Alright, go with me if you would
back to 2nd Corinthians chapter 12. As we all know, the Apostle Paul
was constantly having to prove that he was an apostle. And how
sad is that? How sad is that? God's apostle
had to prove over and over again, but he did. He had to continually
prove that he was indeed an apostle called from the Lord Jesus Christ. And he said in verse one, it
is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. There's no doubt in
my mind that it's not expedient for me to glory. I don't want to glory in myself. But he said, I will tell you
what the Lord did for me and to me. I will tell you how great
things the Lord did for me. He said, I was caught up to the
third heaven. God brought me up to paradise.
And He spoke to me directly. I heard the words that are not
possible for a man's mouth to utter. I heard those words directly
from the mouth of the Lord Jesus Christ. And He said, lest I should
be lifted up with pride over all the revelations that were
given to me, there was given a thorn in the flesh. And he said, I asked the Lord
to take it away three times. I asked the Lord if he would
take away this thorn in the flesh that was just buffeting me. Three times. And his answer to
me was, my grace is sufficient. My grace is sufficient. Paul said, through that, through
all of that happening, through that thorn that came, Through
me calling on him, through the Lord answering me by saying,
my grace is sufficient. My grace is sufficient. Isn't
that what believers come to? Life is so hard. Life is so hard. It's relentless. And that's what
we keep coming to with everything that we face. The Lord's grace
is sufficient. Paul said, through that I have
now learned, at the end of verse 10, that when I am weak, then
am I strong. When I am forced to find no confidence
in myself, we have a lot of confidence in ourselves, naturally. And
he said, when I'm forced, when the Lord puts me in a place to
where I have no more confidence in my flesh, none. Every time something comes up,
the first response is, how do I need to handle this? How do
I need to handle this? And we keep thinking that until
the Lord finally puts us in a place where we realize I cannot have,
there's none there, no confidence in my flesh. Paul said, when
I find myself in that place where I can't do anything but cry out
to the Lord for help, I now realize that that is Him lovingly putting
me in a place that is the strongest spiritual state a man or a woman
can be in. He said, I now understand what
it is when I'm crying, please, please, please. And he's saying
my grace is sufficient. My grace is sufficient. My grace
is sufficient. I now realize that that is him
placing me in the strongest spiritual state that a man or a woman can
be in. Confidence in the flesh is the
height of weakness. And absolutely no confidence
in the flesh is the height of spiritual strength. None whatsoever. I mean total, total weakness
is the height of spiritual strength. That's why he said in verse 11,
and this is our text, I am become a fool in glorying. He said, I do not like talking
about my flesh. He said, you have compelled me,
for I ought to have been commended of you, for in nothing am I behind
the very chief apostles. He said, God gave me the same
faith He's given them. God gave me the same grace He's
given them. God has given me the same message
He has given them. We have the same message. He said, I'm nothing behind the
very chiefest apostles. Now, this is what I want us to
focus on. He ended that verse by saying,
though I be nothing. All of these wonderful things,
he said, I'll be happy to tell you what God did for me and did
to me. God literally, He said it twice,
I have no idea. I'm a man, an educated man with
a rational mind. I've thought about this, and
I've thought about this, and I've thought about this, and
I have no idea if I was in this body or out of this body. I could
have been in this body. God carried me up into the third
heaven. All these glorious revelations.
After everything that happened, He said, I be nothing. I'd be nothing. Now, the word
nothing is what caught my attention. Through that word, through the
word nothing, we're going to focus on the word nothing tonight. Through that word and through
the scriptures, I want us to see five things. Number one,
what is man? Number two, What is the end of man? Number three, what is the only
hope for man? Number four, what is the good
news for man? And number five, what is the
response of a redeemed man? Alright, now let's see what man
is. Go with me if you would to Isaiah chapter 40. Isaiah 40 verse 17 says All nations before him are as
nothing and They are counted to him less than nothing in vanity
Nothing is nothing And not only are they nothing, they're counted
to him less than nothing. Man puts so much value on himself,
such a high worth to himself. Well, I ain't going to do that
unless you pay me this much money. If you don't pay me this, you
can't have me. I'm guilty of that. You're not going to speak
to me that way. I'm guilty of that. Man has such
a high value of himself. But what is man really? What
is man really? Nothing. Nothing. Look at verse 15. Behold, the
nations are as a drop of a bucket. and are counted as the small
dust of the balance. After something is removed from
the scale, just that small residue that's just left over on the
scale. Behold, he taketh up the aisles as a very little thing,
and Lebanon is not sufficient to burn. Lebanon is so proud
of its cedar trees. We've got the cedars of Lebanon.
