25, show you how God saves a
sinner according to the Scriptures, how God saves wicked men. I know
hardly anybody thinks they're wicked, but there isn't anybody that
isn't unless God in His mercy saves them. Now, you don't have to be a drunk,
you don't have to be an adulterer, you don't have to Born a caterer,
you don't have to be a thief to be a wicked person. You have
a heart that's proud against God. A heart that's self-righteous. A heart that trusts itself more
than trusts the Lord Jesus Christ. That's wickedness of the highest
degree. Set yourself against God. Set yourself against His
righteousness. Set yourself against His Son,
who He gave on the cross. to put away sin, and to bring
in a righteousness, and then to think and believe that you
wouldn't need that righteousness. What goes on in a man or woman's
mind that doesn't see that and doesn't believe that? Now, look
here in verse 27, 2 Kings 25 and verse 27. And it came to pass in the seventh
and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehorkin, king of Judah, in
the twelfth month, on the seventh and twentieth day of the month,
that evil Meredith, king of Babylon, in the year that he did begin
to reign, did lift up the head of Jehorkin, king of Judah, out
of prison. And he spake kindly to him and
set his throne above the thrones that were with him in Babylon.
and changed his prison garments, and he did it continually before
him all the days of his life. And his allowance was a continual
allowance given him of the king a daily raisin for every day
all the days of his life." Now, when we read about Jehoiakim
and his dad, Jehoiakim, we see how sinful they were. They were
evil before the sight of the Lord. And when Paul talked about
sin, And when God looked at sin, He said He wouldn't pardon all
that innocent blood that Manasseh had shed in Jerusalem. And He
used Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, as a sword, as an
instrument of vengeance upon Judah for their sin and rebellion
against Him. And Paul said sin was so sinful
that all he could say about it was to describe it that sin is
exceeding sinful. Exceeding sinful. And so God
sent Nebuchadnezzar down as his sword of vengeance against these
people that sinned, against this king, against all Jerusalem.
And so Jehoiachin was taken captive, and he was kept in a Babylonian
prison for thirty-seven years. Thirty-seven years. That's how
long. His is a king now, kept in prison. This was a king who was in place. This was a king who had old prison
garments. This was somebody. This wasn't
just a, you know, run-of-the-mill guy in town. This wasn't a fella. And all he'd done was he'd done
evil in the sight of the Lord while he was sitting on his throne.
And so here happens, after Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, passed away, God
raised up a new king in Babylon. His name was Evil Meredith. What
a name for a man. Evil Meredith. But this new king
had mercy on Jehorakim, and he did something, and as the king,
he wrought a wondrous change of condition in this king that
was held captive for thirty-seven years. And I think as we look
at this, we'll see the salvation, wondrous working grace of God
in this man. First thing I want you to know,
look what it said in verse twenty-seven. And it came to pass in the seventh
and thirtieth year in the captivity of Jehorakim, king of Judah,
in the twelfth month on the seventh and twentieth day, that evil
Meredith, king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign,"
now watch what happened, "...did lift up the head of Jehorakim,
king of Judah, out of prison." You notice here that after thirty-seven
years of captivity, A new king came into power, and he did lift
up. Did lift up. Jehor came out of
prison. He himself didn't go down there
and do it, but he sent the word for it to be done. And that was
the first thing that had to be done for this man. He had to
be lifted up out of prison. Had to be lifted up. He couldn't
get himself out of prison. He couldn't lift himself up out
of prison. He couldn't lift himself up out of his powerlessness.
He couldn't break the chains. He couldn't unlock the doors.
He couldn't beg and say, please let me out of here. No, he was
sitting there for 37 years. And this is the first thing that
happened. Another king had to come and save him and lifted
him up. And when you're in prison, and
this is one thing I've heard, I've heard several people say
this over the years. He said, all you've got to do
is, you're in the prison of sin, and all you've got to do is just
exercise your free will and open that door and come on out. If
this man could have done that, he wouldn't have been kept here
to start with. But he couldn't open the door. He couldn't change
his situation. He couldn't change his garments.
