All right, let's take our Bibles
and turn back to the book of Psalms, chapter 20. Psalms 20. And we'll try to pick up where
we left off. Having considered the wonder
that God, for Christ's sake, hears us, hears his people, our
great Federal head and high priest, the God of Jacob, he defends
us. God has set us upon him, our
city of refuge. Lord who sends help from heaven
and supports us out of Zion, out of his place, his symbol
place of comfort, And now we want to continue looking at the
blessings that has been shown the sheep of God, the sheep of
God's pasture. According to His mercy and compassion,
Gary and I was just talking just a moment ago, how sad. We don't even begin to realize
what the Lord has been pleased to do for us. We don't realize,
we don't know. The long suffering of God. Oh,
but one day, as God's pleased to reveal it, we'll know. We'll know. We'll see Him as
He is and be like Him. I've told you before, I can't
even enter into that statement. Be like Him. But suffice to say,
the mercy and grace of God's been shown to some worms like
us. And Lord, help us to show some
thankfulness, to be thankful, appreciative. Psalm chapter 20,
verse 3. And again, saying as the first
verse says, the Lord, hear thee, the Lord send thee help. Here
says the Lord, remember all thy offerings and accept thy burnt
sacrifice. And there's that precious word,
selah. The priest in the wilderness,
the priest that God had set apart of the house of Aaron, that according
to the direction of the Lord, they would offer different sacrifices,
offerings, all with great significance. all concerning the glory of the
work, the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. There
was an offering called the meat offering. It was actually a bloodless
offering. It was an offering that set forth
the glorious and sinless perfection, person, character of the Lord
Jesus Christ. It was fine flour. fine flour that was taken thoroughly,
throughly ground. It was just fine, fine powder,
no lumps, which magnified the perfect humanity of the Lord
Jesus Christ. What did that meat offering signify? There was no sin in him, none. And then there was an offering
called the Sin Offering. And what the Sin Offering did,
it set forth the sacrifice of our Lord for the sins of ignorance
of His people. Here's what the Sin Offering
set forth. This is what He paid for. This is what He did. That's Sin
Offering. We're sinners whether we know
it or not. We kind of look at ourselves
and kind of gauge ourselves. We all do this, so don't, you
know, there's nobody that's without fault here. We've all got this
attitude. I know I'm a sinner, but I'm
not as bad a sinner as somebody else. Well, let me tell you what. Yes, we are. We're all, we're
all is an unclean thing. All of our righteousnesses are
as filthy rags. You know what that means. Minstrel's
clause, you know what it means. That's what we are. We think
we're somebody. I tell you what, I know I've
done some things, but I'd never do what that person did. That's
the most foolish statement that anybody could ever make. Don't
ever think that you're beyond doing anything but for the grace
of God. I'd never stoop to that depth. The sin offering was an offering
that set forth what Christ did because of what we are. Sin. We don't even know what that
means. Somebody says transgression of the law. We don't know what
that means. But I'll tell you what it cost. It cost the blood
of God. Blood of God. That's what Acts
20, 28 says. Look it up. The blood of God.
Then there was a peace offering. This was an offering which was
presented. An offering would be brought
by an offender, one who had offended, brought an offering to the priest. And the priest would present
the sacrifice unto the Lord, then each The priest and the
offender would be able to eat a portion of that sacrifice. I'm not going into the depth
of each one because sake of time, but just telling you what these
are. The priest and the offender would
each eat a portion of that sacrifice. And what that offering set forth
was the peace and the unity that had been established for the
sinner by the great high priest himself. That peace offering,
they could each, the offender and the priest, they could have
a portion of that. Then there was an offering called
the burnt offering. And it was an offering that was
offered only to Jehovah, that offering that set forth this,
the willingness, the willingness of our Lord to lay down his life
for the sheep, that offering that it was a sweet savor offering
unto the Lord. And then lastly, there was a
trespass offering. There was a sin offering and
a trespass offering. But what did the trespass offering
set forth? This is what we do because of
what we are. The sin offering was an offering
that said we're sinners. Trespass offering says this is
what we do. We trespass because of what we
are. So the scripture says, verse
three, the Lord remember all thy offerings and accept thy
burnt sacrifice. I realize that we don't offer
these sacrifices today like they did in the wilderness, but why? Because our Lord finished the
work. We don't do that. We don't kill these. Those are
pictures and types that were done away. Christ has come and
fulfilled all the types, all the pictures. But here, in these
offerings, we look to Him. We look to Him. He is our sacrifice
before God. He is our offering. And then
the Spirit of God moved upon the writer to say this. Selah. Pause. Contemplate. Just pause for a moment and think
about this. He is our meat offering. He knew
no sin. He's our sin offering. He died
for what we are. He's our trespass offering. He
died for what we do. He's our meat. He's our trespass
offering. He's our peace offering before
God. He's established peace by the
blood of his cross. There's therefore now no condemnation
than to be in Christ Jesus, who walked not after the flesh, but
after the spirit. And he is our burnt offering,
willingly laid down his life for his people. And then consider
the great benefit that the needy sheep have received from the
Father through the Son. Now let me just say this. The
Lord's desire, what was His desire? His desire was the desire of
the will of the Father and of the Holy Spirit. His desire was
the redemption and salvation of His people. That was God's
will, God's purpose. His will, His desire and purpose
was that they be with Him where He is. That's what John 17, 24
says. Father, I will that those that
Thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold
my glory, the glory that You gave me before the foundation
of the world. as the lamb, that they may behold
me, their sacrifice, their Redeemer, their Lord, their God, their
King, their husband. I will that they be with me.
