The Bible Baptist Church, located
at 2015 Beulah Road in Madisonville, Kentucky, would like to invite
you to listen to a message of the sovereign grace of God in
the Lord Jesus Christ by their pastor, David Edmondson. I'll be speaking to you out of
the gospel of John this morning. Here our Lord said in John chapter
14, let not your heart be troubled. I want to talk to you about that
this morning. I want to talk to you about heart
trouble. You know, I was reading an article this past week that
declared that heart disease and cancer have claimed the number
one and the number two spot as the leading causes of death in
America. Number one, heart disease. Number two, cancer. I know all of us personally know
someone affected by these two diseases. Many of God's people
even now are struggling under their crippling effects. Together,
heart trouble and cancer are responsible for 46% of the deaths
in the United States. I had no idea that it was that
high. You know, I lost my father to
cancer and I did lose my mother to heart disease, so I shouldn't
be surprised. Yet, considering those staggering
statistics of 46%, I am once again reminded that all of us,
spiritually speaking, have these killing diseases. Spiritually
speaking, every one of us has heart trouble. All of us have
the malignant disease of sin. 100% is the statistic on that. And
unless we find a remedy, unless we find a cure, we will most
certainly die. Now this is serious, serious
business. I'm not on this radio program
to try to promote myself or to promote our church. I'm on this
radio program to try to tell you the truth about what God
says in the scripture, in the Bible. Now, if you don't believe
the Bible, then I won't have much comfort for you this morning. But if you believe the word of
God, and if you'll listen to what God's saying in his word,
I think you'll be encouraged. I think you'll see some truths.
How serious is our condition? That's the issue. Well, it's
worse than a pandemic. It's worse because all of us
have it and all of us are gonna die from it unless we find a
cure. And what makes this heart trouble
so serious, what makes this leprosy of sin so critical is that it
was committed against the very one and the only one that can
cure us. God gave Adam one commandment. Now I'm going to break it down
simple for you. God gave man one commandment. Adam and Eve had one law to keep. Everything was provided for them.
There was no work for them to do. It was paradise. With everything
they needed provided. But man failed and man fell and
man died spiritually. That's what God said. Why did
man die? Because man disobeyed God. Because God cursed man for his
sin. Paul said in Romans 5, wherefore,
as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin,
and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. That means every one of us. That
doesn't mean we were born basically good and we begin to disobey
here and there and then became sinners. No, that means we were
born, born in sin, conceived in sin, came forth from our mother's
womb, speaking lies, hearts deceitful above all things and desperately
wicked. That's what the Bible says. That
every imagination of man's heart, God destroyed this world because
every imagination of man's heart was only evil continually. Not only evil, not only evil
only, but evil only continually. Now that tells you something
about us. That offends some folks, but that's what God said about
us. Man died because man disobeyed God. God gave man one commandment,
and he couldn't keep it. All men and women got heart trouble. Boys and girls, heart trouble.
The malignancy of sin. How do we keep from dying? Well,
since death comes by sin, and sin is passed upon all men and
women, boys and girls alike, for all of us have sinned, then
we're going to have to find a cure. Now listen to me, God is holy.
Now I know everybody today talks about the love of God. Thank
God for his love. Thank God for his mercy and his
grace. But first and foremost, God is
holy. And that's a subject we don't
hear much about anymore. We hear a great deal about God's
love and his goodness and his grace and his forgiveness, but
we don't hear much about God's holiness. You better listen to
me. A sinner will never appreciate
God's love, goodness, mercy, grace, or forgiveness if they
never see God's holiness and what it took to appease this
holy God. Now God is so holy that he cannot
look upon a sinner and that sinner live. That's what the word of
God says. That's what God told Moses. He
said, thou canst not see my face for there shall no man see me
and live. My face shall not be seen. You
can read it. Exodus chapter 33. God is so
holy that He can by no means, under no circumstances, for no
reason, clear the guilty. Exodus 34, 7. Sin must be punished. You see, God's justice demands
it. God is a holy God. He's a jealous
God. He will not forgive your transgressions
nor your sins. Joshua 24, 19. Sin cannot be
forgiven. It's got to be paid for. How
do I know? Because the wages of sin is death. How do I know? The soul that
sins shall die. THE WAGES MUST BE PAID FOR GOD
TO REMAIN HOLY AND GOD ALWAYS PAYS HIS BILLS. YOUR INIQUITIES
HAVE SEPARATED BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR GOD AND YOUR SINS HAVE HIT
HIS FACE FROM YOU THAT HE WILL NOT HEAR. ISAIAH 59-2 We're in a mess. God is holy,
and the only way you can be cured is to find one who can keep God's
holy law and satisfy God's holy justice in your room and in your
stead. And you might claim to be a good
person, a moral person, and I have no doubt that you aren't. But
God requires perfection. God requires holiness. And you and I cannot provide
what God requires. That's our dilemma. Because secondly,
man is an ungodly sinner. That's right. I've already told
you. God said that every imagination of the thoughts of our hearts
are only evil continually. Some may think, well, I have
good thoughts. All my thoughts are not evil.
