That Which is Precious to the Lord

Well, it's good to see all of you, and it's so good to be home. I thank the Lord for the time that we had to rest. It was so helpful, so needful, and truly a blessing. But my heart was still here. For that, I'm thankful. I want you to take your Bibles and turn with me to Psalm 116. Psalm 116. This is a precious psalm that was brought to my heart. And in light of the passing of our sister Doris, Psalm 116, verse 15 actually is where I'm going to be.

But I kept thinking about how gracious the Lord is to His people. And remembering these precious promises that He gives, I will never leave you. I'll never forsake you. And it's not until we find ourselves in need, truly need. And how gracious is the Lord to bring us to these times of need, these precious, precious times of trial. How wonderful it is go through some of these blessed times. And especially when it comes to the death, the dying, the passing of a believer.

I contemplated the event of the Lord being pleased to take our sister Doris Holmes while we were out of town. And I talked with Baram Gina, told him, I said, Linda and I'll come back right now. And he said, no, no, no, you just stay where you are, you know. And he said, everything's fine.

But that whole time that I was there anticipating the funeral, that'll be taking Lord willing tomorrow I kept thinking about the passing of a believer and my heart was brought back to Psalm 116 verse 15 and this is what the Spirit of God moved upon the writer to pen and I thought this could only be it has to be it is but it has to be inspired of God because no human being could know this of themselves.

No man or woman born in Adam could know the truth that is set forth in Psalm 116 verse 15. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. Now how could a human being, one born in Adam, how could they know that? How could anybody born of earthly blood, how could they know that in the sight of the Lord, the death of his saints is precious to him?

God had to teach somebody that. And I read those verses and looked up the words. If you ever remember anything about Mays, there's one thing he said. Well, I do remember this. He looked it up. I looked it up. Precious. This is what it means. Valuable. Prized. Rare. costly and splendid, precious.

Precious in the sight, that is, in the eye of the Lord, in the eye of Jehovah, Father, Son, Spirit. Precious in the sight of the Lord, in sight of Jehovah, is the death of his saints, those who are said to be Godly. That's what it means, sanctified, set apart. Precious in his sight is the death of his saints.

Now, by nature, man fears this event of death. That's not something. I'm the world's worst. I'll tell you right now. I go to the doctor. And if I'm going to the doctor, if I'm not going for a teeth cleaning, if I'm going for that, it probably won't bother me that much. But if I'm going for anything else that's a little bit more serious, I get anxious.

And the thought of the reality of dying always crosses my mind. I wish it didn't, but the reality and the fear, that I heard Brother Scott, I never heard him say it, but I know many of you say it, he said, man was created to never die. And death is a strange thing, naturally speaking, to man, because he was created to live forever. And he's gonna live forever, but where he lives forever.

But there's something about death that just arrests us. It just, somebody dies, death. And in our minds, it's always gonna be somebody else, until it starts getting closer and closer and closer. The older you get, you start thinking about it more and more. And the reality of it, But that thing of death, that's something that man by nature, he strives to avoid it. Give me a pill, take me to the doctor, take my temperature, do whatever it's going to take, but I want to be well.

Now, that's just all of us by nature. though according to the scriptures. Death to a believer, though that believer struggles with it because of his old man, his enemy. We just, it's just an old man that just doesn't believe God. There's an old man that just, but the scriptures, what sayeth the scriptures? Here's what the scriptures say.

Precious In the sight, in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his saints. Now, I'll just be honest with you, and you know this is so. We're saddened. We're saddened when one that we love is removed from this world. We're saddened. I've had, you've had, we've had, all had those in our lives. that the Lord has been pleased to take. And here's the bottom line. We miss them. We miss them. We miss seeing them. We miss talking to them. Especially, I can tell you this. I've told you this before, especially for a pastor.

Oh, how I enjoyed calling Scott up and asking Scott stuff. Brother Scott, what do you think about this, you know? My ears were just like, you know, Brother Henry, Maurice Montgomery, Don Fortner, all these precious, precious men God had called and taught. And what they'd learned and what God had been pleased to teach them through adversity, trial, tribulation, they'd learned some things. And I wanted to hear what they had to say. And so for me, it was a sad thing.

But to realize that the Spirit of God has revealed that in the eyes and the sight of the Lord, the death of His saints, of His people, of His elect, those that the Father had chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, those that the Lord Jesus Christ had redeemed by His precious blood, and those that the Spirit of God called by power and grace, mercy, In the sight of the Lord, those that he takes out of this world, that's precious to him. It's precious. It's marvelously wonderful.

And to that believer who sees the approach of death coming, the words of the psalmist, Oh, death, where is I sting? Oh, grave, where's your victory? Where's the victory when God takes one of his own? Where's the victory? It's all given unto the Lord. What mercy. And that which makes death marvelous. to the saints of God. What makes death precious in the sight of the Lord is that this death has been the vehicle. It's just the means.

