Let's open tonight's service
with a hymn from the Spiral Gospel Hymns Hymnbook, number 42. Number 42, let us praise the
name of Jesus. Let's all stand together. Number
42. ? Let us praise the name of Jesus
? ? Prophet, priest, and sovereign king ? ? To him render adoration
? ? Laud and homage to him bring ? ? Let us praise the name of
Jesus ? God incarnate from above Came to save his chosen people
Sent by God in covenant love ? Let us praise the name of Jesus
? ? Who upon Mount Calvary ? ? Shed his blood and sealed our pardon
? ? Died for sin to set us free ? ? Let us praise the name of
Jesus ? risen conquering, gracious friend, advocate and mediator,
all our hopes on him depend. Let us praise the name of Jesus,
for he brought us to his fold. Come, exalt his name and worship,
may the Savior be extolled. Let us praise the name of Jesus
till we see him face to face. Then throughout the endless ages,
praise him for his love and grace. Please be seated. Oh, I love that line. All our
hopes on Him depend. All the hope of our salvation
hangs holy on the Holy One. Will you open your Bibles with
me to Psalm 26 for our call to worship. Psalm 26. A psalm of Christ. I know it says a psalm of David.
But oh, how these words. Apply to the Lord Jesus Christ. Judge me, oh Lord, for I have
walked in mine integrity. I have trusted also in the Lord,
therefore I shall not slide. "'Examine me, O Lord, and prove
me. "'Try my reins and my heart,
"'for thy lovingkindness is before mine eyes, "'and I have walked
in thy truth.'" Now, this is also the words of every child
of God who is in Christ. We're able to come before the
throne of grace with boldness, knowing that the Lord Jesus Christ
has proven himself. walking in his own integrity. For thy loving kindness is before
mine eyes, and I have walked in thy truth. I have not sat
with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers. I have hated the congregation
of evildoers and will not sit with the wicked. I will wash
my hands in innocency. So while I compass thine altar,
O Lord, the innocent one, the one who himself is holy, harmless,
undefiled, and separate from sinners, and as he is, so are
we. Verse seven. that I may publish with the voice
of thanksgiving and tell of all by wondrous works. Lord, I have
loved the habitation of thy house and the place where thine honor
dwelleth." This is the place where his honor
dwells. This is the place where he's pleased to show himself.
You know how we hope he'll do that for us right now. Gather
not my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloody men, in whose
hands is mischief, and their right hand is full of bribes."
Now that's the way of the natural man. He wants to bribe himself
into heaven. He thinks God can be bought. But as for me, I will walk in
mine integrity. Redeem me and be merciful unto
me. My foot standeth in an even place
in the congregation while I bless the Lord. Let's pray. Oh, our merciful heavenly father,
thank you for the hope. The comfort, the peace and the
joy that you give to your people and knowing that we're able to
approach your holy presence and find acceptance in thy beloved. The one who walked in innocency. The one whose integrity was perfect
before they. The one whose hands are clean. The one whose lips are undefiled. Lord, we ask that you would send
your spirit and power. Cause him to be lifted up in
our hearts and give us Lord the faith. To rest in Christ. To look to him. For all our salvation,
all our hope. And all the provisions of thy
grace that we're in such need of in this life. Lord, give us. Give us eyes to see, give us
ears to hear, give us our hearts to believe. We ask it in Christ's
name and for his sake, amen. Number 212, 212 in your hardback
temple. And let's all stand together
again. Yeah. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. All precious is the flow that
makes me white as snow. No other fount I know, nothing
but the blood of Jesus. For my part, and this I see,
nothing but the blood of Jesus. For my cleansing, this my plea,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus. O precious is the flow That makes
me white as snow, No other fount I know, Nothing but the blood
of Jesus. Nothing can for sin atone, Nothing
but the blood of Jesus. Not of good that I have done,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow that
makes me white as snow. No other fount I know. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is all my hope and peace,
nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is all my righteousness,
nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow that
makes me white as snow. No other fount I know, nothing
but the blood of Jesus. Please be seated. Nothing, nothing. When I see
the blood, I'll pass by you. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. He is all my righteousness, all
the hope of my salvation and what righteousness he is. God's
pleased with him. And those that are in him. I
hope tonight that the Lord will. Increase the assurance of our
salvation. of our faith, enabling us to
look on Christ and rest all our hopes in Him. We're going to be looking at
Psalm 25, if you'd like to turn with me there in your Bibles,
Psalm 25. It's good to have Curtis' family back with us tonight.
