I was just talking about comfort and how the only source for comfort
is Christ in every situation. And this song happens to be a
perfect illustration of that. Look at all, every verse is a
different illustration of a situation we find ourselves in. When we
look at our wretched heart and see what we are, Jesus lives
for me. When I behold God's law and what
that means for me, Jesus died for me. When I see how my days
are mixed with joy and misery, which happens a lot, Jesus still
rules for me both of those times. When I look at the end of my
life and how that's naturally scary, Jesus lives for me. When I look about this world
and I see where God's judgment is just in just about every way,
I know that Jesus is coming for me. And when I stand before God's
throne, if I'm standing there alone to
hear his just decree, that's an awful place to be. But on
his right hand is my savior. And there he sits for me. So
he truly is the source of all comfort. All comfort that matters. And that's true for our daily
difficulties too. He is where we should go for
comfort because he is the only source for it. We'll look for
it in this world. That's our tendency. We'll look
for it over and over and over. We'll look for our own ways to
solve our own problems. And we just need to go to Christ.
That is where it's found. You can take your Bibles and
turn them to 2 Corinthians chapter 4. I'll be reading verse 1 through
6. 2 Corinthians 4 verse 1 through
6. Therefore, since through God's
mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. Rather,
we have renounced secret and shameful ways. We do not use
deception or we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting
forth the truth plainly, we commend ourselves to every man's conscience
in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled,
it is veiled to those who are perishing. The God of this age,
which is the devil, has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so
they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ,
who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves,
but Jesus Christ as Lord. and ourselves as your servants
for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, let light
shine out of darkness, made his light shine in our hearts to
give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Christ. The light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Christ. That is a really long
way of saying grace. Grace is given to God's people.
And the first thing that happens when you are given grace is you
see who you are and you see who Christ is. They go hand in hand. If you see who you are, you immediately
know you need a savior. And then there is only one. So, when all is said and done,
When we get to the end of this world, to the end of this age,
when God brings his eternal purposes and decrees to their final end,
and the whole world is judged by Christ, it will be plain to
see that in eternity there is a difference among men when it
comes to spiritual things. If there was no difference among
men spiritually at the end of age, either everyone would be
saved or everyone would not. There is a difference. On that day, there will be some,
if you'll turn to Matthew 25, I'm gonna read verse 34. There will
be some that hear these words. Then the king will say to those
on his right, Come, you who are blessed by my Father. You who
are blessed by my Father, take your inheritance, the kingdom
prepared for you since the creation of the world. Yet it is a solemn thought, turn
to the next page, to verse 41. A solemn thought to think that
there will be some who hear these words, the most dreadful words
that anyone could ever hear. Then he will say to those on
his left, depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared
for the devil and his angels. Now we don't hear about this
very often. It's not a pleasant thing to hear, but it's true.
Christ said this himself. there will be some on his right,
and there will be some on his left. This is real. This will happen. A greater difference couldn't
be imagined. Of all the differences in this
world, they are minor compared to this difference. This is the
eternal difference, the one that lasts forever. Yet the scriptures
say, so a greater difference couldn't be imagined, but what
is different about those individuals? What is different about those
people on the right and the people on the left? It says in Romans
3.23, there is no difference, for all have sinned and fall
short of the glory of God. Well, this presents man with
a mystery. How can we go from there is no difference to the
most incredible divide and difference we can imagine to be blessed
or cursed by God. How do we get from no difference
to immeasurable difference? That is the primary question
of religion as a whole. Every religion on earth is basically
an attempt to be on the right side of that great difference
at the end of the world, at the end of the age. It's basically
what religion is about. All humans instinctively, God
has put this on our hearts, we instinctively know that we shall
forever live in one condition or another. And religion is the
way we try to ensure that our eternal existence shall be a
happy one. And the world is full of religion. There is hardly a person in the
world who does not have some form of religion. Even those
who say they don't adhere to faith of some kind. Again, there are hardly anyone
in this world that doesn't have some form of religion, and there
are very, very many superficial differences among these many
religions. However, all these religions of the world can be
distilled down into two religions. The first of these religions
is the one practiced by the majority of the world. The first practitioner,
the first person that practiced this religion was Cain. When he brought a bloodless sacrifice
to God. He brought the work of his own
hands as a sacrifice to God. God has said in the Bible many
times that sins cannot be paid for without blood. And Cain tried
to. Cain brought his own work. Brought the Lord a bloodless
offering made of the fruit of his own labors. This religion
is what arises from the wisdom of man. This is what we come
up with, because this is our natural distinction. This is where we
sit. Our world is a world of transactions. What have you done
to me has everything to do with how I'm going to do to you. If
you're nice to me, I'll be nice to you. If you're mean to me,
I'm gonna be mean to you. It's all transactional. It's all about
what have you done. So when it comes to us to create
a religion, which man has done, it's going to be based on what
we do. The religion is that which arises
from the wisdom of man, like I said, and it goes like this.
