I don't know about you, but it's
hard for me not to sing. Alright, if you would open your
Bibles with me to Psalm 119. Psalm 119. We'll begin our reading
this evening in verse 145. I cried with my whole heart.
Hear me, O Lord, I will keep thy statutes. I cried unto thee,
save me, and I shall keep thy testimonies. I prevented the
dawning of the morning and cried. I hoped in thy word. Mine eyes
prevent the night watches that I might meditate in thy word.
Hear my voice according unto thy loving kindness. O Lord,
quicken me according to thy judgment. They draw nigh that follow after
mischief. They are far from thy law. Thou
art near, O Lord, and all thy commandments are truth. Concerning
thy testimonies, I have known of old that thou hast founded
them forever. Consider mine affliction and deliver me, for I do not
forget thy law. Plead my cause and deliver me.
Quicken me according to thy word. Salvation is far from the wicked,
for they seek not thy statutes. Great are thy tender mercies,
O Lord. Quicken me according to thy judgments. Many are my persecutors and mine
enemies, yet do I not decline from thy testimonies. I beheld
the transgressors and was grieved because they kept not thy word.
Consider how I love thy precepts. Quicken me, O Lord, according
to thy loving kindness. Thy word is true from the beginning,
and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth forever."
We'll end our reading there. Let's bow together in prayer. Our God and Father, oh, how thankful
we are that you have given us this opportunity to meet together
and to worship Thee. Father, I pray this evening that
you would give us a heart of worship. I pray that you'd cause
your gospel to go forth in the power of thy spirit, to bring
glory to the name of Christ, our savior, to show us the Lord
Jesus Christ and father, cause us to find peace and sweetness
in the union of Christ and his people. Don't let this just be
the dry doctrinal dissertation, but let us see Christ, fallen
more and more and more in love with him, to leave here trusting
him more fully, to leave here rejoicing in him more fully. Father, we thank you for the
many, many blessings of this life that you've given to us.
On top of your mercy and your grace and your love, you've blessed
us materially beyond measure. And Father, we're thankful, thankful
that thou art God alone, that you are in control Today, as
you always have been, in this time when it seems like the world
seems uncertain to us, it's not. You're in control. And Father,
we're thankful. And we pray your blessing, Father. We seek your blessing, your mercy,
your protection. Especially, Father, we pray for
those who are hurting and who are sick, who are heartbroken.
Father, we pray for them. We pray for Jessica, that you'd
undertaking her behalf to heal and strengthen her. We thank
you for this initial good first report, and Father, pray that
you'd be with her in a mighty way. Heal her according to thy
will. We know thou art able. And comfort
your people, Father, who are brokenhearted and in such difficult
straits. Give them a fulfillment of your
promise that you not leave nor forsake your people, but comfort
their hearts with your presence. and give us your presence. Give
us your presence this evening and enable us to worship thee.
First, in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ, for his
glory and his namesake, we pray and give thanks. Amen. Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, Reigns upon His throne forever
Nothing ever, ever happens But for good to Christ's renamed
ones He who bought us will protect us His name is our mighty fortress,
though our foes be all around. In His hands Christ safely holds
us. Daily food and ample shelter,
Jesus promised to His follower. Never has a need arisen, But
what he saw lied from heaven. Christ is full of lovingkindness. He is sovereign, wise, and gracious,
Faithful to his covenant people. Let us never more be fearful, of our Savior. Let us trust His love and favor,
be content with His provision and the joy of His salvation. Alright, if you would, look in
your Bibles again. You probably still have it open
in your labs. Psalm 119. I titled the message tonight, Christ
from A to Z, Part 10. At some point, it looks like
in the near future, we may finish this study in Psalm 119. If you've
been listening online, you know by now that Psalm 119 is a poem. It has one eight-verse stanza
for each of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The theme
of the whole psalm, the theme of each stanza, is the word of
God, both Christ the written word and Christ the incarnate
word. And I'm wanting us to see that in each stanza, from A to
Z, all the letters of the alphabet, that Christ is all. Doesn't matter
how you slice it and how you dice it, Christ is all. From
every angle that you look at salvation and everything spiritual,
Christ is all. This 19th stanza we'll begin
looking at this evening tells us about Christ in you, the hope
of glory. I have a place I look up these
Hebrew letters and what they mean, what they stand for. And
I looked at it this week and I thought, this is odd. This
is two seemingly unrelated things that this Hebrew letter has to
do with. It has to do with the eye of
a needle. And it has to do with corn being
revealed when you pull the husk away. So Lord willing, I'm going
to show you that in a minute. How that teaches us, this eye
of a needle and the corn being revealed when you remove the
husk, teaches us Christ in you, the hope of glory. But first,
we have to see Christ the Savior. And this is Him speaking, the
Savior speaking in verse 145. He says, I cried with my whole
heart. Hear me, O Lord. I will keep
thy statutes. Now, this has to be Christ speaking.
