so so Thank you. Good morning, we welcome you to the
service this morning. We ask you to take your hymnal,
turn to hymn number 412. 412, No Other Plea. And let's
stand as we sing. I trust the ever-living God,
His new means shall clear. I need no other argument, I need
no other friend. Where is he now, that Jesus died,
and that he died for me? ? I believe that Jesus saved his
ex-wife here and now ? ? The sinful soul I come to blame ?
? He'll never cast me out ? ? I need no other argument ? ? I need
no other plea ? ? There is enough that Jesus died ? Salvation by my Savior's name,
Salvation through His blood. I need no other argument, I need
no other plea, It is enough that Jesus died, And that He died
for me. My great possession He's a saint,
the Lord He came to save. For me His precious blood He
shed, for me His life He gave. I need no other argument. Thank you may be seated as we
turn once again in our hymnal to 618. 618 accepted in the beloved. is is In the beloved autonomous grace. Calling and telling His wonderful
ways. I see my Savior, and there He
sees me. In the beloved accepting grace. I'll set my heart free, and I'll
be loved in our county proudly, through faith and memory, and
memory. God's love for us great, Holy
to dwell in this humble place. God sees my Savior, and when
He sees me, in love He loves me. I went to the tree. There in his person, I lay my
face to see. In what I laughed, oh, weep no
more this day. In what I prayed, In the Beloved, God's wondrous
grace, The reaching power of Him is undervised. God is my
Saviour, and then He sees me, In the Beloved, I stand clear
and free. Thank you, thank you, Richard.
That's a marvelous choice of two hymns to sing. Thank the
Lord for his mercy and his goodness to us and in my own wretched
situation to be able to see how he abused me in the Lord Jesus
Christ. We do welcome everyone this morning
and I I want you to be in prayer for those that didn't need our prayers, want
us to pray for them. Pray for Rae and her sister,
who's not doing well. Be sure and pray for her. And
Brother Roger and Vicki. And Joe, Joe Schwartz. And Jewel is recuperating. And Steph, who's also recuperating. And please pray for Sheila and
I as we travel on a little break in the morning. And I hope the Lord will use it to
help us, help me, physically and mentally and spiritually. Turn with me this morning to
Psalm 24. Psalm 24. Brother Richard Oakley will be
speaking for you next Sunday. Pray for him as he prepares. A Psalm of David. The earth is the Lord's and the
fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the
seas and established it upon the floods. who shall ascend
into the hill of the Lord, or who shall stand in his holy place. He that hath clean hands and
a pure heart, who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor
sworn deceitfully, he shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and
righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is the generation
of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Lift up your
heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors,
and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of Glory,
the Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle? Lift up your heads, O ye gates,
even lift them up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory
shall come in. Who is this King of Glory, the
Lord of hosts, He is the King of Glory. May we pray. Our Father, this morning we come
into thy presence, as always in great weakness,
great need, great sinfulness in ourself, great ignorance. But we pray that you might hear
us and accept us in the one we've sung and read about, your beloved
son. We have no other hope, no other
plea, no other righteousness or priest or mediator. We have only Christ and him alone. But we know that you have made
everything to be in Christ. Everything to depend on him. All that mediatorial work. To be by his sacrifice. All that we would ever hope to
receive of you in grace. That eternal and blessed inheritance. Reserved in heaven for us. We look for it only and expect
it only because of Christ, because of your grace in him, because
of his finished work. We pray in this hour for these
that we have mentioned and many more, and especially for those
who are truly your people. Sick as they are sometimes, hurting
as they are sometimes, lonely as they are sometimes, in error
as they are sometimes. We pray that you, for your glory
and for your namesake, might mightily be that shepherd that
truly does bring them. Bring them unto yourself. Bring
them to that place of rest in Christ. Bring them to do your
will, the will of God as it is in Christ. We ask, Lord, that
you would teach us, for we are an ignorant bunch. We know, Lord, the more that
we feel like we know and understand, the less it seems that we truly
