Good evening. Hopefully everybody
got a softback timbrel from Wayne. We're going to sing a hymn from
there just tonight. And if you need one, you can
sidle up to somebody who has one or Wayne's got a few extras
in his pew. We'll do that second. We're going to open tonight's
service with hymn number 186, The Church is One Foundation. 186 in the hardback timbrel. Let's all stand together. I'll be back in a minute. The Church's one foundation is
Jesus Christ, her Lord. She is His new creation by water
and the Word. From heaven He came and sought
her, to be his holy bride. With his own blood he bought
her and for her life he died. Elect from every nation, yet
one o'er all the earth. Her charter of salvation, one
Lord, one faith, one birth. One holy name she blesses, partakes
one holy food. And to one hope she presses With
every grace and duty. Mid toil and tribulation and
tumult of her war, She waits the consummation of peace forevermore. Till with a vision glorious,
her longing eyes are blessed, and the great church victorious
shall be the church at rest. Yet she on earth hath union With
God the three in one, And mystic sweet communion With those whose
rest is one. O happy ones and holy, Lord,
give us grace that we Please be seated. Those words meant more to me
tonight than I think they've ever meant to me before. That's a good hymn. Mystic sweet communion with those
whose rest is one. Good evening. Let's open our
Bibles together to the book of Micah. Micah, you'll find that
between Jonah and Nahum, one of the small prophet books in
the back part of the Old Testament, Micah chapter 7. While you look for that, remind
you that we're planning on having services Friday night at 6 o'clock,
7 o'clock. I did that Sunday, didn't I?
Friday night at 7. I'm glad I've got somebody to
hold my hand to get me there when I'm supposed to be there.
Friday night at 7, Saturday morning at 10, and Sunday night at 6.
And I'll be leaving here immediately after the service to go pick
up a dentist tonight, and then Cody flies in tomorrow. And Cody will be preaching here
one of the messages on Sunday morning. So busy weekend, but
I hope that many of you will be able to come and be a part
of the services and if you're not able to, please remember
to pray for the messages and for those that will be there.
Alright, you have your Bibles open to Micah chapter 7, just
the last three words, the last three verses of this chapter
and Who is a God like unto thee? There isn't one that pardoneth
iniquity, puts away our sin, and passeth by the transgression
of the remnant of his heritage. He retained not his anger forever
because he delighteth in mercy. The Lord Jesus Christ is called
the propitiation, our propitiation, and by that it means that the
father executed his anger against his own son on Calvary's cross
and put away the wrath of God once and for all, satisfied with
the sacrifice that he made. He will turn again He will have
compassion upon us. He will subdue our iniquities,
and Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
Thou wilt perform the truth of Jacob and the mercy of Abraham,
which Thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old. Let's pray together. Our Heavenly Father, we would not dare approach thy
throne without the blood of thy dear son. We thank you that we
have an advocate. We thank you, Lord, that that
you do delight in showing mercy towards centers and that you've
put away your wrath And that we can come to the throne of
grace with boldness, with confidence. Knowing Lord that you're satisfied
with the work that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished on Calvary's
cross. And that there is now therefore
no condemnation, no condemnation. Oh Lord, what hope, what comfort,
what peace, what joy we have. and being able to come into thy
very presence and know, Lord, that not only are you not angry,
but you have nothing but your perfect, eternal, everlasting
love to bestow upon us. Lord, we pray that you would
do that again tonight and that you would make us vessels of
your grace and, Lord, that we would hear thy voice that we
would find our hope in Christ, enable us to worship him. We
pray for the services in Sarasota. We ask, Lord, that you would
call out your lost sheep. We pray for Dennis and Cody and
myself and ask, Lord, that you would put onto our hearts the
messages that would glorify Christ and, Lord, that you would use
to speak truth to the hearts of your people. We ask it in
Christ's name. Amen. Who is a God like unto thee,
that pardoneth iniquity? Jehovah God, the great I Am,
forgives our sins through Christ the Lamb. Who is a God like unto Thee,
that pardoneth iniquity? His anger he retains no more. His grace and mercy shall endure. Number 19. The God of truth must
punish sin. He formed a plan to satisfy the
law's demands, for sinners new precessed the sense. Who is a God like unto Thee,
That pardoneth iniquity, His anger He retains no more, His
grace and mercy shall endure. Behold His love and compassion
in the death of Christ His Son. A precious sin, atoning blood,
reveals the love and truth of God. Who is a God like unto Thee? That pardoneth iniquity, His
anger He forgives. retains no more, his grace and
mercy shall endure. He passes by the transgressions
of all his loved and chosen ones. In mercy God delights we see,
He cast our sins into the sea. Who is a God like unto Thee,
that pardoneth iniquity? He retains no more, His grace
and mercy shall endure. None can with our great God compare,
He gave His Son sinners to spare. His anger he retains no more,
Christ died, and God requires no more. Who is a God like unto Thee,
That pardoneth iniquity? His anger He retains no more. His grace and mercy shall endure. Please be seated. You still have your Bibles marked
for Micah. You can open them back there.