God is holy and righteous and will accept nothing less than
perfection. Therefore, I must work at being perfectly righteous
or find some way to make up for it. There are many variations of
this religion, but all the variations of it boil down to this, the
hope of a happy eternity rests on man. They won't admit it. They're not gonna come out and
say that. But if the tiniest portion of
your salvation rests in your hands, that is your religion,
the religion of the world. There are, again, many variations
of this, but it all comes down to that. The only variation that
one sees among these versions is basically how much is necessary,
or what it is that a man must do to inherit eternal life. But
they all have the do aspect of the religion. Nearly all man-made
religions make the eternal difference to be a matter of morality. Morality is dangerous. Morality
puffs up our chest. We have no chest to puff up.
When you start looking at yourself, that's what happens. So again,
they're almost all a matter of morality, the morality of one's
life. Does a person's good deeds outweigh their bad deeds? Have
I treated my neighbor decently? Am I an honest person? However,
nearly everyone knows and admits to the fact that they're not
perfect. So in all these religions, there are one or more things
a person can do to make up for their deficiency. For some, it's ceremonies. There
are such things as baptism, the Lord's Table, which we're going
to do today. Confirmation, lots of other things, various sacraments
that build up a storage of righteousness to make up for our shortcomings.
We're trying to make, we know we're not perfect, and we know
perfection is demanded, so in our world of religion, we try
to find ways to make up the difference. Some have made the law of Mount
Sinai, the law of Moses, their means of distinction, their means
of looking good in the sight of God. They believe that their
obedience to the law will gain them a favor and a blessing of
God. And if they can do it, they're correct. If they can obey the
law perfectly, they will gain favor from God. But no one can. But even they know they cannot
be perfect, so they mitigate, they tweak the law. easing its
strictness, believing that their best effort will be sufficient. Or pick out those commands that
which they're pretty good at, or a little bit easier for them
to perform, and ignore the ones that are a little harder. Thinking
that doing one a little bit better will suffice. But from the primitive, like
idol worshiper living in the wilderness, to the most moral
person in the most sophisticated society, every man-made religion
designed and worked by man is a religion of man's works. If it's orchestrated and depending
on man, it doesn't matter if you're in the middle of a forest
worshiping an idol or in the nicest church in the nicest city
in the world, If it's a religion created and orchestrated by man's
works, it is not the religion of the
gospel. It is not God's religion. A religion in which it is a man
that makes the distinction, this is the key. We talked about those
two groups earlier. If it's up to man to make the
distinction between those who are on the left and those who
are on the right, that is the worldly religion. If it's man
that gets to decide who is cursed and who is blessed, according
to whether they've earned it or not. But God's religion, the
gospel of Jesus Christ, is the literal opposite of that. In
the religion of God, it is God, not man, who makes the distinction
between the saved and the cursed. This is a very hard pill to swallow
for the world. Why would God make a distinction?
