I just want to make a comment
or two on what our pastor just read. This was so good, I just
got to share it with you. Nothing's not new. Aren't you
glad? Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
those that he, before the foundation of the world, determined the
destination of. Well, what place is that? I can
tell you that where He is, there we may be also. Those that He
predestinated, them He also called. He named them. They were mine. And whom He called, them He also
justified. And whom He justified, them He
also glorified. Rightly said has been said before,
and it's true. Those terms are all past tense. Those that God determined the
end from the beginning. This is what He did. He named
them. He justified them. He glorified
them. We were talking a minute ago
about justification. The reason that God did not kill
Adam and Eve, the reason that God doesn't kill every man, every
woman on this earth today, is because of His long-suffering that before the foundation of
the world in His everlasting covenant to show mercy to His
elect in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world, eternal redemption. You thought, well, I thought
they weren't redeemed until He actually came into this world
and actually died on the cross. That was an accomplished act
with Almighty God before the foundation of the world. The
reason Adam and Eve was not obliterated the moment they rebelled against
God is because God had justified His elect and
that there was a people that would be born in time since the
fall And God's long-suffering was for one reason, the sake
of His Son. God Almighty, before the foundation
of the world, predestinated that they'd be where He is. He named
them. He justified them. He glorified
them. Right now, glorified. You say, I thought I'm sitting
in this church this morning. In Christ, you're there. These
things are high, too high for us. Thank you, Brother Scott,
for reading that. All righty, now let's take our
Bibles. Turn with me to the book of Proverbs chapter 4. Proverbs
chapter 4. Proverbs 4. I've said before, I'll say it
again, look at these Scriptures that we're looking at right now
in light of the Master speaking personally to His people. Listen
to His words. May these words be to you as
fresh and as personable. This is worship, to hear Him,
to obey Him, long after Him. You say, well, I don't do those
things. With your new man, you do. Yes,
you do. Yes, you do. Yeah, but I don't
see it. I don't see it. That which is
born of God sinneth not. And because of the frailty of
this old flesh, what I see is I see nothing but an inconsistency. But there is a heart in that
new man. There is a heart there in that
new creation that serves God. Paul says, in my flesh I serve
the law of sin. I worship it. But in my mind, I serve the law
of God. I worship God aright in obedience. And boy, there's a great struggle
there. Listen to the words of the Master. Verse 23, Keep thy
heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. Above all keeping, above all
guarding, above all the things that are yours, that are precious
to you, the possessions of this life,
you know, your good name, your good, you know, whatever, whatever. I just, you know, name stuff. Keep your heart. Deuteronomy 4, 9, let me read
this to you. Only take heed to thyself, and
keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which
thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thine heart
all the days of thy life. But teach them thy sons and thy
sons' sons. Jude 21, keep yourselves. in the love of God, looking for
the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. Now let me tell you what we know.
We know that the church is not our own keeper. We know that.
We are kept by the power of God unto eternal life. But this life that is in you, if Christ be formed in you, listen to me, He is your life. He is your life. This new heart wherein Christ Himself has been
formed in you. The life, Paul says, that I now
live, I live by the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. Not necessarily my faith in Him. His faithfulness. as my substitute
and my representative. The Lord Jesus Christ formed
in me the new man. We have no idea
what God Almighty has done for us, giving us life, eternal life. Christ said, I am the life. Whenever we read these words,
keep thy heart, the believer, the first thing he's going to
say is, Lord, if You don't keep I, it won't
be kept. I can't do this myself. Right. You can do nothing without me. But we watch. We keep an eye. upon Him who is the fortress
of our hope. And even our watchfulness, Neil,
is not our merit. He's the merit. It's the evidence
of His work in us. It's the evidence of God that
worketh in you to will and to do. Here's the bottom line. We don't have anything to boast
in save Christ. That's what Paul said. I have nothing. I've been faithful. Oh, you know, I've been faithful.
You know who said that? That was the prodigal son brother
that said this. I never... I have. We attend diligently to the means
of the preached Word. Keep thy heart. When you stop
and realize that it is God that works in you, and moves and orders
your steps, and you actually desire what He's doing in you. We look by faith to Him for mercy,
sure mercy, fixed mercy, everlasting mercy. Keep, guard thy heart. That's what it is. And all the
while, a believer knows I know that in me that I have
no ability to do this of myself. The Lord must do this for me.
It must be God. It must be the Lord that keeps
my heart. He is my life. Matthew 5, 8, Blessed are the
pure in heart. Lord, if you had not told me
that I was the possessor of a pure heart. I would have never known
that. I would have never dreamed that.
Those that are pure in heart and you that believe. You know the evidence of those
that are pure in heart? The evidence of those that are
pure in heart. They are the ones you see struggling the most. They are the ones that can't
take it or leave it. They're the ones that are never
satisfied with themselves. And the older they get, the harder
it gets, the tougher it gets. The older they get, the more
they know of themselves, the more they see of that old nature
that wars against the more they long to make their
calling and election sure. And the unbeliever just hit and miss. I came this month, well, maybe
it was last month. That's enough. I mean, you can't
get too serious about that anyway. Not a believer. Not a believer. Keep your heart. Tell me again. Tell me again.
