I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to Psalm 131. Psalm 131. The more I read this Psalm, only
got three verses, the more I am taken back. It's one of the most
humbling of scriptures that we could possibly read. The truth
of it is absolute. I know that. Mr. Spurgeon said it's one of
the easiest to read because there's only three verses. But it will take, and only by
the grace of God, It'll take a lifetime to even begin to touch
the truth of it. It's one of those songs that
can only be received and believed by faith. It is the expression of a new
heart A heart that has been made new in the Lord Jesus Christ,
a heart that has been imparted in regenerating grace by the
Spirit of God. And the merit, the truthfulness
of these words find their foundation, find their source only in being
found in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, because no man
apart from Him, the man, Christ Jesus, can say these words before
God, the one who knows all men. So let's hear the confession
of a believer in Christ, words that have been spoken through
David. David penned them, there's no
doubt about it. But these words originated with God. All scripture is given by inspiration
of God. They're God breathed. And they're
to be believed and received and therefore our instruction and
admonition. I'm going to say this, I've said
this before. This passage of scripture, this
is holy ground. No man born in Adam can make
claim to these words. Nobody. Not born in Adam, but
being born in Christ. I think about Ephesians 1, chosen
in him that we should be holy and without blame before him
in love. That's only in Christ. Now let's
just look at these three verses, that's all it is. Now here, the Spirit of God has
moved upon David to call upon Jehovah. He's calling upon the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Covenant God. The One who knows all things. the one before whom nothing is
concealed. Hebrews 4.13 says, neither is
there any creature that is not manifest in His sight, but all
things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we
have to do. Now, David, again, the Spirit
of God commanded him, you write this down. My heart is not haughty. My heart is not lifted up. My heart is not proud. It's not lofty. Now, again, I'm
going to qualify what I'm reading here. When these words are spoken,
The only man who could say such a thing is the one man in whom
God is well pleased, the Lord Jesus Christ. This is my beloved
Son in whom I'm well pleased. You hear Him. He is the beloved
Son, the Lamb of God sent from the Father to redeem the sheep
and establish the righteousness that they are truly rolled in. before God. And this He did at
Calvary. He finished the work. But having the sin of God's people
put away by the blood of His cross, by Him being made sin,
actually bore their guilt in His own body and it truly became
His. The guilt, He said, mine iniquities
are more than the hairs of my head. He being made sin that
they might be made the righteousness of God in Him, with the importation
of a new heart by the Spirit of God, There's a new man. There's a new man there. A new
man that is created in righteousness and true holiness. And that man
being found in Christ and in Christ alone can say these precious
words in the ear of God Almighty And those words are accepted in the Beloved. There's no condemnation to those
that be in Christ Jesus. There's no condemnation. That
man, born from above, does not First John 5, 18, we know that
whosoever is born of God sinneth not. I read one writer that said what
that means is that they don't have a bent towards sin anymore. They don't like to grovel in
it. They don't like to, and I agree
with that. I absolutely agree with that, but that's not what
it says. This is what it says. We know that whosoever is born
of God sinneth not. Now, the best thing we can do
right here is just stop and thank God for His mercy and compassion. That Almighty God would show
compassion to rebels and sinners as we are. Being born in Adam,
that's what we are. But that Almighty God would be
pleased before the foundation of the world to have a people
and show mercy and save them, rescue them from bondage and
the dregs of sin and despair, that Almighty God would be pleased
before I stand before Him. And I'm convinced I soon will.