I think Clay and Melinda are about ready to go home after
three days at Disney, I'm sure. I'll wear anybody out. Seems like for me there's not
more than a day or two that goes by that I don't end up having
a conversation with somebody who is desperately attempting
to have their salvation affirmed by a man. And this psalm is a is a psalm of assurance. It's
a sweet psalm of assurance. And my hope is that the Lord
will enable us to rest all the hope of our salvation for this
hour in Christ and have peace. These conversations, I had another
one this morning. Somebody called me from Massachusetts.
They heard you preach Sunday morning online. And it was clear after about 30 minutes
into our conversation that they didn't really have any serious
questions. They were wanting to justify
themselves and needed, for some reason, needed my affirmation
of their righteousness. And I have it happen all the
time. It happened Monday. It happened again this morning. And I asked this man, I said,
you don't even know me. I said, why is it important for
you that I call you a brother? Why is it important for you that,
because he kept saying, well, you know, we worship the same
God. And it was clear from the things that he was saying that
we don't. And I just said to him, I said, I said, why is it
important for you that I affirm your religion? I said, I don't
need that from you. Why do you need that from me?
Why do you want me to okay what you're saying? And the reason
is very clear. The reason is because they don't
have assurance of their salvation from God. God has not spoken
peace to their hearts, and so the only thing they have left
is to hear another man speak peace to their hearts. Now, I
can't speak peace to your heart. I can't speak peace to my own
heart. But oh, what peace when the Lord speaks peace to our
hearts, when he enables us to rest all the hope of our salvation. on the Lord Jesus Christ. My peace, I give unto you. My
peace, I leave you, not as the world giveth. No, this, you know,
they, the, The religious, he wanted to tell me about his experience
at 15 years old when he got saved and he wanted me to hear about
the good things that he was doing for the Lord. And, you know,
it was all a desperate attempt to have another man affirm his
faith. My hope for you and for me is
that the Lord himself will affirm to our hearts that we're his. Nicodemus, when he came to the
Lord that night, he wanted to impress the Lord on the discernment
that he had about who Jesus of Nazareth actually was. We know
that you're a man, son of God, for no man can do the things
that thou do, except God be with him. Nicodemus, you don't have
a clue who I am. You don't have a clue who I am.
Don't try to impress me with what you think you know. You
don't know anything. If you're not born from above,
you can't even perceive of the kingdom of God. You can't even
begin to understand it. The rich young ruler wanted to
impress the Lord on his obedience of the law. These things I have
done since my youth and the Lord said to him, you've never kept
one of God's laws one time. But he was looking for affirmation,
wasn't he? From a man, he's looking for
affirmation. the Pharisee that we hear of
praying in the temple to himself. God, I thank thee
that I'm not as other men, extortioners. thieves and liars, especially
I'm not like that publican. He was trying to get affirmation
of his superior righteousness when in fact he had no righteousness
at all. He didn't go home to his house
justified before God. You see the truth is men will
either be justified by God or they will attempt to justify
themselves. My experience is that that folks
who don't know Christ are constantly trying to adjust and it doesn't
matter if they're religious or irreligious. They're going to
tell you about how, you know, about how good they are and what
they're doing. That smug Sadducee that thought
he was going to trap God in an impossible question. You remember
when he came before the Lord and he said, he said, a man had
a wife and he died and he passed his wife on to his brother and
his brother because he didn't believe in the resurrection.
The Sadducee didn't. but he thought he had some understanding
of the Bible. And he was trying to justify
himself and get affirmation of what he perceived to be his superior
knowledge and what the Lord say to him. He said, oh, you do err,
not knowing the scriptures. You don't know the scriptures.
He's a lawyer. This was a Sadducee. He thought he knew the Bible.