He was in prison. Why was he in prison? Because
he did evil in the sight of the Lord. Because he sinned against
God. And that's why men are in the
prison that they're in now, held captivity by sin, by death, by
self-righteousness, by morality, by their concept of being good. But oh, listen, this is what
has to happen. Just as this man was lifted up,
by a king, because he couldn't lift himself up, the grace of
God must bring salvation. The grace of God must bring it
to us. If we're ever lifted up out of
the prison, God in grace has to do it. Now, I mean, beloved,
God's got to do this business of salvation. You know, He's
the only one who's got the power. I'll tell you what, not only
could I not save myself, but I couldn't keep myself safe.
I couldn't keep myself today if God hadn't kept me. And that's
why I look over here, keep 2 Kings and look over to Psalm 40 with
me just a moment. I'm going to preach from this
tonight to Lord Willard, Psalm 40, talking about the grace of
God. Just as this king went and lifted
him up, the grace of God must come and he must come to where
we're at. And our first necessity is he must come and do something
for us. He's the only one who's got the
power. That's why the apostle says, giving thanks unto the
Father, who hath made us fit, worthy, and able to be partakers
of the inheritance of the saints in life, because he hath delivered
us, delivered us out of the power of darkness, and brought us,
translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son. Now, the only
people that know anything about being set free is the peoples
in prison. You're talking about a fellow
appreciated being brought out of jail. You're talking about being glad
to... Oh, you imagine how he felt like when they come down
there and opened that door. Come down there and opened that
door and said, listen, there's a new king, a king reigning right
now. He's on the throne. He's the
one that's got the authority. He's the one that's got the power.
He's the one that's got all the... Power to make all decisions concerning
everybody under his kingdom. Whether they're in prison, or
whether they're free, whether they're rich, whether they're
poor, he's the one that makes all the decisions. He's got all
the power. And guess what he said today? He said, I want you
to come out on me. He said, bring him out of prison.
Set him free. Bring him out. Unlock the door. Lift him up from where he's at. And that's what God's got to
do for you. And the king's the one who sends
the word. Look what it said here in verse
2, Psalm 40. He brought me, he brought me
up. Who did? The Lord did. He brought me up out of a horrible
pit, out of my reclaim. set my feet upon a rock, and
established my going." Oh my, this king is the only one who
had the right, the authority, to save this man, to bring him
out of prison. And I'm telling you that the
Lord Jesus Christ is the only, he has the right to do with anybody
he chooses. He can leave a man in prison.
Don't say that any other body was sent out of prison that day,
just him. He's the only one who's got the right. He's got the power.
He's got the right to leave you in prison. He's got the right
to bring you out. He's got the right to leave you in your skin,
or the right to bring you out. And I'm here as a messenger of
the King to tell you that He's got the power. He's got the power
to set you free. He's got the power to lift you
up. He's got the power To open that door. He's got the power
to open your heart. He's got the power to open your
understanding. He's got the power to take that
darkness off of your mind. He's got the power to put a new
heart in that stony heart. He's got the power to put a new
nature in you. He's got a power, and he's the
only one that's got the power. And I tell you what, if I know
somebody has the power to set me free and I realize I was in
jail, I say, Would you send word to that king
when he come down here and set me free? Ask him yourself. Ask him yourself. Look what else
happened now. Back over here in this chapter,
2 Kings 27. Now look there in verse 28. Not
only did he deliver him and save him, he did lift him up. Lifted
up Jehorakim, king of Judah, out of prison. Look what else
it says. He spake kindly to him. You know, when He sets you free,
He speaks kindly to you. Oh, He speaks so kindly to you.
Now, let me tell you something. When He first come and got him,
there was no words of kindness. When He first come and He was
brought into bondage, there was no words of kindness. The law
has no word of comfort to speak. The law condemns us. The law
tells us that we're guilty. The law tells us that we don't
love God. The law tells us that we don't
love our neighbor. The law tells us that we... I
heard a fella askin' some people one day, they was all talkin'
about how good they was, said, well, have you ever told a lie? Yeah, I have. Have you ever took
anything that belonged to you? Well, yeah, I did that. He says, so, well, then, you're
not as good as you thought you was, so you're a liar, then. You took something didn't belong…
Well, you're a thief, then. And Lord just kept filling them up
until they had their means, you know. And that's why God got
them. That's what the law does. It
cannot speak any comfort to you. All it can do is condemn you
and find you guilty. But you know what grace does
when the king comes? When he lifts you up out of prison,
he comes and speaks so kindly, so graciously, so comforting.
