Now, let's open our Bibles to
the book of 1 John, chapter 5. 1 John, chapter 5. Now, today, many people are thinking
about the issue of fathers, Father's Day. Many churches are honoring
fathers. And I want to begin this message
by talking a little bit about that. What is a good father?
in the scriptures. Well, a good father is a man
who leads his family in the ways of the Lord, serves as an example
of truth and love and respect and honor and worship. And a
good father is one whose children can come to him freely, without
hindrance, without And when I say fear, I'm talking about being
afraid. I'm not talking about the fear of respect now. A good
father has respect, the respect of his children. They know that
when the time calls for it, that punishment must be meted out,
reasonable punishment, fair punishment, corrective and in love. But they
have free access, unhindered access to their father. And that's
a good father. And what I want you to see this
morning from 1 John 5 is that is exactly the way our Heavenly
Father is. And so I've entitled the message,
Assurance and Access to God. Assurance and Access to God. Now, we've been talking a lot
about assurance of salvation. Assurance. What is assurance
of salvation? Well, it's just exactly what
it says. It's a person who is assured, being certain, and knowing,
that we are saved, that we are right with God, that our standing
before God is sealed and certain? And how can a person have such
assurance? Many times people think that,
and it's nothing more than presumption, pride, self-righteousness. Is
it possible to have such assurance? We read last week in the book
of Hebrews chapter 6, that God commands us, and it is God's
will that we have strong consolation. Tonight I'm going to preach from
Isaiah 40, and the first thing he tells the prophet to do to
Jerusalem and Judah, he says, comfort ye, comfort ye my people. And what greater comfort can
we have than the assurance of knowing that we are our Father's
children, and that He is our Heavenly Father. and that he
saved us by his grace and that he cares for us and that he keeps
us. That's the greatest comfort we
can have. So is it possible to have such assurance? Well, it
is. John wrote here in verse 13 of
chapter 5, these things have I written unto you that believe
on the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have
eternal life. He said, I wrote this. And as
I've said, we could say it this way, God the Holy Spirit wrote
this through the Apostle John for this purpose that you may
know, who may know, those who believe on the name of the Son
of God, his name which identifies him and distinguishes him from
counterfeits. But one thing about this issue
of assurance is this, and we need to see this, is that when
it comes to assurance of salvation, and really when it comes to any
matter in salvation, worship, truth, and assurance, our ideas
and our thoughts and our feelings and our view of things must be
overridden by the Word of God. So that if you seek salvation,
you must seek it according to God's Word, not according to
your word or somebody else's word or some man's word. It must
be God's Word. The one you listen to and follow
as your spiritual guide is preaching God's Word. But you can't go
by feeling. You can't go by man's ideas and
philosophies, and certainly can't go by man's religion. It's a
way of death. There is a way that seems right
unto a man. It's the way of death. It's the
broad road that leads to destruction. It's the way of works religion,
works-oriented religion, working your way to heaven, working your
way into God's favor. Let me just give you some things
here to open up with concerning man's notions, man's ideas, and
how they need to be corrected by the Word of God. A man once
said that he was worried about his salvation because he just
didn't feel saved. He said to his pastor, he said,
I don't feel saved. I don't feel good about myself,
he said. And his pastor asked him this
question. He said, well, listen to me. He said, was Noah safe
in the ark? Was Noah safe in the ark? And
the man said, certainly he was. As long as he was in the ark,
Noah was safe. Well, was Noah a sinner? Well, the first thing you read
about Noah in Genesis 6 and verse 8 is what? Noah found what? Grace in the eyes of the Lord. Now, let me tell you how I know
Noah was a sinner by that one line. The only one who needs
grace is a sinner. If you're not a sinner, you don't
need grace. You don't need mercy. You see,
that's what Christ was teaching when He came to the Pharisees.
He said, the whole need not a physician. If you're not sick, you don't
need the doctor. You don't need the medicine. Noah found grace
in the eyes of the Lord. He was a sinner. And the only
reason he was saved was what? Because of grace. And where is
grace found? Grace is found in Christ. That
ark pictured Christ. Grace reigns through righteousness
unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. So the pastor asked
him, he said, was Noah safe in the ark? And he said, certainly
he was. Well, do you reckon Noah had some troubles in the ark?
