Well, good morning. If you would,
after I get situated here, open your Bibles with me to the book
of 2 Thessalonians. 2 Thessalonians 2. We want to remember in prayer our
brother Charlie Davis is having surgery, getting him a new hip
tomorrow morning. We want to remember him in prayer.
We want to remember Eric and Abby. Eric is preaching this
morning in Danville, Kentucky, Grace Baptist Church. He's preaching
this evening in Lexington at Todd's Road, Grace Church. I
want you to remember him in prayer. After the service this morning,
we're going to begin our Bible classes again for our children.
And if you're in Eric's class, don't fear. We've got a substitute. I'll be subbing for Eric this
morning. He's subbed for me all summer, so it's good for me to
get to sub for him this morning. looking forward to teaching that
class. All right, 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. Now we beseech you, brethren,
by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together
unto him, that you be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled,
neither by spirit nor by word nor by letter as from us, as
that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you
by any means, for that day shall not come except there come a
falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son
of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that
is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he, as God, sitteth in
the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember ye not
that when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And
now ye know what withholdeth, that he might be revealed at
his time, for the mystery of iniquity doth already work. Only
he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the
way. And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall
consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with
the brightness of his coming. Even him whose coming is after
the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders,
and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that
perish, because they receive not the love of the truth, that
they might be saved. And for this cause, God shall
send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie, that
they all might be damned who believe not the truth, but had
pleasure in unrighteousness. But we're bound to give thanks
all the way to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth, whereunto he called you
by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions
which ye have been taught, whether by word or our epistle. Now our
Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God even our Father, which hath
loved us and hath given us everlasting consolation and a good hope through
grace, comfort your hearts, establish you in every good word and work. We thank God for his word. Let's
bow together. Our Father, which art in heaven,
holy and reverend, is your matchless name. Father, we bow before you
this morning carefully, reverently, knowing that we come before the
God of all gods, the Lord of lords and the King of kings,
the thrice holy God. And Father, how thankful we are
that we can come confidently, boldly before your throne of
grace. seeking your mercy, seeking your acceptance and your favor
in our Lord Jesus Christ. Father, we thank you for your
mercy and your grace that you have reserved for your people.
We thank you for such a savior as our Lord Jesus Christ, who
has given his people full and free salvation that gives us
a confident expectation of eternal life in him. Father, how thankful
we are. And it is our earnest prayer
this morning that you would show us your glory through the preaching
of your word this morning. Reveal to each heart here, we
beg, reveal to our hearts the Lord Jesus Christ and cause us
to leave here this morning with a good hope in him, a good hope
through your grace. Father, we thank you for your
blessing to this congregation for years and years and years.
Father, how we thank you. We know that it has not come
from any goodness found in us, but it's Your mercy and Your
grace, Your providence, and we're thankful. And we beg of Thee
that You would not take Your presence from us, that You'd
not take Your hand off of us, but You would continue to bless
Your sheep through the preaching of Your gospel here, that You
would continue to call out Your sheep and bless Your word as
it's preached. For Your glory's sake, Father,
we pray. Pray for those, Father, who need
you especially at this time, who are in times of great difficulty
and sorrow and sickness. We pray for Sue, that you continue
to be with her. We pray for Charlie's surgery
tomorrow, that it would be successful, give him relief from his pain
and restore him back to more freedom and mobility, freedom
from this pain, we pray. Be with the doctors and nurses
who treat your people, Father. Use them as an instrument to
touch the bodies and heal those that need help. Father, above
all, we pray your presence. Give your people a special portion
of your presence that you comfort their hearts at this time that
you've called them to. We pray a special blessing for
our brother Eric this morning that you bless him richly in
preaching. Cause him to be a blessing to
your people. Give him a message for your people and enable him
to preach it. Give him and Abby traveling mercies
to return back home to us. Father, all these things we give
thanks and we ask your blessing in that name, which is above
every name, our Lord Jesus Christ. It's for his sake and his glory.