Huh? The law, for by grace are you
saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves. It's the gift
of God. The law of sin, the law of death,
the law of God by His very nature must be against sin. And it has
no comfort to speak or no comfort to give for what the law could
not do in that we was weak through the flesh. Oh, we was weak through
the flesh. The flesh can't do it. What did
God do for us? What did God do for us? He sent
His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh. When you looked
at Him, you saw man. You saw flesh and blood. You
saw a man. I don't know how tall he was
or what his stature was, but I know you saw a man. If you
slapped him, he felt the sting. If you cut him, he bled. If he
got tired, he had to rest. If he got thirsty, he had to
drink. If he got hungry, he had to eat. He was in the likeness
of sinful flesh. And as for sin, God made him
to be sin. Who knew no sin? And for sin,
what did he do? He condemned it. He judged it
in his own son. Huh? And oh, bless his holy name,
now, now, after he'd been in prison, now when the king says
lift him up, Then speak kindly. And oh, we have the comfort of
God's Word. Now we've got the comfort of
God's Word. God's Word speaks so comfortably. All the promises
of God, they speak so comfortably through the Lord Jesus Christ.
We've got the comfort of the Holy Spirit. Our Lord Jesus said,
it's expedient for you that I go away. And if I go away, I'll
send you another comforter. I'll send you the Holy Spirit.
Someone to comfort you. To be with you. to teach you,
to instruct you, to comfort you, to guide you, to lead you into
truth, to teach you truth, to bring you into a relationship
and fellowship with Me. And look over here. Keep 2 Kings
and look in Isaiah 40 just a moment. Talking about comfort. Look what
the Lord says to do. Comfort, comfort, comfort. And our Lord speaks so kindly
to us. He speaks so kindly to us. And I'll tell you, I'll just
give you an illustration of His kindness. This morning, looking at my notes,
getting ready to preach, and I was trying to pray, and I tried
to look back over the week to see how spiritual I'd been. My
mind looked back over the week to see how spiritual I'd been.
How much reading I'd done, how much, you know. And boy, immediately,
immediately my heart smoked me. I said, Lord, forgive me. Time
to look for some reason for Him to enable me to preach this morning. Enable His Word to be powerful
and effectual in the heart. And all I've done is fell back
on the mercy of God. He stayed so kindly to me. That
was a kindness that He wouldn't let me find any comfort in anything. Huh? Ain't that so kind that He wouldn't
let me do that? Look what He said here in Isaiah
40 and verse 1. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,
saith your God." Speak ye comfort to Jerusalem. Now, He just destroyed
Jerusalem. Brought everybody out of it.
Speak ye comfort to Jerusalem. Cry unto her. Tell her this.
Cry out loud to her. Tell her that her warfare is
accomplished. The battle is over. The war is done. And that her
iniquity is pardoned. Oh, Jehoiachin! Rated up there
in Jerusalem, your iniquity is pardoned. For she hath received
of the Lamb's Lord's hand double for all of her sins." What does
that mean, double for all of her sins? That means that Christ
paid for them, and then the Holy Spirit comes.
Not only did He pay for them, but then He also makes you understand
that they're gone. So you receive pardon for them,
and of peace. And all beloved, the Lord speaks
so comfortably and kindly to us. And let me tell you something
about man. This is just man. That's just
the way man is. That's the way he's made. He
can't help himself, but he's still to blame for the way he
is. But man's religion attempts to speak comfortably to men when
they're still yet in the prison of sin. They cry peace to them. Cry peace to them. Peace with God. Peace in your
heart. Oh my, God loves you and we do
too. And they cry peace when there
ain't no peace. The scripture said over there
in Ezekiel that they take a pillar and sow it. They're false prophets. It's like a woman who takes a
pillar and sows it on here and says, lay your head down here.
God loves you. Now just rest right here. God,
you know, there's no danger about your sin. There's no danger you're
going to hell. There's no danger of God being mad at you. There's
no danger of Christ ever, you ever being condemned. Oh, you
just decide. Come up here and let's make a
decision. Make a decision for Jesus now. Come on, make a decision
for Jesus. Come on, exercise your free will.
You've got the power. God's standing waiting. He's
crying. Jesus standing with His hands
stretched out. Would you please let Him in?