He's the only one that can say, I have kept your law. I will
keep your law. The Lord Jesus Christ kept God's
law perfectly. Now, we can't say that too often.
As I started putting out my notes, I thought, I think I say that
in every message. But we can't say that too often.
Christ kept the law perfectly with his whole heart. It was
his desire, it was his joy to keep his father's law both inwardly
and outwardly. And we can't say that too often
because his obedience to the law is the righteousness of his
people. It's the only hope we have. of
being righteous. It's Christ's obedience for us
as our representative. Righteousness can't be had by
what we do. It can't be had by how well we
keep the law or how moral we are. What a great example of
a Christian walk we set for others. There's no righteousness there.
If that were true, all of us would be damned because our righteousness,
our goodness is shot full of holes. because of sin. You know
and I do too. But Christ our Savior can cry
to the Father and be heard and that He's perfect. He's perfect. There's no reason that the Father
wouldn't hear Him. And He said that I cried with
my whole heart. The Lord Jesus was a man of prayer. And He needed to be a man of
prayer because as a man, as God, He needed no help. But as a man,
He needed help and strength from His Father to do the job that
the Father sent Him to do. He says in verse 146, I cried
unto thee, save me, and I shall keep thy testimonies. Now as
a man, the Savior needed to be strengthened. He said, save me,
give me strength to be able to finish this great work of redemption. And the Father strengthened him.
He strengthened him in different ways. You know, remember he was
in Gethsemane's garden. He thought he's going to die
right there. It's just the thought of what
he was going to have to suffer. The Father sent an angel to minister
to him and strengthen him. And the Father also strengthened
him through prayer. Look at verse 147. He says, I
prevented the dawning of the morning and cried. I hoped in
thy word. Mine eyes prevent the night watches
that I might meditate in thy word. This word prevent is not
used like we use the word prevent. It means something to go before
or something to meet something. The Lord Jesus went before the
dawn. He was awake. He met the dawn
in the morning because He was awake. He'd been awake all night
praying. He did that often. His disciples
would go to sleep and He'd go off to the mountain alone and
He'd pray all night long. And the dawn came. He met it. He was already awake. And the
night watches, those were the hours. They had two or three
hour segments where they'd stand on watch and they'd switch the
watch. They change every few hours.
Well, he saw the dawning of the morning. He saw them change all
those night watches because he was up all night praying. He
was all up all night talking with his father. And that's how
he drew the spiritual strength that he needed by just he was
talking with his father. And nobody has any idea what
it is that the Lord prayed. You think he's this is the Lord.
Wouldn't you love to sit and listen? The times he did pray,
we have recorded in scripture. They're very special. Wouldn't
you just love to sit and listen? Wonder what the Lord prayed about
when he prayed all night long. Well, we don't know. But this
I know. I sure am thankful that the one
to whom I trust my soul was so eaten up with pleasing his father
that he would pray all night long. I am very glad, I'm so
thankful that the one to whom I trust my soul was just consumed
with thinking on God's word. He would rather think on God's
word than sleep. He would rather pray than sleep. I'm thankful that's my savior.
He was just eaten up at pleasing his father to fully complete
the salvation of his people. And yet he always had, his delight
was in God's Word and it always had been. In verse 152, he says,
concerning thy testimonies, your word, I've known of all that
thou hast founded them forever. He knew of all, this is his word. But now he's in the flesh and
he's fulfilling that eternal will and purpose, the testimony
of God. In verse 149, he says, hear my
voice. According unto thy loving kindness,
Oh Lord, quicken me according to thy judgment. Now here the
Savior's talking about his resurrection. He asked the Father, quicken
me, quicken me according to your justice. Death could not hold
the Lord Jesus Christ. What's the reason for death?
