All right, turn back with me
to Psalm 90. Psalm 90. Those of us that the
Lord has laid hold of, and if the Lord has laid hold of us,
we know it. Those of us that the Lord has laid hold of and
caused us to believe, made us to believe, put faith in us to
believe God and believe his word. We do believe. We do. We do believe. Our Lord said, The blasphemy
against the Holy Spirit is the sin that cannot be forgiven.
And the truth of the matter is, is the Lord puts faith in the
heart of His people to believe God. We fail everywhere else,
and if it wasn't for His faithfulness, we'd fail at that. But He puts
faith in us, and we do believe. We do. But a lot of times, we
don't enter in We don't enter into these things like we need
to and like we want to. Our minds are who knows where,
aren't they? And the reason is because the
life that we live is a busy life. It's a very busy life. It's a
distracting life. And it's because we still have
to deal with this flesh. That's the reason. If we didn't
have that, we would be fine. But we still have to deal with
this flesh. This sinful flesh becomes taken
with, it becomes attracted to fleshly things. It just is. And therefore usually we are
not truly entering into the things of God and the things of salvation
and the things of eternity. But sometimes, sometimes, every now and then,
the Lord gives us a clear vision of the one thing needful. Sometimes. It might be for just
a moment, but every now and then, He gives us a moment of wisdom
to consider and dwell on and enter into our latter end. We have a latter end. And that's
what I pray our Lord would allow us to do tonight. I titled this
message, What If It Were Our Last Day? What if it were our
last day? Look with me here at Psalm 90
verse 12. So teach us to number our days
that we may apply our hearts to Christ. Teach us to number our days.
that we may apply our hearts to Christ. Do you see how the
last word in that verse is wisdom? Turn with me over to 1 Corinthians
1. 1 Corinthians 1 verse 30 says, But of Him, that's God the Father,
of Him are you in Christ Jesus. We must be in Christ and that's
a work that God has to do. Of Him are you in Christ Jesus
who of God is made unto us wisdom. Christ is our wisdom. He is our
wisdom. And when you see words like wisdom,
and then this verse goes on to say righteousness and sanctification
and redemption, that's Christ. Every bit of that is Christ.
I am not wisdom. He is. If I have any, that means
I have Him. I am not righteousness. He is. I am not holy purity. I'm not sanctification. He is. I can't do anything to make myself
holier in His eyes. He's my holiness. And I didn't
pay the price for my sin. I did not redeem myself. He did. He did. So when we're talking
about wisdom, we're talking about Christ. Now turn with me to Proverbs
chapter 4. We're going to turn a little
bit here in the beginning and then slow down at the end. Proverbs 4 verse 5 says, Get wisdom. Get understanding. Forget it not, neither decline
from the words of my mouth. Get wisdom. Verse 7 says, Wisdom
is the principal thing. And dear brothers and sisters,
Christ is the principal thing. Christ is the principal thing.
We know that. May God cause us to know that.
Christ is the principal thing. Verse 7 says, Therefore get Christ. Our Lord said, Buy the truth
and sell it not. Buy the truth and sell it not.
Verse 7 says, And with all thy getting, get an understanding,
get a knowledge of him. The Apostle Paul said, Oh, that
I might know him, that I might know him, not know of him, not know about him. Everybody
knows about him. Everybody knows about him. Everybody
knows of him. Paul said that I might know him.
That I might know him. John 17 3 says life eternal is
knowing him. That's what it is. It's not knowing
doctrine. It's not knowing theology. It's
not knowing all those things. It's knowing him. It's knowing
him. Look at Proverbs 16 with me. Proverbs 16 verse 16 says, How much better is it to get
Christ than gold, and to get understanding rather
to be chosen than silver? How much better is it to choose
more understanding and more knowledge of Him than silver? How much
better is that? You know, I believe the Lord
is going to prove to our hearts what Christ is to us. I believe
He will. I believe there are things that
happen in this life. I believe that God's people get amazing
opportunities sometimes. And they have to realize, what
is Christ to me? What is Christ to me? How much
better is it to have Him, have that knowledge of Him, have that
understanding of Him than gold or silver or anything this world
could offer? I could have the things of this world or I could
have a knowledge of Him. Which is better? Which one is
better? Look at verse 8. Better is little
with righteousness than great revenues without right. I mean, You can get that Forbes list.
There's some people in this country that have a lot of money. They
don't have anything. I mean, they don't have anything.