That's not loving. Why would he have people on the
left and not just everybody on the right? because none of us deserve to
be on the right. God delights in mercy, and showing
anyone mercy is delighting in it. And it does not look for those
who by their own will and power have made a difference between
themselves and the rest of the world. Rather, God's grace goes
into the world, the world that is defined as having no difference
between man. We have all fallen short of the
grace of God. It says that in the scriptures. Paul talks about
his righteousness being filthy rags. The best he can do is sin. That's all of us. He talks about
not understanding his own thoughts, which I've been there, we've
all been there. where you try to do good and
yet I only do what I don't want to do. Paul talks about that,
like I know what I want to do and every time I try to do it,
I do the opposite. That is who this entire world
is made up of, Paul's. So God goes into this world where
there is no difference. All have fallen short. And from
that world, he chooses an innumerable host of people on whom all blessings
of God will be bestowed without measure. Every spiritual blessing
will be given to those people through the Lord Jesus Christ. The first of these distinctions
which God makes is called election. And if you go to Ephesians chapter
one verse four, you don't have to, it's really short, it's very
simple. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world
to be holy and blameless in his sight. So this election could not have
been based on what we do. We weren't even around yet. The time frame wouldn't make
sense. It says before creation, for he chose us in him before
the creation of the world. It is impossible that this election
could have been based on what we did, for we had done nothing
yet. Nor was this election based on
what God foresaw we would do. as though he looked down through
history in his omniscience and power and shows those whom he
saw would believe and work their hardest to do good or something
like that. The Bible is very clear that
there are none who do good. Not even one, it says. So had God looked through history,
he would see nothing good. And secondly, God has made this
distinction between the saved and the condemned by the work
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Popular theology nowadays says
the Lord died equally for every man and every woman in the world.
In other words, his death did not make the distinction between
the cursed and the saved. Did not make any difference among
men. It was just a blanket coverage
for everyone. Is it easy to see why folks might
believe this doctrine? Because our English, actually
our English Bibles have no good way of translating some of the
words that confuse people. However, these words world and
all rarely mean everyone in the world. In fact, even we who speak
English now often use these words without meaning everyone. The
context must always determine the extent in which we stretch
our understanding of the words world and all. When it says God
so loved the world, wrote John, but that cannot mean everyone
in the world, for Paul makes it clear that nothing can separate
us from the love of God. So if God so loved the world,
and nothing can separate his people from him, there would
be no people on the left. So we must assume that every
single person loved by God shall be saved then. And therefore
we must conclude that John meant something other than everyone
in the world when he wrote that God loved the world. He didn't
mean everyone in the world. Can it be that Christ would pay
the penalty for every man's sin and then a just God would punish
some of them anyway? That would be a travesty of the
perfection that is God's justice. Can the blood of the precious,
spotless Son of God be shed, yet one for whom it was shed
be lost? I mean, just from a worldly perspective,
if my children died in order to save someone, I would see
to it that that person was indeed saved, as much as I could. I would not allow my child's
blood to be shed in vain. Then we can be certain that the
Heavenly Father, the ruler of all things, has even more regard
for the blood of His perfect Son. By the redeeming, atoning work
of Christ, God made a further distinction between the lost
and the saved. God, the Holy Spirit, continues
in this distinguishing work by teaching the truth of the gospel
to every one of God's chosen people. Of those people, the
Spirit will reach every one of them with the gospel of Christ.
They will hear it. and they will believe it. The
scripture was read at the beginning, that we read at the beginning,
speaks of the gospel being hidden from certain people. It actually
says that. It says, and even if our gospel is veiled, it is
veiled to those who are perishing. The man without the spirit of
God, who has experienced nothing more than his natural birth,
has zero ability to perceive the truth of God. The Lord Jesus told Nicodemus
that neither he or his companions, which back at the time were like
the guys, the religious leaders of the world at that time, scholars
of that day, they could not perceive the kingdom of God unless they
were born again. All of their morality, all of
their education, all of their fancy clothes, could not give
them an understanding of things of God. Nicodemus couldn't even fathom
what Christ was talking about. He said, how can I possibly enter
my mother's womb again? And I understand that, I wouldn't
have got it either. We're lucky, we have the scriptures
now, but without having the spirit of God, we cannot understand
the things of God. It is not as though natural man
cannot understand the doctrines of the gospel. Many people do
understand the doctrines of the gospel, the definitions, being
able to explain it. What they are ignorant of is