We pray and give thanks. Amen. Day by day and with each passing
moment Strength I find to meet my trials here Trusting in my
Father's wise bestowment I've no cause for worry or for fear
He whose heart is kind beyond all measure Gives unto each day
what he deems best Lovingly is part of pain and pleasure mingling
toil with peace and rest. Every day the Lord himself is
near me, with a special mercy for each hour. All my cares he
fain would bear and cheer me, whose name is counsel, lore,
and power. The protection of his child and
treasure is a charge that on himself he laid. As thy days, thy strength shall
be in measure, so fresh to me he made. Help me then in every tribulation,
So to trust Thy promises, O Lord. That I lose not faith's sweet
consolation, Offer me within Thy holy Word. Help me, Lord, when toil and
trouble meeting, Ere to take us from the Father's hand. One by one, the days, the moments
fleeting, Till I reach the promised land. One by one, the days, the
moments fleeting, till I reach the promised land. I could listen to that all day. Thank you. Alright, if you would,
open your Bibles now with me. The book of 1 Timothy. Across
the page from where we were reading a few minutes ago. The book of
1 Timothy. The title of the message this
morning is Christ Our Hope. Christ Our Hope. I pray that
the Lord will enable me to preach this message this morning clearly
in the power of his spirit. There is no reason for one person
in this room this morning to walk out these doors without
this hope, without this good hope, Christ our hope. I pray
the Lord will give it to us this morning. Now, this epistle is
what is commonly called a pastoral epistle. It was a letter written
by the apostle to a pastor, young Timothy. But this letter is not
just to Timothy. It's not just applicable to pastors. It was written to all of God's
people. You know, if this were just a personal letter to Timothy,
to the pastor Timothy, Paul would not have bothered to write his
qualifications as an elder. Timothy already knew that very
well. This letter is written under
inspiration of the Holy Spirit to every believer. And there's
just a sweetness to this letter. You know, the backdrop of this
letter is it's written from Paul. to one of his sons in the faith. You know it's not his natural
son. It's one of his spiritual sons. So it's written to every
believer. It applies to every one of us.
But now the backdrop of it is this relationship, a special
relationship between Paul and Timothy. These words are written,
now I can't stress this enough, by the Holy Spirit for our good,
for our learning. But these are also words of loving
advice and instruction to a beloved son from a beloved father. And
Paul, just right off at the beginning of his letter, he writes of Christ
our hope. Verse 1, he says, Paul, an apostle
of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and Lord Jesus
Christ, our hope. Now, I read that the way I wanted
to. Those words, which is, are in italics. That means that those
words have been added by the translators and they added those
things to try to make the passage more clear, the meaning of the
passage more clear. But in this instance, they failed.
It reads much better exactly the way Paul wrote it. Christ,
our hope. Now I remind you of this frequently,
that the gospel is a person. Everything about the gospel is
a person. The gospel is not a set of doctrines
which we believe. The gospel is a person. The Lord
Jesus Christ, the gospel is the declaration of who he is. And
every blessing that God has for a sinner is found in Christ. But it's more accurate to say
it this way. Every blessing God has for a sinner is Christ. He is the blessing. Wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption are all a person. Paul told us
that. Christ personally is made unto
us. Wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. These are not things that God
gives his people. They're a person. A person that
God reveals to his people. A person that lives in the hearts
of God's people. Well, the same thing is true
of our hope. Christ is our hope. Our hope is a person. Now, I
looked this word that Paul used here, hope, the word he used,
I looked it up and it means an expectation. Our hope is an expectation. It's not like, well, I mean,
I hope the Buckeyes get to play next Saturday. I really hope
so. Yesterday was not a good day for me. Their game was games.
Well, I hope they get to play next Saturday. I don't know if
they will or not. That's not the kind of hope a believer has.
