Well, last week I endeavoured
in Romans chapter 3, which I think is the clearest chapter on the
gospel, there's many, many clear passages, but Romans 3 was so
clear. Clear gospel truth, under the title of Remember the True
Gospel. It's one thing to talk about
remembering all the way the Lord has led us, But if your foundation
is wrong or faulty, and the foundation of the walk of the Christian
life to the celestial city is the true gospel, if you don't
get that right, then the way is all wrong. And I sought to
make that clear, clear gospel truth. And I strove as hard as
I physically could, but if God didn't speak to you through it,
then it will have had no effect whatsoever. Many, many people
could hear the same words being spoken, the same passage of scripture
being opened, but if the God of heaven does not speak in the
heart, it will have no effect. Now you say, well, that's all
right. Why is this important? Why are you saying it's so important
that we know the truth of the gospel? Well, this is the reason.
We all stand on the verge of eternity. And I think most of
us live, putting to the back of our minds how actually very
close we are to eternity. It's appointed to man to die
once and then the judgment. We stand on the verge of eternity. And if God leaves us to ourselves,
our sinful selves, ourselves that are at enmity with him,
we must eternally perish. We must go into a timeless state
of eternal suffering, a lost eternity, without God, without
his truth, without anything that is good. But if he brings us
to see something of his person, of His holiness, of His majesty,
of His sovereignty, and of our sin and our utter depravity,
our just desert of eternal separation from Him, because seeing something
of how glorious He is and how vile and corrupt and rebellious
and against Him we are, our just desert of eternal separation
from Him, it will be clear before us. And if he brings us to see
that, there's only one thing that can give us any comfort
at all, and that is the Lord saying to my soul, I am thy salvation. Has God said to you, I am thy
salvation? Our text is in Psalm 35, and
I just want to take a phrase at the end of verse three. He
says, draw out also the spear and stop the way against them
that persecute me. Now this is it. Say unto my soul,
I am thy salvation. We need God. the true God, the
one and only God, to say to you and me individually in our hearts,
to say this, if the God of the universe who said, let there
be light and there was light, if he say in your soul, I am
thy salvation, what a blessed position you are in. In this
Psalm, as in all of the others, David is praying for his safety
in the face of enemies. Also in this psalm, as in all
others, Jesus the God-man, God become man, is praying for keeping
in the face of satanic opposition that would bring to nothing his
mission of redemption. It's Jesus the God-man praying
to his Father to keep him. and it's also his people in him,
in the Lord Jesus Christ, praying for assurance of eternal good. So let's think about this. What
is it for the Lord to say unto my soul, I am thy salvation? We need to come to a realisation,
first of all, this is my first point, of yours and mine as sinners,
our desperate need. Have you been brought by God
to feel your true condition as a sinner? To feel it, not just
to academically know it. It's one thing to assent to the
truth of the fact that, yes, I'm a sinner. It's another to
feel it in your core. You can possibly remember occasions
in your life. I certainly can. where when I
think of them, the sense of shame regarding things I've done or
said to others, oh, if only I could go back and undo that. Why did
I say that thing at that time to that person? And you shrink
within, oh, if only I didn't say that. Have you ever had that
feeling? Well, it's that multiplied many times over. This sense of
utter evil that is in us, in my very being, over my sin against
God who is holy and high and lifted up. Do you know that's
a blessed state to be brought to? You say, surely that's the
very opposite of a blessed state. It's a dreadful state, knowing
how bad you are in the eyes of God. No, that's so good to know
that. You see, It shows our separation
between God, our creator, in the highest of heaven, and me,
the rebel, down here in the dust. And not only seeing what I am
versus God, but my basic inability to do right, how the natural
tendency of my flesh is always to do wrong. There's a concept
in the subject of physics called entropy, and it's disorder, it's
the state of disorder. And in this creation, entropy
always increases. Left to itself, things don't
get tidier, things don't get more ordered, things don't get
swept up and tidied, they get more and more disordered. They
get more and more spread out. It's like that with sin in us.