Sin. He had to die because he was
made sin for his people, but his sacrifice put all that sin
away. So death could not hold him. Christ removed the power
of death by taking away sin. So he asked his father for justice. When he says, according to thy
judgment here, he's asking for justice. Quicken me, because
that's what I deserve, because I put away the sin of my people. He's not asking for a favor,
he's asking for justice. But there's an interesting word
he's tied to that here. Loving kindness. Now, Calvary,
the Savior, received nothing but pure, unmitigated wrath. Wrath like we cannot imagine. That's all he got from his father.
Without a hint of mercy. I mean, he gave him just the
full fury of God against sin. It was truly hell. People talk
about hell on earth. That's Calvary. It was hell on
earth. But now, after the sacrifice
is complete, He prays for loving kindness. Father, restore that
sweet union, a sweet fellowship that was between the Father and
the Son, that I had with Thee before the world was. And the
Father lovingly accepted His Son. There's no reason for Him
not to. No reason for Him not to just
lovingly accept His Son. See, the Savior can ask for both
justice and loving kindness. because the sin of his people
is gone. So there's no more need for wrath. The son had fully
pleased the father by doing everything that the father gave him to do
and he did it perfectly. So all that's left for the son
is love and glory. The throne of glory that's rightfully
his. And this is his prayer in verse
150. He says, they draw nigh that follow after mischief. a
crowd that just drew nigh unto Him to cry and crucify Him, mocking
Him while He died. He said, they're far from by
law. Thou art near, O Lord, and all Thy commandments are truth. Now the world, they're far from
Christ. The wicked are far from Him.
Because all flesh hates Christ. All flesh hates the God of the
Bible. But His prayer is, Father, Now,
they're far from me. I mean, other than those, I mean,
they gathered around Him to try to kill Him, but as far as their
hearts were far from Him. He said, but now, Father, my
prayer is that You be near me, that the Father be with me, that
let the Father love me and be satisfied with me. Well, He is. Christ is satisfied. He received
everything He asked for. All right. Now, what does that
have to do with the eye of an eagle? What can that possibly
have to do with the corn that's revealed when you remove the
husk? Well, the believer's hope of glory is Christ in you, the
hope of glory. That's your hope of glory, that
Christ in you. The Apostle Paul said, I labor
and travail until Christ be formed in you. That's salvation, Christ
being formed in you. You know, this thing of salvation,
that's a mighty big term. Salvation. I mean, it's an all-encompassing
term. Salvation. The salvation of a
sinner. The salvation of your soul. That's
not just an impersonal change of legal status. Salvation is
not just a work that's been done outside of us. Salvation is not
just a work that's been done between the Father and the Son.
Now, it must start there. The work has to begin with the
work between the Father and the Son. There's got to be a work
done for us. There's got to be a legal change
of status here. It's got to start there. But
in order for you and me to be saved, God's got to do a work
in us. It can't just be for us. It's
got to be in us. You remember the Lord told His
disciples one day, He said, it's easier for a camel to go through
the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter into
the kingdom of heaven. Now, if you read the commentators
on that, they'll tell you that the Lord was referring there's
a certain gate or hole in the city wall. It was like an oval,
kind of looked like a big old eye of a needle, you know. And
they could train camels to get down on their knees and scoot
through that little opening. They'd put their head down and
just, they'd scoot through that opening, you know. And the writer's
saying this is something that's just very difficult to do. It's
hard, but it can be done. That is not what the Lord is
teaching there at all. Salvation is not something hard for a person
to do, but it can be done. The Lord is talking about an
impossibility. It is impossible for a camel
to fit through the eye of a sewing needle. That's what the Lord
was talking about. I mean, it's hard enough for me to get a piece
of thread through that thing. It's impossible for a camel to
go through the eye of a needle. And this is what the Lord is
teaching us. It is an utter possibility for a sinner to save himself.