Well, compared to God's thoughts, they are. Some will say, well,
I have some wicked thoughts, but my evil thoughts are not
all the time. Sometimes I think on good things.
My thoughts are not evil all the time. According to God, they
are. Well, I disagree with you, preacher. Well, you're not disagreeing
with me. You're disagreeing with God. That's what God said in
his word. I'm as guilty of these things
as you are. God said in Genesis chapter six,
verse five, he saw the wickedness of man was great in the earth.
Every imagination of the thoughts of man's heart, only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that
he made man on the earth and it grieved him at his heart.
A preacher, I know there's some bad people in the world, and
I know that I'm not perfect, but there's no way I can be that
bad. Oh, yes, you have heart trouble, just like I do. We have
the cancer of sin. We're in bad shape. Sin is a
malignant growth, worse than cancer. It spreads through the
whole body and soul of a natural man and woman. Sin is what makes
our hearts deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. So wicked that only God can know
our hearts. We can't know them. We're blind,
deaf, and spiritually dead. That word deceitful means fraudulent
and crooked. By nature, our hearts are fraudulent
and crooked. But not only that, we're fraudulent
and crooked above all things. Our hearts are wicked, but not
only wicked, desperately wicked. The Hebrew word for desperately
there means critically, seriously, gravely wicked. So seriously
and critically and gravely wicked that we're going to die from
this wickedness. I want you to hear a graphic
picture of your sin. And again, this is what God says.
It's what he says about you. It's what he says about me. It's
what he says about our precious little children and our precious
little grandchildren and our loving sweet grandmother. It
applies to the prostitute. It applies to the preacher. It
applies to the politician and it applies to the priest. That's
right. It applies to every man and woman
born of woman. How does a God, holy God, see
you and I? From the sole of the foot, even
into the head, there's no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises
and putrefying sores, and have not been closed up, neither bound
up, neither mollified with ointment. God compares us to oozing, unmollified,
putrefying, repulsive sores that haven't been bound or bandaged
Oh God is holy and man is sinful and ungodly and the third thing
the real issue is how can a man be justified with God how can
this wretched putrefying sore of men and women cancerous be
reconciled and brought back into fellowship, justified with God? How can he be clean that's born
of a woman? How can we be justified and declared
righteous, made in right standing with God? How can things be made
right between God and man? How can a man be restored back
into fellowship with God? You answer that question and
you preach the gospel. john chapter 14 verse 1 again
let not your heart be troubled boy you're in a terrible shape
but there's hope for you how do we rid ourselves of heart
trouble how do we get rid of this cancerous malignancy of
sin we have the answer right here you believe in god believe
also in me The remedy is Jesus Christ. Now, some would tell
you that the remedy is faith. That faith is what makes the
difference. Well, you're saved by grace through
faith, but that's not of yourselves. It's a gift of God. It's not
a works lest any man should boast. The remedy is not believing there
is a Christ. The remedy is not even believing
in Christ. The remedy is believing Jesus
Christ. Believing what he says about
himself. He's God. It took God to die
for your sin. It's believing what God says
about you. You're a wretched ungodly sinner
that deserves nothing but hell. Salvation is believing in Christ,
who he is and what he's done. Most everybody today says they
believe in God or they believe in a higher power or a supreme
being. But what our Lord is saying here
is you believe in God. You claim you do. You say you
do. If you do, then you better believe in me. To believe in
the God of the Bible, to truly believe that God is who he claims
himself to be, then you must believe that Jesus Christ is
also God. And God was made flesh and dwelt
among us. He who was with God in the beginning. The Word of God. In the beginning,
He was with God and He became flesh and dwelt among us. And
if you don't believe that Jesus Christ is that God, then you
don't believe God. You've got to believe that He
came and perfectly kept God's law, that law you could not keep.
