All right, if you would open
your Bibles to begin our service to Hebrews chapter 8. Hebrews
the 8th chapter. I'm sure everyone, at least everyone
who has Facebook already knows this, but I still like to say
it. We've got a brand new baby born
Monday morning. Nova Brielle Bayston. Mama and baby are doing well.
Came home today, so we're thankful for that. Also, I got an email. yesterday, I guess it was, from
Evelyn Yates' son. He says Evelyn is in declining
health, and he thinks that the end may be near. And I pray that
it would be for her. She's 93 years old. He doesn't
really think it. At 93, she likely will recover. He was letting us know. Also,
Dan just told me Judy Sanders has been having some issues with
double vision, a headache, went to the doctor. And as we speak,
they're checking to see if she's had a stroke. So we want to remember
all those in prayer. All right, Hebrews chapter 8,
we'll begin our reading in verse 7. For if that first covenant had
been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the
second. For finding fault with him, he saith, Behold, the days
come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the
house of Israel and with the house of Judah. not according
to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when
I took them by the hand to lead them out of the hand of Egypt,
because they continue not of my covenant and I regarded them
not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that
I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith
the Lord. I'll put my laws in their minds
and write them in their hearts and I'll be to them a God and
they should be to me a people. And they should not teach every
man, his neighbor and every man, his brother saying, no, the Lord.
For all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I
will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities
will I remember no more. In that he saith the new covenant,
he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth
old is ready to vanish away. Turn to page 294, 294. Savior, like a shepherd lead
us, But we need thy tender care. In thy pleasant pastures feed
us, For our use thy foes prepare. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus,
Thou hast bought us, Thine we are. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus,
Thou hast bought us, Thine we are. We are Thine, do Thou befriend
us, Be the guardian of our way, Keep Thy flock from sin defend
us, Seek us when we go astray. Blessed Jesus, Blessed Jesus,
Hear, O hear us when we pray. Blessed Jesus, Blessed Jesus,
Hear, O hear us when we pray. Thou hast promised to receive
us, Poor and sinful though we be, Thou hast mercy to relieve
us, Grace to cleanse and power to free. Blessed Jesus, Blessed
Jesus, Early let us turn to Thee, Blessed Jesus, Blessed Jesus,
Early let us turn to Thee. Early let us seek Thy favor,
Early let us do Thy will. Blessed Lord and only Savior, With thy love our bosom still. Blessed Jesus, Blessed Jesus,
Thou hast loved us, love us still. Blessed Jesus, Blessed Jesus,
Thou hast loved us, loved us still. Savior more than life to me I
am clinging, clinging close to Thee Let Thy precious blood apply
Keep me ever, ever near Thy side Every day Every hour let me feel
thy cleansing power. May thy tender love to me bind
me closer, closer, Lord, to Thee. Through this changing world below
Lead me gently, gently as I go Trusting Thee, I cannot stray
I can never, never lose my way Every day Every hour let me feel
Thy cleansing power. May Thy tender love to me find
me closer, closer, Lord, to Thee. Let me love thee more and more
Till this fleeting, fleeting life is o'er Till my soul is
lost in love In a brighter, brighter world above Every day, every hour, let me
feel Thy cleansing power. May Thy tender love to me find
me closer, closer, Lord, to Thee. Let's open our Bibles now to
the book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel chapter 36. Ezekiel 36, we'll begin our reading
in verse 16. Moreover, the word of the Lord
came unto me saying, son of man, When the house of Israel dwelt
in their own land, they defiled it by their own way and their
doings. Their way was before me as the uncleanness of a removed
woman. Wherefore, I poured my fury upon
them for the blood that they had shed upon the land and for
their idols wherewith they had polluted it. And I scattered
them among the heathen and they were dispersed through the countries. According to their way and according
to their doings, I judged them. And when they entered unto the
heathen, whether they went, they profaned my holy name. When they
said to them, these are the people of the Lord and are gone forth
out of his land. But I have pity for mine holy
name, not for their name, not for their reputation. I have
pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned
among the heathen, whether they went. Therefore saying to the
house of Israel, thus saith the Lord God, I do not this for your
sakes, O house of Israel. but for mine holy namesake, which
ye have profaned among the heathen, whether you win. And I will sanctify
my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have
profaned in the midst of them. And the heathen shall know that
I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, but I shall be sanctified
in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among
the heathen and gather you out of all countries and will bring
you into your own land. Then while I sprinkle clean water
upon you, and you should be clean. From all your filthiness and
from all your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I
give you and a new spirit will I put within you. And I will
take away the stony heart out of your flesh and will give you
in heart of flesh. And I'll put my spirit within
you and cause you to walk in my statues and you should keep
my judgments and do them. And you shall dwell in the land
that I gave to your fathers and you should be my people and I
will be your God. I will also save you from all
your uncleanness, and I will call for the corn, and will increase
