Tonight, we're going to be in the book of Proverbs, if you would like to turn there. Proverbs chapter 19. I have a very sobering message for us this evening, one of great interest to the Lord's people. I've already told you the title is The King's Favor. Here Solomon is giving us insight by the Lord's spirit of those in false religion, those left to themselves, those who believe they have it right, but have it totally wrong. And then he shows us what makes the difference, or I should say, who makes the difference. This is the most frightening thing to the true elect child of God. Because oftentimes we worry that we may not be the Lord's.

What if I'm not His? What if I'm not His? Don't look at yourself. That's impossible, did you know that? That's what happens as soon as we take the mirror and we turn it around and look at ourself. That's what the law does, is it exposes sin, it shows that you're guilty. No matter what the circumstance is, no matter what we're trying to accomplish, whether we're looking for evidence or we're looking for something that we have done or have not done, every time we do that, it's going to fall short of the glory of Christ. The difference between a believer and a non-believer is a believer believes. A believer just believes.

David was an adulterer. David was a murderer. And yet the Lord said, fear not, I have put away your sin, you shall not die, David. And he prayed, Lord, purge me with this hyssop and I shall be clean. Wash me and I shall be made wider than snow. Blot out the transgression for this blood guiltness that I have. David was praying after he was already told the Lord had forgiven him his sins. Do we see how glorious that is? When the Lord tells you you're forgiven, that doesn't stop you from asking, does it?

Brethren, we must be reminded that we are not our own, that we've been bought with a price. We've been bought with a price, and the price was blood. We've been bought. It's not us that keeps ourself, it's the Lord that keeps us. Now, as we read this, notice the description, Proverbs 19, we're gonna read one through 15, but notice the description of those who are left believing the lie, those who are left to themselves. And in no point in time will you hear, I pray that it never happens from this pulpit that we look down on people of this particular category or this particular caliber, because this is just the Lord revealing what people are without Him. That gives us no place to glory, no place to be prideful, no reason to act like, oh yeah, I've arrived. You know, I've really figured out something. No, but for the grace of God, there go I. That should always be the mentality.

Proverbs 19 verse one, better is the poor that walketh in his integrity than he that is perverse in his lips and is a fool. Also that the soul be without knowledge it is not good and he that hasteth with his feet sinneth. The foolishness of man perverted his way and his heart fretteth against the Lord.

Wealth maketh many friends but the poor is separated from his neighbor. A false witness shall not be punished, shall not be unpunished, or be innocent, held innocent. And he that speaketh lies shall not escape. Many will entreat the favor of the prince, and every man is a friend to him that giveth gifts. All the brethren of the poor do hate him. How much more do his friends go far from him? He pursueth them with words, yet they are wanting to him.

He that getteth wisdom loveth his own soul. He that keepeth understanding shall find good. A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall perish. The light is not seemly for a fool, much less for a servant to have rule over princes.

The discretion of a man deferred his anger and it is his glory to pass over a transgression. The king's wrath is as the roaring lion, but his favor is as dew upon the grass. The foolish son is the calamity of his father and the contentions of a wife are continual dropping. Contentions of a wife are a continual dropping. House and riches are the inheritance of fathers, and a prudent wife is from the Lord. Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep, and an idle soul shall suffer hunger.

There are six negative statements that describe those left to themselves in these 15 verses, and they are in verse one, those who are perverse lips and a fool, Verse two, they're without knowledge. Verse two, again, they hasteth with their feet, therefore they sinneth. They run to their false God. Verse five, they have a false witness. They don't say the truth. And verse nine clarifies that, they're liars. In verse 10, they're foolish again.

That's six total. You know what six is, the number? It's the number of man. It's the number of men. That's the number of men left to themselves. Now notice how they approach the Lord. This is how they approach the Lord, verse six, many will entreat the favor of the prince. It doesn't say a prince that says the prince, that's the Lord Jesus Christ. We see that. And every man is a friend to him that giveth gifts. Every man is a friend to him that giveth gifts. Men come to Christ Wanting what Christ can give them.

Wanting what the Lord can do for them physically speaking. The message in today's society is health, wealth, and prosperity. It's about you becoming a better you. Do you all remember that book, The Power of Positive Thinking? Anybody remember that one? Yeah. And it was all about changing your mentality in order for you to be able to have a more positive outlook on reality. And therefore everything around you is going to get better and you're going to be healthy and you're going to be wiser and you're going to be more wealthy.

