Good evening. Let's open tonight's
service with hymn number 52 from your hardbacked hymnal. Number
52. Majestic sweetness sits enthroned
upon the Savior's brow. Let's all stand together. Number
52. Majestic sweetness sits enthroned
upon the Savior's brow, His head with radiant glories crowned,
His lips with grace o'erflow, His lips with grace o'erflow. No mortal can with Him compare
among the sons of men. Fairer is He than all the fair
who fill the heavenly train, and fill the heavenly train. He saw me plunged in deep distress
and flew to my relief. For me he bore the shameful cross
and carried all my grief, and carried all my grief. To him I owe my life and breath
and all the joys I have. He makes me triumph over death
and saves me from the grave. And saves me from the grave. Please be seated. I want to read a familiar passage
for our scripture reading tonight. Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter
10. While you're looking that up,
let me remind you that if you have any paraphernalia in the
pews tonight, it would be a good time to take them home with you.
Whatever's left, we're going to collect up and put away somewhere
so that everything will be open for the extra crowd that we have,
no safe seating this weekend. All right. Next Wednesday night,
a week from tonight, we won't have our regular service. So
I'm not going to announce that again this weekend, but you know.
And Bryant, it's good to have you with us, brother. Those of
y'all who've come the last few years may not know Bryant's Joyce
son, but Bryant used to attend here. I don't know, how long
ago was that? It's been a while. It's been
a few years. Your mom can tell us exactly
when it was. Saturday and Sunday, if you have
extra lawn chairs or those 10 by 10 tents or whatever size
tent you might have, if you could bring those, it would be helpful
to be outside after the service. So bring those with you. You have your Bibles open to
Hebrews chapter 10. We'll begin reading in verse
6. In burnt offerings and sacrifice for sin, thou hast no pleasure. The Lord's not pleased with our
offerings, our sacrifices. Then said I, lo, I come, in the
volume of the book it is written of me, to do thy will, O God. God's pleased with Christ because
the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished the fulfillment of the law, did
the will of the Father. Above, when he said, sacrifice
an offering and burn offerings for sin, thou wouldest not, neither
hadst pleasure therein, which are offered by the law. Then
said he, lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the
first. that he may establish the second,
by the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily,
ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can
never take away sins. But this man after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of
God, from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. and welcome our brethren from
Sarasota with us tonight. And they'll be, most of them
I think will be here this coming weekend, so we'll have a chance
to fellowship with them. Let's pray together. Our Heavenly
Father, we're thankful for Your Word, we're thankful for enlightening
of your Holy Spirit that gives us understanding and faith, causes
us, Lord, to believe what you've declared about our sacrifices
and about our offerings, all made according to the law, in
which, Lord, you have no pleasure. But, oh, for thy beloved Son,
in whom thou art well pleased, We pray, Lord, that your spirit
would cause him to be lifted up in our hearts. We pray that
you would shine the light of the gospel in the face of the
Lord Jesus Christ and cause us, Lord, to flee to him, to find
him to be our all in all, to know that he hath sanctified,
perfected forever them that are sanctified. Or do we pray for this coming
weekend? Pray for Todd and for Joe and ask Lord that you would
continue to speak to their hearts and prepare us to hear the messages
that you give them. Father, we pray especially for
our young people, for our children, for those, Lord, that will be
with us that are yet strangers to thy grace. Oh, Lord, we ask
that you would bless the services and power and that you'd be pleased
to save your people. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen. Stand together again and we'll
sing him number 38 from the softback Timber 38. so Where your people gather, Lord,
around the mercy seat, be pleased to grant your grace and power
where your church may meet. Some gather in a stately place,
some in a modest home. But all who know your love and
grace to worship Christ have come. A special favor we would
seek who worship in this place. Pour out your spirit, flood our
souls with visions of your grace. Your servant built with power
to preach a word from God for us. Send forth a mighty gospel,
Lord, to every one of us. Yet we would not neglect to pray
for friends around the world, even for the flocks of saints
who worship Christ our Lord. For those who have no messengers
of grace and truth from God. Give them good pastors from your
heart. Provide their souls with food. All saints are one around the
world, and those in heaven too. The universal Church of God,
a glorious multitude, As one great chosen family, we
gather round God's throne, redeemed and called by grace divine to
make His glory known. Please be seated. Would you turn with me in your
Bibles to Psalm 41. Psalm 41. Yesterday morning, I was preparing
a message for tonight from First Corinthians chapter 15. And I was talking to Todd, asking
him if he knew what he was going to be preaching when he came.