That was his desire. And the father absolutely honored
his desire. Now look at verse four. God grant
thee according to thine own heart and fulfill all thy counsel. Oh, your desire. Now, let me
ask you this. What is the desire of God's people? What do you desire? Well, we
desire what He desired. His desire was that we be with
Him. Don't you want to be there? Don't
you want to be with Him, where He is, that we might behold His
glory? What I desire, I desire what you desire. And the scripture
says, the Lord grant thee according to thine own heart and fulfill
all thy counsel, thy desire. And the response of those that
have been regenerated by God's grace and power to know him who
is the true and living God, this is what their response is. Verse
five, we will rejoice in thy salvation. And in the name of
our God will we set up our banners, the Lord fulfill all thy petitions. Now, God's people, let me tell
you what they rejoice in. The scripture does not say that
they rejoice in salvation. Wait a second, let me verify.
We will rejoice in What's that next word? Thy salvation. Everybody talks about being saved. I'm a Christian. I'm a Christian.
I'm a Christian. I'm, you know, everybody's a
Christian. Everybody's a Christian. As I've
said before, there's something's wrong when everybody has got
a different opinion, a different statement of faith, a different
way This one says this, this one says this, somebody is wrong. The Spirit of God moved on David
and said, we will rejoice in thy salvation. That's salvation
that has been purposed by God, salvation secured by God, and
salvation applied by God. Salvation whereby Almighty God,
the Father, chose a people before the foundation of the world.
That's Ephesians 1.4, 2 Thessalonians 2.13. But we're bound to give
thanks. I've told you this, I love that
passage of Scripture. We're bound to give thanks unto
God, brethren beloved of the Lord. Because God hath from the
beginning chosen you to salvation. That's God's salvation. Here's
God's salvation. I lay down my life for the sheep.
That's God's salvation. Here's God's salvation. All that
the Father giveth me shall come to me and him that cometh to
me I will in no wise cast out. That's God's salvation. David
was moved to say we will rejoice in thy salvation. Salvation which is given, given. It's not ours to earn. We will rejoice. That's what's scripture. We will
rejoice in thy salvation. God's people rejoice right now.
I don't even want to remotely take away. We're so thankful.
But I will tell you something. One day, in that day, when we
stand before him and we hear him say unto the sheep, Lord,
help me. Lord, help me. Have mercy on
me. When he says to the sheep, enter in. entering to that which
was prepared for you before the foundation of the world. In that
day, we will rejoice. God, thanks be unto God. Thanks be unto God when we behold
him with perfect sight. We will rejoice in thy salvation. And in the name of our God, we
will set up our banners. The Lord fulfill all thy petitions. Oh, setting up our banners. What does that mean? Well, you
look that word up, set up, it means to flaunt, to be conspicuous. To flaunt something and be conspicuous. We'll rejoice in thy salvation.
In the name of our God, will we set up our banners. That flag,
it's a flag. What does he say? Spirit of God
moved David to say, we're not ashamed. I'm not ashamed. I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of God's free and sovereign grace. I'm not ashamed of this. It is
the power unto salvation. We ask people, I tell you this
all the time, we ask people to come. Come. Why do we ask them to come? This
is the only place, according to these scriptures, the only
place where God is pleased to bless the message to the salvation
of His people. He does not bless a lie. He's
not going to bless something that's going to honor a man and
exalt a man. to stand here and tell you God
wants to, that's a lie. If God wants to, God does. He'd
do it as he will. I want people to hear. I don't
want to perish. I don't want you to perish. God's
gonna save his people. I can tell you that. I don't
know who they are. I'm gonna tell everybody I can. Won't you
come? Won't you come? Somebody said,
well, they're not gonna come. How do you know? You can. We will set up, set up our banners. The Lord fulfilled all his petitions. The Lord will do all his pleasure. And then David said, now know
I that the Lord saveth his anointed. He will hear him from his holy
heaven with the saving strength of his right hand. Now know I. Now know I what? Now know I that the Lord saveth
his anointed. You know, even just reading those
words, now know I, you know what that says to me? We don't know
everything, first of all. We don't know. But we know something. We know
Christ. We know Him. We know something. But now the
Spirit of God says, now know I that the Lord saveth. You remember what I said about
that ETH? That's a progressive, he saveth,
he saveth, he saveth. We're learning, now know I. We're learning. We're ignorant
people. We think we know some stuff.