It's not really recorded much what happened to Noah in the
ark, but I know Noah had troubles. You reckon he had any misgivings? Sure. Well, what made him safe
then? His feeling? No. His works? No. Tell you what exactly made
him safe. The ark. And the man got the point. And
he said, well, how foolish I've been. It's not my feeling. that gives me assurance, it's
Christ. Look at verse 11 of 1 John 5,
and this is the record that God has given to us eternal life,
and this life is in His Son. And what I'm telling you and
myself this morning is that as long as we trust in the Son,
as long as our hope and our stay is in the Son, the Lord Jesus
Christ, Him crucified in His blood and His righteousness,
Then we're safe. We're safe. That psalm that Brother
Joe read, Psalm 39, is an illustration of what I'm talking about. Here
the psalmist David made a determination. It's almost like a New Year's
resolution. He said, I determine in my heart that I will not sin
with my tongue. And you remember what happened
after that? Immediately? Didn't take much time. Everything
went bleh. Didn't take long, did it? And
he would say, think about this. Now, you say, well, I'm going
to work as hard as I can work. And I'm going to do the best
that I can do. And be the best that I can be. Now, do you reckon
if you could do that, you would find assurance of salvation?
You'd be safe then? Well, what did the psalmist say
there in Psalm 39? Man at his best state is what? Altogether, vanity, worthless. That's man without Christ. So
what did he do? He went to the Lord in prayer.
Let me give you another illustration concerning man's natural thoughts
on this subject. There was an elderly man. And
he said to his pastor, he said, I do not want to die unless I
know I'm saved, or at least know that it's hopeless to seek to
be assured of salvation. He said, I want a definite witness
concerning this subject, something that I cannot be mistaken about.
That's what I want, pastor. And here's what the pastor replied.
He said, well, suppose you had a vision of an angel who told
you your sins are forgiven. Suppose he appeared in a great
light and he said, you're safe, you're safe and secure. You're
justified. You're going to heaven. Would
that be enough for you? The man said, well, I think it
would. An angel ought to be right. And then the pastor went on,
he said, well, but suppose on your deathbed Satan came to you
and said, I was that angel. I transformed into an angel of
light to deceive you. What would you say? Well, the
fellow was speechless then. You know, the book of 2 Corinthians,
or 1 Corinthians chapter 11, I believe it is, or it's 2 Corinthians
11, tells us. that Satan and his ministers transform into
angels of light to deceive people. He's the great deceiver. Well, the pastor then told him
this. He said, well, God has really given us something a lot
more dependable than a voice or a vision of an angel. Number
one, he's given us his son who died for our sins. And then number
two, he's given us his word. That if we trust Him, all our
sins are gone. Look back at verse 13 of 1 John
5. These things have I written unto
you that believe on the name of the Son of God. Do you believe
on the name of the Son of God? Do you rest in Christ? Do you
trust Him for all of salvation? Is He your only hope and stay?
Is He your wisdom, your righteousness, your sanctification, and your
redemption? Or does some part of it lie in
you? You see, there's the difference now. There's man's works religion
coming in. You say, well, I look within
and I don't see anything to feel good about. That's a good thing. Did you know that? That's a sinner who needs mercy.
And you're only going to find it at the mercy seat. You're
not going to find it in your own heart. You're not going to
find it in your denomination. You're not going to find it in
your works. You're only going to find it in Christ and what
he accomplished at Calvary. And this is what he's saying,
that you may know that you have eternal life and believe on the
name of the Son of God. Rest in Him. Sing that hymn.