They would be better off to walk away from it. Find a place that
is preaching the true God of Scripture, sit down, lose it
all, and know Him. They'd be better off. They got
a ladder in, too. They would be better off. Look
at Proverbs 15 back one chapter. Proverbs 15 verse 16 says better
is little with the fear of the Lord then great treasure and
trouble there with. Better is little Psalm 37 says
a little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches
of many wicked. What is our Lord telling us in
all this. There is one thing needful. There is one thing needful. Go with me to James chapter 4. Just after Hebrews, James 4. James 4 verse 13 says, Go to now ye that say today or
tomorrow we will go into such a city and continue there a year
and buy and sell and get gain. And that's all of us. That's
every one of us. We all have a plan. We all have
a wonderful plan for our life. Verse 14 says, Whereas you know
not what shall be on tomorrow. You don't know what tomorrow
holds. For what is your life? It is even a vapor. Job said,
My life is wind. That's it. James said, It's a
vapor. One vapor of a flame. that appeareth
for a little time and then vanisheth away." From the time that our
vapor starts to the time that our vapor vanishes away, nothing
in that vapor matters but knowing the Lord Jesus Christ and being
found in Him. That's it. That's the only thing
that matters. Now go with me back to Psalm 90. Let's see what
our Lord has to say in this chapter, Psalm 90. Verse 1 says, Lord, thou hast
been our dwelling place in all generations. Our dwelling place
is where we live. That's where we live. All of
God's people from all generations have lived and moved and had
their being in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what it means
to be in Him, to be found in Him. Life is in Him. Verse 2
says, Before the mountains were brought forth, wherever thou
hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting
to everlasting, thou art God. It is so comforting for a believer. It is so comforting for a believer
to know that he is in the Lord Jesus Christ. And the reason
is because the Lord Jesus Christ is God Almighty. He is God Almighty. If we're
in Christ, we're in God. We're in God. Isn't that amazing?
We're in God Almighty. the highest God Almighty. Verse
3 says, Thou turnest man to destruction, and sayest, Return, ye children
of men. God formed Adam from the dust
of the ground. He made him out of the dust.
Out of the dust he came. And then Adam, he was upright.
He was perfect. The Lord said, Very good. Everything
God made was very good. But when Adam sinned against
God, he said, Dust thou art, and into dust shalt thou return. God made us. God can save us. Or God can turn us to destruction.
We're totally in his hands, completely in his hands. He's the one that
does all these things. He said, I kill, somebody dies. God did that. God did that. I told you before about whenever
I had my store, a very kind older lady came into my store and was
wanting me to give, there was a fundraiser for the Katrina
victims and she wanted me to give to that and I gladly did. And then whenever she was walking
out, she said, you know, I appreciate your giving. We all need to pull
together. She said, this is such a horrible
thing. She said, God did not want this to happen. And I said, ma'am, God is the
one who sent the hurricane. Nothing happens outside of the
hand of God Almighty. He said, I kill, I make alive,
I wound, I heal, I, the Lord, do all these things. I do all
these things. Verse 4 says, For a thousand
years in thy sight are but as yesterday, when it is past, and
as a watch in the night. I love that verse. Peter said,
I wouldn't have you ignorant, brethren. A day as with the Lord
is a thousand years, and a thousand years is as one day. To our eternal
God, a thousand years is like yesterday. Yesterday. A thousand years are like 24
hours. And verse 10 tells us our years
are 3 score and 10, 70 years. So I did some math. If to our Lord a thousand years
is 24 hours, 70 years is an hour and 40 minutes. That's our life. It's an hour and 40 minutes. David is constantly saying in
the Psalms, how long? How long? Have you forgotten
me? Our life is an hour and 40 minutes. And I think the Lord is being
generous to us at that. an hour and forty minutes. We
are constantly saying the same thing, how long? The Lord leaves
us to ourselves for eighteen seconds of our hour and forty
minutes and we are crying, how long have you forgotten me? How
long? Verse 5 says, Thou carryest them
away as with a flood. They are as asleep in the morning. They are like grass which groweth
up. Our Lord did carry away the souls on this earth in a flood,
didn't he? And you think about that. People
are shocked at Katrina. Think about the flood. It's estimated
that there were as many people on the earth then as there are
today. And why is it that men and women don't believe God is
angry with the wicked every day? God sent this flood and he carried
away the souls on this earth. And the reason he did is because
of their willing sleep Their sleep of sin, the sleep of death,
they turned a blind eye to God Almighty. And man is still doing that to
this day. He thinks he's his own God. Man thinks he's his
own God. He thinks he makes his own way,
makes his own decisions. He thinks his life is in his
hands. The reality of man is he's just going to be cut down.