The hope of a believer is an expectation. We can expect it. That's not presumption. You can
expect these things because of who the Lord Jesus Christ is.
God's elect will receive everything God promised to his people. God's
elect will receive everything God purposed for his people.
And there's not a chance they won't get them because of who
Christ is. That's an expectation. See, our
hope is not just in what Christ accomplished for his people.
I had an article in our bulletin I put on our Facebook page Friday.
The believer doesn't just believe in the finished work of Christ.
That's a thing. The believer believes Christ.
We trust Christ. We rest in Christ who finished
the work. Now, we do know that the Lord
Jesus Christ did indeed accomplish everything that he set out to
accomplish for his people. I know that's so. I know that
so because of who he is, because he cannot fail to do what he
came to do. The meaning of this word hope
that Paul uses is a joyful, confident expectation of eternal life. That's what the word means. So
we can, and we should expect eternal life. If Christ is our
redemption, if he's our righteousness, if he's our sanctification, this
is a joyful, confident expectation. because of who Christ is. The
other meaning of this word hope is the author of hope. The word
actually means the person who is the author and finisher of
our faith. The word means that everything
we expect, we expect because of who Christ is. You see that
our hope is a person. In the first two verses of this
epistle, there are five key words I want us to look at this morning.
And these five words will give God's people a joyful, confident
expectation of eternal life because of who Christ is. Now the first
word is commandment. Paul says he's an apostle of
Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord
Jesus Christ our hope. It's a commandment. Now the gospel
is not an offer of salvation from God. It's not an offer to
see if you'll decide to accept it or not. It's a commandment.
You're commanded to believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
You're commanded to repent. You're commanded by God to quit
trusting in things that you've done. Quit trusting what you
used to and turn from those things and to trust in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Trust Him alone. That's God's commandment to you
and to me. But what a gracious commandment. Isn't that a gracious
commandment? To guilty sinners who've sinned
against God and shook their fist in God's face and said, I'll
not have this man to reign over me. What a gracious commandment
God gives those people to trust Christ for the forgiveness of
your sins. To trust Christ for your salvation. The gospel is
a commandment to all people everywhere to repent and believe on the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And people who do not obey, who
do not bow, who do not believe, will be damned. And it will be
their own fault. But thankfully, God does not
leave the salvation of His people up to their will. up to their
will to decide to obey or their will to decide to believe on
Christ. Because they never will. Their nature never will do that.
They're incapable of it. So God doesn't leave it up to
them. God commands the salvation of his people. He commands it.
God speaks to the heart of his people. He commands them to obey. He commands them to repent. He
commands them to bow and to believe. And they do. The word commandment
that Paul uses here means an injunction, like a legal injunction
in court. You know, you would have done
one thing. It was your will to do one thing. But God gave commandment. He gave an injunction for you
to do another. It was your determination to
do your will. And God gave a commandment, an
injunction, commanded you to do his will. And when God commands
it, when God speaks to the heart, we do. Look at Psalm 71. Psalm 71. We have a good hope if God has
commanded our salvation. Psalm 71, verse 3. Be thou my strong habitation,
whereunto I may continually resort. Thou hast given commandment to
save me. For thou art my rock and my fortress.
I continually hide in Christ with a calm, confident expectation
of eternal life because God has given commandment to save me. Look at Psalm 119. That's a gracious
commandment, isn't it? A gracious commandment to save
me. An injunction that was against my will. Psalm 119. Verse 49, Remember the word unto thy servant,
upon which thou hast caused me to hope. The Lord caused me to
hope in Christ by commanding me and giving me the faith to
believe. It's God's commandment. So here's
a good reason to have a joyful, confident expectation of eternal
life. Because the Lord Jesus Christ,
the Sovereign King, the Lord of Lords, has commanded the salvation
of His people. Now I know this much, that whatever
God commands to be done, will be done. That it's not presumption
for me to expect it, is it? As a matter of fact, it'd be
wrong not to. God's given commandment to save His people. That gives
us a good hope. Now the second word, back in
our text in verse 2, the second word is faith. unto Timothy,
my own son, in the faith." Now, faith all has to do with a person. The faith is not the set of beliefs.