Brother and sister, I'm telling you, the Lord did not come into this world to make us healthy, to make us wealthy, but he did come to make us wise unto everlasting life, not wise in the flesh. Matter of fact, the scripture says not many wise are saved. I'm glad it doesn't say any, it says many. Not many strong, not many noble. That M's a nice letter right there, isn't it? Take away the M, it's not any. But no, the Lord's full of mercy, renewed every morning. Many.

So this hour, I want us to see what is the Lord's favor? What is the king's favor as he talks about Verse 12, the king's wrath is as a roaring lion, but his favor is as dew upon the grass. Well, I would remind us that the dew upon the grass is how the Lord would water the ground before the flood. It never rained before Noah.

There was years and years that it went by from the Garden of Eden. And there's Bible scholars and things that have guesstimates on the timeframe. I didn't look it up because I don't think that's relevant. I'll just tell you it was a long time. They never saw rain. The dew came up from the ground. Today we have dew that hits our ground. What is the importance of that? Well, sometimes it doesn't rain for a long time, so thank God he lets the dew fall so everything don't turn brown and die.

It's the type of refreshing. The favor of the king is a refreshing to his people. When Esther approached king, When she approached the king, if he didn't have favor for her, she would have surely died. But because she had favor in his sight, she not only lived, but she saved her people.

This is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the refreshing that the Lord's people need, is to be reminded, I can't please God, I'm not good enough, I'm the sinner that deserves hell, but Christ saves sinners. Christ put away the sin of his people. Christ intercedes. Christ is the mediator. Christ is the substitute. Christ is the surety. I need to be reminded of that. The scepter lifted for the Lord Jesus Christ. The father was well pleased with his son. And therefore the son obtained favor from the father and all of those who were in Christ obtained favor of the father. Men don't come to Christ wanting Christ. They want streets of gold, walls of jasper, a gate of pearl. They want a mansion. There's a song that says, I've got a mansion just over the hilltop. People want physical things.

But if God ever makes us a sinner, we'll have one thing needful. We won't be too worried about other things. Good example of that is Haman. Whenever Haman, he was captain of the host of Syria. He was a mighty man of valor. He was a wealthy man. He was a wise man. But he was a leper. So he had a bunch of problems being captain of the host of Syria. You imagine having to deal with all the issues of the king's men in war. But when he became a leper, how many problems did he have? One. One. I've got, I'm going to die. I am going to die. I've got to get better.

He had one problem. Therefore, he went where he had to go in hopes that the Lord would heal him. And the Lord sent him down to the Jordan River, and he had to dip seven times, representing the perfect death of Christ. The point is, when the Lord makes you and I a leper, when the Lord makes us a sinner, we're not gonna be worried about what we see anymore. We're gonna be worried about, am I in him? And is he in me? Did he die for me? Did he put away my sin?

It's my only hope. It's my only hope. We don't come to him looking for a hand out. We don't come to him looking for a hand. Well, Lord, I did the best I could. I just need a hand, a little nudge to get the rest of the way. We don't have that mentality.

Lord, you're gonna have to do it all, every bit of it. And the problem is men come to the Lord for that mentality is the Lord's going to bless me because I have done this. You won't find that in scripture. You will not find that in scripture where somebody says, where somebody goes, Paul didn't go to Athens and say, okay, Lord, I've came to Athens now and I've preached the gospel of these men. Now you're obligated to save them. How foolish is that?

No, he looked to God to order and provide according to his will, and that's what we do. But some come to the Lord believing because I'm a follower of Jesus, and I do this, I pay tithe, and I come to church, and I, whatever things that I do that's good, the Lord's going to bless me. And they see material things as the blessing. Is there anything wrong with having material things? Absolutely not. But having material things and not having material things has nothing to do with the favor of God. Nothing to do with the favor of God.

I will tell you this David said I was a young man now I'm old never have I seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed-begging bread What does that mean that mean Christ provides for his people? Those that look to him Christ provides for them and you all know as good as I do the Lord's we're physically blessed beyond measure. I mean, we have more than we ever would need, but the point I'm making is, is we don't come to him for that. That's not the blessing. He's the blessing. And the only way to obtain that blessing is to have favor of the King, the King's favor.