that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of
Christ, who is the image of God, which is what it says at the
end of that verse. The God of this age has blinded the minds
of unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel,
of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. This is the
truth that's hidden from them. In Christ, we see the glory of
God's sovereign election of sinners unto salvation. God's first elect
is Christ himself. In Isaiah 42 it says, behold
my servant who I uphold, my chosen one, my elect. Any understanding of election
must begin there, that Christ was the first elect. Our election is actually in Christ. For it is written in Ephesians
1, 4, it says, for he chose us in him before the creation of
the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. God's election of sinners is
unconditional for they could meet no conditions, making them
electable. So God first chose the Lord Jesus
for he found everything in him to be pleasing. Then he chose
us in Christ. The glory of God's grace is fully
found in Christ Jesus. God may desire to redeem his
people and have purpose to do so, but God in heaven cannot
redeem, for he cannot pay to himself the price that he demands. So God entered the world. He entered the flow of history. As a man, because he was both
man and God, as a man he was able to suffer the price of our
redemption. He had to be fully manned for
that. And as God, he was able to satisfy God's demands. He has to be fully both. He has to be fully man to suffer
the price of our redemption and has to be fully God to actually
satisfy the demands of his father. In John 19.30, we hear the voice
of a man say, it is finished. The Greek word meaning accomplished,
completed, perfected. But those words of a man have
power to redeem only because those words of a man who is God. Those words have no power outside
of who said it. Those words are not just of a
man, they are of a man who is God. It is perfected. Like Lazarus was dead in the
tomb, so we are dead in our trespasses and sins. We are not dead only
in the sense that a sentence of death is on our heads, but
we are spiritually dead. We are incapable of spiritual
deeds. And what did Christ do to Lazarus?
He commands Lazarus to do something he cannot do. Come out of the
tomb. Dead man cannot come forth. Yet such is the power of the
words of Christ that the command for Lazarus to come forth gives
Lazarus the ability to come forth. And he did. Similarly, the glory of God's
life-giving power is demonstrated when the gospel of Christ is
heard by His people. And many are called to do the
very thing it is impossible for them to do. They are called to
see what is hidden, to see what is veiled. They are
called to love what they are born hating. They are called to repent and
to believe. And all of these things are just
as impossible as it was for dead Lazarus to stand up and walk. But whose words were they? Lazarus,
come forth. Christ's words, Christ's gospel
can make dead man live. They can make blind men see.
They can make hateful men love. And they can make even the stoniest
of heart to believe. And even though God's elect,
again, are unable to do these things, the power of God, the
Holy Spirit, taking the things of Christ and showing them to
his people, works the miracle of spiritual life, spiritual
resurrection in their hearts. And what they cannot do, they
do. They come forth from their tombs
of spiritual death and see Christ. with their new eyes of faith,
and they trust him to the saving of their souls. The glorious work of God is not
done for everyone. Preaching of the gospel calls
on men to come forth from their spiritual tombs, but none will
until God the Holy Spirit calls them. And so he does so by shining
into their hearts the truth of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. The only difference between the
lost and the saved is the glorious workings of God's grace. We search for those differences
between us. Even believers, we struggle to
not look at ourselves both in positive and negative ways more
than we should when we should fix our eyes on Christ. But it is not us who makes the
difference. How can we make a difference if we aren't capable? It says
we can't even hear the truth. We can't see the truth on our
own. How can we possibly be the distinguishing
factor between the blessed and the cursed? It is God who by
his grace makes the difference. and to a worldly mind that's
almost, you bristle. But once you hear the truth and
you believe it, you are just so grateful that God would choose
a people, a people so undeserving of love, It's unmerited, we talked, when
I was praying, I was talking about unmerited favor, that's
the definition of grace. Undeserved love. We not only
don't do anything to deserve grace, to deserve favor, or to
deserve love, we do the opposite to deserve the opposite. so that God would show grace
because he delights in mercy to his people that are completely
undeserving and to do it in a way where he sacrificed the perfect
son of God in a way that we can't even understand. That is a loving
God. That is a God who delights in
mercy. Again, it is by God who makes
the difference. Glory to his name. Let's pray. Our Father, we come to you thanking
you for your grace, thanking you for your mercy, thanking
you for showing us your truth and knowing that we were alive
fully and wholly on the work of Christ, who he is, what he's
done, that he could take all of the
sins of all of your people and pay for them and defeat death
for us. We ask, Lord, that you'll press
that on our hearts. Help us to remember that every day. We thank you, Christ, for your
love, for your mercy and for your distinguishing grace. We
pray this in Jesus' name, amen. Now we'll take