do. And oftentimes what we do know
lifts us up in pride and causes us, Lord, sometimes to be self-righteous. But we know in truth that we
are only sinners, that the reason that we need a savior such as
the Lord Jesus Christ is because we are such helpless, lost sinners. We pray that you would keep us
and guide us, protect us and direct us in all things, teach
us, cause us to learn, and help us that in this world, by a way
known only to yourself, to live and to be to worship and to even
exist to the praise of your glory. We thank you and we pray that
your gospel might run well this day in the mouths of those that
you call to preach it. Help us, Lord, to be in submission
to your will. Help us not to lean on human
logic or reasoning. Help us not to be deceived by
this world, especially in its religious deception. Help us
not to be drawn away by family or friends or coworkers or anyone
who would speak contrary to your word and your will. We thank you for the multitude
of your blessings. We pray that you'd help each
one of your blessed sheep and gather us into that one fold
where we'll be with you forever. We thank you and we pray in Christ's
name, amen. In your hymnals, once again,
537. 537, not I, but Christ, and then, Brother Tim, if you'll wait on
the time. Out of Christ be seen, be known,
be heard. Out of Christ in every look and
action. Out of Christ in every thought
and word. ? I do know the power that lives
in me ? ? But I have Christ to gently soothe and sorrow ? ?
But I have Christ to wipe out howling fear ? ? But I have Christ
to lift my lowly burden ? ? But I have Christ to wash away my
sin ? I'll soon be lost, oh, to be
lost in Thee. Oh, I'm begging You, Lord, I
will go, and Christ shall take me. The winds are howling, soldiers
in the sea. My army cries, my infantry goes for fear. Don't leave us to thee. The land may be no more, I know,
but Christ can live in me. ? As a nation proud and free ?
? O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave ? ? Underneath the aurora ? ? Is
the covenant of her love ? ? Leading onward, leading onward ? ? To
a glorious design ? ? For our day become ? ? Our day become
? the dear people of Jerusalem. The deep, deep love of Jesus
spread His grace from shore to shore. Now He came to pay our
ransom through the saving cross He bore. How we loved him first
of all, And we vowed to make him whole, Though we'll be little
soon. O deep, deep love, I need and
trust in the deep, deep love of Jesus. ? The deep, deep love of Jesus
? ? Are surpassing all the rest ? ? It's an ocean full of blessing
? ? In the midst of every test ? ? The deep, deep love of Jesus
? ? Time to serve your precious name
? ? You will bring us a new life ? ? A new life, a new life ?
? Oh, I deeply love you ? ? How I gained and trust you ? He is the King, the God of Jesus. back with me to Psalm 24, a wonderful psalm that we read. There is no doubt that this psalm is primarily speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. They call it a Messianic psalm, but this is a Messianic Bible. It's all about the Messiah. It's all about Christ. And who
in themselves could ever be this or fit this description in themselves? None but the Lord Jesus Christ. But I want you to notice what
it says in verse four. When the question is asked, who
shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand
in his holy place? And one of the things that the one described is said
to have is a pure heart. He that hath clean hands and
a pure heart. Can anyone but Christ have a pure heart? Well, the Bible speaks and it says that those in Christ have a pure heart. As a matter
of fact, every one of his believing people have a pure heart. And because of what we read in
the scriptures in Matthew chapter 5, in that teaching and speaking that Christ
did on the mount that we call the Beatitudes. Look with me
in Matthew 5 and verse 8. And all that he says are blessed. He says in verse 8, blessed are
the pure in heart, for they shall see God. The pure in heart. This is the promise of God. And these are the people of God,
the pure in heart, and they shall see God. The word pure here means cleansed. It means clear. And it means purged. But this purity does not come
by anything that we do. Anything that we strive after,
we ought to strive to do good, strive to be obedient, strive
to honor God, strive to do all these things, but that never
makes us pure. It never gives us a pure heart. purity and this cleansing is
done by God alone. And oftentimes in our day it
passes for the purity of the Pharisees. But this is what the
Lord said of them. He said unto them, now do you
Pharisees may clean the outside of the platter and the cup, but
your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness." They cleaned
up all on the outside. They cleaned up their lives.
