place to call upon his name and
worship him we have come into this place to call upon his name
and worship christ the lord Worship Him, Jesus Christ, the
Lord. So forget about yourself, and
magnify His name, and worship Him. So forget about yourself,
magnify His name, and worship Him. So forget about yourself,
magnify His name, and worship Christ the Lord. Worship Him, Jesus Christ the
Lord. We are debtors to His grace,
the law's been satisfied, now worship Him. We are debtors to
His grace, the law's been satisfied, now worship Him. We are debtors to His grace. The law's been satisfied. Now worship Christ the Lord. Worship Him, Jesus Christ the
Lord. Tom? Number 28. Let's stand in the same gospel now. God has mercy on whom he will,
and whom he will, he hardens still. To whom he will, he gives
his grace, and when he will, he hides his face. Let none despise the sovereign
throne. He does what he will with his
own. It is his right to save or kill
according to his sovereign will. Yes, God saves some and others
leaves to reap the fruit of their own ways in the eternal ages
past, God made his choice and it stands fast. Aware that I'm
a guilty man and that I'm in God's sovereign hand, prostrate
I fall before wretched, helpless, guilty one. Lord, if you will, you can, I
say, take all my guilt and sin away. A guilty sin I beg for mercy through your
Son. Now trusting Jesus Christ, God's
Son, I know that I'm his chosen one. And God's eternal, sovereign
choice makes this poor sinner's heart rejoice. Please be seated. Good morning. Scripture reading
is found in the book of John, chapter 6. We're going to read
verses 52 through 59. John, chapter 6. 52 through 59. Actually, 53. We'll start with
53. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat of the flesh of
the Son of Man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Now of course when Lord Jesus
verily verily summarizes something very important and we are to
pay attention and he's talking to us as well so it said ye eat
of the flesh of the Son of Man and drink of his blood ye shall
have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh
my blood have eternal life. and I will raise them up at the
last day. For my flesh is meat indeed,
and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh
my blood dwelleth in me and I in him. He's speaking of his sacrificial
death on the cross, payment of the sins for us, and his righteousness,
which is our only righteousness that we have in Christ. he that eateth my flesh and drinketh
my blood dwelleth in me and I in him as the living Father hath
sent me and I live by the Father so he that eateth me even he
shall live by me this is the bread which came
down from heaven not as your fathers did eat manna and are
dead, he that eateth of this bread shall live forever." These
things he said in the synagogue as he taught in Capernaum. Father God, we come before you
in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, by his righteousness,
by his death on the cross, we come to thank you and to worship
you, Father. We pray that you send your Holy
Spirit, Father, that we may see Christ more clearly, Father.
Help Brother Greg preach the gospel, preach Christ more clearly
to us. Open our understanding, Father.
Fill us with the Holy Spirit, Father, that creating us a great,
great need to drink of the Lord Jesus Christ's blood and eat
of his flesh, Father. May we look at Jesus and him
alone in the sacrifice and his righteousness, his obedience
to you as our obedience, Father. is the only hope we have. We
also pray for this for the rest of the churches of the burden
that are preaching Christ, that are preaching the gospel. And
we thank you once again for this great blessing of being able
to hear the gospel, hear about Christ. In the name of Jesus,
we pray. Amen. Let's stand together once again.
We'll sing the hymn that's found on the back of the bulletin. 2A 3.30 (-0.00') No more, my God, I boast no more
of all the duties I have done. I quit the hopes I held before
to trust the merits of Thy Son. Now for the love I bear His name
What was my gain I count my loss My former pride I call My shame
and nail My glory to His cross Yes, and I must and will esteem
all things but loss for Jesus' sake. O may my soul be found
in Him and of His righteousness partake. The best obedience of my hands
dares not appear before thy throne, but faith can answer thy demands
by pleading what my Lord has done. Please be seated. Our text this morning can be
found in Psalm 86. Psalm 86. In the book of Job, the question
is asked, how can a man born of woman approach unto a holy
God? How can I come into the presence
of a holy God? Most men don't even consider
that question because they have in their own darkened imagination
made God to be out altogether as themselves. In other words,
they fashioned an idol that they feel comfortable with, a God
that they can go into the presence of without any threat of judgment
or without any fear. But if we know the God who is,
we understand what the Lord meant when he said in Ecclesiastes
chapter 5, keep thy foot when thou goest into the house of
God and be more ready to hear than to make sacrifice of fools. For they consider not that they
do evil. Be not rash with thy mouth, and
let not thy heart be hasty to utter anything before God. For God is in the heaven, and
you are upon the earth. Therefore, let thy words be few."
