Look at that verse 15 again with
me. David is thanking the Lord for many things, and he thanks
him for wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to
make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man's heart. Wine that gladdens the heart.
Would you know what that might be? Is there any doubt what it is
that truly gladdens the heart of sinners? Christ is all and
in all. He's in all. Christ is to be
seen in all things. He's all and in all. Seen in
all things. As the scripture says, in all
things he must have the preeminence. Whatever the subject, whatever
we look at, whatever the element, Christ is in it. And marvelously
and amazingly, God Almighty in his wisdom typifies and pictures
the Lord Jesus Christ in so many elements all through the scriptures.
He's seen in so many things. He calls himself by these things,
light. We saw that there in verse 2. He covers, who covereth thyself
with light, as with a garment. And that's what John said. The
light was manifest. Christ is the light which lighteneth
every man. He is the door. Christ is the
door. He said, I'm the vine. You're the branches. He said,
I'm the water. I'm the water. Christ is called
fire. God is a consuming fire, and
so on and so forth. And these things and more. Picture
our Lord in his glorious attributes and works, and we could go on
and on and on. And if we had eyes to see and
an understanding, we'd see Christ in everything. Everything. And if we would live our lives
with some thoughts of Christ, we'd see him in everything. We
would rejoice in these things as they typify him. But there
are three elements here. Three elements here in our text
that speak of his saving work. These things speak of his saving
work more particularly. And this is what we're going
to see in this ordinance tonight that we're going to take up.
Three things that he mentions here in verse fifteen. Bread,
wine, and oil. Bread, wine, and oil. And these three things will be
found in this ordinance tonight. You say, where's the oil? I hope
you ask that. Where's the oil? All right. A
sweet psalmist of Israel here is serving up some sweet wine,
sweet wine of God's Word. David speaks of the Son of David
here. All right, let's look at these
three elements here in verse 15. All right, look at it. We'll
look at it in context. Verse 15, he says, he thanks
the Lord for wine that makes glad the heart of man. What is this wine? Turn over
to Matthew 26. Matthew 26, and our Lord will
answer that for us. Matthew 26. He's not, David's
not talking and writing about the mere physical element of
wine, although it's a blessed thing. It's a good gift. Our
Lord, the first thing he made, the first miracle he performed
was the making of wine, wasn't it? And I defy these legalistic
prudes to show us how that wine is not necessary or how that
wine is an evil thing. To the contrary, wine is a good
thing. is thanking the Lord spiritually
for spiritual wine, but he's also thanking the Lord for physical
wine, too. Physical wine relaxes the mind,
soothes the stomach. Paul wrote and told young Timothy
to quit drinking the water. The water is bad, he said. Drink a little wine if your stomach's
sick. One of the ladies back a few months ago, I had a stomach
virus, intestinal virus, I could not get rid of and could not
get any relief. And one of the ladies brought
over a bottle of wine, and I took a glass of that before I went
to bed, and it settled me right down for the night. And I was
able to sleep, and wine will give the body rest. Sleep has
medicinal qualities, healing, cleansing, property. But the
wine that I believe he's speaking of principally here is in verse
27. Christ took the cup and it was
wine. Make no mistake, it was wine. New wine, old wine, wine's wine.
He took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them, saying,
Drink ye all of it. This is my blood of the New Testament,
which is shed for many. But for many particular redemption. Yes. Matthew twenty six twenty
eight for many. Matthew twenty twenty eight says
similar. The son of man came not to be ministered unto but
to minister and give his life a ransom for. Many many. Oh there's a lot to many people.
but not all. But he does shed his precious
blood for many for the remission of sin. This is Christ's blood
that David gives thanks for, and that's why we were met here
tonight, to give thanks for Christ's shed blood for the remission
of our sin. Wine that makes glad the heart
of an old guilty sinner. Wine that covers the sin of an
old guilty sinner. The blood of Christ is what makes
the heart glad. Sin has made us Mad. Crazy. Sin hath made us mad. Guilt hath made us sad. The blood
hath made us glad. Sin hath made us mad. Guilt hath
made us sad. The blood hath made us glad.
It's the blood, God said, that makes atonement for the soul.
