I'm with me to the book of Jonah.
Chapter two. Jonah. Chapter two. Jonah, chapter two. Verse seven. When my soul fainted within me,
I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came in unto thee into
thine holy temple." There is grace, grace from above,
grace to a believer. to remember and to run to Almighty
God. In Isaiah chapter 26, let me
read this to you. Isaiah 26, verse 8 and 9, Yea,
in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee. The desire of our soul is to
thy name. and to the remembrance of thee. With my soul have I desired thee
in the night, yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early. For when thy judgments are in
the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness."
To remember the Lord Jesus Christ, that is by faith. is the gracious
remedy from fainting in our mind. Now listen, Hebrews 12 verse
3 says, For consider him that endured such contradiction of
sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your
minds. That is, to faint, to be without
strength and without courage, to have a loss of consciousness. If he's out, he just doesn't
know anything. I remember one time when I was
in college, I was down in southwest Louisiana, and we were taking
ROTC, drill. We were out on kind of a parade
field, asphalt, hot. And I remember, last thing I
remember is all of a sudden the ground out there just started
It's moving. It's just like you're looking
out and you see heat. Down a highway, it's hot. You see that vapor
moving. Last thing I remember. Next thing
I know, they were picking me up. I'd fainted. Didn't know. Didn't remember anything. I was
out. Gone. Men faint for different
reasons. Maybe too hot. Maybe just passed
out. Fainting. Loss of consciousness. The apostle that writes to Hebrews
says, Consider him, though, that endured such contradiction of
sinners against himself, lest ye be faint in your minds. The worst fainting is the fainting
of the mind. To remember the Lord is by the
grace of God, and we can't remember that which we've not learned.
We must know Him. We must be taught of Him. Remembrance is by Almighty God's
Spirit. It stimulates us to call upon
Him. I remembered the Lord, Jonah
said. And I prayed unto Him in His
holy temple. When these trials come, sent
by God's grace, by God's providence, he alone can comfort. We remember the Lord. Now, you
may be right now, as I said a few weeks ago, you may be going through
something right now. There's something, there's some
trial, there's some temptation, there's something that you're
going through. What comfort is there but in
the Lord God Himself, in the remembrance of the Lord, remembrance
of God? is a proof that He remembers
us. Remember when that thief said
to the Lord Jesus on the cross, ìLord, when you enter into your
kingdom, remember me.î Do you know why he called out to the
Lord? Because the Lord in grace had
remembered him in an everlasting covenant. He gave that man a
heart by his spirit to call to the Lord, ìLord, remember me!î
I remembered him. because he remembered me. It
proves that we're not forsaken. I remember an illustration one
time of a man that was out in a field, and a little fawn was
running, being chased by some dogs. And this little fawn ran
straight to this man, jumped in this man's arms, trembling. These hounds were right on that
little fawn's, you know, right on his feet trying to get him.
started shooing, fighting off those dogs. Someone asked him
later, what happened? He said, I could not but exert
my strength to this one that had appealed to my mercy. We
call on the Lord. We remember Him. Jonah said,
when my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord. I remembered
Him. The Lord Jesus Christ, when he
was sitting at the last supper with his disciples, what did
he say? In the taking of these elements, in the eating of this
bread, the drinking of this cup, this do in remembrance of me. This remembrance of the Lord
Jesus Christ is by the stirring of the Holy Ghost, encouraging
the believer toward his only hope. The sanctified memory remembers
who He is. We remember the Lord. We think
upon Him. When trials come, what does Romans
8, 28 say? Romans 8, to all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are called
according to His purpose. Isn't that a comfort? When you
realize this didn't happen accidentally, this is by God's grace, This
is by God's providence. This is by God's mercy. He caused
this to happen. He allowed this. He sent this.