Come with me to John chapter six. I'll show you what I'm talking about. We're going to look at verse 22. the day following. Now the Lord had just did the five loaves and two fishes miracle, fed 5,000 with five loaves and two fishes. He just walked on water. Now he's came to Capernaum across the sea. Verse 22, the day following when the people which stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was none other boat there save the one wherein his disciples were entered, and that Jesus went not with his disciples into the boat, but that his disciples were gone away, how be it there came another boat from Tiberias, there came other boats from Tiberias, not into the place where they did eat bread, after that the Lord had given thanks. When the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, neither his disciples, They also took shipping and came to Capernaum seeking for Jesus. And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, Rabbi, when camest thou hither?

Jesus answered them and said, now pay attention to this. Verily, verily, or truly, truly, I say unto you, ye seek me not because you saw the miracles, but because ye did eat the loaves and were filled. Labor not for the meat which perisheth, But for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life which the Son of Man shall give unto you for Him hath God the Father sealed." They followed Him for a handout to have their bellies full. Think about this.

The Son of God, the fullness of the Godhead bodily, The fullness of the Godhead bodily is standing there performing miracles right in front of their eyeballs. They're seeing this, they're hearing this, they're taking notice. These would have been some people that they would have known. You have this person that they've seen handicap his entire life, all of a sudden takes up his bed and walks. You see somebody that's been blind from birth. He comes up, the Lord heals him, now he can see. And yet, they could not see the Lord Jesus Christ as he is.

Matter of fact, they go on a little bit farther, and I can't remember if we actually get to this part in the reading or not, but they say, is this not Joseph and Mary's son? What is he talking about? We've watched him grow up. That's why Isaiah 53 tells us that there's no beauty in him that we should find.

The flesh doesn't find the Lord Jesus Christ beautiful. And the way that society has commercialized different holidays and things to try to make it something that's really pretty, nothing about the manger was a pretty scene. A manger is a feeding trough.

It would have been nasty and stinky. It was a barn. It wasn't a pretty place to be, and yet God chose to be born there. Isn't that amazing? The cross was not something that looked good to the eye. It was a grotesque and gruesome event that took place. No man's been marred like that before. And here we have the Lord Jesus Christ unharmed, fully grown. Just a few chapters later, he's gonna go to the cross, several chapters later.

And they're seeing all these miracles being done. and yet they can't believe Him. They don't know who He is. They don't know who He is. You didn't come to me. Men come to Christ one of two ways. They come with their hand out wanting something from Him, or they come empty-handed needing everything from Him. Do we see that difference? I can come to Him asking for something. I can come to Him saying, Lord, I need help with this. I want this, I need this. But if the Lord makes us a sinner, we're gonna say, Lord, I'm the chief sinner.

You're gonna have to save me. You're gonna have to save me. I need eternal life and I can't get it other than through and by you. They weren't concerned about eternal life. Mankind is always. Always attempted to obtain salvation by laboring, by laboring, by working. Paul said that salvation is by grace alone.

And if it's by grace, it cannot be of works or it's no longer grace. And if it's of works, it can no longer be of grace. And if it's of grace, it can no longer be of works. It can't be the both. It can't be the same. It can't be a little bit of grace and a little bit of works. It's all of grace, meaning he has to do it all. He has to do it all. Mankind always labored for salvation and they continue to work in order to have physical blessings or favor with God or from self-glory or for self-promotion.

I mentioned to you Sunday in false religion, we would sit, some of us, I know some of you can relate to this, you might. You were trying to sit a little bit higher than everybody else. You were doing just a little bit better than everybody else was doing. Maybe God would notice you because you would never do what Betty Sue did over there. You would never do what so-and-so this and that did.

And that's how we were. We would look at other people and we would justify ourself. We were promoting ourself to God. Here's the part that's the scariest. We still would be if it hadn't been for the Lord's grace and mercy. But when the Lord shows us we're a sinner and there's nothing we can do in the flesh in order to obtain favor with God, to constrain or restrain him, we cry out, Lord, have mercy on me, the sinner. I don't need a piece of bread. I need the living bread. I need you. I need you. Look what the Lord said in verse 27.

