Back in Psalm 116, our text shall be verse 15. If you
haven't already guessed, we'll work our way to it. First of
all, a little background concerning this psalm, this psalm. That's
what the psalms were. They were psalms. They were sung
in the worship of God. And this psalm is a continuation
of the psalms or psalms in connection with the children of Israel being
brought out of Egypt. Those Psalms include Psalm 113
to Psalm 118. It's a personal song, a personal
song in which the believing soul, reminded by the Passover and
his own bondage and deliverance, you can't think of one without
the other, and it speaks with gratitude and praises to God
as it should. as it should. Who else are you
going to give the thanks to except the one who delivered you? And
children of God, we don't observe a Passover, but we can join in
this song, can't we? Because even Christ, our Passover,
is sacrificed for us. We can rejoice in that. And in
doing so, we remember the bondage that we were in, not physical,
but a greater bondage, that which held us even tighter than any
Pharaoh, and that is the bondage, the chains of our sin. We recall
the darkness, don't you? The awful burden, the awful load
of our sins. I think Jeremiah's sad song,
while he was in the pit, describes a sinner's experience while he's
under conviction. Conviction. Where has that gone? What's happened to that? Do you
remember a time when preachers talked about the need of conviction? Stripping, convincing our Lord,
our Lord said, bring a sinner down. Is that no longer necessary? Is that no longer needed? Does
God not do that anymore? Yes. Yes, sir. As the old hymn
writer said, and I can't hardly think of a better way to express
it, And in the words of old Joseph Hart's hymn, what comfort can
a savior bring to those who've never felt their woe? And their
answer is none. The prodigal son is not brought
back into fellowship with the father until he confesses, I've
sinned. I've sinned. But the prophet
Jeremiah said, and thou has removed my soul far off from peace, I
forgot prosperity. It seemed so far away, it seemed
like such a distant thing, I can hardly remember it anymore. And
he said, my strength and my hope is perished from the Lord. He
was wrong, but that's how he thought at the time. Remembering,
he said, remembering my affliction and my misery, the wormwood and
the gall, my soul hath him still in remembrance and is humbled
in me. Doesn't that sound like a sinner
under conviction of their sin? And we remember, we remember
the deliverance, not just the bitterness, oh, but we remember
the deliverance. The deliverance and the sweet
forgiveness of all of our sins and the wondrous, almost unbelievable
joy in your heart and soul because of that forgiveness. And that
brought a different tune to your lips, didn't it? Than the one
we just read from Jeremiah. Oh, God in his grace and mercy
changed our tune. And oh, what a different song
we now sing. My father used to tell me, son,
I'll bet I can change your tune. Well, in the regard of doing
what he told me to do, he could change my tune. Oh, but he couldn't
put this song in my mouth. My earthly father couldn't do
this for me. Only God, my father, could make
me sing this tune. Again, borrowing from David,
one of his psalms, Psalm 40, you know it, verse two. He brought
me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the Murray clay,
and set my feet up on a rock and established my goings. And
he hath put a new song in my mouth. Billy, he changed our
tune. Even praising to our God, many
shall see it in fear, and shall trust in the Lord. A tune like
this, once my soul was astrayed from the heavenly way, you know
that. I was wretched and vile as could be, that's just so.