You know, somebody says, what faith are you? Somebody sent
me an email yesterday. What faith are you? Do you believe
this, that, or the other? You know, dispensation and all
this big words. You know, I had to look half
a month to know what they meant. But the faith is not the set of beliefs
that we hold to. Faith has to do with Christ.
What we believe. depends entirely on who we believe. And the word that Paul uses tells
us that. The word faith he uses there
means the character of one who can be relied on. The reason
you can trust Christ is He has the character, the perfect character.
You can rely on Him. Saving faith is so simple. Don't
overcomplicate it. Saving faith is simply believing
that Christ is who He said He is. He is the Savior of sinners. I believe that and I need Him.
I'm a sinner. I need Him. He's the Savior of
sinners. Saving faith is simply believing
that Christ is all that I need in order to be saved. So I rest
in Him. I don't have to add anything
to Him. I rest in Him. It's just believing He's everything
that I need. And if God's taught me, He's
given me this gift of faith, then this is what I know. I know
that the Lord Jesus Christ is the successful Savior. I know
that. I know that everyone for whom he died is saved, justified,
their sins put away. I know everybody that the father
gave him, everybody that he came to save is saved. Because before
he was even born, the angel told his foster father Joseph, you
call his name Jesus, for he shall. Not maybe, not he's going to
make an attempt, not he's going to give it a shot. He shall save
his people from their sins. Then I trust him. I trust him.
And because of Him, because of who He is, I have a joyful, confident
expectation of eternal life. Because the Lord Jesus Christ
cannot fail. He cannot fail to save. He cannot
fail to give eternal life to His people. So look at Romans
chapter 5. Let's ask a couple questions. Is there any reason for me to
worry and to fear if we trust on Christ? Is there anything
to worry about, really? Romans 5, verse 1. Therefore, being justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
If we believe Christ, we have a calm, peaceful hope, expectation
of eternal life. He's justified us, put our sin
away. There's nothing for us to worry
about. There's no reason that God would damn us if Christ died
for us. because He justified us. He put
our sin away. There's no reason for God to
be mad. We have a calm, peaceful hope by faith in Christ. Well,
is there any reason for me to worry that God will find me guilty
in the judgment? I believe Christ died for me,
but is there any reason? I believe Christ. By God's grace,
I believe Christ. Do you? But when you look at
yourself, do you see anything but sin? I mean, you see anything
but sin. And that could worry a person.
All I see about myself is sin. Is God somehow not sees what
I see? Is there any reason God would
find me guilty in the judgment if Christ died for me? No. Look
back at page Romans chapter three, verse 24. Here's why. Here's why we have no reason
to fear being justified freely by his grace through the redemption
that's in Christ Jesus. whom God set forth to be a propitiation
through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for
the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance
of God. Not your obedience, not your goodness, his righteousness.
To declare, I say at this time, his righteousness, that he might
be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
Where is boasting then? It's excluded. By what law? Of works? Nay, but by the law
of faith. Therefore, we conclude that a
man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Here's
why I know that I'm not guilty before God. It's because of faith
in Christ, because I trust Christ, not my works. I trust his sacrifice
to completely put away my sin. I trust his obedience to be all
the righteousness that I ever need. Well, look at Ephesians
chapter two. Here's another question. Is there
any reason to fear? being lost if I believe on Christ? Could I possibly believe on Christ
and then quit believing on Him and lose my salvation? Is that
possible? Ephesians 2, verse 8. For by grace are ye saved through
faith. And that not of yourselves, it
is the gift of God. Paul says, are ye saved. You are. Not maybe. Not you might. Not if you do this. By grace.
