to our newlyweds. Congratulations. Glad y'all are home. All right, I want you to take
your Bibles and turn back with me to Psalm 116. Psalm 116. The psalmist sets forth the result of regenerating
grace. He sets forth the affection,
the heart of that which is found in every enlightened believer. Every enlightened vessel of God's
mercy is what David said. I love the Lord. I love the capital L, capital
O, capital R, capital D. I love Jehovah. I love the Father
that eternally set His affection upon me and chose me in Christ. I love the blessed Son who covenanted
to stand as my surety my representative, my federal head, He who loved
me and gave Himself for me and redeemed me by the shedding of
His own blood. And I love the Holy Spirit who searched me out and quickened
me, put me under the sound of the gospel and taught me the
gospel and sealed me by His power and that keeps me. And every
believer knows why he loves the Lord. 1 John 4, 19. Because he
first loved me. That's the reason. You know,
you can ask people concerning the Lord in their love for Him.
You ask someone, you love the Lord. Well, no one's going to
say no. But you know a cold acknowledgment
of admittance of one's love for God, it just comes from an evil
conscience. It just realizes that He exists. Anybody can possess that. Demons
possess that. But to possess the burning warmth
of a heart that truly loves the Lord, the true and living God. God who is set forth in the scriptures
as sovereign God. God who rules in heaven and earth,
who does as He will in the army of heaven. That takes a new birth. You've got to be born from above.
You've got to have a new heart for that. Now, to love the Lord,
actually was commanded by the Law. It was required. Here's
what Scripture says, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all
thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. Now we're commanded to love the
Lord, but the Law's requirement was something that I couldn't
perform. You can command me to do something,
but I don't have a heart to do it. I just don't want to do it. Though the law commanded it,
I needed God to do something for me that I might truly do. what He required. And my doing of it was not for
my salvation. I wasn't converted because I
loved the Lord. I loved the Lord, David said,
because He did something for me. He saved me. He gave me life. I've told you
this and you're all just like me. Before I was converted, I
had absolutely no interest. I don't want to do that. If you
want to know the state of a man or a woman's soul, what think
ye of Christ? That's it. Have no heart for
Christ? You don't know Him. You don't
know Him. Under the judgment of God. Now this blessed exercise
of the heart is the surest evidence of salvation. Now this evidence
right here, it's love for Him. He that loveth not, 1 John 3.10,
knoweth not God. He that loveth not God. He that
loveth not. Men love stuff, they love themselves,
they love the world, they love the things of the world. But
no, he that loveth not the Lord doesn't know Him. Because God
is love. But for love for the Lord to
be known, it's evidenced in a particular way. A particular way. Now let me tell you how you know
if you love God. This is the only way. This is
the only way. You love the brethren. Now I can make good on that. This, by this shall all men know
that you're my disciples. You have love one for another.
Isn't that so? That's right, isn't it? By this,
by this you'll know that you're my people. You love each other. We love those that He loves,
don't we? Because He lives within us. Listen to what 1 John 4 says,
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God. Everyone
that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. If a man say I love
God and hates his brother, he's a liar. For he that loveth not
his brother whom he hath seen, How can he love God whom he hath
not seen? So if you want to know what's
the evidence of love for God, you love God's people. That's
what, you know, that's scripture. Charles Spurgeon made this statement
concerning our love for the Lord. He said it's like an exotic flower. It's not that it flourishes naturally
in human soil. It must be planted and nourished
from above. This love for God comes from
outside of us. It doesn't begin with us. Love
for the Lord is given us. And David, in this passage of
scripture, not only relates that he loves the Lord, knowing that
his love wasn't from him and his natural ability came from
heaven, according to God's everlasting covenant of grace. But he knows
that the Lord has given him a solid and sure foundation of confidence
concerning his love for Jehovah. Now listen to this. Psalm 116,
I love the Lord because... How do you know, David? How do
you know? I love the Lord because He hath
heard my voice and my supplications. Now you know I read that, and I got to thinking, now how
did David or how does anybody know that God has heard his voice
and his supplications, and I mean I know that the Lord knows everything,
but that God would hear his voice and his supplications in mercy
and grace. How do you know that? How do
you know? That's a statement of pure faith.
A cry of confidence from one that has truly been taught of
God. But now think about that. How
do you know that the Lord hears? And hears lovingly and affectionately
and mercifully and compassionately. How do you know? Well, it's because
we're taught that God's hearing, and I'm talking about it in the
way I've just said, that hearing is reserved only for His own. Now, I've made a pretty bold
statement there. I know that God hears, and I
know that He hears only His own. It's reserved only for His own.
