Turn with me, if you would, to
Psalm 61. Psalm 61, verse 1 says, Hear my cry, O God. Attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth will
I cry unto thee when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the
rock that is higher than I. For thou hast been a shelter
for me and a strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in thy
tabernacle forever. I will trust in the covert of
thy wings. For thou, O God, hast heard my
vows. Thou hast given me the heritage
of those that fear thy name. Thou wilt prolong the king's
life and his years as many generations. He shall abide before God forever. Oh, prepare mercy and truth which
may preserve him. So will I sing praise unto thy
name forever, that I may daily perform my vows. Let's pray together. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, we
are so grateful to be gathered together again. Thank you, Lord,
for making us to be such a happy people, just like the Queen of
Sheba noticed concerning Solomon's servants. She said they're so
happy. And Lord, we have so many trials
and troubles in this life and so many things that bring us
down, but in you, we are happy. In knowing that we have an eternity
secured, we have an inheritance incorruptible that fades not
away and we're being kept by the power of God. Lord, that
is just so comforting to know. It's so encouraging and we're
just so glad to hear it over and over again. And we pray Lord
that you might comfort us with it tonight. Lord, would you meet
with us once more today? Lord, we desperately desire your
presence. We desperately desire your spirit.
We desire your touch. We want to hear your voice. We
want to know your presence. And Lord, this is our petition. We ask Lord, would you please
draw not us tonight? We pray that if you would be
willing, you might answer our prayer. Lord, be with, be with
all those who can't meet with us right now. We love them so
much and we pray that your spirit will be with them and your comfort
will be with them. We have different brethren that
are going through great trials and we pray Lord that you might
truly touch their hearts and give them a relief in looking
to you. Bless us, Lord, bless our children,
bless our families, bless our friends. We pray that you have
many people in this city and we pray, Lord, that you would
call them to yourself. Give us a heart to witness and
give us a word to witness. Give us a mind and a clarity,
Lord. Help us open the door and help
us to speak. Help us, Lord, in everything
that pertains to the gospel here. Please allow us to be your servants
and, and let us have the honor of declaring your word. We ask
all these things in Christ's name. Amen. ? I will lift up mine eyes unto
the hills ? ? From whence cometh my help ?
? My help cometh from the Lord ? which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to
be moved. He that keepeth thee will not
slumber, Behold, he that keepeth Israel
Shall neither slumber nor sleep The Lord is thy keeper ? The
Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand ? ? The sun shall not spite thee
by day ? ? No, the moon by night ? ? The Lord shall preserve ?
Thee from all evil He shall preserve thy soul The Lord shall preserve
thy going out and thy coming in From this time forth and even
forevermore Even forevermore Someone asked me to sing that
song, and I don't get tired of singing that song. I believe
we're going to sing that for all eternity. Turn with me, if you would, to
Psalm 61 again. Psalm 61. I enjoyed, I've enjoyed reading
this Psalm every time I have read it this week. I read this
Psalm initially and was drawn to it to preach from it. And
every time I went to it in study, I just enjoyed it. And I read
over it before the service tonight and I enjoyed it. And I just
read it for a scripture reading. This is just a precious Psalm
to me. Such a precious Psalm. David
is praying a prayer in this Psalm. And you can tell that he's very
urgent about it. If you really listen to what
his wording is, you can tell that he is very urgent. He's obviously very desperate
in this moment. And he's in a place of great
need. You can tell that he's very troubled
and in great need. And we will experience that. God's people will experience
that. And nobody wants to be troubled
and nobody wants to be in great need. But I'm going to tell you,
that's a precious moment. That is a precious moment. That's
a moment that a child of God longs for a true connection in
prayer to the father. Just when, when everything, when
nothing else matters and everything is shut out and I need you right
now, that's a precious moment. And we know that it takes these
moments of desperation to get us here, but. David is very troubled
here. He's in a great need here. He
said in verse one, hear my cry, oh God, attend unto my prayer. Hear my cry. While you are hearing the cry
and the prayer of other sinners in need, You know, we read this
and we know it's recorded. God heard David's cry. And God heard the cry of men
and women, believers throughout the ages. And we cry, Lord, hear
my cry. Hear mine too. While you're hearing
the cry of other sinners, hear me too. Please hear me too. Don't forget me. Please don't
forget me. Pass me not, O gentle Savior. Hear my humble cry, my low cry. While on others thou art calling,
do not pass me by. Even me, even me, let thy blessing
fall on me. That's a wise prayer to pray. Like blind Bartimaeus said, Jesus,
thou son of David, have mercy on me. Have mercy on me. Verse one says, hear my cry,
oh God, attend unto my prayer. Would you please, oh God, hear
my desperate cry and attend unto my great urgent need? Because you're my only hope.
