Go with me if you would now to
Matthew chapter 11. Matthew chapter 11. I have something tonight that
I pray will be a great comfort to God's people. Our God said in Isaiah 40, Comfort
ye, comfort ye my people. That's what I want you to do.
I want you to comfort my people. He asked Peter, he said, do you
love me? Then feed my sheep. If you love
me, feed my sheep, nourish them, strengthen them, encourage them. The apostle Paul told the Thessalonians
comfort one another with these words. Repeat these things to
each other and comfort one another with them. Just just remind each
other of these things. I have a lot of conversations
with people who I believe the Lord has revealed himself to.
Time truly tells, ultimately in the end, we don't know until
the end, who belongs to the Lord, but there are evidences that
people give. And I have many conversations
with people who I believe the Lord has revealed himself to.
And the conversations tend to go like this. They tend to sound
like this. If it be so, why am I thus? That's what they sound like.
If God has saved me, why am I so dissatisfied in and so disappointed
by what I see in myself? The things that I do, I don't
know why I do them. Wrong things, terrible things. The things that I wish I did,
the way that I wish I was, the way that the word commands me
to be, the way that I see that I ought to be, I don't see that
in myself. What I hate about my mind and
my heart, I can't seem to get away from it. Oh, wretched man that I am. If the father has sought me,
if the father has truly sought me, you know, the father seeks
whom he will. He purposed to save a people
and he can save anybody he wants to save. Out of all people, if
he sought me, And if Christ bought me, and if the Spirit has called
me, if I am His child, why am I not more like Him? If I've
been regenerated to life, why am I not more like Him? Why do
I not think things the way He thought things? and handle things
the way He handled things. Why do I feel like I'm not growing
in spiritual maturity like I think I ought to be growing? Why is there so much lack in
me? Why do I feel so helpless and so bound to this ruined state? I'm in a ruined state and it's
like it's controlling me. If I am one of His, why do I
always feel so needy? And why do I always feel so simple? Why do I always feel so ignorant? Why do I always feel so ignorant? If I'm His child, why do I feel
like I cannot get past the infant stages? If there is faith in me, why
do I feel like it's so small? If there is life in me, why do
I feel like it's so fragile? After all this time in Christ,
after being under the gospel of Christ for so long, why do
I still feel like such a babe? Why is that? Here's why. Matthew 11, verse 25. It says, at that time, Jesus
answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and
earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and
prudent and hast revealed them unto babes. Now this is what strikes me. Our Lord said life eternal was
knowing Him. He said this is life eternal
that they might know Thee. But it pleased Him to hide these
things from the wise and prudent. Those who ought to know. Those
who say they know. Those who try to convince everybody
else that they know. It pleased Him to hide these
things from the wise and prudent. And it pleased Him to reveal
these things unto babes. Those who just don't naturally
know. Those who cannot naturally know. They're just babies. They're
just babies. We don't expect those babies
to know what we know. They're just babies. Don't turn
over there. But Ephesians one calls this
the mystery of his will. The glorious mystery of his will. His ways are not our ways. The
way that he does things and handles things, that is not the way we
would do it. That's not the way we would handle
it. That's not the way we would go about it. His ways are not our ways. And
after seeing how he purposed for his ways to be, I believe
that all of his people are gonna be glad. I pray we're all gonna
be comforted. Now do you feel like such a child
in these matters? These matters of God and salvation
and eternity? Do you feel like such a child
in these matters? Do you ever feel like a fool
standing before Him? Just a fool before you. Well
turn over to 1 Corinthians chapter 1. 1 Corinthians 1 verse 26, For you see your calling, brethren,
how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not
many noble are called. But God hath chosen the foolish
things of the world to confound the wise. And God hath chosen
the weak things of the world to confound the things which
are mighty. And base things of the world
and things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, and things
which are not. Do you ever feel not? Do you
ever just feel not? Not what I ought to be? Not what
I want to be? not worthy to be called one of
His. Verse 27 again, it says, God
hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the
wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound
the things which are mighty, and base things of the world,
and things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, and things
which are not, to bring to nothing, to bring to naught things that
are. God has chosen to make all that
are not to be. That's what he chose to do. All
who are not, he's chosen to make them to be. All who are not in themselves
are in Him. And that's what we're gonna see
concerning ourselves in Him. In ourselves and in Him. The more simple and foolish that
we are in ourselves, the wiser we are in Him. That's just how it goes for us
and that's how The scripture teaches us to be, and that's
what I would encourage all of us to strive to be. The more
simple and foolish that we are in ourselves, the wiser we are
in Him. And when I say Him, I mean Christ.