Within us, within our flesh, there is no good thing. Within
me, that is in my flesh, sin must always increase. You know
what the testimony of the Word of God is about you and me as
sinners? In the book of Jeremiah in chapter
17 and verse 9, This is the testimony of God against all of us. The
heart, your heart, my heart, the heart is deceitful above... Oh no, I'm pretty good. No, I
wouldn't do any harm to... No, this is the word of God.
This is the testimony of God. The heart, your heart, my heart
is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can
know it? You can't know it to its full
depth, and I can't either, but the Lord does. Verse 10, I, the
Lord, search the heart. I try the reins, even to give
every man according to his ways and according to the fruit of
his doing. You see, all have sinned. We
read that in Romans 3 last week. All have sinned and fall short. We sin, we fall short of the
glory of God. And there's nothing hidden from
the God who sees all things. It says in Romans 8, 27 that
God is the one who searches the hearts. Do you know, you can't
hide anything. from the sovereign God of the
universe. He's God who searches the hearts. Whatever you think
you can hide from everybody else around you, those closest to
you, You can't hide them from God, for he searches the hearts,
and he sees. God, who is holy, God, who is
absolute perfection, cannot tolerate sinners like you and me. He says
that as far as his heaven is concerned, nothing which defileth
can enter therein. Nothing. nothing well not so
bad no no a good attempt is absolutely futile oh you protest that well
look around there's some utterly evil people that have done some
utterly terrible things i wouldn't have done that you protest that
you're pretty good compared with others The Apostle James writes
this, James 2 verse 10, whosoever shall keep the whole law, the
whole commandments of God, everything that God requires for righteousness,
whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point,
oh, only one point? Only one point? Oh, surely that's
okay. No, he is guilty of all. Keep it all, but offend in one
point. He is guilty of all. You may
not have committed open sins that others have done. You've
seen some terrible things. We read about it in the news
all of the time. But you know this, if God opens your eyes
to it, the seeds of all sin is there in your heart, in the heart
of every single one of us. And you see, That separates us
from God. That condemns us before God because
God requires constant perfection. He wrote it in the book of Deuteronomy,
the Remember book, the second law book. He wrote there, Deuteronomy
27 verse 26, Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words
of this law to do them. And it's repeated, it's quoted,
Paul quotes it in Galatians chapter 3 and verse 10. Galatians chapter
3 verse 10. It says this, for as many as
are of the works of the law are under the curse. You and me,
we're of the works of the law. As many as are of the works of
the law, as many as are trying to earn righteousness with God
by doing the things that the law requires us to do, are under
a curse. Why? Because it is written. It
is written what we read in Deuteronomy chapter 27. Cursed is everyone. that continueth not in most things,
no, all things that are written in the book of the law, to do
them continually, perfectly, without ever an error. And when
you die, as we all must, and you hope that God will admit
you to eternal bliss, the holy character of God will not be
able to admit you to his eternal presence. If God allowed anything
but perfection, the perfection of his nature into heaven, he
would cease to be God. The trust of most religion, the
trust of, you know, not Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, all of these,
that's their trust that they will be good enough, judged by
the works that they have done, that they'll be accepted with
God. But it's also the trust of most
of what calls itself Christianity, that God will allow us in because
he'll let us off with so many things. They hope that... They'll get away with just a
little bit of imperfection. But what that scripture said
destroys that trust completely. You see, religion says, how can
I be right with God? How should a man be just with
God? And it says, work, you must work. You must do the right things.