Micah chapter seven. Who can we trust for the salvation
of our souls? Who can we trust for the salvation
of our souls? We have trustful friends that
we can confide in, that have proven themselves to be faithful,
some of which we may even trust with our very lives. We have loving spouses that we
trust and that we put our confidence in. But who can be trusted to
save our soul? Micah chapter seven, verse five. The Lord begins by telling us
who not to trust. Now he's not telling us to be
suspicious of your friends, to not trust men for things. He's talking about our souls
here. And he says clearly in chapter 7 verse 5, trust ye not
in a friend. Don't trust your friend for your
soul. Trust them for your money. Trust them for your life if they're
a good enough friend. Don't trust them for your soul. They can't
save you. Can't do anything for you. Put ye not confidence in a guide. Now the word there is prince
or king. It's the confidence that men
put in their leaders. And we should. have some confidence, I suppose,
in the people that we follow. Certainly we should show respect
and honor to those who are in positions of authority, whether
it be on our job, or whether it be in the government, or in
our homes, or wherever we are. The scripture tells us to give
honor to whom honors due. And that's right for us to do
that. But he's saying don't trust him
for your soul. Don't trust them for your soul. They can't do
anything for you. They can't save you. Keep the doors of thy mouth from
her that lieth in thy bosom. He's talking about your spouse.
He's talking about that one who's nearest to you. Don't cry out
to them for the salvation of your soul. They can't help you.
Can't help you. So if a friend can't help me,
if my leader in this world can't help me, if my own spouse who
I'm bound to in this life can't help me, then who can help me? Who can I trust to save my immortal
soul? Verse six. is the verse that
our Lord quotes in Matthew chapter 10. And he's using this now to
illustrate how, you remember, well, it's a terminator, terminator
Matthew chapter 10, we'll just read it. Matthew chapter 10, verse 34.
Think not, that I am come to send peace
on earth. I came not to send peace, but
a sword. We've all had friends before
we met Christ that are no longer our friends. We've all had loving
relationships with family members before we met Christ And now
those relationships are very strained at best. And the Lord
said, think not that I came to bring peace. I didn't come. I
came to bring peace between sinners and God, but I certainly didn't
come to bring peace between, between believers and unbelievers.
Matter of fact, look what he says, for I am come to set a
man at variance against his father and a daughter against her mother
and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and a man's
foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father
or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and he that loveth
son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me, and he that
taketh not his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. He's not talking about whatever
burden you may, in God's providence, have to bear in this world. That's not taking up your cross.
It's identifying yourself with Christ. It's saying that I was
crucified with Christ. Crucified with Christ. Nevertheless,
I live, yet it's not I, but it's Christ that liveth in me. The
life that I now live, I live by the faith of the Son of God
who loved me and died for me. Paul said that I might know him
and the fellowship of his suffering. When he suffered on Calvary's
cross, I was there. The only hope that I have that
my sins have been put away is that I was in Christ when God
made him to be the propitiation for my sins. And that's what
the Lord is saying here. That once you identify with Him,
it's going to strain some relationships in this world. And so that's
why the Lord said, don't trust in your friends, don't trust
in your very spouse, don't trust in your leader. Not for your
soul. Or once you come to Christ, look
how he concludes this, verse 39, he that findeth his life
shall lose it. In other words, if you're trying
to find life in this world by something you do, you're gonna
lose your life. But he that loseth his life for my sake shall find
it. Union with Christ. puts every
other relationship to the side. It makes every other relationship
subject to your relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Now
go back with me to our text in Micah chapter 7. What we're talking
about right now is the very reason why a lot of people won't come
to Christ. They love the praise of men more than they love the
praise of God. They'll not identify with him. The Lord goes on in
that Matthew chapter 10 passage. He says, if you don't confess
me before men, I won't confess you before my Father which is
in heaven. This thing of being identified
with Christ puts everything else subject to our relationship with
the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's the reason why men won't
come. I'm not going to have him reign over me. I'll have too
much to lose. Too much to lose in this world.