He said, well, one of the messages I hope to bring is from 1st Corinthians
15. I said, oh, okay. So I'll put that on hold for
another time, and we'll leave that for Brother Todd to bring
when he's here. In God's providence, he led me
to start looking at Psalm 41, and I hope that the Lord will
enable us to enter into what is being said here and to be
blessed by this psalm. It's certainly been a blessing
to me, more so than I can possibly express. Three times in the psalms,
this one being the first, the psalm ends with amen and amen. Second time is in Psalm 72 verse
19 where David ceases his prayers and he concludes everything with
Amen and Amen. The third one is in Psalm 89
verse 52 when the Lord is speaking on the same subject that he's
dealing with here in Psalm 41 and he concludes that Psalm with
Amen and Amen. It's the Holy Spirit's way of
putting an emphasis on the message that's in this song. And it ought
to cause us, though we know that every word in this book is a
word of God, and every word is inspired by God, and every word
is for our instruction and for our salvation. When the Lord
repeats himself like this, he's telling us, give special attention
here, because what I'm telling you here is a summary of what
I've been saying in a lot of other places. Amen and amen. The psalm begins in verse one
with this statement, blessed is he that considereth the poor. Blessed of God is the one that
understands, that's what that word consider means, understands
the plight of the poor. Now this word poor means dying
of starvation. That's what it means. I'm not
talking about a person who having a hard time making their car
payment or somebody that's gotten behind on their mortgage. This
is a person who is dying of starvation. And the Lord says, blessed is
he that understandeth and considereth the poor. The Lord will deliver
that person in time of trouble. Now I'm just sure that there
are lots of programs in the world that are designed to help the poor.
And I'm sure that most of those folks think that the Lord is
talking about them here. That if they'll just reach out
to the poor, God will bless them. I want to say a few things before
I deal with what this message really means. James chapter 2
the scripture says if a brother or a sister be destitute and
naked and destitute of daily food and one of you say unto
him depart and be in peace and be ye warmed and filled notwithstanding
you give them not those things that are needful for the body
what good is it? In other words we We take care
of those who are in need, and God's people will. They will. I'm not sure that I've ever done
anything for anyone that was dying of starvation. I'm not sure that any attempt
that I've ever made to help someone that was in need was really of
much benefit. Wednesday night, a week ago,
just before you all got here, a lady showed up and she wanted
some money to help pay for her hotel room. And I wanted to help
her, but in talking with her for just a little while, her
story was so full of lies and deceit that I sent her away without
giving her a dime. Was I Was I being cold-hearted? Was I not being considerate of
the poor? No. No, that's uh... Turn with me before we go any
further. Turn with me to Mark chapter 14. Mark chapter 14. Our hearts break when we see
video of malnourished Children in third world countries that
are dying of starvation. And if there was anything we
could do to help them, we would do that. That's not what this
passage of Scripture is talking about. We will seek to do good
unto all men, particularly those who are of the household of faith.
And if someone asks us for something, if it's a legitimate need, then
we should respond in helping that person out, no question
about it. That's not what this passage is talking about. As
a matter of fact, in Mark chapter 14, scripture tells us a story about self-righteousness and
hypocrisy when it comes to consideration for the poor. In verse three, and being in
Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at me, there
came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard,
very precious, and she break the box and poured it on his
head. And there were some that had indignation within themselves
and said, why was this waste of ointment made? Oh, they were
so indignant. They just a waste of money. Look
what they said, for it might have been sold for more than
300 pence and been given to the poor, and they murmured against
her. And Jesus said, Let her alone. Why trouble you her? She hath
wrought a good work on me. For you have the poor with you
always, and whenever you will, you may do them good. But me,
you have not always. She hath done that which she
could, She has come aforehand to anoint my body to the bearing. Verily I say unto you, wheresoever
this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this
also that she hath done shall be spoken of as a memorial for
her. And Judas Iscariot, one of the
12, went unto the chief priests to betray him unto them. And when they heard it, They
were glad and promised to give him money. You suppose Judas
was one who spoke up and said in indignation that this should
have been sold for 300 pence and given to the poor? What was
he doing? He was covering up his own hypocrisy,
wasn't he? He was covering up his own greed.