He said, you don't know the scriptures. And you don't have any idea what
the power of God is. Sanballat and Tobiah, they're
just like your religious friends, my friends, my family members.
You know, I got the text on Sunday, Happy Easter, Happy Resurrection. I didn't respond to a single
one of them. I don't want any of those people to think that
they're worshiping the same God I worship. But what are they
looking for? They're looking for my affirmation of their religion. If God speaks peace to our hearts,
we don't need affirmation from anybody. If God be for us, who
can be against us? If the Lord confirms to our hearts
that we're His, then we have peace. Peace that man nor this
world is able to give. The kind of peace that these
folks are constantly and desperately looking for in the affirmation
of their righteousness from another man. Now, as is the case with all
the Psalms, this first and foremost is a prayer of the Lord Jesus
Christ. convinced that his faith in God is going to reward him
with the blessings of the resurrection and acceptance before God. And
he concludes this psalm in verse 22 with this prayer, redeem Israel,
oh God, out of all his troubles. Now when the Lord Jesus Christ
prays on behalf of his people, the father hears his prayer.
Redeem Israel. All of Israel shall be saved,
Romans chapter 11. How are they going to be saved?
By the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ who paid the
ransom price, not with silver and gold. but with precious blood,
not with corruptible things, but with incorruptible things. He bought us. We've been bought
with a price. We just sang about that precious
blood. That's the price. And the Lord
Jesus Christ is offering his blood on the mercy seat and saying
to the father, there it is, father, redeem all of Israel because
of my blood. not because of our knowledge
like the Sadducee, not because of our righteousness like the
rich young ruler, not because of our discernment like Nicodemus,
not because, you know, as I started to mention, Sam Ballad and Tobiah,
you remember with the prophet that brought the children of
Israel. Help me out. I can't hear you. Nehemiah, thank
you. Thank you. You know, come on down to the
Valley of Ono and let's, you know, we worship the same God.
And what did Nehemiah say? No, we don't. We don't worship
the same God. And with a sword in one hand
and a trowel in the other hand, they continued to build the walls
of Jerusalem. And that's what we're doing.
We're continuing to build the walls of Jerusalem. And these
walls are both protective. They protect the children of
God and they're exclusive. That's the offense of the gospel. I was talking to a man Monday
and he thought he knew everything. He didn't know anything. He didn't
know a thing about the gospel. Very religious, Sunday school
teacher, you know, recognized in his religious community as
a, you know, as a man of God. He didn't know a thing. And I
was talking to him about election and he said, well, you know,
it's okay. But you know, the Bible also says that whosoever
will. And I said, well, is the Bible
inconsistent or has God just provided many ways to get to
heaven and you get to pick and choose which way you want? And
I tried to explain to him how, what the scripture said. He brought
up Romans chapter 10 about, you know, calling on the name of
the Lord and believing in your heart and confessing with your
mouth the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. But at the end of the conversation,
they, for some reason, well, I know the reason. The reason
is because God hasn't spoken peace to their hearts, and so
the only hope they can have is when another man affirms their
righteousness. Now, you and I know that apart
from the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ, we're in trouble. We've got a problem we can't
solve. It's called sin. And we'll never be able to earn
our way into heaven. We'll never be able to find acceptance
with God on our own. Who can stand in His presence?
They that have clean hands and a pure heart. We're in trouble. Look how this
psalm starts out. Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift
up my soul. O my God, I trust in thee. Let me not be ashamed. Let not
my enemies triumph over me. Now, let me ask you a question.
Who's your number one enemy? Who's your number one enemy?
Yeah, he's sitting in the same seat you're sitting in, isn't
he? It's your unbelief, isn't it? Or don't let my sin triumph
over me. Now the Lord Jesus Christ is
praying to the Father against the enemies of the gospel and
he's calling on the Lord to deliver him. Where does he turn? Where it's the same place we
turn. unto thee, O Lord." We don't turn to the arm of our
flesh. We don't look at what we're doing for God. We are the
trees of righteousness, the plantings of the Lord, and a tree very
naturally will bear fruit. A fruit tree bears fruit. But
God's people don't take notice of the fruit that they're bearing. They see the fruit of righteousness
in the Lord Jesus Christ as the only hope of their salvation.