They did all these things, but they were not pure of heart. In the inside, they were ravening,
and wicked. But not only do we have this
promise here in Matthew chapter 5, it's also a prophecy that
we read in Daniel and other places, but this is a prophecy in Daniel. Many shall be purified and made white and tried, but
the wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall
understand, but the wise shall understand. These many, contrasted
to the wicked, will be purified, made white, and tried. And the purification that we
read in the scriptures about pertaining to the people of God
is that they are purified in the sense that we see people
and things purified in the Old Testament. It was always by blood. for whatever service, whatever
position, whatever altar or sacrifice, always purified by blood. It was made pure by death. And that's why we read what we
read in Hebrews, Hebrews 9, 22. And almost all things are by
the law. purged or cleansed or purified
with blood. And without shedding of blood
is no remission. We read this in the book of Leviticus. It says, And he slew it, and
Moses took the blood, and put it upon the horns of the altar
round about with his finger and purified the altar and poured
the blood at the bottom of the altar and sanctified it to make
reconciliation upon it. How did he purify the altar? He took the blood of that sacrifice,
whatever it was, and he took his finger and put it on the
horns of the altar, smeared the blood on that altar, and it was
in the sight of God purified. Purified. And we have a picture of this
cleansing and this purifying as it was in the case of the
leper. You remember the leper in the
Old Testament? How the leper was to be cleansed
and treated? Turn back over to Leviticus chapter
14. Leviticus chapter 14. Listen to what the words say
here. And the Lord spake unto Moses,
saying, This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his
cleansing. And he shall be brought unto
the priest, and the priest shall go forth out of the camp, and
the priest shall look, and behold, if the plague of leprosy be healed
in the leper, Then shall the priest command to take for him
that is to be cleansed two birds alive, and clean, and cedarwood,
and scarlet, and hyssop. And the priest shall command
that one of the birds be killed. He's gonna take the birds, one
of the birds. and he be killed in an earthen
vessel over the running water, and for the living bird he shall
take it, and the cedarwood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop,
and shall dip them, and the living bird in the blood of the bird
that was killed over the running water, and he shall sprinkle
upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times,
and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird
loose into an open field." Be good to stop right there and
spend a couple of hours on what takes place. Two birds are taken. One is killed. His blood is caught
in the basin, mixed with all these things, and the living
bird and the one that is to be cleansed is sprinkled with that
blood. And then he is pronounced clean
by the priest. He's pronounced clean. And he's
clean. because of that sacrifice, and
he knows he's clean by virtue of the priest pronouncing him
clean. All of these things are types
of the Lord Jesus Christ, his cross work, and his gospel. Look over with me in Matthew
again to chapter 8. Matthew chapter 8. It says, when he was come down
from the mountains, great multitudes followed him. That is the Lord
Jesus Christ. And behold, there came a leper
and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make
me clean. I'm dirty. I'm corrupt. I'm a leper, which is a type
of sin. I'm all these things, and you're
the sovereign Lord. If you will, you can make me
clean. And Jesus put forth his hand
and touched him saying, I will. There's that pronouncement. I
will. Be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was
cleansed, and Jesus said unto him, See thou tell no man, but
go thy way, and show thyself to the priests, and offer the
gift that Moses commanded them for a testimony unto them. Christ and the Old Testament
are intricately interwoven as the type and also the reality. All of these things typified
Christ, typified how a cleansing took place, and showed in this
passage in Matthew that Christ actually was that priest. And all of these things showing
to God's people when he brings them the gospel, when he opens
their eyes, when he gives them faith, showing to God's people
just exactly what it says in 1 John 1. 1 John 1 and verse 8. John writes, if we say that we
have no sin, we deceive ourselves. And the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned,
we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. My little children,
these things I write unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sins, or when
any man sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ
the righteous. The blood of Jesus Christ does
what? Cleanseth us from all sin. Cleanses us from all sin. Listen to what God says, speaking
to us through the book of Hebrews. In Hebrews chapter one, where
