Let's open tonight's service
with hymn number 70 from our hardback hymnal. Hymn number
70. 7-0. Holy, holy, holy. Let's all stand. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty. Early in the morning our song
shall rise to Thee. Holy, holy, holy, merciful and
mighty, God in three persons, blessed Trinity. Holy, holy, holy, all the saints
adore thee, casting down their golden crowns around the glassy
sea. Cherubim and Seraphim falling
down before thee, which wert and art and evermore shall be. Holy, holy, holy, though the
darkness hide thee, though the eye of sinful man thy glory may
not see. Only Thou art holy, there is
none beside Thee, perfect in power, in love and purity. Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty
All thy works shall praise thy name In earth and sky and sea
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty, God in three persons,
blessed Trinity. Please be seated. Good evening. I had planned to
read a passage from Matthew chapter 11 for our call to worship tonight,
but I'll save that for a point I want to make in the message.
If you'll open your Bibles with me to Isaiah chapter 6. Isaiah
chapter 6. In light of that hymn that we just
sang, I'm sure that this passage of scripture inspired the hymn
writer to write that hymn and only God's people really believe
that the Lord is holy. Other men have taken him off
his throne and made him to be like themselves. That's what
the scripture says. You thought that I was altogether
as thyself. Holiness is other than we are. There's nothing in him that's like us.
In the year that King Uzziah died, Isaiah went to church desperate
for the Lord's blessings. That's why we come, isn't it?
We come here in hopes that the Lord will speak. Uzziah, king
of Israel, died shamefully and Isaiah feared that the Lord had
taken his hand completely off of Israel. So in the year the
king Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord. I love the way the
Lord put also in there. I know that Uzziah died in shame. I know that we deserve the judgment
of God, but I saw also the Lord and he was high and lifted up.
John chapter 12 makes it clear that the one that Isaiah saw
was the Lord Jesus Christ sitting upon his throne, high and lifted
up, and his train filled the temple. Wasn't anything, wasn't
any room in the temple for anything other than him. He filled up
the temple. Above it stood the seraphim,
each one had six wings, with twain they covered their face,
and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. Even these seraphims, these sinless
angels, had to cover their eyes in his presence. They were shamed
of their creatureness in covering their feet, and their only desire
was to serve him. And one cried unto another and
said, holy, holy, holy. No other attribute of our God
is repeated three times except for his holiness. No place in
the Bible does it say that he's love, love, love, or mercy, mercy,
mercy, or power. Holy, holy, holy, holy is the
Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his
glory. And the post of the door moved at the voice of him that
cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, how
do you know if you've seen his holiness? As you say the same
thing Isaiah said, woe is me, I'm undone. I'm a man of unclean
lips, I live among a people of unclean lips. My eyes have seen
the king, I'm a dead man. I'm not worthy of him in any
way. It's exactly what Job said, isn't
it? Behold, I am vile. And Daniel,
we've been studying Daniel, my comeliness was turned in me into
corruption. What would Peter say? Depart
from me, Lord, I'm a sinful man. Thankful that the Lord didn't
answer that prayer. Didn't depart from him. We want to go to the
Lord in prayer now. Phil Weishi is in the Veterans
Hospital down at Lake Nona, has pancreatitis and is in a lot
of pain. So I want to pray for Phil. You
go home. And recovering, doing better,
all the bleeding stopped. Deanna and Robert, you know how
much they love being here and wanted to be here tonight. Deanna's
not well. She's sick, so they're there
at home. So I want to pray for Phil and Deanna. Let's pray together. Our gracious and merciful Heavenly
Father, in light of Thy holiness, we're
so very thankful that we can come into Thy presence in the
name of Thy dear Son, knowing that we have acceptance in Him,
knowing that He is all our righteousness and all of our acceptance before
Thee. We ask Lord that you would enable
us this hour to set our affections on him. We pray that you would
comfort our hearts with your grace and pray for your mercy. Pray Lord that we would get a
glimpse of your holiness and find ourselves in worship. Lord, we do pray for Our brother
Phil, we ask for your hand of strength and healing to be upon
him. We pray that you would comfort his heart and. Pray Lord for the physicians
and nurses that minister to him and ask you give them wisdom.
Return him in his full strength to us and. Lord, we pray for. For dear Deanna and thank you
for her and ask Lord for your comfort and your strength and
your healing to be upon her. We pray it in Christ's name.