I know you told me last. I know you told me you told me
last week and you told me you told me last week before that. But you tell me again. You tell
me one more time how God Almighty has mercy on sinners. Tell me. Tell me how. Tell me how one called out of
darkness, spiritual darkness. Tell me again. How they feel
because I'm struggling. Tell me one more time how they
hunger after righteousness. Because I think I do. I long
to. Those that have been found to
be pure in heart are made so in regenerating grace. Because
by nature the heart is deceitful above all things and it's desperately
wicked, The old heart will lie to you.
Nobody lies to you like you lie to yourself. Nobody will be deceitful
to you as much as your old heart is deceitful. Your old heart
will tell you just, you're fine, don't worry about it, don't make
a big deal over it. Why did the Apostle Paul say,
I beat my body? I keep my body in submission.
It's like a boxing. No, no, no. Why? Why do you struggle? I tell you, a new heart, a new
heart, that's a gloriously divine and precious thing. The Scripture
says of the master speaking, listen as he speaks to his children,
keep thy heart with all diligence. And a believer, knowing all the
while that it is the Lord that keeps him, and a believer hears
those words and says, yes, sir. Yes, sir. I desire to, Lord. For out of it are the issues
of life." Out of that new heart, that's
where you know, you're told, instructed. Put away from thee
a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. A froward mouth, distorted or
twisted, a perverse lip, the one that
deviates or departs. Put away from you that. Put that
away from you. And now a believer hears that
and he knows that there's an old mouth that he possesses,
the mouth of that old heart and the lips of that old heart that
is perverse, that deviates, that wants to depart. That old mouth
that's distorted or twisted that does not want to believe God.
That struggles with it. Put it away! Put it away! Put it away! Put it away! That's
why Paul said, Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
I can't get rid of it. Everywhere I go, it's with me.
Every time I think, it's with me. Every time I turn, it's with
me. I can't get away from myself.
Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? The closer we get by the grace of God to Him, the
more we see of that old nature that war is against us. And I'll
tell you something. You that believe, hate that old
nature. You hate it. You say, well, you
mean I hate myself? Yes, you do. I think I can make good on that.
Job said, I loathe myself. And you that believe, do too.
Do you love to see yourself rebel against Him? If you know Him,
you don't. Put away from thee. James says in 3, 5, and 6, Even
so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold,
how great a matter a little fire kindly And the tongue is a fire,
a world of iniquity. So is the tongue among our members,
that it defileth the whole body and setteth on fire the course
or the wheel of nature, and it is set on fire of hell." You
know, a tongue well ordered, directed, kept, one that God
has set apart for His honor and glory, it can preach the gospel, it
can be a comfort, encouragement to people, to unite people. Boy,
when that tongue is served in anger and jealousy and foolishness,
it destroys without pity, doesn't it? You know what's sad? It's so
easy for me to see some shortcomings in other people. I'm just so glad and quick. to
bring them out. I'm not wanting to be a gossip,
you know. I just thought I'd share this
with you so maybe we could pray for them. That's a lie. That's a lie. Put it away. The words are not out of my mouth
before I wish I could get that back. I'm too late. Verse 25, Let thine eyes look
right on Let thine eye, Liz, look straight before thee. Oh, too often the eyes are the
most dangerous inlet to disobedience. The eyes. You know, you can sit here and
try to describe something to me, and it doesn't seem to have
the oomph when I look at it. Genesis 3.6, when the woman saw
that the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant. It
was a desire to the eyes. A tree to be desired to make
one wise, she took of the fruit. She saw it. The eyes. 2 Samuel 11.2, and it came to pass
in an evening tide that David rose off his bed and walked upon
the roof of the king's house, and from the roof he saw a woman
washing herself." I want you to turn to Job 31. Job 31.1. Now listen to the words
of this regenerated saint. I made a covenant with mine eyes,
why then should I think upon a maid?" Nothing but the grace of God can preserve the chastity of
the mind. Listen to the words of David. these words that were written
after he took Bathsheba. Psalm 119.37, Turn away mine
eyes from beholding vanity, and quicken thou me in thy way. A believer realizes that the only
hope of obedience is by Him who alone can keep us. of myself, I can't do that. But you that believe, listen, you have a heart that
truly desires not to be disobedient. You don't want to. You do not
want to. I know the struggles that you
have. Turn to Isaiah 33. Isaiah 33,
verse 13. Isaiah 33, 13. Hear ye that are
far off what I have done. And ye that are near, acknowledge
my might. The sinners in Zion are afraid.
Fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall
dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with
everlasting burnings? He that walketh righteously and
speaketh uprightly, he that despiseth the gain of oppressions that
shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stops his ears
from hearing of blood and shuts his eyes from seeing evil, he
shall dwell. on high. His place of defense
shall be the munitions of rocks. Bread shall be given him. His
waters shall be sure." How is it that I can find myself
in obedience? As Job said, I made a covenant
with mine eyes. Do you know the only obedience
that's ever going to stand? It's not mine. It is the obedience of the Lord
Jesus Christ. It is His righteousness alone.