He's just going to be cut down. The end of verse 5 says, In the
morning they are like grass which groweth up. In the morning it
flourisheth and groweth up. In the evening it is cut down
and withereth. Isaiah said all flesh is grass,
didn't he? All flesh is grass. All flesh is going to be cut
down. I mean all flesh is going to
be cut down. Look at verse 8. Thou hast set
our iniquities before thee. Our secret sins in the light
of Thy countenance. For all our days are passed away
in Thy wrath. We spend our years as a tale
that is told. You and I must be cut down. We're flesh. Right? We're sin. Sin can't stand in
His presence. You and I must be cut down because
of our sin. But do you know what our hope
of eternal life is? You know what our hope of eternal
life is? You know what our hope of having
a latter end is? It's that when Christ Jesus allowed
Himself to be cut down on that cross at Calvary, we were cut
down in Him. Our hope is that that's the moment
God cut me down. That's my hope. God cut me down. God looked at the sins of the
flesh of Gabe Stoniker that day on that cross and cut me down. He put me away. I'm crucified
with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. That's
our hope. That we were cut down in Him.
God did send that flood. And when God sent the flood to
this earth, He poured out His wrath on every soul in the earth. Do you know that? Every soul,
including Noah, his wife, Shem, Ham, Japheth, and their three
wives. God poured out His wrath on those
eight souls. But those eight souls suffered
God's wrath for their sin inside the ark. Greatest picture I know
of. God sent that judgment to the
whole world. Every soul that was outside of
that ark suffered it alone. But when the wrath of God rained
down on this earth, it beat the ark, and it beat the ark, and
it beat the ark. And every soul that was inside
that ark lived. It's the only reason they were
kept alive. It's the only reason. And that
ark is Christ. That ark is Christ. That's the
whole reason God said, Noah, build an ark. Everything that goes inside that
ark is going to be saved, is going to be preserved. Verse
9 says, For all our days are passed away in thy wrath. All
of our evil days, they've all been put away in the wrath that
Christ suffered for us. All of them, they've been put
away. Verse 9 says, We spend our years as a tale that is told. The years are flying by. They
are flying by. Whenever I was a kid, I used
to listen to my dad and my grandfather and older men tell stories. I used to love some of these
stories they would tell. Heard them over and over and over again.
And I used to think, I can remember thinking, I don't have any stories.
I wanted stories badly, but I didn't have any. I didn't know any jokes,
and I had no stories. Well, I have stories now. I have stories of things that
happened 20 years ago. I used to hear them say, oh,
that was 20 years ago. I have stories of things that happened
20 years ago. Our years are as a tale that's
told. What do we tell? You know what
believers tell? How great things the Lord has
done for me. Great things. He ordered our
steps. It was all on purpose. Everything
that happened, it was all on purpose to bring us to Christ.
Everything that happened, it was all on purpose to bring us
to Christ. Verse 10 says, The days of our years are threescore
years and ten. And if by reason of strength
they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow,
for it is soon cut off. And we fly away. We fly away. Job said, Man that is born of
woman is a few days and full of trouble. And he's right. A few days and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower
and is cut down. He fleeth also as a shadow and
continueth not. Solomon said, When a man dies,
the dust returns to the earth as it was. And the spirit returns
unto God who gave it. All of us entered this world
and God made a body and sent a soul. I'm me and you're you. And I've wondered what it would
be like to be somebody else before. I wonder what it would be like
to be you. But I'm me. I am this soul. God gave this
soul to this body. And then as soon as this body
lays down, goes back to the dust, this soul is going to fly away. And it's going to go back to
God who gave it. And I'll tell you how we do not
want to go back. Outside of Christ our Savior.
We don't want to go back alone. We do not want to go back alone.
Verse 11 says, Who knoweth the power of thine anger? I'll tell
you who knows. Christ does. That's the good
news. Christ does. The end of verse
11 says, Even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath. So teach us to number our days. If tomorrow, April the 7th, 2016, If tomorrow was your last day,
if you knew tomorrow was going to be your last day, let me ask
you this, what would you let go of and what would you cling
to? We have responsibilities in this
life. There's no doubt about that. We have responsibilities.