What do I say? How can I speak to a God who
is omnipotent, a God who is holy? I'm so thankful that that God
gave us the words to speak. Psalm 86 is a prayer. a prayer that David uttered. It's called a prayer of David
and David being A type of Christ, the Lord Jesus
Christ, is called the Son of David. He's the sweet psalmist
of Israel. He's the shepherd of the sheep. He's the king of Israel. He's
the man after God's own heart. And so we see in Psalm 86 words
that were uttered from the heart of the Son of David, the Lord
Jesus Christ, from Calvary's cross. There's a glorious truth
that has to be understood when it comes to understanding Psalm
86, as well as many of the Psalms. And it is the truth of imputation. Imputation. God made him sin
who knew no sin. God charged, imputed to, credited
to the account all the sins and all the shame and all the guilt
associated with those sins of all of God's people of every
generation on the back of the Lord Jesus Christ as the substitute
for sinners while He hung on Calvary's cross. It's called
imputation. God made Him who Himself Never
sinned. He was tried in all ways that
we are, yet the scripture says, without sin. Perfect, holy, harmless, undefiled,
and separate from sinners. Never had anything but a holy
thought. Never spoke anything but a perfect word. Never did
anything but that which was perfectly pleasing to God. Satisfying all
the demands of God's law perfectly by himself. And yet when he went
to the cross, the scripture says that he was forsaken of God.
He drank from the cup of God's wrath. When he went into the
garden, you remember he said, Father, if there be any way this
cup can pass from me, let it be. Nevertheless, not my will,
but thy will be done. It was God's will that Christ
would bear the sins of his people and satisfy God's divine justice. And that was the cup that he
drank from, the bitter dregs of God's wrath on Calvary's cross. And so Christ, as the one imputed
with, in charge, charged with, credited with our sin, prays
this prayer to the Father. And the other half of that is
that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. That's the other
side of imputation. Isaiah said, tell them that their
warfare is accomplished and they've received double. They've received
a double blessing from God. What's the double blessing? The
double blessing is that God charged Christ, the sin bearer, with
all the guilt of all of our sin and satisfied his justice once
and for all. And the second blessing is that
he charged his people, the ones for whom Christ died, with the
righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what that passage
that Hugo just read from the book of John about eating his
flesh, his body. That's his life. Look to the
life of the Lord Jesus Christ for all your righteousness, for
he's the only one that's righteous in the presence of God. And so
God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might
become the righteousness of God in Him. God took the perfect
righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ and charged it to the
count of God's people and made them perfect before God. So David begins with a prayer. A prayer that's a prayer for
every child of God. And it begins with the glorious
truth of condescension. Man thinks that he can just rush
into the presence of God. I can go to God. God loves me
and I can just rush into his presence. Fools rush into the
presence of God. The Tower of Babel was all about
man attempting to work himself into the presence of God. Work's
religion is all about man trying to earn favor with God and climb
the ladder up into heaven. Free will religion is all about
man attempting to Enter into the presence of God based on
something that he does And how does David's how am I going to
approach God? How are you going to approach
God? How's a sinner gonna stand in the presence of God begin
by? acknowledging your need for him
to come to you and Isn't that not how David starts?