Amen. Let's stand together again. We'll
sing hymn number 224. 224 from the hardback hymnal. I know not why God's wondrous
grace To me he hath made known, Nor why unworthy Christ in love
Redeemed me for his own. But I know whom I have believed
and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed
unto Him against that day. I know not how this saving faith
to me he did impart, nor how believing in his word brought
peace within my heart. But I know whom I have believed
and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed
unto him against that day. I know not how the Spirit moves,
convincing men of sin, revealing Jesus through the Word, creating
faith in Him. But I know whom I have believed
and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I've committed
unto Him against that day. I know not what of good or ill
may be reserved for me. Of weary ways or golden days
before his face I see. But I know whom I have believed
and am persuaded that he is able to to keep that which I've committed
unto Him against that day. I know not when my Lord may come
at night or noonday fair, nor if I'll walk the veil with Him
or meet Him in the air. But I know whom I have believed
and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed
unto him against that day. Please be seated. If you'd like
to open your Bibles with me to Psalm 34. Psalm 34. The message of Psalm 34 is for
those who are poor and needy to come to Christ. That's the
message of the Bible, isn't it? That's the message of the gospel.
The Lord, when he began his public ministry quoted from Isaiah chapter
61 when he said, the spirit of the Lord is upon me. I am the anointed one, I'm the
Christ. He has anointed me to do what? To preach good news
to the poor. Those who don't have anything,
there's a good word from God for the poor to heal the brokenhearted
to preach deliverance to the captive, those who are held captive
by sin, to preach the message of deliverance, the recovery
of sight to the blind, those who can't see, those who don't
know God, those who don't know the truth, to open the eyes of
their understanding and to enable them to see God for who He is,
to see themselves for who they are, and to see how it is that
God's pleased to save sinners. That's what the Lord Jesus Christ
came to do, to set at liberty them which are bruised, and to
preach the acceptable year of the Lord." Now, the acceptable
year of the Lord was the year of Jubilee. Every fiftieth year,
the Jews were to give all the slaves their freedom,
cancel all debt, and return all the property that had been lost
back to its original owner. That's the year of Jubilee. And
that's what the Lord came to do, isn't it? He came to set
all slaves free. He came to cancel that debt that
we owe God. And he came to return to us,
oh, so much better than that which was lost by our father
Adam. Psalm 34 is for those that are
poor and those that are needy to come in faith to the Lord
Jesus Christ. The passage I was going to read
for our call to worship is found in Matthew chapter 11. And at
that time, verse 25, Jesus answered and said, I thank Thee, O Father,
that Thou hast hid these things from the wise and the prudent. Who are the wise and the prudent?
Well, those are the ones who aren't poor and needy. Those
are the ones that have got it together. Those are the ones
who think they don't need God. And those are the ones that the
gospel's not for. Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast hid these
things from the wise and the prudent and revealed them unto
babes. Even so, Father, it seemed good
in Thy sight. That's who the gospel's for.
The gospel's not for the wise. It's not for the self-righteous.
It's not for the prudent. It's for those who are poor and
needy. And then the Lord went on in
that same passage in Matthew chapter 11 to say, all things
are delivered unto me of my father. And no man knoweth the son, but
the father. And no man knoweth the father,
but the son. And to them whom he reveals them. Now, Psalm 54 is all about knowing
God. and some 34 I'm sorry and the
only thing that we're ever gonna know about God is in Christ is
in Christ our God is a consuming fire you
remember when Moses was on Mount Sinai and he said Lord I wanna
see your glory you remember what the Lord said no man can see
my face and live that hasn't changed God the Father if we
are going to know Him we are going to know Him through His
Son and only through His Son. And everything that we see when
the Lord Jesus Christ said, I and the Father are one. If you have
seen me you have seen the Father. Everything we are ever going
to know about God we are going to learn it in the person and
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so the Lord says, all things
are delivered unto me. Everything is mine. I have the
right to distribute it as I will. And then he goes on to say, come
unto me, all ye that labor, all ye that labor and are heavy laden.
A lot of folks laboring in this world, but not very many people
are heavy laden. Now that means that my labor
has gotten to where it has broken me. I've labored and I've labored
and I've labored. I can't labor anymore. I'm broken. That's who the gospel's for.
Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden. I will give
you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn
in me for I am meek and lowly in heart and you shall find rest
for your soul. The only hope that we have for
rest, the only hope that we have for peace with God is to come
to the Lord Jesus Christ, looking unto Him who is the author and
the finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before
Him endured the cross, suffering its shame. We come to Christ,
don't we? My yoke is easy. My burden is
light. The Lord Jesus Christ has bore
the burden of God's wrath for all the sins of all of God's
people. The fire's been quenched. His yoke is easy. Oh, he makes
us willing in the day of his power. He causes us to delight
to get in the yoke with him, doesn't he? Turn with me to Hebrews chapter
12. We're going to get to our passage here in Psalm 34 in just
a moment. This all, all this fits so beautifully
together and it really is not an oversimplification to say
that the point of every gospel message is to look to Christ. Look to Him. Look to Him for
all of your righteousness before God Look to Him for all the hope
of your justification before God. Look to Him for everything
that there is to be known about God. Look to Him for your sanctification. Look to Him for your acceptance. Look to Him for your adoption
and for all your redemption before God. Look to Him for your wisdom. Look what Paul tells us in Hebrews
chapter 12 at verse 1. Wherefore, seeing that we also
are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, and you
know what Hebrews chapter 11's about, about those Old Testament
saints who were looking to Christ. They were looking to the promised
Messiah. How much more light we have than they had. Let us
lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset
us. The sin that does so easily beset
us is the same sin for every one of us. It's the sin of unbelief. It's the sin of looking away
from Christ. It's the opposite of looking
to Christ. Looking to our own works, looking
to our own devices, looking to something other than the Lord
Jesus Christ for the hope of our salvation or for our abilities
in any way. It's unbelief. Lay aside the
weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us
run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto
Jesus the author. That means that he's the one
who ordained our salvation in the beginning. He's called the
Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the
last. It was the Lord Jesus Christ that entered into a covenant
with the Father and ordained the salvation of his people.
And he's called the lamb that was slain before the foundation
of the world. So we're found in Christ before Adam ever sinned. He's the author and the finisher
of our salvation. He's going to bring it to fruition.
And he did finish it, didn't he? When he bowed his head on
Calvary's cross and he said, it's finished. Everything necessary
for the salvation of God's people was accomplished. in the life
and death of the Lord Jesus Christ. And now he sent his spirit to
make us willing, cause us to believe the author and the finisher of
our faith. He's not going to leave one of
his sheep behind, isn't he? Not one child left behind. Wasn't
that a campaign Our president had for our school system some
years ago. I think if we talk to some teachers,
we'll find a lot of children were left behind. But our father's
not going to leave any child behind, not a single one. He's
the author and the finisher of our faith. Who for the joy that
was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and
is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. He ascended
back into glory, took with Him the names of those that He lived
and died for, and He is interceding for them right now, isn't He?
He's seated. He took His rightful place, seated. Why is He seated? Because He's
finished. He's finished. The work of redemption
is accomplished. That's why He said, come to Me.
You that labor, you that are heavy laden, I'll give you rest. My yoke is easy, my burden is
light. Learn of me. Learn who I am and
learn what I've done. For consider him that endured
such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest you be
wearied and faint in your minds." Do you get weary? Do you faint? Do you think, oh, the world's
going to overcome me? Sin's going to overcome me? What's he say? Look to Him. Look
to Him. He endured the contradiction
of sinners. And if we're in Him, then we
have the hope of knowing that we are every one of God's people. You know, in religion, men talk
about overcomers, you know, as if There's a certainly elite
group of Christians that are really overcomers. The truth
is that everyone that's in Christ is an overcomer. He overcame. In this world you shall have
tribulation, but be of good cheer. I've overcome the world. Would
those of us, those that are in Christ, have the hope of knowing
that they've overcome? Looking to Him in faith. You've not resisted yet under
blood striving against sin. Haven't done that yet, have we?
All right, turn with me to Psalm 34. David said in Psalm 32 verse
7, for thou art my hiding place. Thou shalt preserve me from trouble. Thou shalt come pass me about
with songs of deliverance. The Lord Jesus Christ is our
hiding place. Just like God had to hide Moses
in the cleft of the rock in order for his backside to pass by,
Nor for Moses to have any knowledge of God at all. Moses had to be
hitting a rock, didn't he? The Lord said, there's a place
near unto me. Christ is that place. He puts
us in Christ. Now, notice in the title of Psalm
34, a Psalm of David when he changed his behavior before Abimelech
who drove him away and he departed. Now in 1st Samuel chapter 21
we have the story of David fleeing from Saul, fleeing for his life. He's got
a few hundred men with him He stops by and they're hungry and
Ahimelech, the priest, all he has is the showbread and he also
has Goliath's sword. And David says, he says, the
king has sent me on a mission with these men and we're hungry.