he speaks of the last days, or God speaking to us in these last
days through his son, he says this, who being the brightness
of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding
all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself,
what? Purged our sins. Purified us from our sin. Cleansed us from our sin. When he had by himself purged
our sins, he sat down on the right hand of the majesty on
high. That's a done work. That's an accomplished matter. When he by himself purged our
sins, He sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high. But then he says something else
in that book of Hebrews. And I've said this for many years. Before a matter can be settled
in your conscience, it has to first be settled in the court
of heaven. But that is what the gospel is
about. It is about letting God's elect
know that what has been settled in the court of heaven now has
a pleasant and joyous and good news effect to those on earth. Listen to this. Hebrews 9, for
if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling
the unclean sanctify to the purifying of the flesh. How much more the blood of Christ,
who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot
to God, purge your conscience, cleanse your conscience. Purify your conscience from dead
works. What are dead works? Well, the
truth of the matter, dead works are every work that you and I
do in ourselves. Dead works are all those things
that men do naturally, thinking that they'll please God. They
use them and they do them to cleanse their conscience, except
for one thing. It never does. Just like the bringing of all
that animal blood. Just like all those other sacrifices. Just like all that Old Testament
purification. It never did make the conscience
of the comers and the bringers of those sacrifices clear because
it never put away sin. And so he writes and he says,
how much more, if that purified the flesh, how much more shall
the blood of Christ purify our consciences from dead works to
serve the living God. The living God cannot be served
by any but those who are pure in heart. And none of the doings
of men, none of the rules and regulations, none of the living
of men will do that. Only the blood of Jesus Christ. That work that He did on the
cross. We can live in this life and
think that it's a part of the equation, it's an important part
of our lives and all. It is our life. This is the way
that not only are we cleansed from sin, but it's a way that
looking to Him and His finished work, we're cleansed of conscience
and we know that every other work that we do is a dead word. It brings forth fruit unto death. Everyone. That's not to say that
we're not to live right. That's not to say that we're
not to love our families. It's not to say that we're not
to be honest, that those things don't count in any way. They
count as far as being obedient to the scripture. but they will
never put our conscience to rest in the matter of our sin. Only
the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us, purifies us, purges us in
the sight of God. And the true gospel is good news
because in it The priest, the priest of God, the high priest
of heaven, the priest pronounces his people clean. That's what God says to his own
in the gospel. The deceived, the blind, they
interpret such passages as as being pure and all, they interpret
that to their own destruction. They don't look at the Old Testament
to see how it means. They don't look to the scriptures
in their context to see what it means. It means this, that
only by the blood of Jesus Christ are we cleansed of our sin before
God, but also cleansed of our sin as far as it is in our conscience. and gives us rest, gives us rest. And it's because of the priest,
God's priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. The priest pronounces
his people clean because of his shed blood. It isn't that he looks at us
and says, You're clean because you're trying real hard. It isn't
because he says you're clean because you're doing the best
you can. You're clean because you're loving
your family. It's clean because you're working
hard. It's clean because you're honest. It's clean because of
all these other things. It's clean because you give a
lot. It's clean because you do all these things in the church
and you're faithful to come and all these things. He says, clean,
you're clean because of my shed blood. And because when he died on that
cross, he purified every one of his
people. I lay down my life for this sheep. When he died on that cross, He
accomplished a work on their behalf and cleansed every one
of these leprous sinners. And the message to them is now
the priest by the Holy Spirit and by the word of God pronounces
them clean. The psalmist said, the words
of the Lord. are pure words. The preacher's words in our day,
they're not pure words. The opinions of the learned in
our day, the scientists and the doctors and all, they're not
pure words. They're just the words of a sinner. But the words of the Lord are
pure words as silver tried in a furnace purified seven times. They're the words you can trust.