Are you saved? Then there's no reason to fear
losing that. Well, I believe that. Somebody's thinking, I believe
that. But what if my faith is weak?
What if my faith is weak? Well, let me ask you this. When
is your faith not weak? When is your faith not weak?
Someone says, well, what if I sin? What if I sin and lose this?
Well, let me ask you this. When do you not sin? I mean,
when do you not sin? See, it's not the strength of
our faith that saves. It's the object of our faith
who saves. It's not our righteousness. It's
not our obedience. It's His righteousness. It's
His obedience. If Christ is the one who saved
me, if Christ is all of my salvation without me putting my hand to
it to help it at all, then I have a joyful, confident expectation
of eternal life because of who He is. His perfect sacrifice
put away in sin of His people. Now I have no reason for an expectation
if any of that depends upon me. Because I'll ruin it if I just
put my fingertip to it. But if it's all Christ, I've
got nothing to fear doing it. Nothing to fear. That's a joyful,
confident expectation. Alright, the third word is grace. Paul says, grace, mercy and peace
be to you. Now grace, grace means God giving
us what we do not deserve. Now you and I could have no hope
of eternal life if God's going to give us what we deserve. No
hope whatsoever. Because what does scripture say?
The wages of sin, what you deserve because of your actions is death. The wages of sin is death. If
we have to have an expectation, a hope of eternal life based
upon what we do, we've got no hope. But if God promises to
give us what we do not deserve, if God who cannot lie promises
to give us what we do not deserve, then we can joyfully expect eternal
life, can't we? If God promises to give us what
Christ deserves, If God promises to give us what the Lord Jesus
Christ as a man made under the law, if He promises to give us
what that man deserves by His perfect obedience, then we can
have a joyful, confident expectation of eternal life. It's by grace. We just read that in Ephesians
2, Paul said, for by grace, for by God's free, sovereign grace
are you saved through faith. See, that's a sure thing. By
grace, God has saved His people. Well, let's ask some more questions.
Look at Psalm 84. How do I know that God won't
give me, by grace, most of salvation and leave the rest of it up to
me? Because if God does that, it's going to fail. If God leaves
any part of salvation up to me or to you, it's going to fail.
How do I know God's not going to give me most of salvation
and leave the rest of it up to me? It's because of God's grace. It's because of His grace in
Christ. It's because of what the Lord Jesus Christ has earned
and God will give it. Look here, Psalm 84, verse 11.
Those who are in Christ, God will withhold no good thing. He's
going to give them everything. Everything that they need. It's
all done. by God's grace? Well, then someone's
going to ask this. Look over again at the book of
Romans, chapter 5. I read of God's grace in Scripture.
I hear of God's grace being preached. But is God's grace really enough
to save a sinner like me? Really? I mean, is there really
all of God's grace I mean, I'm such an awful sinner. Is there
something I got to do to help this matter along? How do I know
that God's grace is enough to overcome my sin and my rebellion? Well, here's why. It's because
God's grace is sovereign grace. Grace that is sovereign over
all. Romans chapter 5, verse 19. No. It would help if I turn to
the right book. I'm sorry. Just a minute. Romans
chapter 5. There we are. For as by one man's
disobedience, by Adam's disobedience, many were made sinners. Everybody
he represented was made sinners. So by the obedience of one, the
Lord Jesus Christ, shall many, everybody he represented, be
made righteous. Moreover, the law entered that
the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace
did much more abound. As sin hath reigned unto death,
even so might grace reign, sovereignly reign through righteousness unto
eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. God's grace reigns
unto eternal life. It's going to give, overcome
every obstacle and give eternal life to all God's people. If
we're saved by God's grace, It's going to overcome our sin.
How great of a sinner do we think we are? Well, all right, I believe
that. I believe that. How do I know
I won't stop believing? How do I know I won't stop believing
this gospel and chase after fables? Fairytale. How do I know that?