Labor not for meat which perisheth, but that meat which endureth into everlasting life with the Son of Man shall given to you for him hath God the Father sealed. Only those that have the King's favor rest completely in what he has provided, the bread that doesn't perish. The manna that fell from heaven, it was bad the next day, it never kept. It never kept. Well, that's a manifold picture, but one in particular is we need bread every day. Give us this day our daily bread. He's not talking about wheat and rye. He's talking about living bread, isn't he? Well, let's read on here, verse 28.

Then said they unto him, what shall we do that we might work the works of God? Now brethren, I love this answer that our Lord gives to them. It's so clear gospel. Listen to what the Lord tells them. They said, what shall we do that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, this is the work of God that you believe on him whom he hath sent. That's his work, that's not your work. You cannot work the works of God, that's God's work. Do you see what the Lord's telling them there? He's saying this isn't a work that you can just choose to do. This is the work of God in your heart. This is by grace alone. Jesus answered and said unto them, this is the work of God that you believe on him whom he hath sent.

They said therefore unto him, what sign showest thou then that we may see and believe thee? What doest thou, what dost thou work? Our fathers did eat manna in the desert, as it is written. He gave them bread from heaven to eat. Now do you remember another part where they said this to him?

What sign would you show us? And he said, only a wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, but no sign will be given but that of the prophet Jonah. As he was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so shall the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. What's the sign?

It's the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That's the sign, that's the only sign that we're ever gonna get, that God was satisfied, that's it. Verse 32, then Jesus said unto them, verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven, but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven and giveth life into the world. Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. Now get this, Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never hunger and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. But I said unto you that you also have seen me and believe not.

All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and to him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will which sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day.

Now look at this next verse. Then the Jews murmured at him because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. And they said, did not this son of Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know, how is it then these sayeth I come down from heaven? He just told them point blank, straightforward truth. I am the bread of life that came down from heaven. How can you be the bread of life? How can a man enter into his mother's room a second time and be born? How is that possible? That which of his flesh is flesh, that which of the spirit is spirit.

Marvel not, I say unto you, you must be born again. He tells them in verse 44, no man can come to me except the father which hath sent me draw him and I will raise him up at the last day. Now this is the most interesting part. of all of this, when you get down to verse 54, whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. It says in the verse before, I say unto you, except you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Verse 55, my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me and I in him.

Now you keep going down and you know what happens? It says that they said amongst themselves, this is a hard saying, who can hear it? And they departed him and followed him no more. And at the very end, he says this. Verse 66, from that time, many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him.

Then said Jesus unto the twelve, will you go also away? Then said Simon Peter answered, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou ask the words of eternal life. And we believe that and are sure that thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. And Jesus answered them, have I, have not I chosen you twelve and one of you is the devil? He spake of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he that should betray him being one of the twelve. Brethren, this is a miraculous account that the Lord has given us. He tells them plainly, I'm the bread of life.

If you eat me, you shall never hunger. Remember in Matthew, he tells us all the blessings that he gives. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are this and blessed are that. One of them he says, though, is blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. And he tells them, you must eat of my body and drink of my blood.

And they said, this is a hard saying. Who can hear it? I don't understand. And they left. They departed. And they never came back to him. They followed him no more. Mankind can only think of the physical things. They can't think of spiritual things, because spiritual things are spiritually discerned. And we are born dead, spiritually speaking. Until the Lord gives us life, there's no way to understand spiritual things. So there's no way they could have understood what the Lord Jesus Christ was saying.

The good news, brethren, God's elect are in the spirit. God's elect are in the spirit. You say, well, I'm in the flesh, I see my flesh, I can pinch it, it hurts. That's true. Yeah, you have an old nature clinging to you right now that's gonna go back to dust. But the new nature born in righteousness and true holiness the scripture talks about, is spiritual. And do you know why the elect are spiritual? Because we have obtained the King's favor. Listen to Romans chapter 8, But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. If so, be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

Those that are left to themselves are like these followers. They go their own way and Like the six that we just read, they go their own way, they have perverse lips, they pervert the gospel, they're without knowledge, that means they're not told of the king because they don't have the king's favor. They're hasty to flee to their false god constantly, and therefore they're sinning. They don't know the truth, therefore they bear false witness of who God is and what God has done.