I know that. I'm not so foolish as to think
that this ain't going to last too much longer. I tell Glenda
all the time, and I mean this, I say this is the best we're
ever going to have right here. This is it. This is it. I'm going
to stand before God, and only by the grace of God will I hear
Him say unto me, well done. How can that be? Except God has
shown mercy to this sinner. There's gonna be many, he said,
there's gonna be many, Kevin, just like me, just like me, that's
gonna stand before him and say, Lord, we did this, that, and
the other in your name. And he's gonna say to them, I
never knew you. Depart from me. And you know
what that is? That is the beginning of forever for them. They will lift up their eyes
out of hell forever, forever. And I think, Lord, how is it that you could have
shown mercy to somebody like me? And you didn't leave me to
myself. 1 John 3, 9, whosoever is born
of God does not commit sin for his seed, the seed of Christ,
remaineth in him." He cannot sin because he's born of God. That new man is totally spiritual. He has nothing to do with the
flesh. Nothing. He's a new man created in Christ. and God's seed remains in him. He can't sin. He can't sin. It's not that the believer doesn't
recognize the presence of sin. If we say we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. But while the presence
of sin remains in the old man, in the flesh, That new man, that
man born again from heaven, doesn't see Him. And there's two different
men there, and they don't agree on anything. There's a battle that's going
on. When the Lord, John 1 47, came and He saw Nathanael sitting
Scripture, I tell you what, just hold on, hold your place, turn
to John. John chapter one, verse 47. John 1, 47. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to
him, and saith of him, that is Nathanael, the Lord said of Nathanael,
Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no God. Now I'm going to read that again.
I want you to notice one little word, O-F. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to
him and saith of him. He didn't say he said to him,
but he said concerning him. Behold an Israelite in whom is
no trickery, no craft, no deceit. The only one that could say that
again in his own merit is Christ. But what the Lord revealed was
that concerning Nathanael and all like him, vessels of God's
mercy, a true Israelite. An Israelite according to God's
electing grace. Say it like that. A Jew, a true
Jew. He was known to the Lord Jesus
Christ. He said, I know my sheep. I know
them. They hear my voice and they follow
me. Here was a child of promise that
was accepted in the Lord himself. And he said of him, he said of
him, behold an Israelite in whom is no God. Nathanael stood righteous
before God because he stood in Christ. In ourselves, all we
can say about our heart is it's deceitful, desperately wicked. Who can know it? He knows the
depth of His own wickedness. But being found in Him, we can
with scriptural authority say back in Psalm 131, My heart is
not haughty. I'm not proud in my opinion of
myself. I'm not self-righteous before
God. And to say such things, we better
have scriptural authority. You better have scriptural authority
for that. Some men say, well, I'm as good
as other men. Well, okay. They're not worth
anything either. I'm not either. You're not either
in yourself. But to be able to say my heart is not, I'm not
lifted up in pride. I'm not, I'm not. What we see in ourselves is the
evidence of the old man. And this is what we confess.
This is why we're constantly Perceiving what Paul the Apostle
holds you in place, turn to Romans 7. This is what Paul said. This man knew God. This man was
born of God. This man was arrested. This was a man that God Almighty
had been pleased to put His love and affection on. Called him
out of darkness. Used that man. and to pin most
of the New Testament. And that man walked through this
world just grieving. God Almighty gave him a thorn
in the flesh. Paul besought him thrice. Would
you take this away? My grace is sufficient for you.