God's grace. Look at Romans 6, verse 14. For
sin shall not have dominion over you, for you're not under the
law, but under grace. Now, how is it that you first
believe Christ? You who believe, how is it that
you first believe Christ? You know, there was a day you
could not make yourself believe, could you? There was a day you
just couldn't make yourself be interested in the Gospel. There
was a day you couldn't make yourself love Christ and bow to Him and
believe Him. You couldn't, no matter how hard
you tried, you couldn't make yourself. You know why? Because
you're under the dominion of sin. And now you believe. One day you believed. What happened? You're not under sin. You're
not under the law anymore. You're under grace. And now you
can't not believe. It was God's grace that enabled
you to believe. And it's God's grace that won't
let you quit believing. See, we never get over being
dependent on God's grace. If we are dependent upon God's
grace, we've got a good hope. Good hope. A joyful expectation
of eternal life. Well, then someone might say
this. How do I know God's grace is going to see me through all
the way through this war with all its temptations, with all
of its trials and the sin in my flesh? How do I know God's
grace is going to see me through to the end? It's the same reason
what thing God told the Apostle Paul, my grace is sufficient
for thee. And it will be for you too. God's
grace is always sufficient. I now look back at the book of
2 Thessalonians 2, the passage we read to open the service. I hope somebody is asking this
question in their mind right now. This is what I hope. Somebody might be asking this
question. How does a person get such a good hope? How can I get
this good hope? Well, I can tell you. It's only
by God's grace. 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 16. Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself,
and God even the Father, which hath loved us and hath given
us everlasting consolation and a good hope through grace. It's
God's grace that will comfort your heart, and it's God's grace
that will establish you in every good word and work. Now let me
repeat this. If any part of salvation depends
on what I can earn from God, then I've got no hope whatsoever,
and you don't either. As a matter of fact, if any part
of salvation depends on what I do, there is something I can
expect. I can expect God's wrath. I can
expect damnation. But if all of my hope is based
upon God's grace, which is in Jesus Christ our Lord, then I
have a confident, joyful expectation of eternal life. All right, the
fourth word is mercy. Paul says grace, mercy, and peace
from God our Father. Now mercy is God not giving us
what we do deserve. Now mercy, God's mercy is the
only way we can have any hope of eternal life because we don't
deserve it. By our sin, by our rebellion,
we do not deserve it. So God's going to have to not
give us what we do deserve. And here's good news for sinners.
God is rich in mercy. There's plenty of mercy, plenty
of mercy for every sinner who needs it. David said that God
is slow to anger and he's plenteous in mercy. Plenteous. That means
there's mercy enough for you if you're a sinner that needs
mercy. Now, if you're, you know, not so bad and you just need
a little bit, there's no mercy for you. But if you're a sinner
who needs mercy, there's plenty. God is plenteous in mercy. Now, just because God's plenteous
in mercy, just because it's God's character to be merciful to sinners,
Don't be mistaken. That does not mean God owes it
to us to be merciful. Now if God owed it, it wouldn't
be mercy. God is merciful to needy sinners. The only question for you and
me this morning is this. Are you a sinner? Are you a needy
sinner? If there is, God's mercy is enough
for you. Look at Romans chapter 9. This
is something that we need to understand. That God's mercy
His sovereign mercy. Sovereign. He gives it to whom
He will. Romans chapter 9, verse 14. This is what Scripture has
declared. God is merciful to whom He will.
He gives it to whom He will. He withholds it from whom He
will. And Paul says in verse 14 of Romans chapter 9, What
shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? Is it unrighteous for God to love one and hate another?
Is it unrighteous for God to be merciful to one and withhold
his mercy from another? Is that unrighteous? Paul says,
God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will
have mercy on whom I will have mercy. And I have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then, it's not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. For the scripture saith unto
Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I
might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared
throughout all the earth. Therefore, hath he mercy on whom
he will have mercy, and whom he will, he hardeneth. Now God's
mercy is sovereign mercy. You understand exactly what the
scripture is saying there. It's not hard to understand.