But we would let go of it all, wouldn't we? Spindle needs to
be fixed. It's not important, is it? Chemicals
need to be mixed. We got customers waiting. There's
a guy who's going to show up today and buy 173 cars today. It's my last day. All the computers are down. Can you do the papers on that
$14 million farm? No. It doesn't mean anything. It
does not mean anything. Verse 12 says, So teach us to
number our days, that we may apply our hearts to Christ. To Christ. Verse 13 says, Return,
O Lord, how long? And let it repent thee concerning
thy servants. That word repent does not mean
change your mind. Usually that's what the word
repent means. That one does not. It means to sigh, to breathe
strongly, to pity, to console, to comfort. Lord pity us. That's what he's saying. Comfort
us. Verse 14 says, Oh, satisfy us early with thy mercy. Show us, Lord, that we are not
going to receive your wrath because Christ took it all for us. Show
us that. Verse 14 says, Satisfy us early
with thy mercy that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Make
us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us,
and the years wherein we have seen evil." All of our days on
this earth are days of affliction. They really are. They're days
of affliction. Our Lord is going to cause us to need Him and cling
to Him. And in our 70 years as we see
this world, all we see is evil. And when we look right here in
this flesh, all we see is evil. That's all we see. This flesh
is just sin. It's just evil. So verse 16 says,
Let thy work appear unto thy servants. We come to this place for one
reason only. We come here on Sunday morning,
Sunday night, and Wednesday night. Well, don't we know the gospel?
Yes. Don't we believe it? Yes. Then why are we here so
much? Don't you remember it? Yes. Then
why are we here so much? It's because we come here to
open up this Word and see a Christ on a cross. That's what we need. We come here because Monday,
Tuesday, and Wednesday, all day long, all we see is sin, without
and within. I tell you, if the Lord would
let us on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday look within just a
little bit, I need to open this word and I need to see a substitute
for sinners. We're here to see the king in
all of his victorious accomplishment. That's why we're here. Verse
16 says, let thy work appear unto thy servants and thy glory
unto their children. Moses wrote this psalm. If you
look under the title, it says a prayer of Moses, the man of
God. Moses wrote this. And Moses is
the one who said to the Lord, show me your glory. Show me your
glory. And God said, this is my glory. I will be merciful. That is the glory. People talk
about the glory of God. You know what the glory of God
is? That this holy, sinless, pure, high, lofty, all-knowing,
all-seeing God would show mercy to sinners like us. That's his
glory. That's what deserves the most
praise. He said, I'll be merciful. Lord,
show mercy to us and show mercy to our children. Show mercy to
our children. Verse 16, let thy work appear
unto thy servants and thy glory unto their children. And let
the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us and establish thou
the work of our hands upon us. Yea, the work of our hands establish
thou it. Lord, lay hold on us. Lay hold
of us. Do a work in us. Change us. I pray the Lord would change
me. I pray if the Lord would allow me to be here 70 years, I pray in that time I look a
little bit more like Christ than I do right now. I really do. All of this time, He is conforming
us to His image. And then one of these days, whenever
we go to be with Him, whether He returns or He takes us, we
are, in the twinkling of an eye, going to be conformed perfectly
into His image. Lord, let me begin to head that
way now, with whatever ability You would give me. Do a change
in me. Put a new creature in here. One
that serves you, that's what he's saying. Would you establish
our hands? And he said, let the beauty of
the Lord our God be upon us. In closing, go with me to Psalm
27. Psalm 27. If this was our last
day, could we say this right here? I think about people on their
deathbed. If the Lord gave us a deathbed,
if he gave us some final words, I pray this would be what every
soul in this room says. Psalm 27, verse 4, David said,
ìOne thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my
life to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His
temple. There's one thing I want. I want to dwell in His house
for eternity and behold Him. I just want to look at Him. That's
all I want to do is look at Him. Let the beauty and the glory
and the mercy of the Lord our God be upon us, be upon our children. May that be our heart's desire.
May that really be our one heart's desire. May the Lord teach us
to number our days. May He teach us to number our
days. Count them down. He's coming. He's coming. May He teach us to count them
down. And may He give us all a heart that says, Come quickly.
Come quickly, Lord. All right, let's stand together.