Turn with me to Psalm 17. Psalm
17. Hear the right, O Lord, Attend unto my cry. Give ear unto my prayer that
goeth not out of feigned lips. Let my sentence come forth from
thy presence. Let thine eyes behold the things
that are equal. Thou hast proved mine heart. Thou hast visited me in the night. Thou hast tried me and shalt
find nothing. I am purposed that my mouth shall
not transgress. Concerning the works of men,
by the word of thy lips, I have kept me from the paths of the
destroyer. Hold up my goings in thy paths
that my footsteps slip not. I have called upon thee, for
thou wilt hear me, O God. Incline thine ear unto me and
hear my speech. Show thy marvelous lovingkindness. O thou that savest by thy right
hand them which put their trust in thee from those that rise
up against them. Keep me as the apple of the eye. Hide me under the shadow of thy
wings. From the wicked that oppress
me, from my deadly enemies who compass me about. They are enclosed
in their own fat. With their mouth they speak proudly. They have now compassed us in
our steps. They have set their eyes bowing
down to the earth. like as a lion that is greedy
of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places. Arise, O Lord, disappoint him,
cast him down. Deliver my soul from the wicked,
which is thy sword. From men, which are thy hand,
O Lord, from men of the world, which have their portion in this
life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure. They are
full of children and leave the rest of their substance to their
babes. As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness. I
shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness. Let's pray
together. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, we
come to you tonight. We bow before you, Lord, we approach
you in humility, Lord, we come in need, we come as the beggars
that we are, we come Begging for a word from you, Lord, a
crumb of living bread. We know that if you would let
the crumbs fall from your table, we would be so filled. We deeply
pray, Lord, please fill us. Fill us with a hallowed presence. We pray, Lord, that you might
help us to worship you tonight. We pray, Lord, that you might
allow us to. Empty our minds and Open our
eyes and ears, and Lord, would you prepare our hearts and let
us leave the things that are so unimportant in this world,
Lord, and would you quicken us to your word and give us a moment
to just rejoice in hope. Give us just a moment, Lord,
to rejoice in hope. We pray, Lord, that you will
be in this place with us. We beg of your presence, Lord.
Be in this building with us, be in our hearts with us. We
need you. And we come to you now, Lord,
crying out for just a look from you. We want to hear your voice,
Lord. Please help us. We pray for all
of our brethren. We pray for our Loved ones who
are going through sickness and trial and sorrow, Lord, we give
you great thanks for bringing our sister Sherry through her
surgery, and we pray that you'll touch her body as you see fit.
We pray that you'll comfort the family of Brother Gary Perkins.
We pray, Lord, that you'll be with those that are going through
other illnesses of every kind. We pray for our brethren all
over this world. Lord, we thank you for them.
We pray that you will ground all of us in your truth. Give
us a heart, give us a love for the gospel. Be with the men that
you've called to preach, Lord. Give them your word and give
them your message and give them liberty to declare it. And bless
us all, we pray. Lord, bless us all for Christ's
sake. Please bless our children. Save us. Lord, keep us, have
mercy on us, save our families, our co-workers, our friends. Lord, please show mercy, we pray. We would beg of you to, if you
would be willing, send a revival of the gospel in the midst of
our years. You've done it in previous generations and we would
be so happy and so thrilled to see the gospel thrive one more
time. Lord, we ask all of this, and
we're so thankful to approach your throne to find mercy and
grace for help in time of need. We ask all of this in the name
of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. Turn with me now to 466, and
let's all stand together again. 466. Once far from God and dead in sin, no light
my heart could see. ? But in God's word, the light
I found ? ? Now Christ liveth in me ? ? Christ liveth in me
? ? Christ liveth in me ? What a salvation this, that Christ
liveth in me. As rays of light from yonder
sun, the flowers of earth set free. So life and light and love
came forth, from Christ living in me. Christ liveth in me. Christ liveth in me. Oh, what a salvation this, that
Christ liveth in me. As lives the flower within the
seed As in the comb the tree So praise the God of truth and
grace His Spirit dwelleth in me Christ liveth in me Christ
liveth in me salvation this, that Christ liveth
in me. With longing all my heart is
filled that like Him I may be. ? As on the wondrous thought I
dwell ? ? That Christ liveth in me ? ? Christ liveth in me
? ? Christ liveth in me ? Go with me back to Psalm 17. Psalm 17. In the Lord. Calling our brother Gary home. And in me having the great privilege
of preaching his funeral, I. And very sincere in saying that. How? What a privilege it is to. witness and be a part of the
remembrance of a saint on this earth. If our Lord remembered
his people, what a privilege that we remember his people. And a brother who preached the gospel
and I was very thankful and I felt very privileged to preach his
funeral. And I've been dwelling on this
glorious hope that we have of going to be with Christ. I've
just been thinking about it, you know, ever since Sam sent me the word
that his dad was called home, and I knew that I was gonna be
preaching his funeral, I've been thinking about this. I thought
about the message to bring for that, and haven't been able to
stop thinking about it. How amazing What he just experienced
last Thursday, all of God's people who have gone before us have
experienced, and all of us who have been called by faith to
believe on Christ will experience this moment. And how amazing that moment is going
to be when it happens. There's a world going on around
us right now that we don't know anything about. There's a spiritual
world going on around us. And in a moment, our eyes are gonna
be open to it. And I put this verse of scripture
in our bulletin last Sunday morning. It's Psalm 17, verse 15. It says,
as for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied when I awake
with thy likeness. I'll be satisfied when I wake
with our likeness. David said in a single moment,
like the moment you wake up from sleep, everybody woke up this
morning. For some of us, it was earlier
than we wanted it to be. You don't have any control over