God loves you more than you could ever imagine. And He wants you
to be free. And then somebody else, he comes
along and he tells you, well, I believe election, so therefore
I must be saved, or I believe in God's sovereignty, so therefore
I must be saved. We're not saved by what we believe,
but we're saved in who we believe. And if this man could have ever
made, I don't care how many times this king made a decision, I'm
going to get out of this jail." He couldn't get out. We can't make a decision to do
what we're going to do from one day to the next. You know what we decided to do?
I'll tell you what our decision got us into. All those Jews start
crying out to Pilate, take the Lord, take Christ, take this
king of the Jews, take this Jesus of Nazareth, and crucify him.
And Pilate, willing to contempt the people, took him. Man's willingness,
only willingness he has, apart from the grace of God and the
power of God, only willingness he has is to deliver Jesus up
to his enemies. I'll tell you the truth. You
say, I'm not that bad preacher. You don't know how, you don't
have a clue how bad you are. And if God don't make you understand. I mean, we just don't know. And God don't know. I know one
thing. Here I am, I'll be 61 years old next month. 62, 62.
I'm going to keep as much time, but I'm not as old as some of
y'all are. But I do know this. After all
these years, we've been in this building 21
years today. The first Sunday in January. And I started preaching to you
all in 1979 as your pastor. And I'm more sinful today than
I was back in 1979. I wasn't no more sinful in God's
sight, but I'm more in my own sight. I'm weaker today, after all these
years, than I was back in 1979, 1990, 2000, 2011, I'm weaker.
How can that be? Because I know what I am. I have no confidence in the flesh.
No confidence in it. And I know what I am, you know.
And I'll tell you, Forget your decisions. Forget your free will. Just forget what you've accomplished
and what you intend to do. And remember one thing, that
you're a sinner, and only the King of glory can set you free. And my heart's prayer and desire
to God is that God will come and set you free. Bring you up
out of the prison. And I tell you what, if He ever
does, the most comforting news you'll ever have is that He'll
speak kindly to you. Oh, I've loved you with an everlasting
love and with cords of loving kindness have I drawn you. Oh, listen, Paul said, He called
me by His grace. Slow me down on the Damascus
road. And let me tell you something,
God's salvation by grace It saves you first, and then it comforts
you. The blood cleanses before peace
will ever fill the heart. There has to be an emptying before
a filling. There has to be a prison before
there'll ever be freedom. There has to be bondage before
you'll ever appreciate what it is to be free. There has to be
an emptying before a filling. There has to be a nakedness before
there'll be a clothing. And I tell you what, one thing
that every believer's going to do in all the ages to come, so
forth the exceeding riches of his kindness towards us through
his grace." Now look what else he'd done for him over here at
Second Kings. Not only did he lift him up, speak kindly to him, but look
what else he'd done. In verse 28, "...and he spake
kindly to him, and set his throne above the thrones of the kings
that were with him in Babylon." Set him above everybody else. As far as this man was concerned,
this king took him up and set him above everybody else. You
know what our Lord said? He that humbleth himself shall
be what? Exalted. And all beloved here, he said
he's thrown above Jehoiakim. What he done? This king set Jehoiakim,
he's had the preeminence among all the other kings who were
held captive in Babylon. And what God does for His people,
when He raised up Christ from the dead, when He set Christ
in His own right hand, do you know what God did for us? He
raised us up with Him, took us up there with Him, and set us
down in heavenly places in Him. And as Christ was exalted, and
Christ was set up, and Christ sat down on His throne, God set
us in it, and He exalted us with Him, and made us different from
the rest of this world, One by one man's sin come into this
world, and one man's disobedience, but by the grace of God, the
free gift came upon all unto obedience. God gave us the free
gift and raised us up with Christ. And guess what? We're seated
with Him right now in heavenly places. Huh? Oh, man's fall through
sin is great, but God lifting him up by God's grace in Christ
is much, much greater. You know, 2 Samuel is back to
your left. Excuse me, 1 Samuel, back to
your left. Just two books. 1 Samuel. Look in chapter 2.