My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness,
and I dare not trust the sweetest frame but wholly lean on Jesus'
name. On Christ the solid rock I stand,
and all other ground is sinking sand." Now, one of the main parts of
true assurance of faith is knowing this and being confident of free
unhindered and bold access to God, the Holy of Holies. Just
like back in the old covenant tabernacle, that high priest
went in once a year into the Holy of Holy. He's the only one
who could go there. He's the high priest. And the
Scripture says, not without blood. Whose blood? The blood of the
Lamb. And all of that was a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ who
entered into the Holiest by His own blood. for the sins of his
people, having satisfied the justice of God, having brought
forth a righteousness that enables the Father to be just and justifier."
Bold access to God. The issue is this. How is such
bold access attained? How can that be? There have been
many multitudes who felt like and who thought and who imagined
that they had bold access to God. There have been millions
who have laid their heads on deathbed pillows and said, I'm
as sure for heaven as if I were already there. And here's the
question of the scriptures. Well, what is your ground? What
is your reason for saying such? Where does such confidence come
from? What's it based on? Somebody
says, well, I made a profession, was baptized when I was 12 years
old. Well, let me tell you something,
that's not good enough. Somebody says, well, I've given
my tithes all my life. That's not good enough. Someone
says, well, I joined the church and I haven't missed a Sunday
or a Wednesday. That's not good enough. Someone
said, I've worn out my carpet and my pants on my knees praying. That's not good enough. That
won't do it. That will not put away sin. There's not but one
thing that will, the blood of the Son of God. That's the only
thing it'll do. And you realize the self-righteousness
and pride of a sinner who seeks to come before God based on anything
else? You know what that person's doing?
They're stacking up their works or their enablements alongside
the work, the obedience and death of the Son of God incarnate.
Cain thought he had access to God. Favor from God, blessings
from God, communion with God. But he was deadly wrong, wasn't
he? Very, very serious business here. He brought the works of
his hands. Abel had access to God. How? By the blood of the Lamb. That's Christ. For some, it's
the height of pride and self-righteousness and presumption to think they
have access to God. Why? Because they're not looking
to Christ. For others, it's the height of unbelief and even pride
to think they don't have access to God. Why? How can I know the
difference? How can I know about myself in
this matter? Well, look at verse 14. Now,
let me first begin here. Assurance and access is confidence
in Christ. Get that in your head. Lord,
get that in my head. Assurance and access to God. Confidence in Christ. That's
it. Not confidence in self. Not confidence
in the preacher or in the church. Confidence in Christ and Him
alone. This is what he's saying, verse
14. And this is the confidence that we have in Him. Your concordance may have the
word concerning Him. It's the same thing. This is
the confidence that we have where? In Him. My confidence is in Christ. It's not confidence in self,
it's not confidence in the flesh. The scripture describes a Christian
this way in Philippians chapter 3 and verse 3. We are the circumcision. Now what he's talking about there
is circumcision of the heart. That's the new birth. We've been
born again. How do you know that? We worship
God in spirit. What does that mean? That means
we worship God, number one, as God reveals himself in his word. Not as we think him to be. See,
we're not like old Naaman the leopard. When he came to get
healed of his leprosy, and the prophet told him to go dip down
in the muddy Jordan, that was God's command. And Naaman said,
but I thought, I thought, it doesn't matter what you think.
There was an old preacher up north who preached on that passage,
and his title was this, It Ain't Like You Thought It Was. Bad
grammar, but it makes the point, doesn't it? You see, our confidence is in
Him. We worship God as He reveals
Himself in His Word. If God says He's sovereign in
this Word, we believe it. If God says man is responsible,
we believe it. You say, but I can't reconcile
those two things in my mind. It doesn't matter what you can
reconcile. It's true. Why? Because this book says it.
And then secondly, worshiping God in spirit means we worship
him from the heart. It's not bodily exercise. It's
not doodads and necklaces and icons. It's from the heart, in
the truth. And then it goes on to say in
Philippians 3.3, it says, we rejoice in Christ Jesus. Now that word rejoice there in
Philippians 3.3 is not the same word that's oftentimes translated
joy or rejoice in the way of being happy. It's the same word
that Paul used in Galatians 6.14 when he said, God forbid that
I should glory. Save in the cross of Christ.