You must turn over a new leaf. You must keep the law of God
perfectly. You must strive and strive and
strive, never to sin. Well, yes, strive not to sin,
but don't think you'll ever be right with God by that. And some
even go so far as to say, ah, ah, no, we know you can't work,
but the Bible says believe and you will have everlasting life,
and so it does. But what they mean when they
say that is believe as a work that you do, for which the reward
will be that somehow God will cancel his law and he'll give
you eternal life. But the truth is, the truth that
God shows to the people who are his true people, that he loved
from eternity, to his true people he shows this, that they can
neither work, nor can they of themselves believe. They do not
earn eternal life by doing that work that God calls them to do,
to believe. They can do neither in and of
themselves. As you are, sinful, what it says
in scripture, you are enmity with God. His justice must pay
you your due wages. You know, when you work, when
you do anything of a labor necessity, those of you that work and earn
a salary, you don't go to work, well, some of you enjoy your
jobs, but you go because they pay you. The wages of sin, says
the Bible, Romans 6.23, The wages of sin is death. God pays his
wages to those who are sinners. The wages of sin is death. He
said it in his word, in Ezekiel, more than once, the soul that
sins, it shall die. That's the wages of sin. But
the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Oh, wow. There. In the midst of that Shocking
sentence is hope. The gift of God is eternal life. Eternal life is God's gift through
Christ. We used to watch films, you know,
Indiana Jones and the Holy Grail and all those sorts of things.
This is the true thing that fiction and myth strives to get hold
of in vain to discover. This is the true thing. How we
can be right with God for eternity. How we can have eternal life.
This is the true thing. Where religion calls on the sinner
to work, and even to do the work of believing, God in his word,
by the mouth of Christ, in John's Gospel, chapter 6 and verse 29,
God declares that it is his work alone. They asked Jesus in John
6, 29, what shall we do that we might work the works of God? And Jesus answered and said unto
them, this is the work of God, that you believe on him whom
he has sent. This is the work of God that
you believe. It's God's work that brings you
to believe on him whom he has sent. That work of God is the
salvation from sin. It's salvation from sin of a
multitude, a multitude condemned under divine justice, a multitude
that he loved from everlasting, as it says in Jeremiah, I have
loved you with an everlasting love. It's the salvation of a
multitude who are condemned justly under divine justness, but he
loved them. And he saves them without violating
his nature, without violating his holy nature, without violating
his divine justice, whilst still honouring his holy law, whilst
destroying Satan and the power of sin, whilst overcoming this
rebellious world. whilst glorifying his own holy
name because of the redemption that he accomplishes. If God
shows you something of your situation as a sinner, how much you need
to hear him say to your soul, I am thy salvation. There it
is, verse three. Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation. If God convicts you and brings
you to that situation, you need to hear God say to your soul,
I am thy salvation. Otherwise, how shall we escape? Hebrews chapter two, verse three.
How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? So then,
my second point. What does this salvation accomplish? Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation. What does it accomplish? It's
a salvation from one state to a different state. Envisage somebody
out in the sea. It's going to get rough down
in the sea a mile from us later today. They're predicting very
strong winds and there'll be huge waves. And if you fell out
of a boat down there, even a hundred yards from the shore, the chances
are that you'd drown. You just wouldn't be able to
get yourself back to shore. and you're in a helpless drowning
condition and there is no hope for you and of your own strength
you cannot save yourself for every stroke you make forward
towards the beach a big wave will drag you further out until
you've lost strength and you drown and somebody comes along
with a life belt, with a life boat, whatever, and rescues you
and puts your feet on dry ground. It's a state from peril to a
state of safety, from a state of certain death to a situation
where you're alive. from drowning to the dry land. It's a state of death to a state
of life. It's a state of despair to a
state of joy. We read this in Hannah's prayer
in 1 Samuel chapter two and verse six. The Lord killeth. People are dying all around us
all the time. This is the truth of God's Word. The Lord killeth and maketh alive. He bringeth down to the grave
and bringeth up. The Lord maketh poor. Blessed are the poor, for they
shall inherit the kingdom of God. Blessed are the poor, in
the Sermon on the Mount. The Lord maketh poor. and maketh
rich in righteousness. He bringeth low and lifteth up. He brings us low in the estimation
of our own sinfulness, but lifts us up to the highest heaven.
