I am reasonably confident of
three things that give my heart peace and assurance and comfort
while I live in this world. I am confident that God chose
me in everlasting love as the object of His grace before the
world began. Elect of God. What a special
comfort that is. I'm confident that the Lord Jesus
Christ, God's darling Son, poured out His life's blood for me and
redeemed me, made atonement for all my sin, satisfied the justice
of God on my behalf. What peace, what peace, what
peace is found in the blood of the Christ. And I'm confident
that I'm born of God, called by His Spirit, regenerated, born
again by God the Holy Ghost, given new life in Christ, made
a new creature in Christ Jesus, been made partaker of the divine
nature. I have created in me a new man. created in righteousness and
true holiness, which only God the Holy Ghost can create. I
have a good hope through grace regarding these things. I have
some measure of confidence and assurance before God regarding
these things for three reasons. First, I hear the shepherd's
voice. God still speaks to me by his
word. As I read it, he speaks to me. As I hear it, he speaks to me. Oh, how great it is for the sheep
to hear his voice, to know his voice, to hear him called by
his own name by the shepherd. We know, brethren beloved, your
election of God, Paul said, for our gospel came not unto you
in word only, but in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much
assurance. I have confidence regarding these
things because hearing the shepherd's voice, I trust him. I trust the
Lord Jesus Christ. Though he slay me, yet will I
trust him. I trust him. When I feel close to him, I trust
him. When I feel far from him, I trust
Him. When I have the rare privilege
of walking with Him in sweet communion, I trust Him. When
He hides His face from me and will not speak to me and will
not let me speak to Him, I trust Him. My hope before God is not
my feeling. My hope before God is not my
doing. My hope before God is Christ
alone. That's all my hope. Whosoever
believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. And I do believe
that Jesus of Nazareth, that babe of Bethlehem about which
everybody is talking and singing this week and the last few days
and will for the next few days. I believe that babe of Bethlehem
is indeed the Christ of God, that one who fully accomplished
everything the prophets said he would accomplish. My hope
is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus'
name. And I'm confident of these things
because there is within me a true, sincere love for the Son of God
and His people. We love Him because He first
loved us. I say little about this because
what I have to say about this is worth little. Because my love
for Christ is insignificant. Because my love for Him can hardly
be something worth bragging about. But this is the true confession
of every heaven-born soul. We love Him. Not like we want
to. Not like we hope to. Not like
we ought to. But love Him we do. Love Him
we do. I have no doubt of my love for
that woman sitting right there. I love her. I love her. Not like I ought to. Not like I want to, but I love
her. And because I don't love her
like I ought to, and don't love her like I want to, that doesn't
make me question my love for her. I love my Redeemer. Not like I want to, not like
I ought to, and not like I hope to, but love him I do. And here's
the reason. We love Him because He first
loved us. His love precedes our love for
Him by eternity. His love exceeds our love for
Him infinitely. And His love causes those who
are loved by Him to love Him. We love Him because He first
loved us. And being born of God, We love
the children of God. We know that we love the children
of God when we love God and keep his commandments. Now I have
a confession to make. In spite of all these facts,
there is a struggle in my soul, a tormenting trial in my spirit,
a heavy burden on my heart. I have a new heart, a new will,
a new heaven-bent nature created in me by God the Holy Spirit.
A nature that longs for and seeks after righteousness. A nature
that longs for and seeks total conformity to the Lord Jesus.
But I cannot do the things I would. For, as the Apostle Paul put
it, the flesh lusteth against the Spirit. and the spirit against
the flesh, and these are contrary the one to the other, so that
you cannot do the things you would. Turn to Romans chapter
7. I find a law in my members. When
I would do good, evil is present with me. I find in my soul iniquity,
transgression, and sin. far more hideous, far more ignominious
than the most profane acts of ungodly men. You see, we all have fences thrown
up around us. We all have cages around us.
Fences and cages that restrain us. from behaving outwardly as
we might. But I have discovered and am
discovering there are no fences around our minds, no cages to our imaginations,
no pins to lock up our thoughts. I want to pray, but I often wonder if I ever
have. There's too much fleshly lust in my prayer to call it
prayer. I want to worship God, but there's
too much pride in my worship to call it worship. I want to
be completely free of earthly care, Trusting God in all things,
but there's too much unbelief Too much selfish resentment toward
God's providence to call my faith faith and my submission submission
You see our invita in India is still just the expression of
our enmity against God our discontentedness is just our despising of God's
providence and Our worry is nothing but questioning God's wisdom
and goodness. Our fear is only the denial of
God's power. Our covetousness is proud rebellion
against God. I hear men talk about becoming
less and less sinful and progressively holier than they were yesterday.