It's the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, that cleanses us from
all sin. Only the blood. It's the blood
that God said, when I see, I'll pass over you. The blood. By his own blood, he entered
in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption
for us, and now therefore having boldness to enter into the holiest
by the blood of Jesus Christ. It's the blood that makes our
hearts glad, because our sins are atoned for, they're covered
We are cleansed by this blood. God sees the blood and passes
over us and accounts us innocent. By his blood we enter into the
holy place with confidence that God will accept us. It is the
blood that cheers our hearts. Why art thou cast down within
me, O my soul? Hope thou in God. It is the blood. It's the blood. I want you to
look at a couple of Old Testament scriptures. Judges. Look over
Judges, chapter 9. These are excellent. You're going
to enjoy this. The book of Judges, chapter 9. And then we'll run
to Ecclesiastes. Judges 9. Judges 9, verse 13. Look at this. This is unusual. You've never
seen this before. And this is Jopham's parable.
I'd love to preach on this sometime. It's a mysterious portion of
Scripture. But verse 13, the vine said unto them, Should I
leave my wine which cheereth God and man? This wine, David
thanks God for wine that makes glad the heart of man. Well,
here it says that this wine cheers God. cheer wine for God. The blood of Christ cheers God. That's strange, isn't it? It
pleased the Lord to bruise him, who for the joy that was set
before him endured the cross, shed his blood for joy. This
blood of God's Son, though it cost him dearly, it pleased the
Lord to do it. It cheered the Lord. It pleased
the Lord to make you his people. How? By the blood. This blood
cheers God. It cheers God. And that ought
to cheer us. God, who would else otherwise
be angry with us? Who would be mad at us, wouldn't
he? Anger. Who would look upon us in his
fierce wrath. But he looks upon us now with
cheer. Enjoy. Look at that old boy. Satan, the accuser, says, look
at that old sinner. Would you look at him? God says, yeah,
look at him. He smiles. But he's a sinner. God says,
I don't see anything but blood. I see a spotless but pure son,
cleansed in the blood. Ecclesiastes 9. Turn over there. This is along the same lines
as David's psalm. On Proverbs Ecclesiastes chapter
nine. Look at this. Ecclesiastes nine
verses seven and eight. Got it? Hurry up. Proverbs, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes. All right? Ecclesiastes nine.
Look at verse seven and eight. Go thy way. You got it? Go thy
way. Remember when Christ Healed that
man, he said, Go thy way. What way did he go? He followed
Christ in the way. Go thy way, eat thy bread with
joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart. God now accepteth
thy works. Isn't that good? God now accepteth
thy works. Let thy garments be always white. Let the head like no one. That's
good. Please ask these 10 turn over
there. Please ask these 10 look at verse 19. A feast is made
for laughter and wine make of Mary. This is not this is well. This is a solemn feast. In a
serious time. And we endeavor to do this reverentially
and respectfully and worshipfully and all, but we're not to be
downcast. We ought to smile. A feast is
made for laughter. If somebody wants to let out
a laugh every night, that'd be fine. Wine maketh merry. And
when you're glad, you laugh, don't you? That may be where that old statement
came from. Laughter makes the heart merry. All right. But a believer ought
to be the happiest man or woman on earth. They really should. With a heart made glad by the
wine of Christ's blood, we ought to be happy. We really should. If things that bring us down,
yes. If things that sadden us, but for the most part we ought
to be happy people. We're blessed above all people. Blessed people. Bless the Lord. Oh, my soul. Oh, my soul. And along the same lines as wine,
and I mentioned a while ago, wine relaxes the mind. The blood of Christ ought to
relax an old sinner's mind, shouldn't it? Our mind should never be
ill at ease concerning our state before God. Oh my, oh my, no. The blood ought to soothe, settle
our minds right now, right? And the wine, natural wine soothes
the belly. Well, the wine of Christ's blood
ought to soothe us in our bowels, shouldn't it? Our innermost being.
