. As if the Lord needed the affirmation
of this lawyer. But he says, thou has said the
truth and there is one God and there is none other but he and
to love him with all thy heart and with all thy understanding,
with all thy soul and with all thy strength and to love his
neighbor as himself is more than the whole of the burnt offering
and sacrifice. Yeah. And Jesus saw that he answered
discreetly and said unto him, thou art not far from the kingdom
of God. If you die not far from the kingdom
of God, you will die outside of Christ. You see, it doesn't
matter if you're a million miles from the kingdom of God or if
you're right at the doorstep of the kingdom of God. If you're
not in the kingdom of God, you're outside the kingdom of God. What was this man lacking? What
was he lacking? He was lacking the same exact
thing that Nicodemus was lacking. When Nicodemus wanted to commend
the Lord, Lord, we know that thou have been son of God, for
no man can do the things that thou doest, except God be with
him. The Lord cut right to the chase. The Lord said, Nicodemus,
you can't see the kingdom of God, except you be born again. You've got to be born from above.
The spirit of God has to open the eyes of you. Understand the
spirit of God has to give you a new heart. The spirit of God
has to cause you to believe. Nicodemus still thinking fleshly.
The Lord said, Nicodemus, I'm not talking about a physical
birth. No, you can't go back into your mother's womb. That's
ridiculous. That which is of the flesh is flesh. The flesh
profiteth nothing. But that which is the spirit,
the spirit giveth life. And the spirit's like the wind.
He listeth with us whoever he wills. You don't know where he's
coming from or where he's going. But you're completely dependent
upon him. This man was close to the kingdom of God. I fear
that there's some who have heard the message of the gospel who
are close. You know the doctrine, you know
the truth, you know you can answer some biblical questions. We've
got folks here that know more than my seminary professors ever
thought about knowing, who have not been born again. So what can I do about that?
Ask the Lord to save you. Lord, I need life. Lord, cause
me to come unto Thee. And the evidence of that will
be your desire to profess Him publicly in baptism and to follow
after Him, to believe on Him. The Lord tells us to believe
and to be baptized. These common folk rejoiced in
hearing that there was such a thing as a new birth. Lord, I rejoice
in knowing that I can't get to God by keeping the law. The only
way I can get to God is by coming to Christ. And the spirit and
the bride say, come, come. your warrant for coming to Christ
is God's command to say come, come. And the common people heard
him gladly and they rejoiced at his doctrine. And finally, my last point, look
at verse 35. And Jesus answered and said,
while he taught in the temple, how say the scribes that Christ
is the son of David? For David himself said by the
Holy Ghost, the Lord said to my Lord, sit thou at my right
hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool. David therefore
himself called him Lord. From whence is he then his son? You see, if you ask the Pharisees
whose son is the Christ they would say was the son of David
and the Lord saying well then why did David call him Lord?
No man ever calls his son Lord. He's the son of David only according
to the flesh. But according to the Spirit he's
the son of God. He was born in the lineage of
David. Here's what God's people The common folk hear gladly and
rejoice over the revelation that the Lord Jesus Christ is the
Christ, the son of the living God. They believe on him with
all their hearts and all their minds and all their souls all
the time. Now, every child of God knows
without any shadow of a doubt that Christ satisfied all the
demands of all of God's law for all of God's people. There's
no question in their mind about it. And every child of God wonders
from time to time, did he die for me? Assurance of salvation does not
come from wondering whether he died for you. It doesn't. It doesn't. When I look to Christ, the dove
of peace flies into my heart. When I look for the dove of peace,
he flies away. The peace of God that passes
understanding only comes by keeping your heart and mind on the Lord
Jesus Christ. Not by trying to figure out,
am I saved? Or did Christ die for me? Or anything else about you? Salvation is not dependent upon
what you think about yourself. It's dependent upon what you
think about Christ. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou
shalt be saved. The common people, the folks
who could not find anything in themselves, in their experiences,
in their feelings, in their works, they could not find anything
in themselves to give them any hope of salvation. The common
people heard Him gladly because they heard that He was the Christ,
the Son of the Living God. David called Him Lord and they
called Him Lord. They heard about the revelation
of the Lord Jesus Christ and they believed on him. Are you common? Are you common enough to hear
the word of God, to receive his doctrine gladly? Lots of folks in this world,
like the Sadducees, like the Pharisees, like the scribes,
like the Herodians, twisting the word of God. They'll say,
when you hear the gospel, they'll say, well, doesn't the Bible
say, whosoever will? Doesn't the Bible say that God
loves everybody? Doesn't the Bible say that God
Christ died for everybody? They'll twist the word of God
to their own justification and destruction. The common people
heard Him gladly and rejoiced. Our merciful Heavenly Father,
we are thankful for Your Word and oh how we hope that You would
cause us, Lord, to come unto Thee and to hear Thy Word with
gladness. For we ask it in Christ's name,
amen. We're going to absorb the Lord's
table, so I'm going to ask the men if they'll come now and distribute
the bread and the wine. Just remain seated and we'll
sing hymn number 17 in the Spiral Gospel Hymns hymn book, In Remembrance
of Christ. See the table spread before you,
see the feast of bread and wine. These are symbols of our Savior,
tokens of His love divine. Bread that's broken is his body,
crushed beneath the wrath of God. Wine poured out is a reminder
of our Savior's precious blood. Children of our God, remember
how he bought your soul and mine. In remembrance of our Savior,
eat the bread and drink the wine. Jesus came, the God incarnate,
to fulfill God's holy law. On the cross he made atonement
and retrieved us from the fall. Let us never forget the promise
Jesus made to come again. Soon he comes, our King, to call
us home to glory. Praise his name. With this hope
and expectation, we rejoice to keep this feast, celebrating
our redemption till we lean on Jesus' breast. The more we try to find something
in ourselves to give us confidence, the less confidence we have.
The more we're able to look to the sinless life of the Lord
Jesus Christ for all our righteousness. That's what this bread is. It
represents the unleavened life, the perfect life. That's what
God requires. He requires absolute perfection. And by taking this bread, we're
saying that we're trusting the righteousness of the Lord Jesus
Christ, trusting Christ himself for all our righteousness before
God. That's when the Lord said, do this in remembrance of me. Lord said, I'll not drink of
this cup again until I enter into my kingdom. He's talking
about that wedding feast that he's going to enjoy with his
bride when she's all gathered together with him in glory. And
what a day that'll be. His blood was shed as a covering
for the sins of God's people. God's not looking to our efforts.
He's not looking to our righteousness. He's not looking to anything
in us. He's looking to that shed blood, and he said, when I see
the blood, I'll pass by you. Without the shedding of blood,
there's no remission of sins. The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ,
put on the mercy seat. You remember when the Lord told
Aaron, he said, go in there, all the holies of holies, and
put that blood on the mercy seat, and here I will meet with you. Same thing's true. He meets with
us at the shedding of the precious blood. of the Lord Jesus Christ,
do this in remembrance of me." And all God's people said, amen,
amen. Let's stand together. Brother
Brian, would you dismiss us please in prayer? Father, we're so grateful
that you give us an opportunity to come to a place where we can
hear the crux