They don't talk about God's sovereignty, God's holiness, God's election, God's immutability, God's unchangeableness. They talk about what they can do to earn God's favor. They talk about what they can do in order to get God's attention. They talk about what they can do to make God respect them. And that's not true. None of that's true. They don't know the truth, therefore they have false witness. They're liars on God. They're foolish and have their foolish hearts darkened. They have not favor with the king.

So how do I know if I have favor? That's the question tonight. That's the question I wanna know. How do I know if I have favor? Well, if you have favor of the king, you're gonna be taught of him some things. The king teaches his subjects, and I love the fact that his subjects are his children, don't you? His subjects are his children. Now, if you were a king or a queen and you had all the power that ever was or ever will be, don't you think that you would teach your children a few things? Certainly, certainly. Our King does just that.

He teaches us about what we are and about who He is. He teaches us how good He is and how bad we were. How do we know we have favor of the Lord? Because we have not so learned our God. The way that they are in John chapter six, the way that they are in Proverbs chapter nine, we've not learned Him that way. He's taught us some things. He told us they all shall be taught of God. His people are taught by his spirit.

We don't speak perversely. We don't speak as a fool when it comes to the gospel. We don't speak of someone. We don't speak as someone ignorant of the truth. We speak the truth in love. We speak the truth in love. We tell the exact truth. You know, when you go to a court of law, they make you they swear you in and they say, do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? And I don't know how many people probably lied on stand, but you understand what I'm saying? When you stand before God, there won't be any lying. God has made it so that he gives his people the desire to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Paul said, I didn't withhold anything from you, but revealed everything to you in scripture. He says, I didn't hold back. We didn't tiptoe around it. We got right to the point.

Men will stand in a pulpit and they'll say, well, if I talk about God's election, or if I talk about predestination, if I talk about some of those, that's the meat of the Bible. We leave that alone, we're on the milk still. If I talked about that, I'd lose my congregation. And I said, that's not the meat of the Bible, that's the milk.

You gotta start with the foundation that God's salvation started with God electing a people. That's the very beginning. Because we're sinners, we're utterly sinful. He has to do it all. We're not made to flee to our works and what we do are made to flee to Christ. He's made it thus.

We speak the truth in love and we're hated because of it. We're hated because of it. The Lord said, Marvel not if the world hates you. It's me that it hates. It's not you. It's me that it hates. In the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I've overcome the world.

Now just as the Lord was here, they all forsook him but the 12. Yet even with God-given faith, we see that it is Christ's faithfulness that keeps us looking to him. It's Christ's faithfulness that causes us to cleave to him. It's Christ's faithfulness in the king's favor that causes us to remain faithful unto him. His faithfulness causes his people to remain faithful.

Do you see what I'm saying there? so that we cannot glory in anything but Him. Are you faithful? If I am, it's because He's the doer of it. Because there's nothing in me that's faithful. Not spiritually, no. I mean, nothing that would obtain salvation, nothing would merit righteousness, no. It has to be Him alone. Do you remember a good example of the king's favor causing us to be kept by his power. Do you remember when the Lord told the disciples, one of you is going to betray me this night? You remember that?

And every one of them said, is it I? Is it me? Is it me? They didn't turn around and look at Judas and say, it's him. He smelled funny for a month. We knew it. We know it's him. Yup. I saw how he looked at you. I know it's him. Every one of them said, is it I? And that'd be us, wouldn't it? Is it, is it me? Is it me?

Peter told John, because John was beside the Lord, says he was leaning on his breast, he said, ask the Lord who it is. Ask the Lord who it is. Peter's like, we gotta know. This is really important, we need to know who this is. And John leaned in, he was on the breast of the Lord, scripture says, and said, Lord, who is it?

And the Lord spoke softly to him and said, the one that I dip the sop in and give it to him, that's the one. everybody didn't hear that if you read that scripture clearly he didn't announce that to everybody that was between him and John. And he dipped the soft and gave it to Judas, looked at Judas and said, what thou doest, do it quickly. And from that moment on, scripture says, Satan entered into his heart and he departed. Now, the most frightening part about that to me, and probably be the most frightening to you as well, is we got to back up a little bit before we get to that particular part of the story, because I want you to think about from the very time the Lord laid eyes on Judas for the first time, knowing that he was the betrayer, because he's God, he knew, purposed it. He was the son of perdition. That was the reason he was born, is to betray Jesus Christ.