But, but, my Savior, But my Savior in love gave me peace from above
when He reached down His soul for me. Oh, when my Savior reached
down for me, He had to reach way down for me. I was lost and
undone without God or His Son when He reached down His soul
for me. Thank God for grace. David here
is recounting God's great love to him. Did you notice that as
we read the psalm? and God's constant care of him,
and God's mercies that are new every morning. David asked himself
this question in verse 12, and it's only natural that he should
do so, considering God's many blessings. He says, what shall
I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me? He's
done all this for me. What can I do in return? It's
only right, isn't it, that he should think that way? It's only
the proper thing to do for every person to whom God has bestowed
his free saving grace. If I've gotten over that, if
I've gotten over the glorious truth of the experience of God's
grace, if I've gotten over that, I'm indeed in a sorry state. I'm in bad shape. Notice David
speaks of all the Lord's benefits to him. Not benefit, singular. Benefits, plural. I know this,
that whatever we render to God, as David did here in the way
of heartfelt worship, verse 13, in the way of honoring his God,
verses 14 and 18, in the way of thanksgiving to his God, verse
17, and our praises to God In verse 19, the return of these
things to God are far less than the supply of His many benefits
to us. Yet, David asked himself the
question, and we should too, what shall I render? What shall
I render? As David said in another place,
Psalm 139, let's compare it to what he said there. Psalm 139,
Verses 17 and 18. David says, How precious also
are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they
are more in number than the sand. When I awake, I am still with
thee. seems overwhelmed that the omniscient
God, that was the theme of that Psalm, Psalm 139, the all-knowing
God should take notice of him, that is David. God that knows
the beginning and the end of everything. Everything. I should do all by pleasure,
saith the Lord. If I have purposed it, I'll bring
it to pass. If I said it, if my word has
spoken it, it won't return void. It shall accomplish the exact
purpose, the exact thing that I sent it out to do. Oh, what
a great God. And yet, David says, God thinks
of me. God thinks of me. And what David
said concerning himself is true of every child of God. The Lord
knows those that are his. They may doubt it themselves
sometimes, but God knows those that are his. Isn't that an overwhelming
thought? No wonder David seems overwhelmed,
overcome. Oh, how precious are thy thoughts
to me, oh God. God's people have always been
on his mind. That'll help you. I hope that
sticks with you. God's people have always been
on his mind. They have never ever once been
out of his thoughts. Not once. How could they be? I have loved thee with an everlasting
love. Oh my soul, this is what the
Lord says in Isaiah 49, but Zion said, the church, the Lord hath
forsaken me and my Lord hath forgotten me. What a terrible
accusation against their faithful God. Just another indication
of man's faithless depravity. But here's God's answer to that
accusation, that false claim. God says, He responds, can a
woman forget her sucking child that she should not have compassion
on the son of her womb? Well, they do. Throw them in
the trash can. Yea, they may forget. Yet will not I forget. Will not I forget thee, unless
I won't forget you, except, no. No, it doesn't read that way,
does it? I won't forget you, period. It's never gonna happen. This song is a song of personal
love. It's bringing up from a personal
experience. I like that. I like to hear the
experiences of God's people. Last year at the conference in
Danville, we stayed with Mark and Regina Hanson, Robert and
I, and there were several people there, Marvin Stoniker, they've
got a big house, Bruce Crabtree, Mike Walker, a member of his
church was there, this lady, and one day between services
I was sitting in the living room and she came in and sat down.
She said, Larry, would you mind telling me about your experience
of God's grace? She said, I just love to hear
about things like that. I just love to hear how God brings
his children along. Yes, and so do I. David tells
us his personal experience of redemption in this song. And
in it, we see the redeemed, as David says, answered by God when
they pray, preserved in their time of trouble, resting in their
God, walking at large with peace in their heart, sensible of their
obligations, and conscious that they are not their own. They've
been bought with the price. And they join with all the ransom
company Singing hallelujahs to God Those are the things that
are true of all of God's people all God's people no matter when
they're making their journey Their pilgrimage through this
world to that city Just like Abraham did oh So many years
ago, but so are we? In 2020, as we make our pilgrimage,
as we march towards Zion, that heavenly city whose builder and
maker is God. Now let's look again at verse
15, our text. Man, each word is just precious,
just so precious. It begins with that word, doesn't
it? Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His
saints. The title of the message is just
an abbreviation of that. Precious deaths in God's sight. Precious deaths in God's sight. We'll consider just three things,
and the first is this. The text speaks of these deaths
as being the death of God's saints. Not talking about everyone. It's
not all deaths. The death of those who die in
their sins, in their rebellion against God, unbelieving, unrepentant,
are anything but precious to God. Theirs is the judgment of
God. Death is the judgment for them.
It's the execution of the sentence. Death is not sown to the believer.
