Alright, go back to Psalm 86
with me. As much as I would like to deal
with the whole psalm, and we have before, we want to look
at one verse. One verse caught my attention,
greatly caught my attention some time ago, and I've been thinking
about it ever since. Verse 17. David says, he's praying to the
Lord, he says, show me a token for good. Show me a token for good." Now,
as the title says, this is a prayer of David. David was a man after
God's own heart. David is called the sweet psalmist
of Israel. David was the king of Israel. David knew the Lord and was known
of the Lord. Yet, he prayed, show me a token
for good. Show me evidence, proof that
you mean me good. That we know that all things
work together. for good to them that love God. David wrote in Psalm 73, I know
that God is good to Israel and to them that are of a clean and
upright heart. And so what he's saying is, show
me, I need to see a token that you mean me good. That it's all
good. That I'm one of your own. That
you mean nothing but good for me. That I'm one of the Lords.
That really caught my attention. And I've been thinking about
that for a long time now. Lord, show me a token for good. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ plainly
said, an evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign. But no sign will be given. He
plainly said that. No sign will be given except,
do you remember what? The sign of the prophet Jonas,
which is Christ crucified, is what that is. No sign will be
given. And the Scriptures plainly tells
us that The Antichrist, or spirit of Antichrist, and there are
many, it's not just one person, it's the spirit of Antichrist,
uses signs and lying wonders to deceive many. And he said that even God the
Father, when people receive not the love of the truth, He sends
strong delusions that they believe a lie. That's what the Scripture
says. Those who don't receive the truth,
believe the truth, God sends some kind of signs. So we're not to look for signs. Visions and signs and miracles
are not to be trusted. God doesn't give them. Not in
that way. Need to look to and believe and
trust only is the Word of God. The Word of God. The truth of
God. And yet, every child of God asks
this with David. Lord, I need a special manifestation. I want to know personally. I want you to say to my soul,
David said this, say unto my soul, I am thy salvation. Show me a token for good. Do you say that? I do. I'm interested
in that. I want the Lord, I need the Lord
to show me a token for good. Every single child of God from
Abel to Zechariah or Zerubbabel struggles with sin and unbelief. Self-righteous people don't struggle
with sin and unbelief. They have a false refuge. But
God's people struggle with sin and unbelief. They are harassed
by their adversary, the devil, who is the accuser of the brethren. And God's people all go through
good times and bad times, up and down, hot and cold, all the
time. All the time. And if you're honest,
you worry about your salvation. I know what these, as I said,
these self-righteous people brag about. I know I'm saved and sure
for heaven as if I'm already there. Well, Paul said that he
hadn't arrived yet, didn't he? And so he said, this one thing
I do, I pray it. And all of God's people worry
about their salvation to some degree, and they wonder if everything
is going to turn out all right. I know you all know this hymn
and love it well. John Newton, who wrote Amazing
Grace, wrote this, and I know you've never forgotten it since
you first heard it. "'Tis a point I long to know, and oft it causes
anxious thought, Do I love the Lord or no? Am I His or am I
not? If I love Him, why am I thus? Why this dull and lifeless frame? Hardly sure can they be worse
who never knew His name. Hearts so hard remain in prayer,
a task and a burden proven. Every trifle give me pain if
I knew a Savior's love. When I turn my eyes within, all
is dark and vain and wild, filled with unbelief and sin. Can I
deem myself a child if I pray or hear or read? Sin is mixed
with all I do. You that love the Lord indeed,
tell me, is it thus with you? You remember when you first heard
that? I pasted it in the back of my Bible because it meant
so much to me. Those are the struggles that
every single child of God has quite often. And so I can say,
can you say with David, show me a token for good. I need a token for good, show
me evidence or proof that I'm one of yours and that you mean
nothing but good for me and that it's all going to turn out good.
Well, the greatest, surest token, the chief proof or evidence and
sign or signal, if you will, that everything is working together
for your good, that you're one of God's people is this. He reveals
the gospel to you. He reveals the truth to you.
Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 2. 1 Corinthians 2. By God's
grace tonight, we're not going to just see one token, we're
going to see several from God's Word. 1 Corinthians 2. See, in
the last days, and these are the very last of the last days.
Perilous times, Scripture speaks of. Paul said they will turn
away their ears from the truth unto fables. And we've never lived in a time
that more clearly fits that than now. We have more Bibles but
less truth. Less men that preach it. So the
greatest and surest token that God means you nothing but good,
a token of his goodness, that you're one of his elect, that
all is well, is the word of truth, the gospel of God's grace in
Christ revealed to you. In 1 Corinthians 2, verse 14,
it says, a natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit
of God. They're foolishness unto him. Neither can he know them. They're spiritually discerned.
In other words, you can't figure these things out. God has to
reveal them to you. Well, up in verse 10 it says,
God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit. God hath revealed
the things of God, the things of Christ, unto us by His Holy
Spirit. Listen to this psalm. Here's
what he said in Psalm 147. He said this. He said, He has
showed His Word unto Jacob. His statutes, His judgments unto
Israel. He hath not so dealt with any
other nation. As for His judgment, His ways,
they have not known them. But He showed His ways unto Jacob,
unto Israel, unto His people. All of His people. All of His
people. Peter said, well, Pastor Mahan
preached on it on the radio not long ago. He said, knowing brethren,
beloved, Your election of God because our gospel came unto
you. Our gospel. There's a difference
between the true gospel and this other gospel that's being preached
out there today. There's another Jesus being preached
out there today. That's not the Jesus Christ description. The one being preached today
is an impotent failure who cannot do anything but what men allow
him to do. That's not the Jesus Christ description.
The God being preached today is a God who is in men's hands
rather than the God of the Bible in whose hands we are. The God
being preached today is no God at all. That's what David said
in Psalm 86. He said, among all the gods,
there's none like you. Because they're not God at all.
They want to be God and can't be God unless men let them. That's
not the God we know. That's not our God. And to all
of his elects, to all of his people, he reveals himself to
them. He says, know in your election
because our gospel came to you, not in word only, but in power,
quickening power, redeeming power, regenerating power. Our gospel,
the gospel, there is only one, the truth. The truth as it is
in the Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel of God's sovereign,
electing grace in Jesus Christ. The gospel of God's sovereign
mercy. The gospel of God's substitutionary,
Christ's substitutionary death on Calvary Street. The gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Who He is. Who He is. One time He asked His disciples,
who do men say that I am? And they said, some say you're
this and some say you're that. And that sounds like what men
are saying about Him today. He's this. He's a good man. He's a miracle worker. He's a
humanitarian. He's this. He's that. He's a
healer. He's a friend and all of that.
But He said to His disciple, who do you say that I am? Like Thomas. He said, you're my Lord and my
God. You're God manifest in the flesh. Well, he said, flesh and
blood didn't reveal that to you, but my Father which is in heaven.
So he's not merely Jesus. He's the Lord God of glory. God manifest in the flesh. Well,
why? The gospel we know. The gospel he's revealed to us.
Why he came? Why did Jesus Christ come? Just
to help us when we get in trouble? Just to be an insurance policy?
Oh, no. He came. He said, I am come that
they might have life. They are dead. I came to raise
them like He came to raise Lazarus. The Lord Jesus Christ came as
a sin offering for His people. Sin offering. His people were
dead and trespassed in sin and broken God's holy law. And Christ
came down here to fulfill that law. And he did it. And Christ
came down here to pay for every one of their sin and he did it.
He didn't try to do it, he did it. And he went to Calvary's
tree and God poured on him his wrath and put on him the iniquity
of all of his people and Jesus Christ paid for every sin of
every one of God's people. He saved them. He didn't try
to save. He came to save them. And He did just that. And hanging
on Calvary's tree, He said His last words, It is finished. Christ didn't come to try to
save anybody. He came to save His people. And
He did just that. That's the Christ description.