Look at chapter 3, 1 Corinthians 3, verse 18. Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth
to be wise in this world, let him become a fool that he may
be wise. For the wisdom of this world
is foolishness with God. For it is written, he taketh
the wise in their own craftiness. And again, the Lord knoweth the
thoughts of the wise that they are vain, they're empty. Therefore,
let no man glory in men, for all things are yours, whether
Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or
things present or things to come, all are yours and you are Christ's
and Christ is God's. That's good news. He is our wisdom. And He's all
our wisdom when in ourselves we're nothing but fools. He's
all the wisdom we have. When we truly see in ourselves
we're nothing but fools. Just simple fools. He's all the wisdom we have.
Alright, look with me at 2 Corinthians chapter 12. 2 Corinthians 12 verse 7, And lest
I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the
revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the
messenger of Satan, to buffet me, lest I should be exalted
above measure. For this thing I besought the
Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And He said unto me,
My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect
in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will
I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may
rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in
infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions,
in distresses for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then am I
strong." While religion is trying to pretend that they are strong. Strong, oh yeah buddy, strong. Strong. Strong Christians. Strong in the faith. Strong in
the commandments of the law. Strong in pleasing God through
the deeds of their flesh. Strong. While religion is self-righteously
pretending before each other. that they're strong. God says
that His grace and His strength is made perfect in our weakness. Do you ever feel weak? So weak. Such a weak Christian. So weak
in the faith. So weak in every way before God,
just weak, weak. Here's a word of comfort from
our God. The weaker that we become in
ourselves, the stronger we are in Him. It's the truth. It's
the absolute truth. That moment when you are so helpless
and you're just so, you're on the verge of, as David said,
fainting. I just, I have nothing. You're
all I have left. I've run every course. I've done
everything. At that moment, that is the strongest
we've ever been as children of God. A mighty fortress is our God. a bulwark never failing. Did we in our own strength confide,
our striving would be losing. We're not the right man on our
side, the man of God's own choosing. Dost ask who that may be? Christ
Jesus, it is he. Lord Sabbath is his name, from
age to age the same, and he must win the battle. And he's going
to win the battle. The weaker that we are in ourselves,
the stronger we are in him. Those moments when we're trusting
God and we're so proud of ourselves for trusting God, that's a weak
moment. That's a weak, weak moment. All
right, turn with me to Isaiah 55. Isaiah 55, verse one. It says, ho, everyone that thirsteth,
come ye to the waters. And he that hath no money, come
ye buy and eat. Yea, come buy wine and milk without
money and without price. You ever feel poor? I'm talking about spiritually
before God. Nothing to give Him. Nothing
at all to offer Him in exchange for all of this kindness. This
is a difficult life we live, but God's people know that He
has shown kindness, He has shown grace, He has been good and merciful. And we have nothing to offer
Him in exchange for all of that kindness and mercy and grace.
We just feel so empty. Broke. Just broke. Well, this
is what he says. The less that we have in ourselves,
the more that we have in Him. The less that we have to pay
Him with, the more freely He'll give it to us. Verse 1 says,
Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he
that hath no money, that's who can come and buy. no money, if
you have no money, no spiritual money, then come buy, eat, come
buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore,
or why, do you spend money for that which is not bread, and
your labor for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto
me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight
itself in fatness. That's good news to a sinner
who's flat broke. Just flat broke. You mean it's
free? Mercy with you is great. That means abundant. Mercy is
great and grace is free. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians
8. 2 Corinthians 8 verse 9, For you know the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes
He became poor, that you through his poverty might be rich. Here's a word of comfort for
God's people. The more poor that we are in ourselves, the more
rich that we are in him. This is important. This is important. If we can
pay any of it, we have to pay all of it. That's critical to
know. If we can pay any of it, we have
to pay all of it. Look with me at Galatians 3. Galatians 3 verse 10, it says,
for as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse. That means any soul who tries
to go to heaven through obeying the Bible is going to be cursed. If that's our hope, if that's
where we're putting our trust, if that's where all of our eggs
are in that basket. Whoever's of the works of the
law are under the curse, for it is written, cursed is everyone
that continueth not in all things which are written in the book
of the law to do them. What that means is if we can
obey one in a way that truly satisfies God, if we can obey
one, we must obey all of them. If we can afford any of it to
God, then we must offer all of it to God. He requires all of
it. If we're going to try to make
one payment of redemption by satisfying the deeds of the law,
then we have to satisfy all of them, every commandment. We cannot
miss one. To break one, we break them all.