He said, Lebanon is not even sufficient to burn. nor the beast
thereof sufficient for a burnt offering, all nations before
him are as nothing, and they are counted to him less than
nothing in vanity." We would have a very right view of ourselves
standing before God if we could ever just see our nothingness,
if God would ever let us enter into the fact that we're nothing.
we'd have a right view of ourselves as we stand before God. Verse
23 right here in Isaiah 40 says, That bringeth the princes to
nothing. All the princes of the earth,
all these high and mighty and wealthy and respected men of
the earth, they're nothing. They're nothing. He went on to
say, He maketh the judges of the earth as vanity. They're
nothing. David said, My age is nothing. Job said, We know nothing. Nebuchadnezzar cried, All the
inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. That's what man is, nothing.
Well, then what is the end of man? If man is nothing, and if
man has nothing, and if man counts for nothing, if there is nothing
good in him, nothing good about him, nothing of any worth or
any value, if his righteousness is nothing, if his works are
nothing, then what is the end of man? Turn with me over to
Matthew chapter 5. Matthew chapter 5 verse 13 says,
You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt have lost his
savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good
for nothing, but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot
of men. If something that was created
to be good loses that goodness, if it loses what it was made
for, if it was created with worth and with value, but it loses
it all, it becomes ruined. And it's good for nothing but
to be cast out and trodden underfoot. That's man. And that's the end
of man. Because of man's fall into sin,
because of everything he lost in the fall of sin, because he
became nothing, That's the only end that man has waiting for
him. And this happens every day, all day. I got on the internet
a long time ago, years ago, and looked at the statistics on how
often somebody dies, and it has all these categories for a reason. It happens all day, every day. There comes a point where men
are cast out of this earth, God says, that's it. No more. And they stand before Him and
realize, I have nothing. I have nothing. I am nothing.
I have nothing that God finds to be a sweet savor to Him. And
then they hear Him say, cast them out and trod them underfoot. It's horrible. Our Lord illustrated
this with a fig tree. Fig leaves represent man's works. That's what Adam and Eve covered
themselves with. Fig leaves. They tried to create
their own righteousness. Look with me at Matthew 21. Verse
19. And when he saw a fig tree in
the way, he came to it and found nothing thereon, but leaves only,
no fruit, nothing good. And he said unto it, let no fruit
grow on thee hence forward forever. And presently the fig tree withered
away. As a man stands with his own
works, he stands with nothing. Every man and woman that stands
that way will be withered away, every single one. All right,
well then what's the only hope for man? What is the only hope that a
man or a woman has? If man is nothing, And if he
is good for nothing but to be cast out, what is the only hope
that a man has? Turn with me to John chapter
6. John 6 verse 39. And this is the Father's will
which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should
lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that
sent me. that everyone which seeth the
Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life, and I
will raise him up at the last day." All of our hope lies in
the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ. All of our hope is in His will
and His work. We are at His mercy. We talk
about mercy and we beg for mercy and we need mercy. And here's
where we stand. We are nothing. We have nothing. We're good for nothing but to
be cast out and trodden underfoot. And we are at His mercy. Is God going to save us? If He's pleased to do so, He
will. We're at His mercy. We are completely at His mercy. Our hope is totally dependent
on Him not losing us. That's our total hope. It's not
in me keeping myself in fill-in-the-blank, keeping myself in church, keeping
myself in the this or in the that. Our hope is completely
in Him not losing us. My hope is not in my faith. Without
faith, it's impossible to please Him. But my hope is not in my
faith. My hope is in His faithfulness
to keep me looking and present me faultless. Totally, totally
dependent on Him not losing us and saving us by becoming us. and then raising us up at the
last day. That's our total hope. That's a total hope for a bunch
of nothings. As we stand before Him, if we
stand in Him, then we have it all. We have it all. If He stood for us, If He did
become us, and if He stood in our place, and if He took what
we deserve, because we were nothing, and we only deserve to be trodden
underfoot, if He was trodden underfoot for us, then we have
it all. Now, did He do that? That's the
question. If He did that, then we have
it all. Did He do that? Is there any
good news For a man who is nothing and is owed nothing and outside
of this one hope has nothing. Is there any good news for a
man like that? Look with me at Mark 14. Mark 14 verse 60. And the high priest stood up
in the midst and asked Jesus, saying, Answerest thou nothing? What is it which these witness
against thee? But he held his peace and answered
nothing. Look at chapter 15 verse 3. And the chief priest accused
him of many things, but he answered nothing. And Pilate asked him
again, saying, Answerest thou nothing? Behold, how many things
they witness against thee? But Jesus yet answered nothing,
so that Pilate marveled. Pilate looked at him and he said,
they're calling you a liar. They're calling you a blasphemer.