In other words, he's saying we worship God in spirit and we
glory in Christ Jesus. We have confidence in Christ
Jesus. Our assurance is in Christ Jesus. And then he follows it up in
Philippians 3 3 by saying this and no confidence in the flesh.
No confidence in me. No confidence in what I can do
or have done or will do total confidence in Christ. And then. Look over at Hebrews chapter
10. I want you to see this. Turn
there in your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 10. Access and assurance. That's
what we're talking about. Access unto God. Assurance that
I have free, unhindered, bold, confident access to God into
the holiest of all. Well, look here at Hebrews chapter
10. Now, the whole chapter here is concerning the sufficiency,
the power, the effectual work of Christ in his obedience unto
death. He got the job done. When Christ
obeyed the law, he obeyed it perfectly. He didn't leave any
part of it for me to obey in order to satisfy the demands
of God's law. He did it all. When Christ died
on the cross, how many times did he have to die? One time,
the scripture says. For by one offering," it says
back up here in verse 14, "...by one offering he hath perfected
forever," he completed forever, "...them that are sanctified."
Those who are sanctified are those for whom he died. Those
are his sheep. Those are those whom God gave
him. He said, "...all that the Father giveth me shall come to
me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out."
Well, he perfected them. He completed all that was required
for them by his one offering on the cross, his death. That's
all it took. Because of who he is, he's God
and man and one person. We didn't have to add anything
to it. We didn't have to put our approval on it. You see,
it pleased the Lord to bruise him. And that's all that counts.
That it pleases the Lord to do it. And then he goes on down
here and he says in verse 18, now look at Hebrews 10, 18. Now
listen to this. He says, now where remission
of these is, there's no more offering for sin. Now, first
of all, Back over in Hebrews 10, in the early part, it says
this. It says, without the shedding of blood, there is no remission
of sin. That is, without death. You see, that's because God is
holy and just. The wages of sin is death. God
must punish sin, and the only thing that will will bring forgiveness
and remission and pardon of sin is the death of a suitable, God-appointed,
willing, able substitute. You say, well, what if a man
dies for me? What if my brother or my father
or my mother dies for me? It's not good enough. And I'll
tell you why, because they're sinners too. You see, now this
is something you need to understand. A sinner cannot die for another
sinner. That's why Christ had to be the
perfect, sinless God-man. It had to be a lamb without what?
Spot. Without what? Blemish. That's
right, He had to offer Himself without spot and without blemish.
That's why He could never have been a sinner, ever, at any time. He could have never been contaminated
with our depravity and our corruption and our sin nature. He could
have never done that. If he had, he would have been
disqualified. So there had to be one who is able and willing
and appointed by God, and the only one is the Son of God incarnate,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, he's saying here in verse
18, where these sins are remitted, pardoned, forgiven, washed clean
by the blood of Christ, there's no more offering for sin. What
would you offer to God as payment for your sin? Anything you offer is infinitely
less than the blood of Christ. In fact, it's wicked and evil.
If you offer anything of your own or anything of yourself or
anything of your enablements for the remission of your own
sins, what you're saying actually, you may not realize it, but this
is what you're saying. His blood wasn't good enough.