Bow down thine ear, O Lord. There's no way I can get to where
you are. I'm a worm. How can I get myself
into glory? Lord, I need for you to come
down to where I am. And that's what the scripture
tells us that the Lord Jesus Christ did in Philippians chapter
2. He thought it not robbery to be equal with God, yet he
made of himself no reputation, and took upon him the form of
a servant, and was made in the likeness of sinful men." Born
of a woman, born under the law, God Almighty left the glories
of heaven. Not only did he become a man,
which is an infinite condescension in and of itself, for God to
become man, but listen to the rest of this passage, and being
found in the fashion of a man, he humbled himself and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. So here we've
got God, who considers it not robbery to be equal with God.
He knows that he's God. He's the fullness of the Godhead
bodily. And yet he makes himself in the
form of a man and then goes even further and becomes obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross. The God of glory,
the God of creation, had to condescend for us to know anything about
Him. You can't get to God. He's got
to come to you. And that's the beginning of grace,
isn't it? When the Lord puts it in our hearts to believe that.
Lord, I can't, I can't enter into Your presence. I need You
to come to me. I need you to bow down your ear
to where I am. I'm a sinner. I'm upon the earth
and you're in the heavens. In what we just read in Ecclesiastes,
let your words be few. Don't be a fool. Don't rush into
the presence of God thinking that he's going to Well, let's go on. Bow down thine ear, O Lord, and
hear me. Hear me, for I am poor. Now the
scripture says that the Lord Jesus Christ, though he was rich,
became poor, that by his poverty we might be made rich. There's
the double blessing once again. The Lord Jesus Christ was rich
in glory for all eternity, reigning as God, and comes into this world
and becomes poor. Not only the poverty of being
a man and being a nomad carpenter, a common man, but the poverty
of having all of his glory stripped from him on Calvary's cross when
he became obedient even unto death. You know what poor means? Poor
means you've got nothing. Can you pray that prayer? Bow down thine ear, O Lord, unto
me. I can't come to you. You've got
to come to me. And the only ground, the only
claim that I have for you to bow down your ear to me is that
I don't have anything. You see, religion is all based
on bringing something to God. I'm going to obligate God to
hear my prayer by something that I bring to Him. And if you've
got something to bring, you're not poor. Poor just means you
don't have anything. You don't have anything. God's
not going to bow down His ear because of your sincerity. He's
not going to bow down His ear because of a gift that you bring,
or work that you perform, or prayer that you pray. You're
not going to obligate God to bow down His ear. But He will
bow down His ear to those who are poor. Those who have nothing. The Lord Jesus Christ was stripped
of all of His glory on Calvary's cross. Are you stripped of your
glory? Do you have no righteousness?
Do you have no covering for your sin? Do you have nothing to bring
to God? Are you completely, are you a
mercy beggar? That's who he bows down to. That's
the claim that we make. It's amazing to me that they,
religion is all based on commitment. If you listen to the messages
of religion, it's all an appeal for you to get more committed.
More committed, the appeal of the gospel is for
you to be stripped naked and have nothing, including your
commitment. Now, commitment is never the cause
of God's blessing, but it's always the result of
it. The Lord bows down His ear and
blesses you, you're going to commit everything to Him. But religion turns it around.