Why? To bring me to Himself. He caused
me to cast myself upon His mercy. The remembrance we speak of tonight
is based on divine revelation to a new heart, a new mind, to
behold by the eye of faith the precious person of the Lord Jesus
Christ. we remember Him, that is, the
everlasting Son of God who became the Son of Man, made of woman,
made under the law, made of curse, sentenced by God's justice to
die in the stead of, in the place of His people, judged as the
vicarious substitute, one who dies for another. Now, how do
we remember Him? Jonas said, when my soul fainted,
I remembered the Lord. What do we remember? First of
all, we remember Him who is our surety. We remember Him. We think
upon Him right now. Hebrews 7.22, By so much was
Jesus made a surety of a better testimony. As our surety, He
paid the debt that we couldn't pay. We owed a debt. He drew near to Almighty God
for us and interposed. You know what that word interposed
means? It means to place between. He placed Himself between. He stood between. Stood in the gap. Almighty God,
we offended Him. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
our surety, paid the debt, the infinite debt, debt that we couldn't
pay. We couldn't pay it in life. We
sure couldn't pay it in death. A man in this life, outside of
Christ, does he owe a debt? Absolutely. Can he pay it in
this life? Absolutely not. Can he pay it
by dying? Absolutely not. The debt is still
not paid in and of himself. Therefore, eternity in punishment
must be his lot. We remember the Lord Jesus Christ,
our surety. We owe the debt. What did our
surety say? I'll pay. He paid the debt by
his substitutionary death at Calvary. What did he also do? They are without a righteousness.
I will live for them. I earned a righteousness for
them. He imputed that righteousness
to us for our justification. My soul almost fainted, and I
remembered the Lord. Now, in Christ Jesus, we are
free from the charge of the broken law, and in Him we are righteous. We have His atoning sacrifice,
everlasting righteousness. He answers for us. We remember
Him as our surety. We remember Him, secondly, as
our Redeemer. As our Redeemer, we remember
the blood that was shed. For we know that we were not
redeemed, the Scripture says, with corruptible things as silver
and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb. without blemish and without spot. Man himself is a corrupted creature,
corrupt. The Lord Jesus Christ, His flesh,
He saw no corruption. He, as God in our nature, and
the Scripture says that we were redeemed, Acts 20, 28, with the
blood of God. Luke 1, 68 says, Blessed be the
Lord God of Israel, for he hath visited and redeemed his people. He hath redeemed, that is, to
buy back us to God by his own blood, Revelation 5, 9. We remember
him, thirdly, as our justifier, that is, to show to be free from
blame. I may have used this illustration
before, but it was such a good one. It was the one about the
police officers that killed a bank robber. I think I've told some
of you this. Bank robber robs a bank there
in Tennessee. The police have him surrounded.
The bank robber, during the gun battle, tries to run up and kill
one of the police officers. And before he can get to the
car, he's gunned down. A hail of bullets. by the police
or the police. The judge looked at the facts
and the radio announcer said that the killing was ruled justified. No blame. They shot him, killed
him, justified. Looked at the facts without blame. No blame on their record. The
Lord Jesus Christ is our justifier. By nature, there is none righteous
No, not one, but Christ is made, the Scripture says, unto us righteousness. He, the Lord Jesus, is what the
Spirit of God calls Him, the Lord, our righteousness. His righteousness is unto all
and upon all who believe. That's what Romans 3.22 says.
Isaiah 40.21 says, Thy people also shall be all righteous. What joy to remember
Him who is our righteousness. We go through this life right
now. Our soul almost faints with that which we deal with every
day, but we remember Him. To appear before Almighty God
robed in the righteousness of His dear Son. That's what we
just sang about just a few moments ago. My hope, my hope is built
settled on nothing less than Jesus' blood, His righteousness. Before Almighty God, I stand
righteous in Christ as our justifier. Oh, as Brooks Scott just so ably
said, everything that Christ did was charged to our count. He did it, not we ourselves.