That's the gospel that He's revealed to you. Where is He now? Seated
at the right hand of the Majesty on high. He's not hanging around
everybody's heart's door trying to come in if they let Him. No,
sir. He's seated right now on the throne of glory, reigning
and ruling over all flesh. That's the Jesus Christ of Scripture
which very few people know. This is the surest chief token
that God means you good is that He's revealed the gospel, the
truth of who He is, who Christ is, and yourself. Most people
think very highly of themselves. when they know not that the wretched,
miserable, poor, blind, and naked, unclean before God, and need
this Savior to pay for their sins. You know that. Why do you know that? That's
a token for good. He's revealed this gospel unto
you. And he's coming again. Look over the gospel of Joshua. The gospel of Joshua, right after
the five books of Moses, Joshua. Here it is, a sure token. Sure
token, you know the story. And this harlot named Rahab,
our Lord said the publicans and the harlots will enter into heaven
before the self-righteous, the Pharisees and so forth, because
Christ came to save sinners. And He came to save everyone
that the Father gave Him, and He did just that. And Rahab was
one of them. And here in Joshua chapter 2,
you remember this story as much as I'd like to deal with it. In verse 12, Rahab is speaking
to these men sent by Joshua who represent the Word of God, the
preachers of the Word. And she said unto them, in verse
12, I pray you swear unto me by the Lord, since I have showed
you kindness, that you will also show kindness unto my father's
house, and give me a true token. Give me a token. Something that
proves to me that you will save me, that you will do what you
said you would do, that you came to save me. You were sent and
revealed all this to me, and if you intend to save, purpose
to save me, show me a token." So these men said, okay. In verse
18, They said, when we come into the land, you bind this line
of scarlet thread in the window which thou hast let us down by.
You know the story. She let down this line, this
scarlet, this red line from her window, and these men climbed
down from that red scarlet line. Well, what is that talking about?
Nothing but the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That red line
that runs through all of God's Word from Genesis to Revelation
is the redemption of the salvation of all of God's people. Everything
concerning salvation hangs on that scarlet line. And they revealed
this to her. This is the token. This is the
sure token that we mean you nothing but good. Yea, salvation. That when we come through, when
we see this line, you're coming out. Mark it down. That's the
token. So down in verse 821, it says,
she said, according to your words, so be it. So she sent them away
and they departed. And what did she do? Well, her
hope, all of her hope of not being destroyed with that wicked
city of Jericho, all of her salvation, was hanging on that scarlet line.
So she took that scarlet line and mounted it in the window.
And did not our Lord give this sure token to all the children
of Israel when they were leaving Egypt? In Exodus 12, He said,
this is it. When I see the blood, I will
pass over you. Take the blood and strike it
over the lintel and the doorpost Because I'm coming through the
death angel and I'm going to destroy everybody in Egypt except
those who are under the blood. That's the token. A sure token. When I see the blood. Not if,
and, or maybe, or but. But when I see that blood, I
will pass over you. Lord, show me a token for good.
Has He showed you that? What is your salvation? Your
works? Your decision? Your baptism? You're turning over a new leaf?
One of the brothers the other day said, I turn it over and
it's the same as the other side. No good. Well, what is your hope? What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's the surest and chief token
that God can show you. Absolutely. And here's another
token. Faith. Faith is a sure token. Faith. To receive His Word, to
believe it, to rejoice, faith is a sure token. In John chapter
1, our Lord, where the Scripture says, As many as received him,
to them gave he the power, the right to become sons of God,
even to those that believe on his name. Not to him that worked
it, but to him that believed it. As many as received him,
to them gave he the right to become the sons of God. Well,
why did they receive him? Why does anyone receive the truth?
The natural man receiveth not the truth. Isn't that what it
said? It says it's foolishness to him.
Neither can he know it. Then why does anyone receive
the truth? Why does anyone believe the truth
that's repulsive to our human nature? They were born of God. Faith
is not a decision of the human will. Faith is not something
we decide to do. Faith is an act of God. Faith
is a miracle of God. Faith is the power of God. To
take a man and make him believe what he can't, what he won't. Make him love what he hates by
nature. Make him hate what he loves.