God requires the keeping of His law to be perfect by us. We can't do that. Christ did
it for us. Jesus Christ fully satisfied
God's holy justice. Jesus Christ is God's mediator,
intercessor, savior, sacrifice, and surety. Jesus Christ was
made to be sin for His people, that they might be made the very
righteousness of God in Him. They believe that he was punished
for every sin ever committed by the elect, past, present,
or future. They believe that God's law is
now fulfilled, and God's justice is appeased, and God sees you
as holy and righteous and just, and that you have no sin. That's
what a believer believes. That's what it is to believe
also in Christ. Oh, everybody believes in God,
but few believe that Jesus Christ is God. Not many believe that
they're so corrupt with sin. Not many believe that their heart
is in such a troubled state and not many believe that their malignancy
of sin has damaged them so recklessly from the inside out that God
himself had to do for us what we can never do for ourselves.
You can believe everything this old world is telling you or you
can believe God. Some do. Some do. Back in chapter 13 verse 1, we're
told that our Lord Jesus knew that His hour had come. What
hour? The hour that He would depart
out of this world into the Father. The time had come for the pain
of sin's wages. That's what's going on. That's
why John tells us, having loved his own which were in the world,
he loved them until the end. Our Lord's last act on earth
was an act of love, mercy, and grace. He hung on Calvary's tree
to put away all the sin of all God's elect throughout time.
And if you want to see something of man's heart, in verse two,
we're told that supper being ended, the devil having now put
into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him. The
Lord had said in John chapter 6, have I not chosen you and
one of you is a devil? We need to remember that none
of us are excluded from the heart condition and the inward corruption. One of the Lord's chosen disciples
is himself a devil whose wicked heart is so easily accessible
to his master, Satan. Well, I'm telling you, we ain't
what we think we are. We people brag on us. We some
spiritual giants. Oh, we're no match for Satan.
Thank God. He's no match for God. And verse
21, the Lord Jesus told his disciples that one of them would betray
him. And each one of them looked at one another doubting of whom
he spoke. And John said, Lord, is it I?
It seems that every one of them knew that they were capable of
betraying the Lord. Well, let me let you in on something.
We are. And the Lord said, yet a little
while I'm with you, and where I'm going, you cannot come. And
in verse 36, Peter said, Lord, where are you going? And the
Lord said, well, you can't follow me now, but you shall afterwards. And Peter said unto him, Lord,
why can't I follow you now? I'll lay down my life for your
sake. Oh, I'm telling you men make
presumptuous statements as Peter did, but the Lord was quick to
respond and say, will you lay down your life for me? Will you
lay down your life for my sake, Peter? In Matthew chapter 26,
the Lord told all the disciples that they'd be offended. And
Peter said, I'll never be offended. And Peter, he was the first one
that was offended. The rooster shall not crow until
you've denied me three times, and Peter's heart was troubled."
I'm not saying that Peter's heart wasn't troubled by the claims
of Christ that he would deny him, but I also believe that
Peter's heart was troubled greatly because he didn't believe that
he would deny the Lord Jesus. Oh, I'm telling you, we've got
some troubled hearts. When you hear from the Lord,
through His Word, who you are and what He is. Oh, I hope that
you're troubled. But God's got to give you ears
to hear. Does your sin trouble you? That's a good sign. Gospel. I have gospel news for troubled
hearts. There should be no chapter division
between 13 and 14 here in John. The Savior of sinners says, let
not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. And I just love how the Lord
here begins to comfort his troubled soul disciples with the promise
of eternal life, with the promise of heaven. with the promise of
forever being face to face with them as their savior. In verse
two, Christ said, in my father's house are many mansions. That
word mansions means dwelling places. He said, if it were not
so, I would have told you. I go prepare a place for you.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I'll come again and
receive you into myself, that where I am, there you may be
also. And whither I go, you know, and
the way you know. If by God's grace, a sinner makes
it to heaven, I'm telling you, there'll be no visitor there.
They're going to dwell there in a dwelling place that Christ
prepared for them. Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the
house of the Lord forever. Oh, that's what makes grace amazing. You and I have no right to heaven.
We have no claim upon heaven's glory. We've ruined our world. We've fallen from a heavenly
nature. If you and I are received into
heaven, the Lord must prepare us for heaven and prepare heaven
for us because we don't belong there and we don't own anything
there. I heard a man say not long ago,
heaven's my home. Well, it may be, but it's not
because you and I bought a mansion on a golden street in heaven.
It's not because we did something that appeased God that got us
a little bigger mansion on a little higher hill with a little more
gold in the streets. Occupancy has nothing to do with
our works or our deeds. The only trophy there being heaven
is Christ. and he is our forerunner has
staked a claim for us and he's guaranteeing us a place in God's
heaven he went to jerusalem and he stood trial in our place he
went to the cross and he died in his people's stead he went
to the tomb as their scapegoat he ascended on high and appeared
in God's presence for them and it's he who goes and prepares
a dwelling place for them you've sinned against God You and I
are not worthy to be called his sons and daughters. We don't
have any claim on heaven. We have no right there and no
home there. Is that troubling to your troubled
heart? Then let not your heart be troubled.