it, and lay no famine upon you. I will multiply the fruit of
the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive
no more reproach of famine among the heathen. Then shall ye remember
your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and
shall loathe yourselves in your own sight, for your iniquities
and for your abominations. Not for your sakes do I this,
saith the Lord God, Be it known unto you, be ashamed and confounded
for your own ways, O house of Israel." We'll end our reading
there. Let's bow together in prayer. Our Father, how we thank you
that one more time we can meet together as a family and worship
your holy name. Father, I pray this evening that
you would give us an hour of true worship. You've gathered
us together out of the world in the middle of this week. And
Father, I pray that you give us a refreshing, a refreshing
of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you strengthen the
hearts of your people, that you cause us to again look to our
Lord Jesus Christ and rest fully in him. Father, I pray that you'd
bless your word That you'd use it to save the lost. That you'd
use it to feed your sheep. That you'd use it to comfort
the ailing. Use it to meet the needs of your
people. And Father, use your word as it goes forth to bring
glory to your name. If you'd bring glory to your
name through the preaching of your word this evening, your
people would be blessed. In whatever circumstance we may
be, we'd be blessed if you'd get glory to your name. And that's
what we pray. Father, we thank you for this
place that you've given us, and we pray that you'd give us the
wisdom and grace and love to protect it, care for it, to care
for one another, for the love that we have one for another,
that this be a place of unity, that we have one focus, one desire,
one will, the preaching of Christ our Savior. And Father, what
we pray for ourselves, we pray for all of your people that you've
gathered together, bless your word, bless your people where
they're at. In this dark, dark day in which we live, bless your
word where it's preached. Just like the children of Israel
in the plague of darkness, there was light in the houses of Goshen.
Give light to your people, Father, in this day of dark darkness. And we dare not forget to thank
you for all of your Blessings to us, Father, how richly you
blessed us. We especially this evening give
thanks for our new baby. Father, pray that you'd watch
over her, that you'd protect her, that you've given her physical
life, that one day, Father, you'd see fit to give her spiritual
life, that you'd cause her to see her desperate need and reveal
Christ the Savior to her. Cause us as a church family to
be faithful to her. but faithful to preach the gospel,
that you might bless it to the salvation of those souls. Father,
for Judy and for Evelyn, we pray for them. We pray that you'd
give the doctors wisdom and understanding to help Judy's problem and restore
her to health. For our sister Evelyn, Father,
we pray thy will be done. If it could be thy will to take
her home quickly, that's what we pray. Give us the grace to
bow to your will. Father, we pray for our country.
Pray that you would not give us what we deserve, but that
you might turn it, that you might protect it as a country of freedom,
liberty, a place where your gospel can be preached without fear
of reprisal. Father, all these things we ask
and we give thanks in that name which is above every name. In
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Now we have a special person
who's going to give us a special song. And I ask him again to
sing for us tonight. I've got a tickle in my throat.
You ever had one of those? It makes you cough. Peace and Atonement. Bail me
out. There will never be a sweeter
story, The story of the Savior's love divine, Love that brought
him from the realms of glory, Just to save a sinful soul like
mine. Isn't the love of Jesus something
wonderful? Wonderful, wonderful Oh, isn't
the love of Jesus Something wonderful, wonderful it is to me Boundless
as the universe around me Reaching to the farthest soul away Saving,
keeping love, it was that found me. That is why my heart can
truly say, Isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful? Wonderful, wonderful Oh, isn't
the love of Jesus Something wonderful, wonderful it is to me Love beyond
our human comprehending Love of God in Christ, how can it
be? This will be my theme and never
ending, Great redeeming love of Calvary. Isn't the love of Jesus something
wonderful? Oh, isn't the love of Jesus something
wonderful, wonderful it is to me. Just thinking there today, it's
been too long since Isaac sung for us, so there you have it.
Alright, if you would open your Now to Psalm 106. I didn't read
my text this evening. It's rather lengthy. I thought
we'd just read it as we go. Scripture plainly teaches us
that Almighty God has elected a people to save by His grace.
Those people are not saved because somehow God did not choose them
because somehow they're better than the rest of the sons of
Adam. Because that's not so. They're just as sinful as every
other son of Adam. God's elect are not saved because
of who they are or because of anything that they've done or
not done. God's elect are saved in spite of who they are and
in spite of what they've done. Their sin is great, but God's
grace is never the less. God's grace is never less than
their sin. And the title of the message
this evening is Nevertheless, He Saved Them. God's grace is
never less than our sin, but always greater than our sin.
And this is what I want us to see in the history of Israel
that the psalmist lays out in Psalm 106. I want us to see the
nation Israel as representing the whole human race and see
how God did not destroy the nation Israel, despite the many times
they deserved it because of God's covenant. God did not destroy
them because of his promise to his people. And God does not
destroy the whole human race right now because of his elect
that are in it, because of his elect who are yet to be in it,
maybe not yet born, not yet come to faith in Christ the Savior.