I was talking to a pastor friend years ago about an individual
that we both knew. And I made the statement that
after sharing the gospel with this person, they didn't believe
it. And I made the statement, because
he's very wealthy and very prominent, and had he believed the gospel,
well, he was involved in a religious ministry, he lost everything.
And I made the statement, I said, he had too much to lose. He had
too much to lose. And my pastor friend wisely said
to me, he said, he didn't have any more to lose than anybody
else had to lose. You gotta lose everything. Everything. That's what coming to Christ
is. everything. Trust not in friends. Trust not
in your leaders. Don't even cry out in your heart
to your own spouse for the salvation of your soul. For the son dishonored
the father and the daughter rise up against her mother, the daughter-in-law
against her mother-in-law and a man's enemies are the men of
his own house. You cannot trust men for your
soul. You can't do it. Therefore, look at verse 7, back
in our text in Micah chapter 7, verse 7. Therefore, since
I've got no place else to turn, Now listen, I know you've heard
me make this statement before, but the first time I heard it,
it just was so profound to me, and it has been so true to my
understanding of the gospel. Coming to Christ is not a choice. It's not a choice. If you've
got a choice between Christ and something else, you will choose
something else. Every time. The only way that
a sinner is going to come to Christ is if he's got no place
else to go. You have no place else to go. That's what the Lord
is saying here. Trust not in friends. I look
to my friends. I look to my leaders. I look
to my spouse. I look to my family. Therefore,
I will look unto the Lord. I have no place else to go. Lord,
thou alone has the words of eternal life, and we know and are sure
that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. God, the
Holy Spirit, has to shut us up to Christ so that we've got no
other option. If you've got an option, if you've
got a decision to make or a choice to make in salvation, you will
choose the damnation of your soul over Christ. God has to
make us believe on Him. He's got to make us to be willing
in the David's power, and He's got to strip us of every other
choice. We're talking about the soul.
We're talking about, who am I going to trust for my soul? We'll put our trust in, you know,
another understanding of the last part of verse 5, keep the
doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom. It's a direct
reference to your spouse and how the person closest to you
and the person who loves you the most can't save your soul.
But also, who is it that lies in your bosom? It's your own will. It's your
own nature. Don't cry out to yourself to
save yourself. Don't say, I'm going to make
a decision for Christ or I'm going to make Jesus Lord of my
life. Don't do it. And once the Lord shows you that
there's no salvation for your soul outside of the Lord Jesus
Christ, therefore, I will look unto the Lord. Turn with me to
Numbers chapter 21. Numbers chapter 21. The children of Israel, are complaining about their circumstances. They're accusing God, accusing
Moses of not doing what's right. And in chapter 21, verse 6, the
Lord sent fiery serpents. That means poisonous snakes.
Fiery serpents among the people. And they bit the people. And
much people of Israel died. And therefore the people came
to Moses and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the
Lord and against thee, praying to the Lord that he may take
away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people."
Here's another one of those places where they confess, we've sinned. We've sinned against God. And the Lord said unto Moses,
make thee a fiery serpent and set it upon a pole and as it
shall come to pass that everyone that is bitten when he looketh
upon it shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass
and put it upon a pole and it came to pass that if a serpent
had bitten any man when he beheld the serpent of brass he lived."
Now that serpent is a picture of our sin. I said, we've been
bitten with a fiery serpent. We're dying. And you say, well,
the Lord said, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
so must the Son of Man be lifted up. Speaking of the Lord Jesus
Christ on the cross. That's what that serpent was
a picture of. You say, well, how can a snake, a serpent, a symbol
of sin and death and evil represent the Lord Jesus Christ? God made him who knew no sin
to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God
in him. And Micah says, I can't find
anyone to save me. I can't find anyone to help me
with this sin problem. Therefore, I will look unto the
Lord. I'll cast my care upon him. I'll
look to what he did on Calvary's cross in taking away. And I'll
believe that in looking to him, in looking to him, I'll live.
I believe that. I do believe that. You say, well,
how do I look to Christ? Turn with me to Revelation chapter
one. Revelation chapter one. Verse 10. I was in the spirit
on the Lord's day and heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet. How do I look to Christ? Well,
we've come together. We hope and pray that the spirit
of God will bless the word of God right now to our hearts.