His blood wasn't enough. And my friend, that's what the
Bible calls unbelief. Oh, His blood was and is good
enough. 1 John 1 says, His blood cleanses
us from what? All sins. So look at verse 19. Now, because Christ died on the
cross, because of His blood and His righteousness imputed, our
sins were charged to Him, accounted to Him, His righteousness charged
and accounted to us. Who are the us there? All who
believe in Him. All who believe in the name of
the Son of God. He says now, verse 19, having therefore, that
is based upon the remission of sins in Christ, brethren, boldness,
liberty, confidence, To enter into the holiest. Wait a minute
now, who's he talking about? Sinners. Having boldness, liberty,
confidence, assurance. To enter into the holiest? How? How is that possible? Look at
it now, verse 19. Look at the last line. By the
blood of Jesus. By the blood of God our Savior. That's what Jesus means. We have
boldness to enter into the Holy Presence. We have access, assured
access, bold access, confident access, free access into the
Holy Presence of God by the blood of God our Savior. That's how. And read on, verse 20. This is
by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated, that is,
which Christ hath newly made. For us. He did it as our substitute. Through the veil. That's the
picture here. That is to say, His flesh. Just
like that veil separated the holy place from the holiest of
all. And you remember when He died on the cross in the book
of Matthew, I believe it's chapter 27. It says, when He cried, It's
finished. And He gave up the ghost. The
veil was what? Rent. Torn. Into. Where? How? From top to bottom. Not from bottom to top. That
was a sign from God the Father that He accepted the sacrifice
of His Son in the place of His people, His sheep, His church. Go on, verse 21, "...and having
a high priest over the house of God." Now, who is our high
priest? Not Aaron, not the tribe of Levi. Christ is our high priest
now. That's why we don't need an earthly
priest. In fact, we're all made priests,
he says. That is, we all have free access into the holiest
of all by Christ. He says, let us draw near with
a true heart. is an honest, sincere heart.
Now, what is an honest, sincere heart? It's the heart broken
over sin who sees our need of grace, of mercy of the blood
of Christ, who sees our depravity and our wretchedness and our
sinfulness to the point that we know that we have no other
hope to enter into the holiest of all but by the blood of Jesus
Christ. We have no righteousness to plead
before God but His. That's what a true and an honest
and a sincere heart is. It's a heart convicted of sin
and of righteousness and of judgment. But it's also a heart that has
assurance. Look at it. Let us draw near
with a true heart in full assurance of faith. Now, listen to me now. Listen to this carefully. Now,
I grew up and most preachers will teach that passage this
way. The full assurance of faith in the way of meaning. Do I have
enough faith? And that's not what that verse
is teaching. First of all, if you're wondering if you have
enough faith, my first question to you is, enough faith for what?
You say, well, do I have enough faith to get me into the holiest
of all? And the answer is, no, you don't. Do you ever have times
of doubt? Now, you don't have to answer
me. Just be honest. God knows your thoughts. He knows
my thoughts. Do you know that worry in the Scripture is the
same as unbelief? Ever worried about anything?
Well, God's on the throne. Ever complained? Ever murmured? Ever have moments of doubt? Sure
we do. Do we have enough faith in ourselves to get into the,
to have accidents? No, we don't. So what is this
full assurance of faith? It's the full assurance of looking
to Christ. He's enough. His blood is enough. His righteousness is enough.
His work is enough. His glory is enough. You see,
that's the full assurance. What does faith in the Scripture,
saving faith, do? It looks to Christ. It rests
on Christ. Faith doesn't look to itself. We don't have faith
in faith. Faith doesn't rest in itself. Faith doesn't have confidence
in sin. Faith looks to Christ. It rests in Christ. It has confidence
in Christ. How do we run the race of grace?
Looking unto Jesus, the author and what? Finisher. He didn't
just get it started, like most preachers today won't have you
believe. He finished it. And somebody says, well, then
if that's the case, I just won't obey. Well, do what you want
to do. But I know this, if grace has
taken hold of your life and Christ lives within, you'll want to
follow Him. Not to be saved, but because you already are.
And he says, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience.
You know what an evil conscience is? It's a guilty conscience.
It's a self-righteous conscience. It's a conscience that judges
you fit to enter the holiest by something other than the blood
of Christ. If in your conscience you judge
yourself or anybody else as worthy to have access into the holiest
of all based on anything but the blood and the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ, that is an evil conscience. That's
a legal conscience. That's a self-right. But the
heart that's been sprinkled from an evil conscience, how's it
been sprinkled? By the Holy Spirit. What has
the Holy Spirit sprinkled it with? The blood of Christ, just
like the sprinkling of the blood on the mercy seat. The Holy Spirit
sprinkles that blood on our conscience. What does that mean? That means
he convinces us of the glory and the reality and the assurance
of salvation by God's grace in Christ. And our bodies washed
with pure water, we've been cleansed by the blood of Christ. Isn't
that something? I love that passage there. Go
back to 1 John 5. This is confidence in Christ. Paul wrote over there in Hebrews
chapter 6 that this kind of confidence, this kind of strong consolation
is only for those who have fled for refuge to Christ. Have you fled for refuge to Him?