But now I'm going to have to make good on it. I want you to
keep your place right there and turn to Zechariah. Find Malachi
and just go back one book. Malachi, last book of the Bible,
and go back one more. There's Zechariah. Zechariah,
now I want you to, here's how David knew. I love the Lord because
he hath heard my voice and my supplications. Now, let's look
at Zechariah. Zechariah 13, verse seven. Awake, O sword against my shepherd,
And against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts,
smite the shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered. And I will
turn mine hand upon the little ones." Now, let me ask you this.
I'll just ask you and you just answer to yourself. Has the Lord
given me a heart? to believe that the sword of
God's justice and judgment has been awakened against, not the
sheep of God's pasture, but the shepherd. Do you believe that
God has awakened, that's what he said, awake, O sword, against
my shepherd, my shepherd, against my fellow, one like to me. Sayeth the Lord of Hosts, you
smite the shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered. Now you know
that verse is just filled with Christ and Him crucified. It
speaks that God is just. Awake, O sword! It is set forth
that God has sent His Son, the shepherd of the sheep. It is
set forth that God has a sheep. said forth that the shepherd
has been smitten to show mercy to the elect. That's what that
last part says. And I will turn mine hand upon
the little ones. Now, I ask you this, I ask me
this. Do I believe that God's sword
of justice and wrath and righteousness has been called forth because
of God's love for His people? to send His Lamb, the Shepherd
of the sheep, make Him to be sin for the elect, that the elect
might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Do I believe that? God said that. But now, do I
believe it? He said, yes I do. I believe
that. Do I truly believe that the law found my sin to be His? As my absolute substitute, He
became me. He was made sin. He wasn't there
just a dying blanket. He was made sin for us. Do I believe that He willingly
bore my sin in His own body, laying down His life for me?
Do I believe that? Yes, I do. And do I believe that the sheep
of God are scattered throughout this world, every nation, kindred,
tribe, and tongue, and that the Lord has satisfied justice toward
the sheep in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that the
Lord has turned His hand upon the little ones? You say, well,
I don't know. If you tell me what that means, I'll tell you
if I believe it. It means that He has turned His hand, not in
wrath, but in mercy and grace toward His own. And I'll prove
it. Hold your place. We'll come right
back to Zechariah. Isaiah 1. He said in Zechariah, verse 7,
He said, And I will turn mine hand upon the little ones. Now,
I want you to look how in Isaiah chapter 1, And verse 25, look,
this is how it's said. Isaiah 125, I will turn my hand
upon thee and purely purge away thy dross and take away all thy
tin, which is dross also. I'm going to turn my hand, not
in wrath toward you, but in mercy toward you because I've satisfied
my justice in the shepherd. So now I'm going to turn my hand
toward you in mercy and compassion. Do you believe that? Zechariah,
back in Zechariah 13, look at verse 8. And it shall come to
pass that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall
be cut off and die, but the third shall be left therein. Now let
me ask you this. Do I believe that God has a remnant
according to the election of grace? That's what he said. It shall come to pass that in
all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut
off and die. What's he saying? God has the
right. to leave one to himself and show
mercy to another. That's what he said. I'll have
mercy on whom I'll have mercy. Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated. Does a potter have the right
to make one vessel under honor and another under dishonor? Does
he have the right to do that? He said right there, it shall
come to pass all the land, two parts cut off and die, but the
third part shall be left therein. Whenever the Lord is pleased
to set forth His sovereign electing grace, He always refers to them
as a part, a remnant. Two-thirds left, one-third kept. You believe that? Do you believe
that that's what God says? Now that's what He said, now
has He given you a heart to believe it? Now I'm coming up to make
a point on this. Did we believe verse 7, that
the shepherd was slain, the sword? Yeah. Did we believe God's having
a lesson? Well, then look at the first part of verse 9. Zechariah
13, and I will bring the third part through the fire, and I'll
refine them as silver is refined, and I will try them as gold is
tried. What is he saying right there?
Do I believe that because of the faith that He's given me
from above, God's good pleasure to try and to prove the faith
to show that it is real. Do I believe that I have been
given these trials and afflictions and chastisements because God
is going to prove His faithfulness to me? Paul had a thorn in the
flesh and he besought the Lord thrice that the Lord would take
it away. What did the Lord tell him? My grace is sufficient.
I'm not going to let you be tried beyond that which I'll sustain
you. Do we believe that the Lord will
bring the third, the elect, through the fire? proving them, showing
them to be His. Do you believe that? Yes, I do.