We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
which He hath ordained that we should walk in them. You see,
the believer's life of faith, trusting the Lord Jesus Christ,
worshiping God, believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, The good works will come. Lord,
when did we do those things? You remember when the Lord separated
the sheep from the goats? And that you did it to the least
of these, my brethren. Did what? Did what? You're part
of the gospel. And as a part of the church of
the Lord Jesus Christ, you were involved in clothing the naked
and in giving water to the thirsty and in feeding the hungry and
in taking in the stranger Every time the gospel is preached,
you're part of that. All these things we're walking. But we don't look to those things
like the self-righteous do. We don't look to our works. We
don't look to what the Lord may be doing or may not be doing
through us as an affirmation or confirmation of our faith.
We look into Christ as the only hope of our salvation. And so David begins by saying
unto thee, oh Lord, not to the arm of flesh, not to our experience. We don't look back to what happened
when we were 15 years old or what good feeling we had when
we, you know, when we got saved as the religious like to say.
We don't look at those things. We're not looking to our, knowledge
that we've acquired through our own study and discipline, we're
not looking to our works, we can't get any comfort from these
things. We've been made to see, in fact,
like the Apostle Paul, that all those things which we thought
were gain were actually the very things keeping us away from Christ.
And we do count them all now, but done that we may win Christ
and be found in him, not having our own righteousness, but that
righteousness, which is by his faithfulness. Isn't that true? So here's the believer's prayer
unto thee, oh Lord, do I lift up my soul. My soul's in trouble. My soul's sick with sin. I've
got no place to go. I can't find any comfort. Look what he says in verse two. Oh my God, I trust in thee. Let me not be ashamed. Listen to what the Lord said
in Romans chapter 9 verse 33. Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling
stone, a rock of offense, and whosoever shall believe on him
shall not be ashamed. Now, the gospel is a stumbling
stone. The Lord Jesus Christ is a rock of offense. Why is
he? Because he strips men of those
things that they're looking to for the hope of their salvation. You see, the gospel not only
doesn't affirm what men are looking for in the affirmation of their
righteousness, but it actually declares to them that all their
righteousnesses are as filthy rags. And so the Lord Jesus Christ
is that stone which the builders rejected and he'd become a stumbling
stone. They still have their own righteousness
shored up and the temple that God has built with a living stone
on that foundation of the Lord Jesus Christ, they know nothing
about. So here's the child of God who
has hope who is not ashamed. Look at verse two. Oh my God,
I trust in thee. Let me not be ashamed. Let my
enemies, let not my enemies triumph over me. Turn to me to Romans
chapter five. We're not gonna get through this
Psalm, but I hope that by the time we finish that we have the Lord himself affirming to
our hearts that we're his. and that we'll be resting in
Christ alone for all the hope of our salvation. Romans chapter five, verse one,
therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ. You say, well, there it is, we
gotta have faith. Faith is not your contribution
to salvation. Faith is what saved people do.
Remember the baby illustration? A baby doesn't take its first
breath in order to be alive. It breathes because it is alive.
And that's the new birth is a miracle of grace and the new believer
believes, has faith. For by grace are you saved through
faith and that not of yourself. It's a gift of God, isn't it? Whether faith is the cause of
one's salvation or whether it's the result of one's salvation
makes a huge difference because one is a salvation of works and
the other is a salvation of grace. By whom also we have access by
faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope
of the glory of God. What is your hope? What is your
hope? I know we get we get so burdened
with the circumstances of this life. But when God enables us
to look on the Lord Jesus Christ. What do we hope for? Oh Lord,
I long for that day. When I see you as you are in
the fullness of your glory and I'm rid of this sinful nature. The hope is to see the glory
of God, and this is not a hope that disappoints. Look, and not
only so, but we glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation
worketh patience. You know that all things work
together for good for them that love God and those that are called
according to his purpose. Before and after your calling,
God's people, people, I've read theologians talk about there's
a common grace that goes out to all men. There's no grace
that goes to an unbeliever. There's no grace that goes to
the reprobate. Grace is only for the elect.