Have you seen yourself as nothing, worse than nothing, less than
nothing, as deserving of nothing but God's wrath without Christ? Then flee to Him. Rest in Him
and what He accomplished on Calvary. And have no confidence in the
flesh. Now let me go on. Here in verse 14, it speaks secondly
of prayer and confidence in Christ. He says in verse 14, and this
is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything
according to his will, he heareth us. And if we know that he heareth
whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we
desired of him. Now, first of all, we're commanded
to pray, so prayer is an act of obedience. But now look back
up at verse 3 of 1 John 5. What about acts of obedience?
Where do the believer's works and efforts come into play here?
Well, look at verse 3. He says, "...for this is the
love of God, that we keep his commandments." Now, understand
now, what are his commandments? You know, when people hear that,
their mind always goes back to the Ten Commandments. Now, the
Ten Commandments in the Old Covenant was given for one purpose, and
one purpose alone, the Bible says. Romans chapter 5 speaks
of it. Galatians chapter 3 speaks of
it. It was given as a rule of law reflecting the holiness of
God to show us our sinfulness and our wretchedness and the
impossibility of being saved based upon our works. By deeds
of law shall no flesh be justified in His sight. For by the law
is what? The knowledge of sin, Romans
3, verse 21, 19 and 20. Paul said, moreover, the law
entered that sin might abound. But he went on to say, but where
sin abounded, grace did much more abound through Jesus Christ.
What he's saying here is when the law was given, the first
and foremost purpose of the law given to a sinner is to show
that sinner how sinful he is, how wretched he is, how depraved,
fallen in Adam. And you remember when they came
back, Paul anticipated that objection in Romans 6. So somebody said,
well, shall we sin that grace may abound? And he said, God
forbid. That's foolish. That's just the reasonings of
a sinful man or a sinful woman. Not God's people. Galatians chapter
3, Paul said the law, and he didn't mean just the Ten Commandments
here, he was talking about the whole law. The law of ceremony,
the law of sacrifice, all of it. He said the law was our schoolmaster
to lead us unto Christ. The law was not given just to
show them their sinfulness, it was given to drive them to Christ
for relief. You see, that's the issue in
salvation. People can go around all day long talking about how
sinful and how rotten and how wretched they are. Here's the
issue of grace and salvation. Where do you find relief? Where
do you find peace? Where do you find comfort? Where
do you find assurance? If you find it anywhere but in
Christ and Him crucified, it's not right. So we're commanded to pray, so
he says, for this is the love of God that we keep his commandments.
Now, Christ never commanded any sinner to try to keep the law
in order to be saved. In fact, he discouraged that.
He said that was wicked. He said, except your righteousness
exceed the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, you
shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven. What did he
command? Believe on him whom God has sent.
This is the work of God, he said. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved." And follow Him in all that He says.
Again, not to be saved, but because you already are, by His grace,
by His work. So He says, and His commandments
are not grievous, they're not a burden. You see, legalism,
self-righteous works religion, will put a burden on you that
you cannot carry. Do this, don't do that. Do this,
don't do that, and God will bless you. God, you'll earn your way
into God's a favor, earn your way into God's presence. That's
a grievous religion. That's why Christ stood on that
day and he said, come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy
laden and I'll give you what? Rest. Rest in him. He's our Sabbath. He did the work. We enter into
his rest by faith and we rest in him. All ye that labor, and
I'll give you rest." He said, my yoke is easy, my burden is
light. Their yoke is hard. Their burden
is heavy. But He said, because why? It
constrains us by love, not by law. That's the difference. The commandments of Christ were
constrained by love and gratitude. Obey God, not because of what
you can get out of Him. Obey God because He's God. And
He's the God of grace. And it's right. Because you love
Him. Knowing that he loved you first,
when you didn't deserve it, didn't earn it. Because you're thankful. Look at Hebrews chapter 4. Here's
prayer. Verse 14. He says, seeing then that we
have a great high priest. Now the basis of what he's going
to say is based upon the fact that we have a great high priest.