God cannot destroy this world until he has saved all of his
elect out of it. And despite everything his people
are by nature, nevertheless, the Lord will save them. And
the psalmist gives us here nine or ten examples of this. Nine
or ten different situations, but the story is exactly the
same in all of them. And I like that. That repetition. That's the way I learn. The only
way I can learn something is just repeat it over and over
and over again. That's what we have here in this
psalm. So beginning in verse seven, here's the first point.
God's elect are born with no faith and often have very weak
faith. Verse seven, Psalm 106. Our fathers
understood not thy wonders in Egypt. They remember not the
multitude of thy mercies, but provoked him at the sea, even
at the Red Sea. Nevertheless, he saved them for
his namesake, that he might make his mighty power to be known.
He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it was dried up. So he led
them through the depths as through the wilderness. And he saved
them from the hand of him that hated them. and redeemed them
from the hand of the enemy. And the waters covered their
enemies. There was not one of them left. Now Israel has seen
all of God's power, all of God's wonders in Egypt. And they came
out of Egypt, spoiled Egypt. The Egyptians were giving them
all their valuables. They spoiled Egypt. And at the
very first sign of adversity, They didn't think God had the
power or the love to deliver them. They thought God just brought
them out of Egypt and trapped them at the Red Sea so the Egyptians
could destroy them at the Red Sea. That's what they thought
of God. I have mighty weak faith, isn't it? And I'm not making
any excuses for it. I don't make any excuse for weak
faith in myself. None whatsoever. No excuse for
it. Not only is this weak faith doubting God's power, it doubts
God's character. It doubts his very character,
his faithfulness and his love. They doubted God. But nevertheless,
God saved them from their enemies. He killed every last soldier
who was chasing his people. There wasn't one of them left
alive. They never had to worry about the Egyptian soldiers ever
again. A couple of Wednesdays ago when
I was preaching from this, I told you this is a picture of how
Christ put away the sin of his people. He put all of the sin
of his people away. There's not one sin left. There's
not one sin of God's elect left who can ever come after them
and damn them again because the blood of Christ washed them all
away. And the Lord did not save his
people through the sacrifice of his son because they deserved
it. They didn't deserve it, did they?
They couldn't do anything to deserve it. The Lord saved his
people through the sacrifice of his own son for God's glory,
so that the world would know the power and faithfulness of
God to save His people, just like He promised that He would.
And oh, how happy the people of Israel were for that. Verse
12 says, Then believed they His words. They didn't believe His
words before, but now they did. And they sang His praise. And
I know the song they were singing, don't you? How happy they were
singing of God's mercy, God's grace, God's power. And oh, they
sang. will never doubt God again. Never
will we doubt Him again. Sung that song before? Well,
look at verse 13. They soon forgot His works. They
waited not for His counsel. That phrase, they soon forgot,
means they made haste and forgot. I mean, it seems like they're
almost trying to forget God's faithfulness. They're just looking
for a reason that they can doubt God and depend upon their own
strength, their own wisdom, That's what they were doing. How shameful.
Nevertheless, God did not cast off his people. He still brought
them to the land that he promised to give them. Not because they
deserved it, but because God promised to give it to them.
Now that's some comfort for us in our weak faith, isn't it?
Now weak faith is shameful. I don't want it. I want great
faith. But I sure am glad to know God won't cast me off for
my weak faith. Salvation from its beginning
to its ending depends upon God's faithfulness, not on yours and
not on mine. That's good news, isn't it? All
right, here's the second thing. By nature, God's elect despised
Christ, the bread of life. Verse 14, they waited not for
God's counsel, but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness and tempted
God in the desert. He gave them their request. but
send leanness into their soul. This story is told in Numbers
chapter 11. The Lord, as his people were in the wilderness,
was feeding them with manna from heaven. They had all they wanted
to eat. But very quickly, the people
grew tired of that manna. They wanted some meat too. They
even lusted for the plants that grew in Egypt. They lusted for
the fish that they had in Egypt. And remember, Egypt is the land
of their bondage, the land of sin. They lusted for what that
land of sin could produce. And rightfully so, that made
God angry. And many people died in God's judgment against them.