That being said, he saw the miracles. He saw the kindness. He saw the compassion. He saw the love. He saw the patience. He saw the understanding. He was taught of the Lord with the disciples. The Lord would teach them lessons. The Lord would teach them about the kingdom of heaven. The Lord would reveal his messages unto him, the parables that he said.

Judas himself even cast out demons and performed miracles in the name of Jesus Christ. Judas did that. On this eve right here, the Last Supper, the Lord takes a water pail and a towel of some kind, a rag, and he washes their feet. The very man that's gonna betray him in a few hours, he washes his feet. Think about that. Does that frighten you? That frightens me. To have your feet washed by the Lord. Peter said, you're not washing my feet. The Lord said, if I don't wash your feet, you have no part with me, Peter. Peter said, not my feet, only then my hands and my head. Peter wanted to have part with the Lord, didn't he?

Wanted to be associated with. Think of the servitude of our Lord. What caused Judas to betray the Lord? Well, the cause was, a lot could be said about that, truthfully. Was it the Lord's purpose? Absolutely. Was Judas completely guilty? Absolutely. That's the truth of it. That's the truth of it. The Lord has never made a man sin, and yet, if he leaves them to themselves, they're gonna sin. That's our nature, do we see that? It's left to ourself, that's us.

And that's the most frightening part, Lord, I've got to have the king's favor because if I don't have the king's favor and you leave me to myself, even if you wash my feet, I'm going to betray you. I've got to have the king's favor. That's the part that scares me the most.

The servitude of our Lord, all the gospel, all the gospel Judas would have heard and learned all the miracles he saw. And he saw it day after day after day after everything that he would see. And there's times you see Judas, he's more worried about the money than he is the miracles that are being performed. Somebody just got resurrected from the dead. And he's like, yeah, we could have sold that perfume and had been a lot of money. Like that's the problem. You know, that was the that's what was in his head.

Lord washed his feet and fed him, looked after them all. Yet just as all the tenderness was lost upon this wretched creature, Judas, the Lord's tenderness would be left on all of us. It'd be wasted on us if it hadn't been for the king's favor and his faithfulness in salvation. His tenderness is not wasted towards his people. His mercies are renewed every day. He won't leave us nor forsake us.

So I said, well, I don't want to be Judas, but I don't really want to be Peter either. How many times do we deny the Lord in unbelief? Every one of us are Peter, every single one of us. And yet we see the Lord's faithfulness prevails over and over and over. After the cock crowed the third time, Peter remembered the words of the Lord and he made eye contact with our Lord and Savior. And it says, and the Lord looked upon Peter.

And how do you think he looked upon him? In false religion, it was always he looked at him like a dad looks at his child when he is really disappointed and upset towards him. That is not true. That is not true. It says he looked upon him. Doesn't say he looked at him, he looked upon him in compassion, in love. It's not your faithfulness, Peter, it's my faithfulness. Fear not, I've put away your sin, you shall not die. I've already put it away in eternity past, and now I'm about to put it away in time. Fear not, Peter.

But Judas did not have the king's favor. He was not elected of the Lord, just as Pharaoh was not elected of the Lord. Nations, the scripture says, I've given nations for your sake. Think about what the Lord, all the things that Judas would have saw. He saw the Lord's tenderness, but it was nothing to him. He saw the Lord's kindness, but it was nothing to him. But get this also, all the alarms of judgment meant nothing to him also.

Think about that. You know, in a lot of religion, they preach hellfire and brimstone, meaning they try to preach the roof down. They're very, very loud and boisterous, like you're going to burn in hell, and they really make that the emphasis point. You better do something. You better fix your sin problem or you're going to go to hell. But the issue with all of that mentality is it's just stirring up emotions, and they're going to get a physical response is all they're going to get.

It's not of the Lord. And if it's not of the Lord, who's it of? It's pretty simple, isn't it? The point I'm making is this. The fear of judgment isn't enough to lead a man to repentance. How do I know that? Well, hell itself is not enough to lead a man to repentance. The rich man lifted up his eyes, being in torment, seeing Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom. And he said, Father Abraham, send Lazarus that he may dip his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame.