And I'm just certain that a lot of what goes on in the world
is nothing more than that. covering up hypocrisy, or it
is self-righteousness. Men going about trying to establish
their own righteousness, believing that what they're doing for the
poor is somehow earning them favor with God. That's not what
this passage is talking about. God's people will do that as
the need presents itself and as they have opportunity. No
question about that. But the Lord's not talking about
you being blessed because you considered the poor. This whole
psalm is about the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the one that was
blessed of God because he understood the plight of the poor. He understood that we were poor
and needy, weak, dying of starvation. King David is a perfect example.
The scripture says that the fear of David fell upon all the nations. When David was reigning over
Israel, he was the most wealthy man in the world. He was the
most powerful man in the whole world. people feared at his presence. And yet, the one phrase that
David uses most often to describe himself is poor and needy. Lord, I am poor and needy. We're not talking about people's
physical needs here. We're talking about the ministry
of the gospel to our starving hearts. If we could see men,
if there's ever a time when we do understand the plight of the
poor, it's when we look at a lost man and understand what God has
done for us. And we see, you know, our hearts
break for these children that, like I mentioned a minute ago,
that are so malnourished and on the verge of dying in third
world countries. Spiritually, is that not how
all men are, regardless of how wealthy and healthy they might
be? They're just that way. And so
if there's ever a time when we can feed the poor and understand
the plight of the poor, it's sharing the gospel of God's free
grace in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ for
those that are dying of starvation. And that's exactly what the Lord
Jesus Christ came to do. He came to preach the gospel
to the poor. He understood our plight. He understood where we were and
where we were going. He says, look what he says in
this first verse, blessed is he that he is the Lord Jesus
Christ. I hate it when I hear people
talk about messianic Psalms. You read commentators and they'll
tell you, well you know there's 22 messianic Psalms. In the volume
of the book it is written of me. Every one of these Psalms
are Messianic. And we've got no understanding
of the Scriptures unless the Lord reveals to us not what this
says to us and our responsibilities and our duties with men in the
world, but in terms of what it says to us spiritually about
who the Lord Jesus Christ is and what He's done to save us. Blessed of God is He. for he understood the condition
that we were in. In, the Lord will deliver him. The Father will deliver the Lord
Jesus Christ. The Father will reward the Lord
Jesus Christ. The Father will bless the Lord
Jesus Christ. Why? because he considered and
understood the plight of the poor in the day of evil. You see that word trouble? That's
what it means. You might even have it in the
margin of your Bible. In the day of evil. Now what day is he talking about?
In what day did the Lord Jesus Christ consider the plight of
the poor and meet their needs? You know what day he did that.
There's been some evil things happen in this world. There's
been dictators and despots that have slaughtered millions of
people. And that's an evil thing. I was thinking today, thinking
about children, I was thinking today about what happened in
In Newtown, Connecticut at Sandy Hook and those 26 and 7-year-old
children that were slaughtered a year or two ago, whenever that
was. Our hearts break for those parents. That was an evil, evil act. You consider the most evil thing
that you've ever thought or ever done in your life. None of those
things None of those things compare to the evil that took place 2,000
years ago when the Son of God, the One who is holy, harmless,
undefiled, and separate from sinners, came down into the world,
made Himself vulnerable to the people that He created, and they
crucified Him. Nothing that's taken place ever
in the history of mankind compares to the evil of that day. It's
the most evil thing that's ever happened. The most evil thing
that man has ever done. And here's the thing about it.
If you're one of God's, you were there. You were there. Norm reminded us of that Sunday. You know, I don't know if I had
been there, would I have been like John? Would I have been
like the disciples running? Would I have been like the Pharisees
crying, crucify him, crucify him? None of those things really
matter. Trying to identify yourself in
the crowd and figure out which person you would have been, those
things don't matter. The truth is that if you're one
of God's, you were there. It was your sin that put the
Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. That's the day of evil. He remembered
the plight of the poor and God blessed him and delivered him
in that day of evil. No evil has ever been done like
that day. All of us have a conscience.
Unbelievers have a conscience. Unbelievers know the difference
between right and wrong. Unbelievers conscience smite
them when they do something evil. Is that what it means to become
a sinner? To realize that everything I've
done is sin before God and to feel bad about my sin? Paul deals
with that in 1 Corinthians and he calls it worldly sorrow which
leadeth unto death. Here's the thing that you need
to know about your sin. You don't need to go back over and make
a sin list. You don't need to try to figure
out how sorry am I for the things that I've done. That's worldly
sorrow. All that'll do is lead you into
a state of penance. It'll lead you back to the law.