But nevertheless, now all the people murmured and complained,
but nevertheless, God did not destroy the whole nation, but
he provided for them and he brought them to the land of Canaan, because
that's what he promised to do. And in spite of their murmuring
and complaining, God gave him meat too. I remember when I, if, when I,
now they never did this cause they knew better, but their mama
fixed a good meal and sent it from them. They never said, I
don't like that. I'm not gonna eat that. Cause you know what
their mama would have said? Tough. You're gonna eat that or nothing. God
didn't do that, did he? He gave them meat too. Can you
imagine such a thing? Now there are no herds of cattle
there in the wilderness to feed the people. So the Lord sent
quails flying in and they just suddenly died right there at
the camp and just fell all in the camp. They fell in heaps,
heaps, three feet high. The people had all the meat they
wanted to eat because of God's goodness to them. Not because
they begged God for it. Not because they went to... No,
they're murmuring, complaining they didn't deserve it. But because
of God's goodness, He gave them meat too. Now you know that that
man is a picture of Christ. The true bread from heaven. And
everybody who ate that man in the wilderness, they all died,
didn't they? Eventually they all died. But if you eat Christ,
you'll never die. That's all we preach is Christ,
the bread of life. But people despising the manna,
that's a picture of you and me by nature. We despise Christ,
the living bread. By nature, we don't want a message
that's all Christ. We don't want a message that's
Christ alone. We want some seasoning in there. Seasoning of our own
works. By nature, that's what we want.
We want something else. It's got to be Christ plus something.
It just can't be Christ alone. And rightfully so, that makes
God angry. The whole world wants something other than Christ alone.
And many people are going to die and go to hell because of
it. Because of that refusal to believe Christ. That's what everybody
deserves. But nevertheless, God will not
destroy all of Adam's race. You know why? Because he chose
to save a people out of that race. And he is going to save
those people. They don't deserve it, but he's
going to save them. And he's going to give them every spiritual
blessing in high places in Christ Jesus, in spite of who they are,
because God's good. All right, here's the third thing. By nature, God's elect despised
Christ the prophet. Verse 16. They envied Moses also
in the camp and Aaron, the saint of the Lord. The earth opened
and swallowed up Nathan and covered the company of Abiram, and a
fire was kindled in their company, and the flame burned up the wicked."
Now, this story you can read about in Numbers chapter 16.
Korah and Dathan were cousins to Moses and Aaron. And they
got tired of Moses and Aaron being in charge, and they arranged
a rebellion against Moses and against Aaron. Against Moses,
God's prophet. Against Aaron, God's high priest.
They wanted to have some power too. They're not going to submit
to Moses rule anymore. Not going to listen to Moses
anymore. And God just opened up the earth and he swallowed
up these two men, Korah and Nathan. He swallowed up their wives,
their children, their tents, their cattle, everything that
they owned. The earth swallowed them up.
Now many people, many people followed Korah in this rebellion. Everybody deserved what they
got, what Korah and Dathan got. But nevertheless, God did not
destroy the whole nation. No, he just destroyed the leaders.
He spared the nation. Not because they deserved it,
but because God had promised to give a land to his people,
the people that descended from Abraham. And he's going to keep
his promise. Moses is a picture of Christ
He is that prophet. He is that prophet. That's what
Israel was looking for. Remember John the Baptist sent
his disciples to the Lord and asked him, aren't thou that prophet?
Or do we look for another? They're asking him, are you the
Christ? Are you that prophet? The Lord Jesus Christ is God's
prophet. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
one who reveals the Father to us. The Lord Jesus Christ is
the one who reveals God's salvation to us. We can't know it without
seeing Christ. Christ is the one who reveals
God's righteousness to us. We wouldn't know it if it wasn't
for Christ. If we're going to hear from God,
we're going to hear from the Lord Jesus Christ. If we're going
to see God, we're going to have to see him in Christ with eyes
of faith. But by nature, no one will listen
to Christ. No one will submit to him. By
nature, no one will submit to the righteousness of our Lord
Jesus Christ. And those who refuse to hear,
those who refuse to bow will be damned. And that's the nature
we're all born with. But nevertheless, God's not going
to destroy all of Adam's race. He has an elect people and he's
going to give those people ears to hear Christ. He's going to
tune their ear. He's going to give them an ear
to hear. He's going to tune their ear to the gospel and they're
going to hear him. They're going to believe him.
and they're going to bow to him. And they're going to be saved
just exactly like God promised. Not because they did anything
good, but because God's merciful. All right, here's the fourth
thing. By nature, God's elect are idolaters. Verse 19. They made a calf and
oar him and worshiped the molten image. Thus they changed their
glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass. They
forgot God, their savior, which had done great things in Egypt. Now this story is told in Exodus
chapter 32. Now, after everything God had done for them, the people
were out there in the wilderness and God called Moses to come
up to the mountain. And while Moses was up there on that mountain,
he was getting the law from God. He was getting all the, everything
that pertained to the worship of God, to the priesthood, to
the tabernacle. And while he was up there, The
people thought God must have forgotten us. I mean, God must
have forgotten us. It just been 40 days. And they
thought, well, Moses died up there. Moses, you know, finally
got tired of us and he just went on and left us and God's forgotten
us. So there they were and they felt the need to be religious.
