Psalm chapter 19. The title of the message this morning
is the only perfect message. The only perfect message. Now the psalmist here begins
in verses one through six rightly meditating and giving praise
to God for creation. Creation. Let's read this together.
The heavens declare the glory of God. The firmament showeth
his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech,
and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech
nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone
out through all the earth, their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle
for the Son, which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and
rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. His going forth is
from the end of heaven, His circuit unto the ends of it, and there
is nothing hid from the heat thereof." The psalmist here is
wondering at the creation, especially at the sun as it moves in its
course across the sky. He wonders at creation. And you
notice what he tells us about creation. Creation itself is
a message. Now what he says, look at that.
Day unto day uttereth what? Speech, and night unto night
showeth knowledge. And listen, there is no speech
or language, their voice is not heard. This message of creation
goes out into all the world every day. It can't be missed. It can't be missed. The sun that
rises in the east runs its course every single day, faithfully,
constantly, bearing witness. What is he bearing witness to?
What does creation bear witness to? It bears witness to the truth
that God is. That God is. You know, this is not This is
also what the Apostle Paul did in Romans. If you look back at
Romans 1, this is the same thing the Apostle did concerning creation. He declares it has a speech.
It has a message. Look at verse 18 of Romans 1. Look what Paul says about creation.
He says, "...for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven."
against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in
unrighteousness. Because that which may be known
of God is manifest in them, for God showed it unto them, for
the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are
clearly seen. being understood by the things
that are made, even the eternal power and Godhead, listen, so
that they are without excuse. You see, the world and all men
without exception are without excuse concerning the wrath of
God, concerning the knowledge of His power and His Godhead. No one is without excuse. Everyone
sees this in that what David was saying. He's saying look
everybody sees creation. Everybody knows it And that's my first point is
the message of creation and conscience The message of creation and conscience
all men are able to hear the message of God's power and wrath
against ungodliness and unrighteousness of men by looking at the creation
and no one is here from this message everybody hears it everybody
sees it everybody feels it no way that you can escape it we see tragedies in this world
don't we we see troubles we see difficulties we see floods we
see earthquakes we see famines we see wars what is this but
Proving the depravity of man it proves the depravity of man
that man cannot have a Utopia here in this world one because
men are sinners men are vile men are depraved and wicked Sin and depravity of Adam's fallen
race is rampant about us it testifies that because of that it testifies
of God's coming judgment doesn't it and The sorrows and tragedies of
life are a warning to the lost, a warning to men that they should
repent. It's a warning that God will
come and judge the guilt of sin. He will judge all sin. This is
known to all men by creation and by conscience. Conscience. Have you ever made a judgment?
That's a silly question. I mean, if you say no, then you've
made a judgment that you've not made a judgment. You've made
a judgment. Everybody makes judgments. And
yet these judgments, they may vary, but truly in a man's heart,
if he would be honest, and not try to prove an agenda, he would
be honest with himself. Listen, this matter of abortion,
people are debating it as though it is debatable. It is not. It
is murder and we know it. The people who defend it understand
and know it to be murder. And yet they still excuse themselves
from it. They use arguments to excuse.
We know fornication is evil. We know adultery is evil. We
know homosexuality is evil. We know this. This is not debatable. Why? Because it's in the heart
of man. The apostle says that later on
in Romans. He says that the law of God is
written in the heart of man. It's written there, you know
it to be wrong. And what do men do? They sear
their conscience with a hard iron. They do it and do it and
do it and do it, even though it goes against their conscience.
And they do it so much that they don't feel the guilt as bad as
they did before. But they know it was wrong to
begin with when they first did it. When they first did it, they
knew. And they may have seared their conscience since then. and they know this by even the
judgment of others when you judge somebody else when you make a
distinction someone else you must also know that god who is
the creator of all must judge if you being the creature judge shall not the judge of all the
earth do right. You know there's a God by creation,
you know there's a God by conscience, and yet you defile even your
own conscience. You defile it, you go against
it, what's written in your hearts. God has given to you, his creatures,
good things. Isn't life a good thing? Just
to be able to live is a good thing. And yet men despise the
knowledge that they have of God. They take what they know of God,
and because of the depravity of their nature, they twist it
and make a god of their own making, a god of their own choosing. You go to the Word of God, and
God says, I am. immutable i am unchangeable i
am sovereign i am merciful i am holy i am just and they say well
that's just your god no that's the god that's the god that's
not just my god believe me he's your god even though you refuse
to believe him or know it met but this message of creation
this message of creation is imperfect It's imperfect. It shows us things
of God, but it does not show us the full picture of God. It
may show man the wrath of God, the coming judgment of God. It
may even show the sin of our nature by disobeying the law
of our own conscience written on our hearts, the law of God
written on our hearts. But this message is imperfect. Why? Because
of our own depravity. The message of creation is a
good message. It's a good message, and it is
heard. It is not one that is ignored.