He said we're two or three gathered together. There I am in the midst
of them. He delights in showing mercy to his children. What did this voice say? Here's
what the voice said, I am the Alpha and the Omega. I'm the A to Z, I'm the beginning
to the end. I'm the lamb that was slain before
the foundation of the world. I'm the one that chose you, you
did not choose me. I'm the one that redeemed you,
you didn't add anything to the work of redemption that I accomplished
on Calvary's cross. I'm the one who was raised from
the dead for your justification before God. I'm the one that
ascended back into glory and ever lives to make intercession
for you. Salvation's of the Lord. I'm coming again. I'm not going
to lose one of my sheep. Every single one of them are
going to be with me in glory. I am the Alpha and the Omega. How do I look to Christ? Let's
read on. the first and the last, and what
thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches
which are in Asia, unto Ephesus, and Smyrna, and Pergamos, and
Thyatira, and Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and Laodicea. And
I turned to see the voice that spake with me, and being turned,
I saw seven golden candlesticks." Did you get that? I turned to
see the voice, and being turned, I saw the church. And I saw the
one who walked among the candlesticks. How do I look to Christ? By His
Word. Right here, right now. Right
now. Today is the day of salvation.
It's not something, well, you know, I'll look to Christ later.
If we're in the Spirit, and this is the Lord's day, this is the
Lord's place, and this is why we've come together, to hear
His voice. And turning, we all turned to come here. And yet,
turning to come here, we would say with John, and being turned,
Being turned, I saw the golden candlestick. And in the midst
of the seven candlesticks, one like unto the son of man, clothed
with a garment down to his foot and girt about with paps with
a golden girdle, and his head was hair with white like wool,
as white as snow, and his eyes were as a flame of fire, and
his feet were like fine brass, as if they'd burned in a furnace,
and his voice as the sound of many waters. There's one. There's one that saw Him. All
those things demonstrate His glory, His wisdom, His sovereignty,
His success in salvation. We're preaching Christ in order
that... Go back with me to our text.
We're preaching Christ in order that we might look unto the Lord. This is the means by which God's
people look. Turn with me to Philippians chapter
3. We'll begin in verse 14. I press towards the mark for
the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us
therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded, and if If in
anything you be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto
you. Nevertheless, whereto we have
already attained, let us walk by the same rule. Let us mind
the same thing. Brethren, be followers together
of me, and mark them which walk so as they have for an example. For many walk, of whom I have
told you often, and now tell you even weeping. that they are
the enemies of the cross, whose end is destruction, whose God
is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly
things. For our conversation is in heaven. From whence also we look for
the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile bodies. Oh, what a great day that's going
to be. When this corruptible is made
incorruptible, when this vile body is changed, there will be
no remembrance whatsoever of our experiences in this world
as they relate to sin. None whatsoever. None. Oh, that's something to look
forward to, isn't it? "...who shall change our vile
bodies that we may be fashioned like unto His glorious body according
to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things
unto Himself." He's able to subdue everything. Psalm 123, let's Look at one
other passage of scripture, speaking of looking to Christ, Psalm 123. Unto thee, lift up mine eyes,
O thou that dwellest in the heavens. Behold, as the eyes of a servant
look unto the hand of their master, and as the eyes of a maiden unto
the hand of her mistress, so our eyes wait upon the Lord our
God until that He has had mercy upon us. I don't know what else
to do. I don't know what else to do
but to look to Him. I've got no place else to go. And if I
don't know His mercy right now, I'm just going to keep looking
until I do know His mercy. It's all I can do. And that's
what Micah's saying. Therefore, go back with me to
Micah chapter six. Therefore, I will look unto the
Lord, I will wait for the God of my salvation. I will wait. Isaiah chapter 40. They that
wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount
up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint,
waiting on God. Now that word wait doesn't mean
just a, it does mean a cessation of activity as far as our works
are concerned, but it doesn't mean we just, it means to trust. To wait on him is to have hope
and expectation. Galatians chapter five, verse
five, for we through the spirit do wait for the hope of righteousness
by faith. Waiting is what faith does. Romans
chapter 8 verse 24, for we are saved by hope. But hope that is seen is not
hope. For what a man seeth, why does
he yet hope for it? But if we hope for that which
we see not, then we do with patience. Wait for it. Wait for it. I've got no place else to go
for the salvation of my soul. That's what Micah is saying.