So they got Aaron to make them a golden calf. And Aaron made
this golden calf. He fashioned it, made a golden
calf and set this cow up in front of them. And Aaron told them,
this is the God that brought you up out of Egypt. And they're
worshiping it. They're dancing around naked
and worshiping this. They were worshiping a creature
that eats grass. Can you imagine such a thing?
That's the most natural man thinks about God Almighty. Just the
same as a creature that eats grass. And the Lord plagued the
people because of this. Because they worshipped an idol.
I mean, in the midst of God just showing them His power, who He
is, they all deserved to be destroyed, don't they? But nevertheless,
God spared most of that nation. He didn't destroy the whole nation
for this reason. God remembered His covenant.
They forgot God. God didn't forget His covenant.
He didn't forget His promise to bring the people to the land.
And that's a picture of God's elect. God has a people, He chose
to save, but we're born in this world. We're born with Adam's
nature. And we're natural born idolaters. It just comes naturally
to this flesh. We will worship anything other
than God. By nature, we'll accept any won't
call it a gospel. The Apostle Paul called it another
gospel, a message. We'll accept any message, except
the gospel of Christ alone. By nature, we will believe anything. I don't care how outlandish it
is, but we won't believe God's Son. In today's world, buddy,
you better not speak against any religious belief whatsoever. Except this one. That's so. Why is that? Why is that so?
That's our nature. And that brings God's wrath. We deserve, our whole race deserves
for God just to snuff us out with the breath of his nostrils.
But nevertheless, God does not destroy all the sons of Adam
because God has elect people. that He chose to save out of
that race of idolaters. Just like our sister Ruth, born
an idolater. God chose her. Before time began,
God chose to save her. Now how on earth is He going
to get her away from those idols and cause her to believe the
true and living God? Well, you just watch and see. You just
watch and see. That's what God does for all
His people. God's going to save those He's gonna cross their
path with the gospel. Somehow, some way, somebody's
gonna tell them about Christ. And a miracle's gonna happen.
They're gonna believe it. They're gonna turn to God from
their idols. God's gonna give them a new nature,
a nature that does believe Christ, that loves Christ. That's how
God saves his people. See, salvation doesn't have anything
to do with us, does it? What we do or what we don't do.
Salvation is a gift of God that he gives to his people that he
promised to say. All right, here's the fifth thing. By nature, God's elect despised
Christ, the mediator. Verse 22. Wondrous works in the
land of Ham and terrible things by the Red Sea. Therefore, he
said that he would destroy them had not Moses, his chosen, stood
before him in the breach to turn away his wrath, lest he should
destroy them. Now for 400 years, Israel had
prayed for a deliverer. They'd heard God's promises of
a deliverer. For 400 years, they prayed for
a deliverer. And God finally sent Moses to
deliver them from Egypt. And he did, didn't he? God used
Moses and he delivered them from Egypt, led them out of Egypt.
And how quickly and how often that they murmured against Moses
after they prayed for him for 400 years. After God used them
to deliver them from bondage in Egypt, they quickly and often
murmured against Moses. Moses led them out of the land
of Ham. That's the cursed land. He led them out of the cursed
land. And they still murmured against him. They saw God's wonders
in delivering them from Egypt, but they frequently still murmured
against God. and murmured against Moses. And
that brought God's anger. One day, God told Moses, Moses,
I've had enough. Moses, you stand right over there
out of the way. I'm going to destroy this people. I'm going
to destroy every last one of them. And I'm going to start
over. I'm going to start over with a brand new people. They're
going to come from you. You can understand Moses being
very glad about that, can't you? Moses, Who would envy Moses? Huh? Leading that stiff neck people,
just constantly giving him so much grief. You could understand
Moses. Thank you, Lord. I'm done with
those people. But you know what Moses did?
Moses interceded for those people. He said, Lord, don't do this.
No, don't destroy him in the wilderness. The people will say
you didn't have the power to bring him out. and a plague had
gone out. And the people just, just the
day after that chorus rebellion, the day after they saw the earth
open up and swallows man, scar still in the earth, the fire
that fell from heaven, smoke still in the earth. The next
day, those people want to take Moses and Aaron and string them
up. They said, you've killed God's
anointing and God sent out a plague to destroy the people. And Moses
told Aaron, go get the censer. Get some coals, put incense there
on it. You run and you make atonement
for the people. And Aaron ran in front of that
plague. Right in front of that plague
and made an atonement for that. And there the plague stopped.
He ran to do that. Moses interceding for the people.
Aaron running to make an atonement. Moses, the man they were murmuring
against. Aaron, the man they want to string
up. made intercession for them, and God spared the people. And
when Moses interceded for the people, he didn't say, Lord,
they didn't mean it. He didn't say, Lord, don't do
better next time, because no, they won't. No, he sent Aaron
to make atonement for the people. Well, that's a good picture of
you and me by nature. By nature, we despise the only
mediator between God and men. the man Christ Jesus. We say,
I'll make my peace with the man upstairs. Me and the man upstairs.