It's impossible. Somebody who's rich, who think,
and rich is not rich in monetary things. If they think they're
rich in goodness, they think that they're rich in things that
could commend them to God. It is utterly impossible for
that sinner to save himself. That's what the Lord's teaching.
So in order to save a sinner, the Lord has to do a work for
that sinner. He's got to save, he's got to
come and pay his sin debt with his blood. That's the work done
for the sinner. But in order for the sinner to
be saved, the Lord also has to do a work in them, in their heart. That's the work of the new birth.
In the new birth, there is a new man born, a new nature, a nature
that is holy. It's righteous. It's a nature
that cannot sin. It is a man born in the hearts
of people like you and me. that is born in the image of
the Lord Jesus Christ. This glorious one that we just
read about praying in his perfection, in his glory, in his satisfaction.
This nature born in us in the new birth. People like you and
me is born in the image of Christ himself. You know, the first
time we were born, we're born in the image of Adam. It don't take long to see. Lindy
and Alex, I'm sorry to tell you, that precious baby is going to
be a very short time. You're going to go, whoa. That's
the image of Adam. Well, the second time we're born,
we're born with a new image from a new seed, the image of Christ. Now, that's impossible. It's
impossible. Don't tell me that there's a
new nature born in me. That's impossible. Well, with
me, it's impossible. But with God, all things are
possible. That's what he does for his elect to be joined to
them. In Ephesians 3 verse 16, Paul
calls that new man who's born in the new birth, he calls him
the inner man. Well, in the new birth, the flesh
is not changed at all. I mean, there ought to be a change
in our walk, shouldn't there? And if I know Christ, there ought
to be a change in my walk, a change in my attitude. But in the new
birth, the flesh is not changed at all. The nature of the flesh
is the same. It's just sinful and it's rotten
and rebellious and dead as ever. It's just silly to think, oh,
well, a believer won't do that. Yes, they will too. I mean, just
whatever particular sin you can think of, yeah, they will. With
the exception of one, apostasy. A believer won't commit that.
And you know why? It's not because they don't want to. It's not
because their flesh wouldn't do it. It's because God won't let them.
He won't let them leave Christ. But any sin, a believer will
do it, because the flesh is unchanged. I warn you, do not go looking
for evidences of salvation in the flesh, in the conduct of
this flesh. Don't go looking for that in
the way it looks, in the way it acts, because it's not there.
The new man born of God is born in the heart, on the inside.
And that new man, he's born, but he's got to live in a body
of flesh. That's why he's called the inner
man. He lives inside that body of flesh. And if you would see
that inner man, the only way you can see that inner man is
to peel the husk away, to take the flesh away. So that new man,
he's born in the image of Christ. So that new man that's born in
us, he says the same things that the Savior says. And when he
pleads with God, he pleads Christ. Now go back and look at this
stanza, like the inner man, the new man speaking, he says the
same things that Christ does, because he's one with him. He
says here, I cried with my whole heart. Hear me, O Lord, I will
keep thy statues. Now the believer does cry to
God with our whole heart. It's with that new heart that
God's given us. Now that's the only heart that
will cry to God. The new heart that God's given.
The heart of flesh is not going to do it. The heart of flesh
is too proud and too stony. It's never going to beg for mercy.
It's never going to call on God. It's never going to come before
God giving thanks. But the new heart God gives,
that whole heart will cry and pray unto God. And that tells
us something about prayer. Prayer is from the heart. It's
from the heart. Prayer is not a certain physical
posture, you know, getting down on your knees or lifting up your
hands or bowing your head and closing your eyes or anything,
you know. Prayer is from the heart. I remember when I was
a little guy, every time there was prayer, if it was at the
dinner, if it was at the table, if it was at church or something,
we always had to fold our hands. And it got years later and somehow
it kind of stopped. I remember asking my mom, why
did you make us fold our hands when we were praying? She said
to keep you from moving around and touching stuff. It wasn't
anything about the posture of prayer, just to keep you still.
You don't have to fold your hands to pray. Prayer is from the heart.
It's from the heart. Prayer is not even using the
right words. Prayer is from the heart. Well, prayer is from the heart.