They're the words of the priest who alone can pronounce us clean
and who alone will pronounce us clean solely on the basis
of his finished and accomplished words. When the Lord spoke in
John chapter 15, he said, now are ye clean through the word
which I have spoken unto you. Just like that priest with the
leper, he was the only one. The leper didn't know when he
was clean. Nobody else knew when he was
clean. But when the priest pronounced
him clean, He was clean. And when the Lord
Jesus Christ, who knows all that he suffered, who knows all the
will of God, the purpose of God, the grace of God, who knows all,
who is said to be all, when he pronounces us clean from his
word, it doesn't matter what anybody else says. It doesn't
matter about anything other than the fact that he said so. I've told you this story a lot
of times. If you'll allow me to tell it
one more time. It was said that Napoleon was
a rather small man, but he rode a big horse. That's kind of the
way it works. And so one day he was inspecting
the troops. He's just riding along his horse,
you know, And something spooked the horse. And Napoleon almost
fell off. But a young corporal in the line
that he was inspecting, he leaped up, and he grabbed the reins,
and he steadied Napoleon's horse. Napoleon looked down at him. He said, thank you, Lieutenant. And so that young soldier, he
started to the officer's mess tent, walked in there, started
partaking of all the nicer, better food and all that stuff. And
all the other officers looked at him and he said, they said,
who said you were a lieutenant? Who said you were an officer?
He said he did. He pointed to Napoleon. He was what the general said
he was, and it didn't matter what anybody else said he was. And that's the way it is with
the gospel. The gospel is true. The gospel is the pronouncement
of God's grace upon his people. And he's saying as the priest,
as our great priest, who is also our great sacrifice, his blood. He's the one pictured as the
priest and the altar and the sacrifice and everything else
in the Old Testament. He's pronouncing us clean. Clean in God's sight because
of his finished work. Turn over to the book of Acts. Acts chapter 15. And look down at verse 7, if
you will. Verse 7, it says, And when there
had been much disputing, Peter rose up and said unto them,
Men and brethren, You know how that a good while
ago God made choice among us that the Gentiles by my mouth
should hear the word of the gospel and believe. There's always that
conflict in those early days of the church regarding Jew and
Gentile. But there was one gospel. And God, which knoweth the heart,
bear them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as He did
unto us. God has a people among the Jews.
He has a people among the Gentiles. He saves them both the same way,
by the same Savior, by the same finished work of the cross, and
He saves them that way, and the Holy Ghost is given to them even
as he did unto us, and put no difference between us and them,
purifying their hearts by faith. Purifying their hearts by faith. Cleansing them of all the works
of Judaism that they depended on. just like he saved us, cleansing
us from all that we ever depended on in idolatry, like the Gentiles
did, purifying their hearts by faith. How does faith used
of God? Well, we can't claim it of ourselves
because it's the gift of God. It's the gift he gives to his
people. It's the gift that Christ died
that they might have. He gives them the gift of faith. And faith looks away from everything
that we are, and everything that we did, and everything that we're
doing, and faith looks to Christ alone. Because the pure heart is the
heart of faith. Is that the language of scripture?