They make commitment the effectual cause of God's blessings. And it's not. Lord, what am I
going to commit to You? I'm poor. I don't have anything. I can't do anything. That's what
it means to be needy. What could the Lord Jesus Christ
do nailed to Calvary's cross? What could he do? He was nailed
to a cross. He couldn't do anything. So we see in this prayer, Oh
Lord, bow down thine ear unto me for here's the only claim
that I have for you to hear me. I'm poor. I've got nothing. I'm
stripped naked and I'm needy. I can't do anything. I'm nailed
to this cross. I'm completely dependent upon
you. I'm not offering God anything
else. I'm not saying, Lord bow down
my ear because this is what I know. Those of us that have been theologically
trained thought that we had an edge on God because of what we
knew. We've got some understanding. We know some theology. We know
some theologians. We know some doctrine. Certainly
that will obligate God. And when the Lord makes you to
be a sinner, you realize how empty that claim was. No claim to it. Lord, the only
claim that I have on you, the only ground upon which I can
come is not based on what I know. It's not based on what I've done
or what I haven't done. It's not based on how committed
I am. It's based on the fact that I am poor. I've got nothing
and I'm needy. I can do nothing. Now look at
the next verse. Preserve my soul. Preserve my
soul Well, this is a soul matter. This is a heart matter. This is not just you know How
many times we're brought to pray and cry out to God? because we're
suffering in our temporal circumstances and We should pray to God when
we have a need But aren't you ashamed? Aren't you ashamed of
how much your physical circumstances dominate your prayer life? Oh Lord, preserve my soul. Save
my soul. Lord, all these temporal circumstances
are going to cease one day very soon. I need to be preserved
from the pit, that I go not down into the pit. I need for you
to raise me from the dead. Lord, I need for you to give
me life. That's my real need. Whatever you've ordained for
me in this world, in terms of my circumstances, Lord, if it
would result in the preserving of my soul, Four, now David's gonna give
him another reason why God should bless him. Why God should bow
down his ear, why God should hear him, why God should preserve
his soul. Number one, I'm poor, I've got
nothing, I'm needy, I can't do anything, but I'm holy. I'm holy. The Lord Jesus Christ was the
Holy One who could not see corruption. He could not remain in the grave. Why? Because He was holy. And
He that sanctifyeth, that's what the word holy means, and they
that are sanctified are all as one. Wherefore He is not ashamed
to call you His brethren. Lord, my hope. The hope of you
bowing down your ear to me is that I'm perfectly righteous
in the person of my substitute. You see, this imputation goes
both ways, doesn't it? Thou art my God. Save thy servant. Oh, Lord, save me. Save me. How often do you pray that prayer? We don't presume upon God. We don't see God as, Lord, save
me. He's God. He's not like your
daddy. He's not like your husband, or
your brother, or your sister, or your friend. He's God. God, I need you to save me. If
you're gonna save me, you're gonna have to have mercy on me.
And my only claim for you to save me is that I'm poor and
needy. But I'm holy. I'm holy. Perfect in Christ. Save thy servant
that trusteth. And don't stop right there. Don't
stop right there. In thee. That's the most important
part of that verse. Don't think that your claim for
God to bow down His ear and save you and hear you is based on
the strength of your trust. It's the object of your trust. It's the object of your trust.
For I am holy and I trusteth in thee. In thee. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed. And I'm persuaded that He's able to keep that which
I've committed unto Him against that day. What have you committed
to Christ? What have you committed to Christ? Now that's a very personal question. It's something each of us need
to consider, don't we? What have I committed to Him? Everything. Everything. I told those Folks in the VFW
yesterday that I said, you know, and I've used this illustration
here before, I said, if you've got some material wealth, you
don't put all your investments in one place. That would be foolish.
You diversify your investments, don't you, in fear that if one
fails, another would succeed, and at the end of the day, you'd
make a profit. And men in religion do the same
thing. You know, I'm going to trust Christ and I'm going to
trust that prayer that I prayed back there and I'm going to trust
these works that I'm doing and I'm going to compare myself to
myself and see that I'm getting better. That's all progressive
sanctification is. We just looked at that in 1 Corinthians
chapter 4. I'm going to compare myself to
other believers and find out where I fit in the hierarchy
of sanctification. Don't do it. Don't do it. No. My trust for everything is in
Christ. I've got all my eggs in one basket.
If what He did doesn't succeed, I'm lost. And if what he did was successful,
I'm saved. Because I've got everything banking
on him. Everything. And that's the claim that we
make. Lord, bow down thine ear. I'm poor. I'm needy. I can't do anything. I'm holy.
Perfect in Christ. Why? Because I'm trusting Him.
My trust, all the hope of my salvation is in Christ. Be merciful unto me, O Lord,
for I cry unto Thee daily. Now those who would, this is
a prayer, it's clear from this whole passage, particularly towards
the end of this passage. Matter of fact, the subscript,
maybe you have it in your Bible, right under Psalm 86 it says,
a prayer of David. That's actually in the text.