It ought to give us some sense of peace. Don't get your bowels
on an uproar, as the old statement used to say. Well, the blood
of Christ ought to do that. It ought to settle us and soothe
our spirit. Wine, natural wine, gives rest. Take a little glass right before
bed. I used to tell Virgie that. Virgie
said, I didn't sleep much last night. I said, Virgie, get you
a glass of wine. Take your glass of wine for you.
go to bed and has a little sedative and go on to sleep. He gives
his beloved sleep. How? Well, they can go to sleep
when they feel that their sins are washed in the blood. He gives
rest. And wine has a medicinal quality
to it, and the blood of God's Son cleanses us from all sin. All right, look at the next thing
in the text. Look at Psalm 104, verse 15,
and I'm taking it in context as it's written. Our Lord broke
the bread first and then the wine, but here it is, wine, and
then he gives oil. He says, oil to make man's face
to shine. Oil that makes his face to shine,
or oil that makes his face shine more than oil. my margin said. Or face, like the face of man
answereth in water face to face. Well, oil. What is this oil that
he's talking about? What is this oil? And you say,
where is the oil here? And that's what I want to know.
Where is the oil? Well, what is the oil? What is
always always, and whenever oil is mentioned in Scripture, what
is it? Somebody? Huh? Say it, Vicki. The Holy Spirit is always likened
unto oil, the oil of the Spirit. And we need to be anointed. Now,
I ask, where is the oil in this? If there's no oil in it, if there's
no anointing of oil, this service will mean nothing. It'll just
be a dead, dry ceremony. The anointing of the Holy Spirit,
like oil, when anointed to the face, it causes your face to
shine. You ladies, you try to cover it up. You get this stuff
that takes away the oil. Well, this is one time when we
want our face to shine with oil. The Holy Spirit shines, as 2
Corinthians 4, 6 says, God, who caused the light to shine out
of darkness, has shined in our hearts. give the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus. And when we see the face of Christ,
the face answers the face. Our faces shine. When anointed
by the oil, our faces shine. Like Moses, when he came down
from the mountain, being in the presence of God, his face shone.
And if the Holy Spirit will anoint us to see Christ, our faces will
shine. We will be enlightened. Here's
a few things to note about oil, the element of oil. Oil has a
softening effect. When I was a boy, Brandon, I
used to soften my baseball glove with oil. You do that? You fellas
do that? I've got an old baseball glove
that belonged to my brother, and it's just as limp as a wet
rag, Sam. Because it's that oil, it's just
saturated with oil. You do leather with that. Well,
this old leathery This old leathery, tough heart needs to be softened,
doesn't it? And nothing but the Holy Spirit
will do that. The Holy Spirit, through the
gospel, will soften the hardest of hearts. And that's what we
need tonight. Our hearts become spiritually
insensitive. They're materially hardened.
This material world has a hardening effect on the spirit. And when
we come in here, the Holy Spirit needs to soften our hearts. Soften
our hearts. Make them malleable. Make them
sensitive to the Word of God. Make them receive the Word. Break
the heart. Here's another thing. Oil has
a moistening effect to it. Has a moistening effect. Things
will dry up without oil. Won't they? Dry up and crack
without oil. Well, the Holy Spirit is to grant
us moisture. Scriptures speak of that several
times. David says, my moisture is dried
up. And how often do you feel just
dry and dead? And you come in here and you
think, oh, Holy Spirit, give me some feeling. Moisture toward
the things of God. Here's another thing. Oil has
a preserving effect. Remember that old ball glove
I was talking about? My brother had that when he was
about seven or eight years old, so that ball glove is over forty
years old, and it looks new. It has a preserving effect to
it. Well, in this sense, the Holy Spirit, we're led by the
Spirit, we're taught by the Spirit, we're restrained by the Spirit,
we're kept by the Spirit. Kept preserves us by His Spirit. Look at the next thing. in the
text. Psalm 104 verse 15. So he thanks the Lord for wine
that makes glad the heart of man. That's the blood of Christ
that makes the old sinner glad. Oil to make his face to shine.
That's the Holy Spirit who must enlighten us. And bread which
strengthens man's heart. Bread. And we sang the song a
while ago, Break thou the bread of life, dear Lord, to me. Well, the Word is the bread.
The Word of God is the believer's bread. It's the staff of life. Our Lord said that. He said,
Man doth not live by bread alone, this bread, but there is a bread
that he will live by. And that's every word that proceeded
from the mouth of God. That's the Word of God, the Bread
of God. One time they came to Christ
and said, Lord, here, take something to eat. You haven't eaten in
a while. He said, I'm eating. Where'd you get bread? Oh, I've
got bread. I've got meat to eat that you
know not of. He said, if you had it, you could
live on the strength of it for forty days and forty nights.