No, it's a promotion. It's simply the way in which
God ushers us into the presence of His Son. Death is not our
enemy. Like it is for the unbeliever,
they should dread death. Oh, but death to the saints is
the means that God brings us to glory, to be with Christ with
everlasting joy. No wonder Paul said, that's far
better. That's far better. For me to
depart and be with Christ, that's in the original, I understand
it to be, it is far, far better. Better than anything in this
world. Better than anything he could ever hope for while here.
To depart and be with Christ is far better than what, Paul? Everything. Anything. To depart and be with Christ.
Remember what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 54? So when this corruptible shall
have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on
immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written,
death is swallowed up in victory. Where is that written? Where
did Paul get that from? Isaiah chapter 25. This is how
it reads there. Isaiah 25 and verse 8. He, that is God, will swallow
up death in victory. That's what Paul was referring
to. He will swallow up death in victory, and the Lord God
will wipe away tears from all faces of His saints. And the
rebuke of His people shall He take away from off the earth,
for the Lord hath spoken it." It'll be done. As all men, having
been created by the hand of God, and therefore because He is their
Creator, they owe Him allegiance, He has created us and not we
ourselves. The psalmist said, let us bow
down to Him. We're not the result of a big
bang. We're the result of in the beginning,
God. Even so, God's saints didn't
make themselves saints, did they? The text says His saints. They would cease to be saints
if they could cease to be God's saints, because you won't find
any anywhere else. Oh, I know people saint this
and saint that, but the only saints in the world, truthfully,
are God's saints. They're His creation. Nobody
else can make them. The word from which we have saint
is sanctify, sanctification. And it simply means to set apart. It also means to make holy. God
does both. God does both. In eternal election,
He set us apart from the mass of fallen humanity. He chose
us in Christ to be holy, sanctified. This is what Jude speaks of in
verse 1. Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ
and brother of James, to them who are sanctified by God the
Father, chosen in Christ, and preserved in Christ Jesus, and
called. But that's not all. God's saints
are actually made holy. That's right. Not pretended to
be. They're actually made holy in
regeneration. By God the Holy Spirit imparting
to them a new nature. The nature of God's Son. My soul, no wonder they're called
saints. That's exactly what Paul speaks
of in 2 Corinthians 5 verse 17. Therefore, if any man be in Christ,
he is a new creature. What's happened to him is not
the result of anything in this world. Nicodemus, you must be
born again from above. This is God's work. He's a new
creature, a new creation. Old things are passed away. Behold,
oh behold, all things are become new. Peter speaks of the same
thing in 2 Peter 1, verse 4. Whereby, that is by God's doing,
are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises that by
these you might be partakers, listen to this now, this is what
a saint is, this is what makes them saints, partakers of the
divine nature. Is that what John was talking
about when he said his seed remaineth in him and he cannot sin? The old man Billy does nothing
but sin, but the new man never sins. Never sins. It's the nature
of Jesus Christ in them. Believers are God's saints because
the triune God made them so. Made them saints. Now, when I
was preparing this message, especially when I came to where we're at
now, I couldn't help but think of something I remember reading
concerning the great whore, Babylon. But not just, that's all false
religion, but particularly I was thinking of the Catholic Church.