How do we get home? How are you going to get home tonight? Well, you're going to get in a car. You're going to get in a car, and you're going to drive home. And you get to your house and you get out. What was the means by which you went home? You had an automobile. What's the means by which we're going to go into the presence of God? Death. That's the means. That's the way God is ordained.

So therefore, the means by which the Lord is pleased to receive his own to himself is precious to him. And by the grace of God, we believe that it is precious to us, though that old man still wars, and we're still fearful, and we're still, there's a battle that goes on with this thing of death. But it's precious. What comfort to the regenerated sinner to know that all things, all things work together for good.

Everything that is happening in the life, the walk of a believer, everything is so ordered and so ordained by God. God is bringing his people to this end. They're going to die. You're going to die. And the way you're going to die, the Lord has ordered that too. He's ordered it. He's ordained that we're going to die, and He's ordained the means by which we're going to die. All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. Oh, with this precious truth imparted to our hearts, the believer begins to see, and I say begins to see, it's as he sits continually under the gospel and The Lord teaches him, and he begins to see the preciousness of getting older or getting sick. That old man's still wars. He's still fighting. He's still rebelling. And there's still an old nature, and it's still going to fight against it.

But still, I'll tell you what will settle your heart is when you remember, when you're made to remember, contemplate, The Lord ordered this. This is the Lord ordered this. Now that settles a heart. And only a believer has that peace. An unbeliever has no peace whatsoever in thought of death. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. When the Lord is pleased to receive one of his beloved unto himself. These things are sure. When God brings one of his own to himself through the means of death, this is one thing that we can rest in.

All the demands of the law has been settled. All the demands of the law has been provided. All the demands of the law is finished. And a believer can, you know, you get ready to, get ready to go on a vacation. Let me tell you what mine and Glenda's, usually our last comments before we get in the car. I wonder if we, did we get everything? Did we, did you remember to get that? Did you, we did get the, You know, I always wondered, did we get everything? Is everything taken care of for a believer?

Let me tell you this. If in the hour of your death, that you're completely oblivious to it, I can tell you from experience, it can come on you so fast, you don't even know it's happening. You just, before you realize what's happening, And you don't have time to start thinking, you know, I wonder if everything is right with me before God. You don't have time. You don't have time. But here's the comfort of a believer. If the Lord takes me, you that believe tonight, it's good. It's precious in the sight of the Lord.

All the demands of the law have been met, how? By His shed blood. Without the shedding of blood, there's no remission of sins. But with the shedding of His blood on the behalf of His people, all their sins had been laid upon Him. All of the demands of God's law have been met by Him.

And right now, for a believer, if the Lord takes you before this service is over, or me before this service is over, we can leave at peace with God. Their heart is settled. And that's precious to the Lord. It's precious to the Lord and it's precious to God's people, even though we still struggle with this thing of death.

The Lord has ordained that every demand has been met. And not only are we assured that all of our guilt has been satisfied, all the debts been paid, but he has robed us that believe in his own righteousness. So we would leave this world With all of the debt paid to the law of God, there's no demand of the law that's not been satisfied. And not only has all the demand of God's law been satisfied, but we leave this world robed in the righteousness of Christ.

Now, beloved, that's the way to leave this world. To be forever with Him. The Lord has ordained the end of our lives. He's ordained the means by which our lives are going to be ended. He has met all the requirements of the law for His people in His own shed blood, and He's robed them in His own righteousness.

Somebody will say, how are you doing? I'm doing very well, thank you. I'm doing really well. Well, yeah, but don't you have this disease? Don't you have this disease? Yeah, yeah. But I can tell you for a fact, I'm doing well. I'm doing well. If I leave this world and meet God, and all the demands have been met by the Lord for me, I'm doing good. I'm used upon, as I was going over this, Message tonight writing out these these notes.

I started thinking about that thief on the cross and As he was saying, you know the story as he was hanging there there was another thief on the other side the Lord in the middle and As you've you've heard me say you've read it at one time they were both railing on the Lord and In a moment, one of them, his attitude changed, his voice, his speech changed.

And he started rebuking the thief that was continuing to rail on the Lord. And he said, don't you fear God? Have you no fear? Have you no respect for God? We're deserving of what we're doing. We're deserving of what we're getting. This man's done nothing wrong. And then he told the Lord, Lord, will you remember me when you enter into your kingdom? Will you remember me?

And I thought to myself, you want to know some words that will just settle a man's heart, a woman's heart. Here's some words that will settle the heart of a dying sinner saved by the grace of God. These words will settle him. Verily I say unto you, unto thee, today, you will be with me in paradise.

And I'm thinking, Lord, Would you call back in the hour of my passing, would you recall that scripture to my heart? Would you call that to my memory? And let me muse upon that precious promise of your grace and your mercy. To think that the Lord, I know he said it to this thief, but that he would say that to me. Marvin? Today, you're going to be with me in paradise. I'm thinking, what a promise. What a truth that I can lay down and rest and just believe God.

Verily, that's Luke 23, 43. Verily, truly, I say unto thee today, Oh, the death of that thief. The death of that thief. Was precious in the sight of the Lord. It was precious. This is this is one that the father had given him. Before the foundation of the world. This is one that he had everlastingly loved.