The only thing you need to know about your sin is that the most
evil thing that ever took place on the face of the earth, more
evil than what Adolf Hitler did, more evil than anything that
anyone has ever done, you did it on Calvary's cross 2,000 years
ago. Do you believe that? I'm not talking about identifying
yourself in the crowd and saying, well, would I have said crucify
him? Would I have been there at the
foot of the cross like John? Would I have run for cover like
the rest of the disciples? No, that's irrelevant. The truth
of the gospel is, and the conviction of sin is, that you were there. It was for you. I found this
hymn today. I don't think we've ever sang
it. It's an old John Newton song. Listen to the words of this hymn.
I saw one hanging on a tree in agony and blood. He fixed his
languid eyes on me as near his cross I stood. Oh, can it be
upon a tree that the Savior died for me? My soul is thrilled,
my heart is filled to think that he died for me. Sure, never till
my lattice breath can I forget that look. It seemed to charge
me with his death, though not a word he spoke. My conscience
felt and owned the guilt and plunged me in despair. I saw
my sins, his blood has spilt, and helped to nail him there. Alas, I knew not what I did,
but now my tears are vain. Where shall my trembling soul
behead? For I the Lord have slain. A second look he gave, which
said, I freely all forgive. This blood is for thy ransom
paid. I died that thou mightst live. Oh, can it be? Upon a tree, the Savior died
for me? My soul is thrilled. My heart
is filled to think he died for me. If you want to know anything
about your sin, look to the cross. Look to the cross. When God Almighty veiled the
heavens, And the Lord Jesus Christ cried out in agony, my God, my
God, why hast thou forsaken me? When the Lord Jesus Christ drank
from the cup of God's bitter wrath, which he prayed, Lord,
if there be any way this cup can pass from me, let it be.
What was that? It was your sin. It was your
sin. It was my sin. You see, the assurance
of salvation comes in believing that there was my sin. There
was my sin. He died. Can it be that he died
for me? Turn to me to Zechariah. Zechariah
chapter 12. It is the most evil thing that you have ever done. You feel bad about some things
that you've done, don't you? I do. Nothing that you've ever done
compares to what you did 2,000 years ago when your sins put
the Son of God on Calvary's cross. Nothing can compare to that.
You want to have sorrow? You see, feeling sorry for individual
sins is natural to all men. It's just natural to all men.
It's not repentance. It's not godly sorrow. Godly
sorrow that leadeth to repentance is that sorrow that God puts
into your heart when you realize that Christ Jesus the Lord The
harmless one, the one who loved me, died for me. That it was my sin that put him
on that cross. You have your Bibles open to
Zechariah chapter 12. Look at, look at this, look at
this verse, look at verse 10. And I will pour upon the house
of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace
and supplication. And they shall look upon me whom
they have pierced and they shall mourn from him as one Mourneth
for his only son and shall be in bitterness for him as one
That is in bitterness for his firstborn Don't try to see if
I was there 2,000 years ago what I have but I have driven the
nails in his hand Would I have been there to curse him? Would
I have been wagging my head and spitting on him? That's irrelevant
You were there It was your sins that drove those
nails into His hands. It was your sins that caused
Him that agony. And what the Lord is saying here
is, when I pour out the Spirit of grace and supplication upon
you, you will mourn for Him. as a father who mourns after
the loss of his only son. And you will realize that it
was you that pierced him. For in that day, verse 11, shall
there be a great mourning in Jerusalem as the mourning of
Hadan-Rimon in the valley of Megiddon. And the land shall
mourn every family apart, the family of the house of David
apart, and their wives apart, the family of the house of Nathan
apart, and their wives apart, the family of the house of Levi
apart, and their wives apart, the family of Shimei apart, and
their wives apart, all the families that remain, every family apart,
and their wives apart. And what's the Lord saying here?