Just pour out your heart to your Father. He already knows it anyway. Just pour out your heart. All
your worries, all your fears. Our Father hears the cry of a
broken, contrite heart. So just cry to Him. Lay it out. You don't have to have the right
words. Just cry to your Father. And David says, I will keep your
statutes. I shall keep your testimonies.
This is not a maybe. He said, I will. I shall. Is that too bold? To say, I will
keep, I have kept your law? No, it's not. Not for the believer,
it's not. Not as long as we understand how we're saying it. I've kept
God's law in Christ. In Christ, my representative,
I am truly righteous in Christ. Just like I truly sinned in Adam,
I truly kept God's law in Christ. So I'm righteous. And the only
righteousness that we'll talk about is the righteousness of
Christ. That's depending on him and worshiping
him. Now, verse 147, I prevented the
dawning of the morning and cried, I hoped in thy word. My eyes
prevent the night watches that I might meditate in thy word."
Now, God's people, they're saved. They're at peace with God. They're
righteous. God's not angry with them. God
has no reason to be angry with them. They have perfect peace. But we're not at complete peace
yet, are we? Not yet. There are many dangers, toils
and snares we're going to have to go through in this life before
we arrive in glory. And God's people will spend many
sleepless nights when they're up before the dawn. God's people
see many night watches. In our language, if you think
about sitting up, you know, seeing the night watches doesn't make
much sense. They see that hour hand click over on the clock
every hour, all night long. You've seen all the night watches.
You can't sleep. You're filled with worry. You're
filled with sorrow. You're filled with difficulty
and trouble. Well, what's the believer's comfort
at that time? What's in the believer's heart
at that time? What is it that you can meditate on at that time?
The same thing the Savior meditated upon. God's Word. What is it
that you do with your heart? I mean, you're just watching
that clock click hour after hour after hour. You do the same thing
our Savior did. Cry unto the Father. Talk to
the Father. Our comfort is the message of
God's Word. That salvation is in Christ. That we're complete in Him. That
this thing in Him is sure. The comfort that we find in those
times of such darkness and difficulty is not what I think might happen
and not what I think I should do. Our comfort is, what does
God's Word say? Because that's unchanging. That's
truth. That is the message of our Father
to our hearts. And nothing can change it? Nothing
will ever make God take it away? That's our comfort. That's our
comfort in those night watches. The believer loves to think on
God's Word. Because God's Word is a sure
foundation and it will never change on you. Verse 152. Concerning
thy testimonies, I've known of old. that thou hast founded them
forever." Now, I know that. God's Word is founded forever. It will never change. So Christ
is all. He's all of my righteousness.
He's all my salvation. He's all my comfort. He's all
my confidence. And I am one with Christ. That salvation is being one with
Christ, being joined to Christ. Brothers and sisters, that's
not just doctrine. Christ is all to me. And he is
all that's in me. He has humbled himself to join
himself to me. Now that's not the way I see
myself. I don't see Christ in me. I don't see righteousness
about me. I don't see anything holy about
me. And you don't either. Others don't see me that way
either. When you all look at me, you know what you see? Husks.
That's what you see. But you know what's underneath
that husk if you're a believer? The corn. Christ in you. The hope of glory. That's your
hope of glory. That's the guarantee of your
salvation. So in those dark, dark hours,
our prayer is, Lord, hear me for Christ's sake. Hear me in
your loving kindness. David talked about, hear my voice
according to my loving kindness. Well, God can hear me in loving
kindness. Even the likes of me, Almighty
God can hear me in loving kindness. You know why? He's poured out
his fury for my sin upon Christ, my substitute. justice is satisfied. Now God can deal with me in love,
and that is the comfort of my heart. He says in verse 150,
they draw an eye that follow after mischief. They're far from
thy law, but thou art near, O Lord, and all thy commandments are
true. Now there is no comfort for the believer to be found
in this world. This world is far from me. This world's got
nothing but mischief for me. So my prayer is, God, You be
near me. If the Lord is near me, it's
fine. Well, He is. He is. He's near
His people. He's in their heart. By God's
grace, I am one with Christ. And you are, too, if you believe
Him. Now, that's the hope of life. Be one with Christ. And there are no words that I
can find to express the glory of that and the sweetness of
that. It's amazing. It's astounding.