Not based on how great we are or how great we've done. We have
a great high priest. He says that is passed into the
heavens. He's passed through into the very presence of God.
Jesus, the Son of God. God, our Savior. All right? Therefore, seeing that we have
such a high priest who did such a great work for us, let us hold
fast our profession. For we have not a high priest
which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities.
but was in all points tempted or tested like as we are yet
without sin." Christ knows what you're going through. He knows
the infirmities of the flesh, the pains, the sorrows, the tears. And He was tested just like we
are, yet the only difference was He was without sin. He was without sin. He passed
every test with flying colors. Now, because we have such a great
high priest who did such a great work, who knows what we're feeling
and what we're thinking, who has gone through it all yet without
sin, verse 16, let us therefore come how? Boldly. Unto the throne of what? Grace. That we may obtain what? Mercy. And find what? Grace. to help
in time of need. There's prayer right there. It's a sinner coming to his heavenly
Father out of his need, praying at the throne of grace, seeking
mercy, trying to find grace to help us in time of need. Somebody asked one time, when
is your time of need? That's just about all time for
me. How about you? Is there any time you don't need
Him? So prayer, there it is. Secondly, our prayers are not
aimed at saving us or keeping us saved or recommending us unto
God. And listen to me now. And listen to what I say here. Prayer is not aimed at receiving
blessings from God based on the prayer. We do receive blessings from
God when we pray. But those blessings are given
not because of the prayer. but because of Christ, our great
High Priest, in whom we pray. The prayer is only the means
whereby God blesses us. Someone says, but sometimes I'm
too sinful to pray. I must first make myself qualified. You've got a wrong view of grace,
my friend. All prayer is based on the goodness
of Christ. And then all prayer is thy will
be done. Here's the key. Look back at
1 John 5.14. Let me close with this. He says, this is the confidence
that we have in Him that if we ask anything, and then underscore
this, according to His will, He heareth us. And if we know
that He heareth us, whatsoever we ask, again, now that has to
be qualified according to His will, we know that we have the
petitions, our desires that we desired of Him. If we ask according
to His will, thy will be done. Oh, he hears us. Sometimes we
ask for things that we don't need and shouldn't have. We're
just like children. We're just like the little boy
who saw a rattlesnake out in the backyard standing there with
his dad. And he said, Dad, can I have it? And the dad said,
No, son, you can't have that. But he said, Dad, I want it.
Son, you can't have that. And he started crying. Oh, he
got down, rolled on the floor, threw a tantrum. You can't have
the snake. Son, if you have that snake,
you'll die. And that's the way we are. We ask for things and
we don't get them. We wonder, didn't God hear me? Oh, He heard
you. But you're just like the little boy and I'm just like
the little boy asking for a rattlesnake. You say, God, give me a million
dollars. Probably the worst thing that most of us could ever have. We ask for physical healing.
Sometimes God grants it. And then sometimes he heals his
children completely and perfectly forever, never to get sick again.
He takes them home to be with him. But I'll tell you what,
thy will be done. Why? Because he knows best. He
knows what's best for me more than I do, just like we know
what's best for our little children than they do. Ask according to
his will. Someone said, as his word shows,
it's certainly his will to deliver us from all evil. not to leave
us in temptation, and it is His will to give us our daily bread.
Otherwise, He wouldn't have commanded us to pray for these things.
So if you pray in this way, that all may go according to His will,
not our own, then your prayer is certainly heard. Therefore,
when in trouble and danger, you should certainly pray for deliverance
and help, but in the way that the Lord's prayer teaches you.
If it tends to hallow His name, and honor His name, and please
His will, if not, that He will act as He sees best, And if it's
not heard according to our will, then it's heard according to
the will of God, which is a whole lot better than ours. Amen. Let's sing hymn number 304 as
our closing hymn. Savior, more than life to me. 304.