He's saying this is an individual experience. This is an experience
that you have, that God has, when you realize that the one
who was blessed of God understood the plight of the poor. And God blessed him in the day
of evil. The day of evil. The most evil
thing that you and I have ever done. All our sin which is everything
there is about us, was placed on Him, on that cross. I was crucified with Him. Nevertheless,
I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. The life that I
now live, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
me and gave Himself for me. It was my sin that put Him there. No pains of conscience, no temporal
sufferings that we experience, and we all do. Sin, bad behavior
brings with it lots of hard circumstances. But those things aren't, that's
not repentance. That's not godly sorrow. Godly
sorrow is when God Almighty pours out the Spirit of grace and supplication
and causes you to see I pierced him. I did that. I engaged in the most evil thing
that's ever happened in the world. Worse than anything that Adolf
Hitler ever did. Worse than anything that Jeffrey
Dahmer ever did. You pick it out. I did that. I did that. Go back with me to our psalm. This is the mystery of the gospel.
This is a work of the Holy Spirit. You can't go back and... You
know, I was thinking this week, if this is not the Word of God,
every word of it, this book is full of absurdity. I mean, it
doesn't surprise me that the irreligious and the unbeliever
would read this book and say, this is so far fetched. Every
time that Paul went and preached somewhere, they would listen
to him until he brought up the resurrection. And then they would
laugh. Resurrection? You mean a man died and was dead
in the grave three days and came forth out of the grave? That's
absurd. That can't happen. And it would
be true. If it wasn't true, And the only way it can be true
for you and for me is if God Almighty makes it true. You wouldn't believe the stories
of this book. You wouldn't believe that a whale
swallowed a man and stayed in its belly for three days and
three nights. You wouldn't believe that the
world was created in seven days. You'd believe what everybody
else believes. A virgin conceived a child? And that being the very Son of
God? That's absurd. It is, if it wasn't
true. I don't mean to be impious here. I believe with all my heart.
But you see how impossible it is? And how foolish it would
be to believe this book? If God didn't give us faith to
believe it with all of our hearts, I mean, we don't just believe
it, we've cast the hope of our immortal soul on the veracity
of this book, the truthfulness of it. And then when you get
into the myths, not just the miraculous things that are recorded
over and over again in this book, but the mystery of the gospel,
what we're talking about right now, The spiritual truth of me
being in Christ? Here I am, I was just born 61
years ago. How could I go back 2,000 years
and be in a man who died on a cross 2,000 years ago? And how could
He be bearing my sins, which I hadn't even committed yet?
And how can He see me as poor and needy? What I'm trying to say to you
is that this gospel has to be made revealed. It has to be revealed
to our hearts. When it is, we embrace it. We embrace every part of it.
You see, the truth of the gospel provides no place for middle
ground. Either you cast all your hope
on it or walk away from it. If there is no resurrection,
here's what Paul said, I'm not just talking on, here's what
the Apostle Paul said, there were people saying, resurrection?
If there is no resurrection, we of all men are most miserable
and we are still in our sins. If there's no hope of eternal
life, I've heard people say, well, you know, even if there
was no life after death, I'd want to live my life for Jesus.
It's not what the Bible says. Bible says there's no life after
death, eat, drink and be merry because tomorrow you're going
to die. Just engage yourself in all the pleasures of the flesh
you can get. That's what God says. You see, either this message
is absolute absurdity or it is absolute truth in life. There's
no place for anything in between. No place for anything. Somebody
said, well, you know, I respect Jesus and I've got, I think there's
some truths here, but oh no. I think I told y'all one time
I was talking to my neighbor and he said, boy, he said, it
sounds like to me you're either all in or you're all out. That's
what he said to me. Sounds like to me, you see, I
don't want to be all in or all out. I want to have one foot
here and one foot over there. And if you've ever done any boating,
it's kind of like putting a foot on the dock and a foot on the
boat. You're not going to stand there very long. And there's no place like that.
See, you're either all in or you're all out. You're in the
boat or you're not. This is a great mystery. The
Lord's got to cause you to believe it with your soul. There's no
ifs, ands, or buts about it. There's no thinking, well, you
know, I wonder. No, this is the gospel. This is all my hope, all my life,
all my salvation. Blessed is he that considereth
the poor. That's Christ. And that poor
and needy is you and me. Dying of starvation. With no
hope. And he understands our condition. The Lord will deliver him in
the day of evil. the most evil thing that ever
took place, God Almighty delivered the Lord Jesus Christ from that
day. Read the rest of it. The Lord
will preserve him and keep him alive. He shall be blessed upon
the earth and thou shalt not deliver him unto the will of
his enemies. God Almighty, the Father, was
committed to not allow His Holy One to see corruption. The resurrection
is everything. The resurrection of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He's the firstborn among many brethren. Oh, if there's
no resurrection, there's no hope. There's no life. Our hope is
not in this life. This gospel It's not to make
you happy and wealthy and wise and all those things that people
look to. This is the salvation of our
soul. The Lord will strengthen him.