And I thought they have some very strange, strange teaching
concerning the making of a saint. So to refresh my memory, I went
online. And this is not somebody else's
words. This is their own words, the
teaching of the Catholic Church. Quote, the process to make someone
a saint cannot normally start until they've been dead at least
five years. Oh, my soul. It's really not
a laughing matter. But that's just the first step. There's five steps. We won't
get into it. But also, this is the quote,
some have to wait a long time before they reach Catholic sainthood. Saint Bedean, perhaps that's
how you pronounce that word. The theologian died in 735, but
had to wait 1,164 years before he was declared a saint. Man,
I told Robin, that's a long time to wait. What if he didn't want
to wait that long? And he'd been dead that long
of time. And then after that, they've
got to be sling shot out of purgatory, and blah, blah, blah, and on
and on and on. purgatory. That lie, that doctrine, was
deliberately invented-a history book would tell you that-for
Those hucksters, they get more money. That's the reason it was
invented. You pay the priest, and your poor departed loved
one, the more you pay, the more they'll pray to get your loved
one out of purgatory. Their sins, their sins are being
purged, and they won't be ready for heaven until they're out
of there. You pay me, and I'll pray them out of there. Liars. Deceivers. What are we reading
in Hebrews 1? when Christ by himself purged
our sin. No purgatory, he purged our sins. I prefer this so much better
than that, don't you? But of him are you in Christ
Jesus, who of God has made in us wisdom and righteousness and
sanctification and redemption. I like that so much better. We
have it all in the Lord Jesus Christ. God sees the image of
his son. when they're born again by God's
Holy Spirit. Christ in you, the hope of glory. And he says, that's a precious
sight. Christ, very nature, the divine
nature, in the heart, in the soul of a sinner, the image of
his son stamped upon every child of God. And God looks down and
says, oh, that's precious. That's precious. 1 Thessalonians
5, Paul closes his epistle with these words, and the very God
of peace sanctify you wholly, not in steps. And I pray God,
your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto
the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul, that's a tall order,
but he doesn't stop there. He says, faithful is he that
calleth you who also will do it. God will, God will. Those God has created anew in
Christ Jesus by the communication of His love, His own purity,
His own nature, those He continually upholds in that state, these
are God's saints. Our text says they're His saints,
through Him, in Him, and back to Him. They're Christ's many
brethren, the children of God the Father. These Paul wrote
For whom he did for know he also did predestinate to be conformed
Hmm. What model is God going back
to be conformed to the image of his son? Wow, but he might
be the firstborn among many brethren again I say is it any wonder
that they're precious to God and the death of All God's Saints
are precious to him all God's saints. We read about martyrs,
people who laid down their life like the apostles and many after
them, and we think, yeah, they were precious in God's sight. The death of the great apostle
Paul himself was no more precious to God than the death of that
thief on the cross who in his last hour, in his dying breath,
said, Lord, remember me when you come into the kingdom. His
death was just as precious to God than Paul the Apostle when
he said, I fought a good fight. I finished my course. I've kept
the faith. That thief couldn't say anything like that. But what
did Jesus answer him? Verily I say unto you, you, you, who just believed on me
a moment ago, I say unto you, today you're going to be with
me in paradise. And that this death was as precious
to God as Paul or any other child of his. The death of the great
reformer Martin Luther or the Prince of Peace Charles Spurgeon
is no more precious to God than the death of Billy Cobb when
God calls him home. Precious in the sight of God
is the death of his saints. Here's the second. The second
thing, so closely to it. The death of saints to God is
a precious sight. Peter said in his first epistle,
chapter 2, verse 7, he said, under you that believe, he is
precious. Would any believer argue with
that? Would any true believer argue with that? Find fault or
issue with that? Oh, no. The only problem they
would have with that would be to confess. And I would be the
first. He's not precious enough to me.
He's precious. Like Peter said, Lord, you know
I love you. You know everything. You know I love you. Yes, he's
precious. He's precious. Oh, but how precious. Christ is precious to us, to
every chosen sinner. Each one redeemed with Christ's
precious blood. That's not hard to understand,
is it? That Christ should be precious
to us? I can get a hold of that. I've got enough gray matter between
my ears. I can get a grip on that. Oh,
but that's not what we're told here, is it? It says that we
are precious to God. Now that's harder to grasp. I
know Christ is altogether lovely in our eyes. But we're told that
we're lovely, altogether lovely, in His eyes. My beloved is mine,
and I am His. How about that? In God's sight,
for over 2,000 years now, that have passed, the death of God's
saints is still precious. Such a precious thing. And God's
not easily attracted, is He? He doesn't glance at all the
religious pomp and ceremony and all the nonsense that goes on.
Like the angel told John, John, why do you marvel about that
lady representing false religion all decked out with jewels and
fine garments? He said, John, why are you marveling?