And prevenient grace, that's grace before grace. That's pre,
before, convenient, that which has an end, everything that we
experience everything that we experience in our lives before
the Lord calls us is grace God the father knows every one
of his children intimately he knows exactly he has a purpose
for each one he knows exactly what each one of them need in
order to bring them to that place where they're able to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, able to hear the gospel and believe
on Christ. Everything that happens in the
believers, I know the thoughts that I have for you, thoughts
of good, not of evil, to bring you to your expected end. And so everything Everything
that the child of God experiences in this life is by the grace
of God to accomplish the end of his purpose, the salvation
of our souls. You believe that? I know the world says, you know,
it's all good. It's all good. They're whistling
through the graveyard. They don't, they don't, it's
not all good for them. But the child of God can say
with confidence, it's good. It's good. So that the child
of God who's suffering with a terminal illness can say, I thank God
for this. I thank God for all things. For all things are the will of
God in Christ Jesus concerning me. These things are necessities. And now the Lord says, and not
only so, but we glory in tribulations also knowing that tribulation
work with patients and patients experience and experience hope
and hope maketh not ashamed. How many things have you hoped
for that didn't come to fruition? You know, you hope it's going
to rain. You hope your team's going to
win. You hope this and you hope that, you know, and it doesn't
happen. and you become disappointed.
If you ask Tricia, what's the secret
to a long marriage? She'll tell you, low expectations. Don't hope for much and you won't
be disappointed. But this is a hope that make
it not ashamed. No disappointment in this hope. because the love of God is shed
abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us
for when we were yet without strength without strength he
didn't say you know when you had a little strength you had
the ability to say I will you had the you had the ability to
believe you had you had a you had a glimmer of light and so
you you took the first step No, when you were yet without strength,
and that's when the grace of God comes, when you have no strength.
You have no ability, no strength. As long as we're trying to get
it fixed, as long as we're trying to do it, the Lord, like a wise
parent, will let that child get all wrapped up before the child
Finally, Christ said, oh, Lord, help me, help me. When we were
yet without strength, Christ died for the ungodly. That's where I'm at, Lord, I'm
ungodly. Nothing like God about me. You wanna know what it means
to be ungodly? That's what it means. There's nothing like God
about me. Everything about me is contrary
to the things of God. He's the one who is holy, undefiled,
separate from sinners. Let's go back to our text. Paul goes on in Romans to say,
here here's the here's our text look at look at her side look
at verse 2 the last part of verse 2 let them I'm I'm sorry let
not my enemies triumph over me they didn't triumph over Christ
and those that are in Christ sin shall not have dominion over
you for you're not under the law you're under grace you put
a person under the law sins go have dominion But being under grace, all gives us faith to look to
the Lord Jesus Christ and rest all the hope of our salvation
in Him. Yea, let none that wait on thee
be ashamed. Let them be ashamed which transgress
without cause. They hated him without a cause. The Lord Jesus Christ brought
into the world the full revelation of God. He is himself the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. and all those types and pictures. One of the things I had with
this conversation I had this morning, the man from up North
was, well, you know, the Old Testament prophets preached
one gospel and then Jesus preached another gospel. And then the
apostle Paul, he preached the real gospel. The Lord Jesus Christ, the fullness
of the Godhead. Paul said in Galatians chapter
1, if I or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto
you, let it be a curse. There's only one gospel. Now,
in the opinions of men, there's lots of gospels and there's lots
of Jesuses and there's lots of spirits, but to God, there's
but one. The Lord Jesus Christ came into
this world to bring the full revelation of God. the full satisfaction
of the law. Everything he did was good and
holy. He was harmless. He was undefiled. He was separate from sinners. No man can find any charge against
him. Yet they hated him without a
cause. And the same thing's true today. Those people we talk to that
are looking for affirmation outside of Christ, they hate Christ. Because he exposes... Light has
come into the world. You quoted this Sunday morning.