They're calling you an enemy of God. And you're going to die
for it. You're about to die for sins
you did not commit. This is your only chance. The sins of others are being
laid on you. And this is your only chance
to cast those sins away and let the ones who committed them die
for them. Say the word and the judgment
will go to the one it belongs to. And he held his peace and
answered nothing. What is man? Nothing. What is
the end of man? He is good for nothing but to
be cast out and trodden underfoot. What is the only hope for man?
It's that every one that the Father gave to the Lord Jesus
Christ, he will lose nothing. What is the good news for a man?
It's that as Christ stood there being accused and judged and
sentenced to death because of all the sins that his people
committed, he held his peace and he answered nothing. Nothing. He took it for them. Now here's the last one. What
is our response to that? What is the response? from a
redeemed man over the gospel. Turn with me to Colossians chapter
3. Colossians chapter 3 verse 1
says, If you then be risen with Christ, seek those things which
are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set
your affection on things above, not on things of the earth. Up
above. Verse 11 says, Where there is
neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian,
Scythian, Bond nor free, but Christ is all, and in all. The same man who said, I be nothing,
said, Christ is all. I am nothing, and Christ is all. He's all my salvation. He's all
my desire. He's all my hope. He's all my
happiness. He's all my comfort. He's all
my assurance. He's all my wisdom. He's all
my righteousness. He's all my sanctification. He's
all my redemption. Christ is all. The Lord Jesus Christ is all
I need. He's all I need. Now, I want
to read a story to you. I read it to you not too long
ago. But I can't be on this subject
and not read this to you. Charles Spurgeon told this story
and he titled it The Huckster because this describes every
single one of us. He said this Huckster Jack was
a poor, wicked fellow who had gone about from village to village
swearing, drinking, Huckstering and perhaps pilfering. Terrible
man. Stealing. Some thought him half-witted,
but the story would show his wind to be sound enough. He heard
a poor woman sing somewhere. This came into his ears. I'm
a poor sinner and nothing at all, but Jesus Christ is my all
in all. He remembered the words, and
what was better, he felt their sense. He felt it in the heart. I'm a poor sinner. And he kept
on humming them to himself till God's good spirit engraved them
on his heart. So he assayed to join himself
unto the church. But the brethren looked suspiciously
at him and inquired, What is your experience? And he said
he had no experience, but this, I'm a poor sinner and nothing
at all, but Jesus Christ is my all in all. The good elders very
properly asked, are you converted? Have you been born again? And
Jack replied, I do not know much about these things, but I do
know and am sure of I'm a poor sinner and nothing at all. but Jesus Christ is my all in
all. They put him back for a while
to try if he would grow in his knowledge, but he never went
an inch beyond the first standard. He knew what he didn't know,
and to that he held fast. I'm a poor sinner and nothing
at all, but Jesus Christ is my all in all. Well, they must take
him into the church. They could not well refuse a
man with such a confession of faith. And when he was in the
church, walking with the brethren, he was happier than the rest
of them. At which they greatly marveled. And one said to him,
Brother Jack, don't you sometimes feel doubts and fears? Doubts,
he said? What do you mean? I never doubt. that I'm a poor sinner and nothing
at all, for I have daily proofs of it. And why should I doubt
that Jesus Christ is my all in all? For He says He is, and I
must believe Him. Ah, well, said one, sometimes
I enjoy good frames in feelings and feel very happy, and then
I lose them and sink in spirit. Jack answered, I never get lower
than I am, for I am down at the bottom, a poor center, and nothing
at all. I cannot get lower than that,
can I? But I'm also at the top, for Jesus Christ is my all in
all, and I cannot get higher than that, can I? They tried
him many ways with their blessed experience, of which you and
I have got cartloads, perhaps wagon loads, but he could not
be drawn out of his one firm position. They tried him with
their various attainments, depressions, anxieties, quibbles, and questions,
but still the huckster would not budge. He had bought the
truth and would not sell it. And so he stuck to. I'm a poor
sinner and nothing at all, but Jesus Christ is my all in all. What is a redeemed man's cry
in response to the gospel? I am nothing, and Christ is all. Christ is all. All right, let's
all stand together.