It is heard and known by all men. It's a message that tells of
God's existence and coming judgment, but what it cannot tell you is
of righteousness. You cannot look at creation and
find out how righteous God is. You know God's righteous in some
measure, but you have no idea how righteous He is. You cannot
look within your heart and you cannot look within creation and
find out what God demands. You cannot. The message is imperfect. It's incomplete. It cannot be
seen by these things. That's why the apostle in Romans
chapter 1 before this, he says this, I'm ready to preach the
gospel to you that are at Rome also, for I am not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ. For listen, for it. What is it? The gospel of Christ. is the power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believeth. For therein, where? In the gospel is the righteousness
of God revealed from faith to faith. As it is written, the
just shall live by faith. So now back in our text, David
is just doing the same thing. Paul was doing exactly what David
was doing. David did it first, right? David did it first. He
said creation. Creation is a message, but I
tell you, it's not the perfect message. Paul says the perfect
message is the message I desire to preach unto you. What is the
perfect message? What is the full revelation of
God? How is it that men may know how
to be accepted before a holy God that will judge you? How? There's only one message that
gives you the answer to this. It is the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is the perfect message. Now, in this text, now, I'm going
to turn from that. There are plenty of things to
say about it, but I'm going to go ahead and forego those because
I want to get to the perfect message. I don't want to preach
all day on the imperfect message. I want to preach on the perfect
message. And that's what David gets to in verse 7, down to verse
11. now i want you to read this with
me and every time i want you see this he's going to mention
the law of god the testimony of god the statutes of of the
lord the commandments of the lord the fear of the lord the
judgment of the lord and every time he does what i want you
to see is he is not saying the law of moses the testimony of
moses the commandments of moses what he is talking about is the
gospel of jesus christ he is going now to refer you to the
perfect message look at this the law of the lord you can substitute
the gospel of jesus christ The testimony of the Lord, the gospel
of Jesus Christ. The statutes of the Lord, the
gospel of Jesus Christ. The commandments of the Lord,
the gospel of Jesus Christ. The fear of the Lord, the gospel
of Jesus Christ. The judgments of the Lord, the
gospel of Jesus Christ. So everywhere you read that,
what is he talking about? He's talking about the gospel. The gospel. The law, the testimony,
the statutes, the commandments, fear of the Lord, judgments,
are all referring not to the law of Moses, but rather to the gospel of Christ. And I say this, and I don't want you to take
my word for it. I never want you to take my word for it. you
would be wise to study and make sure that what I'm telling you
is true. Now then, let's prove it. Let's
see what God says about this. First of all, look at this first
one. The law of the Lord is perfect. Perfect. Now, we know this, that
the law of God that was given to Moses was perfect. The law that was given to Moses,
the Apostle Paul says this in Romans 7. He says the law is
just and holy and good. So when you look at the Law of
Moses, we never are to frown at the Law of Moses as though
it were imperfect in itself. The Law is perfect. There is
nothing lacking in the Law of God. Nothing at all. Nothing
at all. So what's the problem? Why is
this not speaking of the Law of Moses then? If the Law of
Moses is perfect, then this text must be speaking of the Law of
Moses. No. Because there's a problem. There's
a problem. And it's not with the law, it's
with you. It's with me. The problem is
sin. The law is perfect, but we're
not. We are born in sin, both incapable
and unwilling to obey the law of God. The carnal mind, the
scripture says, is at enmity, at warfare against God. You realize
he was born in warfare? He was born in warfare against
God. The carnal mind is enmity against
God for it is not subject. It's not willingly subject to
the law of God. Neither indeed can be. And so then, the law itself being
perfect, yet listen what this says here. Read your text again.