Make him see what you can't see. Hear what you can't hear. Believe that which is, as I said,
repulsive to human pride and wisdom and so forth. The gospel
is an offense to the natural man. And it takes the power of
God to make a man believe it. That's what Ephesians 1.19 says,
this is to you who believe according to the working of His mighty
power. The working of His mighty power.
This faith, this true faith, this God-given faith is a true
token for good. A token for good. Truth revealed. Faith given. and the Spirit of
God given. Look at Ephesians 1. This is a true token for good. The Spirit of God. Our Lord said,
if any man hath not the Spirit, he is not of His. As many as
are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Well,
what does the Holy Spirit do? Well, He doesn't do what this
modern religious world says and pretends that He does. You see
all of this stuff that goes on today under the name of the Holy
Spirit, all this babbling lunacy, makes people wallow around and
hang from chandeliers and all this ridiculous stuff. Makes
them act like the lunatic in the graveyard. Remember when the Lord came to
that Gadarene the Demoniac in the tombs, he was doing what
people do today that call it the Spirit, Spirit-filled Christians,
doing all those crazy, acting like a wild man. But when the
Lord, the Holy Spirit came upon him, when the people found him,
he wasn't jumping all over the place and talking like a blooming
idiot. He was seated at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ, clobed
in his right mind, hearing Jesus, had his mouth shut, listening
to Jesus cry. That's the Holy Spirit. who takes
the things of Christ and shows them unto us. He'll not speak
of himself. But here in Ephesians 1, in verse
13, it says, "...in whom," that is, in Christ, "...you trust
it." And when I talk about this faith, the Scriptures talk about
faith. What faith is, is in Jesus Christ alone. Faith is in Jesus Christ alone.
Faith is not even in your faith. Faith is in Jesus Christ. A person
who really believes Jesus Christ and looks to Jesus Christ, looks
to Him for all their salvation, that He's all. He's all their
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, redemption. He's all their hope.
It's not anything to do with them. It's everything to do with
Him. "...in whom ye also trusted," verse 13, "...after ye heard
the word of truth," the truth, the gospel of your salvation,
"...in whom," Also, after you believe, you are sealed with
that Holy Spirit of promise who is the earnest, which is, or
who is, the earnest of our inheritance. Purchase, possession, the praise
of his glory, the earnest, like a token. The Holy Spirit is that
token. Our Lord said, when I go away,
I'll send the Holy Spirit to you. The Comforter, whom the Father
will send in my name, He'll take the things of mine and show them
unto you. He points to me. He bears witness
of me. When He comes, He'll convince a people out of every tribe,
kindred, nation, and tongue of sin, righteousness, and judgment.
That is all according to me. It's all in me. It's all up to
me. The Holy Spirit will take the things of mine and show you,
and you'll see that salvation is 100% in, by, through, for,
to the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's it. That's the greatest token that
God could give. The chief, surest token. Show me a token for good. Do
you believe, do you see that Jesus Christ is all your hope? Do you? That's the best token
I can show you. It doesn't get any better than
that. A sure token for good. All people
don't see that. The earnest of the Holy Spirit. He sends him. and grounds his
people and settles them in faith, shuts them up to faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ. The next thing, a token for the,
show me a token for good, are these things. Show me a token
for good, David said. Well, all of God's people are
persecuted for the truth sake. All of God's people go through
trials, tribulations, and affliction, the first of which is persecution
for the truth. Philippians 1, go over there,
Philippians chapter 1. All of God's people are persecuted
for the truth's sake. I was talking to a woman one
time whose husband was a so-called preacher. Actually, he was a
clown. He was actually a clown. He called himself a clown for
Jesus, and he dressed up like a clown. And that's what he was,
a blooming idiot. God's men are not clowns. There's
nothing of the sort in God's Word. Can you imagine Simon Peter
dressing up, or Paul or these men doing the things that you
see so-called preachers do today? It's an abomination. In the name
of God. It's a mockery of God in Scripture. God's men don't do that. And
they're fools. They're fools. Clowns. Well,
I said to this woman, and we were talking about the truth,
and what men call the truth is God loves you and Jesus died
for you and He wants you to accept Him and all that. I said, where
is the offense in that? The Scriptures call it the offense
of the cross. I said, where's the offense in
that? Who's offended when you tell them God loves them, that
God needs them, that God wants them? Where's the offense in
that? That feeds people's pride. That makes people feel good.