She's just a whore. She doesn't impress God. Oh,
God takes no notice of that. But he does this. The death of
his saints is still precious to him. Precious to him. Oh, death where is thy sting
is the challenge and every child of God can answer it with our
text. Precious in the sight of the
Lord is the death of his saints. A precious sight to God. Billy,
that's something to think about. That'd take a while, wouldn't
it? That takes some meditation. That
takes some thought. Precious to God? What a thought! The people of God, though as
we said in the article, are looked upon by the world. Really, they're
not noticed by the world, are they? Except in the way of scorn,
those poor deluded people. Look at them down there, just
a handful. Why do they even bother? Don't pay them no mind. They're
deceived. Some people consider us, because
of the gospel we preach, as heretics. Where did you get that? Where
did you hear such a thing? Election? Particular redemption? Sovereign mercy? I've never heard
such a thing. What's the matter with you? Look
at you like you're from another planet. But that's okay. That's not a problem at all,
is it, Billy? As my pastor used to say, and you heard him say,
I do that deliberately. I'm out of step with this religious
world on purpose, and I never want to march with them. I'd
rather take up my cross and follow Christ and preach his glorious
gospel. What a thought, precious in God's
sight. Brothers and sisters, why does
it matter what the world says about us? What does it matter? Our names are written in the
Lamb's Book of Life. Lester, I've got a reservation
in heaven. What do I care about what this
world can offer? My soul, what do they have compared
to the riches of God's glory in Jesus Christ? Oh God, allow
me to die like those mentioned in Hebrews 11. These all died
in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen
them afar off and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and
confessed that they're strangers and pilgrims on this earth. I want to join that company.
Don't you? Like Joshua. Oh, wouldn't it
be wonderful? Wouldn't it be a blessing of
God if he allowed us to die? like Joshua. The elders of Israel
gather around his bed. He's dying. This is what he said. And behold, this day I'm going
the way of all the earth. And you know in all your hearts
and in all your souls that not one thing hath failed of all
the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning you. All are come to pass unto you,
and not one thing hath failed thereof. What a testimony to
leave behind to our loved ones. How about David? Oh, wouldn't
this be a delight? Now these be the last words of
David. Although my house be not so with
God yet, he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordering
all things in short, this is all my salvation and all my desire,
although he make it not to grow. How about this? Wouldn't this
be a delight? Behold, there was a man in Jerusalem
whose name was Simeon. And he came by the Spirit into
the temple. And when the parents brought
in the child Jesus to do for him after the custom of the law,
then Simeon took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,
Lord, Lord, what a prayer. Now lest thou thy servant depart
in peace according to thy word, why, for mine eyes have seen
thy salvation." Remember, Simeon was in the temple. That's where
all those types and figures and shadows were of him that was
to come. The sacrifices, the altar, the
holy place, the most holy place, but Simeon didn't give them a
glance. Why should he? He was looking
at the fulfillment of those things. He didn't need to look at a shadow
anymore. He was looking at salvation in
the person, in the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he said,
I've seen your salvation. People look everywhere at everything,
at every ridiculous shadow and don't look to Christ. If you
don't look to Christ, you've never seen God's salvation. There's
no other way for a sinner to depart this world in peace with
God except with their eyes focused, fastened upon the Lord Jesus
Christ. Again, in the bullet that I may
mention, that several dear friends of our dear friends, acquaintances,
brethren, have been called home. Home. They've gone to the Father's
house. where Christ is over the last
few years, over the last few months, over the last week or
two. Bess, Bess. Bobby Estes, oh a dear friend
of mine in the church in Navajo. Judy Estes' husband. Dave Coleman. Dave sat here and played. He
said, Larry, you've He played every service, didn't he? He
said, I'm running out of songs, Larry. He said, I'm singing everything
I know. I wonder how he's singing now.
Dear Henry Mahan, oh my. Dear Henry. Candy, Bruce Daly
that I made mention from Crossville. And my pastor, Don Fortner. I've told you. I made mention
of this in my tribute to him in the bulletin not long after
he was gone. But God, or rather, Don told
me before we said goodbye the last time we talked, which was
just a few days before God took him, before he hung up, he said,
it's a good testimony. He said, Larry, if anybody down
there, anybody asks you how I'm doing, you tell them I said there's
nothing more comfortable Nothing sweeter than going out into eternity
knowing that Christ has done for me everything that God required. Precious in the sight of the
Lord is the death of his saints. Christ said to the Father in
his higher priestly prayer, Father, add this to the list. I will
also that those whom thou hast given me be with me where I am. Where I am. That's where they are. Where
I am. Let's wrap this up by considering
just a few of the reasons that the death of God's saints are
so precious to him. You'll think of more than what
I'll mention, but they're precious for this reason, aren't they?