That wasn't just added there to give it a title. That's in
inspired scripture. So this is a prayer of David. It's a prayer of Christ. Now,
why would the Lord Jesus Christ need God to be merciful to him? Unless this thing of imputation
was so real that all the shame and guilt of sin was so true
to him that all he could do was cry out to God for mercy. Lord, be merciful to me. For I cry unto thee, and that
word daily is all the day long." Or, I don't have a place else
to go. Will you leave me also, the Lord asked the disciples.
Lord, where are we going to go? Where are we going to go? We
know and are sure that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living
God. We've got no place else to go. We've put everything on
you. Everything. And that's what David's saying. In another place, 2 Samuel chapter
23, David's last words, although my house be not so with God,
yet he has made with me an everlasting covenant. There's the hope of
my salvation. A promise that God made with God. Not a promise
that I made with God, but a promise that God made with God. That's
a promise I can trust. He's made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things and sure, and David goes on to
say, this is all my salvation and all my desire. I've got no
place else to go. The Lord has given you and I
words to utter when we enter into his presence. These are spiritual words. The
Lord Jesus Christ said, the words that I speak unto you are spirit
and they are life. How many foolish words we utter.
This is God's word. You pray this prayer in faith,
looking to Christ, God's gonna hear it. Rejoice the soul of thy servant. For unto thee, O Lord, do I lift
up my soul. Again, it's not the sincerity
of your lifting up your soul, it's the one you're lifting up
your soul to. And if God's given you faith
in Christ, you know there's no place else to go. And what do you need? Lord, I
don't need just to be saved, I need to know I'm saved. I need to know I'm saved. And
if the Lord gives you assurance of your salvation, you will rejoice. Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say, rejoice, let
your gentleness be known unto all men. Why? For the Lord is
at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in
all things by prayer and supplication, let your requests be known unto
God and the peace of God that passes understanding. In other
words, this peace will keep your heart and your soul in Christ
Jesus, regardless of your circumstances. It's easy to have peace when
things are going well, doesn't it? And then when things are
not going so well, I don't have peace. Lord, rejoice my soul. Give me hope in Christ. Let me
rest in him. For thou, Lord, art good. Do you believe that? I mentioned
in the first hour that somebody commented to me this last day
or so about how good God was to spare us of the damage that
we could have experienced as a result of this storm. And I
thought, well, had every one of our homes been blown off their
foundation, would God still be good? Yes. Yes, He would be. He's good and everything he does
is good. And you know, you know that all
things work together for good for them that love God and those
of the called according to his purpose. Here's how we come to
God. Whatever you do is right. It's
good. It's for your glory. It's for
the salvation of your people. Lord, give me faith. Give me
hope in Christ. For thou, Lord, art good. And here's the number one evidence
of his goodness. Ready to forgive. Oh, that's what I need. Now what
you need? Need a God who's not reluctant
to forgive. He is ready to forgive. You don't go to God as a sinner
and then say, well, you know, you're just not, you're not ready
for this yet. You come to him, he's ready.
He's ready to forgive. And that's what, that's what
we need. The forgiveness of our sin. accomplished
through the sacrifice that the Lord Jesus Christ made of himself
on Calvary's cross. Father, into thy hands I commend
my spirit. It's finished. It's finished. Everything necessary for the
forgiveness of our sin was finished on Calvary's cross and plenteous
in mercy unto all them that call upon thee. The object of who you call on.
The person that you're calling out to. The Lord says, I'm ready to forgive
and I'm plenteous in mercy. No shortcoming on my part. God is a lot more willing to forgive
than we are to be forgiven. If we lack forgiveness, it's
not on God's part. You see, we're by nature works
oriented. We're by nature thinking that,
well, I gotta bolster my commitment. I've got to deepen my sincerity.
I've got to increase my activity. I've got to do this and do that.