Right? Right. Moses did. Elijah did. Christ did. And we need to live
upon the word of God a little more, don't we? The staff of
life. This is the roll. This is the roll that God told
the prophet to eat. Eat this roll. This sweet roll. This sweet roll, it will fill
us. But more specifically, Christ is the bread of life. Christ is the bread of life.
Christ is the one who came down from heaven, that heavenly manna.
which came down from heaven. Faith in Christ the bread cometh
by eating or partaking of the written bread. Right? Faith in Christ the bread. Christ is served up when this
is served up. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing
by the word. Faith in Christ the bread, the
strengthening of the heart, comes by eating the Word, which is
the bread, the bread of the Word. And upon feasting on Christ,
our hearts are strengthened, an old weak heart. We say, Lord,
I'm weak. Well, when we see his strength,
we're strengthened. We say, Lord, my heart is broken
because of my sin. I put away your sin. The heart
is mended. The heart is mended. The heart
becomes sad, poor in spirit. Lord, we mourn over our sin.
But Christ said, Thy sins and iniquities I will remember no
more. So the hearts make glad and strengthen. The cowardly
heart. Lord, I have forsaken you, Lord. I have Denounce my Lord. Like
Peter, I have denied my Lord as a coward." Well, go tell the
disciples and Peter. Peter's heart was strengthened
because of that. Peter wanted to quit, didn't he? Peter wanted
to quit, but when he heard that word, one word from the Master,
he was encouraged greatly. Turn over to Jeremiah 31. Jeremiah
31. You're going to like this, too.
Jeremiah 31. Jeremiah thirty-one look at verses
ten through fourteen. These are glorious verses. Jeremiah thirty-one, ten. Hear
the word of the Lord, O ye nations, declare it in the isles afar
off, and say, He that scattered Israel. There's another verse that says,
For a small moment have I forsaken thee. It was a time, John, when
you were forsaken by God, it seemed, even though he's the
one that scattered you. But he that scattered Israel
will gather. The Lord allowed you to fall
in a ditch. Our good Samaritan directed you to fall in a ditch,
that he might come and pour in oil and wine. and bring you gather
you look at verse ten he he the scattered Israel will gather
him and keep him and I'm going to lose you now John I'm going
to lose you he scattered you before allowed you to fall before
but he won't allow it again you see that he'll keep him as a
shepherd duff his flock for why he paid a price for you you're
no longer your own you're bought with a price the Lord hath redeemed
Jacob He's spent a lot on you, and he's going to get his money's
worth, his blood's worth. But Jacob is redeemed and ransomed
him from the hand of him that was stronger than he. Therefore
they shall come. Here you are. They shall come. Here you are. And sing in the
height of Zion. Sing in the church of God and
shall flow together. We've flown, flowed, flowed together
tonight from all walks, from all places here. It's kind of
like a little stream trickling down into this, into this place. Flowed together to the goodness
of the Lord. That's what we're talking about
tonight. Oh, that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and
his wondrous works in the children of men. And they'll come here
for what? Wheat, bread, Maybe that's the
reason I like wheat bread. Wheat or bread, wine, and oil. Those three things. And for the
young of the flock and of the herd, their souls shall be as
a watered garden. They shall not sorrow any more
at all. Why? Their hearts are made glad.
Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men
and old together. Then Charles, Ross, A lot of
years between us are separating, but we're rejoicing in the same
thing, aren't we, Charles? Huh? The tie that binds. The
young and old together, I will turn their mourning into joy
and will comfort them and make them rejoice from their sorrow. Sin hath made us sad, and I will
satiate the soul of the priest. with fatness. That man who comes
to preach the gospel, he'll not run out of something to preach.
And my people shall be satisfied with what? My goodness, saith
the Lord. Wine that makes glad the heart,
wine that makes glad the heart, oil that causes the face to shine,
and bread that strengthens man's heart. Those three elements I
found here tonight, I hope. I hope the Holy Spirit will bless
this time together. All right, men, if you'll come
serve the bread up to us.