Verse 11 says, but that no man is justified by the law in the
sight of God, it is evident for the just shall live by faith.
That means the just look to Christ to obey all the law and fulfill
it all. Just trusting that Christ accomplished
what God required of me. He did it for me. Verse 12, And
the law is not of faith, but the man that doeth them shall
live in them. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law,
being made a curse for us. For it is written, Cursed is
every one that hangeth on a tree. That the blessing of Abraham
might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive
the promise of the Spirit through faith. If we can pay any of it,
we have to pay all of it. But if he paid all of it, we
pay none of it. None of it. It's free. His life, his death, his mercy,
his grace, it's all free. One more, 1 Timothy 1. 1 Timothy 1 verse 15, this is a faithful
saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners of whom I am chief. Do you ever wonder why am I still
such a sinner? Why do I still feel so lost and
dead at times? Why? Why do I still feel like
my sins are ever before me? Here's the reason why. It's because
all that we are is sin. It's all that we are. We are
sinners. Paul did not say of whom I was
chief. He said, I am. I am. But here's the comfort of the
word to God's people. That is exactly who he came to
save. He came to save sinners. He said, I did not come to call
the righteous. I came to call sinners. In order
to be saved, we must be a sinner. In order to be found, we must
be lost. In order to live, we must be
dead. We must acknowledge these things
to be so. Go with me to 2 Corinthians 5. Verse 21 says, For He hath made
Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made
the righteousness of God in Him. The more sinful we are in ourselves. Not meaning the more sinful we
strive to be. You know, we're going to work
hard at just sinning against Him. Not meaning that at all.
But the more that we acknowledge it to be so, the more that we
confess the truth of it and enter into the truth of it, I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner before God. The
more sinful we are in ourselves, the more righteous we are in
Him. Back in Leviticus, God gave a
commandment concerning leprosy. He said if a man thought he had
leprosy, he had to show himself to the priest who represents
Christ. And if the man had just one little
spot on him, or just a few little spots on him, not much, just
kind of hard to see, God told the priest he had to pronounce
that man unclean. Cast him out. He's a leper. But if that man showed himself
to the priest and he was absolutely covered with the sores from the
crown of his head to the sole of his foot, if you could not
find one clean spot on that man, God told the priest, pronounce
him clean. He's not a leper. Welcome him
into the camp. If God has caused us to see ourselves
to be totally ruined with sin, if that's what we see when we
look at ourselves, and if He has drawn us to Christ our High
Priest for our judgment, then here's the comfort for our hearts.
Christ our High Priest has poured His blood all over us. It has
run from the crown of our heads to the soles of our feet. And
in His blood, we're clean. We're clean. The more filthy
we are in ourselves, the more clean we are in Him. Alright, go back to our text
and we'll close with this. Matthew 11. Verse 25, it says, At that time Jesus answered
and said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because
Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast
revealed them unto babes. The babes received the knowledge.
Why is it this way? Why did he do it this way? Verse
26, even so father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. This
is just what it pleased him to do. And I'm so glad, I'm so thankful. That's how it pleased him to
do this. Verse 27, all things are delivered
unto me of my father and no man knoweth the son but the father.
Neither knoweth any man the father, save the son, and he to whomsoever
the son will reveal him. Come unto me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." All of the labored
get rest. All of the fools are wise, and
all the weak are strong, and all the poor are rich. And all
the sinners are righteous, and all of the labored get rest. Labored over sin, heavy laden
with sin. In the end, that's who will get
rest. Verse 29, He said, Take My yoke upon you and learn of
Me. For I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest
unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden
is light." It's the yoked that are set free. All of the yoked
are set free. Those who are yoked to the truth
of Christ. He said, if you ever come to
know that truth, if you ever become yoked to that truth, that
truth will set you free. It'll set you free. And if you're
free, you're free indeed. I pray that'll be a comfort to
all of us. All right, let's all stand together.