And in doing so, we forfeit the grace of God. Our God is plenteous in mercy.
He is ready to forgive to all them that call on Him. Did not the Lord say you have
not? Because you ask not. We're the ones reluctant. We
are. We're just reluctant. In the day of my trouble will I call upon thee, for thou
wilt answer me." Oh, brothers and sisters, this
is God's promise. He will answer. You don't have forgiveness because
you haven't asked. You bent on Forsaking the grace
of God, and you're not calling on Him? What is your trouble? What is your trouble? Is your
trouble sitting next to you? Or is your trouble sitting in
the same seat you're sitting in? Our sin really is our biggest
problem in it We really truly are our own worst
enemies Lord my troubles my unbelief It's my sin. I Will call upon they Call upon him in your time of
trouble. Among the gods there is none
like unto thee, O Lord, neither are there any works like unto
thy works. All the gods of man's imagination
are just that, figments of their own imagination. There's but
one God, and there's no God like him. His work of election is glorious,
that our God would sovereignly choose according to his own will
and purpose who he would have mercy on before man ever came
on the scene. That the work of redemption would
be completed through the sacrifice that the Lord Jesus Christ would
make of himself once and for all, redeeming all. His works
are glorious. The work of righteousness, the
perfect obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ, so that when he
went to the Calvary's cross, God was able to accept his sacrifice
because he was holy. He was holy. The work of regeneration. That
God would make you to differ. That he would send his spirit
and his gospel in power and give you ears to hear. Cause you to
come and to believe. All his works are glorious. They're
marvelous. They're powerful. They're irresistible. You're not going to resist the
grace of God. Aren't you glad? That He would keep you from falling
and present you faultless and not allow you to become an unbeliever? This is His work. And present
you faultless before His throne? And make you to be just like Him?
How does David say it? All thy works There is no works
like unto thy works. All nations whom thou hast made
shall come and worship before thee, O Lord, and shall glorify
thy name. Now I'll close with this. You're
only going to worship a God who is absolutely sovereign. What I said in the first hour
is that most people who call themselves Christians deny the
essence of the deity of Christ. They will say that Jesus is God
and then they'll turn right around and make Him dependent upon man
for something. Denying His Godhead. And they get together and they
feign worship to a God that's depending upon them to bring
something, for God's hands are tied. It's just feigned worship. You will bow before and worship
a God, I mean really worship a God, who holds your life in
his hand and can do with it whatsoever he wills. whatsoever he wills. That's the God you'll bow to. That's the God you'll plead to
for mercy. And that's the God who is. Oh Lord, bow down thine ear for
I am poor. I don't have anything and I'm
needy. I can't do anything. And I'm
holy. My hope is in the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and all I know to do is cry out to
Thee for mercy." Our God has given us words to
speak when we enter into His presence. Might He give us the
heart of faith to believe those words when we speak them. Let's
pray. Our Heavenly Father, we're thankful,
thankful that we have a God who's absolutely sovereign, a God who's
omnipotent, a God who is able to save, O Lord, how we pray
that you would be merciful to us unworthy sinners, for we ask
it in Christ's name. Amen. Number 126, let's stand together,
126. And after we sing, it's been
a blessing to have Norm and Nancy Wells with us this morning from
Oregon. Norm, pastor of the church up
there, most of you know. Norm, would you close our service
in prayer, please, brother? Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let
me hide myself in thee. Let the water and the blood from
thy wounded side which flowed be of sin the double cure. Save from wrath and make me pure. Could my tears forever flow? Could my zeal no longer know? These, for sin, could not atone. Thou must save, and Thou alone. In my hand no price I bring,
Simply to Thy cross I cling. While I draw this fleeting breath,
when my eyes shall close in death, when I rise to worlds unknown,
and behold thee on thy throne, rock of ages cleft for me, let
me hide myself in thee. Amen. We realize, oh God, that our
problem is not our government. Our problem is not our government. Our problem is not our spouse
or our children. Our problem is us. We are weak
and needy creatures.