Let me show you something. Talking about lifting up and
exalting and setting us up. God resists the proud and giveth
grace to the humble. Look what it says here. 1 Samuel 2, verse 6. The Lord killeth, and the Lord
maketh alive. The Lord bringeth down to the
grave, and the Lord bringeth up. The Lord maketh poor, and
the Lord maketh rich. Now that means two things. He
got to kill you before He ever gave you life. He got to make
you know you're dead. And He'll bring you down to where
you think that you've got no hope at all before He'll ever
bring you down. He's going to make you poor in spirit before
He ever makes you rich in grace. He's going to bring you low in
your own estimation before He'll ever lift you up. Now watch this.
And He raises up the poor out of the dust. And oh, that's bad
enough to be in the dust. But He lifts up the beggar. The
beggar. Where does He lift him up from?
The dung hill. You know what a dung hill is?
All these fellers that's got dairy cattle and all that, they
used to have to keep their barns all cleaned out and they'd take
it and pile it in a big pile over here. That's what a dung
pile is. And the buggers sitting on that
dung pile. God said, He reaches in that dung pile and He brings
you out of that. And He lifts up the poor out
of the dung pile, and what does He do to them? Takes them over
here and sets them among the britches. You're sneaking, you're rotten,
you're nasty. And he makes you up and takes
you over here and sets you among princes. Oh! I'm sitting among princes
right now. I'm sitting among God's people.
Sitting among children of the king. Sitting among princes right
now. And, O beloved, he owed to grace
how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be." Look here
what else it says here now. Check over in our text, 2 Kings. Look what else happened to him
now. In verse 29, it says, "...and changed his prison garments." You know, you see these fellas
working out on the road, cleaning up the road. They got on horse
jumpsuits. And you see them in jail, they got on, maybe they
got on stripes. You know, every jail, every county's
got a different color. But you can distinguish that
they're prisoners by the clothes that they wear. Their colors
are in bondage. And they dress them like that
so everybody recognizes what they are. Well, it was obvious
that the king of Judah, Jehoiakim, was a prisoner, because he had
on prison garments. He had on clothes that distinguished
him from nobody else in that prison until that king lifted
him up. And they brought him out, take
off that prison garments. I want them prison clothes off
of him. I want a new change of clothes
put on this man. And those prison garments speaks
of guilt, defeat, shame, bondage. Now they're gone. Take them off. Just like the prodigal son, when
he went home, the father said, bring forth the best robe. And he said, and I handed it
to him, let him put it on. Bring forth the best robe and
put it on him. And oh, beloved, I'm going to
read a verse to you in Isaiah 61. You're talking about changing
the prison garments. He changed his prison garments.
Now, he told us the king did this. He didn't hand him a suit
of clothes and says, now you change. Take off these old rotten
prison garments, take off these old rotten prison clothes, and
you put on these new clothes. No, no, it says the prison...
He did, this king did change his prison garments. You notice
everything happened to this man, somebody else did it. Look there
in verse 3, Isaiah 61, talking about, To appoint unto them that
morn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes. Well, you had ashes,
lived in ashes, had ashes covered. You give them beauty for them
ashes. The oil of joy for mourning. Now, watch this. The garment
of praise for the Spirit of heaviness, that they might be called trees
of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be
called. Oh, my. Those who are saved by grace
are new creatures, and they've got new clothes on. New clothes
on. The old things speak of failure,
degradation, our bondage. And God puts all them off. If
any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. That's what the Scripture
says. Created in Christ Jesus. God's
grace has put on us the garment of the righteousness of Christ.
And only when in the world we accept it. Here's what's so glorious
about it. God takes off these old filthy
garments. Zechariah the priest stood before
the Lord. He stood there, and the Scripture
said he had on the darkest of all filthy garments. And God
says, draw near and take off those filthy garments and put
on garments of righteousness. Put on new garments. Put on garments
so He can stand before me, and beloved God Himself takes off
that old self-righteousness, take off all that old sin, take
off that prison garment, take off all that, and puts on us
a garment. From the top of our head to the
sole of our foot, from the inside of our soul to the outside of
our skin, and counts us as His own blessed son, we are righteous
in God's sight. I mean, as far as God's concerned,
we are as righteous as God's own sons. How righteous have
to be to be in God's presence? Righteous as He is. Where do
you get that righteousness? God gives it to you. God puts
it on you. And these new garments, they tell of glory, they tell
of honor, they tell of immortality, they tell of eternal life. And
I'll tell you something, when God sets a man free, lifts him
up, speaks kindly to him, comforts him, and then changes his prison
garments. And when God sets a man free,
it'll be evident very, very soon. It'll be so evident. You know
how to be self-evident, how to be evident? Because you'll understand
that all that you had on before was just, all of my righteousness
was just a filthy rag. Paul said he counted everything
that he ever done before God saved him by His grace as done. Now here was a man who fasted.