My friends can't help me. I can't help myself. My leaders
can't help me. My spouse can't help me. I will look unto the Lord. I
will look to the Lord Jesus Christ in His Word to see who He is. and what he's done. He's the
Alpha and the Omega. He's the only one that can put
away my sin. He's the only one that can justify me before God.
I'm going to have to wait on Him. And look at the last part
of verse 7. I love this. My God will hear
me. He will. How do you know that
He will? Because He said He would. All that the Father giveth me
will come unto me, and everyone that cometh unto me, I will in
no wise cast him out. He'll hear me. Turn with me to
1 John chapter five. 1 John chapter five, verse 11.
And this is the record. This is the record. This is God's
record. This is what faith hangs the hopes of its soul on. the
record of God. This is the record that God hath
given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life,
and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things I have written unto
you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may
know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe on the
name of the Son of God. I don't know what else to do
but to believe on Him. I'm not hedging my bets. I'm
not adding to or taking away what He's done. All my hope is
on Him. And I've got the promise of God
that says if you believe on Him, you're saved. And this is the confidence that
we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will,
He heareth us. And if we know that He hears
us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that
we desired of Him. Now that doesn't mean if you
want a new car, you ask God for a car and He's going, no. They that call upon the Lord
shall be saved. If any of you lack wisdom, ask
it of God. He gives it to all men liberally
and upbraideth it not. But ask in faith, not wavering,
not like the wave of the sea being tossed to and fro with
the wind, thinking, well, I've got to have Christ, plus I've
got to do my part. Let not that man think that he
shall receive anything from the Lord, for he's double-minded
and unstable in all of his ways. To be single-minded is to trust
Christ alone for all your salvation. For everything. It's not Christ
plus your will. It's not Christ plus your works.
It's not Christ plus anything. That's what Micah is saying.
I couldn't find anyone that I could trust to save my soul. So I was shut up to Christ. And
I looked to the Lord and I waited for my God and I know that He
will hear me. He said He would. Our God can't lie. Faith is hanging
all your hopes on His promises. Where else are you going to go?
What else do you have? Our leaders can't save us. Our
friends can't save us. We can't save ourselves. Let's go back to Micah, chapter
7. You say, but I'm so sinful. You know, I just, I feel like
a hypocrite all the time. I'm going to tell you something
Robert said to me the other day. It was so, I was so blessed by
it. He said, it's a, it's amazing how we can live our lives, not
engaged in any sort of gross sin and yet feel like a hypocrite
all the time. And I say, man, that's the way
I feel. I feel like a hypocrite. Look
what he says. Rejoice not against me, O mine
enemy. When I fall, I shall arise. And when I sit in darkness, the
Lord shall be a light unto me. The righteous man falls seven
times. Now the seven's a word number
for perfection. We're perpetual backsliders. If you know your heart, You've
fallen 20 times in the last, you know, the last 45 minutes.
You can't keep your, you can't keep your mind on him, can you?
You hear little bits and pieces and you rejoice and you delight. You wanna, you wanna get, you
just wanna, you wanna embrace him, don't you? And then what
happens? Your mind goes off on something else. What does Micah say? Rejoice
not against me, O mine enemy." Who's your enemy? Your sin, your
flesh. That's your enemy. Don't rejoice
against me, my enemy. When I fall, I shall arise. How am I going to arise? He's
going to lift me up. He's going to keep me from falling
headlong into destruction. And He's going to present me
faultless before the throne of God. I know I stumble all the
time. I can't walk a straight line.
And yet in Christ, I'm perfect. And He keeps me on a short leash
and He keeps me from falling into the pit. Keeps me from falling
into the pit. When I sit in darkness, when
I can't see the light, when I'm, when I'm discouraged, when I'm,
when I seemingly without hope and my sin is ever before me, the Lord will bring the light
back. He'll shine the light on me in
the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm going to, I know, I know
he's not going to leave me here. He's not going to leave me here.
I've been here before, but he's not going to leave me here. The Lord shall be a light unto
me. He himself is my light. The Lord
Jesus Christ is the light of the world. He's gonna shine the
light of the gospel. He's gonna shine the light of
grace in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's gonna show
me who he is and what he's done for me. And he's gonna cause
me to find all my hope in his accomplished work and in his
glorious person. Look at verse nine. I will bear the indignation of
the Lord. Now what he's talking about there
is chastisement. Chastisement. Hebrews chapter
12. If you're not chastised, you're
not a child of God. The Lord knows how to chastise his children.
for the salvation of their souls, to keep them looking to Christ.