You're one with Christ. And if you believe Him, you know
what I'm talking about even though I can't put it into words. That's
a sweetness that cannot be expressed, isn't it? To be one with Christ. Now that thought goes on in the
next stanza. We're going to look at it quickly. This 20th stanza
tells us about Christ, our head. The Hebrew letter for this stanza
has to do with the head, or the leader, or the beginning. Well,
that's Christ. He's the head. The head of the
body. He's the leader. He's the beginning. He is the
head of His body. And He is the beginning. He's
the seed. It's where it all begins. He is the seed of spiritual life.
That's why the believer is born in Christ's image. So what's
true of Christ is true of the body. What's true of the head
is true of the body. So verse 153. Consider mine affliction and
deliver me, for I do not forget thy law. Now when Christ speaks,
he says, he says, consider my affliction, consider my death,
how I suffered for my people. Consider that as satisfying justice
for my people and accept me and accept them in me. And Christ's
body says, Lord, deliver me, deliver me from mine affliction.
Deliver me from the affliction of my sin and deliver me for
Christ's sake. Deliver me, deliver me from,
from not just the condemnation and punishment of my sin. Deliver
me from the corruption of my sin. Deliver me from my sin.
That's separate. It's my sin is separated between
me and God. Deliver me from my sin. I don't be separated from
you. Not just the consequences of it, but deliver me from sin
itself. And consider my affliction in this world and deliver me
from it. Deliver me from trial and suffering
and affliction by making a way out. We've got so many of our
friends and loved ones in difficult, difficult times. And isn't that
our constant prayer? Lord, deliver. Lord, provide
a way out. Comfort Lord make a way or teach
me. Let me see what you're teaching
me in this and deliver me And he will eventually But I'll tell
you what when it's time when it's time The Lord's gonna look
down in one of his children And say it's time It's time for me
to deliver you from this cesspool of this world. It's time for
me to deliver you from the corruption of your flesh and bring you home. To answer the prayer of our Savior
that you might be with Him where He is and behold His glory where
the head will be eternally joined to the body. Now Bob, that's
deliverance. Lord, deliver me. Deliver me. Deliver me from all this. And let me be with Christ. And
if you trust Christ, you can expect that. They're not a hope,
like, well, I hope it's going to happen, but I don't know.
No, this is an expectation. And that expectation that God
will not leave you and He will not forsake you, that He will
finish that good work that He started in you and He will deliver
you. That expectation will bring you through a lot of dark days.
You go through a lot of dark nights when you know a sunny
morning is coming, can't you? Well, there's a sunny morning
coming. He's going to deliver you. Now, verse 154, he says,
plead my cause and deliver me, quicken me according to thy word.
Now, again, the Savior says, quicken me, raise me from the
dead because my sacrifice put away the sin of my people, raise
me in justice. And Christ's body says the same
thing. Lord, quicken me, give me eternal life for Christ's
sake. Give me life because He died
for me. Well, there's no reason for me
to stay dead, not if Christ died for me. If Christ died for me,
the Father is going to give me life. Now, there is real confidence
there that makes this hope of life, hope of eternal life an
expectation. And none of that would be true
if any part of salvation depended upon me. Not any part. Now, I'd be damned any part of
salvation depended upon me. But if it all depends upon the
Lord Jesus Christ, if all the responsibility depends upon Him,
then it's an expectation. And I don't know if I'm communicating
this right. I want you to see this. We're
not just talking about mere doctrine here now. We're talking about
a person. A person. The Lord Jesus Christ has told
His children, I got this. The responsibility is mine. There's a sweetness, I can't
explain it. John is shaking his head. He
and me are two words a lot alike. I hope that's getting through.
There's a sweetness here that is just thrilling because the
head and body are joined together. In verse 155, David goes on,
he said, Salvation is far from the wicked, for they seek not
thy statutes. Great are thy tender mercies,
O Lord. Quicken me according to thy judgment. Salvation is far from the wicked.
It's far from the wicked because they're not looking for the right
place. They're not seeking God's mercy. They're not seeking God's
word. They're seeking salvation in their own wicked works and
there's nothing there. But salvation is near everyone. near everyone who seeks mercy
from Christ. If you're seeking mercy from
Christ, God's salvation is for you. And David here calls it
tender mercy, tender mercy. This is tender mercy for the
weak, tender mercy for the broken, tender mercy for the sin sick.