Well, in Romans 10, Paul says, for with the heart, man believeth. It's the heart of faith. Man believeth unto righteousness. He looks to the righteousness
Christ. He regards that as the only righteousness
he has. He regards it as the righteousness
of God. He regards it as the righteousness
that he's received as a gift. The righteousness that is only
in Christ and therefore God looks at him in Christ, as we sang,
as pure, purified. And it's those that are made
clean in this way. And it is as those, let me say
that, it is as those, who? the purified in heart. It is as those who are pure in
heart that we seek to worship God, as we seek to obey God, as we seek to honor God, and
as we seek to love the brethren. We don't do those things ever
to be pure in heart. We do those things as the pure
in heart. Turn over to 1 Timothy chapter
1. First Timothy, chapter one. Look at verse five. Now the end of the commandment. What are we commanded? Or what
sums up the commandment of Christ? to believers. Now the end of the commandment
is charity. That's love. Love rules this
kingdom, the kingdom of God. Now the end of the commandment
is charity out of a pure heart. Only those who have a pure heart
will ever love. All this stuff that passes for
love, it's not love at all. But out of a pure heart and of
a good conscience and of faith unfeigned, heart purified. by faith in Christ. We look to
no other. We have no other hope. We love out of a pure heart. Turn over to 2 Timothy. Now the professing church is always filled with unbelievers. The true church never has anybody but believers. So Paul writes to Timothy in
verse 20 of chapter two, 2 Timothy chapter 2 verse 20. But in a great house there are
not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and
of earth, and some to honor and some to dishonor. If a man therefore purge himself
from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet
for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work. Flee youthful lust. He's not
talking just about sexual immorality. He's talking about how the younger
and the young try to sometimes be smarter or debate issues no
account at all. That's what he's talking about
here. Shun profane and vain babblings that only increase in moral ungodliness. He says, flee also youthful love,
but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace. That's what we're to be about.
righteousness of God, the gospel wherein the righteousness of
God is revealed, and faith, the faith, charity, love, peace,
with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. He didn't say worship in the
church of your choice, or worship with those you like, or worship
those that are of the same demographic you are. None of these things
make up the church of God. But it's those who worship and
call upon the Lord out of a pure heart. What does it mean to call upon
the Lord? It means who worship God on the basis that Abraham
called upon the Lord and every other one in scripture or the
Old Testament we read called upon the Lord and that was through
a God appointed, God ordained, and God provided sacrifice which
is We do all these things with them that call upon the
Lord out of a pure heart, heart of faith, heart that believes
the truth of the gospel. That's what all this book's about. Look over in 1 Peter. 1 Peter 1. Look down at verse 17. And if ye call on the Father,
who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's
work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear. For as much as
you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver
and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your
fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb
without blemish and without spot, who barely was foreordained before
the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last
times for you. You who by him do believe in
God that raised him up from the dead and gave him glory, that
your faith and hope might be in God. See, you have purified your souls
in obeying the truth Through the Spirit, unto unfeigned love
of the brethren, see that you love one another with a pure
heart, fervently. Since you have been brought to
believe, which is to obey the truth, the only way that you can, which
is by the Spirit, unto unfeigned love of the brethren. I'll tell you what, if you love
the brethren, by the grace of God, By all the
strength and resources He gives you, you'll do all He commands. You won't need somebody standing
here every week telling you again and again what you're to do.
If you've been born of God, if you believe the truth, if you've
received the love of God shed abroad in your hearts by the
Spirit of God. If you know that you're saved
by Christ alone, by grace alone, if your heart has been brought
to obey the Scriptures alone, take that as your only and final
authority. If you see, as you read, such
as we've read this morning, this command of God's He says, see
that you love one another with a pure heart, perfectly,
warmly. That's what God's people do. Because they're the pure in heart. And blessed are the pure in heart. for they shall see God. They're not pure in themselves, but they are pure in heart, because
God has given them a heart of faith, and they believe under
righteousness, and that is the righteousness of Christ. Who shall enter into his holy
hill? He that had in himself a pure
heart and all those pure in heart in him, Christ. Our father, we thank you this
day for your mercy. For your word. And most especially
for your son. Teach us and help us to know the legal spirit of Antichrist
plagues our land, taints all of religion, deceives many, and
would deceive the elect if it were possible. Help us to glorify you alone.
and look to you alone, and to love one another out of a pure
heart, fervently. For we pray in Christ's name,
amen. Good morning. How are you? Well, I'll leave you there, sir.