The law of the Lord is perfect. Listen what this law of the Lord
does. Converting the soul. See now? Because of sin, this
law of Moses, it cannot be speaking of the law of Moses, because
the law of Moses cannot save the soul. It cannot save the
soul. What is the law? do. The law of the God only exposes
sin. It only exposes sin. He says in Romans chapter 3,
the Apostle says, therefore the law is meant to shut our mouths. That's what it says in Romans
chapter 3 and verse 19. I'll read it to you. Romans 3,
19, it says, get on the right page, now, we know that whatsoever
things the law saith that saith to them that are under the law,
listen, that every mouth may be stopped and all the world
become guilty before God. So the law of God does not convert.
The law of God only condemns sinners. It cannot save them. Therefore all who desire to be
under the Lord listen Do you desire to be under the law you
that are listening to me? Are you desires? Is there any
part of that law you want to be under? Is there any part what
Sabbath worship you want to be under Sabbath worship? You want
to be under tithing? I know a lot of Baptists They
love to tithe you want to be under that law. Listen what the
law says cursed Is everyone that? Continueth not in all things
All things written in the book of the Law to do them. Paul says that in Romans 7, 14.
He says, this is because the Law is not just outward. Why
can't I obey it? Why can't I serve it if it's
perfect? It's perfect. There's nothing wrong with the
law. But why can't we serve it? Because the law is not just outward
ordinances, but rather inward obedience. It's spiritual. It's not just carnal. You can't
pick up the law and carnally obey those things. It also has
to do with the thoughts and intents of the heart. And so the law of the Lord in
our text is not the law of Moses. Why? By the deeds of the law
shall no flesh, no flesh, no flesh be justified in the sight
of God. For by the law is what? The knowledge of sin. So this cannot be the law of
Moses because it does not convert the soul. It does not save. The law can convert the carnal
man and change his habits, his religion, but it cannot turn
him back and cause him, listen, I want you to pay attention,
cease from his works. Now the law calls men to cease from his
works. Because that's what the word convert here means. It means
to stop, to rest. to rest from his labors. So we
can read it this way. The law of the Lord is perfect,
causing the soul to rest. Now, the law doesn't do that. The meaning of this word converted,
it means to refresh the soul or turn the soul or save the
soul. It means to refresh the soul. Refresh the soul. And I'm telling
you this, only the Gospel of Jesus Christ can do that. Only the Word of God can do that. Remember what Paul told Timothy,
he said, Thou hast known the Scriptures, which are able to
make thee wise unto salvation. Only the Scriptures, only the
Word of God, which is the Gospel of Christ is perfect. It's perfect because it is the
Word of God. I don't desire to give my opinions. I just don't. My opinions are
about as good as yours. They're worthless. In the things of God. Now, you
might be a more snappy dresser than I am. Now, you might have
a better opinion about how to dress and look pretty. But our
opinions concerning spiritual matters and things of eternity
do not matter if they contradict the Word of God. God's Word is
the standard. God's Word is the standard. And
this Word is perfect in that it was purposed and planned by God for the conversion of
His elect people. since the gospel is the word
of god we may see it is perfect for all the end of all our faith
and practice it alone is the source of all our doctrine and not the word of man now i'll
ask you this have you been converted by this cost because you won't
believe that unless god's converted you won't believe that Matter
of fact, you'll think what I'm telling you is foolishness. We'll
see in a minute, but those who are converted, we understand
that the gospel of Christ is perfect, lacking nothing. And they see this gospel, the
word of God was from before purpose, before the foundation of the
world. Our gospel was perfect because
it is the gospel of the eternal and the immutable, the unchangeable
God. Isn't that great? The gospel
doesn't change because it doesn't need to change. If something needs to change,
then we know that it's imperfect. Otherwise, it would not change.
God and His gospel are one and the same. They do not change. They are eternal, immutable.
And so then, I will preach to you the gospel, the perfect gospel,
that God, in the eternal counsel of His own will, the Father chose
a people purpose to make them holy and present them before
Him as adopted sons. This is the chosen purpose of
God. This is the gospel of God. And
yet this holiness that He purposed them to was not ever to be of
them. Their holiness and sonship of
the elect was not by any means or merit of their own, but rather
He purposed that their salvation should come by the work of His
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Just to show those who may not
see it that this is not my opinion. I told you I didn't want to give
you my opinion. Read Ephesians 1 with me. Let's see if this
is my opinion of things or if this is the word of God. I tell
you, if this is my opinion, you should ignore it. But if it's
the word of God, you should believe it. Verse 3, blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. who hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as
he hath chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world.