Oh, God loves me. God wants me. God needs me. Church
can't be church without me. What's offensive about that?
Nothing. Here's the offense. God doesn't
need you at all. That without him you can do nothing.
That in your flesh dwelleth no good thing. That you're absolutely
repulsive to a holy God by name. That's the offense. That what
it took to save the rotten sinner like you, this is what the scripture
says. What it took to save a hell-deserving worm like us is for God to put
His Son on the tree, Calvary's tree, and make Him sin and pour
out His wrath on Him. Put His Son to death. Why? Why
did He do that? Because of sin. He was a substitute.
That was us. That's offensive. I'm not that
bad, men said. We're worse than that. Worse than that. Why did Jesus
Christ die on the cross then? If righteousness, Scripture says,
comes by the law or by us doing anything, Jesus Christ died in
vain. That's how serious it is. Philippians 1, and the offense
is that God may not love us. That God may not save us. That God doesn't need us. But
we desperately need Him. And I can tell you this, though,
on the authority of God's Word, all that do need His mercy, all
that do call on Him for mercy will get it. Because He's ready
to pardon. He delights to show mercy. But
He doesn't have to. That's the event. And all who
preach this and all who believe this will be persecuted for it.
They killed every single prophet except Elijah who rose. They
killed every prophet. Wow. None of them went around
telling everybody how much God loved them. Not one of them. You'll never find it in Scripture.
None of the apostles ever stood in a public place and said, God
loves you. Not once. Peter preached at Pentecost.
The one that you killed is right now on the throne and you're
in His hands to do as He pleases. And he sat down. He didn't have
an altar call. He didn't say, now what will
you do with Jesus? They had already done what they would with Jesus.
They killed Him. And now he says, here's the question.
Here's the question. What's He going to do with us? That's the fear of the Lord,
he said. And God struck fear in their
hearts, and 3,000 people said, what shall we do? And that's
when Peter said, believe. Believe. And you preach this,
and you believe this, and you tell your friends and your family
and your neighbor and your co-workers this, and they'll hate you for
it. But it's the truth. And you won't be their enemies
for telling them the truth. You just tell them the truth.
And Philippians 1 verse 28 says, And nothing terrified by your
adversary, and there will be many. Our Lord said, You will
be hated by all men for my name's sake, for my honor's sake, for
my glory's sake, for my work's sake, for my person's sake. To
them, it's a token of perdition. They think because you're hated,
because everybody, you know, turns thumbs down on you, that
you're a cult. You're in a cult. That you believe
something everybody else doesn't believe, so you're in a cult. Folks, the truth has always been
in the minority. As in the days of Noah, our Lord
said, how many were in the ark? Eight. Noah preached for 120
years. What did he preach? What did
he preach? The love of God. Judgment is coming. But there
is mercy. And it's in one place, the ark. for 120 years. Eight people. As in the days of Noah, our Lord
said. As in the days of Lot, how many came out of Sodom? How
many came out of Sodom? Why did they come out? Three people. Why did they come
out? Tell me, why did they come out?
The Lord being merciful to them, the Lord laid hope. Lot said,
I'm going to stay. Lot's wife said, oh look, she
perished. Three people came out because
the Lord in mercy and grace lay hold of them, John, and pulled
them out or else they would have perished with everybody else.