They talk about what they call progressive sanctification. Their
doctrine is that God's children grow more and more righteous,
more and more holy until they finally become right for heaven.
They teach that glorification is just the end and the result
of their own progressive attainments in personal holiness. If their
doctrine is true, then it would be possible for men by great
diligence to arrive at perfection. And of course we know the doctrine
is not true. Such doctrine is contrary to experience, Every
man must honestly acknowledge that. I don't care who says he's
more righteous than he was yesterday. I'm here to tell you he's a liar.
If you think so, I'm here to tell you you're a liar. That's
just not so. It's contrary to experience.
Honesty compels us to acknowledge it. More than that, it's contrary
to the Word of God. If a man says, I have not sinned,
I don't care what he does. I don't care if he's just died
as a martyr and says, I have not sinned. The truth is not
in him. He doesn't know God. Honesty
compels me to acknowledge that such doctrine is totally contrary
to everything I've experienced. I have, I believe, over these
past 45 years grown some in grace. My love, my faith, my commitment
to Christ My joy in the Lord, my peace, my comfort have grown. They've increased by the grace
of God. But my sin, oh, my sin, my sin
has not diminished one iota. My sin has not diminished one
iota. My outward acts of sin are more
restricted, they're more controlled. But the inward evil of my flesh
rages now like it has never raged before. Though I'm redeemed,
justified, and sanctified in Christ, I'm still a man in the
flesh full of sin. You who know God, is it not so
with you? Be honest and read what Paul
says here in Romans 7 verse 14. Here's an honest man speaking
by divine inspiration, but speaking honestly of his own experience,
a man who had walked with God for a long time. A man who had
lived by faith in Christ for a long time, and yet he is inspired
by God to tell us what he experienced in the depths of his soul. Romans
7, 14. For we know that the law is spiritual,
but I incarnate, sold under sin. For that which I do, I allow
not. For what I would, that do I not,
but what I hate, that I do. If then I do that which I would
not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no
more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that
in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. For to will is
present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not.
For the good that I would, I do not. But the evil which I would
not, that I do. Now if I do that, I would not.
It is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find
then a law that when I would do good, evil is present with
me. For I delight in the law of God
after the inward man. But I see another law in my members. Warding against the law of my
mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in
my members. Oh, wretched man that I am. Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? This is my soul's greatest trouble. I wish it were not so, but it
is. Some of you I know are in the
same condition. How can we live in such a state?
Where can we find comfort? Is there any hope for such creatures
as we are? Give me your attention. I believe
I have a message from God for you. Turn back to Psalm 73. I have endeavored to expound
the seventh chapter of Romans to you as clearly as I am able. Perhaps a better way of expounding
it is to illustrate it. And here in Psalm 73, we have
an illustration of what the Apostle Paul is describing. The fact
is the believer is a person with two natures, two natures warring
against one another continually. And those two natures are flesh
and spirit. This fact is never more clearly
set before us than in the life of this man, David, the man after
God's own heart. In Psalm 73, David discusses
the struggles he had in his own soul with his flesh, with his
sin. David is king in Israel. He's
been ruler in Israel for some time now. He's the man chosen
of God to be king in Israel. He's the man who stands head
and shoulders above everybody else, a man after God's own heart,
a man of faith and faithfulness. Such a man as God, when God summarized
his life, speaks only of three things against David. Just three
things. Just three things. Oh, my, what
a man David was. But here David speaks of David
as David. He describes before God the warfare
and the struggle of his own soul. A struggle between flesh and
spirit. In the first verses of this chapter,
David stands and he's looking out over the fields, I guess,
and he's thinking. He's at the age where men reminisce
a good bit. They've got their children grown
and grandchildren. And he's looking back over his
life, and his house was a mess. His family was a mess, just a
mess, just a mess. It appears, I can't say for certain,
but it appears to me that the only people in David's house
who worshiped God other than David was his wife, Abigail,
and his wife, Bathsheba, and his son, Solomon, everybody else. lived and died hating God. His sons fighting one another
and killing one another. His sons pursuing their own sisters,
raping them and forcing them against their will. His sons
parading David's own wives and concubines before all Israel
in horrid acts of fornication. And here stands David, a man
who worshiped God. And he looks across the field
and pictures in his mind's eye, a reprobate, ungodly, Baal-worshiping
heathen. There's old Joe. He's got everything a man could
ever want. He's got rich lands, thousands of acres. He's got
a huge palace, hundreds of servants, and his children. God has multiplied
his children to him, unbelievably, and his grandchildren, unbelievably. And they're all smart, well-educated,
well-trained. Every one of them prosperous.