Listen, here's the purpose, that we should behold him without
blame before him. In love, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children, listen how he's gonna do it,
by Jesus Christ. himself this is why he's going
to do it according to the good pleasure of his will to the praise
of the glory of his grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the
beloved see then that salvation of God's elect was perfect and
perfect perfectly purposed by the immutable sovereign will
of God that cannot be thwarted or changed According to this
perfect gospel, the chosen people were accepted of God as they
were put into union with their Savior before the world began. So then from the beginning, what
did God then at the beginning, what did God do? He began to
preach this gospel. He began to declare this gospel. He began to declare and testify
of His salvation, the salvation of His Son, through types and
pictures and shadows, through prophecies and visions that were
given in the Old Testament to the fathers and to the prophets.
he says uh... paul says this in hebrews one
he said god in sundry times and in divers manner spake in time
passed under the fathers by the prophets half in these last days
spoken to us by his son and at the point in the air of all things
by whom he made the world i don't think you who believe
i know you see this but i don't think how few how i don't think
you really see how few people understand you think it should
be common for everybody understand this we are converted by this
gospel understand that all the word of god speaks this cost
all the word of god speaks of christ all the scripture testifies
of christ that all the profits the songs speak concerning His
coming, His offices, His death, His resurrection, and His glory. You remember that the Lord speaking
to those apostles on the road to Emmaus, He said, Ought not
Christ have suffered and entered into His glory and beginning
at Moses? And all the prophets expounded unto them in all the
scriptures the things concerning Himself. Our Lord Jesus said this Himself.
He said to those Pharisees, search the Scriptures. In them you think you have eternal
life. But they are they that testify
of Me. Of Me. By prophecy in Psalm 40,
the Lord Jesus Christ says, Lo, I come in the volume of the book. It is written of me. And not only of his person, but
of his work. That to do thy will, O God. What is the work of Christ? The
will of God to obey the law of God. To suffer in the stead of
his people and die for their sins. To be raised again for
their justification. and so in the Lord Jesus Christ
he did come into the world he displayed that righteousness
by his obedience you remember his enemies what
was their testimony of him never a man spake like this man what did Pilate say? I find no
fault in this man. What did the Lord say? He said,
the prince of this world hath found nothing in me. No sin to
latch hold of. He perfectly fulfilled and magnified
the law of God in the stead and room of His people. Perfectly. He fulfilled all their
righteousness And by his death he stood in their place as the
Lamb of God and bore away their sins forever by his one offering. The Apostle says in Hebrews 10,
by his one offering he hath perfected For ever them that are sanctified,
them that are set apart, them that were chosen, them that were
made holy by the purpose of God and the work of Christ by His
one offering, He made them perfect. Made them perfect. And now He has by the Holy Spirit
come into the world to effectually apply that perfect. salvation
to the hearts of His people. This is the gospel. God the Father
purposed it. God the Son accomplished the
salvation of His people. And now the Spirit of God is
sent into the world. He is as the wind. He bloweth
where He listeth. You can hear the sound, you can
see the effects, but you can't tell where He's coming and where
He's going. You don't know who He'll save and who He'll pass
by. It is the Sovereign Spirit The
sovereign spirit that comes and gives life and faith to those
elect that God has chosen. He gives life and faith to them.
And they all will believe. This is not a gospel that is
imperfect. Listen, the gospel of freewill
works religion is imperfect. Why? Because God wants to save
many, just can't. There Christ died for people
and he can't redeem them. That is an imperfect gospel.
I tell you the perfect gospel is this. God purposed to save.
Christ accomplished the work and the Spirit of God will apply
it to everyone and not one of them will go away into hell. Not one of them will be lost.
Not one. Not one. All of them will be
saved. He will apply this salvation. Let me ask you this, you that
have been converted, you that have been saved by the Spirit
of God, is this not perfect? Is that
not the perfect message? It is for me because I have nothing
to offer. It's the perfect message for
an absolute sinner. For a man that has nothing, this
gives him everything. Now if you've got something to
offer God, this message is not perfect for you, it's not good
for you, you don't want it. But we who have nothing to offer, we find this message to be complete.