And he gets the showbread, he eats the bread and he said, do
you have a sword? And Ahimelech said, he said,
the only sword I have is Goliath's sword. the giant that you slew. It's wrapped in fabric and it's
behind the altar. And David said, there's no sword
like that sword. It was Goliath's own sword that
he used, that David used to take the head off of Goliath, wasn't
it? What does the sword represent in the scriptures? Sword of the
spirit, which is the word of God. David wielded that sword
the rest of his life. That was his weapon, Goliath's
sword. He said, give it to me. There
is no sword like that sword. And so it is with the word of
God, isn't it? Give it to me. There's no sword
like that sword. Nobody's got a word like God's
word. Lord, speak to me. Reveal to me the glory of Christ. Comfort my heart with the truth
of the gospel. There's no sword like this sword
to be had. And David leaves Ahithophel and
he goes to Gath where Saul's from. He's got Saul's sword.
He's got his men with him. He goes to Gath and the men of
Gath say, this is David. Is he not the one that the children
of Israel have made to be king? Is he not the one that the children
of Israel sing Saul hath slain his thousands, but David his
tens of thousands. And David realized that the men
of Gath were going to kill him and his men. And they were greatly outnumbered.
And so the scripture says that David... Well, turn to me. Let's read the few verses here. 1 Samuel chapter 21. You see in verse nine, the end
of verse nine, David said, there's none like that, give it me. There's
no sword like that sword, give it to me. Oh, that the Lord will
put that desire in our hearts. There's no sword like that sword,
give it to me. That's why we're here tonight,
isn't it? I don't have any words for myself. I don't have any
words for you. The world doesn't have any words
of comfort for us. But oh, when God speaks, when
God speaks, God's people are comforted. And David arose, verse 10, and
fled that day for fear of Saul and went to Achish the king of
Gath. And the servants of Achish said
unto him, Is not this David? the king of the land, and did
not they sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul
hath slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands?
And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid
of Achish the king of Gath, and he changed his behavior before
them, and feigned himself to be mad in their hands, and scrabbled
at the doors of the gate, and let his fiddle fall upon his
beard. Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, you see the
man is mad. Wherefore then have ye brought
him to me? Have I need of a madman, that
you have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my
house? David changed his behavior, feigned himself, to be something
that he wasn't. And Achish, the king of Gath,
this guy is no threat, showed no interest in him. Now notice
what happens in the next chapter. And David therefore departed
thence, and escaped to the cave of Adullam. And when his brethren
in all his father's house heard it, they went down thither to
him. Now look at verse 2. and everyone
that was in distress. Now, you know David represents
the Lord Jesus Christ in all these stories. All those who
were in distress, all those who had no place else to go. This
word means to be stuck between a rock and a hard place. I've
got no place else to go. And when the Lord puts us Before him, when he reveals to
us our sin, we've got no place else to go, do we? Lord, where
can we go? You alone have the words of eternal
life. There's no sword like the sword that you have. The only
hope that I have, Lord, is for you to save me. And so all those
who were in distress and everyone that was in debt, So all the people of Israel that
were in distress, they were stuck, they had no place else to go.
David was their only option. How many times we've seen this?
Coming to Christ is not a choice. Coming to Christ is what God's
elect do when He shuts them up to Himself. He puts them in the
distress of their own sin and their own circumstances. They've
got no place else. And all those who were in debt,
oh, what a debt we owe God. What a debt. We owe a debt we
can't pay, don't we? And everyone that was discontented. Now, you remember when Naomi
brought Ruth back from Moab and she entered into Bethlehem and
the people that knew her from before, they said, Is that Naomi? And Naomi's response was, don't
call me Naomi. I mean, her whole countenance
had changed. She had lost her sons. She had
lost her husband. She had lived how many years
in Moab among the pagans? And now she comes back a spent,
wore out woman. And they said, is that Naomi?
and Naomi said, don't call me Naomi, call me Mara for God hath
dealt bitterly with me. Mara is the word here for discontent. So all those who are stuck, they've
got no place else to go. All those who have a debt they
can't pay, And all those who have bitterness of soul. Lord,
if you don't sweeten my heart, my sin has done nothing but made
me bitter. Call me Mara. I've been living
in Moab. I've been living among the pagans.