The Father will strengthen Christ upon the bed of languishing. Thou wilt turn. That word make is turn. Thou
wilt turn all his bed in his sickness. In other words, he's
going to die. He's going to die a horrible
death. And he died that death because of the evil that you
and I put on him. He bore in His body upon that
tree your sins. That's the evil. There's no repentance
like godly repentance when the Spirit of grace and supplication
is placed upon you and you mourn for Him as a father mourneth
for his only child. I said, Lord, be merciful unto
me. Heal my soul. Notice this next
phrase, for I have sinned against thee. Is that Christ speaking? Yes, it
is. Yes, it is. God made Him who
knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. When God Almighty imputed to
the Lord Jesus Christ the sins of His people, your sins, my
sins, the Lord Jesus Christ owned those sins as His own. Look over to the other page,
chapter 40. Verse 12, chapter 40, verse 12, for innumerable
evils have compassed me about. Mine iniquities have taken hold
upon me so that I am not able to look up. They are more than
the hairs of my head. Therefore, my heart faileth me.
Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me. O Lord, make haste to help
me. Let them be ashamed and confounded
together that seek after my soul to destroy it. Let them be driven
backward and put to shame that wish me evil. Let them be desolate
for a reward. Look at verse 17, for I am poor
and needy, yet the Lord thinketh upon me. Thou art my help and
my deliverer. Make no tearing, oh my God. Now turn with me over to Psalm
69. Psalm 69. Verse four, they that hate me
without a cause are more than the hairs of my head. They would
destroy me, be in my enemies wrongfully. They're mighty. Then
I restored that which I took not away. The Lord Jesus Christ
didn't take away our life. We took away our life. We died
in our father Adam. We sinned against God. And he
says, I restored that which I took not away. Look at verse seven. Because for thy sake I have borne
reproach, shame hath covered my face. Look at verse 19. Thou hast known
my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonor. My adversaries are
all before thee. Now, if... I shared this with you once before,
but I'm going to say it again. If you suffered vicariously for
someone else's sin or someone else's crime.
If you did it willingly, you might feel some pride, you might
feel noble, you might feel generous. If you did it unwillingly, you
certainly would feel resentment and anger. But one thing that
you can never ever feel burying someone else's crime. One thing you can never feel
is shame. You can't. You didn't do it. You know you didn't do it. And
how many times the scripture speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ
says, my shame, my sin, He bore our griefs and carried our sorrows. Oh, the travail of His soul. Here's my point. When God placed
the sins of His people on the Lord Jesus Christ, they became
His. And He put them away. once and for all, by the sacrifice
of himself on Calvary's cross. I remember your sins no more. It's like John Newton said, when
I look to the cross, I grieve knowing that I put him there
and then he spoke to me. And he said, this blood that's
being shed is for you. Your sin is being put away once
and for all. Go back with me to our text. Verse 4, I said, Lord, be merciful
unto me. Heal my soul, for I have sinned
against thee. Might enemies speak evil of me?
When shall he die and his name perish? Let's put him away. If we allow
him to live, he's going to take away our nation and our place. Let's smite the shepherd and
the sheep will be scattered. And if you didn't feel that way,
you say, well, I've never, I've never thought, you know, let's
kill Christ and, and we'll be done with him. Well, look at
the next verse. Look at the next verse. And if He come to see me, here's
the one, He's not saying crucify Him. He's not saying be done
with Him. I don't want anything to do with
that. I want Him out of that. No. He's
coming to me. He comes to me. To see me. And He speaketh vanity. His heart gathereth iniquity
to itself, then he goeth abroad and telleth it. And I'm here
to make a confession to you. I'm gonna tell you what the most
evil thing is that I've ever done in my life. Stand in the pulpit like this. and tell people, God loves you. Christ died for you. God wants to save you. He's done
everything he can do. You've got a free will. You've
got to decide whether or not to let Jesus come into your heart
and be your Lord and Savior. And then you've got to make Him
your Lord, you know. You've got to follow up. You've got to do
your part. You've got to go back to the book and follow the instructions
and live by the law. I've told people that. The most evil thing I've ever
done, and I've done some evil things, but the most evil thing
I've ever done is lie on God. I came to see Him, and I spoke
vanity, and my heart gathered iniquity to itself. In doing
the most evil thing that I've ever done, I thought I was serving
God. I thought I was pleasing God. What I thought was good was evil.