that unless you set an alarm clock and that alarm clock goes
off. But you have a moment where you wake up and reality hits. Okay, I was asleep. I was dreaming. And now I'm in reality. And David said, like that moment
that you wake up from sleep, he said, I know that I'm going
to awake. And all of God's people at their
appointed time will awake with the likeness of the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's amazing. You just think
about that. That is amazing. That's just
incredible. That's full of awe. The scriptures
are very informative and very clear on this. They are very
clear on this. They're very abundant in the
details about this. Let me just show you some of
them. Go with me to 1 Corinthians 15. First Corinthians 15 verse 39,
it says, all flesh is not the same flesh,
but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts,
another of fishes and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies,
and the word celestial means heavenly bodies, and bodies terrestrial,
that means earthly bodies. But the glory of the celestial
is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There
is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and
another glory of the stars, for one star differeth from another
star in glory. So also is the resurrection of
the dead. It is sown in corruption." And
just enter into this, that when our bodies lay down, it is sown
in corruption. It is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, and that's
what sin ultimately proves us to be, dishonor. That's what
we are, dishonor. The end result, the ending effects
of these bodies is not good. It's just not good. It's not
pleasant. It's decay. Verse 43 says, it is sown in
dishonor. It is raised in glory. Yes, heaven, glory, but that's
talking about the condition of the body. What the child of God
is raised in is glorious. The word means splendor. It means brightness. It means
magnificence, excellence. It means majesty. dignity, honor. Does that sound like anyone in
particular we know with capital a and a capital P verse 43 says it is sown in dishonor. It is raised in glory. It is
sown in weakness. It is raised in power. I love
that. I love that we watch these bodies
get weaker and weaker and, and, you know, those who once were so strong,
they just suddenly become so weak. And until finally they just go
into the ground. But when they are raised, they
are raised with power. They come out with power. Verse
44, it is sown a natural body. It is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there
is a spiritual body. What is a spiritual body? I don't
really know, but it's a body. It is a body. On the Mount of
Transfiguration, our Lord revealed His spiritual body. Moses and
Elijah were in their spiritual bodies. And they were bodies. They had
bodies. I used to, when I, you know,
I used to think of heaven as just being white smoke. All growing
up, I had heaven envisioned as white smoke and people just kind
of like floated sideways, you know. That's not what it's gonna
be like. It's gonna be better than this. Bodies. In my father's house
are many mansions. Every time you sing about, you
know, you hear these, sing these songs, we just sang one about
mansions. That's this new, this is called
a tent. This is just called a tent. I
know I must put off my tabernacle. He prepared a mansion for me.
That's the difference in this glorified body that the Lord
has prepared for his people. Verse 45 says, and so it is written,
the first man Adam was made a living soul. The last Adam was made
a quickening spirit. How be it that was not first,
which is spiritual, but that which is natural and afterward,
that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth,
earthy. The second man is the Lord from
heaven. That new man is Christ living
in his people. As is the earthy, such are they
also that are earthy, and as is the heavenly, such are they
also that are heavenly. As we have borne the image of
the earthy, we look like Adam right now. We shall also bear
the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that
flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Neither doth
corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we
shall all be changed. And this happens when the Lord
comes to get us. whether he comes individually
for us like he just did for our brother, or whether he comes
in that last day collectively for all of his people. Verse
51, behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we
shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling
of an eye, at the last trump, For the trumpet shall sound,
and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be
changed. For this corruptible must put
on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when
this corruptible shall have put on incorruption and this mortal
shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass
the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. That's what happens in one single
moment. That's what happened last Thursday
at one o'clock in the afternoon. Death was swallowed up in victory. Verse 55, O death, where is thy
sting? That's what every child of God
is going to say. We're so afraid of death. You know that? We really are. Even though we
know these things, we're so afraid of death. And that's what every
child of God is going to say. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin. and
the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. What a glorious
thing to think about, the victory over sin, death, hell, that has
been given to us in the person and the salvation of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And the moment that we physically
realize that victory, what a, what a, What an amazing thing. Look with me at Philippians three. Philippians three, verse 20,
it says. For our conversation is in heaven,
from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
who shall change our vile body. I cannot wait. Who shall change
our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious
body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue
all things. unto himself." That's our hope. This moment of what we call death,
and we call it that because we don't know what else to call
it. Our Lord told us time and time again, it's not death. Not
for God's people. It's the exact opposite of death. But we just can't help it in
our flesh. That's all we can see it to be. And even though
we have this lack of ability to understand these things, really. And even though it creates this
fear, this we have this mortal fear, there's a fleshly instinct
to want to put this off as long as possible. We do everything
we can do to put this off as long as possible. But even so,
there's a new man in here that knows that's my hope. That is my hope right there.