I've lost everything. And that's when she met her kinsman
redeemer, isn't it? All right, Psalm 34. I will bless
the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually
be in my mouth. Now, here's the truth. David
was in a great trial. He was in gath among the enemies.
Saul was pursuing him. He had Goliath's sword. That's all he had. He had the
Word of God. And he had to change his behavior,
make himself out to be a madman to save his life and to save
the lives of his other men. And that's when he wrote this
song. And the point that I'm trying
to make is that the greater the trial, the greater the grace. The greater the trial. When do
you show the most affection and attention for your children? When they're in deep trouble,
deep trouble, they get your undivided attention, don't they? And if
you, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children,
how much more will you, heavenly Father, give good gifts unto
them that call upon Him? Oh, when sin abounds, grace does
much more bound. When the bitterness of soul gets
great, when you get stuck and there's no place else to go,
when the debt is just overwhelming, the greater the trial, the greater
the need, the greater the grace. I wonder sometimes, do I have
dying grace? Do I have dying grace? And then
I realize, when it's time, I will. I don't need it right now. Don't
need it right now. But God gives the greatest need
that you and I are going to have is when we pass from this world
into the next, isn't it? And the greater God gives hope,
there will never be more of a sense of God's love, of His grace or
His presence than in the day of our death. You remember when Paul and Silas
were arrested in Philippi? They'd been beaten and chained
to a Roman dungeon? And what did we find them doing?
Great trial, great trouble, just like David. Just like David.
David begins this psalm in the midst of this great trouble that
he's in. Just like Isaiah. That's why
I wanted to read Isaiah chapter 6, in the year that King Uzziah
died. Just like when the Lord said
in Matthew chapter 11, all those who are laboring, heavy burdened,
coming to me, coming to me. See, the gospel really is for
the poor and the needy, isn't it? And the greater the trial, the
greater the grace. When was the Lord nearest to
Stephen? When Stephen was sitting at the
table eating with the Lord when he was here in the flesh or when
the stones were being hurled at him and he looked up into
heaven and he saw his face in the last moments of his life.
The greater the trial, the greater the grace. The Lord sees the
situation that his children are in. When did When did Mary and
Martha see the Lord's glory more than ever before? When they lost
their brother Lazarus and they thought, Lord, if you'd been
here, he wouldn't have died. Martha, I am the resurrection
and the life. He that believeth in me shall
never die. Lazarus, come forth. Oh. They saw the glory of Christ
in their greatest, darkest hour, didn't they? So it is for each one of us. I will bless the Lord at all
times. His praise shall continually
be in my mouth. Verse two, my soul shall make
her boast in the Lord. The humble shall hear thereof
and be glad. David's not on a mountaintop
experience of ease and comfort when he's writing this song.
He's in the midst of a great, great trial. Having to act like
a madman in order to escape the enemy of the King of Gath, Achish,
the King of Gath. Oh, magnify the Lord with me
and let us exalt his name together. There it is. I sought the Lord
and he heard me and delivered me from all my fears. The only
time we're going to seek the Lord is when we're afraid. That's when we're in trouble. And he said, David said, when
I sought Him, He delivered me from all my fears. I came to
preach the gospel to the poor, to deliver the captive, to set
free those that are in prison. He didn't He said, the well don't need
a physician. The well don't need a physician.
Know what the Lord said to the Pharisees? Verse 5, they looked unto him
and were lightened and their faces were not ashamed. There
it is. They looked unto Him and their
faces were lightened. They looked unto Him and they
weren't ashamed. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel for
it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to
the Jew first and also to the Greek. And we sang that hymn,
didn't we, at the beginning of the service, I know whom I have
believed and I'm persuaded. I'm persuaded. What is your persuasion? I'll tell you what every believer's
persuasion is. I'm persuaded that I'm not able. I'm persuaded
that he is able. I'm not able to save myself.
I'm not able to deliver myself. I'm not able to help myself.
Unless she becomes a little child, she's not in the kingdom of heaven.