Here's a man who paid tithes. Here's a man who read his Bible
every single day. Here's a man who went to the
temple every day. Here's a man who offered sacrifices
every day. Here was a man who, as far as
everybody's concerned, said, if anybody goes to heaven, that's
all the parishes are going to do. And then one day he was on
his way to hail some men and women to prison to put them in
jail. And there was a light above the brightness of the sun. And
when that sun's brightness came down on him, he fell on his face
and said, O God, Lord, what would Thou have me to do? And that
man from that day on counted his whole life before Christ
saved him as nothing but dumb, garbage. Now, that's the hardest
thing you'll ever do. I mean, you can't do it. God's
got to do it. Only God can make a man count
his life before Christ to be nothing but sin and garbage. Is that not right? Only God can
do that. And oh, he'll take off those
filthy rags of self-righteousness and he'll replace them by the
righteousness of Christ himself. And then look what happened to
him here. Back over in 2 Kings. And it says, not only did he
change his prison garments, but look how he blessed him. And
he did eat bread continually before him all the days of his
life. There in verse 29. He did eat
bread. Not only did he change his prison
garments, but he said he was going to eat bread. continually
before him all the days of his life. Then what happens? He had not only had the king
lift him up, not only did he speak family to him, not only
did he change his prison garments, now he takes him, brings him
in there, and he says, here, I want you to eat at my table.
I want you to sit here with me. I want you to fellowship with
me. I want you to eat my food. I want you to be right here with
me. I want you... I'm the king of kings and I want
you to sit here with me." Huh? And no wonder John said, we write
these things unto you that you may know you have fellowship
with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord. The
fellowship with Christ? The fellowship with God? The
fellowship with the very One who brought you up out of prison?
And now this prisoner, this man, is now the constant companion
of the one who saved him. Huh? And God's grace not only
saves us and transforms us, but it brings us into communion and
union and fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ, with God Himself. Huh? And that's what King David
did from Ephibosheth. He brought Ephibosheth in, done
everything exactly the same thing. changed his garments, and then
he sat at the king's table. The Scripture said he sat at
the king's table. Sitting at that king's table.
You've got to be dressed like you sat at the king's table.
You've got to be there by the king telling you that the only
way you're going to get here is me letting you do it. And
oh, bless his name. And oh, Mephibosheth was able
to sit at the king's table. And I tell you what, the feast
is set. The food's on the table. I said, I'll eat. I said, I'll
eat. And then look what happens here. Not only that, but listen
to this in verse 30. Everything he needed was supplied
for him. And his allowance was a continual allowance. giving
him of the king a daily rate for every day, all the days of
his life. Notice what I said here, his
allowance was a continual allowance, giving him of who? The king. A daily rate for every day, all
the days of his life. First of all, I want you to see
it was an allowance. It wasn't owed to him. He didn't
get a fair reward. He said, I'm going to reward
you for being such a good prisoner. No. No. It wasn't a reward or something. He gave him his wages. Now, you've
been a good fellow since I've set you out of prison, so I'm
going to pay you off here. No, no. It was given. His allowance
was continually given him. Given him. Everything we have
is given to us. What do we have that we didn't
get? What do we have that we didn't receive? And all it was
given as a provision of grace. And everything that we have,
God gives us to it in grace. How much has God given us in
our Lord Jesus Christ? I'll tell you how much He gives
us. He gives us everything that Christ has, we have. As wealthy
Christ is, that's how wealthy we are. And all of it, listen here, was
a daily allowance. Daily. You know what I'm going to get
today? Just exactly what God intended for me to have. My allowance
is for the day. Whatever it is, that's what I'm
going to get. And it's going to be a daily rate for every
day. It's like that manor that came
down in the wilderness. They just had enough bread for
that day. If they kept it over, it bred
worms in its state. And beloved there, God gives
us just enough grace and gives us what we need for that day.