We got an agreement. No, you don't either. We've got
to have a mediator. Got to have a mediator. Try to
come to God without a mediator. He'll destroy you. That's what
the whole human race deserves. But nevertheless, when the father
would destroy the whole human race because of Adam's sin, Christ
the Savior stood up. He stood in the breach and he
made intercession for the transgressors. And he didn't say, now Father,
he didn't. Because he did. He did it willfully.
He knew exactly what he was doing. He didn't promise the Father
they'll do better next time. They can't do better. They're
fallen. Their flesh is dead. They can't do better. All he
pleaded was his blood for the sacrifice for the sin of his
people. And he said, Father, don't destroy those that you
chose to save. Father, don't destroy those whose
sin has been paid for with my blood. That's right. He said
that when Adam fell, when the only two human beings alive were
Adam and Eve. How could he say that? He's the
lamb slain from the foundation of the world. It was always God's
purpose to save his people and the sacrifice of his son. He
always saw his people in his son. He said, don't destroy those. whose sin has been paid for by
my blood. And the father spared the entire human race for Christ's
sake, for his elect's sake. And when the Lord reveals Christ
to us, how we love that mediator. Oh, we once despised him, didn't
we? But now how we love him. The only way we can come before
God. By sixthly, by nature, God's
elect refused to believe the word of God. Verse 24. Yea, they
despised the pleasant land. They believed not his word, but
murmured in their tents and hearken not into the voice of the Lord.
Therefore, he lifted up his hand against them to overthrow them
in the wilderness, to overthrow their seed also among the nations
and to scatter them in the lands. Now the children of Israel, they
all knew about God's promise to give the descendants of Abraham
the land of Canaan. Abraham had told his sons, he
told his sons and on down, they all knew it. This generation
had seen God's power in delivering them from Egypt, bringing them
out of Egypt, brought them right to the edge of the promised land.
All they had to do was walk in and take it. And they said, we can't do it.
I mean, when they came right to the edge of the land, they
said, God's not able to give us what he promised to give us. I really don't think he'll give
us the land. I told you this Sunday, the damning sin is unbelief,
unbelief. They entered not in because of
unbelief. And every last person in that
nation, 20 years old and up, with the exception of Joshua
and Caleb, died in the wilderness. They marched around in the wilderness
for 40 years, a 40 year long funeral procession. They say
more than 3 million people came out of the land. How many funerals
a day did they have to have? 3 million people, 40 years, long
funeral procession. That God would have been just
in wiping out the whole nation, even those under 20, wouldn't
But nevertheless, God spared the people. And 40 years later,
Joshua and Caleb and everybody, 19 and younger, entered the promised
land. And they took it, and they possessed
it. You're seeing the pattern here, aren't you? See the pattern?
The people, I mean, they're a horrible, horrible mess, just ugh. And
nevertheless, God keeps saving them. Watch you and me. God's people are born with a
nature that refuses to believe God's word. We start here with
three year olds, teaching them the word of God, giving them
memory verses, teaching them verse by verse the word of God.
And we've got to do it over and over and over and over and over
and over again. You know why? This flesh will
not believe it. It will not believe it. This
flesh will not believe God's promise of salvation in Christ
alone. without any of our works added
to it, just won't do it. And God would be just in sending
the whole human race to hell, wouldn't he? For refusing to
believe his word. And let's just get right down to where we live.
Let's forget about the whole human race. Let's talk about
us right here. One of the countless reasons
I'm so thankful God's not like me. is if God was like me, I'd
have cast me out. I grew up being taught the word
of God. Wouldn't believe it. Knew it. I knew it, but I didn't believe
it. Hated it. God would be just in damning
those who week after week after week after week have heard the
word of God, you and me. But nevertheless, God saves His
people. God chose a people to save. And
there they sit, hating His Word. There they sit, just thinking,
when is that preacher going to shut up? About 12 minutes, that's
how long. And one day, the light goes on. You might
not even know when it turned on, but the light's on. And now
I believe that. What happened? God gave faith
to those he chose, to those for whom Christ died. He gave them
faith in Christ. And now they can't not believe
it. Right? Here's the seventh thing by nature.
God's elect have no zeal for God. We have no concern for God's
glory, for the glory of the gospel. We think by nature, everything
is okay. Verse 28. They joined themselves also unto
Belpior, and ate the sacrifices of the dead. Thus they provoked
him to anger with their inventions, and the plague break in upon
them. Then stood up Phinehas, and executed judgment, and so
the plague was stayed. And that was counted unto him
for righteousness unto all generations forevermore. Now, you can read
about this story in Numbers chapter 25, When the people were in the
wilderness, they had been wandering through the wilderness and they
wandered close to all these different heathen tribes. They joined themselves
to these idolaters that lived around them. They married with
them. They started going to their services. They started going to where they
would sacrifice to their idols and eat the meat offered to idols
and so forth. And this is what they were saying.