Every one of them has a good name and a good reputation. They
all come home every Thanksgiving. They all come home every Christmas.
They all remember mama and daddy on anniversaries and birthdays.
They're all just the ideal family. Just the ideal family. This man's
so rich his eyes bug out with fatness. He has no concern for
anything. All he has to do when he wants
something to say I want it and a servant goes and buys it for
him. He doesn't have to go to the store for himself. And yet
he's proud. He's cruel and he's oppressive. But he doesn't get sick, never
been in hospital in his life. Doesn't know what a toothache
is. He never lost a companion, never lost a son, never lost
a daughter, never lost a grandchild, never had to go to jail to bail
anybody out. Oh, what greatness this man has. And David said,
my steps were almost gone. He said, I almost turned around
and walked away from God. My feet had well nigh slipped
because I was envious at the prosperity of that fool. I was envious at the prosperity
of the wicked. Now, let's look at David's words
beginning at verse 22. And learn these three things. Though I am saved by the grace
of God, I know that I'm a terribly foul and sinful man still. So foolish was I and ignorant. I was as a beast before thee. I take David's words for my own
and I make this same confession before God and before you. I've seen Christ and I've seen
my sin and I abhor myself. I've had a few trials in my life,
none compared to most but a few, but the most painful thing, the
most difficult trial I've ever had to endure is one that I must
continue to endure as long as I live in this world. It is the
ever-increasing realization and awareness of my sin. David uses
three words here to describe his sin before God. Foolish,
ignorant, beastly. Now remember, Coda, he's not
talking about somebody else, he's talking about him. I was
foolish. I was ignorant. I was beastly. He said, I behaved as a fool
before God. He couldn't have used a stronger
word. It's the same word he uses in Psalm 14 to describe the atheist. He says, the fool has said in
his heart, no God. It means one who forgets God
and loves evil. David said, I forgot God. and
loved evil. That's the word he uses to describe
himself. Then he says, I've been ignorant.
My speech, my thoughts, my actions betray ignorance. How often we
sit like ignorant men and women. How often we speak like ignorant
men and women. How often we act like ignorant
men and women. Like men and women who know only
what we see, not what God's revealed to us. Only the things we see
with our eyes, not the things we've experienced in our souls.
And then David goes on to say, I have behaved like a brute beast
before God. That word beast, speaks of some
hideous, monstrous, astonishingly wild creature, one that can't
be tamed, one that can't be controlled. That's an accurate description
of our flesh. The old man is a sinful, beastly,
monstrous creature. I would disclose my whole complaint,
but where shall I begin? No words of mine can fully paint
that worse distemper sin. Yes, I most truly describe myself
when I describe myself as a beast before God. Like the brute beast
of the earth, I'm far too much attached to this world. The hog
grubbing in mud for roots and nuts cares nothing for stars. The wild ass's coat roaming the
hills cares nothing for the angels of God. The ravenous wolf has
no regard for eternity. Educate the beast, train it as
well as you can, but it'll never have any regard for anything
but its own natural appetites. How much like the beast I am.
Is it not so with you? Are you not, am I not, far too
fondly attached to this world? Let us never be content with
that beastly attachment to the world. He said, Pastor, but you
say we have to live with it, but don't be content with it.