People worry about what they're going to do when this happens,
that happens. Believe me, as your days be, so shall your strength. Paul said, Lord, I don't, you
know, I've got this thorn in my side, what am I going to do
about it? He says, my grace is sufficient for you. You get up
tomorrow and that thorn be there, I'll give you grace for the day. When you get up in the morning,
you'll find, you know what you'll find? Brand-new mercies, you'll
find brand-new grace, you'll find brand-new manner, you'll
find just what you need for that day. You know why? Because the
King promised you. The King promised that. Huh? But surely you wouldn't want
any more than what the Lord would want you to have, would you?
That's the most wonderful thing that contents you. in this life,
no matter what you got, whether you got a lot or whether you
got a little. When you know it comes from the hand of your Master,
when you know that your life comes from Him and what you have,
He gives it to you from His hands to your mouth, from His hands
to your home, from His hands to your life, from His hands
to your everything. Beloved, you're talking about
contentment. What contentment? to know that
I'm going to get just exactly what the Lord intends for me
to have for that particular day. Huh? If something happens and
the sky falls, old chicken little, the sky's falling. If the sky
happened to fall, I'd have grace enough for that day for it to
fall all over me, and you would too. Some of y'all know that
much better than I do. And Lord wants you to notice
this. Tomorrow's allowance, let me tell you this, tomorrow's
allowance will be given to you tomorrow. What am I going to
do about tomorrow? God will take care of that. He
always has. Isaac said to his father, he
said, Father, where's the lamb? He said, My son, God will provide
himself a lamb. And God will provide whatever
we need. And then, look what else it says,
not only was a daily allowance given him, a continual allowance
of the king, a daily rate, it was given to him of the king.
Now, here's what happens, beloved, out of the king's force is what
this man receives. This man didn't have nothing
except wonder how wealthy this king was, wonder how much this
king had. How much does our king have?
How much does God have? Is he full of grace? But then
out of His fullness we are missing. All the fullness
of the Godhead dwells in Him, and He is able to keep us. And I tell you what, here's the
thing about it. God is so full that He has been
given to His people from Abel, from Adam, Abel, until the last
saint on this earth. And he'll have as much when we
get into a turn as he had when he first started. And look how much he's given
all of us here right now. And he's still as full as he
was when we got here this morning. You reckon it made that king
poor to give this fellow here daily allowance? Made this king
poor to give him some clothes? Made this king poor to speak
kindly to him? And this says here, this allowance
was given to him all the days of his life. All the days of
his life. I remember a story, and I know
I've wore you out, but I'm sorry. I remember a story about this woman. She had a child
that was very, very sick and needed some fruit. had scurvy
and needed some fruit. She knowed that in the king's
gardens, all these wonderful fruit trees. And she went up
there one day, and the gate was open a little bit, and she looked
in there and seen all those fruit trees, seen all that fruit. She
said, Oh, if my child could have some of that fruit. Oh, my child
needs that fruit. Oh, make her well, make her well. She stuck her head in there and
looked around, trying to decide whether she ought to go in there
and take the king's fruit or not. And then she looked around there,
getting ready to go in, and somebody had come around the gate. And she said, Sir? I've only got a few pennies.
Can I buy some of that fruit? Can I buy a little for my daughter?
She's sick. And you know what? And it was
the king himself, and you know what he said? I'm much too rich to sell, and
you're much too poor to buy. And that's the way we are. He's
much too rich to sell, and we're way too poor to buy. And he says, just fill her baskets
plentiful of all the fruit she wanted and send it to her house. Just meet the King. Just meet
the King in your emptiness. Our gracious Father, in your
blessed Son's name, we ask you to meet the needs of these hearts
gathered out here today. I thank you for your great and
abundant mercy to me, for enabling me and allowing me this first
day of the new year to speak of our Lord Jesus Christ and
his wondrous grace. Lifted us up out of the dunghill,
made us sit among princes. Speak so kindly to us, so graciously
to us. Oh, put such a garment on us,
O Lord, that shines as the brightness of the sun in your sight, and
that today You're going to give us a daily allowance, and we'll
have it every day we get up. And then we'll have You throughout
all eternity, as we have You now, but face to face. We bless
You in Christ's name. Amen.