And Micah says, I can bear the chastisement of the Lord because
I know I've sinned against Him. And in the end, His loving, merciful,
gracious chastisement will lead me to the peaceable fruit of
righteousness. It will cause me to find all
my hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. And Micah says, I can trust Him
to save me. I can trust Him to discipline
me. I can trust Him to correct me. I've sinned against Him and
I continue to. until he plead my cause. Now that word plead means to
strive with words, to make an argument, to present a case before
the judge. And that's exactly what our advocate
does. He pleads our cause. on our behalf before God Almighty. And the Father listens to every
word he makes, every word he argues for our cause. This word cause means strife,
contention, quarrel, or dispute. I've got a strife going on within
me. I've got a contention between me and God. I've got a dispute,
it's called my sin. But I've got an advocate with
the Father who's pleading my cause before God, and that's
my hope. I can't plead my own cause. I
can't make an excuse for my sin. I might succeed in justifying
myself to you for something I do in this world, but I can't justify
myself to God. Oh, I need one who can execute
judgment for me. He doesn't just bring words.
He doesn't just bring words. He brings His own precious blood. That's the judgment. That's the
judgment. When He shed His blood on Calvary's
cross, He presents that blood before the Father. And the Father
says, when I see the blood, I'm going to pass by them. I'm going to execute judgment
for them. I'm just gonna, I don't know what else to do but look
to Him and wait upon Him. Nobody else can save me. Nobody
else can help me. I can't help myself. I'll look to the Lord. I'll wait
for the God of my salvation. And I'm confident that He's gonna
hear me. And my confidence is not based in anything other than
His promise. And I'm sure that He is able
to save. He will execute judgment for
me. He will bring me forth to the light. Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? Who's going to lay anything to
the charge of God? It's God that justifieth. Who is He that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather
that is risen again. We've got the death, burial and
resurrected Christ. who's interceding for us. And
that's what Micah said, here's the one that I can trust for
my soul. He'll plead my cause. He'll execute judgment for me.
He'll bring me forth to the light. He's going to keep bringing me
back to himself. He's the light. And he said, if you walk in the
light, as he is in the light, we'll have fellowship one with
another. And the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ
cleansed me of all my sin. The last phrase of verse nine.
Isn't this a glorious ending? And I shall behold His righteousness. His righteousness. Oh, there's
going to come a day when that's all we're going to behold. Here's
the way Peter put it in 2 Peter 2.13. We are looking for a new
heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. Nothing
but righteousness. We're not going to be reminded
of our sin. we're not going to know anything about our sin.
Right now, through the eye of faith, we look to that which
is not seen. We see our sins, but when we
look through the eye of faith to that which is eternal, we
see that we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ,
the Righteous One. And we know that we have no righteousness.
All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags before God. Oh, Abraham believed God. Here's what I want to close with.
Listen carefully, please. Abraham believed God, and it
was counted to him for righteousness. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'm calling on you right
now. I'm calling on me. Believe God. Believe God. And that's not a work. God commands all men everywhere
to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you're able to
say, oh, I do believe, I do believe the gospel, then you have hope
for your soul, for your soul. He can be trusted. Let's pray. Our merciful heavenly
father, we thank you for your, for your word and for the ministry
of your spirit that causes us to believe it. We ask Lord that
you would increase our faith. We'll pray for Christ's sake.
Amen. All right. Number 20 and the
sawback 10. No, let's stand together. We'll sing this hymn a cappella
to This Is My Father's World. Let's all stand together. We'll
just sing the refrain as if it was verse two, so sing straight
through. In Christ, in Christ alone, my
soul has found sweet rest. By grace He takes me for His
own and does for me what's best. Christ is all in all, Christ
is all to me. Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
is all, yes, all to me. On Christ I cast my care and
trust His providence. His sovereign throne forbids
my fear. His presence gives me peace. While living in this world, O
Lord, help me to see all things now seen within this world soon,
soon must pass away. There is an aching place within
my heart, dear Lord. I long to see the blessed face
of Christ my gracious Lord. In life I'll look to Christ In
death I'll await his call. In heaven I only hope for Christ,
who is my all in all. You guys will do me a favor and we'll pick these
up.