Hear my cry, oh God, I'm coming to you because you're my only
hope. You are all that I have. Verse
two, he said, from the end of the earth will I cry unto thee
when my heart is overwhelmed. There are gonna be many times
in a believer's life Many times when he or she becomes overwhelmed,
expect it. Our Lord said in this world,
you're going to have tribulation. He said, you're going to suffer
a while. There are going to be many times
in a believer's life when he or she becomes overwhelmed, but
the greatest of those times, which is not a single event.
It's not a single event, it's a reoccurring event for a child
of God. The greatest of those times is
every time a sinner is in need of being led back to Christ. And in me saying that, we know
that's not a single event. That's a reoccurring event. When God initially deals with
a sinner, When God initially initially
deals with a man or a woman, he puts that person in a place
that will lead that person only to Christ. He hymns that person
up and hedges that person about to the Lord Jesus Christ. He
brings them, he leads them. And that is an overwhelming place
to be. It's an overwhelming place. It's
an all-consuming, a very humbling place. It's an awakening place. It's an urgent place. One that causes that sinner to
have no other cry but this right here. I pray we all can identify
with this. Verse one says, hear my cry. Oh God attend unto my prayer
from the end of the earth. Will I cry unto thee when my
heart is overwhelmed and here's my cry. Lead me to the rock that
is higher than I. lead me to the rock that is higher
than I." There is an initial moment in time when God reveals
the rock that is high for His people. For his people, men and
women live their life on this earth and they're just in autopilot,
just living life, doing life. You know, you go to school, you
get a degree, you get a job, you get married, you have kids,
you go to church, you just do life, you just live life. And
then for a child of God, there is an initial moment whenever
God reveals the rock that is high. And then God continues to reveal
that rock. Once that rock is revealed, God
continues to reveal that rock. All the days of the life of his
child on this earth. It's a continual revelation to
us. And when the Lord God does that,
something happens every single time when he reveals the rock
that is high, something happens every single time. The first
time the revelation comes and every time thereafter, something
happens every time. I'm gonna tell you what it is
right now and then I'll show it to you. Three things. Fear, belief, and comfort. It happens every time. Fear,
belief, and comfort. Now let me show that to you.
Let me start with this. The rock is Christ. The rock is Christ. Turn with
me to Deuteronomy 32. Deuteronomy 32 verse 1 says,
give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak. And hear, O earth, the
words of my mouth. My doctrine shall drop as the
rain, my speech shall distill as the dew, as the small rain
upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass, because
I will publish the name of the Lord. I will let it be known
who is the Lord our God. He said, ascribe ye greatness
unto our God. He is the Rock. His work is perfect, for all
His ways are judgment, a God of truth, and without iniquity,
just and right is He. He is the Rock. We wanna know what or who the
Rock is? He is the Rock. Look with me
at 2 Samuel 22. Second Samuel 22, verse 1, David spake unto the
Lord the words of this song in the day that the Lord had delivered
him out of the hand of all his enemies and out of the hand of
Saul. And he said, the Lord is my rock. And my fortress and my deliverer,
the God of my rock in him will I trust. He is my shield and
the horn of my salvation, my high tower and my refuge. Who's he talking about? He said, I'm talking about, look
at the next two words, my savior. That's who I'm talking about.
My savior, thou savest me from violence. He said, my savior
is my rock. Somebody will say, no, that's
talking about God. That's not talking about Christ.
That's talking about God. Well, amen. That's who God is. That's who
the Lord God, the rock is. the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn with me to Luke 24. Luke
24, verse 26, it says, Ought not Christ to have suffered
these things and to enter into his glory and beginning at Moses. We were just in Deuteronomy.
That's a book of Moses. He said in beginning at Moses
and all the prophets, we were just in second Samuel. That's
one of the prophets. He expounded unto them in all
the Scriptures the things concerning Himself." Himself. Christ Himself. Turn with me
to John 5. Our Lord is condemning the religious
Pharisees right here. John five, verse 39, he said,
search the scriptures for in them. You think you have eternal
life and what he's saying in the context of what he's saying
right here is, but you don't. He's saying, search the Scriptures.