Everything's OK. I mean, whatever it is, as long
as it's religious, everything's OK. Well, it must not have been
okay, because you know what God told Moses to do? You take the
heads of all those people, the leaders of all those people who
defiled themselves this way, and you kill them. You hang their
heads up for everybody to see. Must not have been okay. God
said it wasn't. But they said, everything's okay. It's all the same. We all worship
the same God, if it's in different ways. Doesn't that sound just
like our day? But it don't matter what you
do, it's okay. Well, even after these executions, a man took
one of these heathens, took her into his tent, right there in
front of everybody. People are still crying over
these ones that have been killed. And he just took this heathen
to his tent right in front of everybody. And a man named Phineas,
he's Aaron's grandson, he took a javelin. and he ran it through
them both. The woman was standing there,
he ran it through her belly, ran it all the way through her,
all the way through that man, and killed them both. And God
said that made an atonement, stopped the plague. And God said
that he would bless Phineas and his seed after him and his priesthood.
God said, I'm going to bless it because that man has a zeal
for God. Now what is all that story about? Well, Phineas is a picture of
Christ. None of God's elect are born with a zeal for God. Now
we all think everything's okay. It can't be as narrow as what
the preacher's making it, can it? And the plague's gone out. The
plague's gone out. Nevertheless, God does not destroy
all the sons of Adam for Christ's sake. Not for our sake, for Christ's
sake. See, the Lord Jesus Christ had
a zeal for God. He had a zeal for God's glory,
the salvation of his people. He said, the zeal of thine house
have eaten me up. And in his zeal for God, he willingly
made himself a sacrifice that atoned for sin that stopped the
plague. And the father saves and blesses
his elect for Christ's sake, not for theirs, for Christ's
sake. In eighth, by nature, God's elect won't trust Christ, the
sacrifice for sin. Verse 32 says, they angered him
also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses
for their sakes, because they provoked his spirit so that he
spake unadvisably with his lips. Now, you know, this is the story
of the smitten rock. And that rock is a picture of
Christ smitten. When that rock, Moses struck
the rock that first time and out gushed all that water. for
all the people. That's a picture of Christ smitten.
His sacrifice outflowed blood and water to justify and sanctify
his people. Well, after that first time,
God told Moses, now Moses, you speak to the rock. You don't
have to strike the rock anymore because Christ has smitten once
for sin. Now you speak. And the people provoked Moses
again. Oh, he got so angry with their
unbelief. And he struck the rock the second
time. We're not speaking to it. And that brought God's anger.
And now listen, Christ is smitten one time. That's all it takes
to save all of God's elect, the one sacrifice of Christ. And
Moses defiled that picture of Christ. And because he defiled
just the picture of Christ, God told Moses, you can't enter the
promised land. I take you up on this mountain.
You can see it. But Moses, you can't enter into it because he
didn't sanctify the Lord God in the eyes of the people. And
all the people deserve to be destroyed in me. But nevertheless,
both Moses and the people were not destroyed. Why not? Because their sin was covered
in the sacrifice of Christ. And that's the same reason all
of God's elect are delivered from their sin. And God one day
will bring them all to glory. It's not because of our obedience.
It's by God's grace. through the obedience of Christ.
All right, here's the last one. God's elect cannot quit their
sin. We can't rid ourselves of our
sin. Verse 34. They did not destroy the nations
concerning whom the Lord commanded them, but were mingled among
the heathen and learned their works. And they served their
idols, which were a snare unto them. Yea, they sacrificed their
sons and their daughters unto devils and shed innocent blood. even the blood of their sons
and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed under the idols
of Canaan and the land was polluted with blood. Thus were they defiled
with their own works and went a whoring with their own inventions.
Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people
in so much that he abhorred his own inheritance and he gave them
into the hand of the heathen and they that hated them ruled
over them. Their enemies also oppressed them. They were brought
into subjection under their hand. Now, when Israel entered the
promised land, the Lord told them all these different heathen
nations. He said, you kill every last
one of them, man, woman, child, you kill every last one of them.
And the people thought, you know, I've got a better idea than God.
We're going to spare some of these heathen. We're going to
let them live in the land as long as they promise to pay us
really high taxes. We're going to let them live
in the land. It's a good moneymaker for us. And they spared them. And God let it alone. And over
the years, those heathen caused Israel so much grief. Israel didn't make those heathen
better. No, Israel got entangled with the heathen. They got entangled
with their religion. They started doing all this horrible
stuff, even sacrificing their sons and daughters to idols.
Oh, they deserve to be destroyed. I mean, can you imagine such
a thing? Sacrificing your children to an idol. All they deserve
to be destroyed. But nevertheless, God delivered
Israel again and again and again. He judged them. He sent them
into bondage to these various places, but God would deliver
them, bring them back to the land. Not because Israel was
good, not even because they got sorry enough, but because God's
good and God's faithful. And that's a picture of our sin.