This is one that he he had seen fall in Adam He knew every act of transgression that that thief had done. He knew him. He knew him in mercy. When that thief went through this life, whatever he had done, whatever he had done, he was a thief for sure. What all he had done, I don't know. But I do know this. I know he was a rebel. He was a rebel against God. I know that.

But I'm thinking of all the things that he had done to hear the Lord of glory say, you're going to be with me today. Oh, I think it's not by works of righteousness that we've done, but according to his mercy, he saved us. Every person in this room, I guarantee you, I don't know your lives. I don't know what you've done, but I guarantee you, If you're anything like me, which I hope you're not, but if you are, I can tell you this. The Lord Jesus Christ came to this world to save sinners. The Apostle Paul said, of whom I'm chief.

Oh, surely that unworthy rebel, for him, the sting of death and fear of the grave We're gone. We're gone. To know that I've been justified before God by the imparting, by the giving, by the applying of the blood of Christ, washing me from all of my guilt, all of my sins, that's precious. And then to die in the Lord. The death of his saints is going to be shown to be precious. Because when they leave this world, this is a precious thought.

No more are they going to behold him by faith. Right now, we see him, those that know him, in mercy and compassion. We see him by faith. And I will speak for myself. Weak faith, weak faith. Lord, I believe, but help mine unbelief. Lord, I love you, but help me to love you. Lord, I look to you, help me to look to you. Lord, I trust you, but help me to trust you. In the moment of our passing, this is a precious thought.

We'll not see him anymore by faith. But we'll see him with perfect sight. And know him. And know him. And know him. And be able to commune with him. And think, Lord, that you would have, I use the word time because I can't think of another word. You would have the time and take the time to talk to me. That you would commune with me. That's a precious thing. They see with perfect sight. When death of God's people comes. All the experience. The knowledge of being delivered. From the penalty of sin. That's a precious thing to him, and I'm telling you, it'll be a precious thing to God's people.

The scripture says, I have not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for them that love him. There's a day coming, according to God's word, John said this in 1 John 3, 2, Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

We've never even thought The thought has never entered our mind, according to his word, what being with him will be like. I mean, I have these little silly thoughts of, you know, try to imagine, I don't know, I don't even know what I'm imagining. But I just, I try to imagine being in heaven, and that's foolish, I know that, but I can't help it. And then I read the scripture, it never entered your mind what it'll be like.

I tell you what, turn with me to Acts 7, and I'll close with this scripture. When a believer dies, and I know a little bit about this, I don't know much. Acts 7, I'm gonna read verses 51, starting at 51. Acts 7, I know a little bit about this. I know that when a believer comes to that point where the Lord has given them some knowledge that they're going to be passing, there's a joyfulness in their heart. They've been in a fearful state all of their lives, but when it comes to according to the scriptures.

And that's all I've got. That's all we got. That's all I want. That's all we got. But when it comes to that point, to where we're going to leave this world, there is a spirit of settleness. There's a spirit of joy. There's a spirit of thanksgiving. And like I said, I've just seen a glimpse of it. I've heard words said from people that were dying, and I've listened to what they've said, and they've said things that were amazing to me, that there was a spirit about them that was not afraid. And I've been afraid all my life, but I'm watching people that's been afraid. Let me prove that by this last scripture right here, Acts 7, chapter 7, starting in verse 51.

Stephen is being stoned, and he knows he's going to die. You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you do always resist the Holy Ghost, as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? And they have slain them which showed before of the coming of the just one, of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers, who have received the law by the disposition of angels, not kept it. When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart and gnashed upon him with their teeth.

But he being full of the Holy Ghost, and I'm thinking to myself, only God can fill a man with the Holy Ghost. It wasn't Stephen that did anything. God filled him. He being full of the Holy Ghost looked up steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of God.

Now here's what we know. According to these scriptures, the Lord gave this mortal man eyes to see. As I said a while ago, by faith, We believe, we have spiritual eyes by faith to see, but we don't see physically. But in the moment, in the time of this man's passing, God gave Stephen eyes to see, physically see.

He said, verse 55 again, but he being full of the Holy Ghost looked steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God. Who is the glory of God? And Jesus standing on the right hand of God and said, behold, I see the heavens open and the son of man standing on the right hand of God. And I'm thinking to myself, God gave this man eyes to see, to physically see.

And they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, and cast him out of the city, and stoned him. And witnesses laid down their clothes at the young man's feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.

It was the only thing that he was concerned about. seeing the Lord and crying out to the Lord in the hour, in the moment of his death. And he kneeled down and cried with a loud voice, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. That's the means by which he's going to bring them to himself. That's God's ordained means, and it's precious. And it makes a believer say, Lord, help me. Lord, grant unto me your presence as you did to Stephen. Lord, help me to believe. Lord, keep me by your grace and power. For Christ's sake, amen.

That Which is Precious to the Lord

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That Which is Precious to the Lord

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