He raiseth up the poor out of the dust. He lifts up the beggar
from the dunghill. That's not a pleasant place.
and sets them among princes. Princes don't sit among dunghills.
They sit in palaces and makes them inherit the throne of glory
for the pillars of the earth are the Lord's and he has set
the world on them. This is what God does. The accomplishment
of salvation is a salvation from a state of despair to a state
of glory. It's a state that only God does
for human beings, for his elect, for the people he loved from
all eternity. Even the angels of God know nothing of redemption. A third of them fell when Satan
fell and rebelled. There was no redemption for them.
Sinners are exalted beyond angels. It tells us in Hebrews chapter
2 verse 16 that when Christ came, he didn't take on him the nature
of angels to redeem the fallen angels. He took on him the seed
of who? Abraham. He took on him the seed
of Abraham, on the one that was the man of his choice to come
out of Ur of the Chaldees and to go to the land that he promised
him. He took on him the seed of Abraham
for salvation. And this salvation of God to
his people is to the uttermost. It says in Hebrews 7, 25, he
is able to save. How far is he able to save? To
the uttermost from sin's damning, condemning power. From the curse
of the law, which says the soul that sins, it shall die, and
who has sinned, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of
God. From sin's captivity, he releases, he ransoms, he frees
his people. From the love of it within the
heart, he frees his people to love the things of God. And you
know, you say, well, look, we who are saved, we still die,
we still go through physical death, but even in physical death,
there is salvation. Isn't there? Think of that penitent
thief dying on the cross next to the Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary. And he said, this day you shall
be with me in paradise. As you leave this life, this
day you shall be with me in paradise. This is salvation to the uttermost. As sin conquered the whole world
at the fall, when Adam fell in the Garden of Eden, sin conquered
the whole world and it's carried on ever since. Just as that was
such an enormous great fall, God's salvation has triumphed
eternally. And God lifts up sinners from
the dust from the dunghill, from the horrible pit, and sets their
feet on a rock, and sets them on the route to eternity. Romans chapter 5 verse 20, where
sin abounded, and sin does abound all around, It abounds in this
world, it abounds in the people around us, it abounds in your
heart and mind. Where sin abounded, grace, grace,
God's riches at Christ's expense. Grace, the grace of salvation.
Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. God is able
to save to the uttermost. By Christ and the salvation he
accomplished, his people are dead to the law. They're dead
to the law which would condemn us, the law of God which would
condemn us. But because Christ has died under the curse of that
law, to redeem us from that curse, because He has died and we are
united with Him, we are crucified with Him. We are dead to that
law if we believe in Him, so it can no longer curse the saved
sinner. Why can the law no longer curse
us? Because we're dead to it. Why are we dead to it? Because
in Christ we died to it when He died. Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It is Christ that has died. He's
died for his people. The law has nothing more to say.
It is finished. It is enough. There's no need
for any more penalty to be paid. We, if you believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, you are killed to the law and married to Christ. Just as Romans chapter 7 says
in verse 4 of chapter 7, wherefore my brethren ye also are become
dead to the law by the body of Christ which died on the cross
that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised
from the dead. He died and was raised from the
dead. You are dead with him because
of the body of Christ that died on that cross. But you're married
to another, even to the one who was raised from the dead, which
is Christ. Even to him that we should bring forth fruit unto
God. The body under the law brings
forth fruit unto death. but through him we bring forth
fruit unto life, killed to the law and married to Christ. To
be right with God, to be assured of eternal acceptance with him,
how I need to hear God say unto my soul, What David prayed, Lord,
say unto my soul, I am thy salvation. Has God said that to you? I am
thy salvation. And note who it is. This is my
third point. It is the Lord who is my salvation. It is the God of salvation. Verse one, plead my cause, O
Lord. And then jump down to the end
of verse three. O Lord, say unto my soul, I am
thy salvation. the glorious, mysterious God,
in the triunity, the trinity of his being, on whom his people
call, this God, Lord, say unto my soul, I am thy salvation. When we pray that prayer, I'm
always reminded of The verse in Ezekiel 36 verse 37, and it's
in a little piece I put in the bulletin. Thus saith the Lord
God. This is what God says to his
people. He says, I will yet for this
be inquired of by the house of Israel. I want them to pray to
me. God says this, I want my people to pray for me. Why does
God want his people to pray for him? He says it there in the
same verse, to do it for them. to do it for them. Lord, say
to my soul, I am thy salvation. Why does he bring us to pray
to him? Lord, say to my soul, I am thy
salvation, so that he will do it for us, so that he will say
to us in our soul, I am your salvation. Has the God, the sovereign
God, the Triune God, the mysterious God that we can only know in
the Lord Jesus Christ if the Holy Spirit reveals Him to us.