And you know what? It's refreshing. It is. Our conscience is always telling
us you need to do more. but the new nature that is given
to us can rest in this fine refreshment all is done all is done christ
have done it all this is the converting the refreshing the
turning of the soul this gospel is the perfect gospel and it's
perfect because has no because man has no part
that's why it's perfect if you had something to do with it it
would be imperfect if you had to earn it it would
be imperfect if you had to merit it you'd never do it but it's
perfect because it's of god because Christ has perfected it, because
the Holy Spirit applies it. Therefore, all the glory, all
the praise of the perfect message belongs to God alone. If you and I make it to glory, and
if we are converted, we will. When we make it to glory, there
will be no praise to ourselves. Read the book of Revelation as
we've been studying that, you find no praise being sung to
man's will. No praise being sung to baptism. No praise being sung to church
membership. All praise to the Lamb who is
worthy. to receive honor and power and
wisdom and glory forever and ever and ever amen and we sing
it again and we sing it again and we say why do we sing it
over and over because it's perfect and there's nothing missing from
it you're not gonna come along in heaven and find something
else to add it's perfect there's nothing wanting here nothing
you can add i mentioned this before you have
a man that makes a master symphony writes and he's I Tell you I
barely play the piano. I could never write music. I
just Barely know how to read it. Can't write it. Don't have
any clue you have a man master symphony putting all these things
together and when he's done he hands it to me and i'm looking
at it and listening to it and then i say well you know what
i would change this i would make i may just add one section to
this now imagine what that symphony would sound like it'd be perfect
until you got to my section until you got to my part it would be
all ruined that's what man does with god's salvation is they
try to add one thing to it you defile the whole thing No. No, it's an insult to God. God
has made Christ to be all. Now then, we're going to move
on. Secondly, the testimony of the Lord is sure making wise
the simple. What a wonderful picture of conversion
is here given to us. All Adam's race is not wise,
but fools. Fools. Yet they think we're fools. That's the proof of their foolishness.
When I tell them of the perfect gospel and they say, well, that's
foolishness. That just proves their foolishness.
They're not wise. The gospel of Christ is perfect,
but man calls it foolishness. They may acknowledge God's existence
in need of morality. They may even try to obey the
law of God and offer up Christ plus their own righteousness.
But Paul says that about the Jews. He said they being ignorant
of the righteousness of God. Now this is all you can say about
somebody who wants to add their righteousness to Christ. They
are ignorant. Maybe not in the things of the
world, maybe a brain surgeon. But I'll tell you, they're ignorant
concerning the righteousness of God. They're ignorant. "...going about to establish
their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the
righteousness of God that is in Christ. For Christ is the
end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth."
The gospel is perfect. It doesn't need anything. The
gospel of God's free grace, though commonly rejected as foolishness,
we know this, it is the wisdom of God. Now, how do you know
that? How do you know that? Were you wise? Is that why you
know it? Because of your infinite wisdom,
you figured this out. No. You and I were fools. By
nature, we were fools. But upon conversion, we have
been made wise. We've been made to see how God
can be just and justify the ungodly only in Jesus Christ. You remember, coming to Christ
is not something that comes by man's ability or wisdom. Jesus said, No man can come unto
me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him. As it is written,
They shall be all taught of God. You come to Christ because you
were taught of God. You come to Christ because you were taught
of God. That's not natural. That's supernatural. That's the
power of God that calls men to believe in Christ. It's not the
power of will. It's not the power of works.
It is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. And not only do you made wise
but i want you know this you know this gospel sure in that
what he said the testimony of the lord is and when david came
to the end of his life what he said he said i know my house
is not so with god but the lord have made with me
everlasting covenant ordered in all things and what You see, the testimony of the
Lord is sure. God cannot lie. Whosoever calleth upon the name
of the Lord shall be saved. Now you tell me, is that a lie?
Or is it the truth? It's the truth. You bet it is. Every word of
it. Salvation is of the Lord. Is that a lie or is that the
truth? the truth. And because it is of the Lord,
you can put it, you can rest your head on your pillow and
sleep well, even upon your deathbed. Because it's sure. It's as sure
as the throne of Jesus Christ. Now, if they can get him off
his throne, then this could be unsure. But that just won't happen. He can't be moved. Look at this. The statutes of the Lord are
right rejoicing the heart. The law of the Lord is right.
The law of Moses is right. But you know what it can't do?