And that's me. That's me. As in the days of
Paul, everywhere Paul went, he incited a riot. Why? Everywhere he went, they wanted
to lynch him. Why? Paul wasn't a more loving, kind,
gracious, meek, mild, compassionate, merciful man on the face of the
earth. But why did they hate him so? For the truth's sake. For the truth's sake. And one
time he was standing before the king and he said, I want to hear
what you have to say because I know everywhere what you're
saying is spoken against. That's today. Today. Persecution. Persecution. It's a token for good. It's a
token for good because he said, well, read on. I didn't read
the rest of it. Verse 29, unto you it is given
in behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to
suffer for his sake. That doesn't mean go out as a
missionary and suffer deprivation and hunger and all of that. It
means suffer for the truth's sake. Suffer persecution. Suffer being maligned. Our Lord
said, blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute
you and say all manner of evil falsely for my name's sake. They
did it to the prophet. You're in good company. It's
a token. It's a token. And you tell the
truth to people and they get angry with you. Let's not ourselves
be the cause of their anger or offense. We speak it in meekness
and humility. Nevertheless, say it boldly. Say it plainly. And this persecution is a token
of God's grace and of God's good. He said there in 1 Thessalonians,
he said this also, knowing your election, that you receive the
word in much affliction. It was Bunyan in his Pilgrim's
Progress. And every one of us have experienced
it. When the Lord showed Pilgrim the truth, he went home with
his family and told them all, thinking, they'll all rejoice
with me. They're all going to love this, too. Listen to what
the Lord has revealed to me. Listen, brother so-and-so, or
my sister. Listen to what the Lord has taught
me. And you see the veins pop out
in their neck. And they get mad at you. It takes
you back. Our Lord said, that's a token.
It's a token. It's a given unto you. Trials
and afflictions. Trials and afflictions that happen
to all of God's people are tokens for good. God sends trials. Every
trial is sent by the Lord Himself. Troubles. Job. All that Job went
through was sent by God. What was it all about? Tokens
for good. Everyone the Lord loves He chastens.
Everyone whom He has given this faith to, He tries that faith.
And it is tried like gold in the fire, and it is found under
praise, honor, and glory. Trials are tokens for good, revealing
that we do have faith that He gave it, that His grace is sufficient,
showing us Himself near and dear to us at that time? Oh, my. And there's so much more. I could
give you so much more. Provisions. All our lives the
Lord has provided for His people. David said this, he said, I've
been old, I've been young, I'm now old, and I've never seen
the righteous forsaken or his seed begging bread. Never. Never. And it's true. You won't miss
it. God provides. Listen to this. In Nehemiah,
I told you to read chapter 9 for yourself, and I did it, and I
listened to myself and read it again. And he said, the Lord
in His manifold mercies forsook them not. For 40 years He sustained
them in the wilderness. They lacked nothing. Their clothes
waxed not old. Their feet swelled not. They
didn't need a thing. Some of you spent a lot longer
than 40. Right, John? 72. Right, Nancy? 73. You can attest that you've never
missed a meal. You've never been without food
and raiment. You've never been without the
necessity. Our Lord said He would do that. Before you knew Him,
He girded you. Before you knew Him, He fed you. Why? It's a token for good. Now you know, don't you, who
it is. The Lord gives tokens like this, a token of His people. He puts his sheep in a flock. This is a token for good right
here. All of God's sheep, he said,
they'll be a member of a fold with one shepherd. That's how
you know they're sheep. It's a token for good when the
Lord puts you in a flock, makes you to lie down in green pastures
beside the still water, restores your soul and shows you the Lord
Jesus Christ, the Great Shepherd of the sheep, that you have no
want because of Him, and puts you in a flock because God has
no solitary sheep, not for long. If they are, He'll eventually
bring them into a fold. And that's a token for good. A token. You're a member of his
body, of his church, a sheep. You know, that's a characteristic
of sheep. They have to have other sheep. They're gregarious. They have
to congregate, have to flock together. Unlike goats, for the
most part. But sheep have to have one another. And they thrive in a flock together. And they need a shepherd and
so forth. That's a good token. You need people of like faith.