You're searching through the Bible and you're thinking that
in the Bible you have eternal life. And he says, but you don't
because you're missing me. That's what he's telling them
right here. You're not seeing the truth concerning me. Verse
39, search the Scriptures for in them you think you have eternal
life and they are they which testify of me. And you will not
come to me that you might have life. How sad is our condition
before God? He said, I receive not honor
from men. They think in his words, they
think I'm just God's middleman. It's what men think about him. Just God's helpless, pitiful
son. Verse 40, he said, you will not
come to me that you might have life because you believe life
is somewhere else, in something else, doing something else. Verse
41, I receive not honor from men, but I know you that you
have not the love of God in you. I am come in my father's name
and you receive me not. If another shall come in his
own name, him you will receive. How can you believe which receive
honor one of another and seek not the honor that cometh from
God only? Do not think that I will accuse
you to the Father. There is one that accuseth you,
even Moses, in whom you trust. For had you believed Moses, you
would have believed me. For he wrote of me." He said,
Moses was writing about me, Jesus Christ, the God of the Old Testament. Turn with me to John 8. The Lord is condemning the religious
Jews right here. John 8, verse 56. He said, your father Abraham
rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad. The Lord
Jesus Christ said that. Your father Abraham, and he's,
again, he's speaking to these religious Jews, and he said,
your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it
and was glad. Then said the Jews unto him,
thou art not yet 50 years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus
say it sayeth unto them, verily, verily, I say unto you before
Abraham was, I am. He said, when God dealt with
Abraham, that was me. When God dealt with Abraham,
all those dealings that Abraham had with God, he said, that was
me. That was me doing that. Now I
know we're turning a lot, but go with me to 1 Corinthians 10. First Corinthians 10 verse 1
says, moreover brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant,
how that all our fathers were under the cloud and all passed
through the sea, and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud
and in the sea, and did all eat the same spiritual meat, and
did all drink the same spiritual drink, for they drank of that
spiritual rock that followed them. And that rock was Christ. That rock was Christ. If a sinner
ever truly sees Christ, that sinner is going to see the rock,
the rock, the rock of God, the judgment of God, the holiness
of God. When God came down on Mount Sinai,
Back in the old Testament. And I can say it this way. When
the Lord Jesus Christ came down on Mount Sinai, a body has thou
prepared me in him dwells all the fullness. He wrote with his
finger on the tables of stone. And when he came down to give
that law to Moses and the whole mountain exploded with fire,
that was the holiness of the Lord Jesus Christ, the God of
the old Testament. The rock descended on that rock. To truly see Christ is not to
see gentle Jesus meek and mild. You know, Jesus saves, grab him
while you can. To truly see Christ is to see a
stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. That's what we ended
our message with this morning. Now turn with me to Matthew 21. Our Lord right here is condemning
the religious. He did that a lot. And it's because they rejected
Christ for who He is. That's why it was the religious
who hung Him on the cross. They didn't come out of the bars,
they came out of the churches and they hung Him on the cross.
They rejected Him for who He was. He said, this is why we're
going to hang Him on the cross because He's a blasphemer. He
made Himself to be God. That's why they hung Him on the
cross. They did not acknowledge Him
and honor Him for who He is. They should have said, let's
build a throne and melt our gold and make Him a crown and bow
down and worship Him. They said, He's not who He says
He is. All right, so Matthew 21, verse
42, Jesus saith unto them, Matthew 21, 42, Jesus saith unto them,
did you never read in the Scriptures the stone which the builders
rejected? The same is become the head of
the corner. This is the Lord's doing and
it is marvelous in our eyes. Therefore say I unto you, the
kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation
bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this
stone shall be broken. Whoever falls on this stone for
mercy is going to be broken. But on whomsoever it shall fall,
it will grind him to powder. And when the chief priests and
Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake
of them. And he made a man verse 46 says
they sought to lay hands on him. Now, when this truth is declared
who Christ truly is and his sovereign power over all things, especially
man and his sovereign right to do with man, whatever he wants
to do with man, this is God. He is God and we're not. When this declaration of judgment
on all who are not made to bow, when that is heard, one of two
things happens. One of two things happens. Number
one, either man gets mad and rejects it, or man gets scared
and bows. One of two things happens. And here's the truth of the matter.