And even though I don't understand everything about it, I believe
it. I believe it. Does it ever occur
to you that we, you know, adults, we semi-educated adults, we believe
this? We believe that there is a God
in heaven who loved us, gave himself for us, has prepared
an eternal place for us. He is coming back to get us.
I believe this. God's spirit has given me the
faith to believe this. I believe that's what all of
God's people say. I believe the Lord's word on
this. I trust him. That's what he said and we trust
him. And we know there's nothing to
fear, even though we fear it, we know there's nothing to fear
in it. I trust him on that. In that moment, fear is going
to be swallowed up in happiness. It's going to be happy. Sorrow,
pain, anxiousness, it's all going to be swallowed up in love. John
said, behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed
upon us. That's what we're gonna say in
that moment. Boom. Behold, what manner of love the Father hath
bestowed upon us. That we should be called the
sons of God. It doth not yet appear what we
shall be, but we know when he appears, when our eyes meet him,
when we see him, I believe we're gonna hear the
trump, the sound of the archangel, the trump of God Almighty. And
we're gonna know it's the trump of God Almighty. And all of God's
people are gonna know where to look up. And the moment we see
him, we're gonna be just like him. For we shall see him as
he is. What a glorious moment. What
a precious moment. Precious in the sight of the
Lord is the death of His saints. That's Psalm 116 verse 15. Precious. That moment is precious
to us. It's precious to Him. That's
a precious moment to Him. Revelation 14 verse 13 says,
Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth. Yea, saith the Spirit. that they
may rest from their labors, and their works do follow them. That's
our hope, rest, total rest. And here's the reason why, okay?
That's our hope, and this is the reason why. Here's the reason
why God's people have this hope. Go with me back to Psalm 17. Psalm 17 verse 15, it says, As for me, I will behold thy
face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied when I awake
with thy likeness. David said that. All of God's
people say that. But the only reason we can say
that is because Christ said that. Listen to the words of the Savior
in this, okay? As the substitute for his people,
hear him in the moment of him bearing the sin and iniquities
of his people. After suffering the punishment
of God Almighty and the separation from God Almighty, laying in the death of his tomb,
For our sake, on our behalf, speaking as us, for us, in faith. You know, our Lord set His face
like a flint to the cross. He set His face like a flint
to the sin of His people. Like a flint to this death. He
said, for this cause came I into this world. And the whole time
He endured it. He had faith. My God, my God,
why hast thou forsaken me? I know why you've forsaken me.
You're holy, amen. That's what he was saying. And in faith and in faithfulness,
he cried to his father. Verse 15, as for me, I will behold
thy face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied when I awake
with thy likeness. The Lord Jesus Christ said, Father,
I went into this tomb in the express image of my people, marred
more than any man, visage marred. I went into this tomb in the
express image of my people, but I know that you are going to
raise me in the express image of God Almighty. We're going
to read this Psalm and we're going to see that this is Christ
speaking. You may have heard that as we
read the scripture reading. This is Christ speaking. And
it's amazing to me that Psalm 17 is positioned where it is
in the Scripture, because Psalm 16, the Psalm right before it,
is most definitely Christ speaking. From the same place, He's speaking
from the heart of the grave. Just look at Psalm 16, verse
8. The Lord Jesus Christ said, I
have set the Lord always before me, Because He is at my right
hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore, my heart is glad,
and my glory rejoiceth. My flesh also shall rest in hope. Dwell confidently. That's what
that means. Right here, in hope. Verse 10,
For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell. I know you won't. Neither
wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption. Thou wilt
show me the path of life. I'm laying here in death right
now. Thou wilt show me the path of life. In thy presence is fullness
of joy. At thy right hand there are pleasures
forevermore. That was the cry of our Lord's
faithfulness the whole time he endured the judgment for our
sin. And as though our Lord's prayer from the grave just continued.