Light has come into the world, but men love darkness rather
than light. They like what they've got. They're
comfortable with their righteousness. They don't want it taken away. They say, well, are you saying
that so-and-so is not saved? Yeah, they say that a lot, don't
they? You're saying Billy Graham's not saved? Billy Graham's not
in heaven? They don't give a... they don't
care about Billy Graham. They don't. Have absolutely... they've never lost one second
of sleep over the eternal destiny of Billy Graham. What they're
saying is, if you're suggesting Billy Graham was the false prophet,
that means I'm not saved. Now we have a problem. Look at verse 4. They'll hate
you without a cause too. They will. Blessed are you when
men persecute you for righteousness sake, make all sorts of accusations
against you that are not true. Blessed are you for it. For so
suffered the prophets of old. Show me thy ways, O Lord. Teach me thy paths. Now, the
Lord Jesus Christ's heart was always perfectly in tune with
the Father's will. Perfectly. And every step he
took, every step, was in perfect obedience to the will of his
Father. right to the last step he took
to Mount Calvary. The hope that we have of the
Lord showing us His ways, Lord, show me Christ. Show me Christ. Let me have my hope in His obedience,
in His righteousness. Now I know there's some that
hear us talk like this and they say, well, are you suggesting that
you can just live a lawless life? Listen, if you're looking to
Christ and following after Him, you're not going to, you're going
to hate your sin. You're not going to want to be lawless. Show me thy ways, O Lord. Teach
me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth. Lord, teach me. the truth of
thy word and show me Christ who is your truth. You know, they,
they, these, I may, I know you don't probably don't have as
many of these conversations. People call me because, you know, I'm
not sure they call Clay because, you know, we're kind of the target,
but, but it just, it's just so typical. And whether it's a family
member or somebody else, they, they, they're all doing the same
thing. They, they, they, You know, they can't defend their
position with scripture. They can't. And you give them
scripture and they'll say, well, they'll try to contradict that
scripture with another scripture. And so you say, like I said to
this man, are you suggesting that the Bible is contradictory?
Or maybe that, you know, that God's given different ways and
depends on how we see things as to what we want to, which
one we want to believe. Believers believe everything
God has said and there's no contradiction in God's word. No contradiction. So what do we say? Lord, lead
me in thy truth and teach me. And here's what the Lord said,
they shall be all taught of God. And the Lord doesn't, is Christ
divided? Isn't that what Paul asked in
1 Corinthians? The Lord doesn't teach one of his children one
thing and another one something else. That's contrary. You didn't do that in raising
your children. If you have more than one child, you don't tell
one of them that this is okay. And the other one is not okay.
This is you, you have a, you have a, you teach them all the
same thing. Don't you teach me for thou art the God
of my salvation. Salvation's of the Lord. And
He reigns sovereign over it. Lord, if you don't save me, I
won't be saved. If you don't put the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ on the mercy seat for me, I've got nothing else. I've got no place else to go.
I've got no other hope. But what hope I have when you
give me eyes to see Him, when you teach me your ways, When
you lead me to know the truth, that's when I have peace, when
the oil of your spirit is dripping off of the hem of your garment.
And it just takes one little drop of oil. Now, you remember
what the Syrophoenician woman said when the Lord called her
a dog, and he said, I don't give, you know, the bread's not for
the dogs, it's for the children. And she said, truth, Lord, But
the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the Master's table.