Every knee is going to bow. Every knee is going to bow. Now
or later. Later in the judgment. or now
in mercy. Salvation is evidenced when men
and women are caused to bow right now. Had God not, you know, the
Apostle Paul's always saying, where's glory in then? Do we
have anything to glory in? Had God not made me bow, broken
my knee and made me bow, I would not have bowed and you would
not have either. It is mercy, it is mercy, it
is mercy. And that salvation and that mercy
is evidenced when God causes a sinner to bow right now. It's
either gonna be later in judgment or it's gonna be right now in
mercy, but every knee is gonna bow. Every knee is gonna cry
out for mercy. And when that happens, it is
so precious. It is so precious. Mercy comes
to a sinner when that sinner is made to realize this rock
is higher than I. That's what happens. That's the
first response. This rock is higher than I. When our view of him goes from
just Jesus to the Christ, I mean the Christ, mercy has come to
us. When it goes from our equal,
our co-op, to our God, mercy has come to us. Fearing this stone falling on
us, that's what'll make a man fall on this stone, for mercy. A sinner just will not do it
until he or she is made to fall. That's why Psalm 111 verse 10
says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It's
what happens every time. When wisdom comes, the fear of
the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. That fear is what makes
a sinner fall for mercy. Psalm 36 says, the transgression
of the wicked is this right here. The transgression is this right
here. There is no fear of God before
their eyes. When a sinner is truly led to
Christ, the first thing that he sees is this rock is higher
than I, and it brings fear. It brings fear. This rock is
so much higher than I. Now, the other two I'll be quick
about. I'm not gonna take that long on the other two. The second
thing that will come in seeing Christ as he is, is faith. I believe, I believe a sinner
will be convinced this rock is higher than I. When a sinner truly sees Christ,
and is truly led to Christ, that sinner will see whose hand salvation
is really in, and whose hand power and might
is truly in, and whose hand sovereignty is truly in. That sinner will
see the author and the finisher. Until that, the sinner sees one
or the other. I author, he finishes. Or he authors and I finish. But
when a sinner truly sees Christ, they see the author and the finisher. And that sinner will finally
realize, I can't and only he can. That's what'll happen. I'm
not and only he is. If he doesn't do it, it's just
not gonna be done. He's all and I'm nothing. He is all and I'm
nothing. It takes the power of God and
the Spirit of God to make a person say that. He is all and I'm nothing. It takes the power of God and
the Spirit of God to make a sinner truly believe that. saying it's
one thing, but I mean really believe in it. He's all and I'm
nothing. This rock truly is higher than
I, truly is. Go with me to 2 Timothy 1. 2
Timothy 1. Verse 8, it says, Be not thou therefore ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but be
thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God, who hath saved us and called us within holy
calling, not according to our works, but according to His own
purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the
world began." When did our salvation take place? Before the world
began. Verse 9, who hath saved us and
called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but
according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began, but is now made manifest
by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who hath abolished
death and hath brought life and immortality to light through
the gospel, whereunto I am appointed a preacher and an apostle and
a teacher of the Gentiles, for the which cause I also suffer
these things. Nevertheless, I am not ashamed."
Now watch this right here. "'For I know whom I have believed
and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed
unto him against that day.'" What Paul said was, my rock is
higher than me. I believe and I'm persuaded that
it's all in his hands and he'll do it. With the fear of realizing
who he is will come the faith of believing on who he is. And
that faith will cry, not unto us, not unto us, unto you. It's
all unto you. You're the rock, and the rock
is higher than I. And with every child of God,
once that belief sets in, once that belief truly sets in, and
a child of God is settled, I believe that, once that sets in, comfort
sets in. That's the third thing that happens.
Once a sinner realizes that this God right here is my God, and my God has saved me. He says
He has, and He has. He has saved me. And even though
I was just as rebellious and just as ignorant as the rest
of them, even though there was no difference in me from anybody
else, God chose to have mercy on me. God chose me, chose to
have mercy on me. How do you know? He put fear
in me and he put faith in me. He caused me to believe his word. He showed me that he authored
and finished my salvation in his own blood on the cross. And
he caused me to believe it. He caused me to bow to it. And
in that, He now says, I'm redeemed in the blood, washed in the blood,
made clean in the blood, and now I can approach Him boldly.
Because of that, because the rock is so much higher than I,
I can go to Him for anything I need. I'm not His enemy anymore. I'm made to be a member of His
family. Anytime I need help, anytime I need relief, anytime
I need assurance, anytime I need comfort, I can approach His throne
with boldness. Once that is settled into the
heart of a child of God, this is what that child will say.
And this is just so precious to me. All right, once that fear
does its work, And once faith does its work, and once comfort
is settled into that child of God, this is what the child will
say, lead me to the rock that is higher than I. Please, please,
every time you stand up in that pulpit, lead me to the rock that
is higher than I. Dear spirit of God, every time
I open this word, please lead me to the rock that is higher
than I. I need Him. I want to be with
him. I must have him. A vessel was
wrecked one stormy night off the coast of England. All were
drowned except an Irish boy. The waves swept him onto a great
rock. In the morning he was rescued.
And they asked him, lad, didn't you tremble out there on the
rock during the night? He said, sure I trembled. But
the rock didn't tremble once all night long. Thank God for
the rock. Did fear strike me? You better
believe fear struck me. Did I cast my all on that rock?
You better believe I cast my all on that rock. Thank God for
that rock. I needed that rock. And that
rock was there for me. Once a child of God sees the
stability and the security of Christ the rock, the child will
say, he is altogether lovely to me. Fear, belief, comfort. It happens that way every time.
You can go through the Old Testament. Look at the story of Abraham.
Look at the story of Moses. Look at the story of Job. Look
at the story of Isaiah. Look at the story of Saul of
Tarsus. Look at the story of you. Look at the story of me. It happens that way every single
time. If God leads us to Christ, it'll
be fear, belief, and comfort. Lead us to the rock that is higher
than I. All right, Brother Eddie, you
come and lead us in a closing hymn.