He did it by His body and blood, our ransom. Fully paid. The law
is satisfied. The law is fulfilled. Justice. He fulfilled the law. In his
life and in his death, he paid the ransom for his people. Therefore,
as our justifier, in him and by him, the believer may be called
he who has fulfilled the law. Faithful. Faithful. In Christ. Only in Christ. Outside of Christ,
nothing. Also, we remember the Lord as
our high priest. Turn with me. I want you to look
at something here. Hebrews 8, 3. Hebrews 8, 3. Hebrews chapter 8 and verse 3. The Scripture says, For every
high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices. Wherefore, it is of necessity
that this man have somewhat also to offer. In Hebrews 10, verse 5, the scripture
says, Wherefore, when he cometh into the world, sacrifice and
offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared for
me." Now, the Scripture says that the high priest was ordained
back in Hebrews 8 to offer gifts and sacrifices unto the Lord. Our Lord Jesus Christ had a body
prepared for him. A body hast thou prepared for
me, and by that body He offered unto Almighty God Himself. He gave Himself. Almighty God
gave His Son. The Son gave Himself to the Father. He gave and offered His love,
His trust, His will, His obedience, His life to Almighty God. He gave Himself. But I'll tell
you what He also gave. He also gave that which the Father
had given unto him." Turn with me to John 17 for this high priestly
prayer of our Lord Jesus. What a wealth of revelation there
is in this chapter. John 17, verse 4, the Lord Jesus says, I, praying
to his Father, have glorified thee on the earth. I have finished
the work which thou gavest me to do." The Lord Jesus Christ
came in this world ultimately to glorify His Father. That's
the reason, to glorify His Father. And in that, He redeemed His
people. He glorified His Father in the
redemption of His people. He says, I have glorified thee
on the earth. I have finished the work. which
thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou
me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee
before the world was." Now, I want to stop right here. I want you
to understand. I don't understand the depth
of what he just said, Brother Scott, but I can tell you something
that I do know. He said, he said, now, O Father,
as I have glorified you, on this earth. I finished the work which
Thou gavest Me to do. And now, verse 5, O Father, glorify
Thou Me with Thine own self, with the glory which I had with
Thee before the world was." He came into this world. He had
been given a people from the foundation of the world. God
had chosen a people. He chose those people in the
Lord Jesus Christ made them. He is their surety. He is their
redeemer. He is their advocate. I'm going
to look at that in just a minute. He is their substitute. He has
come to save His people. Okay? He's their redeemer. He
has come here to glorify His Father in the redemption of those
people. He, as the Lamb, This is God's
Lamb. That's what John said. Behold
the Lamb of God. God is going to provide Himself
a Lamb. That's what Abraham told his
son. God is going to provide Himself a Lamb. Here's the Lamb
that God has provided. God has provided Him. God has
provided Himself a Lamb. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Word,
is God. In the beginning was the Word.
The Word was with God. The Word was God. Now, the Lord
Jesus Christ is praying. He said, Father, I've glorified
you on the earth. Now glorify me with the glory
that I had with you before the world was. Before the foundation
of the world, the Lord Jesus Christ was slain. Did he not
say, is that what Scripture says? Christ was slain from the foundation
of the world. He said, Father, as I have come
into this world to die for those that you've given me, to be their
substitute. God's justice, redeeming His
people, shedding His blood, the Lamb, He must die. I have manifested
Thy name, verse 6, unto the men which Thou gavest Me out of the
world. He said, I have taught them, I have told you who they
are. I have told them who you are. Thine they were. Father, they are Yours. They
belong to You. And Thou gavest them Me. And
they have kept Thy Word. Lord, they're yours. Father,
they're yours. You chose them. You gave them to me. Now, verse
7, they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me
are of thee. For I have given unto them the
words which thou gavest me. And they have received them and
have known surely that I came out from thee. And they have
believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them. I pray not
for the world, but for them which thou hast given me. For they
are thine, and all mine are thine, and all thine are mine, and I
am glorified in them." What did the Lord Jesus Christ give as
his gifts and sacrifices? He gave himself, and he gave
unto the Father. Here they are. You chose them
and gave them to me as the surety. Here they are. Holy. Accepted in the Beloved. Predestinated. That's what Ephesians says. Predestinated
that we might be holy before Him without blame. Here they
are. The will of Almighty God was
that His elect might be sanctified. That word sanctified there means
made holy. through the offering of the body
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He hath once appeared to put
away sin by the sacrifice of himself, and this man, after
he had offered one sacrifice for sin, forever sat down on
the right hand of Almighty God. We have not an high priest who
cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in
all points tempted like we are. yet without sin. Here is our