But you say this is the way it's going to be for the rest of our
lives, that's the way it's going to be. Don't be content. Don't
be so proud. And don't be so foolish as to
deny it either. I'm also like the wild beast
in this regard. I seem to have so little emotion,
so little passion for heavenly things. Don't you find it astonishing? I hope painfully astonishing
that when you listen to the politicians on television, You get more engaged,
more emotionally involved, more radical, that's a good word,
more radical over that nonsense, over that nonsense. I don't care
whether you're Republican or liberal, Republican or Democrat,
liberal or conservative, it doesn't matter. You get more enraged,
more emotionally involved over that trivial nonsense. than you do about redemption
and grace and the glory of God and the will of God and the purpose
of God. Look how we grovel here below. Fond of these earthly trifling
toys, our souls can neither fly nor go to reach eternal joys. In vain we tune our formal songs. In vain we strive to rise. Hosannas languish on our tongues
and our devotion dies. Dear Lord, and shall we ever
live at this poor dying rate? Our love so faint, so cold to
thee, and thine to us so great. Again, we're like the brute beast.
and our short-sightedness. Our hearts and minds are too
much concerned for the things of time, too little concerned
for the things of eternity. We might well compare ourselves
to beast, brute beast, because of our animal passions. I won't
go far into this dark path of painful experience. Just say
enough to make you understand what I'm talking about. Spurgeon
put it this way. He that hath fellowship with
God will sometimes feel the devil within him till he thinketh himself
a devil. The fact is there is no evil
in the world. I wrote down of which the sinful
flesh is not capable. That's two weeks, Skip. There's
no evil known to humanity you haven't done and I haven't done. We're guilty. We're guilty. Your conscience and your heart
screams, my God, that's so. We're guilty. We're guilty. We're evil, only evil, and that
continually. Were it not for the free grace
and sovereign love of God for us, we couldn't live with ourselves. The characteristics of beast
rage within us. The pride of a lion, the lust
of the horse leech, the raging anger of the bull, the envy of
the wolf, and the stubbornness of the jackass. That's what we
are. Grace, you see, doesn't change
your old nature. Flesh is still just flesh. Adam is always Adam. Nothing ever changes. Grace conquers
Adam. Grace rules Adam. But grace doesn't
change Adam. Brother Todd Nivert called me
earlier this week And he said, I want to run something by you.
He said, what does it mean? And he says, walk in the spirit,
you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. And he and I said
exactly the same thing. I said, obviously you want to
tell me something. He said, that's always troubled me. He said,
when scripture says you'll not fulfill the lust of the flesh,
it means you're not going to reap the wages of sin. He's exactly
right. We fulfill the lust of the flesh
all the time. Mark Daniel does, Don Fortner
does, all the time. We don't talk to each other about
it and don't need to. That's just fact. Our flesh rages
in lust all the time. and finds gratification in the
lust itself, even when it's not fulfilled. This is my painful
but honest confession of sin. So foolish was I and ignorant. I was as a beast before thee.
I'm carnal, soul under sin. I know that in me, that is in
my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. Second, learn this. Though I am a vile, sinful man, I trust the Son of God. In the teeth of my sin, in the
teeth of my sin, I trust the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at Psalm
73, 23. Nevertheless, Oh, what a great word that is.
Nevertheless, I am continually with thee. So foolish was I and ignorant,
I was as a beast before thee. Nevertheless, I am continually with thee. Thou
hast holden me by my right hand. Thou shalt guide me with thy
counsel. and afterward receive me to glory. I am a shamefully sinful man,
but God, my God, is faithful, infinitely, gloriously faithful. Therefore, trusting the Lord
Jesus, I say with joy and with confidence, nevertheless, I am
continually with thee. Notwithstanding all my sin, God
is faithful. This is a glorious thought. If
you're a believer, if you're in Christ, your sins shall never
be charged to you. Be they ever so great, ever so
many, ever so constant. They will never separate you
from the Lord your God. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. Who shall separate us from the
love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord? Now, here are
four pillars for your faith and mine. Note the connection with
that word, nevertheless, with what David just confessed. I
was ignorant, foolish, as a beast before you. Nevertheless, I'm
continually with thee. Here is a pillar for your soul. God's perseverance. God's perseverance. Preachers and religious people
like to talk about their perseverance. And the Bible speaks of our perseverance. The righteous shall hold on his
way. But we persevere in grace. We persevere in faith. We persevere in life only because
God perseveres in faithfulness, in grace, and in love for us. We are one with Christ. And not
until the Lord God forsakes his dear son will he forsake us who
are in his son. Our position, our relationship
with the eternal God is as immutable as God himself. We're constantly
on his mind. Constantly before his eye. Constantly in his hand. Constantly on his heart. Constantly in his favor. Accepted in the beloved relentlessly. It takes very little faith when
you think you have many graces and many virtues to say, I'm
accepted in Christ. But when you're aware of how
vile, how base, how corrupt, how sinful you are, when you're
aware that there's nothing you can bring to God, and you lift
your heart to heaven and say, my father, Thank you. I'm accepted in the beloved. That's called faith. Though I'm
a sinful beast before thee, I trust Christ. I trust Christ alone
as my Lord and Savior. You see, it's only as sinners
that we need a substitute. Our security doesn't depend on
our faithfulness, but God's faithfulness. Now God help you to get this.