I couldn't discern the difference. And then I went abroad. Some
of you went with me. We traveled the world and told
the same lies to other people. All that hate me. You see, whether
you were the one who said, let's kill him and get him out of the
way, or whether you were the one that went to see Him and
then filled your heart with vanity and spoke lies against Him. Either
can't. You qualify for verse 7. You hated Him. You hated Him. All that hate Me whisper together
against Me. Against Me do they devise My
hurt. Wasn't interested in Christ being
glorified. Interested in earning points
with God, working my way to heaven. Verse nine, yea, mine own familiar
friend in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, had lifted
up his heel against me. Now you know who the Lord's talking
about there. He's talking about Judas, isn't
he? I was talking about Judas. I showed kindness toward him.
He heard the gospel. He heard the truth. He benefited
from all the things that the other disciples benefited from.
But then in the end, he lifted up his heel against me. You know,
that still happens. People come and they sit. That's
why I'm so burdened for our children, our grandchildren. They come
and they sit and they listen. And if the Lord doesn't show
mercy upon them, they'll be just like Judas. But thou, O Lord, be merciful
unto me and raise me up that I may requite them. I'll pay
them. I'll pay them back. All those
who stood against me, I'll pay them back. The Lord's praying
to the father to raise him from the dead by this I know That
thou favorist me that word favor means delight Lord by this I
know That you have delighted in me because my enemy doth not
triumph over me The Lord Jesus Christ got the victory. He got it over death. He got
it over Satan. He got it over sin. He got it
over the grave. He got it over all His people.
He got the victory. The battle's not yours, it's
God's. And He's already won it. He's
already won it. Can you believe that? Can you
flee to Christ? Can you come right now just like
you are without one plea? But that His blood was shed for
thee? As for me, thou upholdest me
in mine integrity. The Lord Jesus Christ is praying
to the Father. He's saying, Lord, you blessed
me because I considered the poor. I considered those who were dying
of starvation. I lifted them up. You delivered
me in the most evil day that's ever happened in this world. And you and I were there. We
participated in the evil of killing the Son of God. And that's all. You don't need to know anything
more about your sin than that. If you want to have godly sorrow,
look to the cross, look to Christ, and see what part you played
in that. Don't wallow in guilt and in
pity and in penance over things that you feel bad about. know
that everything you ever are and did was in Him. As for me, thou upholdest me
in mine integrity, and settest me before thy face forever. The Lord Jesus Christ, He made
the law honorable according to Isaiah, and according to what
Paul said, He is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believeth. He's the one who's able to stand
before God in His own integrity. Because those sins He bore on
Calvary's cross, though He made them His own, He put them away. He put them away by the sacrifice
of himself. God was pleased to put those
sins away because the perfect sacrifice was acceptable. God
Almighty saw the travail of his soul and was satisfied. He was satisfied. And where is
he now? He's sitting before God's face
forever. He ever lives to make intercession
for us. He's seated at the right hand
of God. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting and
to everlasting. Amen. And amen. A double amen. How important is the message of this psalm
for you. For you. How important is it
for you? Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we ask that you would enable
us by thy precious and powerful Holy Spirit to embrace the truth
of the gospel the mystery of our union with
Christ on Calvary's cross, and the glorious hope of knowing
that what he did was sufficient to put away all our sins all
by himself. For it's in his name we ask it. Amen. One more time. 120, and we'll stop back 10 more.
Let's stand together. My soul in darkness, death and
sin, was lost and all undone. I did not know my lost estate,
I could not see God's Son. But God, in grace and power divine,
stepped in to save my soul. His gracious purpose has prevailed,
and He has made me whole. My heart defied God's holy law,
refusing to be ruled. I would not hear the gospel's
call. This heart would not be wooed. But God in grace and power divine
stepped in to save my soul. His gracious purpose has prevailed,
and he has made me whole. God would not lose his chosen
one, the soul redeemed by blood. His spirit broke into my heart,
and then I understood. But God, in grace and power divine,
stepped in to save my soul. His gracious purpose has prevailed,
and He has made me whole. But God, what blessed words of
grace, He broke my stubborn will. Throughout the great eternal
age, I'll chant His praises still. But God in grace and power divine
Stepped in to save my soul His gracious purpose has prevailed
And He has made me whole th th