But I'm persuaded that he's able to keep that which I've committed
unto him against that day. We've got all our eggs in one
basket, don't we? That word committed In religion,
in man-made religion, it's all about personal commitment, isn't
it? You know, you've got to pull yourself up by your bootstraps
and grit your teeth and really be committed. And the more committed
you are, the better off you're going to be. When Paul said, I've committed
unto him, that word is the word for deposit. I put everything
on Christ. I'm not looking to Christ plus
anything. I'm not looking to Christ plus
a decision I made. I'm not looking to Christ plus
good works that I performed. I'm not looking to Christ plus
any knowledge that I have. I'm looking to Christ alone.
I've committed everything unto Him. Now, you've heard me use
this illustration before. If you've got some financial
resources, you'd be foolish to put them all into one investment,
wouldn't you? Any financial advisor would tell
you that if you've got some resources, diversify your resources so that
if something goes bad over here, something goes good over here,
you know, you'll come out on the positive side in the end.
You put it all in one place, if that goes sour, you've lost
everything. And it's not wise to do that,
is it? You know, people treat their
souls the same way as they treat their bank accounts. I'm going
to put a little bit on Jesus. I'm going to put a little bit
on that experience that I had when I walked an aisle and made
a decision. I'm going to put a little bit on the good things
that I've been doing all my life. I'm going to put a little bit
on some knowledge that I have of the Bible. I'm going to diversify
my investments so that in case Jesus isn't enough, I've got
other things that I can look to. And what's the believer say? No. I cast all my care upon Him,
knowing that He careth for me. I've got all my eggs in one basket.
If He doesn't save me, I won't be saved. I've got nothing else
to look to other than Christ. He's all the hope of my salvation. That's what David's saying here.
I sought the Lord and He heard me and delivered me from all
my fears. I looked unto Him and I was lightened. I was lightened. I had someone say to me in the
last year, I guess, you talk a lot about looking unto Jesus,
but what does it mean to look unto him? What does it mean to
look unto him? Well, it means to look to who
he is and what he's done. And just like David, just like
David, in front of Achish, the Lord Jesus Christ has changed
his behavior. So what do you mean? Well, I
want you to look with me for just a moment at the Lord Jesus
Christ in his pre-incarnate glory. the glorious immutable I am,
that all the angels in heaven bow to and raise their voices
as we read in Isaiah chapter 6, holy, holy, holy is the Lord
God of hosts. Here's the creator and sustainer
of all of life. Here's the one who spoke creation. into existence. Here's the one
who according to his words sent a deluge and destroyed every
living thing on the face of the earth except for Noah and his
family and those animals that were preserved in the ark. Here's the God who is omnipotent
in his pre-incarnate person. What did he do? What do you do? We see something of the pre-incarnate
glory of the Lord Jesus Christ at the Mount of Transfiguration,
don't we? When Peter, James, and John were taken up on that
mountain and the veil of his humanity was taken away and the
radiance of his deity shined forth so brightly that they could
not look at it. They fell on their faces as dead
men, didn't they? They couldn't look upon him. What did the Lord Jesus Christ
do in order to... Why did David change his behavior to save his
men? What did the Lord Jesus Christ
do? The one who threw the stars into the universe is now depending
upon one of those stars to point some men from the east to show
him where his obscure birth is in a stable. The woman that he created, he's
now completely dependent upon her for the basic needs of life. The one who separated the land
from the sea and the one who created the Leviathan. Just read
the book of Job. Where were you, Job, when I did
all of these things? That's the pre-incarnate Christ.
was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory as
the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and full of truth,
but veiled in humanity. The one who never sleeps nor
slumbers is now fatigued. The one who never had to eat
is now having to take sustenance. The one who created the herbs
and the animals is now dependent upon them for food. The Lord Jesus Christ changed
His behavior to save His people. It's looking, looking to the
Lord Jesus Christ is looking at who He is by His essential
nature and then looking at what He became in His incarnation. Humbled Himself to become a man. took upon Him the form of a servant,
made of a woman, under the law, in the likeness of sinful flesh.