Here's the truth about it. One crumb of God's grace will
sustain your soul for eternity. One drop of His Spirit is so
powerful, it'll keep you. Doesn't it? The truth of His grace and the
truth of His glory and the truth of His nature and character is
is infinite. It's infinite. Lead me in thy truth, O teach
me, for thou art the God of my salvation. On thee do I wait
all the day. Waiting on Christ. Resting in
Him. This word wait means to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. And they that wait upon the Lord
shall, what? Renew their strength. Why? Because
we're without strength, but waiting on Christ enables us to renew
our strength so that we mount up, as Isaiah said, as eagles. We're able to run and not be
weary. We're able to walk, walk after
Christ and not faint, not faint. Remember, oh Lord, thy tender
mercies and thy loving kindnesses for they have been ever of old. What are we asking the Lord to
look at? When we need assurance of our salvation, what are we
praying for the Lord to look at? Us, our performance, our
experiences, our faith, Lord, look back to that covenant
of grace. Look back to my name written
in the Lamb's book of life. Look back to that Lamb that was
slain before the foundation of the world. Look back to the promise
that God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit made
with one another before Adam was ever created. Lord, you said
you've loved your people with an everlasting love. Never been
a time you didn't love me, Lord. Look to that. that's what i'm
looking to that's the only place i've got to look here's where
assurance comes when you look where god's looking when you look to the same place
where god's looking what do you hope do you have that god's looking
there because you're looking there that'll give you assurance
won't it Remember not the sins of my youth. Let me close with this. In Psalm 110, you don't have to
look this up, the Lord said, speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ,
thou hast the youth. I'm sorry, thou hast the do of
thy youth. In Psalm 53 verse 2 it says,
he shall grow up before him as a tender plant. In Psalm 71 it
says, oh God thou hast taught me from my youth and hitherto
have I declared thy wondrous works. Now you read these Psalms
and you'll find that's Christ speaking. Saul said to David, You cannot
go up against the Philistines, for thou art but a youth, and
he a man of war." Who won that battle? You see, in the scriptures,
the incarnation and the life of the Lord Jesus Christ, His
humanity in this world is referred to as His youth. referred to as his youth. The
ancient of days is called youthful in his life here. Verse 7, the Lord Jesus Christ, remember
not the sins of my youth. When the Lord Jesus Christ went
to Calvary's cross, he bore the sins of his people in his body
upon the tree, and he's crying out to the Father to remember
he owns those sins as his own. Remember not the sins of my youth. Lord, put them away. Separate
them from yourself. As far as the East is from the
West, remember them no more. nor my transgressions according
to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness sake, O Lord." The Lord Jesus Christ took the
sins of his people right before the throne of God and God put them away. He saw his blood and he remembers
them no more. God doesn't put our sins away
because of the sincerity of our prayers. I love that quote from Jonathan
Edwards when he said, the tears of repentance, the anguish, the
sorrow that God puts in one's heart when they when they bear
the burden of their own sin, the sins of repentance must be
washed in the blood of Christ before they can be acceptable
to God. No amount of sorrow on our part
is going to be acceptable to Him. It's the blood. It's the
blood. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. This
is Good and upright is the Lord,
verse 8, therefore will he teach sinners on the way. The hope of salvation is for
sinners. The hope of salvation is for the ungodly. The hope
of salvation is for those who can't find any hope anywhere
else. They're not looking to an experience.
They're not trying to get affirmation from men. They're not justifying themselves. They're looking to Christ. And
the Lord speaks peace to their hearts. Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. You and I don't have a clue.
What our sin looks like before God. The closest we can come
to understanding it. is to see what God had to do
to put it away. To see the Lord Jesus Christ
hanging on Calvary's cross and to know that that was the Father's
darling son that he reserved none of his wrath for when he
saw our sin on him. That's the closest we can come
to understanding the horrors of our sin. And that's close we need to come.
We're just looking to Christ and the Lord affirms that we're
his. Our merciful heavenly father,
we're thankful for the assurance that you speak
to our hearts when you enable us by your grace to rest all
our hopes in thy dear son. Oh, how we pray that you would
comfort us once again. We ask it in Christ's name and
for his sake. Amen. Number 272, let's stand
together. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock
I stand, All other ground is sinking sand, All other ground
is sinking sand. When darkness veils his lovely
face, I rest on his unchanging grace. In every high and stormy
gale, My anchor holds within the veil. On Christ the solid
rock I stand, All other ground is sinking sand, All other ground
is sinking sand. His oath, His covenant, His blood
supports me in the whelming flood. When all around my soul gives
way, He then is all my hope and stay. On Christ the solid rock
I stand, All other ground is sinking sand, All other ground
is sinking sand. When He shall come with trumpet
sound, O may I then in Him be found, Dressed in His righteousness
alone, Faultless to stand before the throne. On Christ the solid
rock I stand, All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground
is sinking sand. Thank you.