Psalm 17 verse 1, he cries, hear the right, the right one, the
righteous one. Oh Lord, attend unto my cry. Give ear unto my prayer that
goeth not out of feigned lips. I'm not speaking with deceitful
lips. I'm not speaking lies, deceit. Verse two, let my sentence come
forth from thy presence. Let thine eyes behold the things
that are equal, the things that have been weighed in the balance.
Thou hast proved mine heart. Thou hast visited me in the night. Thou hast tried me. That's our hope. That's our gospel. You tried me. And he said, you're gonna find
nothing in me. The sinless substitute, the sinless sacrifice. I am purposed
that my mouth shall not transgress. Concerning the works of men,
by the word of thy lips, I have kept me from the paths of the
destroyer. Hold up my goings in thy paths
that my footsteps slip not. I have called upon thee for thou
wilt hear me. O God, incline thine ear unto
me and hear my speech. Psalm 22, he cried, my God, my
God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why are you so far from the words
of my roaring? Why are you not hearing me? He
laid in that grave saying, I know you will hear me. Verse seven,
show thy marvelous loving kindness. O thou that savest by thy right
hand. them which put their trust in
thee from those that rise up against them. Keep me as the
apple of the eye. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
apple of the Father's eye. And in him, so are we. He endured
every bit of this. He cried every bit of this for
us. Verse eight, keep me as the apple
of the eye. Hide me under the shadow of thy
wings. From the wicked that oppress
me, from my deadly enemies who compass me about. They are enclosed
in their own fat, their own fullness. With their mouth, they speak
proudly. They have now compassed us in
our steps. They have set their eyes bowing
down to the earth, like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and
as it were a young lion lurking in secret places. Arise, O Lord,
disappoint him, cast him down, deliver my soul from the wicked. Those two words, which is, they
mean, they translate by. Deliver my soul from the wicked
by thy sword, from men by thy hand, O Lord, from men of the
world which have their portion in this life and whose belly
thou fillest with thy hid treasure. They are full of children, they
leave the rest of their substance to their babes. This is their
life, this is their all, this is what they want, this is what
they have. But verse 15, he said, as for
me, I will behold thy face in righteousness. That's all my
hope and all my desire. I shall be satisfied when I awake
with thy likeness. Because he cried that, We can
cry that because he endured that night season longing for the
morning of that third day. We can endure our night season
longing for the morning of the great day. Knowing that as our
Lord was, we will be as it was for him. That's how it's going
to be for us. As He beheld the face of the Father in righteousness,
we will behold the face of the Father in righteousness. And where will we behold the
face of the Father? Where do we see the face of the
Father? Jesus Christ. All the glory of
God is seen in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. As Christ
was satisfied, we will be satisfied. As Christ was given the glory
that he had with his father before the world was, isn't that what
he asked for in John 17? Father, the glory I had with
you before the world was, give that to me. And then he said,
I'm going to give that same glory to our people. That's our hope. And it's a good hope. It's a
lively hope. It is a living hope. and it's
one we can leave this world with. That's a hope we can leave this
world with. John said, every man that hath this hope purifies
himself even as he is pure. Turn with me over to 1 Peter
1. I'll close with this. 1 Peter 1, our brother, we have
a brother who just read this in my study. 1 Peter 1. Verse 1 says, Peter, an apostle
of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus,
Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to
the foreknowledge of God the Father, Through sanctification
of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of
Jesus Christ, grace unto you and peace be multiplied. Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according
to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope,
a living hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead
to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth
not away, reserved in heaven for you. Every soul who goes
will realize his place was reserved for him. reserved in heaven for
you who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation,
ready to be revealed in the last time, wherein you greatly rejoice,
though now for a season, if need be, you are in heaviness through
manifold temptations. that the trial of your faith,
being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though
it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor
and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ, whom, having not
seen, you love. That is so true. Whom, having
not seen, you love. In whom, though now you see him
not, yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full
of glory. receiving the end of your faith,
even the salvation of your souls. There is so much trouble, so
much sorrow, so much heartache, so much pain down here in this
life. Again, I'm gonna leave our message
speaking of our brother one more time. Brother Gary Perkins endured
about as much pain as anybody I've ever seen endure for a long
time. And it brought so much sorrow
to his family, And that's over. That is over. It is all over. In Christ, we are all soon about
to be satisfied. Everything is about to be satisfied.
All of the trouble, all of the sorrow, all of the heartache,
all of the pain, it's all gonna give way to fulfillment and completeness
and rejoicing and satisfaction. And what a day, as that song
says, what a day, glorious day that's going to be. It'll never,
I'll never be able to tell it. No man will, the half will never
be able to be told, but we will experience it very soon. Thanks
be to God for that unspeakable gift. All right, let's all stand
together.