God will have mercy on whom he will, and he'll pass by whom
he will. Now you and I are going to have
one of two reactions to that. Either number one, we're going
to get mad and say, that's not fair. Or number two, we're going
to fall down and we're going to beg God for mercy. We're going
to beg him for mercy. And if you beg God for mercy,
you're going to have a good hope, a good hope of eternal life.
Look over a page of Romans 10 verse 12. For there is no difference between
the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich unto
all that call upon Him. For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved." Now you call upon the
name of the Lord, you beg Him for mercy, and God will show
mercy. But now wait a minute. Is that
something that you did? Are you going to get any credit
for this, calling on God and begging Him? Are you going to get any
credit for that? No, none whatsoever. Who is it that makes you call
on God for mercy? Who is it that gives you a heart
that calls on God for mercy? God gives it, doesn't He? And
He gives that through the preaching of Christ. That's what He says
in those next verses. You're not going to call on God
for mercy until you hear who He is. It's got to be the right
Jesus. It's got to be the right Christ.
God gives this faith to call upon the name of the Lord through
the preaching of Christ. See, mercy is God not giving
us what we do deserve. And if we come in the name of
Christ, if we come in our need, we can confidently, boldly approach
God's throne, throne of grace, begging for mercy for Christ's
sake. But now the only way that God cannot give us what we do
deserve is if He punishes Christ for our sins. See, God can't
ignore that sin. It's got to be punished somewhere. That's how mercy and truth are
met together. Because God in truth punished
the sin of His people in their substitute, God's Son, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now that magnifies God's mercy.
That God would put to death, that He would punish, that He
would turn His back upon His Son so that He could show mercy
to the likes of you and me? That's God's mercy. Oh, what
great mercy. And if the Father gave Christ
the punishment that our sin deserves, we can confidently, reverently,
but confidently approach God and beg Him for mercy because
God's mercy is in Christ. All right, here's a question.
Someone might be wondering, I believe Christ, but how do I know I'll
endure to the end? It's because God's mercy endureth
forever. Look at James chapter five. How do I know I'll endure to
the end? Well, it's because the same mercy caused you to believe
in the first place. It's because of God's mercy.
And His mercy endureth to the end. James 5, verse 11. Behold, we count them happy which
endure. You've heard of the patience
of Job and you've seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is
very pitiful and of tender mercy. Why is it that Job endured that
great trial? That's because God mercyed him.
And the same thing's true of you and me. Aren't you happy
to read the Lord is pitiful and he is a tender mercy. That's what causes his people
to endure. His mercy is forever. We need to remember this. If you believe on Christ, if
you know and you love the gospel, and most of you do, here's a
warning. Let's not get proud. Let's not
get all high and mighty about those who don't know what you
know, who don't love what you know, and don't believe who you
believe. Because you weren't always a believer. You didn't
come that way, did you? Look at 1 Peter 2. Now, you weren't
always a believer. When you came into this world,
you came into this world just like every other rebel, sinful,
dead son of Adam. At one time, you're just like
them who right now do not believe. 1 Peter 2, verse 10. Which in time past were not a
people, but are now the people of God. Now, why are you now
the people of God? Well, which had not obtained
mercy, but now have obtained mercy. If you believe God, The
only reason you believe Christ is because God has been merciful
to you. That's the only reason. And if
we live in complete dependence on God's mercy, never thinking
that we've grown so much, now I can take care of some of this
on my own. No, if we live in complete dependence upon God's
mercy, we've got a good hope. We can have a joyful, confident
expectation of eternal life. Now the last word is peace. And this peace that we're talking
about is peace with God. And contrary to the popular religious
opinion of the day, God does not love everyone. God is not
at peace with everyone. God is holy. He's holy. God is angry with sin. He's angry
with the sinner. God's angry with the wicked every
day. And man, by nature, hates God. The carnal mind is inmatigant.