I'm telling you, Almighty God is going to allow us to see ourselves. Here's what Paul saw. Here's
what Paul saw in himself. Romans 7. Verse 20 to 25. Now, if I do that I would not. He said, if I'm doing that which
I know is not right, it's no more I, that is the new man that
do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, a nature,
that when I would do good, there's a new man that desires right. Evil is present with me. I delight
in the law of God after the inward man, after the new man. But I
see another law in my members warring against the law of my
mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in
my members. Oh, wretched man that I am. How can I do what
I do? How can I do that? Don't I know
better? Yeah. Yes, I know better. Why do I do it? I don't know. I don't know why I do it. Oh,
who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God. Through Jesus Christ our Lord,
so then with the mind I myself serve the law of God. Oh, but
with the flesh, the law of sin. I'm glad God showed me that. I'm so glad I can behold something
of myself. It makes me so thankful. I hate
it, I loathe myself. I think, how can I do such stupid
things? Well, because I'm stupid. Because
I'm a creature of the dust. I'm a fallen son of Adam. Knowing what we know about that
old man, We would not say without the Spirit's direction, we would
not say, back in 131, nor mine eyes lofty. My heart is not hearty,
nor mine eyes lofty. I'm not presumptuous. I am not
presumptuous. Oh, in my old man I am. I am
so presumptuous. I am so lifted up. I know this. He said my eyes
are not lofty. Proverbs 6.17 says that a proud
look, one of those seven things that God hates, a proud look. There is not a man or woman sitting
in this congregation this morning that is not proud of themselves
and thinks themselves able. I can handle it. I can handle
this. I can do this, that, and the
other. There's not one man, one woman that does not possess an
eye of loftiness. Lift it up. And I'm telling you
by the mercy and grace of God, God's going to show us ourselves.
And I'm telling you. It's mercy when we see and we're
embarrassed to be able to confess that my eyes are never proud
That's grace. That's mercy. That's mercy. Undeserved. Why did He do that for us? Because
it pleased Him to. Nothing else. He looked. He saw.
Every thought, every imagination of man's heart and mind was evil
continually. Oh, I can admit this thing. By
the grace of God, I am what I am. Then David says, He says, neither
do I exercise myself in great matters or in things too high
for me. I don't walk and I don't behave
in great matters or in things that are too wonderful for me. I just don't do that. He's saying that being born in
Christ, I am content. I'm content in God's providence
for me. That old man is not content with
anything. He's not content. I want more,
I want, like that guy we looked at here last week, I'm gonna
tear my barns down, I'm gonna build some bigger ones, because
I got it. I'm all ready. Eat, drink, and be merry. He doesn't, this new man, he
says, I don't pry into things that are unrevealed. I don't
exercise myself in great matters or in things too high for me. The Athenians, the scripture
says in Acts 17.21, the Athenians and strangers were there and
they spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to
hear some new thing. You know what a believer is satisfied
with? Hearing the gospel. Seeking the
Lord. trusting Him, resting in Him,
waiting upon Him. That's what He wants to do. I
told you what my dad used to say. I've told you this so many
times. Boy, we're going to do something today if it's wrong.
That old man, I want to do something. But that believer in his new
heart, he doesn't covet to be wise above what is written. He's
satisfied when Scripture tells him what he is by nature. A believer
says, as the Lord says, I am, that's what I am. As Scripture says, I'm a sinner,
I'm a sinner. As Scripture says, in me, that
is in my flesh, there dwelleth no good thing. I am not going
to say, that believer's going to say this, I am not going to
say that there's something good in every man. I'm not going to
say that. Why? Because I'm not going to exercise
myself in things that are too high for me. Somebody says, well,
I don't see myself being as bad as other people. Well, that's
because you just don't see it. That doesn't mean it's not so. I've got the potential in me.
I have the potential of doing the most heinous, unimaginable
things, but for the restraining grace of God. And God's mercy
is to show me that. Surely, verse 2, I have behaved
and quieted myself as a child that is weaned of its mother.
My soul is even as a weaned child." Now here, the Spirit of God again
speaking of that new creation, that new man after God that is
created in righteousness and true holiness. He's one that
behaves. I have behaved and quieted myself. He's yielded. He's yielded to
God. He just wants to believe and
trust and wait, and he's quieted himself. He holds his peace.