high priest, we remember him, who has offered himself and all
in him unto the Father." Absolutely accepted. In Jude 24, Jude verse
24, the Scripture says, Now unto him that is able to
keep you from falling and to present you faultless before
the presence of His glory with exceeding joy to the only wise
God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power both
now and forever." That word, present, that means cause you
to stand. He has presented us before the
Father. based totally on his merit, righteous,
righteous. He is our high priest. He has offered himself and all
those in him. He is remembered as our prophet. He is the great prophet. He is our prophet. As our prophet,
he opens by the Spirit of God our understanding to know by
faith Himself through His holy scriptures, makes us wise by
those scriptures unto salvation. And as our prophet, the Son,
reveals the Father to us, no man knows the Father but the
Son, and He to whom the Son will reveal Him. He's our prophet. He's our advocate. An advocate
is one who pleads another's cause. That's what an advocate is. 1
John, chapter 2, verses 1 and 2, my little children. These
things, John says, write I unto you that you sin not. And if
any man sin, and what man has not, we have an advocate with
the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. And He is the propitiation
for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of
the whole world, not every man without distinction, you know
that, but out of every tribe, every tongue, every nation, God
has a people. For all those that the Father
has given, that's who He pleads. We have an Advocate. Our Lord
Jesus appears in the presence of Almighty God for us, our Advocate. We have an Advocate. What makes
His Advocacy? What makes it essential? What
makes it real? What makes it accepted? Well,
verse 2 says he's the propitiation for our sins. He's the satisfaction. He's satisfied God. That's what
the propitiation means. He is satisfied. He is our advocate. He is our advocate. Pleads his own work. Now, listen to Isaiah 51. Isaiah
51. And verse 22, Isaiah 51, 22,
Thus saith thy Lord, the Lord, and thy God, that pleadeth the
cause of his people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand
the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury.
Thou shalt no more drink it again. Why? He is our propitiation. He is our advocate. as to the
sins of his people, put away. He's satisfied. He's our advocate. He is our sanctifier. That's
how we remember Him, sanctified. Almighty God sanctified. That
word sanctified, it does mean to be holy. It means also to
set apart, set apart Almighty God from the foundation of the
world. The Scripture says that Christ
is made unto us sanctification. He is made unto us sanctification.
He is made unto us holiness. We are set apart. How are we
set apart? God chose us in Him. Out of every nation, as I mentioned
a moment ago, nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue, He chose a
people and set them apart in Christ unto Himself, sanctified. hardened by His blood, justified
by His righteousness, the Lord Jesus Christ, our sanctification. He sets us apart to delight in
Himself and separates us from delighting in sin and wickedness,
though I know we sin. A believer doesn't delight in
it. They delight in Christ. We remember him as our shepherd.
Christ is the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. He knows the sheep by name, and
naturally as sheep we go astray, but in tender compassion toward
us he is the shepherd. He has come to seek and to save
that which is lost. He guides by his spirit, watches
over with his eye of love. And the Lord Jesus Christ, he
guides us by his own hand. That's what we sang about this
morning. Oh, how do we remember him? We can sum it all up by
this. All of these offices that we've
talked about, thou shalt call his name Jesus. He's going to
save his people. We remember him as our Savior.
We couldn't save ourselves. Oh, the safety! with Him who
has engaged in everlasting covenant to present the sheep before the
Father blameless, holy, totally in Himself, totally by His imputed
righteousness, totally by association with Him, vital union with the
Lord Jesus Christ. When the Chief Shepherd shall
appear, ye, that is all the sheep, shall receive a crown of glory.
Scripture says that fadeth not away. Jonas said, My soul had
fainted, and I remembered the Lord. You think about this. Brother Scott said something
that I heard him say years ago. He said, After I heard the good
news, I didn't hear any more bad news. Christ Jesus is made
unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification. and redemption. That's how we remember Him. We
remember Him. He is our Savior. Our Father,
tonight we thank You that we have a heart, that You've given
us a heart to remember You. And Lord, we remember, oh, that
in ourselves we are, oh, unprofitable servants. Lord, in ourselves
we're weak We're dead in ourselves. We're unable. We're incapable. Father, how we pray that tonight
that you would bring back to our memory, oh, the blessedness
of who you are, to remember the Lord Jesus Christ, to remember
him, to remember the body that was shed, the blood that was
shed, the body broken, Lord, how we pray that You would truly
cause us to spiritually muse upon these things, to rejoice
in them. And Lord, give us a heart of
thankfulness unto You. We know we don't thank You as
we should. Father, forgive us where we failed
You. We pray that tonight that Christ
might be honored in that which is said For it's in His name
we pray, Amen.