We can't quit it. We can't get rid of it and all
the problems that it causes us. Nevertheless, all the gross,
horrendous things our sin causes us to do, the unbelief, the hatred
of God, everything we've looked at. Nevertheless, God saves his
people from all their sin. The blood of Christ does what
we could never do. Cleanses us from all sin. See, not because
we're any good, but because Christ's sacrifice removes the sin of
his people and makes them righteous. See, salvation is all of God's
grace and none of our goodness. You see that this has been repeated
over and over again. And this cycle was repeated many
times in Israel's history. I mean, the book couldn't contain
all the examples that the psalmist could have used. So he just says
in verse 43, many times that he delivered them, but they provoked
him with their counsel. And they are brought low for
their iniquity. In a nutshell, this is the history of Israel.
God was good to Israel. He blessed them. He raised them
up. And the people were so thankful.
And very shortly, they forgot the Lord. They went after their
idols. They wanted to go their own way. And God sent judgment
upon them. Sent them plagues. Sent them
into bondage. But then, God would remember
His covenant. And he delivered Israel. Oh, he's good to Israel.
He delivered them, bring them back to their land. The people
are so thankful. I said, oh, we'll never do this
again. In just a few days, they start going their own way. They
went after their idols. This is just rinse and repeat,
rinse and repeat. That's the whole history of Israel. Nevertheless, oh, you think God
would get tired of that, but nevertheless, verse 44, he regarded
their affliction when he heard their cry. And he remembered
for them his covenant and repented according to the multitude of
his mercies. Just like Israel of old, the
only reason you and I are not destroyed today is God's goodness. The only reason God doesn't destroy
the whole human race is he remembers his covenant mercies. He's got
reserved for his people. That's how God saves his people. Now, what's our reaction to this?
Remember, we're not talking about Israel at all. I'm talking about
you and me. This is our story. What's our reaction to this?
Verse 47. Here's our reaction. Save us,
O Lord, our God, and gather us among the heathen to give thanks
unto thy holy name and to triumph in thy praise. Blessed be the
Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting. And let all the
people say, Amen. Praise ye the Lord. As I went
through Israel's history here, that sound familiar to you? Sound
familiar to me. You know why it sounds familiar?
Because that's our history too. God's been so good to us. Again, that applies to the whole
world. I'm talking about the Hurricane
Road Grace Church. God's been so good to us. Yet to our shame, how quickly
do we forget? How quickly do we find ourselves
wanting to do things our way, not God's way? We think I've
got a better way. I want to do something not so
narrow as God says it is. How that way is outdated. We want to depend upon our own
strength and not depend upon the Lord. That's us now. And
knowing that, here's the believer's reaction. Oh, Lord, save me. I'm not denying I'm a weak, sinful
creature, but nevertheless, Lord, save me by your grace. My sin
is great, but Christ's blood is never the less. Oh, let his
blood save me from my sin. My shame is great, but nevertheless,
Lord, get glory to your name by saving me for your name's
sake. Get glory to your name by saving
me for your sake. And all of God's people can say
amen to that. That's a good hope, isn't it?
Let's bow together in prayer. Our Father, how we thank you
for this clear declaration of salvation by grace in your word.
How we thank you that salvation is dependent upon your goodness,
not ours. Upon your faithfulness, not our
faithfulness. Upon the obedience of Christ,
not on our obedience. upon the sacrifice of Christ,
not upon anything about us. Father, how we thank you. Father,
I pray that you would grant us the faith that would believe,
that would lay hold upon Christ, that would look to Christ and
to never look away. Oh, grant us faith that would
never waver, that would never doubt, that would always find
assurance and comfort and peace in our all. in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Father, I beg your forgiveness
when we don't. How thankful we are to know that we're heard,
that we're accepted, that we're saved in Christ and Christ alone. Father, I pray you bless your
word, bless it to your glory and to the hearts of your people.
Not for our sakes, but for thy great name's sake we pray. Now,
you may have heard it in my voice, I'm recovering from a cold. Janet will let me near her now.
She doesn't think I'm contagious, but just in case, I'm not going
to the back door so y'all can escape me without getting what
I got, okay? Let's stand and sing 272. 272.
Let's sing the chorus after the first verse and the last verse. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but only lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock
I stand, All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground
is sinking sand. When darkness veils his lovely
face, I rest on his unchanging grace. My anchor holds within the veil. His oath is covenant, his blood,
Support me in the whelming flood. When all around my soul gives
way, He then is all my hope and say. When he shall come with
trumpet sound, O may I then in him be found, Dressed in his
righteousness alone, All blessed to stand before the throne. On Christ the solid rock I stand,
All other ground is aching sand. All other ground is aching sand. Yeah.