I've said it to you just recently. I've said it a long time ago,
and I got a lot of flack for it, but I stand by it because
it's so full of comfort to my soul. My relationship with the
eternal God does in great measure determine what I do. But what
I do in no way determines my relationship with God. What I do, good or bad, doesn't
have anything to do with determining my relationship to God. Turn
over a couple of pages to Psalm 89, verse 27. When God beholds my sin, he says,
nevertheless, nevertheless. Psalm 89, 27. I will make him
my firstborn higher than the kings of the earth. My mercy
will I keep for him, the Lord Jesus Christ, forevermore. My
covenant shall stand fast with him. His seed also will I make
to endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven, if his
children forsake my law. I'll tell you what I'd do if
I were you. Somewhere in the margin of my Bible, I'd circle that word if,
and I'd write beside it when. Because Merle Hart, the fact
is, you do all the time. And God says, when his children
forsake my law and walk not in my judgments, when they break
my statutes and keep not my commandments, then will I visit their transgression
with the rod and their iniquity with stripes. And that's not
talking about him chastening us. He chastened our Savior in
our stead. visited him with a rod, and we're
healed with his stripes. Nevertheless, nevertheless, nevertheless,
my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from Christ, from
him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. My covenant will I not
break nor alter the thing that's gone out of my lips. Once have
I sworn by my holiness, I will not lie to Christ. His seed shall
endure forever and his throne as the sun before me. It shall
be established forever as the moon and as the faithful witness
in heaven. Now here's another pillar for
your soul. Not only God's faithfulness, but God's help. Thou hast holden
me by my right hand. The right hand signifies strength. For God to hold me by my right
hand implies that the hand of my strength is only weakness. He's held me. He is holding me. And He will not let me go. He may in His wise providence
allow me to fall, but even when I fall, He's holding me by the
right hand of my weakness. And then he promises that God
will guide. Thou shalt guide me with thy
counsel. He guides me with his written
word. And he directs my paths. And
I'm thankful for that. There's a light to my feet, a
lamp to my pathway. Oh God, thank you for the guidance
of your word. He guides me by his spirit. Trust in the Lord with all thine
heart. Lean not into thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Seek his way, you'll find his way. Trust him, you'll walk in
his way. But the fact is sometimes I ignore
His Word. And often I don't trust Him with
all my heart and I don't quit leading to my own understanding.
But still, He shall guide me with His counsel according to
His wise good and gracious decree. Even when I'm envious at the
prosperity of the wicked, even when I think I've washed my hands
in innocence, it's a foolish thing to serve God. Even in my
folly, in my foolishness, in my ignorance, in my beastliness,
the Lord God guides me in every step according to his wise decree,
ordering every step I take. And then, here's another pillar,
and afterward, receive me up to glory. Yes, old Adam shall
soon be sent to the grave. And this body will rot in the
grave. as it should because of sin. But God will receive his own
up into glory. As for me, as for me, I will behold thy
face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness. then Alan, not till then I'll
be satisfied. Satisfied with everything. One last thing. Verses 25 and
26, Psalm 73. My soul's only hope of eternal
glory is God my Savior. Whom have I in heaven but Thee? Who can help me? Who can uphold
me? Who can bring me up to glory?
Whom have I in heaven but Thee? But more than that, there is none upon earth that
I desire beside Thee. Christ is all my hope. and I want no other. What? You understand that? Christ
is all my hope and I want no other. None from you, none from
me. None from the world, none from
my flesh. No other hope but Jesus' blood
and righteousness. This I again confess, my flesh
and my heart faileth. Do you see the tense of the verb
fail? He says, Bill, my flesh and my
heart fail incessantly. My flesh and my heart fail me
all the time. My flesh and my heart have been
a failure from the beginning. My flesh and my heart are failures
now. My flesh and my heart shall fail
me tomorrow. But God is the strength of my
heart and my portion forever. Thank you, my God, for your matchless,
relentless, unceasing grace in Christ Jesus. May God now make
himself your portion forever in Christ Jesus the Lord. Amen.