It can't rejoice the heart. It can't. It can only condemn
the soul. It cannot cause rejoicing. But now the statutes of God,
the commandments of God, they enlighten our eyes and cause
us to rejoice. Isn't that what it is when you
see Christ? Do you not rejoice? When you hear of Christ, does
that not cause your heart to have hope? That's a sure foundation to stand
on, and it opens our eyes, and it gives our hearts rejoicing. I tell you, there is no greater
blessing to the believer than to hear this gospel and feel
the presence of Christ when you hear it. I know we don't always
feel his presence, but this gospel gives us sure hope and faith, but oh, to feel his presence
sure gives us joy. We rejoice not in the statutes
and commandments of Moses, but only in Jesus Christ. And look at this, the fear of
the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The gospel of Christ is the only
thing that causes men to reverence God, to reverence God. In John chapter five, in John
chapter five, our Lord says this, verse 23, John chapter 5 and
verse 23, it says, that all men should honor the Son even as
they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son
honoreth not the Father which hath sent him. Verily, verily,
I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him
that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into
condemnation, but is passed from death unto life." The fear of
the Lord is reverence of God. That's what it means. Not terror,
but rather reverence. And you know the only thing that
reverences the Father is this. Do you want to reverence God?
Do you want to honor God? You know the only thing that
honors God is not your obedience to the law, but rather Believing
on his son honors him. Do you believe on him? Then you
honor the father. That's what Christ said. No man
honored the father except you believe on him who may have sinned,
unless you believe on the son. You cannot fear God except you
believe the gospel of Jesus Christ, and you are clean. I like that. Clean. Our Lord washing his disciples'
feet, he said, you are clean every wit. purged by the Son
of God. And how long shall we be purged? Forever. Enduring forever. Enduring forever. One thing about
conversion and faith is that we never stop believing. on Christ. We never stop believing. Remember, he that endureth to
the end, the same shall be saved. So true conversion continues
to believe the gospel. And listen, the judgments of
the Lord are true and righteous altogether. Where are truth and
righteousness, mercy and peace? Where have they kissed each other?
Only in the judgments of God as he judged Christ on the cross
for our sins. All the judgments of God are
true and right. They are true and right, and
I'll tell you this, I'm thankful for God's judgment, aren't you?
I am. I'm thankful He's just. You know why? Because if He punished
my sins in Christ, He will never be able to punish them in me. God, being just, cannot demand
twice payment. I rejoice in the judgments of
God. Because they're not like your judgments. They're not like
my judgments. We forgive and then we turn around
and come back on somebody. Why? Our judgments are not just.
But His are. And listen, this is the heart
of everyone who believes the gospel. More to be desired are
they than gold, than much fine gold, sweeter than honey in the
honeycomb. Isn't this gospel more to be
desired than anything else? It is. Sweeter than honey from
the honeycomb. It is so sweet to trust in Jesus,
to simply take Him at His word. just by simple faith to plunge
me need the healing cleansing it is sweet and not only is it
sweet verse eleven this is are this is are uh... the gospel
of christ is all the source of our faith and practice look at
that more over by them by what the gospel The gospel of God,
the gospel of Christ. Thy servant is warned, and in
keeping of them there is great reward. Were you not warned of
the flea, the wrath to come? You were, and you did. And by
obedience, is it not an exceeding great reward that we shall receive
glory in heaven, eternal life, and through faith in the Son
of God? Who can understand his errors?
Cleanse thou me from secret faults. Who can understand error except
the gospel reveal it? Aren't you still finding out
how deep your depravity runs? We are. We're still finding out
secret sins. Sins we never knew about. And
what do we pray? Lord, just cleanse me. Cleanse
me from these things. Even the things that I don't
know that I've done. Keep back thy servant from presumptuous
sins. Let them not have dominion over
me. Then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from
the great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and
the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord,
my strength and my Redeemer." What does this gospel do? It
causes us to cling only to Him, to seek mercy only in Christ. Now friends, I'm going to tell
you, that's the perfect message. It's the only message that should
be believed. It's of God. It's perfect to
the converting of the soul. It is sure and steadfast. It
causes the simple to be made wise. It causes rejoicing in
the heart, enlightening of the eyes, cleansing of the soul forever
by the judgments that poured out on Christ. Perfect. Perfect. What then is missing from this
gospel? Nothing. Nothing. I pray God
bless this gospel to you.