The death of a saint of God is a fulfillment of his word. And
that honors God, doesn't it? God fulfilling His promise honors
Him. When Christ calls one of His
own to be with Him, His promise is again realized and affirmed
over and over again. Father, I want them with me. Naturally, it's natural for us
to say, oh, we want them to stay here. We want them with us. But Christ says, no, no, I want
them with me. Which is far better. They're
precious to us. Oh, how much more precious to
Him. They were redeemed with His own
precious blood. Also precious because Christ
is glorified. Because I believe He supports
them in death. Why wouldn't He? Did He not say
the last thing He said to the disciples before He ascended
back to heaven? Before their very eyes? And lo,
I'm with you always, even until the end of the world. Why wouldn't
he be with me, his saints, at the end of their life? He's walked
with me all through the shadow of this death, this life. Why
wouldn't he be with me when I'm crossing over? I hope you don't
think, and I think, I think I'm being honest with you. I'm like Don again who told his
doctor concerning death And the doctor was saying something,
well, you know, you need this, you need that. And he said, wait,
doc, doc, that's not the problem. Dying's not the problem. He said,
it's the process. It's what you go through getting
there that not necessarily looking forward to. But children of God,
according to the promise of our good and faithful shepherd, do
we not have a right, believing His Word, to expect that He'll
be with us when we cross over? Huh? Oh, my soul, what a different
prospect death is to think in that hour we'll see Him as He
is. Yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou
art with me. The weakest believer can be just
as sure as the most confident of this very thing that he which
had begun a good work in you will not suffer the enemy to
take advantage of anything in the matter of your death." Here's
another sweet thought. Who can say, we've already jumped
ahead of ourselves, think about this, who can say how often God
answers prayer in the cases of dying believers? By the whispers
of his love, You ever been around the deathbed of a dying believer?
They whisper things. They say they see things. You
don't hear them. You don't see them. Doesn't mean
they didn't. Oh, they're entering that land
now where now is unseen. Oh, but not for them. Not for
them. They're living behind the testimony
of what's opening up before their eyes. You've heard that, haven't you?
I have. I have, too. I have, too. Oh, how God will
strengthen his dying children. When no other eye sees what no
other heart feels, they're then precious in God's sight. And
listen, they're about to be. He's about to be precious in
their sight. Because they're about to lay
aside faith Faith will give way to sight, and they behold the
face of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me close with two short excerpts
of stories that I read. One you have, the Song of Sighs
by Susanna Spurgeon, the thing she wrote after the death of
her dear husband Charles. One excerpt was this, How shall
I sing the Lord's song in a strange land? For I am brought into a
strange, weary land of loneliness and sorrow. I am a captive to
grief, and the light of my life has been suddenly quenched in
darkness. Yet, yet, there is a song to be sung. Mercy has
outrun misery. Divine love has pierced the gloom
of an unspeakable sorrow with a ray of celestial glory. The anguished cry of a stricken
heart has been hushed by the sweet compassion of a comforting
God. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Oh, my soul, it is the Lord's
song. He himself has done it. The Lord
gave. The Lord had taken away. Blessed
be the name of the Lord. Is our dear master to hear only
sobs and sighs and see only tears and sorrow when he asked for
his own beloved ones back again, that they may be with him and
behold his glory? Oh, no, truly, for all his will
is love. Years ago, An old preacher in England, a
pastor, stood up one Sunday, like I am, behind the pulpit,
and announced the hymn. They used to, in those days,
when they would give out the hymn, they would read the first
verse of the hymn. And it was this. This is what
the man read. Father, I long to see the place of thine abode. I'd leave these earthly courts
and flee up to thy throne, O God. Then he closed his eyes, slumped
back into his pulpit, and went up to the throne of God. God
took him home. How about that? That would be
okay. If God would be pleased to do that to me, that would
be okay. Precious in the sight of the
Lord is the death of his saints. I pray that God will help us
to remember that. Amen. Amen. God bless you.