Has He said to your soul, I am thy salvation? This is prayer
to the sovereign, omnipotent Lord. The one, when we say God
is sovereign, it means nobody else. can have that position,
that authority. When we say he's omnipotent,
there is none that can stay his hand or say to him, what are
you doing? God is sovereign over all. And
when we pray, save me from just condemnation, we're acknowledging
that it is just, but bring me to eternal communion in heaven. And do it all whilst remaining
God, without violating your justice in any way. You know it says
that He is a just God and a Saviour in Isaiah 45. God is a just God. If God were just to forgive sins
without exacting the penalty for sins, God would not be just.
But He is just. He's just and justifier. How is He just and justifier?
by what he accomplished in the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at Isaiah
chapter 12. Isaiah chapter 12 and verse two. Behold, God is my salvation. God is my salvation. I'll say
it again. God is my salvation. I will trust
and not be afraid. For the Lord Jehovah, this is
his name, the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song. He also is become my salvation. That's what we're asking God
to show us so that we can say that. So that you can say that.
So I can say, God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid. I won't be afraid. I won't be
afraid of anything in this life. I won't be afraid of those that
can kill the body and can then do nothing else. I won't be afraid
of death. All those who through fear of
death, all through their lifetime were subject to bondage. No,
I won't be afraid of death. I won't be afraid of the judgment,
for Christ has died in my place, and I know I will hear that voice.
Come thou blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation of the world. The Lord Jehovah is
my strength and my song. He is become my salvation. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
The Father elected, chose a multitude before the foundation of the
world from every tribe and tongue and kindred, electing love. The Son covenanted with the Father
and the Holy Spirit to come, to become man, to take on him
flesh so that he, God, could die that which God cannot do,
die and shed blood. It says in Acts chapter 20, Paul
to the elders of the Ephesian church on the beach at Miletus,
he speaks of, look after the church which God has redeemed
with his own blood. God has redeemed the church with
his, God's own blood, redeeming grace. How did he do it? In the
Lord Jesus Christ, who is God, our savior. God, our savior. He is our God and savior. His
irresistible calling and regeneration, the Holy Spirit. Who is it that
does that in time? The Holy Spirit comes and you've
been progressing along on your life with no thought whatsoever
for the things of God, but at His time He comes and brings
conviction and shows the truth and gives you faith and opens
your eyes. takes the scales away so that
you see and are made alive to the things of God. It's summarized
in 2 Timothy chapter 1, just turn there, 2 Timothy, you know
it well, you might even not need to turn because you know it so
well. But in verse 8, at the end of it, it speaks of God,
then verse 9, God who has saved us. He's us, the people that
God has saved. God who has saved us. Us, the
elect whom he chose in Christ before the foundation of the
world. God who has saved us. and called us with an holy calling,
not according to our works, not because you did anything better
than anybody else, not because you've got a better tradition,
not because your family is cleverer or more righteous or richer or
in any way different from anybody else, no, nothing whatsoever,
not according to our works, but according to what? His own purpose,
his own will, his own intention to be gracious to whom he will
be gracious to, according to his own purpose and grace, which
was given us in Christ Jesus, when before time began, before
the world began, before the beginning of time. So it's not of him that
wills, nor of him that runs, but of God that shows mercy,
but is now made manifest, is now openly shown by the appearing
of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and has
brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
Do you see who is our Saviour? Jesus Christ. Who did we read
in Isaiah chapter 12 and verse 2? God is our Saviour. Behold, God is my salvation,
that for the Lord is my strength and He's become my salvation.