It's tender mercy. Verse 157, many are my persecutors
and my enemies. Yet do I not decline from my
testimonies? Now, the Savior could say this.
How many enemies did he have? Oh, he was hated and persecuted
without a cause. Many were his enemies. Yet he
did not decline from God's testimonies. He never turned his back and
ran. Never. I wrote an article today, I wasn't
really thinking about this, but it'll be on the Facebook page
this week. When the Savior in the garden
prayed, Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, He
was not having second thoughts. He was not giving a thought to
running away, to turning and running away. No, He's not a
coward. There was never a thought He would compromise the job that
the Father sent Him to do. He would never abandon His Father
He loves his people. He didn't just enter into a legal
contract to save these horrible people. Eric, he loved those
people. He loved her. He wasn't going
to run from her. He wasn't going to run and leave
her to be damned. The whole reason he came to earth
in the first place was to redeem his people by suffering and dying
in their place. So he willingly gave his body
to be broken. He gave His body to be killed
and He never shrunk back in selfishness. He never said, this is too horrible,
I'm not going to do it. No, He didn't. He never shrank
back in cowardice, afraid to go meet the battle, afraid to
go sacrifice Himself to put the sin of His people away. He never
shrunk back in cowardice. He didn't compromise one time.
Well, what's true of the head is true of the body. By God's
grace, We're not going to compromise the gospel either. By God's grace,
we're not going to trust another Savior. We're not going to turn
from Him. Just like He didn't turn from us, we're not going to turn
from Him. We're not going to compromise. Why? Is it just because
we're stubborn? I am. I mean, I'm stubborn. I hope that's not why we refuse
to compromise. God's people won't compromise
what we love. We love God's word. We love God's
way of salvation. Verse 158, I beheld the transgressors
and was grieved. I was grieved because they kept
not thy word. Consider how I love your precepts. Consider how I love your word.
I love your way of salvation. Quicken me, O Lord, according
to thy loving kindness. See, we're not going to compromise
what we love. And those who compromise the
gospel tell you why they compromise it. They compromise it because
they don't love Christ. Verse 160. He said, Thy word
is true from the beginning and every one of thy righteous judgments
endureth forever. Those things are true. We can't
compromise them. Anybody who compromises them
compromises them because they don't love them because they
don't love Christ. But see, all of this is true. The believer
can say these things, the same things that Christ the Savior
says. Because we are one with Christ. One with the Son of God. We're as righteous as Christ
is. We're as loved as Christ is. We're as secure as Christ
is. And that vital union is not just
vital, it's not just necessary, it's a sweet union. A sweet union
with Christ the Savior. And that lets us face the future
with a sense of calm, assurance. Calm assurance. I do not know
what's going to happen in the future. The world seems a little
more unstable than it's ever seemed to us in our lifetime,
but I don't know what's going to happen. But it's alright. It's alright. It could be painful. It could
be causing a lot of sorrow. It could bring a lot of joy.
I don't know. But I know this. It'll be all
right if we've got the presence of the Savior. I hope I've got
that across tonight, the sweetness, the sweetness of that union where
someone as wonderful as Christ the Savior. All right, let's
bow together in prayer. Our Father, we thank you for
your word. We thank you. Oh, how we thank you for the
Lord Jesus Christ. who willingly gave Himself to
put away the sin of His people, who would join Himself to a sinful,
sinful woman and make her whole, beautiful in Him. Father, how
we thank You. Father, I pray You'd bless Your
Word to Your glory, to the hearts of Your people. Enable us to
see something of the glory of Christ our Savior. Human language
can't explain it. But Father, by faith, let us
see something of the glory of Christ our Savior. And in those
night watches, Father, let us find joy, peace, and contentment
in Christ our Savior, being made one with him. Father, how we
thank you. And Father, I pray that you bless your word and
bless your people as we go back home and keep everybody safe,
give traveling mercies, and watch over us, and bring us back again
on Sunday, if it could be thy will. In the precious name of
Christ our Savior, we pray and give thanks.