He didn't say, give me a drink of the fountain of living water. He didn't say, I'm perishing, I need eternal life, I have repented, you're God and I'm not. No, he said, I want one more drop of water, one more drop of pleasure. He didn't have repentance, he didn't have faith. The torments of hell are not enough to cause a man to repent.

It is only given to those who have the king's favor, his elect, who he upholds by his own power, who he loves beyond measure, who he died for. who he was risen for, who he saved by his own grace. You know, the Lord told them whenever they come to get him, they said, he's in the garden. You remember this. He's in the garden. I'm going to come to a close here. He's in the garden and they come to retrieve him. And he says unto them, whom do you seek? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. And he says, I am. The word he is in italics. He says, I am.

And what happened to them? They fell over backwards. What do you think Judas did during that time? He was with them. Logically, he fell backwards. Don't touch these monolect. Leave them be. He asked them again after they stood back up. So even the fear of being knocked over by the Lord's power wasn't enough for them to bow and say, okay, you're God. We didn't realize that. I've repented.

No. It's the King's favor alone, it's by grace are you saved through faith in that not of yourself. You can't decide this, I can't decide this, but the good news is if the Lord has decided to save you, neither height nor depth nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth or any other creature shall be able to separate you from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. Nothing, nothing will be able to separate you. So what is our hope? that because of what Christ accomplished, we have the King's favor.

Turn with me in closing to 2 Samuel chapter 23. Now I want you to notice just the first sentence. of the first verse, and then we're gonna look at verse five. I've quoted this many times, and you'll know it as soon as you read it. But the first sentence in chapter 23, verse one, now these be the last words of David.

Verse five, although my house be not so with God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things ensure, for this is all my salvation and all my desire, although he make it not to grow. Here's our hope, brethren. that God would earn our favor himself before his throne, that the Lord Jesus Christ would earn our favor before the throne, that we would have favor not based upon what we do or best based upon what we are in and of ourself, but that we would have favor with God. We would have the King's favor based upon what the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished, who he is, what he did on the cross of Calvary by shedding his blood and the sacrifice of himself. This everlasting covenant never had a beginning, never had an end. It can't be changed. It can't be manipulated.

It can't be, uh, you know, they have addendums and a lot of things I found out recently, even in the constitution, I didn't realize an amendment. They literally are adding something to the original constitution, like this amendment and that amendment. I don't know how many they are now. So forgive me for not knowing history that good, but. Can't amend the everlasting covenant. Can't amend it. It's forever settled in heaven.

His everlasting covenant is whereby he elected, he redeemed, he saved, he called his people, and he keeps them to the very end. Why? For his sake, he's faithful. Even if we deny him, he cannot deny himself. He remaineth faithful. When the soul of Jesus Christ was offered to his father, when he bore our sin in his body and he shed his precious blood, the father was satisfied with him. Therefore, he has made his people the very righteousness of God in him. You have favor with the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

Now I realize maybe saying this, I'm going to try to say this right. Some marriages, they're not very favorable. Some, they don't get along too good. But I really think, I really favor my wife. I love her, and I think you guys love your spouses as well. If you don't, it's none of my business, don't come talking to me about it. To have favor with God, think about that. What would I withhold from her? She's my bride, I love her. Mac, that's your bride, you love her. If we had the ability, Joe, that's your bride, you love her. And for Scott, you the same way. I mean, what would we withhold? And Lisa, you too? I mean, I'm not leaving anybody out here. But man, what would we withhold from our wife if we could give it to her?

Nothing. What's God gonna withhold from us that we need? Nothing. Everything belongs to him. Everything's his, including eternal life. He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up freely for us all, how shall he not also with him freely give us all things? Why? You have favor with God. You have the king's favor. How did that happen? By the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

God's people are made to have favor with the king so that when he enters his throne room, the scepter and the king Say, come, whosoever will, my people, come. We can enter the throne of grace, having obtained mercy, and find grace to open the time of need. The Lord tore down the middle wall of partition that was contrary to us, watered out the handwriting and ordinances against us.

We can come boldly. That means in complete confidence. The Lord says, I have his favor. I can come boldly to his throne, trusting in the blood alone. God's people have now and always will have the King's favor. Let's pray. Father, we ask that you would take this and bless it to our understanding all for your glory. Thank you for the favor that you've given your people in Christ. In his name we pray. Amen.