This is God. No wonder the natural man couldn't
see Him. No wonder people today talk about
Jesus as if He's some sort of nobody. He's the holy, holy,
holy Lord God of hosts. Heaven and earth is filled with
his glory. He changed his behavior. And
they thought he was a madman, didn't they? He's beside himself,
his brother said. The Pharisee says, he's got Beelzebub. He's a madman. But then who came to him? All
those that were distressed. All those who were bitter of
soul and all those who were in debt came to David, came to the
Lord Jesus Christ, looking unto him as the author and the finisher
of our faith. He changed his behavior. When
the God whose eyes are too pure to look upon sin, bore all the
sins of all of his people in his body upon Calvary's cross
and suffered the full wrath of God. Here's the God who exercises
judgment and wrath, now he's suffering the wrath of God. He
changed his behavior, didn't he? The God who is himself life. In him is life. And the life
was the light of men. Outside of the Lord Jesus Christ,
there's no life. There is no life. He's the creator
and sustainer of all of life. And on Calvary's cross, bearing
the sins of his people, he bowed his mighty head and he gave up the ghost and
he died and was put into a tomb, a corpse, lifeless corpse. He changed his behavior, didn't
he? Why? To save his men, to save his
people. That's what he came to do. Then he rose from the dead. Oh, the Father rewarded him for
his faithfulness on Calvary's cross, didn't he? Would not allow
his Holy One to see corruption. Brought him forth victorious,
just like Daniel came out of that lion's den. The stone was
rolled away, and the Lord Jesus Christ came forth glorious. He's going to change his behavior
again. He came the first time as a suffering
servant. He came the first time to lay
down His life for the sheep. But when He comes again, just
read the book of Revelation, He's going to be riding a white
stallion with His name down His thigh, King of kings and Lord
of lords, with eyes like fire and hair like wool, and His tongue
is going to be like a fiery sword, slaying all of His enemies. He's going to change His behavior,
isn't He? Oh, what a Savior! What a Savior! Looking unto Jesus, the author
and the finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set
before Him endured the cross. Looking to Christ, He's looking
through the Scriptures at his pre-incarnate glory, looking
at his life, looking at his death, looking at his resurrection,
looking at his ascension. The Lord Jesus Christ, right
there in Acts chapter 1, ascended back into glory, didn't he? And
those angels, when the disciples are standing up there gazing
into heaven, they're trying to look at him physically with their
physical eyes. It wasn't until 10 days later that they were
able to understand everything, the day of Pentecost. It's 50
days between Passover and Pentecost. Pentecost means 50. And the Lord
spent 40 of those days with his disciples teaching them, and
then he sent them back to Jerusalem. And they waited in the upper
room for 10 days, didn't they, till the Spirit of God came on
the day of Pentecost. And that's when they were able
to stand and boldly preach the gospel. And these disciples are
gazing up into heaven and the angels came and said, men of
Israel, why gaze you up here into heaven? This same Jesus
which is taken up from you, he's going to come again in like manner.
You go, do what he said, go back into Jerusalem and wait for the
Holy Ghost to come upon you. You're not going to see Jesus
with your physical eyes. He disappeared from their sight
physically, didn't he? He ascended up into the clouds
and was gone. Oh, but we see him now with the
eyes of faith, don't we? We see him now. We see him seated
at the right hand of God. We see him making intercession
on behalf of his people. We see him coming again. Oh, all those angels that that
were so anxious to do his bidding in his pre-incarnate glory were
all sitting on the precipice of glory with their swords pulled,
ready to come. He said, I could call 12 legions
of angels to deliver me from this cross, but he had to change
his behavior. And he was silent. He didn't
cry out. He didn't call on them to come
deliver him. Can you see? Can you set your
affections on things above where Christ is seated at the right
hand of God? That's what David's doing here. In a moment of David's
greatest trial, he looks and he sees the Lord
Jesus Christ and he says, their faces were not ashamed. This
poor man cried and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all
his troubles. Only the poor cry. Only those
who are in trouble cry. Only the fearful cry. And when
they do, he hears their cry. He hears. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father,
we're thankful for your precious promises. We're thankful for
the ministry of your Holy Spirit that makes us to be sinners.
And oh, how thankful we are that you're pleased to make yourself
known. Comfort our hearts with a glorious person and accomplished
work of thy dear son. We ask it in his name. Amen. 46 number 46 in the Sproul hymn. Let's stand. Eternal love electing grace Secured
for me in heaven a place Chosen from all eternity The Son of
God my blood bought me The Spirit came in sovereign
power At the exact appointed hour Revealing Christ, creating
faith My soul He quickened from its death Now I rejoice in sovereign
grace. My sovereign God shall have my
praise. Praise God for grace, praise
God for grace. Sovereign, eternal, saving grace.