It's not subject to the law of God. It's not possible for it
to be. Man is the natural born enemy
of God. Well, how can those two warring
parties ever meet? How can there ever be peace between
those two warring parties? There's just one way. It's the
blood of Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ has made
peace for his people by the blood of his cross. We don't have peace
with God because I made my peace with God. No, it's the blood
of Christ's sacrifice. The blood of Christ's sacrifice
was not offered to you and me. The blood was offered before
the Lord. The blood, the sacrifice was offered to God against whom
we've sinned. And the Father accepted the blood
of His Son as payment in full for all of the sin of His people. The blood of Christ took away
the sin that made God angry. And there's peace. God has reconciled
His people. by the blood of Christ. Because
the blood of Christ took away the sin that separated us from
God. But then God's people, they're still at war. How are they going
to be made at peace? God's people are at peace when
the blood of Christ is applied to their heart. When the blood
of Christ is applied to their heart, they receive a brand new
heart. And there's peace. I remember
reading this book in high school. All is quiet on the western front.
When the blood of Christ is applied, there's peace on every front.
Because we surrender. We stack our arms and we surrender. Now that kind of peace can only
be found in Christ, who is our peace. Just like our hope is
a person, our peace is a person. Look at John chapter 14. Savior has begun to tell his
disciples, he's going away. And can you imagine how troubled
that they were? He's going away, the Master's going away. And
he tells them, John 14, verse 27. Peace I leave with you. My peace
I give unto you. Not as the world giveth, give
I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled.
Neither let it be afraid, because my peace I give unto you. Now
the Savior says, My peace. This is the kind of peace the
world can never give. Only Christ can give. He says,
My peace. And I give it to you. It's peace that is in Christ. It's peace that Christ earned
for His people. Now that is eternal, internal,
lasting peace. Peace that will never be lost.
I don't care what the trial is. It will never be lost. Because
it's already been purchased by the blood of God's Son. Christ
said, it's my peace. It's peace that's based wholly
on Him, on who He is and what He's accomplished for His people.
And none of that peace that Christ gives, it's His peace. None of
it is based on our merit. It's all based on Christ alone. That's why He says, I give it
to you. You don't earn it. You don't deserve it. I give
it to you. It's my peace. And that peace
is real, lasting peace. It's peace to live by. It's peace
to endure the trials and tribulations and the disappointments of this
life. Nothing that happens in this life can take away that
peace. And it's peace to die by. It's peace to lay down to
die in peace. That's precious, isn't it? That
peace, Christ's peace, Christ our peace, gives us a good hope.
And we can have a good hope. I began this message saying there's
no reason at all for any person to leave this building this morning
without this hope. We have a good hope if Christ
is our hope. That's a much better hope than
what we can find in our obedience to the law because Christ brought
in a better hope. There's no hope outside of Him,
but in Christ because of who He is, we have a joyful, confident
expectation of eternal life. May God be pleased. Grant us
the faith to believe. Let's bow together. Our Father, oh, how we thank
You for Christ, our hope. How we thank You for Your mercy
and grace, that You're pitiful to Your people. Of Your tender
mercies that would give us a good, a perfect hope in our Lord Jesus
Christ because of who He is, and what he has accomplished
for his people. And Father, I pray that you would this morning give
this faith in Christ to each heart here this morning, that
we can leave here with this joyful, confident expectation of eternal
life because we're resting in Christ our Savior, based wholly
on who he is. Father, bless your word as it's
been preached. Bless it to your glory and bless
it to the hearts of your people. Leave here this morning, go back
to our homes, prepare to go back out into the world. Cause your
word to take root in the hearts of your people, that we might
fully enjoy this good hope we have in Christ our Savior. It
is in his blessed name we pray and give thanks. Amen. All right,
you're dismissed.