Who is our Saviour? The Lord Jesus Christ. It's Him,
our Saviour Jesus Christ, who has abolished death by the salvation
He's accomplished and brought life and immortality to light
through the Gospel. Sovereign election before time,
covenant grace, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, all working
together in covenant grace, manifested now in Christ our Saviour, who
has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light.
If God before us, says Paul in Romans 8, who can be against
us? So then finally, what is the
effect on the sinner who is saved? What is the effect? The Holy
Spirit brings conviction. We sometimes sing that hymn,
a sinner is a sacred thing. The Holy Ghost has made him so.
The Holy Spirit brings conviction of sin and gives thirst for God,
as it says in Psalm 42, as the heart, the deer, panteth after
the water brooks, so panteth my soul, longs, yearning after
thee, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for
the living God. Blessed are they, says the Sermon
on the Mount, blessed are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness. For they shall be filled, for
God in Christ shall fill them. He shall satisfy that thirst.
Come unto me and drink. Whosoever thirsts, come to me
and let him drink. In God's time They're moulded
until they say, his people, they're taken from the pit, from the
horrible pit, and they're moulded by the Holy Spirit's work until
they're able to say, as all God's people are able to say, Ephesians
5, verse 2, Christ also has loved me and has given himself for
me, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour. If God says to your soul, I am
thy salvation, He convicts you of sin. He reveals the Savior,
bearing and paying your sin debt. He brings you to newness of life. He regenerates you. And he teaches
us. This is what Paul says to Titus
2 verse 12, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly
lusts, we should live soberly. Knowing the truth of God and
experiencing the salvation of God, we shouldn't then just live
as we want because God has saved us from our sins. No, denying
ungodliness and worldly lusts. We should live soberly, righteously,
and godly in this present world. Not only does God impute pay
over to your account the righteousness of God to the sinner, he also
imparts a righteous nature that strives, all the time you're
a believer in this flesh, that strives with the sinful flesh,
the flesh and the spirit, they're in conflict, they're in tension
against one another, until the saved sinner passes into the
paradise of God. What keeps you from praying? There might be some listening
and saying, well, this is all sounding very good, but it's
not for me. What keeps you from praying that
the Lord will say to your soul, I am thy salvation? Lord, say
unto my soul, I am the... What keeps you from praying that
prayer of David? Does it seem like it's too lonely
a path, you know? So much would have to change.
I couldn't possibly do that. It's just too big a change for
me. Well, indeed it is. It is a huge change. Jesus said
it again in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7 verse 13.
He said, enter ye in at the straight gate. That means narrow gate.
For wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction. And many there be which go in
there. Oh, I just feel more comfortable going in with the crowd along
the same wide and broad way. Oh, no, no, no. Straight is the
gate, not wide, it's the straight gate, the narrow gate. And narrow
is the way which leads to life. There's not many on it, few there
be that find it. Yes, you're right, it can be
a lonely path. There's just a handful of us
here this morning and I know there's There's a few out there
on the internet with us. Yeah, quite a few this morning,
pretty good. And a lot more will listen to the sermon. But even
so, compared with the populations around us who have no thought
for these things, it's a narrow way. It's a straight way. It's
a narrow way which leads to life, and few there be that find it.
Yes, it is. But look at the end. Let me remind
you of Revelation 7, verse 9, where John says this, after this,
I beheld, I looked, and lo, this is in heaven, a great multitude,
which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and
people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb,
the Lamb of God, clothed with white robes, saved from their
sins, palms in their hands, and cried with a loud voice, saying,
salvation to our God. which sitteth upon the throne
and unto the Lamb. Amen.