You believe in God, you can trust in God's son. He'll go and prepare
a place for you. And to do that, he had to take
care of your sin before God. now you can come boldly into
the throne of grace to find mercy and help in time of need preparing
a place for you ain't just preparing a mansion on on a golden street
i'll tell you that god the son had to shed his blood in order
for you and i to have a dwelling place And he's gonna come again
and receive the believer, the one that trusts in him. And where
he is, that's where they'll be also. Jesus Christ is the remedy
for our heart trouble. He's the cure for our malignancy
of sin. He's the only remedy we have. The father gave his son a people
and Christ made them his own before the foundation of the
world. You and I didn't have anything to do with it. We weren't
even born. Christ was the Lamb slain before
the foundation of the world, and before you and I were born,
before you and I had done any good or evil that the purpose
of God, according to election, might stand. Not of the sinner,
but of God that shows mercy. Oh, Christ became responsible
for some sheep. He came into this world and purchased
them a right to glory. He prayed and said, Father, I
will that those thou has given me be with me where I am. And not a one of them be lost.
And all that the Father gave to Christ will come to Him, and
all who come to Him He will in no wise cast out. He came down
from heaven to do His Father's will. What was it? That all that
the Father gave Him, He would lose nothing, not a single one. And this is the will of God who
sent Him. When Adam sinned and disobeyed
God, he lost the truth and he lost the life and he lost the
way to God. He became deaf and dumb and blind. He developed serious heart trouble. The malignancy of sin spread
through his body and he died spiritually as God had promised. That's what's happened to every
single one of us. So what comfort can I give you
this morning? Let not your heart be troubled.
You believe in God? Oh, believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ. He is God. It's God who has redeemed
you. If you're ever to be saved, it
won't be anything that you've done. Jesus Christ, God the Son,
has made unto you wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption. He's the only cure for sin. He's
the remedy. Believe in Him and rest. Oh,
by the disobedience of Adam I was made sin, but by the obedience
of Christ I'm made righteous. Oh, let not your heart be troubled.
Christ has prepared a place of acceptance, a place of righteousness,
a place of holiness, a place of glory. place of eternal rest
in the presence of God. How did he accomplish it? By
his obedience, by his faith, his work of righteousness, by
the keeping of his law, the shedding of his blood, by his death, resurrection,
and ascension. Without all these things, the
Holy Spirit has no reason to come. Without the works of the
Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit has no gospel to reveal. He doesn't
have any blood to apply. He doesn't have any salvation
to give. Have you ever really thought
much about what our Lord said when He said that where I am,
there you will be also? Have you ever given much thought
to where Christ is? He's at the right hand of God.
That's where he sat down. Do you know what the right hand
is to a king? It's the place of love and acceptance. It's a place of honor. You see,
the believer died with him. They were buried with him. They
arose with him. They're seated with him in heavenly
places. So if you're one of these believers,
let not your heart be troubled. Let not sin therefore reign in
your mortal body. You believe in God, don't you?
Oh, do you trust and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ? Do
you believe that He's the only one who can pay your sin? Oh, may God show you that. You
know the way. Christ is the way. This world
is a world of sin. It's full of heart trouble, full
of sin, trouble, and despair. There's only one way to be healed. You've got to come to the great
physician. Those who are well have no need of a physician,
but those who are sick do. Oh, by God's sovereign mercy
and grace, we see that we're dying of heart trouble, we have
the dreaded disease of sin, and we have great need. Are you heavy
laden and burdened with your sin? Have you spent all on physicians
and gotten worse? Then let not your heart be troubled. Come to Christ. Trust in Him. Learn of Christ. He that hath
the Son hath life. For in salvation is of the Lord,
all who come to Him will never be cast out. Come to Christ and
let not your heart be troubled. You have been listening to a
message by David Edmondson, the pastor of Bible Baptist Church
in Madisonville, Kentucky. If you would like a copy of this
message or to hear other messages of God's free sovereign grace
in Christ, you can write to our mailing address at P.O. Box 652
Madisonville, Kentucky 42431. or log on to our website at FreeGraceRadio.com. If you would like to come and
worship with us, we meet at 2015 Beulah Road, Madisonville, Kentucky,
and our service times are Sunday morning Bible study at 10 o'clock
a.m. Worship services begin at 11 o'clock a.m. Wednesday evening
services at 7 o'clock p.m. Please tune in again next Sunday
morning at 10 o'clock AM for another message of God's free
and sovereign grace in the Lord Jesus Christ.