His obedience. Only of Him could it be truthfully
said, I made a covenant with mine eyes. He was in all points tempted
as we are. Mitch, yet without sin. Lord,
thank You. Thank You. Because of the presence
of sin, I can't do that. I would desire to. I would long
to. And I struggle. And I ask Your
forgiveness. But in the asking of forgiveness,
I am admitting I have failed of Christ. Back in Proverbs 4, verse 26, ponder the path of
thy feet. Let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand or
to the left. Remove thy foot from evil. Lord, I hear these precious words
of your instruction. Oh, I ponder the path of thy
feet. Has not our experience borne
out the truth of this scripture? Have we not suffered because
of our carelessness in our walk? Now here we are this morning
and we're truthfully longing to worship God. You've come this
morning, you that God Almighty has given a new heart to, you
came this morning truthfully wanting to, to worship. Let me ask you this, has our
minds wandered at all? Can we go back and recall with
perfect recollection what the Scriptures had to say? Not me,
the Scriptures. Has there been anything that
has entered your mind either concerning tomorrow or yesterday
or this afternoon or something that maybe you want to say? Is
there anything that has entered whatsoever? Ponder the path at your feet.
You know what this does? This is going to draw you right
back to Him. It's going to draw you right back to cast yourself
upon His mercy. O blind Bartimaeus, Jesus thou
Son of David, have mercy on me. You know what scripture comes
to my mind? Salvations of the Lord. Not according
to my faithfulness, Mike. You that rest in your profession
of faith or in your baptism or in your speaking of tongues, do you think that you've been
faithful enough? Do you think you've satisfied
justice? Do you think that you've established
a righteousness that's going to stand before Almighty God? You know what the Gospel does
when it's proclaimed. It puts God's people in the dust
before Him. And He's high and lifted up. And a believer says in his heart,
Lord, You're all my hope. Mercy, compassion,
grace. Lord, I pondered my steps, my
feet. It says, let all thy ways be
established. Actually, if you have a marginal
reading there, it says, and it's right, all thy ways shall be
ordered aright. All thy ways have been ordered.
That's what David said. This is all my salvation. He
made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things. And sure,
I was thinking about what Brother Scott says so many times. Almighty
God had to do something for Himself before He could do anything for
us. He knoweth that we are dust.
That's so comforting to me. I just can't even sit here and
contemplate the thought of thinking that I've done anything that
would merit me not only coming the first time, but even staying
there. Do you know the safest place
to be? Do you know the safest position? A beggar. A beggar that he said, this is my bride and you've stolen
my heart. You've ravished me with one of
your eyes. You say, Lord, How can that be? It's that He
has made me by His grace to be considered in Him. And the Father
looks upon me in the substitute, in the Lord Jesus Christ. And
He sees His righteousness and He's counted that to me. Isn't that good? He's counted
his righteousness to me. And I have nothing else that
I can say. Let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand or
to the left, and remove thy foot from evil. Wait. Weigh your steps carefully. Lord, I desire to. I truly do. Thank You that You've walked
for me. Thank You that Your steps by Your imputed righteousness
are my steps. Thank You that, Lord, I'm a joint
heir with You, because if I'm separated from You, I have nothing. Because, Lord, You are! the Beloved
One that the Father is well pleased with. And if I be separated from
you, Ephesians 5, 15, 16, see then that you walk circumspectly. That means live diligently. That's
what it means. Live diligently. A believer does
not excuse himself. If you have this attitude, well,
I'm just a sinner. I'm just a sinner. You don't know Him. You don't
know Him. You don't excuse it. When you
make that statement, you mean it. It's not an excuse for sin. Shall we sin that grace may abound? That's what Paul said. See then
that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming
the time, rescuing from loss." Redeeming. That's what it means.
Rescuing from loss. The time. The short time is what
it means because the days are evil. A believer finds himself somewhat
thinking this way. The time is short. Oh, that I
might be found carefully considering my walk before Him. Lord, let
me walk as an obedient servant. Let me walk as one that truly
longs to please You. I would desire to walk after You with honor Take
heed, do you walk?" That's what he said. Turn not to the right
hand nor to the left. Lord, I don't want to. And I
find myself struggling. Help me. Remove thy foot from
evil. Lord, I would desire to. And
evil is present with me. Thank You, Lord God of all mercy. Thank You for compassion and
mercy. Thank You for grace. Thank You
for grace. Lord, help me. Use the time that He's given
you wisely. What do I do? He'll tell you. He'll guide you. Those that are led by the Spirit
of God, they're the sons of God. Not those that lead themselves
and dictate to themselves and pat themselves on the back and
talk about This is what I meant when I said, you want to know
the evidence of a believer? They're the ones that's struggling.
They're the ones that's hurting. They're the ones that's looking
unto Him, the author and finisher of their faith. They're the ones
that's longing after His presence. Come quickly, Lord Jesus. Help
me, for Christ's sake. Amen.