You need this flock. You need to flock together, gather
together. You need to rub shoulders with
these people. That's a good token. A good token. When I came here 20 some years
ago, I wanted right or wrong, a token from the Lord that I
was a pastor, that he sent me to be a pastor, a leader of his
flock. And that token is cheap fruit. You know them by their fruits. And I asked him, right or wrong,
I asked him, if you sent me, If I'm a preacher of the gospel,
a true preacher, and a pastor of your people, let somebody hear the gospel
under me. Give a new birth under me. That's proof. That's proof.
And he did. Amazingly. Much to my amazement. Through this poor, pitiful fellow.
And I look out right now and some of those people are still
sitting here. Amazing. And I look out here To my amazement,
people that have been here before I got here and still here through
all my youth and all my mistakes and all my changes and all that,
but they're still listening to me. That's a token for good to
me. I need that. I need that. The Lord showed me that. And
for you, it's a token that if you can still get great joy out
of the gospel, who preached through an earthen vessel. You know,
David said this in the psalm. He said, Say unto my soul, I
am thy salvation. Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation. There are so many tokens from
God's Word that there are too many to live. Alright, here's
one. This is a faithful saint. Say
unto my soul, show me a token, all right, here it is. This is
a faithful saint and worthy of all acceptation that Jesus Christ
came into the world to save sinners. I love that verse. Why? Because
my name is there. My name is there. What's that? Sinner. Sinner. Yeah, but I need him to say to
my soul, all right, hold on. Hold on. Our Lord stood one day
and He said, Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden. That labor, that wrestle with
and struggle with sin and unbelief and are labor under a sense of
whatever, guilt and so forth, that labor and are heavy laden.
He said, Come unto me, all of you. The only qualification is
need. The only qualification is labor
and heavy laden. The only qualification is sinner.
I fit that. Come unto me." He said, I'll
give you rest. Yeah, but I want him to say to
my soul, and I said, alright. Here he said then, barely, barely,
and when the Lord says something twice, listen up. Barely, barely,
I say unto you, whoever is listening, he that heareth my words and
believeth on him that sent me, hath passed from death unto life,
and shall not come into condemnation." He couldn't say out loud to you,
I am thy salvation, more than that. He couldn't do it. Say
unto my soul, okay, verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth,
believeth, hath passed from death unto life.
Need some more? Okay, just start reading for
yourself. Okay? Just go home and start reading for yourself.
Because all the promises of God are to His people. And they're
yea and amen. They're sure. Promises in the
Lord Jesus Christ. And you know, He speaks to us
all the time. And we, like Samuel, we're not
aware of it. Children are just like Sammy
we heard Sunday morning. He speaks to us all the time.
He shows us token after token. And we don't recognize it. And
we need to be like Eli of old and say, just go lie down. And
say, I'm listening. Speak. And he'll show you. Show me a sure token. A token for good. Has he showed
you the truth? Has He given you faith? Oh, my. Love for the truth? Some amount of persecution because
of it? Trials? Afflictions with people that
you love? All these things. Okay. Stand
with me. Our Lord, thank You for Your
sure word, sure mercies of David, sure promises of our God that
are in Christ. Thank you, Lord. David of Old,
we want and need a sure token from Thee, and You have given
us so very many. Lord, call these things to our
mind when we need it the most. Your people. Say unto Your people's
soul and heart and mind that You are their salvation. And
someone not yet revealed yourself to, Lord, be pleased, according
to your will and purpose, reveal yourself to them, your truth,
reveal your Son in them. Show them thy glory. Show them
who they are and their need of the Lord Jesus Christ. Show them,
show them that he is all. our hope and salvation. Show
them, Lord, it's up to Thee. Not up to us, it's up to Thee.
So we call upon You. Thank You, Lord, for the Word. Thank You for the Gospel. Thank
You for Your people. It's in Christ's name we pray
and have met here tonight. Amen.