Yes, I do. I believe. I absolutely believe
that these sufferings that's been sent by the hand of Almighty
God who loves me and gave Himself for me, they're for my good and
for His glory. And that God has sent them that
I might call upon Him in the hour of my need. And He moved
me to call upon Him that He might show me of His deliverance. Well,
if I've been given faith to believe these things, then I also believe what He says
in the latter part of verse 9. Now listen to this. They shall
call on My name, and I will hear them. I will say, It's My people. They shall say, The Lord is my
God. Now here's the point that I wanted
to make. Turn back to Psalm 116. David said, I love the Lord because
He hath heard my voice and my supplications. He said concerning
His truth, of His slaying the shepherd, the sword of His justice
and wrath. He's going to turn His hand of
mercy toward His children. I have an elect out of all the
world. Two-thirds I'm going to leave
to themselves because I'm God. I have a right to. But the one-third,
I'm going to take them, I'm going to put them through the fire
and here's what's going to happen. They're going to call on me and
I will hear. I will hear. Now what confidence
did David have? What confidence do we have? that
the Lord hears because He said He hears. Those that He's given
faith to believe, they believe God. When we enter into our closet,
let me ask you this. Do you truly believe that when
you enter into your closet, and it just means your place of seclusion,
get by yourself and pray to your Father that hears in secret. Pray to Him in secret. And God
that hears in secret shall reward thee openly. I've often wondered. I wonder what that open reward
is. It's whatever God is pleased
to do for me according to His good pleasure. That's what it
is. That's what it is. He doesn't say what it is. So
therefore, it's whatever He's pleased to do. But do you believe
that? Do you believe He truly hears? When you call upon Him,
Father, do you truly believe that He's listening? 1 Corinthians 16 verse 2. Well,
verse 1 again, I love the Lord because He hath heard my voice
and my supplication. And here's another thing, I love
the Lord because He hath inclined His ear unto me. And what it is, I looked it up,
he inclined his ear, he stretched out and inclined downward. Boy, that's another blessed declaration
of faith. David said, I know this, I am
a weak and frail creature, unable to know what to speak. And the
Lord inclined His ear unto David in a special and peculiar way,
bent down to hear in particular. You know, if somebody was saying
something to me and I'm in another part of the room, sometimes Glenda
will call me. I always get the Marvin part. I always get that
part of it. But then sometimes if I'm at
the other end of the house, especially if it's a television going on
and a dryer or something like this. The rest of it is kind
of garbled. So I've got to turn something
off, you know, or say, hold on, hold on, hold on. I'm sorry,
what did you say? Tell me what you said. Oh, okay. This is what it is. He has inclined,
he's stretched out and inclined downward. David realized, the
Lord must hear me in particular. And the Lord, in condescending
to the weakness of His sheep, sets forth here that He bows
down His ear to the cry that He might hear every word. Now we know this. We know that
the Lord certainly hears and hears perfectly. We realize that. But the Spirit of God moved upon
David to speak in such a way that we might recognize that
he's listening in particular. I'm sorry, like if a bunch of
people were here talking and you were saying something to
me and everybody else is saying something but I'm listening to
exactly what you're saying. Everybody else is talking but
okay, I want to hear what you have to say, Brian. That's what
he said. He inclined, I love the Lord
because He's inclined His ear unto me. And the scripture says,
then in closing, He says, therefore, will I call upon Him as long
as I live. Now, you know, do we suppose
that David spoke those words in self-confidence? They that endure to the end shall
be saved. Well, I can tell you this. You
can bet on me, buddy. I'm going to endure to the end.
We say, well, that's just a little bit too over the top. How about
if the Lord wills in there or something like that? No, David
wasn't saying that like I was just saying. He wasn't saying
it in a proud, arrogant, self-confidence, He wasn't saying it looking to
himself, that he could foresee the end from the beginning. Here,
David spoke out of the confidence of God's Word and promise. Now
listen to this, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.
David believed God. He was like Peter when Peter
had forsaken the Lord. And then the Lord asked him three
times, lovest thou me more than these? And Peter said, Lord,
you know all things. You know I love you. He said,
feed my sheep. You love me, you feed my sheep.
David's not speaking out of arrogance. He's speaking as a man that's
confident of God's sustaining grace. He's been called and taught
that only God can keep a sinner. He's confident in the Lord, therefore
will I call upon Him as long as I live. Here the Lord is setting
forth that He which has loved us is going to keep us, has promised
us, and David said, based on His Word to me, based on my belief,
my faith in Him, that I will be kept by the power of God through
faith, ready to be revealed in the last time. Based on that,
Here's my confidence. I will call on him as long as
I live. I love the Lord because he has
heard my voice and my supplications. Therefore, I'm going to call
on him by God's grace. Amen. All right, Gary.