He forbears, and he stands still. He's the exact opposite, I said
a while ago, of that carnal man, which is nothing but a Man of evil that desires his
own way. I behaved myself and quieted
myself as a child that's weaned from his mother. You know, I
got four kids, so I saw a little bit of something. You that have
children, you know the same thing here. Of when children are raised
up. When a child nurses, a nursing
child, Let me tell you what that attitude of that child is. Me. Me. What does a child that is
unweaned from his mother, what does that child think? I want what I want. It demands its own satisfaction
for fulfillment. And if it doesn't get what it
wants, You know what it's going to do? Cry. It's going to pitch
a fit. And no amount of reasoning. Have
you ever tried to reason with an infant? And the older they
get, the more evident it is. You just can't reason. You don't
reason with them. You know what you do? You teach. But that child, before
he's winged, it's all about me. And is that not the heart of
the flesh? It never changes. Whenever the commandment of the
Lord was given through Moses as they beheld the Egyptians
on one side and the Red Sea on the other, The Lord told Moses
to say, Exodus 14, 30, Fear ye not, stand still and see the
salvation of the Lord. We're brought to an end with
no apparent way out and when we are, when the Lord hymns us
up, He's teaching. He's teaching us something. How
could I have gotten into this situation? God's teaching. When a man is beheld to behave
himself. He's like a child that is weaned. He's weaned. A child that is
weaned from nursing is one that has learned something. He's learned
that there's something else besides milk from mama. And he's tenderly
weaned from his mother and now he starts to be satisfied to
partake of food that previously was undesirable. I'm going to tell you something.
You give me a good piece of steak, but I'm good with that. But not an infant. He can't handle
that. when he's weaned and he's taught
and he's matured, humanly speaking, but for a believer. David said,
I have behaved and quieted myself as a child that is weaned of
his mother. My soul is even as a weaned child. Before, a child is only satisfied
with mama's milk. Now he's taught and vegetables
are good. For a believer, for a believer,
he's now weaned and satisfied not anymore with those things
that now he reveals are just a loss to him, they're repulsive,
they're dumb. Paul said, everything that I
used to trust in, that I was satisfied in and I held to, now,
he said, the Lord's taught me something. He's taught me to
desire the sincere milk of the word and to feast upon the bread
of Christ himself, heavenly bread, the living water. He said I'm
weaned from my old self, that which was me before. I've behaved
myself and quieted myself as a child that's weaned of his
mother and my soul is even as a weaned child. And as a child
is weaned from his mother, and doesn't now hope anymore in his
first diet. My first diet was just all about
me, all about my works, all about my goodness. Oh, but now I'm
weaned from that. God's taught me something and
I don't trust anymore. I can't trust in that. A believer
doesn't trust in what he once trusted in. David says, under
the inspiration of God's Spirit. Let Israel hope in the Lord from
henceforth. That means, look, in your margin,
you may have a, it says now. Let Israel hope in the Lord from
now, right now, and forever. Today is a day of salvation.
What believer would stand up and say, well, I still think
that I have something. I think there's still something
about not being a little good. No, you don't. You don't drink
that anymore. You're weaned from that. Take
it away. By nature, we're now, you know,
trusting in Christ. Before, we had a bent, depended
on that which was fleeting and was going to fail, going to fail.
Just like I mentioned a while ago, those that will stand before
God, You go back and read that Matthew chapter 7 when you stand
before God, every time you read it, you know what it's coming
to. You know what the Lord's going to say. You know it's going to fail.
You know it's not going to stand. All those things, all these good
things, that's what man by nature hopes in. His will, his work,
his desire, his ability. All but the spiritual Israel.
The true Israel of God. They're instructed. because now
they hear about that new heart that's been given them and they
do confess. I trust him. I don't put any
trust in myself. Everything I do, everything I
see me doing is faulty. I don't do it. But I can tell
you this, he never wavers. He's not going to fail. He's
not going to leave me. He's not going to forsake me.
He is the true and living God. Hope in Him. Hope in Him. I pray
that this might be a word of encouragement to us. It's an
amazing passage of Scripture. Every believer is going to hear
these words and going to say, as I just said a while ago, but
for the grace of God. I could not say that. But by
the grace of God, God revealed in that scripture, I do. And
I rejoice in it, but I hope in the Lord, not in myself. For
His glory and my good. Amen.