I was just telling Gary a minute ago, Brother Henry, I remember
I said this before too. Brother Henry said one time,
he said, you know, the older I get, the stupider I realize
I am. Isn't that the truth? We don't
know anything. We see through a glass darkly.
We know in part, we prophesy in part. We think we know something. David says, now know I. We're growing in grace and in
the knowledge of our Lord and Savior. But we know this. that the Lord saveth His people. Now, I'm sorry, saveth His anointed. Now, we do know that the Lord
Jesus Christ is preeminently the anointed of the Father. We thank Him, behold Him. But
according to covenant mercy, a covenant grace being found
in Him We in him are the blessed and the favored of God's people. God took and raised him from
the dead and received him into glory and seated him at his own
right hand and all God's people found in him. God's saving them. Saving them. He saveth his people. I said that's, it's a progressive
thing. The scripture declares it. 2
Timothy, turn back here, 2 Timothy. I love this passage of scripture. I'm like old Tom Harding. Tom
said one time, he said, you know what my favorite psalm is? The
one I'm reading right then. That's my favorite. But 2 Timothy
chapter one, verse nine, listen to this. Who has saved us and
called us with a holy calling. Not according to our works, but
according to his own purpose and grace which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began, who has saved us. He said, are you saying that
he saved us, that which was given us in Christ,
salvation, before the world began? Well, according to the scriptures,
yes. Yes. But there's something that happens
in time. It's called regeneration. At regeneration, the Spirit of
God comes and crosses the path of God's elect, and He regenerates
them, calls them out of darkness, imparts life, removes the heart
of stone, gives them a heart of flesh, writes His law on their
heart. This way He tells them, I'm yours
and you're mine. And we will be saved. We shall
be saved. And that day, especially that
scripture I just quoted just a minute ago, enter in. Enter
in. Come, you blessed to my Father. Enter in. And the Lord now is
telling us, now I know, now know I that the Lord saveth his anointed.
He will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength
of his right hand. He'll hear him. and he hears
us for Christ's sake. Because our prayers, what does
the scripture say? The prayers of the saints are
presented by the great high priest in the merit of his holiness
and perfection by the incense. These prayers that are offered
unto the Father and God hears them for his sake as he speaks
them. I don't even know what to ask,
but he does. And then verses seven to nine,
I'll just sum it up right here. Some trust in chariots, some
in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. They are brought down and fallen,
but we are risen and stand upright. Save, Lord. Let the King hear
us. when we call. Man is born self-confident. He trusts in what he sees in
him. But those made sensitive to their
own frailty, those taught something of man's inability. And God's
people are. They know something about it.
The scripture says that the Lord remembers. He remembers. We see that which is invisible. We see which the natural eye
can't perceive. And we see by the eye of faith
We see the one who must be revealed from heaven. We see God who has
chosen to show mercy. That's who we see. Those that trust in themselves,
that trust in chariots, horses, they are, the scripture says,
brought down, fallen, now. They trust in that which is perishing. But we, the scripture says, are
risen now. We're risen. We're risen in Christ. I was crucified, Paul said, with
Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me. And the cry of the one who is
risen in him and stands upright, stands upright by the grace of
God, here's what they say. Save, Lord. Let the king hear
us when we call. The cry of one that has been
saved, that is now being saved, here's what his cry is. Lord,
save me. Lord, save me. You ever get tired of saying
that? Somebody says, well, I got saved when I, well. Today is
the day of salvation. Lord, save me today. Lord, help
me today. Oh, let the King hear us when
we call. This is not a one-time call,
but rather, wherever calling, wherever coming, he that cometh,
he that cometh to me. You'll never find a believer
that ever tires of calling, ever tires of coming. Lord, I come. By your grace, I come today.
Lord, I call today. And this is why I say, Lord,
save me today. Save me today. Oh, if the Lord allows us to
have any kind of cognizant thought in that day when it is our day
to leave this world, you think you'll tire of saying then, Lord,
save me. Lord, receive me unto yourself.
Lord, don't let me go. Lord, don't leave me. Take not
your Holy Spirit from me. Every scripture of promise that
you could think of at that moment, I'm telling you in that day,
you'll be saying, Lord, save me. Save, hear me. Hear me when
I call. Hear me, Lord. For Christ's sake,
hear me. Amen. All right, Gary.